r0ckyreed

People were right to fear the internet. Look at the pollution it’s caused. Internet solved a lot of problems but also created new ones. Also, you’re argument about Socrates actually supports my position because writing things down actually has made people mentally lazy in the sense that people are no longer use mnemonic techniques that they once did to become a good orator. People’s memory and attention spans today, thanks to writing and TikTok, is reduced compared to ancient times.

@Consilience I was just thinking about you. I’ve been wondering about you and where you went. Cults is one of the reasons why I may never do a formal meditation retreat. Retreats are a distraction from doing the real spiritual work on my own to obtain a sovereign awakening. Glad you’re back.

Death is not the same thing as Insight, Nirvana, Awakening. If you go down Owen and Trump’s road, you will die never experiencing you are God in the human form. Everybody dies but not everybody lives. There is no Rome nor Nirvana in death.

Just ask ChatGPT. It will tell you.

What a delusional cliche. It’s the same as saying All Roads Lead To Nirvana. But clearly following a MAGA cult will not lead you to Nirvana nor Rome. Introverted life is far superior due to less BS and less distraction. Extroverts depend on a level of falsehood (socialization) to function. But of course, if one is too introverted for the wrong reasons, that is a trap.

I don't know about what they do in their personal time. Based off of everything I heard from them, they are telling their audience wisdom to maintain their egos, not to deconstruct them. Their teachings must align with this; otherwise, they would not be so mainstream and would have survival costs for them. Rupert Spira cannot even entertain the idea of Solipsism being true. He immediately dismisses solipsism as some mental illness when in fact it is the most true fact about existence. I am starting to differentiate between true vs fake spiritual teachers. The true spiritual teachers encourage soverignty of mind whereas the false encourage you to follow their ideas, philosophy, and path.

The only real spiritual teachers I know are Peter Ralston, Leo Gura, and Jed McKenna. Everyone else isn’t hardcore enough and sugarcoats the spiritual ego. Think about it. Bashar, Rupert Spira, Eckhart Tolle, and others are just feeding sugar to your spiritual ego. They aren’t serious enough about deconstructing ego. What these spiritual teachers offer is wisdom, but it isn’t awakening.

Would David Lion or Bashar be considered fake spirituality?

The book Getting What You Came For has practical advice on how to write thesis and dissertations. I don’t have any experience, but if I was you, I would find a time and place to show to write and then spend time breaking it up into sections and writing one section at a time.

What are the best, most recommended meditation retreats? I have been getting back into meditation. My main meditation technique is self-inquiry. Any time my mind wanders, I bring it back to the breath and to the question "What am I? What is Consciousness?" I am considering doing a full day at-home meditation retreat in my dark closet, doing the self-inquiry meditation technique before I consider going to a Vipassana Retreat. Is going to Vipassana Retreats even worth it or is it a group-think distraction? Are At-Home Retreats better than formal retreats?

@Leo Gura I’m gonna start reading the life coaching books you have on your booklist. What are some of the traps to avoid and how do you recommend I get started? I’m a licensed therapist, but I mainly want to get involved in coaching to have more freedom since being a therapist, I cannot practice out of the state I’m licensed in. I think I already have sufficient training and now I just need to create a website and market myself to get clients.

@Leo Gura @Davino What do you think of The Mind Illuminated meditation by John Yates? I’m going to try that out this week. I got the book and am going to do the work.

Thanks. I will make that a goal to meditate 10 days no concepts when I accrue enough PTO at work. Until then, I will aim to do 30 minutes to 1 hour a day and then do an intense weekend retreat and will do psychedelics whenever I can get them again. Thanks for all your help and support!

Thanks. I just now did a 30 minute practice and felt a wave of joy and gratitude move up my spine. The practice I did involved 4 techniques/stages: 1. Grounding (Mindfulness) 2. Self-Inquiry 3. Vision/Goals Reflection 4. Gratitude (or Satisfaction Meditation) It sounds like you recommend strict mindfulness practice. I will give that a try for the next 10 days. Thanks.

It’s Deepak Chopra. Russell is the participant. Trump could’ve been the participant and it still would’ve been a good meditation. Chopra is the facilitator.

Wanted to share a cool guided self-inquiry meditation that I really like. Enjoy!

Thanks. I will give it a go. I will vary breath-awareness with self-inquiry. It’s hard for me to devote to a 10 days straight of meditation due to my career. The best opportunity to do psychedelics and deep meditation is on the weekends. The reason for me combing self-inquiry with breath-awareness is to get the benefits of contemplation and stillness. I find if I focus too much on breath-awareness, my curiosity is stunted. If I focus too much on self-inquiry/contemplation, then my stillness is stunted.

Do you do breath-awareness meditation like described in Mind Illuminated or do you do self-inquiry/contemplation?

Is it reasonable to do multiple meditation techniques during a day sit or just stick with one technique for the day? I find that using a combination a breath-awareness, self-inquiry, looking at my hands, and existential contemplation seem to work well for me. @Leo Gura You don’t think self-inquiry would be more fruitful than mindfulness meditation? Is your go-to meditation technique still looking at your hands to stay in actuality or do you do the see, hear, feel meditation or The Mind Illuminated?

@Leo Gura Do you ever do contemplation retreats? My biggest issue with meditation is that when I quiet the mind via focusing on the breath, I find myself dissociating and falling asleep. It’s like if my mind is inactive, I either fall asleep or dissociate. What I have done to help this is keep my eyes open and look at my hands and contemplate my hands and consciousness. For some reason, I find that me looking at my hands and contemplating the mystery of the present moment raises my consciousness even more than quieting my mind via focusing on breath. It is easier for me to be more present and have higher consciousness via contemplation/self-inquiry. My main meditation technique these days is looking at my hands and the room, returning the mind to the breath and the questions “Who am I, what is consciousness, what is the present moment?” And I just sit with that question and connect with deep not-knowing and the mystery of the now. I find this method better than traditional anapanasati/vipassana. Thanks.

Which meditation retreats do you recommend? Are there any websites you recommend?

Thanks mate. That guy must’ve been dissociating instead of meditating. No way you can claim your mindful but yet so clueless. I am thinking that retreats might create some kind of excuse or attachment to them. Why can’t I just do it at home? Why am I dependent on the structure of a retreat? At some point, I think these retreats become money grabs because the ancients didn’t have the luxury that we have today. They meditated in caves in which case I wonder why I get a fancy retreat when my closet is closest to a cave? When you do vipassana, do you just focus on breath? What is your technique that you do?

Low quality. If you did awaken, congrats. Now you realize you are a figment within my imagination.

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I’ve been thinking about the purpose of relationships and the insight hit me and it seems so obvious now. The purpose of romance and relationships is to entrench you deeper into the illusion. I’ve been contemplating why it is hard for me to build friendships and romantic relationships with others. I figured out that most people do not want to talk about deep things such as philosophy, politics, and spirituality. They just want to dive deeper into their illusions and not question reality. I hardly ever meet friends or let alone romantic interests that actually care about truth. Caring about truth is so rare. I’m starting to realize that the purpose of a relationship is not about truth. It’s about enhancing the dream/illusion. All this pickup, attracting women, and getting horny is a complete waste of time. But hey, do you. If you don’t care about truth, then relationships and sex are for you. But if you are someone like me who can’t stop contemplating reality, then consider that relationships are part of the matrix. There’s no issue with enjoying the matrix. You can’t escape the matrix, but the pursuit itself of sex/relationships will not bring you an understanding of reality. Relationships are about survival, not truth. I’m not saying don’t have fun, to not pursue relationships. I’m just stating that you’re fooling yourself if you make that your sole pursuit in life. If you do those things, just realize that you’re not prioritizing truth at that moment. You’re distracting yourself with human desires. Nothing wrong with that. Just be honest with yourself. I have deconstructed the fantasy of a hot witch truth-seeking girlfriend.