Osaid

Pain is related to survival, but not in the same way as thoughts. Pain is something that is avoided, whereas thoughts are something that's constantly perpetuated and is basically essential to survival.

I think it's just more useful in terms of survival to focus on thinking instead of not thinking. It's more comfortable to think. You're more used to it. You've been using it to navigate your entire life, so it's second nature now.

When I first found Leo every video felt like a trip. My reality was being reshaped just through words.

There probably is. I get it as well. But it's very easy to veer off into delusions when it comes to such unexplored territory. Even if it's partially true, that's not really good enough. People are hooked through words which might actually be truthful to some degree, which is why it resonates and pulls them in. And then that takes them down the rabbit hole. Leo's conspiracy video and cult videos are good resources on this.

The all caps title is an offense in and of itself unfortunately

You know damn well Leo hasn't found this thread or it would be locked rn lmao somehow this thread has been under the radar

me as well but idk if i like it

Ask yourself, how are you perceiving "past" and "future" from the present moment? How is that even possible? Where does "past" and "future" exist, if they are supposed to be distinct from the present moment? If it's experienced in the present, and the present moment is your only way of experiencing, then it's not in the past or future, but the present, right? Maybe "past" and "future" have always been in the present moment, and you were just imagining they weren't?

That's what you're imagining. There is a thing that exists, and then you're imagining that there was a point where it began existing. There is no process of "making" existence, unless you imagine it and then project it onto your current experience. The process of making existence would also be something that exists. Existence can't escape itself. Something nonexistent bringing on its own existence is basically correct, but kind of redundantly put. There is no "bringing on", that part is imagined. It just exists there, and then it is subject to whatever imagination you want to throw at it. I think your problem is you're trying to put something infinite into a finite criteria, which leads to paradox. You're unable to see that reality might function paradoxically, and so you're stuck saying things like "in order for this to exist something MUST have created it before." There is no beginning or end to reality, it's infinite, and so there is no real need for a maker or creator or creation process.

Work on your fears and relationships in the waking state, then the dreams will dissipate. The dreams are simply acting out your psychological and physiological state in the waking state, similar to how when you have a full bladder during sleep you might get a dream about having to pee.

The only time I've experienced something negative after fapping was during my flatline, when I would basically get ED everytime I fapped. But that was mostly temporary. And ironically, it was caused by no fap. Otherwise, I feel amazingly euphoric and clear-headed when I'm done masturbating. I think the feeling of post-nut clarity is great. It's kind of like stepping out of a shower.

The good thing is that your direct experience isn't finite, unlike your imagination. You can experience things that aren't finite, which is actually happening right now, even if you're imagining that you aren't. Experiencing nothingness is not really a problem. You can experience it to know what is true. You know it's true cause you experienced it. You basically have two ways of understanding things: direct experience and imagination. If you want to really understand nothingness, experience is your best option. Then afterwards, maybe you can imagine certain words or ideas that point to the experience of nothingness, but aren't actually the experience itself. Using words and concepts isn't entirely bad, it might help someone reach the experience, or map it out for practical relative use. But of course, words and ideas are just pointers, not the actual experience itself. I can actually tap into the fact that I am experiencing nothingness right now, to a certain degree. And that as a result, I am also infinite. I'm able to very easily recontextualize my current experience, because of my previous experience of nothingness. It made the implications of nothingness and how it interacts with life very clear to me. I just have to look at my current experience and convert it to imagination/words. In a sense, yeah. In order to be nothing you have to be conscious that you are nothing. If you're not conscious of it, then it basically doesn't exist. You are nothingness, to a certain degree, right now. And also as a result of that, you're also infinite, right now. The question is whether you're conscious of it or not, similar to how you became conscious of how everything is being imagined, when previously you weren't conscious of it at all even though it was already the case.

Yeah this is exactly what I felt at the beginning of my flatline. I didn't have brain fog though, the flatline symptoms can vary like that. Whenever I abstained, my libido and erections slowly came back, but when I masturbated it's like it all went back down to 0. I had 0 sexual interest and couldn't even get erect, my penis was completely dead. It slowly stabilized itself over time, but I'm not sure if it's back to normal yet. It felt like I didn't have enough sexual energy left to cover the cost of masturbating, if that makes sense. It felt like the more I abstained, the more sexual energy it was adding to my body for later use. I think I can function decently now, but I feel like it's not as good as before. It also feels like my penis is less sensitive overall. I'm gonna try and go for 90 days and see wtf happens, that's all I can really think of. People say the flatline is your brain rewiring itself or something, but really it's just a hypothesis. Anyways, it seems that with abstinence the libido gets stronger, so I'm just gonna put my faith in that principle and go for the 90 days.

yes and no For me, no fap has seriously fucked with my libido, but it was also the catalyst for further sexual exploration. I experienced what they call a "flatline" in the no-fap community. I'm not sure if I have fully recovered from it or not, I really can't tell tbh. Whatever the case, sexuality seems to be an unexplored territory, so be careful with how you practice abstinence. Don't force it too much. Depending on whether you edge or not, it might make porn addiction even worse. Sexual energy is a sensation you can feel. You can get better at noticing it through meditation practices and such things. Its a warm sensation. I was able to notice it through doing some tantric meditation about imagining a fire under the perineum. I imagined myself feeling into the heat of the fire, and then noticed the sensation, which is sexual energy, at the sexual organ. You're probably unconsciously keeping that energy trapped. When you don't notice that energetic sensation, it's hard to use it. When you learn to feel and notice it, you can feel into it more, and get better at manipulating it. It also accumulates the longer you abstain and reduce physical stimulation, so it will probably be easier to notice if you do that. I haven't explored it much further than that though, I'm sure some Brahmacharya literature goes more in depth. There is a lot of this. The no-fap community can be really dogmatic and cult-like, especially on its forums, so tread carefully.

Here's some questions that might make it easier to contemplate the first question: How do you know whether something exists or not? What's the difference between something that exists and something that doesn't exist? What's the criteria? That's pretty interesting. So it basically multiplies how powerful your contemplations are, but that power can also be misused for egoic thoughts. Well, it would be quite limiting if reality had some sort of substance behind itself. If it's made of nothing, then there's nothing to limit it. Not to mention, anything "below it" could only ever exist as imagination. And no, nothingness isn't really a part of anything. Nothingness is infinite, not finite, so it actually doesn't fit within your finite criteria. Nothingness is part of nothing, and it exists. It's a paradox. You're trying to put something infinite into a finite criteria, so you're met with a paradox. You also can't imagine nothingness, because you can only imagine things in finitudes, and nothingness is infinite. Then there's also the problem of infinite transgression. If the big bang created everything, then what created the big bang, and what created the thing that made the big bang, and so on.

Wow, never thought of it this way

I think this is basically correct. It's important to keep yourself grounded in your direct experience of reality, especially after such trips. The ego often likes to project certain ideas, theories, or projections on top of the trip. Those can be a bit tricky to see. Be careful mixing in relative dualities with absolute truth. I think you went pretty deep haha. This is a really good realization, multiple other realizations can stem from it. Maybe you can ask yourself, what does it mean for something to exist? Is imagination less real than the rest of existence? Just some stuff to contemplate.

Doubt that, although I wouldn't describe it so provocatively. It's more like serving someone purely because of the position they hold. Like a boss to an employer. This is what I consider within my definition of "simping", which is a somewhat vague term, admittedly. I get that you're probably annoyed or angry cause of your experiences, though.

Well, you had Covid, and tried getting into training, and now you have flu-like symptoms. So, Covid probably made you deficient in some way. Maybe you missed something in the blood test. Just research and look for symptoms. Or maybe it's simply a matter of waiting it out, and the recovery time is a bit long. Look what I found after just 1 Google search: https://www.avogel.co.uk/health/immune-system/flu/flu-symptoms-after-exercising/ https://www.stylist.co.uk/fitness-health/workouts/fitness-hangover-headache-tired-nauseous-after-exercise/475544#:~:text=However%2C during a strenuous training,burning sensations in the muscles.” This guys post sounds similar to yours lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/crossfit/comments/aenu46/flulike_symptoms_after_working_out/

Yes, mostly cause they control my survival. I like surviving. Although, I do have standards. I'm not gonna simp for a discord admin lol. It seems to be a natural consequence of creating internet groups, they're like miniature societies. Hierarchy and moderation needs to be created to sustain it. Whether it's fair or not depends on the group and how it is moderated, I'd say.

All of these are probable Think about your understanding and perception of the world, lets say, 10 years ago. See how radically different it was? The content didn't really change, just your perception of it for the most part. Recontextualizations are powerful. Realizing that physicality is largely imaginary will literally dissolve physicality, even though the content didn't change and it is just a recontextualization.

True, I believe there were verses in the Qu'ran regarding war and such things. It must have been a pertinent topic at that time. But they lived in that kind of society back then, so it might have been necessary to teach about it, for their survival's sake. It's important to consider how radically different society and its rules were back then.

Technically not wrong. Is God forbidden from using metaphors? Wouldn't be surprised if Mohammad channeled some god-like intelligence. But yeah, most Muslims don't really understand the Qu'ran. Most of them just depend on what their parents told them, which is what their Imam told them, and then they don't really question it further cause questioning Islam is sacrilegious, lol. And a lot of them don't really care enough to question it.

Christianity also has Hell. The Qu'ran also had a similar verse about entering paradise through love. I think fear around religions is inevitable. Humans are really good at creating and co-opting fear. If people are too dense to listen to something, best way to get them to listen is fear, so yeah Muslims and Christians won't hesitate to contort the teachings and fear-monger about Hell. It helps them perpetuate their religion very easily. Actually it's mostly the misinterpretations of the holy texts which is causing the fear, otherwise it's just trying to get you to realize God. And it doesn't help that the Imams and Pastors are constantly reinforcing the religions through fear.

Some of it is and some of it isn't. You gotta pay attention and switch your modes of thinking. Probably why it's so confusing to people. Your way of thinking isn't completely wrong though. The hellfire stuff was probably to induce fear. How else are you gonna convince a bunch of extremely primitive people from thousands of years ago to pursue spirituality? Get words that threaten their survival involved, that will do it.