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@herghly No one here can speak for Leo. But I'm definitely a believer in affirmations. The hardest part of making affirmations work for you is actually doing them. People don't get results with them because they say them a few times and stop. Affirmations should be repeated so often they become your mantras. You should find yourself saying them in regular conversation with people. Or saying things like "one of my mantras is ...". It's that sheer volume that really makes an impact on how you see the world. The other struggle I've seen with affirmations is that a good affirmation should make you uncomfortable. It should push your current self-image. For instance, let's say you use the affirmation "I love myself completely and totally". If you have some with a poor self-image say that, it's actually going to make them feel uncomfortable because they don't believe it. There's too much cognitive dissonance. So you have to get over that initial hump of feeling like you're telling yourself this massive lie. You will change your mind as long as you don't quit on it.

@Jonson First prove that there are these things called "other people".

Praise thee. We mortals are not worthy of your divine Enlightened presence.

@Slade Yes and no. You never want to take one concept and run too far with it. And this is definitely one of them. Suffering undoubtedly can produce growth in people. All my biggest personal leaps have occurred after periods of suffering and I definitely wouldn't be who I am without them. There's different explanations for this. In a book called Anti-fragile Nassam Taleb presents an argument that we need a certain level of disorder, chaos and breakdown in order to come back stronger. In spiritual work, people talk about the purification of the subconscious mind or the raising of vibration. So there's definitely something to the idea that suffering = growth. And it can be a powerful belief to help you cope in those hard times. But here's why I say you don't want to run too far with it. The point of suffering is ultimately so that you don't have to suffer anymore! When you go through experiences like that, they force you to let go of attachment. By letting go of attachment, happiness becomes your default way of being in the world. Life is meant to be light, joyful and easy. Not a constant bashing where you're in pain all the time. But if you think you need pain, that is what you'll get. So use suffering as a tool. But also be willing to let go of masochism and move up into the light.

@Patang That's a bold statement. Why are you here making this post then?

@Sahil Pandit I have a formal education (Master's degree), but I've also done a lot of independent learning online. I'd say there's pros and cons to each like anything else. Pros: Save time traveling. Less expensive so you don't have to go into debt. The ability to learn at your own pace and whatever subject you choose. Cons: Not having a peer group. Not getting the power of an "in-person" lecture. So if I were you, I'd make sure I balanced my online learning with in-person learning as well. Maybe go to some personal development seminars or join a club. Get best of both worlds.

@Omario Good. And don't come back until it's done.

It sounds like you have some good self-awareness on this. You may be on a collision course for a serious system shock. Meaning, something is going to happen so that the pain of not changing is finally going to become greater than the pain of changing. If that happens, roll with it. Have a breakdown, punch a wall, cry, do whatever you gotta do. And then message me again when it all turns out for the best anyway

@Max_V Read Loving What Is by Byron Katie. Also, any of the classic books on the Law of Attraction like Ask and it is Given would help.

@Shroomdoctor I just write down anything I find particularly profound or useful. I'm not going to take notes on the whole book unless it's really that good.

@GrowingUp However you want you've realized the freedom you've always had.

Could be time to find a new job. If that was truly your only motivation, the spiritual path is going to kill that part of your life. It's inauthentic. And nothing inauthentic survives this process. You'll be happier in the end for it. But this is partially why the spiritual path can seem so chaotic. Old pieces of your life constantly being ripped away as you evolve. Is there something else you would, ideally, like to be doing for work?

@F A B My only concern is that for some guys it might be a slippery slope from "I'm jacking off to practice" to "I'm jacking off to avoid socializing". You'd have to make your own judgment call if you're in that category.

@Octafish If you don't have clear goals, the problem isn't that relationships are a distraction. It's that you have no life. Everything is a distraction when you have no idea where you're going. So if you have no goals, make finding out what your goals are your goal. Take the life purpose course. Read books. Travel. Experiment. Whatever you feel you have to do to feel like you've started to find something worthwhile to achieve. Maybe that means you take time off from relationships. Or maybe it doesn't. But it's certainly not a requirement.

@Charlotte Fully support his work and he seems like a cool dude. But as a teacher, we don't really resonate. He's a bit too new age / hipster for me.

@Jedd Really depends on your level of commitment and what you need the site to be able to do. You could hire a dev company for 5-10k, depending on what functionality you need. Or you could start free with something like Wix or Wordpress. Or you could go somewhere in the middle with something like SquareSpace or Shopify.

What's funny is that ego is actually what stops many people from living this kind of lifestyle. Either they're following their conditioning that says monogamy = the only answer, or their self-worth is tied up in their partners validation. Then they shame others who don't feel that way because it highlights their own fears.

@Santiago You don't want to be jealous. Jealousy is only likely to make her want to see that guy more. But you do have to have personal boundaries, whatever that means for you. And if she crosses them, she's done. Break it off.

@John Iverson Cool, how'd you like it?

Facts. It's also practical af if you ever envision yourself having threesomes+ with your future girl. You can pick up some great perspectives from those books.

Growing up I ate the standard american diet. But I've found that the more I've awakened, the more I've just gravitated towards a raw, vegan diet. Why? I just can't seem to help it. It's what I crave. For instance, I used to love eggs. They were great for getting protein into my diet while hitting the gym. Then one day out of nowhere, I started throwing up every time I ate eggs. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Eventually I cut out all meat just because I hated how it felt every time I ate it. And I used to eat meat everyday.

Then he still was deeply unconscious and had a lot of inner work to still do. Seeing through the illusion doesn't solve all these problems automatically.

@captainamerica I've experienced this as well. It feels like energy to me, so my interpretation is that it must mean the third eye chakra is open and flowing energy.

@UpperClassWhiteBoy Lay down in the middle of a busy street. You might get stepped on though, damn iPhones.

@Shin @John Iverson Don't sleep on The Book of Pook. I made a video about it on my channel. It's like 10/10 and almost no one has heard of it. I also just finished reading Sex At Dawn and The Ethical Slut. Amazing books that challenge mainstream definitions of what love and sex should look like.