Roy

It doesn't help. This kind of work is for people that are established and safe in life. You shouldn't be prioritizing this kind of spiritual and intellectual work if you can't feed yourself or pay your rent.

@Elton Don't necessarily feel that's a benefit. I think that can lead to a lot of neuroticism and desperation as someone tries too hard to get laid. Being that horny and repressing your urges like that can make you reckless towards the other sex. It can inhibit what would otherwise be your more authentic self. Of course there are horny girls to be found but apart of their nature is to hide their intentions and not to be explicit, and men can be blind to that and end up hurting a lot of women because of being so horny. Obviously working on that stuff is better than not but I think it can be done from a less negative place.

@Dlavjr Porn - There is absolutely nothing wrong with it as long as you aren't using it as a means to avoid real relationships or sexual interactions with the opposite sex. Masturbation - Once again nothing wrong with it. Human bodies need release. The problem comes when you are indulging the experience too much past the point of necessity. Consider that the suffering and discomfort that arises is more a result of the demonization of those things, rather than the things themselves. The next time you go to masturbate or watch porn I want you to try really hard to notice something, before you even begin the act or the thought comes to your head that you want to do it; observe what kind of emotions come up. What emotions are they? Also contemplate why you are doing it. I mean really dig deep past the surface answer of wanting to orgasm, honestly probe why you are doing what you are doing. Ask questions like; - Am I able to hook up with a girl or get in a relationship in the near future, to replace masturbating? - Am I doing this because of a strong bodily need? Or is it more of a choice from my head? - Is this changing my view of women? And so on. Look, don't fall into the hatred trap of the NoFap stuff. They are a reactionary ideology from being deep into porn addiction, it can certainly help and does a lot of good things for people, but it represents the swinging of the pendulum too far in the other direction. There is nothing evil about porn or masturbation. Sex is a part of life, in all it's forms, enjoy it. Just be wise, because wisdom is found in balance, between opposite ends of the spectrum. Not on one side or the other. I'll issue you a simple challenge which I think will be attainable for you. For a whole month allow yourself to masturbate only once per week. Don't plan what day it's going to be, simply participate when it comes naturally to you. You shouldn't have to think about it. Also, don't use any porn to help stimulate you either. Use only your imagination. Come back in a month and let me know how you feel in your body and in your mind. Hope this helps, cheers.

What is in your direct experience and what seems relevant to your reality right now is appearance, however limited it seems. What is actually going on is infinity in all possible directions, in all possible dimensions, in whatever way imaginable. Both can "happen" simotaneously. How? Precisely because they are happening. Infinity of course has to include all possible finites, otherwise it wouldn't be infinity now would it? Hope that helps explain it @Yulduz

Yuval is underrated as hell in the intellectual community. I highly recommend everyone buy and read his books they are very educational and wildly interesting.

I find the hypocrisy and lengths of the mental gymnastics they go through to rationalize this stuff so fascinating. It's like the perfect case study for ego.

Yea, you didn't get enough oxygen! Be careful mate :P!

@Someone here Consider scaring the absolute shit out of yourself to change your relationship and perspective on smoking. Because whatever your attitude is towards it now, clearly isn't strong enough if you keep relapsing. This is more a blunt method and takes some courage, but you have to be willing to try radical things to make radial change. Wouldn't you agree? When I say scare the shit out of yourself I don't mean just glance at all the warning labels and recall common tropes. I mean really immerse yourself in the consequences and become truly aware of what smoking does, can do, and WILL do to you. You better be sure it WILL happen. Of course any smoker can "know" of all those things, and most do. But they don't care because simple acknowledgment and knowledge of all those things is just a game the ego plays with the mind to distract from with the problem. Having knowledge of something is not the same as being aware. People who are aware of the dangers of something don't participate in it, or at the very least they can control it. I challenge you to go out of your way and spend literally HOURS finding the most grotesque images and videos you can find from lung damage caused by smoking. Read and listen to personal stories of people who suffered and recovered, and those who suffered and simply died from all the associated illnesses. Research and memorize the mortality rates and statistics of smoking. Really sit with the numbers and soak them in, don't just look away when you feel uncomfortable. After you do that start to contemplate the future deeply and ask questions about the present and the future; - Is this what I want to happen to my body? Is it already happening to some degree? - Do I want to die this way? - Does smoking align with the lifestyle I want? Is it inhibiting anything? - If I have children or want to have children in the future, would I want them breathing this stuff in growing up? - Do I want to be able to play sports and play with them without losing my breathe? - Do I want to be hauling an O2 tank around as early as age 60? - Do I want to be out of breathe going up a few stairs all the time? You may come across stuff so vulgar and petrifying you wouldn't have imagined it. Well? It could be a reality for YOU if you don't change your ways. It's completely possible for you to change though. I believe you can do it, it will just take courage. Do you have the guts? I dare you. Good luck friend.

TikTok is another perfect example of technology destroying our attention spans and ability to focus. I'm not gonna look it up because I don't have the attention span, but I'm gonna guess Ritalin and other ADHD drugs sales have increased 300% at the very least in the past decade.

The simplest path would be to find more interesting and important things in your life to be pursuing, and with time you'll forget and therefore get over him. If you have an uneventful life with nothing going on, then of course you are going to reminisce and constantly look back to the past for joy! The problem is that's all done and gone now. It's never coming back. I struggled with this same problem sort of problem for years as well. Nostalgia is addicting but it's ultimately inhibiting and holds you back from living a full life. You need to immerse yourself in the now and contemplate the future. Those are the only things that matter. Consider adopting a mindfulness meditation practice. That will help most here.

I believe it can be a reality for some people. I said it probably isn't for most people.

@Leo Gura Well put. Raises a question though - say one slowly drops their identity (physical and others) through a bunch of spiritual work. They realize the truth of no self, they detach themselves from all needs and connections in the world and realize they are God and One with everything. Even most of these people will still probably recoil in complete fear and shock, and probably beg for their lives if a loaded gun is pointed at their head. Of course such a stark scenario like that is unlikely. Still, how does one audit themselves honestly enough to know that the work is actually helping them transcends such situations, and it's not just a bunch of mental masturbation? In your experience have you come across many plateaus that make you think this is all a waste of time? Then to break through and actually reap the benefits of such work? Apologies if this is too loaded.

In my opinion it simply depends all in what you are looking for in life to be satisfied. When I was younger (17-20) I got a lot of value out of thinkers like Richard Dawkins and the like. While it was useful for a time, it didn't fully explain or satisfy some deeper intuitions and questions I had, so I looked for the next thing. Richard Dawkins seems satisfied with his worldview and what he knows, it serves him quite well (from his POV). Thus he never changes or branches out. I think to avoid this trap, with all perspectives and modes of thought you need to just assume they aren't complete. No matter how convincing or convenient they are to you. Even with advanced big picture teachings like what Leo presents, it will have limits. Everything is only a perspective after all, no matter how expansive it appears. I imagine he and others after a certain time will have absorbed what they needed to and moved on. I have these feelings coming on myself. Kind of rambling here. I just think the moral of the story is don't be so eager to plant your flag anywhere. Carry it with you through life.

GM Terran towards the end of HotS. I stopped playing when LotV came out and switched to CS:GO for fun. Slowed down a lot on gaming recently.

Of course! Like I said, humanity is crazy. Almost 8 billion people alive now and 100+ billion before that. You can find someone that has done nearly anything you can imagine or lives a life so far-fetched it sounds impossible. I don't even know a damn thing about Bob Lazar nor have heard of him before this thread, I don't care. I responded to the original post of yours I quoted to make a meta-point. Consider you might not be as open-minded as you think if you believe that's it's an impossibility for him having been lying all this time. This isn't an accusation, nor am I looking for a bone to pick. It's just food for thought Peace upon you friend.

People do absurd and preposterous things like this all the time. You haven't been broadly exposed enough to the wackiness of humanity if you're still skeptical or surprised when you come across people like this.

It's because Trump makes people go full retard, on both sides. The only winning move is to not play the game and laugh. It's amazing what kind of energy and reactions he summons out of people, because he's honestly not even that interesting of a person. I can think of a million more interesting things and people to garner attention, yet so many people are fixated on Trump like he's some sort of alien. Guess being president of the most powerful country on Earth will draw a lot of attention regardless. The crazy thing is despite EVERYTHING it's likely he'll get elected another 4 years LOL.

@Leo Gura For sure. What would you consider a fair threshold for someone to be primed for it? Of course there may be many things that could impede spiritual development like family, environment, economic situation. But would someone with as little under their belt as genuine curiosity be "primed"?

@Leo Gura Would you consider yourself spiritually hardwired Leo or did you just put in massive amounts of labor to develop it?

@Leo Gura You misunderstand friend. I'm not asking for myself, I don't have a problem with it. I'm asking from others positions, just wanted to hear your thoughts.

@Leo Gura Of course pure solipsism is not what you mean when you say that, I've absorbed enough of your content to know that's not what you're advocating. But what do you say to explain yourself to the people that can easily interpret these statements as solipsism? Are you not changing your language because you're expecting people to just understand there is a deeper meaning than what you're saying at face value?

@TrynaBeTurquoise Consider that you are the one participating in the right vs left, independent vs establishment game, not people in this thread (yet). You might be so invested in it you automatically project it out onto places where it might not even exist, because it's the lens or narrative you've nested yourself in. This isn't an accusation, just a thought. I know you just mentioned you aren't a right winger, but one doesn't even have to plant their flag in order to be propagating the game. It doesn't take a genius to observe how remarkably awful Trump is as a person, let alone president. Anytime someone mentions that people jump to politics almost instinctively, like it's impossible for them to distinguish the difference lol.

Of course we have to admit he has a certain level of intelligence and competence to have gotten where he's at in life. Obviously had plenty of advantages but also obviously not an accident. The denial happens earlier on in life, and gradually. Growing up as a young man I'm sure he had countless moments from positions of power where he had a choice about what to do. I'm sure his conscious felt bad about making a corrupt decision that benefited him, but he simply rationalized it or sweeps it under the rug. As you do that continuously many times over many years, the empathetic muscles in your brain wither away. This is how any psychopath, criminal, or murderer is made. It's a process. Nobody just decides to be evil one day. Now we have a man who is completely impulsively selfish like you said.

It's definitely a trap most people are in for sure. Notice how almost everybody you ever meet in the world is convinced they're right. Even the most humble, skeptical, or self-critical! It's really a mind-plague.

Nothing really special about it. Alcohol is more fun than being high to be honest. Both are kind of bad for your body though, so I would use them very sparsely.