Pilgrimage of Self

@Nahm Such an awesome post... I am in no shape and further along the journey to fully grasp it yet, not even close... BUT just reading it, it makes me feel so at ease... like "everything is going to be ok..." Thank you Nahm, im very new on this forum but even I can see why people talk so highly of you

Really appreciate the review man! Great job on the review.... looking forward to buying the course. Also subbed

Tried out the last one. Looks pretty cool. Thanks!

Hey guys and gals So, I have been an avid meditator for basically 2.5 years now. Absolutely love it and am very disciplined about it. No excuses no matter what and no off days. So here is my journey with types of meditation; For the longest time I did 21 minutes of vipassana meditation. Later on I added 12 minutes of kirtan kriya meditation to my 21 minute regular vipassana meditation. This lasted for about 5 or 6 months. Now, for the last 5 months or so, been doing the "do nothing" or "focus on your breath" type of meditation while not moving at all for 31 minutes. So far, I think that my favorite is definitely the "do nothing or focus on your breath" type. Since the past week or so, after rewatching Leo's mindfullness meditation video, decided to give the "strict labelling meditation" a go for 3 months. My question is, what are your experiences with this type of meditation? Do you believe its "more helpful" than other types for improving the quality of one's consciousness and awareness? Leo is very fond of this type of meditation. Keep in mind that awakening and enlightenment are not my primary concerns as of now btw. They are one of my "later goals" in life. But hey, of course I wouldnt mind if I just "happen to be enlightened" one of these days by pure chance haha I wish Thanks.

@Space I have been doing 31 minutes for the past 5 or 6 months but a week or so ago, decided that I would meditate for 1 hour. 30 minutes of labelling meditation + 30 minutes of focus on breath. Im gonna keep meditating for 1 hour a day for 3 months at least. See what happens. Will probably keep meditating 1 hour a day after this 3 month period ends. Want to see results. Thanks for the names of the teachers. Bookmarked the kenneth folk link as well. Will check it out. Doing retreats is something Im definitely interested in. Curious on the effect something like a 10 day intense meditation retreat might have on my psyche or general consciousness levels.

Will definitely check it out. Thanks!

bump. Any insight/opinion on this would be appreciated.

I understand what you mean... what I meant was that it is not currently "a priority" for me since Im almost 27 and havent handled any major areas of my life at all.... Still live with my mom.. im a lawyer but havent worked a day in my life and earned any money still etc. My "goals" with meditation are to get a lot more awareness and consciousness in my everyday life. To use that awareness ; *To observe my thoughts and emotions and not get overwhelmed by negative emotions, especially fear and anxiety. *To do proper questioning of my beliefs and "rules". *To get mystical experiences If I can and "experience" some kind of altered consciousness. During the whole time I meditated, had very few experiences where I was totally focused on my breath and had goosebumps and chills all over my back everytime I breathed. It was a different and awesome experience. Want more of that. *To get "permanent awareness and consciousness level increases" no matter how minor. If that is even a thing. *To discover many of my self delusions and ways I self sabotage *To discover why I feel so numb and uninspired %99 of the time. *To use that awareness to do all other types of personal development/inner work.

Hello there! Im in Ankara, Turkey. Anybody in my city or even in Turkey in general, please dont hesitate to contact me. Us, actualizers are few and far in between to come by and would love to get to chat and make new friends

@BigDogRaven I have been following Leo's content for years but made an account a week ago so Im new here as well. Glad that you got something of value from my post

Hey guys, Im thinking of starting my very first business at 27. Im a lawyer but haven't actually had any job/work experience as of yet. And don't have any money currently but its likely that im gonna start at a firm very soon and as soon I get my paychecks, Im gonna invest em into starting my first very own business. Did research on the matter and following some dropshipping guys for a while now and I think that ebay dropshipping is a good beginner business. Easier than amazon or shopify dropshipping. Less potential to earn but less risk. Any tips/advice/insight would be appreciated. My plan is to "learn how to hunt" as Leo would say, grow it so that I can make about 3.000-5.000 USD per month at least. (In my country 1 USD is 6 times my local currency which is TRY) so that is pretty awesome and comfortable for my country and then buy the life purpose course and discover my life purpose and build a business around my passion eventually. DISCLAIMER: I have no delusions about starting a business in the sense that I know that it is not a get rich quick scheme. Like any business, its gonna take a lot of work,effort,time and sacrifice to make a sustainable long term income off of it. And I'll probably encounter hurdles and struggles that I didn't know even was a thing. So please don't come in here with the assumption that im "just another naive sucker who fell into the easy money/get rich quick now with no effort info product scams". Overall business advice for a noob would be appreciated as well.

So sad....Im shook by the news.. Loved and respected him dearly. He will always be an inspiration to me. When I think of "greatness", hard work, discipline and just the will to just fucking win,no matter what... his name is one of the first ones that come to mind. I was doing the exercise from Leo's contemplating death video all throughout this week and this news just made me think about my death even more. We should all be doing that way...way more often. One of the realizations I had is that.... life is too short to live for comfort, too short to half ass... too short to fall prey to our fears... and too short to be lazy. Our time can come at any moment and when it does? What do you have to show for it? What do you have to actually be proud of? I dont fucking have basically anything. So that has to change. That is for sure. And remember guys and gals, this "realization" will pass too... this momentary "awareness" and self reflection will pass too and we will fall right back asleep and into our comfort zones and daily routine. IT WILL HAPPEN. So start taking action TODAY and keep taking action and building HABITS. Because it is easy to feel emotional and inspired at moments like these...but these too will pass and the brutal, day-to-day boring reality of your life is just around the corner, ready to slap you in the face and ask you how much you REALLY want to live the "good life" and what are you willing to "sacrifice for it"... So if we all want to honor Kobe and start and to keep living a life of greatness.. a life with the "mamba mentality".. we must start taking ACTION, KEEP taking action and NEVER stop and ATTACK shit. Because our time is coming...and its so easy to lose perspective...

@ethanb121 Dude.... I had developed Pure O as well, I struggled with many kinds of ocd my whole life but basically few years ago I developed HOCD. Which was some of the worst kind of shit I have ever gone through...Struggled with it a lot and I FEEL YOU SO MUCH. It felt like I was trapped in my own personal hell and mental prison and I basically dealt with this shit for almost 2 years... It completely dominated my entire life and everyday was terrible. Never ever contemplated about suicide but I get why somebody might. Anyway, today I can honestly say with incredible pride that I am free of that shit for basically 1.5 years or so. Never went to any kind of doctor or therapist and I worked it out on my own. Through awareness and meditation. Im telling you dude. START MEDITATING. Everyday. For 20mins at least. When this Pure O shit started I had already developed a religious meditation routine but after the HOCD happened the meditation I did helped me immensely. Start meditating and watch Leo's video of "Awareness is Curative. How to Autocorrect unwanted behaviours" Over and over if you must. And also the How to Let Go video. That is exactly how I overcame this Pure O hell and my other OCD's as well. When, the intrusive thoughts hit you, JUST OBSERVE THEM. Don't judge yourself for having these thoughts. This is KEY. Just OBSERVE THEM and LET THEM GO. YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. You are stuck in a vicious loop right now. The only way to get out of it is awareness and letting them go. You CANNOT get out of this by more rationalizations or justifications or trying to prove to yourself "that" or to prove to yourself "this". The PROVING NEVER ENDS. And its a TRAP. This OCD shit is so fucking powerful that the intrusive thoughts you have even affect your body and make you actually feel "sensations" and "vibrations" in your body and even if there isnt ACTUALLY anything like that, you PERCEIVE that there is something like that going on. This Pure O hell I went through made me appreciate actually how powerful thoughts are. That was one of the key golden nuggets I got from this experience. This video really helped me a lot. Check this womans other videos as well. I feel you bro, hopefully I helped you out. Lemme know if I you need more advice

Hello, I am 27 and writing to you from Turkey. First of all, Im a huge fan Leo and been watching and following you for a years. Thanks for all the great ideas,concepts,habits and just overall value I have acquired from you. I admire you and respect you deeply. You are an exceptional human being and I can't thank you how much I am grateful I have you in my life. The reason I am writing this message to you and on this forum is that I want some advice and help with an issue that is without a doubt THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE of my entire life. It has always been. It is my biggest demon,fear,worst nightmare or whatever you wanna call it. This may seem absolutely laughable or ridiculous to you but I assure you, it is incredibly real to me and I want NOTHING MORE in this life to DEAL WITH THIS once and for all. PLEASE NOTE: I have been meditating religiously for 30 mins for 2+ years now and have the awareness to know that I am NOT a VICTIM. I know I am %100 responsible for my life and this issue is pathetic in comparison to the stuff other people deal with but bottom line is, this is my demon and I want to slay it once and for all My demon is my inability to stand up for myself and my crippling fear of physical and verbal confrontation. I am terribly afraid of getting into a physical confrontation. Not only that but I have no idea how to establish any kind of boundary and protect them. I just dont know what to say or do if somebody wants to “test me” or tease me or bully me. You know that “line” that everybody has that you know to not ever cross, because if you do there will be consequences,even physical ones? Yeah that line was destroyed when I was little and it never got drawn again. I have had this problem since as early as I can remember, but in highschool shit got really bad. I was picked on and bullied relentlessly every.single.day without fail for 2 years. Constantly got harassed and teased. One of my nicknames was “little dick esat”. Even though nobody ever even saw my dick, they called it to me and it stuck. They called me this in front of girls, in front of a lot of people. Everyday was torture. I basically spent every second of everyday wondering when were they gonna call me what. The worst part is of course I knew that I should have stood up for myself. Fought them multiple times if needed. Do whatever it takes…But I didnt…. And I could never come up with the “right comeback” or thing to say when they teased me and so felt like an absolute idiot,worthless,coward, scum of the scum…and it broke me. My self loathing and self hatred was immense. Eventually I got numb to it and developed a pathetic defeatist,loser attitude towards life in general. Fast forward to now and im a lawyer (aint that a cruel irony. A lawyer who cant even defend himself). Havent yet worked as a lawyer though or at any kind of job and my life is incredibly neurotic and disfunctional. I have been staying at home with my parents for the last 4 years. Buried in my comfort zone but I am uncomfortable as fuck, living the same day over and over. And the most terrifying thing is that my brain and lower self acclimated to this fucked up prison life and it feels like and I get thoughts like it would "be ok if it went on like this".... which is of course not true and this addiction to comfort (even though i am not really comfortable at all) is scaring me.... And have no friends, broke, no dating life, no idea what I really want to do (dont want to be a lawyer for life) and I have this massive problem. And not only that but my problem spread over to each and every aspect of my life. I avoid people alltogether basically and have this fake nice guy persona which is completely one dimensional. I have trouble getting close to people because I have this fear that whenever I spend some amount of time with somebody, they are gonna "find out the real me" and that "I have no boundaries" and lose all respect for me and pick on me etc.... And it does... the same pattern keeps on repeating...Now whenever somebody says something that could be interpreted as "being picked on" even if that wasnt their intention.... this massive weight is dropped on me and I feel it in my stomach, this wave of panic/terror washes over me and I freeze up and then feel defeatist as hell. When it happens, all I want to do is just drop all the positive habits,awareness work everything,stop trying and give up. OF COURSE Im not gonna actually DO THAT. Fuck that. But I wanted to demonstrate what I feel in those situations. I am sorry that the tone of this letter is really negative and really long, you are a really successful,busy person who doesnt need any more negativity in their life but I HAD TO BE REAL with you. I cannot pretend that this problem doesnt exist and ignore it anymore or numb myself with mindless entertainment. Running away from shit doesnt work. It never did and never will. All I know is that, I do not want to be average and I want to live an extraordinary life and be an extraordinary human being and not waste this one life that I was given. So, I dont care if you just say to me “stop being a little pussy bitch and man up and fight somebody” just please tell me your opinion on how to fix this problem once and for all. Thank you and thanks to anybody else who bothers to read/respond and help me. I appreciate it a lot.

Hello, I am 27 and writing to you from Turkey. First of all, Im a huge fan Leo and been watching and following you for a years. Thanks for all the great ideas,concepts,habits and just overall value I have acquired from you. I admire you and respect you deeply. You are an exceptional human being and I can't thank you how much I am grateful I have you in my life. The reason I am writing this message to you and on this forum is that I want some advice and help with an issue that is without a doubt THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE of my entire life. It has always been. It is my biggest demon,fear,worst nightmare or whatever you wanna call it. This may seem absolutely laughable or ridiculous to you but I assure you, it is incredibly real to me and I want NOTHING MORE in this life to DEAL WITH THIS once and for all. PLEASE NOTE: I have been meditating religiously for 30 mins for 2+ years now and have the awareness to know that I am NOT a VICTIM. I know I am %100 responsible for my life and this issue is pathetic in comparison to the stuff other people deal with but bottom line is, this is my demon and I want to slay it once and for all My demon is my inability to stand up for myself and my crippling fear of physical and verbal confrontation. I am terribly afraid of getting into a physical confrontation. Not only that but I have no idea how to establish any kind of boundary and protect them. I just dont know what to say or do if somebody wants to “test me” or tease me or bully me. You know that “line” that everybody has that you know to not ever cross, because if you do there will be consequences,even physical ones? Yeah that line was destroyed when I was little and it never got drawn again. I have had this problem since as early as I can remember, but in highschool shit got really bad. I was picked on and bullied relentlessly every.single.day without fail for 2 years. Constantly got harassed and teased. One of my nicknames was “little dick esat”. Even though nobody ever even saw my dick, they called it to me and it stuck. They called me this in front of girls, in front of a lot of people. Everyday was torture. I basically spent every second of everyday wondering when were they gonna call me what. The worst part is of course I knew that I should have stood up for myself. Fought them multiple times if needed. Do whatever it takes…But I didnt…. And I could never come up with the “right comeback” or thing to say when they teased me and so felt like an absolute idiot,worthless,coward, scum of the scum…and it broke me. My self loathing and self hatred was immense. Eventually I got numb to it and developed a pathetic defeatist,loser attitude towards life in general. Fast forward to now and im a lawyer (aint that a cruel irony. A lawyer who cant even defend himself). Havent yet worked as a lawyer though or at any kind of job and my life is incredibly neurotic and disfunctional. I have been staying at home for the last 4 years. Buried in my comfort zone but I am uncomfortable as fuck, living the same day over and over. And have no friends, no dating life, no idea what I really want to do (dont want to be a lawyer for life) and I have this massive problem. And not only that but my problem spread over to each and every aspect of my life. I avoid people alltogether basically and have this fake nice guy persona which is completely one dimensional. I have trouble getting close to people because I have this fear that whenever I spend some amount of time with somebody, they are gonna "find out the real me" and that "I have no boundaries" and lose all respect for me and pick on me etc.... And it does... the same pattern keeps on repeating...Now whenever somebody says something that could be interpreted as "being picked on" even if that wasnt their intention.... this massive weight is dropped on me and I feel it in my stomach, this wave of panic/terror washes over me and I freeze up and then feel defeatist as hell. When it happens, all I want to do is just drop all the positive habits,awareness work everything,stop trying and give up. OF COURSE Im not gonna actually DO THAT. Fuck that. But I wanted to demonstrate what I feel in those situations. I am sorry that the tone of this letter is really negative and really long, you are a really successful,busy person who doesnt need any more negativity in their life but I HAD TO BE REAL with you. I cannot pretend that this problem doesnt exist and ignore it anymore or numb myself with mindless entertainment. Running away from shit doesnt work. It never did and never will. All I know is that, I do not want to be average and I want to live an extraordinary life and be an extraordinary human being and not waste this one life that I was given. So, I dont care if you just say to me “stop being a little pussy bitch and man up and fight somebody” just please tell me your opinion on how to fix this problem once and for all. Thank you and thanks to anybody else who bothers to read/respond and help me. I appreciate it a lot.

Dont understand what this means. Do you mean self-deception by beauty? And that I am "saying" that I am not a victim but the post that I wrote "indicates" that I am a victim? Which is entirely possible because I know that there are wayyyy wayyy more victimhood and victim thinking in me than I realize but on the other hand I have the awareness to awareness to also acknowledge when I am blaming somebody or something and to stop myself and search for the answer within me. (not all the time of course,this work never stops)

@Dumuzzi %100 agree that people and animals can sense fear. How can you not? When I go into that panic/terror mode, I can only assume how terrified I must look from the outside. Its so obvious. The rigid tense body and shoulders, defensive-small body language, frozen stance,lack of voice control, shrinking, look in my eyes... fuck man. I get what you mean about that "fuck it attitude". Its really valuable. I use it to approach women on the street/metro/subway etc. Obviously I need to develop it much much much more. Gotta be in confrontational situations more often and just "put the sword in the fire..over and over again" as David Goggins would say and learn from them analyzing them. Never thought about what I could learn from dogs and animals in general. Interesting point of view thanks.

Yes, it does actually. I think is what Leo meant when he said "We actively create our problems in our head. Reality is perfect. A problem must be created and sustained. It takes calories to do that" Of course this doesnt mean Im gonna magically learn how to behave in high pressure confrontational situations but I can at least, let go of the negative story I am constantly telling myself and let go of the negative self talk and limiting beliefs and take action from there. (easier said than done) Thanks for your helpful insight.

@Leo Gura If and whenever you have the time, I would REALLY appreciate your input and advice on my problem Leo. In any case, thanks for everything once again.

@28 cm unbuffed Thanks a lot for the response and the advice. That part about suppressing emotions and especially anger is so fucking true. I have been living in this fucked up numb state for 10+ years now (since the climax of this problem which was highschool). The numbness is so bad that I can't even remember a time in my recent history where I was REALLY ANGRY. To the point when I see someone who is genuinely angry, I get JEALOUS of them. I think to myself "Wow...how lucky is she/he..how great for him/her... he/she has the ABILITY to feel that angry" How fucked up and unhealthy is that? Its like I am ashamed to be angry and even feel unworthy of it... because what is the point of getting incredibly angry and raging if you are not actually gonna do something with that anger and defend yourself and your boundaries? All this time I tried to bury it deep into my consciousness and deceive myself like I did not have this deep-rooted issue but its clear that it is a futile attempt. I always knew deep down that it was futile but hey, thats an issue for the "future me" right? Which is a terrible and stupid way of dealing with things obviously.