Terell Kirby

Lol … sounds like you have a bias against these so called “spiritual people”. No one is here to argue with you, but you might be subconsciously looking to pick a debate with these types. Anyway, thanks for sharing your perspective ??

What is the answer then? The spiritual path is anything but logical. When you get deep into the work, logic and reason are seen as flimsy constructs. I would challenge you to deconstruct logic .. you seem to put heavy reliance on it.

Awesome. Wait until you are able to drop your ego entirely after all the years of development…then life gets infinitely blissful .

Fair enough. Yes spiritual seeking is self deception, as is all of egoic mechanisms, but what separates this one is that it ultimately annihilates the ego..if done genuinely. Seeking points to efforts to attain enlightenment, which does not happen automatically. Everyone starts from somewhere. Where does this intuition come from? Curious to hear your perspective.

Thank you ??

I have not been able to successfully strike a balance .. yet. I meditate A LOT, I contemplate A LOT .. both require me to isolate myself and spend much of my time in an inactive, sedentary state. This has done wonders for my consciousness and understanding of reality in the last two years, however the lack of physical activity has left me with a not so great fitness level (5’10 height, ~ 170 lbs). My BMI is considered healthy and I eat decent, but I have lost a lot of muscle mass by not regularly exercising. I want to continue my spiritual practice but at the same time get back into the pragmatics of fitness (awakening has drilled in me the shallowness of gym rat culture, which I don’t want to backfire). Any tips to balance would be helpful. Thanks.

In my experience, this is true for seekers who have yet to grasp that they are not human … the idea of being a separate (objective) biological form is what constructs their sense of self. However, God (what these self proclaimed “humans” really are) can experience a sense of frustration upon awakening...mainly due to the realization that it is the only entity that can awaken … since it is all that exists … thus not be able to share and/or validate its experience with “other”… unless it constructs it. This thread itself is nothing but dialogue in the mind of God … talking to itself incessantly

Lol I like the simplicity of your answer, but could you make a finer distinction? Cessation itself is only one aspect of the Infinite (if we consider it the same as the mind shutting up). And that’s the frustrating part .. I’ve had significant shifts in consciousness and there tends to always be human urge to have it validated by “others”….who are also just mental constructions.

This is good advice .. highly subtle. When I first started, I was so in my head about what needed to happen and how it needed to happen when approaching girls. Then one day I said fuck it, I'm just going to enjoy being out on the scene .. if I see a pretty girl I'm interested in, I'll just say hi. But that is second to me going out and having fun for fun itself.

2008 Honda .. I'm totally satisfied lol.

Helps to see things from another's perspective, but that can be challenging. Active listening has traditionally been a good method to develop empathy.

I hope each of you on the spiritual path reach this realization. All the verbals we use to try to explain this stuff is literally useless. I don’t even know why I’m typing .. guess just to wish you all the best on your journey. Pro-Tip: when you reach a point where it’s finally realized that your spiritual guru (be it Leo or someone else you idolize) has no authority over your understanding, and that you literally birthed their very existence..you will have arrived. Be prepared to die though .. knowing that death itself is not physical, but a death to your skewed, egoic way of looking at reality.

It's hard believe you were unable to at least get clearer about your LP after taking the course. You may know in your heart what you want to do in life, but limiting beliefs and negativity are standing in your way. Most likely due to having low self esteem. My advice is to focus on the things you can change, as quick as tomorrow. This could be a behavior, mindset .. something. Get in the habit of taking action .. in this work, you have to prove to that negative voice in your head that it is not right about many things. You can only do this through taking action.

Sounds to me like you are taking pleasure in his suffering.

@bliss54 @Snader @gettoefl @Kshantivadin thanks for the responses guys. True!

Love this example. I am wondering if these stable meditative states could actually lead to physical fitness and resistance training being more enjoyable. Guess I’ll have to put it into practice to find out. Thanks for the feedback.

The more conscious you get, the less you want to participate in shallow social games. However, socialization is essential for finding a mate. Pursue your materialistic cravings if you must, but do it consciously and remember that it will never truly satisfy you. Doesn’t mean you can’t partake though.

Hmm .. may be good to acknowledge that looking at certain life situations from a God perspective may do more harm than good … in a relative sense. If you care about your relationship, I would throw all of this metaphysical stuff out of the window. You most likely will suffer once a breakup happens, unless you’ve completely transcended your attachments to your gf .. which I highly doubt.

Yes, beyond infinite Love, is infinite Love :-)

When it doubt .. take action. Make a list of things you want to improve, then come up with 2-3 immediate actions you can take for each. Nothing will change without deliberate action. You don't have to get it right the first time, just do something so you can get out of your funk. Momentum is key.

When someone expresses an opinion, just ask "can you tell me how you came to that conclusion?" Keep asking it over and over until you get to the bottom of their epistemology and worldview .. then they might be able to see as just that .. a partial worldview, not absolute Truth.

Yes, mainly through destroying your old paradigm by exposing yourself to new paradigms.

@Tudo By posting a question like this on an online forum .. that’s a pretty good hint that you’re most likely toxic and in denial.

Seems like you are making a straw-man out of what it means to be authentic .. by associating it with toxic behaviors. Being authentic is actually a highly conscious act that challenges the ego to dissolve irrational, self-centeredness through overcoming fear. It may be an authentic desire to improve one’s behavior from that of a toxic person, to a healthy person. It may be authentic to express love genuinely to a partner, friend or family member. It may be authentic to stand up for your core values and to not tolerate being bullied. These are healthy examples.

Seems like a nonsensical question..the truth is, we always know when we are being inauthentic vs authentic ..there is no set mechanism to it, rather it’s an internal feeling that everyone is familiar with. it’s like asking how can we know when we are in pain .. you know you’re in pain because you’re freakin in pain. Same thing with authenticity.