nistake

Check out the two episodes of contemplation. Just a side note: Don't try to "kill" your ego. That's quite a neurotic way to look at it. Instead, work out your emotional/psychological issues and traumas and work on accepting yourself fully with self-love. You won't be able to do this in 6 days, that's for sure, but this kind of solo retreat is a perfect way to start this progress.

Yup, an episode about shadow work would be awesome.

Yeah, that's a good idea. I like to do hatha yoga exercises or even simple streching before meditation (I don't do Kriya). The human body tends to get tensed if it is not used regulary/properly (i.e. sitting at a desk all day). I'm not really talking about preparing for intense energies, but the simple fact that it's much better meditating/doing yoga with a nice and relaxed loose body.

Well, I think every job/profession has the shiny side and not-so-shiny sides to it. The shiny side that you see in the final product. In your case, the complete animation. It looks awesome and it's really satisfying. However, it's necessary to bite the bullet sometimes and just power through the difficult parts of the work. Let's take a look at Leo. I'm sure that his business is insanely satisfying and meaningful. But I'm pretty sure that it has several aspects that are not so exciting or even downright boring and tedious (just like every other job/profession). For instance, finances, answering to emails, moderating the forum, editing videos (that can be a huge pain in the ass in my opinion), etc. Maybe Leo enjoys some of these, who knows? The important thing is, sometimes you just have to find the strength to power through the difficult parts of your work. You have to know that it's gonna be worth it.

Or 'The Way of Liberation' by Adyashanti. Short and practical book straight to the point.

@Leo Gura Just out of curiosity: game designer as in programmer (like back-end stuff) or 3D modeling, texturing and other artsy stuff?

I think those are classic symptoms of your shadow. One of the forum users here has some great videos about it. Check these out, great stuff:

Quite insightful, great stuff.

Joe Rogan

It wasn't so bad in my opinion. Obviously it wasn't made for hardcore spirituality crowds, but that doesn't mean that "oh no, they corrupted the holy psychedelics, these people didn't even deserve to use them, yada-yada". It's a lightweight stuff for the average netflix user. It's great at that and it's sort of informative. At least, it doesn't demonize the use of these drugs. That's a start.

@Elton Yup. Don't expect straight answers right away, just let it all out. That alone can be really helpful.

A funny story from an interview with Adyashanti: One day, when I was thirty-three, something happened without any emotion, which, for me, was absolutely necessary: I heard the call of a bird outside, and a thought came up from my gut, not from my head: Who hears this sound? The next thing I knew, I was the bird, and I was the sound, and I was the person listening; I was everything. I thought, I’ll be damned. I had tasted this at twenty-five, but there had been so much energy and spiritual byproduct. This time I didn’t get elated. It was just factual. I got up and went into the kitchen to see if I was the stove, too. Yeah, I was the stove. Looking for something more mundane, I went into the bathroom. What do you know: I was the toilet, too. Quite funny tbh All jokes aside, this interview is really insightful. It cleared up a few things for me. You can read it here: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/384/who-hears-this-sound

Well, there may be several reasons for that. I suggest you open up an empty Word document and write down the exact same thing you wrote in the title. Do the stream-of-consciousness journaling stuff. Don't limit yourself, don't try to reason, don't accept the easy answers. Just keep writing and see what comes up.

Maybe check out this book: https://www.adyashanti.org/store/publications/books/the-end-of-your-world-531?sorton=dpublicationdate&sortorder=asc&nstart=1&start=1&n=5&subjectid=&searchTitle=

@playdoh That's all fine man. Just because you engage in spiritual practises, you can enjoy the mundane things as well. No need to be a recluse and renounce everything.

That's good and all, but try to explain these things to a person who's never even heard about spirituality/ego/enlightenment. I think it's fair for these people to start off with basic stuff. Like working out emotional issues, resolving traumas, maintaining a healthy lifestyle (exercise/diet/etc), then move on to enlightenment work.

Well, meditation shouldn't be just a hobby of yours hoping that you'll get those "magical" benefits. If you take meditation seriously, it should be a lifestyle. There's nothing wrong with wanting benefits at first, but after a while you need to do some contemplation about why're you're doing it. You'll get those benefits anyway if you're sincere.

Definitely, but I try to be mindful even when I engage with unconscious hobbies.

This was a great talk. I quite like Adyashanti's attitude. He doesn't really mess around, he gives it to you straight in an everyday language. A lot of spiritual teachers tend to romanticize enlightenment as if it was a super-powerful blissful state that you can stay in 24/7. Which is not really the case.

Now that's an interesting question.

Try to be as mindful as possible during the gaming session. Focus on your body and thoughts/emotions while playing. Notice when and why you get triggered and try to relax your body as much as you can. It takes some time to get used to this conscious way of playing but it's worth it.

Found a neat article. I know it's nothing new and this is not for the super-enlightened people here. Just a quick reminder: Do you ever dwell on past events, wishing you done things differently? Do you ever wish the weeks away, living only for weekends? Do you ever catch yourself daydreaming, wishing you were somewhere else? This is how many people spend their days, lost in thought, either projecting into the future or dwelling in the past. But life is now. Think about it. Is it ever not now? Is it ever not the present moment? When you recall an event from the past, you recall it in the now. It is a memory trace, which can only be experienced in the present moment. It might seem real, but can you touch it, feel it, or act on it? No, you cannot. It’s the same for future events. Can you touch, hear, or feel the future before it is now? Of course not. You can only imagine a probable future, which can only be done in the now. Nothing ever happens outside of the present moment. Everything you’ve ever experienced, or will experience, happens in the now. EVERYTHING. Problems don’t exist Problems are not real. They are simply projections of your mind. Does this statement piss you off? I wouldn’t be surprised, especially if life is giving you a hard time. If this is the case, ask yourself: what problems exist right now? Maybe you can’t afford the rent. Maybe you’re in a doomed relationship. You might even be physically unwell, or about to lose your job. These are challenging situations for sure, but they are not problems. They only become problems when your mind gets involved. So what’s the difference between a problem and a challenge? Your ability to act. Let’s say that you can’t afford to pay the rent. You might be worried about getting evicted, or finding somewhere else to live. But can you act on these problems? No, because they are not yet real. They are only probable futures, projected by your mind. Challenges are different. Challenges are grounded in the present moment, and these you can act upon. Let’s go back to the rent issue. What’s the challenge? What can you do now? Instead of worrying about getting evicted, you could apply for a part-time job, sell some belongings, or ask someone for a loan. It’s the same for a failing relationship. Instead of agonizing over a potential break-up, maybe you need to discuss a sticky topic, change your behaviour, or actually break up. You can do this with any perceived problem. Take a person who is suffering from ill health. This seems to qualify for a present moment problem. But it ’s not. The problems only arise when you start worrying about potential complications, or if you start fixating about your healthier old self. I’m not saying it’s easy. Coping with ill health is a huge challenge — I’ve had my own struggles — but for any illness or physical pain, acceptance is the best course of action. This is backed up by a large body of research, but more importantly, acceptance is a challenge you can act on now. Take away message Nothing ever happens outside of the now. Every feeling, every action, and everything you will ever experience happens in the present moment. Problems, on the other hand, are grounded in time. You might be sad about the past or worried about the future. But they cannot exist in the present moment, and as a result, cannot be acted upon. Challenges are different. Challenges are based in the now and can be acted upon. This is critical. Because it’s only by acting, which is always in the moment, that you can make meaningful changes in your life. https://medium.com/swlh/problems-dont-exist-in-the-present-645032cd1c5

You shouldn't inhibit yourself hobby-wise. Do what you feel like doing. Of course I'm not talking about a porn bender and watching TV shows for 10 hours straight. Personally, I quite like playing Overwatch, so if I have some spare time, I play a few matches. I try to be as mindful as possible while playing. It's much more fun that way.