BlessedLion

there is a cost to authenticity, but the cost of being inauthentic is much higher

I think it's because 1) You are showing that you have the balls not to conform, you aren't afraid of social conditioning and being seen as an outsider, this immediately shows that you are okay on your own and not needy. Needy people are not authentic, they twist themselves into a pretzel to be liked and get their "needs" met. 2) When you are authentic there is a certain "aliveness" to your being and energy. And that is captivating, have you ever heard someone explain something they didn't care about and could just feel the dissociation and numbness in their voice? Now, have you ever heard someone lit up talking about a topic they love? This is the difference but it's like that 24/7, authentic people are moving from alive energy so it's more captivating and interesting. 3) It shows confidence and uniqueness, i truly believe we are all unique fingerprints of God and when you find your authentic self you are expressing that fingerprint and there is a certain beauty to that and it's much more interesting that just being some copy/paste (Insert personality here based on where they are from) Peter Ralston is a great example of authenticity, there is something about him that is so engaging and interesting even when he's just being himself.

All true, @integration journey that's the problem, those platforms are basically soft porn funnels these days. Having those apps is like trying to quit drinking at a bar. Which many men aren't aware of they are just scrolling insta then the next moment they are on pornhub and don't know why.

sure

100%, this is almost even better than the sex or whatver Where's the fun in that?

Ture, I think it's a balance, teachers can help extract what's already within and inspire us and help us see the way with less distraction and traps, but we also have to do the heavy lifting and inner work

If i had never done pick up or cold approach and learned those skills, to create connection with a total stranger outside of an already established social circle, i'd probably have had 75-80% less sex in my life

You gotta just do it and treat the rejection, cringe, and failures as exposure therapy. Use it as a meditation to sit with those parts of you that feel not enough and awkward, bask in the pain of it, enjoy the sting of it. This is the only way to truly keep it sustainable because if you spin into stories of being a loser, socially weird, etc every time you go out it will be miserable and you'll give up. You have to make it fun, don't do gimmicky shit, be yourself. It's actually a great training field for training your mind and healing parts of yourself, cuts right to the ego. You can turn it into a craft or path of mastery even.

Absolutely. This is known as Saktipat and it is very real. Don't underestimate the power and effect one can have on another with one powerful conversation. Not in some fantasy Jesus way, walking on water and having everyone who looks at you dissolve into unconditional love, but in a more human way. One retreat can change the whole trajectory of someones life

I agree, this isn't really news and it doesn't really matter.

No way that Trump Tweet is real....holy shit....he's actually a heartless psychopath.

What do you think the solution is? Date around? Multiple girfriends and polyamory? One Goddess/Marriage? Celibacy? I'm curious what your take on this is. I spent about 8 months of voluntary celibacy while doing ancient practices like meditation semen retention, yogic transmutation of sexual energy and it gave me super human levels of creativity, discipline, energy, and connection to the Divine. I mean it was unreal, never experienced anything like that, it was like that movie "Limitless" I felt like I was on the Limitless Pill just by directing and retaining my sexual energy Now I've realized that i want to come back into the body and date around, it's not putting women on a pedestal but also realizing that human intimacy is something i'm ready for again. Not in an attached way, but let's be honest, if I don't take action on it nothing will happen. So many guys do this "don't pedastalize her" attitude and they just end up sexless and watching porn, you have to at least take some action, doesn't have to be in a needy way though. And i also don't want to do the pick up douche bag thing, that is soul-less. Thinking I can meet some conscious women who are open to a more Tantric container, there are plenty where I live.

Yeah, it's a tough situation. I really think many men are going to ruin their lives with this by not knowing how addictive it is before it's too late. This has already happened but I think it's going to be on a large scale until the government and other institutions step in. It'll be like how they didn't know ciggarettes were bad for you until it was too late, but this is even worse because it chips away at the psyche and brain chemistry on a deep evolutionary level. Not to mention the spiritual consequences.

I actually agree with Owen, I also think that life is the psychedelic when you are truly in tune with it and engaged. There is no need to blast your nervous system. But i've spoken on this enough here with great detail and it never seems to land, so whatever, people can do what they're going to do. But I don't think it's very kind to your mind, body and nervous system. I agree with @Jodistrict that it retraumatizes the system and there is a dark energy to it, never truly feels stable. Once you truly have God anything but just resting your own Beingness and Heart seems kinda silly. The horizontal (consciousness) goes forever, it's cool to contemplate and explore it, but also .... this.....now....infinity.... perfection..... I think psychedelics are great gate-openers but they have a lot of risk and I see so many people falling into the shortcut they provide. But it's not really a shortcut at all because there are no shortcuts in this game. Most truly profound and embodied teachers got there sober. Pick-up has it's problems and can certainly corrupt your soul, but it can also be foundational for many men. More men need pick-up today than ever, because so many are just submitting to becoming porn addict incels. The problem with most pickup culture and material is it completely disregards the women and her being, it's all about the guy reaching the goal of getting laid in some psychopathic way. This is toxic and harmful and also doesn't really even provide great results. The problem with most pick-up is that you have to act inauthentically, you have to do little tricks and gimmicks and psychological games that you put in front of your own self and authentic being to "stay in frame" or "attract" but let me tell you when you are just being yourself and she chooses THAT, then you have sex, it is a much cleaner experience, it's fine to learn to pillars of escalation, eye contact, etc but the psycholgical gimmicks are where your soul dies. Recently i have been contemplating if there is a way to attract and seduce in a conscious way. Surely, there have been men of past who have a natural and honest charisma that results in sex but doesn't harm the woman or require lying, manipulation, and ghosting. Where the woman actually benefits from the experience as well without needing it to be anything other than what it was. Almost like a maturity around the whole thing. Pick-up is wildly immature, I can't even do it anymore, I'd rather just not get laid than do that bullshit. I am still working on this contemplation and will expirement but i think of a guy like Hank Moody from Californication as this type of naturally attractive man that women genuinely want to sleep with for it's own sake. Not because you gaslit her inner child or posed as some alpha douchebag, but your just calm and cool in that energy and honest about what you want and can provide.

Great question, i can honestly say i don't regret much, i could say i wish i had spent my college years doing something more meaningful and meditating rather than just partying and sex but actually i needed to experience that and get it out of my system. Maybe i regret not dating girls more, like i could've had more girlfriends, instead of just hook ups and not giving up so quickly on that or not prioritizing it. Also, i wish i never started watching porn, that seems to have only had negative results in my life, but also breaking free of it has taught me a lot too. But all in all i don't regret much and am very grateful for everything i've gotten to experience, i feel like i've burned through most of my karma and at 32 I can fully devote myself to my life purpose, which is ahead of the curve in general.