VictorB02

I have heard many different people refer to the fact that taking notes on books you’ve read is extremely beneficial long-term, and a great resource to always go back on. My question is, how do you take notes efficiently without taking the joy out of reading? (Not having to take notes for 15 minutes after reading for only 30 minutes) What I have been doing is underlining things that I really like or things that are really important to the book I am reading, and then transferring all of the underlined material to my OneNote commonplace book. Although this is great for storing a good deal of information and resources, it is not at the least bit enjoyable for me to do every day after I read. I am wondering if there is other systems that you use that still keep the benefits of taking notes but it’s easier to handle. Any advice is appreciated, thanks. P.S. This would be a great video Leo could do: How to read books, integrate them, and take notes on them.

@WelcometoReality yeah I think what you’re talking about is the main reason why weed is so addictive. That is definitely what it feels like, an instant change in personality and feeling good, you skip over all the hard parts of doing it soberly.

Preface: I made another post last night about how smoking cannabis makes me feel connected, whole, and loving, and when I'm sober I do not feel this way. My question is this: If you need to integrate a stage fully before being able to transcend it to move onto the next, how can I ever integrate stage green fully (which I vividly remember Leo saying it includes psychedelics, smoking cannabis, etc..) if I "know" cannabis, psychedelics, etc. are not going to help me in the long run? Is smoking cannabis a phase I need to go through and into more in depth, or is this the ego playing tricks? How can I know what is the actuality of the situation? How can I possibly integrate green if I keep running away from the things I need to integrate because it's the "wise" thing to do? If I keep avoiding weed because I "know" it will not solve my problems? I realize this is a big paradox. I know cannabis won't solve my problems, but I have reached a point where it seems like to fully integrate stage green, I need to accept weed fully and not run from it, not care about smoking it or not. I remember in Leos video about "True growth vs. fake growth" he talks about how you truly integrate and grow when a problem does not become a problem anymore. Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

@ZZZZ thank you for your insight. I get what you mean about the culture vs. actually smoking

@Matt8800 thank you, I agree with you. @ajasatya I see, thank you

@Arkandeus I get what you are saying.

@Cortex I find a deep truth with this @Leo Gura thank you

@ivory I agree. I will do some self inquiry and see what I find. @ajasatya Thanks for your advice! So you drank/smoked on weekends, then tried to implement the following week? Did this system work well? @zambize I believe you are correct @Wisebaxter Thank you for this answer. I believe this act of non-doing and following the flow of life is what the call in Zen, Wu-Wei. I am going to try to follow this flow more closely. I will commit to not resisting life. What I mean as far as the spiral goes, is if I have to embrace my desire to smoke weed to evolve. But the rest of your post clarified that for me as I see that it is not a big deal and Spiral Dynamics is not so linear as I had previously thought.

@Rilles you’re right. I have been there before and it is not fun @FredFred I’m with you, and I couldn’t agree more. Mary Jane is very delicate, I agree that if you use it once every 1-2 weeks it will keep you open and motivated, any more is most likely going to be addiction

@karkaore thank you @Rilles thank you, I agree as this is probably what is going on @How to be wise thank you, and yes I have been. meditating 45 minutes everyday for the past 8 months. I will look into more ways to align with myself while sober @Esoteric Thank you, I have been addicted to weed before and I am very aware that this could be the trick being played, making me feel "better" It just seems so crazy how quickly it helps me to look at my life differently, but I guess once you get the call, to hang up. And I got the call last night when I realized all of this and made this post.

@outlandish For sure. I definitely am reading this whole book with him narrating the words

I will be quoting some things from the Alan Watts book "Become What You Are" - And giving my authentic reactions from today when I read this. In this book, he describes enlightenment, or lets say - describes what enlightenment is not in the most profound and descriptive way I have ever read. Here are some quotes from his chapter "Birds in the Sky" Contemplate these, and reveal the truth to yourself. Nobody can do it for you. No video will show me, no method will show me, no "Trying" will show me the Truth. Mind f*ck. There is no way to find enlightenment - all this seeking I have been doing recently - has only been leading me astray. It is when I let go of any desire to find happiness or enlightenment that I feel the best. Coincidence? I think not! Smoke in the clutch of a dissolving hand - this hit me so hard. No matter how hard you try it will never happen. No matter how many enlightenment YouTube videos you watch, or psychedelics you take, or books you read. It will not happen from trying to find a "Way". It's so f*cking true. We are all dissolving, all attempts to avoid this are illusory. Complete mind f*ck. Yes! Yes! All of my meditating and self inquiry are attempts to obtain enlightenment! To desire something better than what I have. After reading this, I laid back in my chair and put the book down. "Holy F*ck. My mind is absolutely blown" "Everything I have been doing lately in regards to "personal development" and "mindfulness" have just been attempts to find something more - to seek out & desire something more" What a paradox huh? Just like the 10 Ox-Herding Pictures - it is a fools mistake to not start the journey. Still mind-f*cked at this point of writing - but what the hell. Damn. I have never understood enlightenment on this level before. I need some time to integrate.

@Cepzeu Yes! Great way to put it... I feel very grounded and very relaxed, its as if the tension in my body just completely releases and I melt into my chair as well!

@Cepzeu I agree, I had one of the most comfortable and easy meditation sessions (45 minutes) of my life yesterday when I just sat down, focused on breath, and then let go.

@ZZZZ Yes I totally agree. He was (in my opinion) one of the (if not the) best Western Interpreter's of Eastern philosophy and traditions.

@lmfao yes! It really is tough to navigate!

@TheAvatarState of course! It really is amazing to think that this is enlightenment. It always has been and always will be. It’s weird to contemplate that the reason I’m not enlightened is just me distracting myself from what I already am, more so than it’s something I need to get or achieve. You know the whole “we are already enlightened!” Thing.

@DrewNows Yes its a def mind F*CK! And no I haven't, I will look into him! @Salvijus Hehe, for real tho, I was like damnnnn this is legit... That one resonated deep with me too!

@SoonHei Of course! Its a great book I recommend you read it, its a compilation of some of his best teachings!

@PsiloPutty @outlandish @TheAvatarState Thank you all. I will def do half a tab and see how it feels!

Next weekend I will be having my first LSD trip. I have only done mushrooms as far as psychedelics go, and I have purchased a testing kit to make sure the LSD is pure. A couple of questions I have a more practical: Whats a good beginner dose in your opinion? Is one tab a certain amount of ug? What are your favorite things to do while tripping on acid?

@Serotoninluv @SgtPepper @Bluebird @Strikr Thank you all, I will be posting a trip report sometime next week, look out for it to see how it goes!

@Serotoninluv Thank you, my source said each tab is 300 ug, so half a tab for first time? or a little less than half?

These are my personal favorites for tripping:

I made a Meditation Retreat report that I will be posting on YouTube. Would it be ok for me to post the link here? Or would that be considered “self promotion”? What factors determine “self promotion”? How come we can post links to other videos but if it’s our own it’s considered “self promotion”? if it is considered self promotion, can we have a separate spot in the forum for people who want to check other users work out, and to post our own videos,reports,etc...? If a moderator or Leo could reply with a confirmed answer that would be great. Thanks!