Bill W

@Surfingthewave That's nice thanks. Nice topic. For me, having a dependency on alcohol and sleeping pills led me to Alcoholics Anonymous, and a general reboot on how to deal with my suffering. I became interested in things I'd never considered before such as spirituality, religion, and I had the realisation that I can't acquire and implement better ways of living unless previous ways were surrendered, let go, and jettisoned. Keys elements/quotes from AA Selfishness is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear and self-delusion. Self-righteousness and avoiding looking at your own shortcomings, the very thing we condemned in others, was our own evil. Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. We impose our instincts on others. We step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. We must place spiritual growth before the satisfaction of instincts. If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God’s help, continually surrender these hobbling liabilities. Then we can be set free to live. We must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of another. Honesty with ourselves and others gets us sober, but it is tolerance that keeps us that way.

Other areas will be left to our imagination

Thanks for the reply. I don't dispute any of that.... but on the other side of the coin, we don't need to over complicate it. We can keep it simple still. I know you are not saying different and I am coming from a different angle, but mindfulness practice has great benefits for people who couldn't care less about some of the points you make above. I'm thinking of the simple practice of being mindful and calming monkey mind and introducing some discipline. There are mindfulness practice's going on that have nothing to do with Buddhism and don't claim to be related to Buddhism. I'm honestly not trying to attack your perspective. I know you are thinking bigger picture and it sounds like a really interesting essay. I'd like to even take on an essay like that myself. I'm sure you'll learn a lot researching it and writing it.

I love this. The speaker is Charles R Swindoll who I really like. I downloaded the transcript of this clip and tweaked it a little and made it into a prayer/meditation I am going to do at least once per day. I use the term prayer/meditation interchangeably sometimes. I Trust in Him with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways I acknowledge Him and let Him make my path straight. When I lie awake at night unable to sleep, I do not Trust. When I doubt principles and promises, I do not Trust. When I seek reassurance from others, I do not Trust. When I manipulate, I do not Trust. When I self-seek, I do not Trust. When I step in and take charge, I do not Trust. When I give in to temptation, I do not Trust. When I cling to others or worldly possessions, I do not Trust. I will put my worry aside and inform Him that at this moment I rest in Him and Him alone.

@silene Thank you! That's very kind of you to say and thanks for taking the time to check out the journal and giving feedback. Appreciate it. All the best to you as well.

@Martin123 Interesting debate, but can I ask about the above? I've added the bold italic above into your quote I was just wondering.... why does the development of mindfulness have to be understood in conjunction with the development of wisdom, compassion and ethics?

Well in that case you must deploy unconditional love and acceptance and tell him you respect his beliefs

He is trolling you. Where do you get your boyfriends from?

Is it normal etiquette for an enlightened person to appoint themselves as enlightened and refer to themselves as enlightened? Is there some kind of quality control on it or verification process?

?‍♂️?

I respect everyone's beliefs including yours! ?✌

@zeroISinfinity I already know you think you are God. I was asking him. You established your God like qualities way back my friend.

Do you believe you are God? Serious question.

Mindfulness

Good topic. I recently made the below entry onto my journal. Anyway, I think it's my version of what you have done here! I have developed three questions to ask myself when my peace of mind has been disturbed. I got this idea from a mixture of Osho, Don Miguel Ruiz, Albert Ellis and Alcoholics Anonymous. Osho refers to following "the law" in his book The Buddha Said. Osho writes that when we feel like shit it is because we have gone against the law and we need to reflect on how we have gone against the law. He says don't be in conflict with the law if you want to be happy. So, if I am upset or otherwise agitated I come back to these three questions. Every time, at least one of them applies to my upset, and my upset is a warning sign that I have gone against the law. 1. Am I sure? 2. Have I taken something personally? 3. Are my demands out of touch with reality?

I think he means this

This gives me goosebumps. It's speaks directly to my fear.

Good topic actually. Would be interested in seeing which other teachers share this belief that we are all God. I didn't realise that there would be so many outside of Leo. Obviously there are.

That's strange. Your post @Meditationdude is 100 times more arrogant than his.

Steps to wellbeing, as they apply to me Action Plan - What are the problems? - What are the consequences? - What are the pay offs? - Why change? What are the potential benefits? - How would the outside world see that you’ve changed? What would they notice or observe? - What 3 simple steps could you take in the next 24 hrs that might help? Questions to ask - Am I sure? - Have I taken something personally? - Are my expectations realistic? Behaviour (internal) - Meditation – prayer, mindfulness, contemplation, attention, breathing - Study – reading content, listening to content, watching content - Shadow Work Behaviour (external) - Body language - Listening - Spoken word - Stepping outside of comfort zone - Impulse control - Delayed gratification - Connecting with others Biological - Nutrition - Substance use - Exercise - Sleeping - Relaxation Values - Humility - Open Mindedness - Honesty - Compassion & Forgiveness - Faith & Courage

You definitely get the prize for most difficult to understand thread title The So Wrong Leo's Theory About "Everything is <Infinite Love> and Hippie Stuff". And anyway, give Leo time, he hasn't reached out to the African continent yet. I'm sure it's on his list of things to sort out.

You giving us a history lesson doesn't make her post any less valid. The only thing she could of emphasised is CAN lead to fattening. Unless your an athlete high carb diets can be trouble and it's a danger many obese people aren't fully aware of.

Maybe you reached your quota of new threads started But seriously, is there a danger you are making your journey too academic? I mean what does it matter about free will? Will your life be any different if you end up getting this answer? There's a billion YouTube debates on this, people going round and round in circles with such questions. Anyway, yeh, don't take Leo's response personally, I don't think he means to belittle you or anything. I will say this, at least when you start a thread you give some context and explain what you are trying to discuss, rather than others who simply write a thread heading and then write ?????? and expect everyone else to do their work for them, or people that open up a new thread with YouTube clip and that's all.

Gotcha. With comments like "you don't exist" or "it's all a dream" I just laugh at that. I don't take it seriously, but perhaps not everyone can laugh it off. I know it's not intended to be a joke. I think I read your comment wrong. It sounded like you were saying Leo is telling people to accept his theory and teaching without question, which I don't think is the case. All of Leo's teachings are a concept, an idea, a belief. That's what I think is important to remember. There is no need to have nightmares or depression about not existing and all that jazz.