Electron

@Argue I think I exaggerated it a bit. In a way one is a slave until he has complete self-control.

@Sarah_Flagg These sensations of lust are an extension of myself, and I want all of myself to be completely aligned with my purpose, not wandering around being a slave to a sensation.

Its really baffling if you think about. The time that it took for various people to achieve such states varies significantly. Eckhart Tolle for example in my knowledge took the least amount of time, he says that he came to a deep realization after years of anxiety and depression. A buddhist monk whom I saw on television once said that his life long purpose is to attain enlightenment and after twenty years of ascetic training he still doubts whether he has reached there. I thought one needs to deliberately uncondition his mind of the limiting beliefs about the self and the reality and I obviously thought it takes a lot of effort and time. But looking at these varying degrees of time frames, I think it may or may not take a long period of time. What are your views about this?

@Neutrino I really don't think I hold myself out of shyness to talk or flirt with girls. I would say that I find these things trivial. I think that there are zillions of other better and more appealing things to do in this strange reality than to waste time talking gibberish.

@Ayla Wouldn't that also mean that we inherently and by default are inert to others?

@Ayla So this whole reality is me? Including you?

@Ayla Do you mean that in a sense we are always talking to ourselves?

I think, that you have sold out yourself in the eclat of the world. You have become a spectator of the life of others and abandoned your own. I used to be like that when I was purposeless. I loved watching others living and doing great things but was ignorant of the fact entirely that it was literally possible for me to play the hero. If this is what you have always done, you won't believe me if I tell you how good it feels to play the Alpha and taking the complete responsibilty of your own ass. As Soren Kirkegaard said " Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living".

@Ayla Thanks....I will practice this for a week and see the changes..!!

@Ayla Would I still be sleeping if I get aware of the fact that I am sleeping?

@Ayla Well, then does that mean the people who take relatively longer periods of time are doing something wrong, Or maybe there are many levels of peace and mindfulness beyond enlightenment which these monks are trying to achieve. Also if you put homeostasis into the equation, which is the tendency to sustain the ways of the past; then even if you become free for a moment and come to the realization of the truth, wouldn't your mind wander again after a while? Which would mean that the mind has to be conditioned with such states over a long period to attain a more permanent experience of being. Wouldn't you agree?

How do you perceive reality relative to your past after so much of consciousness work?

I have always been a nerd, I realized a couple years ago that I was deeply interested to know and decode the mystery of this reality through physics. But I somehow bumped into Leo's meditation videos and started practicing meditation. It was something really new to me and it felt really good so I eventually became obsessed with it. Now i have almost practiced it for an year. The problem is, it has started affecting my ego driven purpose, my obsession with the so called greatness is fading away, and I work significantly less than I used to. Its not like I've become lethargic or anything, its just that I am able to see that science has limits, and its not ever going to give me anything beyond those limits, which in a sense what I truly want from science. I am unable to comprehend it thoroughly, but I'm too scared to get away from the thing I always felt like I am here to do.

You are right, I never really pondered into the fact that I have never been living this life, Life was just happening by itself all this time. Thanks for guiding me..!!

@walt Yeah I agree, all of the theories we have about the reality are mere insights. We tend to think of it as something objective ignoring the fact that the reality exists just because we do.

An elaborate study with various examples of the so called prejudices about talent which people carry around. It really would demolish any scruples you have about talent and will convince you that effort yields talent. Also it provides info about a special way known as deliberate practice which most successful people tend to use in one form or another to master their craft. Its worth a read..!!

@SaynotoKlaus Well, first of all you gotta understand that your mind works on conditioning, thoughts precede actions, more the number of thoughts about something more likely you are gonna act on it. Conditioning plays a major role in exciting those kind of thoughts in their respective capacity. Notice that there is no free will involved in here. You do that particular thing over and over again not because you are weak or anything, its just because thats what your mind got conditioned to, You might even feel like you want it yourself when you are on the verge of taking a decision whether to do it or not. But because your mind would still be processing those thoughts you would end up doing it eventually. So the only problem is to get away from those thoughts and the only way to do it is indulge and process other kind of thoughts by keeping the mind constantly involved in these new kind of thoughts. I achieved this by reading biographies and autobiographies of scientists. I chose scientists because I already was deeply into science. And reading about scientists ensured a deliberate and conscious involvement, which would let the mind process and hold these new thoughts with higher efficacy. You can choose the things of your interest, but I would recommend reading books which involve mental delight, as you gotta condition your mind for hours, over a period of a week or two, to start seeing some results. Its not without effort but it rewires your thought processes and slowly your mind gets conditioned differently.

Well, if somewhere inside you yourself label smoking as a bad thing, then yes, its bad for your ego, as you might be unconsciously judging yourself as a bad person whenever you smoke. This is self-sabotage. And this I think would hold you back a lot, and will not let your true potential to be unleashed.

I would like people to share about: 1. Your biggest obstacle to the skill you finally became excellent at. 2. What according to you kept you in the right direction. *This might help people understand how others are able to accomplish great feats.

Well, I have been addicted to many things in the past, and somehow I always managed to get rid of most of these addictions just over a decision. I never literally did them again. My case was a liitle different as I wasn't relying solely on my willpower to resist the temptations as I learned that it doesn't work. So i started doing an elaborate study of my addictions and I realized that It was not that I wanted that object, it was these compulsive thoughts about that thing that were responsible for my obsession with that thing. I noticed that these thoughts were running abnormally prior to other thoughts. So basically the problem at hand was to reduce the amount of these thoughts about that thing. I realized that my mind was conditioned with such thoughts over time. So i tried to condition it with different kind of thoughts. And somehow those things became less tempting. Since then I've been using it like a golden rule, and it has worked for me every time.

I wouldn't deny that there are no egoistic reasons involved in this pursuit. But I want to know what the reality is, that's what I am sure about. Nature has always fascinated me. I have strong urges to reason, contemplate, and study different aspects of the world that surrounds me. It has changed my entire way of life. On the other side, what meditation made me realize is that I myself is not that prior to the other things in the perception. The self and its rigorous ways started to look obsessive and boring. Why, I reasoned, do I stay 24 hrs with myself, after all, I don't belong to myself. What I still don't get it is whether even the authentic self is full of ego? I would claim that it is.

A cat that used to come at my house for her usual snack was found dead nearby, so i rushed there to see her. She was lying there motionless. I couldn't digest the fact that she is no more. But she wasn't the part of the reality anymore. Watching her dead made me ponder about my own death, I envisioned my dead face, doing which I felt strange sensations. I realized that I walk around taking these things for granted, unaware of the fact that this experience that I'm having right now is just for a few years. Even more importantly I exist in this universe for just ONCE and for a very short while, these dreams came to me and Its my responsibilty to make them real while I last. Whenever I come to this realization completely, instead of walking, I run like a wild dog from one place to another, even at home, as i can feel the clocks ticking in my mind.

I would like to find a way to go to another star systems or galaxies...!

Well I would suggest reading about people and their fascination with the subject, when you are able to see their love and curiosity to know and master their fields, gradually the fascination will get induced into you and you yourself will desire to think and ponder and study the subject in detail.

Whatever you are doing right now is a result of a complex phenomenon, but more significantly it depends upon the current circumstances and your past conditioning towards that kind of circumstances. If you condition your mind appropriately, you will be able to take better decisions. But notice that you don't consciously take any decision, the decision just comes and you feel like going with it.