AtmanIsBrahman

Sure, I agree. But we’re not on the spiritual part of the forum. As long as you care about survival, attractiveness does matter. That’s something you can choose to deny or not.

Looksmaxxing is interesting to look at as an example of survival. Why do people looksmax? Survival. Why are people against looksmaxxing? Survival.

I don’t think this true. People agree on most things. There can be some preferences, but they’re insignificant compared to the objective metrics. Looksmaxxing is new in the sense that technology is advancing and it’s possible to make bigger changes to appearance

Recently I have tried to found some genuine spiritual music. Unfortunately it’s almost nonexistent. Interestingly though, Sadhguru actually has made some songs along with the Isha Foundation. I didn’t have high expectations, but some of them are actually good, and most importantly the lyrics are very profound. Here are some of the best ones I found.

I think the key to this thread is that there is no difference between creating and discovering. If reality is one mind, and you are it, creation and discovery are the same thing. I think you’re getting at the problem of self deception and specifically confirmation bias. Of course you could always be deluding yourself, but trying to relativize everything doesn’t help either. You’re basically saying that every perspective is equal in a postmodernist sense. Do you believe there is no absolute truth? And if so, is that itself an absolute truth claim? @Joshe

About the Pascal blog post, I disagree with the framing that Pascal was some kind of genius who understood the limits of science. He seems to have been a good scientific thinker who had one mystical experience, but that doesn’t mean he was that advanced. It’s a trap to assume that scientists of the past were beyond modern materialists just because they believed in God. That’s an underestimation of the power of conformity and belief. The most intelligent scientific minds may be philosophically and existentially stupid— they’re different domains. It’s also wrong to assume that what people in the past meant by faith/the heart is the same as direct experience. No, they’re often just talking about believing something.

@Leo Gura What are the most common ways that people go wrong thinking they have outsmarted the teachings? And how do you avoid treating actualized.org as a belief system while also avoiding falling into delusions?

Lyrical highlights from second song: This one is even more profound. “The impish me and the absolute ME Many think a contradiction But a perfect complement” This is hinting at solipsism. “I was born in my mother's womb but she did not create me” More solipsism. “My words and my songs, my smiles and my mirth are but a ploy to entrap you in my limitless void” Everything of the world is survival and illusion, ultimately. But you aren’t trapped in an ugly space; it is a limitless emptiness that is ultimately beautiful. “As the dance of life progresses, this space, this unboundedness, has become unbearably sweet Become love, reach out Become me” A beautiful ending

Here are some lyrical highlights from the first song. “A seemingly endless thought and emotion weaving webs of Maya. In effort to find Comfort sacrificing the very Cosmic In the blossoming of this Being lies the Source.” Weaving webs of Maya is a similar idea to Leo’s crocodile of self-deception. Maya will trap you in its web or drag you into its murky waters, whichever you prefer “Life has come from a very beautiful source. If you remain in touch with that source, Everything about you shall be beautiful.” This is a nice way of putting spirituality in terms of beauty. There is love, there is truth, there is void, there is bliss, and there is beauty. Reality is absolute beauty.

@LastThursday@Breakingthewall You say it’s arbitrary or just a possibility of existence, but do you know that for sure? You may be right, but somehow it feels important to keep questioning deeper, even if there might be no real answer.

In contemplating, I find that one of the most fundamental questions— and one largely ignored by actualized.org— is the relationship between the human and the absolute. Now I know what you’re going to say: “They’re the same. You are God!” But I think that’s missing the mark. First of all, are you directly conscious of that? If not, then don’t parrot it. If you are, still hear me out on this. Basically, you are a human and will be for the entirety of this life. You may realize God, but at the end of the day you still have to deal with survival and all kinds of human limitations. Isn’t it strange that God decided to have two arms, two legs, and a human face? I think this fact isn’t addressed by the realization that you are God. Sure, you are God, but why is God— at least for now— incarnated as a human? I’m interested if anyone has an answer to this problem. Until it’s resolved, God-realization isn’t complete omniscience, isn’t a complete understanding of everything. @Leo Gura

A Koan for everyone: Why does God have two arms, two legs, and a head?

But why are you playing the mini game?

I do care to know. But I’m not sure how possible taking off layers is (besides physical death). Psychedelics only do it for a time. Mostly you’re living as a human.

Some of you guys misinterpreted what I was saying a little bit. I wasn’t saying to go do self-help and forget about spirituality. I don’t have anything against self-help, but I’m talking about serious spirituality here. I was making a point about a metaphysical gap in actualized.org teachings. God exists, sure, but for now we’re stuck in the human realm. So the question becomes, why are we stuck in being a human? Also, how can we best navigate the human to be as god-like as possible?

On the blog post about songs and love, aren’t most songs just about shallow forms of love? Love for a romantic partner is a shallow form of love compared to love for existence. Or is the point that any good song will be about love even without knowing it, because it’s source of inspiration is ultimately love?

@UnbornTao I’m curious why you think Ralston is so much more deeply awakened than Leo or other teachers. I’ve found that he has great insights on ending suffering and being effective, but his teachings on the ultimate nature of reality are few and far between and not that radical. I understand he wants to avoid students believing in concepts, but without having heard him make any radical metaphysical claims it’s hard to know whether he has a basic level of awakening like a no-self realization or something truly profound that others don’t have. It requires a lot of faith (a form of belief) to think that someone who has never explained his deepest awakenings indeed is so deeply awakened. And maybe he is, but I wouldn’t assume it.

I thought you considered yourself more conscious than Ralston? Or do you have different strengths?

This would be huge if it could happen. Alex O’Connor has been becoming more and more idealist lately, flat out stating that materialism is false recently. He’s also interested in Bernardo Kastrup’s ideas. Speaking of which, an interview with the Essential Foundation (which disseminates Kastrup’s analytical idealism) would also be a great opportunity.

Absolute Beauty has been mentioned many times on the blog/forum, but there's no video about it. Maybe it could be connected with Love, Truth, Consciousness. Practically, you could give advice on how to see more beauty and even create it yourself. As a bonus the video could cover how art works as an expression of beauty, and how beauty can be found outside of art in everyday things too. For example, even a car crash is Absolute Beauty (according to my understanding). @Leo Gura

This channel is good for a highly intellectual understanding of spirituality and esoteriscism. The creator has a vast knowledge of mystical/esoteric traditons and makes interesting connections between them and other concepts (such as the two brain hemispheres in this video). Warning: The videos are highly conceptual and may be a distraction from direct consciousness

This channel has interesting spiritual/esoteric perspectives on reality. The visuals are also often trippy and enhance the videos

@Leo Gura In the psychiatry corruption post you said that we should try to find new ways to survive based on our personality. If I want to do serious truth-seeking as a life purpose, how do you recommend making it possible to survive off of it? Or is it necessary to do some “devil’s work” first for financial stability?

God has no gender. That means you have no gender either if you introspect deeply enough. Conservative bashing of trans people is attachment to the gender roles that are taken for granted, whereas trans people are a little bit more creative.

I agree with the post too. I'm one of those people who has watched every video multiple times (except for the earlier ones). The sad part is that most people won't believe you if you tell them some random youtube channel has life-transforming information. They need to see a PhD or some other credentials to take something seriously, and even then they'll take what the person says at face value rather than doing the truth-seeking work for themselves.