Arman

In fact, it's a very common pitfall and stepping stone. I suggest that yes indeed there is a genuine joy from activity and work, though you should explore this for your own. Perhaps inquire into what 'genuine joy' means to you. The more we dissolve neurosis, the more genuine joy we can experience as opposed to lesser pleasures. Lesser pleasures might stimulate us temporarily but come with a cost and lead to unhappiness down the line. These are different to experiences of genuine joy, which occur when we can let go of the the 'neurosis of ego'. The mind has these neurotic contractions through its innocence, attempting to grasp at and attach itself through the various different facets of experience in order to increase joy and resist and escape pain, but in doing so actually detracts from genuine joy and creates further neurosis. This does not however, mean that all experiences, all desires, all pleasures and all striving are merely the projection of ego contraction. It almost seems there is an implication that if we were to dissolve ego, we wouldn't wish to do anything. But that's just not the case. Consider plants and nature and the way life carries on creating. Even plants have a kind of striving. Are they doing so out of their neurosis? I'm sure that's true for a lot of people, but not all. Depends on the degree of awareness. Generally speaking, I personally think that many western values do tend to drive people deeper into neurosis and fear driven ego, but that doesn't have to be the case. I think it's more of a reflection of where humanity is at in general. Possibly... maybe even probably. Explore for yourself and discover your motives. If you discover they are based in fear, lack or other qualities of the contracted ego, then aim to remove and dissolve these things. Once dissolved, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't want to be an architect anymore. You may continue to seek and move towards that goal but with greater results, more ease and you'll be less likely to create more neurosis. Your goal will be more in line with good qualities like love, creativity and expansion. Or maybe you discover something that excites you far, far more.

I like your questions. I think you're on the precipice of understanding. I really like Leo's video on confusion and embracing it and letting it do its thing. In my experience, it is an intense paradox. It's true that these pursuits don't bring fulfillment inherently, but rather, it seems the case that they (meaning the pursuits, actions, material circumstances, paths etc) will facilitate and mirror fulfillment as a spontaneous emanation of inherent fulfilled Being. That is to say, if you know you are already fulfilled regardless of material circumstances, then you will gravitate and align with fulfilling circumstances. Alternatively, if you believe that you need material circumstances to fulfill you, then you will align with experiences that reinforce the sense that you need something to make you feel better. Ironically this leaves you never feeling fulfilled. This is an endless loop. Therefore, the practical application of this understanding (as I present it, anyway) can be seen in two ways. They may seem contradictory but that's paradox for you 1. Look at your basic fundamental assumption; that you need to do anything in order to be fulfilled, aka, 'I am not enough, I am lack, and I must take action in order to relieve this lack' -- and then simply choose to believe otherwise. That you are fulfilled as is. Repeat and instill this belief until you know that no actions are necessary. 2. Take actions anyway. In the face of your discomfort, fear and confusion, act anyway! Act in the knowing that you are already fulfilled, but explorations of the material world, experiences, different paths etc is what Fulfillment or Being wants and does. It is simply its nature. Do both, burn the candle at both ends and over time (after all, just understanding these concepts intellectually or having a few moments of energetic clarity about the matter won't dissolve your discomfort and confusion in one go) you'll start to grock it and things become more effortless and less strained.

the archetypes run deep

Thanks for exposing me to this. I just went through it. I found it both fun and insightful. I got Intuitive Mystic Sage as my top, also. I think whether you're a man or woman or whether you're dominantly poled towards feminine or masculine makes absolutely no difference. I think historically we see less female sages primarily for cultural reasons. Also I once heard a teacher respond to the question of why there aren't more women saints/enlightened beings. I can't remember which teacher it was, but he said that it's not the case, rather that we are just exposed more to the men. Part of their response/reasoning was to simply state that women are just less inclined to 'brag', so to speak. Not to say that saints are going to be bragging, but in the sense that women are just less inclined to do spontaneous public discourses, create a gathering of followers, etc. Rather, I am sure, they are quietly doing their own profound work in solitude or within their community. Hence we just see far less of them.

you and I both, brother you and I both

you don't need psychic abilities to attract women, that's sounds a little rapey other than that it sounds good. go for it.

Very normal. Be well rested and stay hydrated.

I've found it to be experientially accurate, yes. Power vs Force is a really fascinating book if you haven't read it. Supposedly the entire framework has been calibrated through Kinesiology, which is a radical and contentious notion to say the least. It's a rabbit hole of an idea, once you opt into it, it has some pretty wild implications.

God's a touchy subject. I'll paste an extract for the guidelines as a brief reminder to myself to keep on track. Feel free to substitute the word God for Spirit, The Universe, or whatever. In many spiritual disciplines and paths, either a personal or impersonal relationship with God is a tool for transcending or becoming enlightened. I think some might say it can be limiting or misguided, other might say it is useful, some might say it is fundamental. I personally think that given different paths, all these are true at one point or another. For example in the Bakhti school of yoga, the primary practice is one of devotion. Thinking of God at all given moments seems to me like one of (or) the primary practice/s. Here are two extracts from the Bhagavad Gita, a cornerstone hindu scripture. In this context, Krishna is the embodiment and representation of God. We could say that within these practices or paths that the idea of God (or any avatar) is only a symbolic representation of some transcendental omnipresent object, but still, it remains clear to me still that many saints and revered yogi's maintain a very sweet and personal inner relationship, almost like with a lover or something. I also personally suspect that many of these individuals have reached enlightenment. So what are your opinions and experiences on this subject? What is your personal relationships, if any, with God or the universe?

I suggest you dive deep into your fear of death.

I believe its meaning is of the life force or primal energy of all creation. It's can also be used symbolically to describe the energetic awakening process of the individual as described by eastern yogic traditions. As kundalini awakes, consciousness rises as the energy centers open and the body is purified of conditioning. (and merges with the infinite?) Any practices based on raising kundalini (especially pranayamas) should be done with great care and after a lot of study to reduce risk of difficulty or calamity. Ideally under guidance. Yeah, the first one.

There are a ton of free books in the public domain on project gutenberg. My recommendation is to just get an ebook reader or use your smartphone/tablet and sign up to scribd.com (or any similar alternatives, but scribd is the biggest that I know) . It's like netflix for books. I think it's like 12 bucks a month but it claims to have "hundreds of thousands" of e-books available that you can instantly read. It's kind of like having access to a huge e-book library. I've been using it for some months now and I love it. It's got a lot of good stuff on there. It's what I used to start a reading habit. If you (or anyone else) is interested, I can send you an invite code to get the first 2 months for free, just send a PM if you want.

The topic Identifying Threats To Productivity inspired me to make this thread. I was thinking of all of the unproductive habits I have and I thought, jeeze, where do I start? I think it can be very effective to pick a few habits and eliminate them, replacing them with habits that are more in alignment with your goals. Then over time keep eliminating more bad habits. However has anyone considered or tried creating more revolutionary change in their life - like identifying and eliminating all bad habits in one fell swoop? Completely change your lifestyle from the start to end of your day. I suspect this probably wouldn't work for most. Going cold turkey on an intense life change is probably really challenging since all of your programming, your emotional safety nets, and the activities that were sedating you from your discomfort would be calling you back. I'm wondering if it's feasible or if anyone has done it. It's certainly happened in certain isolated or extreme cases like if we look at Eckhart Tolle. What about for the laymen? Would anyone care to share their ideas, insight or experiences with creating more radical change in ones life?

You might enjoy this thread as well:

Sure. People can and do overcome. I also think some people simply could use help and there's nothing wrong with that. And even if they could do it themselves, they might find a lot of use and accelerated growth from interacting with professionals or people experienced in mental illness, depression, addiction, or whatever else. Even if you're doing it "yourself" chances are that you're drinking from a wellspring of knowledge that's being indirectly shared by others. So in that sense, you're never really doing it yourself. I think that sometimes the compassion and guidance of another can be critical. People work themselves into emotional and egoic patterns so deep that you could drop all the knowledge, affirmations and methods of subconscious reprogramming you want and it will be of no use. I think we've all had an experience where we tried to help someone who was depressed and found all our spiritual kung-fu fell flat. I think you're sharing a message of empowerment and that's a wonderful thing and I think for some it will be very useful. For others, who knows? Sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm responsible for my own thoughts and intuitions, and if they're not coming from me, then it personally makes no difference whether the message comes from my own voice or someone else. Sometimes you're graced or blessed enough to be able to resolve your own conflicts, and if not, I would hope that grace might come from elsewhere.

This thread might be of some interest to you, though I haven't properly read it myself

ENFP Obviously no personality type is truly any better than any other that being said ENFP is the best and I win

I can't speak for him, though I would personally say that he's being fairly direct in that meaning and that he's implying it in a relatively literal sense. The looseness comes in at exactly what he means by quantum level phenomena, and the nitty gritties like his personal definitions of how it interacts with consciousness. At a certain point, I think some of his words or language do become tools to facilitate a mindset, as you said, but I think it's because it's the most useful and practical way to express them.

Best time to set the precedent is as soon as you wake up because there is little to no emotional momentum built up. You can spend a few minutes practicing active gratitude. (thinking of all the things you are grateful for) .

I would encourage you to check out his stuff yourself. Hating Deepak is an easy and trendy thing to do these days. I think his ideas and messages are sound, though a lot of people have problems with some of the language he uses. Particularly the high priests of science.

C'mon dude, I think you already know the answer to this.

Inner change can often be externally intense. Especially with long stretches of meditation and dissolving the ego. Within my personal experience, if I found myself getting intense emotional flares or sudden fear or feeling a little crazy or whatever, I found it useful to reduce the length/intensity of my practice for a few days or weeks until I was grounded again. Experiment for yourself. Don't abandon meditation/practice altogether but adjust, because you may find that you may be particularly sensitive for a while. All in all it's a good thing. After the extremes balance out, they integrate. Outbursts with the family suck. Fortunately who you are as a person in general will outweigh small intense moments. You might want to apologize and let them know you were having a hard time.

Permission granted.

Check out The Presence Process by Michael Brown. One of the most intense and beautiful practices/books I've read. If you're into Eckhart Tolle, Teal Swan, Byron Katie, etc, then look no further. This is hardcore, clear, compassionate shadow-work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yFC2nJqVog If you enjoy him from that video, there's a handful of stuff on youtube if you search 'michael brown presence process'

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