Inception

Post #42: Express yourself You’re an artist, express your unique experience.

Post #41: Rubber meets the road I feel like I have now have a solid understanding of how to live the good life. The following period of my life will be dedicated to practicing my philosophy.

Post #40: ... ...

Post #39: Figuring it out Advice to my younger (and present) self: It’s okay that you don’t have it all figured out, pretty much no one around you has (especially at your age group) even though they act like they do Just another one of our collective illusions. PS: Having it figuret out isn't about having a big fancy house

Post #38: Behind mental bars I’m imprisoned by and within my own mind. I’m not going to escape by accident. It wasn’t designed to be easy.

Post #37: Mind The mind is on my mind.

“Be open-minded, but not so much so that your brains fall out.” - Groucho Marx

Post #36: Predicament The more I learn, the more i realize the depth of my predicament. I'm tempted to pity myself, but I try to have compassion instead. It seems that compassion, in large part, is having a non-judgemental understanding of the depth of someone's predicament.

Post# 35: Think again If you think you understand the mind, you don't understand the mind. If you think you've outsmarted the mind, the mind has outsmarted you.

Post #34: Buckle up I may have come a long way, but I still have a long way to go...

Post #33: Social circle I want to find people in real life who are sincerely interested in understanding the mind. I have a hard time seeing myself spending significant amount of time with anyone without this commitment. For me this is a prerequisite for for close friendship and romantic relationship, which explains why I spend so much time alone. As to where I will find such people remains an open question, for now... "I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-stupid" "It is better to be alone than in bad company" - George Washington "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" - Jim Rohn

Post #32: Forum I'm going to rethink my relationship to and expectations from this forum

The Soul is another word for the Mind, imo.

Interesting, is it a meditation object like a mandala? How did you make it?

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, it makes me realize that I take my own situation for granted. I don't know if being told or reminded of this helps, but your suffering isn't meaningless and it's not for nothing. You very well may be homeless right now, but you're well on your way Home, keep going. Seek refuge in your wisdom. Know there's always a way forwards. I know you can't buy bread with these words, but I hope they help nonetheless. “We're all just walking each other home” - Ram Dass

Post #31: Self-knowledge Mind is currently in the process of understanding itself. That's all that's been happening, and will happen. Everything happens for this reason alone.

Stainless steel or cast iron pan. Wooden utensils.

As long as there's separation between self and other you'll be lonely, because you'd be disconnected, that simple. In other words, loneliness is an unavoidable part of the unrealized life. What you really want is not to unite with a single person, instead you (yang) want to unite with other (yin) itself Love is more than neurotransmitters. Human relationships and love, if done right, is not a distraction. It's a fundamental human need and essential for health and wellbeing.

Thank you very much! You're welcome Additionally: When people refer to the "world" or "universe" in relation to Ultimate Reality, they (as a rule of thumb) refer to the material physical universe, which is why I gravitate towards panentheism.

Interesting distinction. I know you're not asking me, but I’d say that it depends on what one means by the “universe”. If you define the universe as the physical material universe then panentheism got the upperhand. Here’s why: The physical universe is an illusion. Under this definition pantheism would seem to suggest that Ultimate Reality is equal to the physical universe, which obviously isn’t the case. Panentheism however seems to recognize that while Ultimate Reality facilitates the illusion of the physical universe it’s greater than it. If you define the universe as Ultimate Reality itself then they would by definition be identical, and so pantheism would be sufficient.

Great idea, I like the original thinking. Do you have a name for it? I also want to have pictures of the people who've inspired me the most, like Alan Watts. I'm thinking late people only because, for some reason, having pictures of living people just feels a bit weird to me. So the exact opposite of you, @Buck Edwards, lol.

Post #30: Maze Life is a maze, so many twist and turns... So deceptive... So counter-intuitive. It's not straightfoward, don't expect it to. The confusion, complexity, deception, paradox, rules, exceptions to the rules. It's all on purpose

Stage yellow, but with a lot of holes in the lower levels. Like a cheese

Funny, discipline is also one of my foci for this year. Now idk about discipline, but i can teach you about willpower, which is either connected or the same thing (I’m not sure on my stance, what do you guys think?) So how do you increase willpower? Well by exercising it. It’s kinda obvious when you think about. When you use it you simultaneously strengthen it, like a muscle, which the word’s double meaning alludes to. It follows the “use it or lost it” principle So, doing things which require willpower will increase willpower, which might as well be productive. Also aerobic exercise in heart rate zone 3 might increase willpower. Source: "How to Increase Your Willpower & Tenacity". Work and other obligations will force you to be disciplined, but the thing is that you’re moved by an external source and not an internal one.

Post #29: The bottom I want to get to the bottom of everything. At least that what's it seems like