David1

Culture is like an operating system. İnstead of running in the 'root' (reality), you are being operated by culture. İt calls on you when it needs you, but you better not make trouble or you're going in the 'virus vault' :D.

@AxelK Stop being distracted by media. They try to instil you with fear and worry. Ever noticed how free of worry and fear children are? Pay attention to synchronicities in your life. Change your beliefs and subconscious mind and watch how your reality changes. Experiment with that. Be more in nature, and be in awe of its beauty. Experiment with psychedelics. Meditate. Pick up a skill...draw, paint, write, sculpt, sing, dance...

Money doesn't buy pleasure.

Yes, that's what i mean. Creativity, combining existing things into something new, was here since the start of the universe. If consciousness just IS, then creativity or imagining is what it seems to be doing. With human beings, this took on a whole new level. This creative principle somehow got nested. We are the only beings that are creative themselves, that have imagination. Where evolution only had reality as its 'trial and error arena', we have our imagination as 'trial and error arena'. And we are fast expanding on this now with computer models and virtual reality. Why not bring it to a personal level? 'You have to be a creator' is something i heard Leo say several times. If we cut ourself off from the creative process, we will become unhappy, unfulfilled. In personal developement...if you reach a goal, then what? You can bask in that victory for a while, but not before long creativity will be knocking on your door again. In the same way you can enjoy a drawing or sculpture you made, but not for too long because another one is waiting to be manifested.

Ok then...you asked for it There is something divine about imagination. Manifesting our imagination is what mankind has been doing since the dawn of history. Since we first picked up that stick and reached for a fruit. Acting it out, is what children do intuitively...nobody has to teach them. Painters, sculpters, dancers, writers, actors...all do what they do in service of their imagination. It is what self developement is all about...every goal you set for yourself, all the discipline and willpower you exert you do to manifest your imagination. Computer games, virtual reality...literally everything we do. When we lose that hope of manifesting our imagination by being stuck in a job, relationship or whatever, we become depressed. So...is it safe to say that the ulimate goal of humankind is to be able to manifest imagination at the snap of ones finger? To bring reality and imagination together so to speak.

cool cymatic video

@avk123 Listen and learn my friend.

@DimmedBulb You can train your creativity. Start with doing every day tasks in a different way. Like brush your teeth with your left hand if you're right handed. Or keep the brush fixed in one place and move your head. Practise writing your name with non dominant hand. Write from right to left. Walk backwards. Just break your normal patterns and do silly stuff

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Is there even a tree there? Is there even a forest there when there is no observer, or is there just the possibility of a forest?

It's all very tricky. In principle, helping others equals helping yourself. And the other way around too. For example, by helping himself, Bill Gates is able to do so much more for others. What seemed a selfish act at start, can turn to become a real life saver for others down the road. And then there is this...who are you hurting because you help yourself or others? For example, if you buy a homeless guy a pair of shoes, you may be helping him. But are you helping the kid in Bangladesh that manufactured the shoes? Or...the homelsess guy may trade in the shoes for a knife, wich he uses to murder someone. You can never know what chain of events you unleash. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It basically boils down to Leo's "Rant against morality" video. "Selfishness is bad", thats moralization, judgement. Who knows...it can be bad or good, or better, there is no good or bad. Maybe, instead of creating a 'good life', beauty is a better guide to live your life by.

@Reality I love my job. I wouldn't say its my life purpose but, combined with a minimalistic lifestyle, it gives me lots of freedom and cashflow to invest in myself and assets that generate even more cashflow. The minimalistc lifestyle really makes the difference.

Just as a side note...I dug around a little in this subject, and yes, it's all still very vague. But there are some hunches. I posted a vid some time ago wherein Seth Lloyd explains at some point why we can differentiate between between 10000's of different smells while we only have roughly 400 different smell receptors. There is some circumstantial evidence that the weight of the molecule and thus it's vibrational frequency plays a role. Molecules with a similar vibrational frequency smell similar. DMT locks into the serotonin and melatonin receptors in the brain, so maybe akin to smell, the vibrational frequency of the molecule causes the shift in awareness. Just a wild guess... The part about smell starts at 43:00

Eckart Tolle's net worth for example is 15 million. He's not attached to his wealth, but he's not resisting it either.

Aren't we in danger then of exchanging obsessive materialism with obsessive spiritualism? Shouldn't we try to balance yin and yang, inner and outer?

This sais it all no? Remember that his business is psychology. Steve Jobs once said...'people don't know what they want, you have to show them what they want'. You have to create a demand for your product. Maybe that's an interesting topic for a vid. 'The psychology of marketing and how you get owned by it' . This is not a critique btw, i'm glad there are people like Leo who study psychology deeply and make us aware of the mechanics of it. I simply don't have the time (and willingness) to go and sift out all the gems and wisdom myself.

Sounds familiar...how can i ever go back to lead a 'normal' life after knowing this

Our search for extra terrestial intelligence is silly and childish. It should be stopped immediatly. It's a perfect example of how our belief system is screwing with us. It is like staring into the universe and looking for a good Italian restaurant. Our biggest challenge when encoutering an extraterrestial civilisation would be to recognise it as such.

By meditation, or other means, you will become aware of what you truly are, beneath all the layers of thought and beliefs. You will realize, you can be anything. This realiation will give you a great deal of happiness. More than any 'external' object can give you. One great big festering neon distraction.

@Xpansion I don't think it's broad at all. His field is psychology, and in that field he focuses on self developement (that kind of presumes you already have a healthy psyche) and in that niche of self developement, he puts the emphasis on spiritual developement and enlightenment in contradiction to, for example, Tony Robbins who focusses on business succes and finance or many others who are into health and fitness. I try to integrate all 3 of these. Body-mind-spirit. Health/fitness-intellect/business-spiritual developement. Maybe that means i will never fully master any of these 3 fields, but then so be it. I'm wary not to go too deep in any rabit hole in order not to get lost. On the other hand, i understand that if you make a living out of this, you have to specialize or you will be competed out of the market.

@FindingPeace What about a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies? İsn't that a selfless act?

@bflare You can use external objects to grow your mind. Whether you want to melt a ton of ice with your body, become a billionaire or help out others, you will need willpower, motivation, persistence, resilience etc.

Set yourself a goal, and don't waver from it. Even if the goal doesn't seem so attractive anymore after a while. Do it out of principle. Because reaching your goals is what you do. This principle helped me alot.

The ego loss i experienced on mushrooms...the onset and the first waves kept getting stronger and stronger i was losing coherent thoughts, it felt like i was dying. Reality shattered like a broken mirror in a million pieces. I had to surrender to it...make peace with the thought i was going to die. It wasn't mild at all for me. I didn't had all my faculties, i couldn't think, let alone speak. My ego completely dissolved.During the long comedown i had halucinations as if my body consisted of huge cubes that shifted in space. I can't even imagine being out on the street or in traffic in that state, it would be a total nightmare. In later experiences, i learned that the surrendering is absolutely nessecarry.Avoid a struggle My self was gone! There was no boundry between myself and the environment. After a while i regained my abilitie to speak All in all we had a very different experience it seems.

@Emerald Wilkins Oh, i've had my share of ego loss and psychedelic experiences. But i never tried to go about my daily routines. I just can't function normally. I would be a danger in traffic to myself and others. Idem at work. I would probably end up dead or in the ER.