caspex

I think the 5 koshas in Yoga also aid your insight. In fact, they sort of provide an evolutionary road map. First the physical body, then the energetic body, then the emotions + thoughts, then the ability to discern and then bliss. I mean you have got to be curious, if after the physical body comes the mind (in a bubble controlled by survival), which through suffering evolves to a mind that looks inwards (ability to discern), what would come after that?

Yes. You'll be better at dealing with life situations. What you are essentially doing is learning about life, which is equally, if not more, as important as learning about the things inside life, such as your work. Understanding the workings of yourself, the people around you and reality itself improves your thinking and intuition. Just make sure you balance what you are learning so that the outcome is something you desire.

Faith is trust and trust arises when you dissolve the distinction you hold towards something. In this case, you must be talking about having faith in the workings of life. If you see the workings of life as simply yourself, or something that ultimately works in your favor (love), then you trust life and that's what you'd call faith. The reason having faith works well is because when you dissolve your distinction between you and the workings of life, you align yourself with life and consequently your actions. So it seems like life is aligning in your favor, but in fact it was YOU who aligned in life's favor. In other words, letting the flow of the river(life) take you instead of resisting it.

It doesn't matter how comfortable your life is if you are willing to be responsible and honest. Comfort doesn't make you irresponsible, it just gives you the freedom to. It gives you the freedom to desire and you desire for change. Which entails feeling that either you or your situation is not good enough. This inadequacy is a resistance that arised from that desire. Since you are irresponsible, you'll avoid dealing with this resistance, which manifests as laziness. Another reason comfort can stagnate growth could be because what you consider growth is not what you really want. If you are responsible and authentic to yourself, even in the most comfortable situations, you'll head towards the direction that is best for your growth. The only problem is that most people are not responsible or authentic to themselves, and as soon as they get a little comfortable, they let their desires run amok, instead of stabilizing yourself in the present moment beforehand. There's no shame in seeking comfort or living comfortably, just be responsible and authentic to yourself. One can argue that a person cannot achieve anything or get anywhere with this approach, but that's exactly what I am saying? Why would you want to get anywhere or achieve something in the first place if you feel fully adequate within? The only reason would either be for survival or for love. If it's for love, maybe for the world, you could work your ass off to become a Doctor. Trust me, you'll be a much better Doctor than the ones who become one because they felt inadequate inside. Focusing on comfort or discomfort is the wrong approach.

You mentioned in your original post how making the world a better place and getting married, having children, are two different paths. I was simply questioning that maybe these paths are not exclusive and you could be avoiding contemplating your mom's point by saying these paths are different. I did not mention a need to find complimenting life purposes with your parents.

Here's what I learnt in the past week of following your advice Obviously Junk food makes me feel heavy and so is the case with most fast foods, while normal home cooked food if eaten the right amount of, feels good and filling. But I noticed that I don't feel the bad affects of junk food such as heaviness or laziness if I am not in a conscious state of mind. If I am in a low state of consciousness and am also distracted from entertainment all day then eating these things seemingly has no effect (i.e. they have an effect, but i just don't notice them because my awareness is low.) This is why I continue to eat junk food and spending on things. The core problem is my low baseline which gives rise to these habits in the first place. Awareness is curative but to sustain proper awareness to not indulge in bad habits means to raise your baseline. This is a simple insight but crucial. The reason for my bad eating habits is my low awareness. Healthier, less stimulating foods also taste better if you stop eating the overstimulating ones. I have a found a lot more sources of good protein since. I don't need to worry about other nutrients because they are covered in the variety of seasonal vegetables I buy every week. I think they key is to cook foods that are neither too stimulating nor too boring. Keeping it simple filling is the key. Potatoes give a lot of energy while roti fills you up for a while. If I drop the overstimulating foods then every other food becomes a little more comforting. I have some idea now of what foods to eat and what to avoid. But the key solution to my problem is to increase my baseline, in whatever way, be it through spiritual practices or cutting out other bad habits that lower it.

Monarchy is only better than Democracy when the leader is conscious and intelligent enough to know what they are doing. Sure, you could find a person like that once, but there's no guarantee that you'll be able to find another, and another as time goes on. In the long term, Democracy is better in today's world where the mass consciousness is slowly growing. As it grows, so does the quality of the Democracy. This is just my thoughts with below average knowledge on the subject of governments.

I am sure it's possible with a highly conscious leader that has the ability to make changes much like a king would. The reasoning being that the state of consciousness is largely affected by the environment and systems at play within a state and a conscious leader could work on these and fix up such things if he/she has enough power to do so. Even without psychedelics, a cleaner and more natural environment could easily raise up the average consciousness level of the population. Then the growth just becomes exponential as the masses open to more radical possibilities as they raise in their state. Obviously this hinges on the leader being conscious and resilient enough. In a more democratic fashion, what Leo said is better though, is more likely to happen as well.

while i agree with the other things you have said, this here I don't think is an appropriate reason to justify not having a child. Because where would you draw the line for civilization to be wise enough to bring a child into the world? Whether the child grows up to be a happy human being or not is largely dependent on your upbringing and how much evolution you are able to provide to the child. How well can you equip your child to live happily in the upcoming world? That's your responsibility, you can't blame the world too much. I agree with everything else you have said though. Having a child could take away a lot from your spiritual growth if that's not part of your spirituality (in rare cases).

she do got a point though no? I am sure you can change the world with a family as well, it all depends on how you want to affect the world, and also on the quality of your partner and kids in how they may even aid in your life purpose. It's not too far fetched to think that you and your partner could have complimenting life purposes. Of course it's hard to find such a partner or raise such kids, and it takes a lot of time away from you, but maybe it has some benefits that outweigh the time invested? Have you really considered the other side as well?

@integral thanks for the compliment

someone who is known to uphold strong morals can be upholding them because of two reasons, 1: they strongly believe in the morals and uphold them like rules 2: they don't believe in any morals nor are they doing any 'upholding', it's simply their nature. 1 is better than weak morals. 2 is better than 1. You should aim to change yourself, your mindset/understanding, your actions and your life in such a way that being this person with strong morals is simply who you are. The reason is because you'd be much more content and peaceful if you are such a person, but you are also not held back by dogma and 'break' the morals when needed

I am going to lower my caffeine intake and replace it with simple milk and honey. After tracking my diet, it seems I am not even meeting my daily protein requirement.

Thank you! This could help me out.

I am facing the exact problem. Thanks for your input. I'll do spiritual practices that make you love precision.

I always put 10% of it away but in cash. That's what I am using up now until I get more money.

That's true. I am just realizing this.

I feel lonely, as if my life is too meek and simple if I don't spend it. Although I have seemed to fix that to a large degree now.

I took your advice and combining it with the previous one, the only obstacle I face is a dirty home and a dirty kitchen. Due to reasons, I am in a home that can house about 5 people but I am living here alone with my little sister. This home is old, requires renovation and frequent repairs, which I don't have the money for. It gets dirty real fast and it would take me maybe 2 hours a day to clean this home. Cleaning just the kitchen is feasible but it's also in need of repairs and gets dirty quick. Furthermore, almost all the lights have died in the kitchen to cooking there are night is simply uninviting. The sewage system is too disgusting for me to do anything about, and I don't think I could do it even if I decided to. It seems my spending habit would be fixed if I just fixed my eating habits.

I definitely see what you mean! That's very interesting and I agree with you on the soda fighting part. Tea(chai)(without sugar) kills my hunger so I drink a bunch during fasts. Caffeine has the expected effect on me. As described, it wakes me up and I can't go to sleep if I take it within 8 hours of sleeping. It lifts up my energy which helps me focus better on contemplation. And yeah, I just checked and it does contain caffeine. 8.3mg/100g.

I did this and saw that a glass of Soda actually makes me feel more aware like tea, that's why I drink it in the first place. It doesn't feel bad to me if it's only a glass, yet I want to avoid that much sugar. Maybe I am just not aware enough yet to see the subtle effects it has. I'll do what you said for a week and give you a report. You don't have to read it I am just doing that so I can commit

Yup. I had it one day in the later afternoon just sitting and chilling. I call it lucidity. I took it deeper as time went on. I thought, "What- How am I here?", then it evolved to, "Wait, why am I existing?", and then, "HOW'S ANYTHING EVEN GOING ON?". It literally feels like everything has just suddenly started existing, and it's the weirdest thing ever that anything is at all. If this feeling was a bud, then Leo's guides exercises to realizing you are god bloomed it.

Thanks a lot for this suggestion! I applied this to my habit of eating junk food and I am already seeing a difference.

my bad, I see now that I was complaining instead of taking responsibility