SQAAD

@Leo Gura Ok. My question is this: Can i become wealthy while at the same time being a good person and maintaining my health?

@Leo Gura Eckhart nearly killed himself not by working 16 hours per day to become wealthy.

Can someome become wealthy while maintaining his health and not ruining his body by an excess of stress hormones, constantly running through his body. Leo has alluded that you must work like a madman to become rich. But what about Osho or Eckhart Tolle who became rich without ruining their bodies by too much stress?

@Human Mint No. This is false. Awakening doesnt make you understand everything at once. There are levels to this.

@Someone here Your life is a piece of cake until Life hits you really hard eventually.. Also because your parents are taking care of your survival and investing heavily on you.

@Malkom I intuit that God is Good. What about Nirvana and the cessation of all desires? Is it a pipe dream?

@Someone here Or.. he dies and awakens..

@Joshe What are the rules?

I deliberately used this title to stir up some emotions I will be brief and conscise because i have to engage in some survival functions soon. I was raised up not poor but not rich either. There was a time in my life where my needs where being met. My physical needs mostly. This allowed the opportunity to say for few years "fk survival. Im just gonna put all my energy and focus on spirituality" And i did that until it became untenable. Now i find myself regularly getting homicidal, feeling rage , bitterness and anger. Im not a violent person. I have just smashed few objects here and there, to allow the furious energy to move. I have come to realize that if i don't fullfill certain needs i will do bad things to myself or possibly even others. Check what the Unabomber did. Only thing that gives me joy is walking, reading, atttending NA meetings and doing my spiritual practice. The spiritual practice i do, is the most important thing in my life right now. I value it more than anything. But i need to eat good food and be othetwise healthy to maintain this practice. My problem is this: I feel very confused and i dont understand. What transcending survival even means? These urges and drives are like laws of nature that i dont ever see getting rid of. They can definitely be diminished in intensity but never obliterated (i assume). I have heard many contradictory things from teachers. Others are very survival based (like Leo). Othes like David Parish say "if you have a roof over your head and a meal inside yout stomach then you should be meditating 30 mins everyday like your life depends on it". How should one approach the continuous , never-ending adaptive problems of survival while at the same time pursuing spiritual work?

@Leo Gura You have talked about transending survival. Is that even posssible though? Suffering and selfishness is like a law of nature. I don't ever see transcending selfishness as i don't ever see transcending the law of gravity. I can become less selfish though. Could you talk more about that and give specific example?

@TheBG Interesting.

@Leo Gura Why is it selfishness?

@Leo Gura Yes. It's true.. But there are significant differences.. I just don't understand certain despicable behaviors. And i get resentful at certain people.

Every day I see more clearly that Leo’s ideas about selfishness, ego, and survival are accurate. It’s hard for me to accept this, because I’m not like most people, and I tend to assume others think and act like I do. But I’ve realized that someone who is drawn to Leo’s teachings already works on a different level than the average person. This isn’t about being morally better — it’s just an observation. How many people in real life are anything like Eckhart Tolle or Leo? Probably none. I know I haven’t met anyone like that. Living on my own for the past 13–14 months, in very harsh conditions, I’ve seen how petty, selfish, scared, and confused people can be. Here are the things I’ve confirmed for myself about the common, low-consciousness human: They act almost mechanically in most areas of life, except in the few things they’ve mastered. They come up with excuses to avoid doing the right thing, even when the right thing is obvious from looking at the whole situation. They are exremely selfish and focused only on what brings them pleasure or avoids pain. They only pay attention to two things: what benefits them and what threatens their comfort. They are fear-driven and not very loving. They always need a reason to care about someone. If there is no reason, they don’t bother.

@Leo Gura Interesting. I agree. But when in a normal state of Consciousness, it seems like the limited ego mind can always spray doubt and skepticism into everything. This is a challenge that i don't know how it gets resolved...