AlphaAbundance

Should I replace meditation practices (mindfulness probably not concentration) for self-inquiry? Will this improve my results? Since self-inquiry is a form of meditation?

@Schahin Everything will, is and has occured as time is only a limit within this reality;

I meant if I am doing both meditation and self-inquiry. Should I switch the time I spend meditating to self-inquiry and have overall more self-inquiry time and zero meditation?

It was said (in Advanced Self-Inquiry Tips and elsewhere) that you must challenge or eliminate identifications before focusing on the perceiver/awareness otherwise you are wasting your time. Is this true? How do you challenge or eliminate identifications? What else must you do before focusing on the perceiver? What are some good resources for self-inquiry? Does anyone have a step by step method of what you must do in self-inquiry? Also what do you do or in what manner do you question after you get an answer of what your identification is? (I am the body, I am those thoughts). I tend to argue with my myself like "Ok even if I am perceiving it, it can still be me", "Why does me perceiving something mean it can't be me", "That logic is just one of the million ways one could see this". I think it might be better to just focus on the perceiver while avoiding thinking and let it reveal itself but I am concerned that you must challenge identifications first otherwise it won't be effective.

@winterknight @Preetom Ok should you eliminate identifications before returning to awareness or can you just return to the awareness and it will reveal itself. Also, how does one know they are actually in emptiness and not a subtle sensation or thought or whatever.

After you get the answer "yeah I'm the mind, I'm those thoughts". What do you do? Just stop? Question again to try and find what you are looking to find?

What to do when your completely and utterly confused about everything? Like "how do I know anyone's advice towards this question is valid" levels of confused. Like "how can I be certain of anything?" levels of confused. Like "how do we know experiementation even reveals truth" levels of confused. I have started and quit habits (concentration, meditation, self-inquiry, lifting, etc) many times due to uncertainty over if I am on the right path or if this is just unnecessary suffering/effort or if this effort is even worth it. Honestly been stuck like this for over a year now and feeling hopeless.

For example, 10 Min Concentration 20 Min Meditation 30 Min Self-Inquiry This would be a 1:2:3 ratio; What is a good starting amount for each of these (or ratio) and goal of amount of time to build up to? Basically how much time (incrementally as well) should I be devoting to each of these?

@Leo Gura How do you take action even while confused? Like which one of the several actions should I take? I'm confused...

@Gili Trawangan Intuition. Hmm

@Leo Gura Haha I watched that video and took full notes. I'm embracing the confusion but still stagnating

@winterknight I have tried therapy twice (idk if that's different from specialized psychoanalysis). Both therapists knew little on enlightement, epistomelogy, metaphysics and I couldn't articulate my confusions in a sane or clear manner. But I will try giving it another go though. I have a 225-250ug of LSD which I am probably going to take soon to finally get some fucking clarity, have a mystical/no-self/blahblah experience

Struggle with these

Why is helping people or contribution important (in general, as it relates to life purpose, as it relates to consciousness, spirituality)? Aren't you just creating that meaning anyway?What's different or special about the meaning you assign to contribution? Also, is this expanded on in the life purpose course? At @Leo Gura and others who took the course

@NoSelfSelf Possibly through middle school and elementary approval conditioning, rejections and fitting in attempts

@Sahil Pandit Cool people, people with status, everyone

@SunnyNewDay So hedonism?

Why is helping people or contribution important (in general, as it relates to life purpose, as it relates to consciousness, spirituality)? Aren't you just creating that meaning anyway?What's different or special about the meaning you assign to contribution? Also, is this expanded on in the life purpose course? At @Leo Gura and others who took the course

@Manjushri ACCEPTANCE GO BEYOND PLUS ULTRA

While I do the practice intense existential fear comes up and even after all around all the time nonstop. Feelings of confusion, lostness and maybe even terror come up. Some advice, insight and maybe even comfort? In addition to this feeling of dread, fear of wasting my time doing this and having no "concrete", "real", "life-mattering" results.

In the concept of unconditional happiness it seems like the only thing worth doing would be to work toward unconditional happiness (like through enlightement) than maintain your living (food, water, shelter). So basically it seems like things like socializing, life purpose, business, entertainment, relationships, hobbies are all useless if happiness can be unconditional. This basically sucks my motivation dry anytime I think of it. So why do anything at all if happiness is unconditional (except working toward unconditional happiness and maintaining living conditions)? Similarly, why not just pursue enlightenment and say fuck off to the rest of personal development and your life areas (social, career, hobbies, etc) as you will already be happy? Why not just sit down and do nothing every day? Is it that the joy from unconditional happiness great isnt that great of a feeling and other things provide some more upward curves? Does unconditional happiness just move the baseline?

@Preetom Deep gratitude. @David HammondHmmm I see but why would you have to celebrate that freedom in the first place? And wouldn't personal development end at enlightenment (as you have unconditional happiness) so there would be no reason to develop?

@LastThursday Deep gratitude for the expanation - more thorough than I could even begin to know to ask for. Now (unrelated or maybe related )do you feel satisfied that you have made an impact on another human being? Do you feel adequate or esteemed from the approval I just gave you?

@Dumb Enlightened @Dumb Enlightened Grateful for the expanation. Why would you care if your relationship is better? Are you just completely detached (in a good way)? Do you ever feel desire for sex, TV or anything (what happens when such a desire is unsatisfied)? Do you have any goals - if so why do you pursue them?

@Anton_Pierre Interesting although anyone who posts could be lying or deluded. Why are you interested?