JosephKnecht

There is nothing wrong with him per se. He has many conservative views that don't coincide with the views of the more liberal members on this forum. His intent is good, but he is a little bit stuck in his own Ego. His Ego has created an image of a public intellectual, and the image doesn't allow him to look beyond the image and into the essence. If his words inspire you or help you in any way, follow his work.

Philosophers look for profound knowledge. Spiritual people look for the spirit that exists beyond knowledge. Maybe once you exhaust your seeking for profound knowledge, you too will seek the spirit. Are you a philosopher or are you spiritual? Or, you might be something else.

I took psychedelics before I found Leo's content. The 'mystical' experience is ineffable and undeniable, and when you are having the experience you simply 'know it' to be true. Whatever the mystical experience reveals to you is true because it is in your experience. But, after the "high" goes away and you come down back to reality, the experience is just a memory. Then you can use Leo's content to recontextualize your experience. If you don't have any preconceived notion of a "mystical" experience you will believe that you had lost your mind. So having knowledge is only useful to recontextualize your experience. Psychedelics try to give you an experience beyond concepts. All language is a symbolic representation of concepts. Realize that direct experience is stronger than understanding because all understanding relies on concepts and all concepts are ultimately imagined. Therefore all understanding is ultimately false understanding. How can you understand that which you don't understand? What you wish to do is to directly experience rather than understand.

It might be true, but it's impossible to prove.

There is nothing that prevents normal consciousness to become aware of itself. The problem arises only when normal consciousness gets too normalized into its own state. For example, if someone gets stuck into a material/physical reality, he can take a material(psychedelics) to wake up to a reality greater than the material world. Psychedelics are just medicine for those who get stuck in materialism. Psychedelics offer you a glimpse into a greater reality which sometimes is very hard to be achieved through natural means. Here is a video of Ram Das on this topic:

How come you can't extract the knowledge from psychedelics then? If you can extract experience/knowledge by looking at color red, you should be able to extract knowledge by examining psychedelics. The fact that you are here asking this question, tells you that you can't extract the experience without undergoing the experience. And yet you seem not to understand what is possible on psychedelics. The bottom line is, reason and arguments are circular in nature and they can't give you the Truth. Only direct experience can show you what is True. Nobody can give you that experience but yourself. Psychedelics might be able to give you that experience, but maybe they won't.

Yes, that is one aspect of meditation. You can also let go of thoughts by giving up the payoff that thoughts have on your emotions. For example, If negative thoughts make you feel bad, realize that it was only a thought that made you feel this way and let go of feeling bad. The same would go for positive thoughts. If thoughts have less effect on you, then thoughts have fewer reasons to exist. Eventually, you might stop having thoughts for a few minutes, hours which is the goal of meditation practice.

I read 12 rules before reading Maps of Meaning. 12 Rules for life is more focused towards a broader audience and was fairly enjoyable. In 12 Rules Peterson backs up his philosophy for life with many examples from religious texts, psychological studies, etc. Maps of meaning is a more technical book but it goes into much more depth. In Maps of Meaning, Peterson presents his metaphysical construction of reality heavily inspired by the greatest psychologists in the past centuries. The book gets repetitive and boring at some points but in the end, it's worth it. I will also read his new book. If you feel that his language helps you in your own development, you should read his work.

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare It's best if you let go of the thought.

If the other person doesn't believe in pink elephants, how can he see it? We only see that which we believe, and we only believe that which we know how to interpret.

Notion.so They have a desktop version.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Read this book: The Enlightened Sex Manual, David Deida The book contains practical advice on how to channel your sexual energy through your body which includes controlling your orgasms.

@Scholar You live up to your name. You explained it like a true Scholar. A temporary realization fades away because we have not yet embodied the Real. Once the Realization becomes the Real, there is no longer a master or explorer but only Reality.

They call it day trader because you will be trading your days for useless pieces of paper aka money.

This message was written 7 hours ago. What does that mean? There is something significant about the number 7, but I can't pinpoint it yet.

I went through a phase where I believed in monogamy, but after 6 failed relationships I decided that it is not for me. In the past few years, I have taken a more laid-back approach to dating and meeting/dating people without any labels. I see each girl that I meet as an opportunity for my growth, but I also try to give back value to the girl so that she is better off for meeting me. Try to be honest with them and don't play games with them. I think guilt arises if you feel that you are using them, or if you feel that you are being dishonest with your intentions. If you are dating multiple girls at once, feel free to tell them that. Some girls don't mind it, some girls get jealous. It becomes an addiction only if deep down you feel hollow and you think that girls can somehow add value that you don't already have. You have to be addicted to your passion, but your main passion should not be girls. Maybe all this is just a phase.. I think we will find out in a few years.

This strategy works for conservative girls who prefer to get to know the guy before doing anything. However, if you invite a more "liberal" girl to your place and you don't give her what she wants, you won't see her again. If you are implementing strategies, it's best to adapt your strategy to the girl. But, the best strategy is not to have a strategy.

If you ceased to have thoughts, will you have truth or falsehood? A 'true' thought is the thought that calls itself true. A 'false' thought is the thought that calls itself false. If thought is the arbiter of what is true and false, how can you trust your thoughts?

Bentinho is virtue signaling his status. If you also had a suit and cigar, girls will also look at you like that. My view on relationships is much similar to that of Bentinho. @Leo Gura Why do you feel the need to project your love into a single woman, when you know that Infinite Love is always greater than the finite one?

A good scientist is the one who investigates his own nature before investigating nature. A good scientist first studies himself before studying nature for the scientist too is also part of nature. A good scientist questions everything, including his own questions, axioms, and assumptions. A good scientist is driven by a deep curiosity to know, to solve problems, to understand. A good scientist is not motivated by awards, prestige, and social acceptance. A good scientist attempts to share his discoveries with other scientists even at the cost of his own life.

To keep you on your toes. Not a bad answer from Obama.

We are all diverse. Diversity can't be enforced because it already is the case. The media is trying to force equality. They want to have equal representation in positions of power regardless of gender, color, etc. The white man has been oppressing society for way too long. It is now time for others to oppress society as well.