softlyblossoming

@BipolarGrowth Thank you! That was wonderfully comprehensive and answered everything very clearly. And you can fix the order of the images in the editor.

@catcat69123 Well said, I really relate to this. You have a way with words, Cathal @sleep Getting a pet can be a great way to enrich your life with a sense of meaning and purpose. Live to make the life of your pet better! Just because life has no meaning in the ultimate sense, does not mean it is silly to give it a meaning that inspires you personally. I am planning on getting a pet raccoon one day because I find them to be such adorable little critters. Pretending life is a game is also a fun way to make getting out of a rut a bit less brutal of a process. When I am depressed, I do Mettā (a meditation technique where the object of attention is loving kindness, benevolence, amity, sympathy, friendliness, active interest in the wellbeing of others and general good will towards them) and Tonglen (a meditation technique in which you deeply inhale the worlds suffering and slowly exhale compassion for those beings in the world who are suffering right now). I also do Mettā or Tonglen every evening before I go to bed which helps me to fall asleep feeling well. If you think it would help (and it's ok with you), I would like to use you as the subject of my Mettā practice for this particular evening . Additionally, these are two great ways I've found to recognise that I'm not alone in my pain and remind myself that I always have it in me to cultivate the good person I aspire to be (even when the pain makes it excruciatingly difficult not to act in ways that harm myself and others).

Hi, Brandon, could you please explain a little more as to what differentiates moods from states? Thanks!

@itachi uchiha Thanks, I'm gonna try it!

@ivankiss thanks

What did you find the strangest?

what kriya techniques you do in the 15?.

I don't think the problem is even that Leo's teachings are the most effective ones for the individuals addicted to them, but that these individuals are feeling depressed, anxious, burnt out, guilty about not self-actualizing fast enough, or are stuck in a rut. I believe this because I've noticed that when my mind is equanimous (i.e. self-satisfied without force/effort, non-reactive, grounded, relaxed and alert, having basic sanity and common sense, free of its own accord from unwholesome thoughts and emotions and comfortable with not knowing), it naturally/automatically doesn't tend to latch onto highly specified teachers or teachings. The equanimity gives me enough clarity around my life, my problems and the next steps I ought to take in solving them, that I can cope with my world without need for a continuous drip of outside support or inspiration/motivation. From my experience, it's been the quality of equanimity that moves actualized.org from sickly over-indulgence to the small bowl of dessert Leo recommends it be. As a little dessert bowl, actualized.org no longer distracts me from my main meal of enjoying life to its fullest. The biggest issue that tends to lead me to over-indulging in theory is beating myself up for not self-actualizing as fast as I can and the overwhelm I feel when observing how far I am from my ideals. I think the antidote to this is just to calm down and let ourselves develop in our own sweet time, such that we cultivate more equanimity and so are less attached to Leo's (or whatever particular teacher's) work, but can be passionate about it proportionately to the rest of our lives, which we might start to enjoy living. Hope this helps, @John Paul and others sharing our issue.

@Explorer_42 Thank you. This has been really helpful.

@Ulax Hahaha. I'm just hoping not to get banned for making this t shirt because the forum is so powerful a catalyst for my own growth. Maybe a good practice for you could be writing down the precise questions you want these "answers" to and posting them as threads or asking individuals in other related/relevant threads, as opposed to reading random threads and hoping something catches your eye. Plus now when you read threads for the recreation/pleasure of it, you'll have a new clarity in the back of your mind as to what you'd like to find out.

@Explorer_42 The amplification of the fourth and sixth fetters is intriguing. Thanks for being so open and specific about your attainment and how it affected the fetters. My big goal in spirituality is to achieve stream entry, so may I ask: what techniques/technologies/practices and items of contemplation do you believe led the most to your first awakening?

Deep in the hundred acre wood, Christopher Robbins and his friends have had many fine adventures...

shut

Needed that reminder since I thought I was being clever with my time-management by meshing my (would-be) career development with industrial grade spirituality. Never again lmfao.

Class @Husseinisdoingfine Get on my level, bro

Oh God, not the Leo dreams *shudders*. @Cykaaaa I love you @John Paul Great thread, I needed this wake up call. It's about damn time I stopped reading theory while pining over enlightenment and just started enjoying my freaking life.

@Carl-Richard Glad to hear that. I do not want to do any more than absolutely necessary because I suck and it's demoralizing (and that's not even to mention the daily blow to my enormous spiritual ego that I foresee this new habit posing)

That's great, @Tristan12. I'll watch all of those carefully. I've a long history of being a big rationaliser and feeling-avoider, both before and very much during my spiritual path, so this sounds perfect for me ?? I reckon that's most often because people are too lazy to write courteously, so I wouldn't take it personally . I also feel like certain people just respond better to the militaristic hyper-masculine writing style (e.g. "this is the real way that it is, here's why all of the other ways SUCK") because they're information overloaded, are chronic over-thinkers like yours truly , or are looking for some kind of an "ultimate final end all be all technique" that will get them enlightened as soon as possible and get scared off by answers that don't fit into the sort of black-and-white/perfectionistic world view that lead them to pursue such a fantasy (even though the most nuanced or (what I'd term) "spiritually politically correct" answers very often hold the most accurate descriptions for the way things are!). I feel like a big part of giving advice is meeting people where they're at, so that's how I try to communicate with the people who I feel I've genuinely got a shot at helping. Speaking of personal trauma histories, I once spent 2 or 3 hours on a really sweet reply to someone's thread the same day it was posted and everything, only for them never to respond, and I've been a little bit jaded ever since, so that could be as much a factor as anything else . Hey ho, at least one person got some value from all of this (me who's gonna watch those videos lol), right? Have a wonderful day, Tristan, much love ???

Thanks again, in that case I'll bump it up to the full hour. Looking forwards to seeing how my mornings play out following this advice . Is a single 1 hour sit per day enough, or do you recommend two or more of these? I'm just wondering as to when the diminishing returns would start.

Thank you, @Vincent S, that's awesome! I can't wait to get back into psychedelics (done legally abroad). Thank you, @Carl-Richard. I'll increase to 45 minutes per day starting tomorrow, as per your suggestion. Can I split this into 2-3 chunks or does it have to be continuous? I love those unexpected glimpses, they're never not awesome. Did you get any permanent changes after your first awakening?

Good point, well made. This observation is 100% accurate. Motivational. Say no more, you've got a new sub. Well, I was already subscribed, but you get the point, ahah . I still haven't watched many of your videos, so I'm wondering if you could help me get started on them. Are there any videos on your channel you'd recommend someone with my dogmas check out? Or that Javfly should give a watch for his own growth? Cheers, Tristan. I've read all of your replies in this thread and I really appreciate the dedication to supporting everyone here in spite of our oppositional reactions to your views. Often the most oppositional folks are the ones who most desperately need to hear what you have to say. All the best.

@ivankiss When you realize the real gangstas in this realm don't give a shit about hoes or $$$ hahaha

Loving this talk, @ivankiss. He knows what's really up.

Beautiful ??? @BipolarGrowth shut up weirdo

@Federico del pueblo Beautiful words, my friend