LastThursday

@Schahin I think you are in a greater state of 'not knowing' than a lot of us on this forum. Therein lies the real answer to all your questions. It's all a matter of perspective. All science is about pattern matching. It looks for patterns in one phenomenon and then applies that pattern on to other phenomena. For example it says 'hey this creature is very similar to this other creature, there must be some sort of link (pattern match) between them'. It then looks at skeletons (fossils) and applies the same principle, and even to DNA. They then come up with a bigger pattern called 'evolution' and apply that to all living creatures. But you have to be really careful not to confuse 'patterns' with the next thing: Direct experience a.k.a conscious awareness. This is the experience you are having right now: your perceptions, sights, sounds, smells, touch, feelings, thoughts, the sense that you're existing. The trickster amongst all of those is 'thought'. Because thought is were the scientific 'patterns' live. It's worth noting that you are also playing the pattern matching game. Without patterns you wouldn't recognise a damn thing. A tree is a tree because it fits the 'tree' pattern and the same for all other objects and things and people in the world around you. A pattern is illusory however. Because a pattern can be discarded and a new one put in its place. The other is because you can apply any pattern you like to the world of direct experience. The world is an illusion, because we treat the world as a jumble of patterns. The only thing you can be sure of in all this, is that there is constant change in you direct experience. The paradox is that everything seems so permanent and solid and that it 'came from somewhere'. But the solidity and permanency and progress of time, are just patterns - they are not direct experience. Other words for patterns are: belief, gut feeling, theory, law, information, words, the past, the future, story, narrative, my parents, my birth, my death and so on. The world is meaningless, unknowable and very mysterious. But that's ok.

It definitely evolved over billions of years. It is also just a dream. The past is just not what you/we think it is. For more, look up A-Theory of time. Although I don't agree totally with the theory. Ultimately, the past is a (re-)construction in the present moment.

Hopefully, you are less blind now. The thoughts themselves are neither good nor bad, they're like clouds in the sky. It's how we choose to react to them that's important. The reaction is normally caused by the stories we tell ourselves. If we are aware that we actually have a choice, and we drop the story, then that can be curative. Sometimes it's better to let the thoughts come and go, like waves on a beach - and instead just sit there and enjoy the sunshine.

My belief is that the unconcious mind is just a label slapped on to concious experiences that can't be explained. Have a thought about murdering a friend? Hmmm. Where did that come from? The unconcious mind of course. Nope. The bottom line is, everything happens in conciousness. There is literally nothing outside of conciousness. It simply doesn't exist. The thoughts of McDonalds don't 'come' from anywhere, they simply appear in your concious awareness - that's it. After some thoughts appear in your mind several times, you join them together into a story, which you use to 'explain' why you're having the thoughts. It's a bit like the following scenario: You meet someone new. You like them and get to know them over time. Because you like them, you see them regularly. You become great friends. Then one day you realise you haven't seen that friend in years. You knew that friend for ten years. Good story eh? But if you deconstruct it, perhaps you only directly interacted with them for say 1000 hours, about 40 days. You just filled in all the blanks and expanded that to 10 years. We're constantly making up stories and 'filling in the blanks', to make our conscious experience seem sane and stable. It is not.

The truth is, is that everything is a belief. In order to be conciously aware of anything at all, there is a belief of its existence. Belief is baked into reality. The best that you can do is let beliefs be fluid, let them change, and don't cling too hard to them. How else do you raise your level of conciousness?

Careful now, there were no actions and no speaking, just words on a screen. Words which you interpreted and reacted to. Don't get lost in the @Shin fantasy. Don't get too lost in the @Joseph Maynor fantasy, even if you enjoy it.

For the love of god!

I can neither confirm nor deny. The only thing that matters is if you're sure. What I say is irrelavent. What is your direct experience? Sit with that direct experience and come back to me in 48 hours. Or even better when you're fully Ox stage 10 Turquoise Enlightened. Do the work.

@Shin no. I'm you. Don't be dellusional. Hello. HELLO! WAKE. UP. NOW. @Nahm row row row your boat gently down the stream...

Perfectionism is not mastery. To be a master you have to start as an amateur and then you will make a lot of mistakes on the path. To be a master takes dedication and stamina and it's not a sprint to the finish. I have worked on some projects and ideas for over ten years, sometimes with breaks that last a year or more. Do I feel guilt? No. Sometimes you need plenty of time to learn something deeply and let it seep into your bones. The number one thing you need for emotional mastery is to be very self aware. For example, I know my stubborn inner child well enough not to fight against it, if I did, nothing would get done. Instead I bore that child first, by sitting there and doing nothing for as long as it takes, until the child is asleep; and then I work. Learn what makes you tick, be a master of your own self.

Bingo! Memory makes the world hang together. But what is that sensation of memory? Slippery isn't it?

Whoop whoop! It's Thursday (again).

@noselfnofun The thoughts about the past are a direct experience. The past is not. Alternatively, the past is just a thought, not concrete reality. And the thought always exists in the now. Say you keep having a recurring thought about your mother. Where does the thought go when you're not thinking about your mother? When the thought comes back, how do you know it was the exactly the same thought you had before? How do you know you had that thought before?

This is capitalism. Allowing too much free time is inneficient. We work 8 hours a day because that is the most that capitalism can get away with. If it were possible, you would be made to work 24/7/365. AI and robots will only make for more productivity, not less work or less working hours.

He's 60.

Go and die in a warm sunny place with a beach and good food. Not sure I'd tell anyone, couldn't be doing with all the well meaning pity and falseness it entails. Actually. Who am I kidding? I'd be a party animal... Give me pity and falsity. My ego can **** *** after I die... Yes I'm conflicted

You never really know what other people think. Because you are not them. You are just making a judgement about the actions and words of other people, and creating a story about what they're 'thinking'. The story belongs to you, not them. The stories you tell yourself, make you happy or sad or lonely. Drop the stories and directly choose how you want to feel instead. What am I thinking about you?

Every day. But it's the sort of thing that will only slowly destroy all the joy in life, if you let it. Life's too precious to let it be spoilt by the inadequacies and stupidity of other people. Give yourself space to be sad today, but smile tomorrow.

@CreamCat you are right. Arguing for the sake of argument or out of some form addictive behaviour is counterproductive. But confrontation and conflict are normal parts of being alive. Avoiding such things may build a shadow of resentment, guilt and humiliation or create other mental health problems. How much better it is to up your game in being able to resolve conflicts yourself swiftly or to be aware enough not to escalate things when not necessary. How much healthier is it to be able to confront fearful and potentially argumentative situations head on?

I can't even begin to think what an Amish restaurant is like, but it would be so cool to visit one! One of the joys of being alive is that you can lead life on multiple levels. On one level we're animals who need to eat and sleep and fight each other and reproduce. On another we're human beings, who have feelings and desires and aspirations. On yet another we're imortal infinite beings with no boundaries. And even higher still, we're just a non-duality aware of itself. If we're conciously aware of and directly embody these many levels, then we can choose to live life how we want; we don't need to grip so tightly on to things for comfort. In one sense there is nothing to lose, because we never had it in the first place. What makes us truly happy and connected is to constantly keep expanding. By that I mean mostly expanding our awareness, because deep down we know that we're just playing a human character in a play, we're not really that character, we're more than that.

Because it may just be the switch that allows you to turn off the simulated reality on a whim? To 'awaken' from the simulation dream.

@CelticQueen17 those are some good questions. I don't really know if my self actualization is a journey, more an unguided process of revelation with no clear end goal. To be more woo woo about it, my reality seems to be slowly crystallising from an amorphous nothing as a baby into ever sharper relief as an old geezer - only to go back to slowly realising I'm an amorphous nothing again. Is that a journey? Hmmm dunno. What else do I do with my dream life? I suppose I should keep it neutral and family friendly... I have a strong drive to keep my skills sharp and learn new ones. I like to practice being very open minded and non-judgemental (including to myself). I'm intensely curious and have a voracious appetite for knowledge. I like to laugh at the ridiculousness of life and people including myself. I'm good with my fingers and I'm good with symbols, so I write software for a living, but that's nearly the anithesis of spirituality; brings in the bucks though, so that makes survival easier. Where would a I like to be if I were actualized? If it were possible to do real magic, then that's what I want. To unleash myself from my own chains, be authentic to my core, handle any situation with ease and be driven by my own adventurous playful spirit. If I'm enlightened along the way so be it. @CelticQueen17 what makes you tick? Who would you be if you were actualized?

You're most welcome.

I really exist, but that doesn't matter. Eventually you'll realise that you don't exist - that's easier to verify. Solipsism's ok, but it's lonely and it makes you go round in circles. Oh, and eventually you'll realise that existence and non-existence are identical, but don't take my word for it. I still exist though

@Shin it's an easy trap to fall into. Making an argument against something, using the very thing you are arguing against. It's also easy to get snared by the trap, and then to argue against it...