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@JakeyAwakey Wow, this is incredibly insightful and spot on, you are psychic.

Haha I’m in the same boat. I think I’ve been putting the cart before the horse this whole time... ugh

@Nickyy yea that’s the thing with studies, they have to be technical. I read part of it and noted the part about cannabis which I find relatable in my situation because, I actually was using cannabis heavily during my binges. I think this study is really important though, while we can’t rule out the use of cannabis as being the cause of the memory loss, it’s hard to believe that my memory loss and paranoia is related to solely cannabis, and it seems more likely to be a combination of the two. I did find a bunch of studies that say they don’t know the long term affects of heavy usage, and also that MDMA is safe. But I’m not buying it, I’ve seen it mess with people and it messed with me. I think we can’t just look to studies. Sure these people may have been smoking cannabis, drunk or on something else, but those things alone don’t necessarily cause the devastation that can happen when MDMA is added into the equation. So after all this, I don’t know. I would have a hard time believing that someone who abuses MDMA for a period of time will experience no negative effects, but that’s because it seriously wrecked me so I’m going off my personal experience.

of course haha. how about this study? It's interesting looking into this. I'm sure I could dig up a lot more if i spent the time. I think it's also valid to note that not a whole lot has been done in the way of studying the effects of heavy usage on humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525102/ Personally, I experienced significant memory loss and trouble retaining information after my abuse, I also experienced paranoia which I noticed was directly caused by the MDMA. There are others like me, too.

I questioned your story's validity, and went on to say that everyone is different. I'm not dismissing, solely questioning. Why are you dismissing my direct experience? You are biased too, can't get around that. And just because you and people you know didn't experience brain damage doesn't mean it doesn't happen.. I was part of the rave scene for a little too, not the early, hardcore rave scene, but I've raved a good amount in my life. My experience with MDMA sounds different from yours in the sense that I went on binges, doing it almost every day for months at a time. It 100% fucked with my memory and I wasn't doing anything else crazy, just MDMA, pure shit. I'm also a woman, of small stature and have a low tolerance for drugs in general, all of which play a role.

MDMA is most often laced with meth, the type of brain damage associated with long term meth usage is different from what happens with misuse of MDMA. Plus, I'm more interested in discussing direct experience.

@Nickyy I don't believe you, haha. For four years you have done MDMA every weekend (consecutively) , and sometimes three nights a week, and mixed with other things and you have zero negative effects? MDMA tolerance builds up very quickly, so you will have to be taking more and more each weekend. As such you are putting massive amounts of the drug into your system. There comes a point, in my experience, that MDMA basically stops giving you a high, and only destroys your brain. This happens with repeated usage ie using every weekend. So yea, when you say every weekend for years, you must not mean that literally. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071023/ They talk about the memory loss here. And there's all kinds of studies out there proving it. Of course, everyone is different and everyone will experience different responses to heavy usage, but just because you or no one else you know has experienced negative effects doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It's common to hear of people who abuse the drug to report memory loss, and I have first hand experience of it.

You're right, it's not a psychedelic. However it is an extremely dangerous drug. Memory loss is the biggest one. MDMA can be safe in very small doses, done very infrequently. Anyone who has done it for years without problems, I don't believe/want more information from. It basically heats up your brain, and does cause actual brain damage, whereas psychedelics do not. It's not really something to be messed with. When it is done often, in large doses and without much time in between it can really fuck with memory and information retention. It also has the potential to send someone off the deep end, ie. can cause very paranoid delusions in otherwise healthy individuals. It can take years and years, with intention, to heal from excessive MDMA usage, and one may not ever be the same again, like you mention. So yea, it's not a joke. Of course, everyone is different, a small person will react differently than a large person etc etc however the jist is the same, don't take the drug lightly.

There's your answer. But honestly, you could go the other way and be fine, too. Both will be learning experiences.

The Life Purpose Course completely changed my life. It gave me the blueprint on how to discover my life purpose. I had always wanted to know my life purpose but was lost on how to find it. The results from the course gave me so much insight into myself and I got my life purpose out of it, which is the best part. The thing is though, you have to be motivated to do the exercises and complete the course. It took me about 4 months to do it. It was the most money I had spent on personal development and I think that was a motivator for me as well as I trusted Leo's guidance. Anyway, the course doesn't magically change your life, you have to do the work.

What is the point of Leo telling us that not many people are doing this work? Awakening, meditation, life purpose, doing the emotionally difficult thing etc.. For me, I took that and made myself seem better or cooler or more well off because I was “doing the work”. Maybe it’s to inspire us?

@Freedomesong I enjoyed this perspective and reading your response. Sometimes I get all hoity toity so to speak, when thinking about others who may not realize they are on a path, but that is empty and doesn't get me anywhere good. Thank you

I've been taking improv classes once a week and sometimes going to a show to watch others do it and that gets me laughing good. We laugh so much in class, it's great.

@oMarcos they don’t consider psychedelic usage a problem because it’s not a practice

Guys, I’m super close to having my very own business. This isn’t my life purpose or anything, but it is a massive step in the direction that I need to go. In fact this will be the thing that really gets me going. I’ve wanted to have my own business for years. But I’m terrified!! Part of me is teetering on the edge of doing it but I just haven’t made the step. It’s like when you’re at the edge of a diving board, right before you jump off—that feeling. So I’m just not taking the dive. A lot of the things I need to do are so simple too. I have a few clients already and kind of my own thing going, but taking the final step into it is holding me back. So I’m thinking, maybe there is a way I can work up to taking the plunge? Like take a business class, do more stuff to help me be more confident (I’m shy). But I’m paralyzed because I fear that will take too much time and by then it will be too late. How do I get out of my own way with this? This will be the first massive step I’ve taken in my life in regards to my growth, ever. I really want this. The business is dog walking, by the way.

Just a suggestion, but try getting into stretching/yoga. You might find it helps.

I feel like I’ve been in a dark night for the past six years. I have moments of happiness, but then am plunged back into the dark. I’m fighting it hard because I don’t want to give up.

So, he’s been psychotic for 7 months? And he’s still taking drugs? He won’t be able to heal unless he stops taking everything. Once he’s sober from all the substances, he needs to prioritize his health. In my opinion you can only help people to an extent, I would say, just be there for him (support and relationships is vital) and help him get off the drugs by reminding him about it.

Yes absolutely, I have. I find cats to be very enlightened animals. I had taken mushrooms and tapped into a cat’s consciousness by looking into his eyes. It was cool, it just felt like consciousness, it’s no different than staring into the eyes of a human in that sense. I find it easy to put myself in animals’ shoes and understand where they are coming from. Mostly cats and dogs but I can do it with other animals too. It does take practice and experience, however, and I am also careful because it can be easy to project human experience onto them.

@mikelyons sigh. You’re right.

@Dean Walker thank you, I am working on doing that

@Leo Gura super, thanks!

Dude just be careful with making people "gods" of sorts because you like their content. I did that too much. Also I totally feel you on the mental masturbation. I started implementing a lot more and OMG it's hard. It's so hard. This isn't something we can just listen to anymore, we really do have to do the work.

@Scholar Thank you for this. I have been working on acceptance.

Several years ago I attended my first meditation course. I had been into "spirituality" and self improvement for a few years before that, but absolutely nothing serious. In fact when I got back from the course my main takeaway was how much I was fooling myself with my fake practices. The other thing it showed me was how much suffering there is in life, and how much work I had left to do if I wanted to live a good life. Fast forward to today (about 7 years) and I am still in a very dark place. To be frank with you all, I don't think I'm doing enough. I do some, I meditate, journal, exercise. I've had profound experiences on psychedelics. My life is good and easy in the traditional sense. Nothing is really hard and everything on the outside is a walk in the park. In fact if I wanted it would be so easy to just skid by life like this... taking the easy way out. But I have this feeling that's part of the reason I'm suffering so much. I'm just not sure if that's the case with me... My childhood left me with a lot of scars that I've been trying to work through. I go to therapy. Everyone around me comforts me, they tell me that I just need to relax, to not be so hard on myself. I see progress but then there's just this nagging voice that tells me I could be doing so much more. Leo has some videos where he talks about stuff like this. Biting the bullet that self actualization will be hard. And I have a feeling that I just haven't bitten this bullet. But I just don't know. I mean, people around me are into "self improvement" enough, like they have their shit together fairly well. Setting some goals. They tell me I'm doing really good. But I'm just stuck on this idea that there is more. So much more. But here I am, not making the hard decisions, not taking chances, not doing what is emotionally difficult. I just like, ride the edge. Right before it gets too uncomfortable I bail and go onto the next exciting, promising thing. I guess I'm looking for advice, have you found this idea that you need to "bite the bullet" and just do what is hard, to be true? So many people around me tell me lots of things that make me think I'm doing good but I just don't feel like it. I'm not sure if it's because I'm hard on myself, or if I don't have enough friends that are into real personal development. So I'm here. Because Leo got it into my head that there is more out there, and I'm honestly questioning the validity of that as everyone around me doesn't seem to get it and I'm wondering if I'm overthinking his advice, or if I really do need to buck up and get ready to be uncomfortable. Thanks for reading : )