LastThursday

@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...

@Cortex I object!

@Shin isn't @Joseph Maynor using words? @Joseph Maynor aren't you using concepts to point to being and Enlightenment?

Maybe, psychadelics?

It's difficult to grasp at first, but everyone around you, including yourself and the entire universe is made from the same stuff. One word for that stuff is God, another word is awareness, yet another is Truth or even Absolute Infinity. That stuff can shapeshift and manifest itself in an infinite number of ways. But it's all One in the end. You are not separate from it, you are it.

@andyjohnsonman do it. It will quiet the mind, improve concentration, improve body tone and balance and release stress.

To be directly concious is to strip away all the stories and narrative you have about your perceptions. For each direct experience you have there is a 'cloud' of indirect experiences attached to it. Say for example you had to explain what a 'banana' was to somebody who had never seen or eaten one. That entire explanation is not direct experience. If instead, you give the person the banana and tell them to peel eat and eat it, that is closer to direct experience (for them). It's extremely easy to confuse non-direct experience with direct experience. Nearly all our dysfunctions in life are caused by this confusion. This is why meditation and hushing the monkey mind is crucial.

Normally Sunday afternoon when I'm doing extreme ironing.

@CreamCat with less teeth.

True magic. The effortless manipulation of the fabric of reality: conciousness. The 'laws' of physics will seem old fashioned.

Perform the following experiment. Choose two different objects. Hold each one at arms length, let go of them both at the same time. What did both objects do? Describe it to yourself. How is the description you told yourself different from the actual event? Is gravity the actual event, or the description?

Honestly, a feature length episode of quality content you'll find nowhere else every week for the last however many years FOR FREE. Give the guy a break. If he put out an episode a month and made me pay for it, it would still be worth it. As Leo says endlessly you need time to DO THE WORK.

I guess ambition (perhaps passion) can be both a pull and push effect and even both simultaneously. Maybe the creativity itself is not the ambition but this: I see the word 'need' in there, isn't that a deficiency? I don't really mean to break it down so much, but I just don't grok ambition - it's interesting to me to get to the crux of it. Isn't it just a future oriented process and as such a kind of story you would tell yourself?

Are ambitious people deficient in something? They strive, because they are lacking in whatever it is they have ambitions about? For example, if I'm hungry doesn't that make me ambitious about finding food? Or is it something else? Are stamp lickers fulfilled?

@Zigzag Idiot what is the difference between being conciously aware and not conciously aware? I mean I get it, you can compare yourself to another person and say, "gosh they're so unaware and distracted and they identify so much". But what do you do when it comes to yourself? You can't compare yourself to yourself. How would you know if you yourself are consiously aware? And what do you do if someone else tells you: "gosh you're so unaware and distracted and you identify too much"? Do you believe them? Would it suddenly make you conciously aware?

Cheers!

@Zigzag Idiot but what controls attention?

An ocean in a salty tear, a blink a blink for every year, that passes by, Tell me: what trick am I?

Cool breeze against my skin, Soft warmth of breathing in, Waves break gently again, and again, Where did I end, or begin?

I think many get their knickers in a twist about wasting time and being distracted. Think less about thinking less about being and distraction and wasting time, it's a distraction and it wastes time. Instead. Breathe. There's no question about not being 'concious'. You are conscious 100%, every second of your existence; there is no 'off' button. There is no better or worse, full stop. All comparisons are utterly ridiculous and futile. There is no insanity, because in the end that's just a comparison: which is utterly ridiculous and futile. There is no free will. 'You' are not in control of your life, your thoughts or your experiences. Nothing is happening to you. Just let you happen, the same way that everybody and everything else just happens. And pay attention to that.

Is there anything outside of awareness; does god lurk there too? Is god infinite in extent? Why is god infinite in extent? Is my manifestation of life a predestined game of god or a completely random and arbritary dazzle of lights and perception? Does god have a memory? Why? If I am god, why do I not have access to infinite experience? Am I an automaton of/for god? Am I a kind of toy or game for amusement? If god is eternal and I am god why do I not remember eternity? Am I just a shard or splinter of god, if so do I really matter that much? If god is non-dual then why duality? If I can only 'access' god through psychadelics and meditation, then exactly what is it that I'm experiencing now without psychadelics and meditation: is that a lesser god or no god at all? Is direct experience god? What is indirect experience if not god? Is god actually everything or are some bits left out? Is god, dog spelt backwards?

Ignorance is an affliction you had before becoming more aware. You will always be ignorant, but you won't realise it until it's passed.