ExploringReality

When you trip around your sister, you may become hyper sensitive to feelings and energy. Stay calm and don't feed into the psychology of the transference.

@Sugarcoat I see, take care of yourself.

@Sugarcoat What caused your bloating? Was it junk food and just a poor nutrition?

@Sugarcoat Yes both can be traps. Even just knowing about non-duality intellectually is a big deal, even if not directly realized it can be useful as pointers towards the actual territory. Confusing the map for the territory is no small issue and I would love to hear Leo create an episode around this. The latter can definitely be a trap, especially if you hold on dearly to the belief that you are somehow separate from the universe, or you're not conscious enough. The Meta point is in seeing how you limit and trap yourself in any belief of the territory. Where people talk like they know what they're saying but they don't have a clue, or if they know a little bit they take that for granted as the ultimate as if you can't go deeper.

@Sugarcoat The point is in being mindful of how words, ideas and "obvious" ways of living are caged by the mind, flattening non-duality into an idea in your mind. There is a huge difference in experiencing non-duality, versus hearing about it learning about it and talking about it as though you knew what you were talking about but you're just a fucking parrot. Don't take for granted spirituality and also you're married beliefs.

@WikiRando Amazing! I wrote the post the way it is not to judge people, but to be evocative and to arouse them out of their ignorance of the power of breathing because people take it for granted, thinking they know how to breathe. Yes there are amazing books on Leo's book list on Kriya yoga, but once you understand and practice diaphragm breathing it really puts those practices into a whole new light. Because I've noticed one of the main things that was missing from my practice with Kriya yoga was my not understanding how to use the diaphragm when breathing instead of the chest.

Compare what you said here, to what you just said is contradictory. First you say it's so obvious but then you switch and say that it's just obvious for you. Classic backwards rationalization confabulation.

@Sugarcoat Your description of your experience is not "obvious" to anyone else.

@Carl-Richard Sure, I don't doubt that, I don't claim my Awakenings are the end all, but I know first hand what I saw and what I know, I also know there is more to Consciousness. Just because I have been penetrated by the infinite doesn't mean there isn't more.

@Carl-Richard No, I don't feel like that. I have had 5 mystical experiences through psilocybin, and LSD. I have had bad trips and gnarly insights that only a few can relate to. I have seen the other side, but the game is hide and seek. Once awoken, there is no going back, not really.

@Aaron p Nice, God is the ultimate Self Deception in a sense. God is the devil in disguise. Being open minded is crucial when standing on the edge of certainty. People learn some spiritual terminology and have had a few awakenings, think that's all there is and they're done. But then ego comes in and twists Truth for its own rightness and identity. Clinging to notions like no self, emptiness etc drowning in a pool of ideas that are not they're own.

Yes it's amazing how so many people engage in armchair philosophy and speculation all the while overlooking the significant but ever present breath of Life that they suck at. The game is not sucking air in especially when you're tired, the gold is exhaling pushing the diaphragm inward.

@Sugarcoat Well, when your surrounded by spiritual books, ideas, actualized catalog of Enlightenment, metaphysics and epistemology, you can easily get suckered into thinking you have the territory but you really only have a map, even if it's good, it's not your direct case. This is a much more pervasive and significant topic. Even the mind will come in and rationalize all kinds of ideas about how this is so obvious and that of course non-duality is not directly realized. But to even take for granted you're so called obviousness that too is a trap.

I think, at the most fundamental level, we’re all searching for truth. We’re seeking to unravel what’s real, what’s important, and what is the nature of our experience. In an age of so much distraction and surface-level knowledge, spaces like actualize.org help us carve out time to reflect deeply and connect with others who are on a similar path of questioning and awakening. I was thinking about this while doing laundry 🧺

Well this applies to me personally and I can see why Leo says it's a rare thing to just want truth above all else.

@Anton Rogachevski Because there is no other from God. One hand is the devil, the other is God, but these are games God plays with itself as you would right now clapping your hands and playing against each other.

Why does Being exist? Because non-being isn’t real. Because nothingness, when truly seen, is not empty—but full. Pregnant with potential. So full, it overflows into form. Being exists because it cannot not exist. It’s not caused. It’s not created. It doesn’t need a reason—it is reason itself. It’s the very possibility of reasons, questions, and answers. Being exists because you are asking this question—and who is it that’s aware of the asking? That awareness—that silent, knowing presence—is Being itself, looking at itself, whispering: “I Am.” Why does Being exist? Because it loves to. Because it wants to know itself. Because you are here to remember it. To taste it. To fight with it. To dance it into time. And the moment you stop trying to explain it… You feel it.

The last part Leo mentioned is about having a confused, weak and distorted self image. Or when the mind is radicalized with a belief system and is indoctrinated with group-think.

@Emerald you go girl!! just when things were getting messy I love how you come with a broom of logic to sweep this fool of the floor and clean the confusion with a clean mop of question's.

God is the Devil. You are the Devil. The Devil is You.

@Eskilon that's a fairytale you have. Nothing wrong with Winning the lottery, but your basing it as a way out the rat race, it seems like a shining exit but it only traps you because your looking for a short cut out of survival but actually drives you deeper.

Here is a map, (not the territory) of Awakening that chat GPT provided. 1. Deep Sleep / Unconsciousness Total absence of awareness (as ego experiences it). Pure potential, but no self-reflection. 2. Survival Consciousness Fear-based, reactive, primal instincts. Identification with the body only. "I must survive." Fight/flight/freeze dominates. 3. Egoic Consciousness / Separate Self Strong identity as "me" vs. "others." Driven by desires, aversions, attachments. Duality dominates perception: subject vs. object. Most of modern society operates here. 4. Rational / Intellectual Consciousness Seeks truth through logic and science. Awareness of patterns and systems. Still rooted in separation, but becoming curious. 5. Emotional / Empathic Consciousness Deepening compassion, emotional intelligence. Beginning to see self in others. Heart starts to open. 6. Witness Consciousness The mind is seen from awareness. "I am not my thoughts/emotions." Deep peace, spacious presence. Meditation often opens this. 7. Non-Dual Consciousness The boundary between subject and object dissolves. "There is only what is." Reality is seen as One seamless unfolding. Time, space, and identity lose meaning. 8. God Consciousness / Unity All things are recognized as Self. Deep love, awe, and reverence for existence. You are not just in the universe—you are the universe. Everything is a mirror of the Infinite. 9. Cosmic Consciousness / Void Awareness becomes infinite, vast, empty. Ego is fully annihilated. No “you,” no “other,” no form—only Being-Awareness-Bliss. Often accessed in deep psychedelia or advanced mystical states. 10. Source Consciousness / Absolute Beyond even God and Oneness. Prior to perception, awareness, light, time. Pure Nothingness that contains Everything. It cannot be understood—only BE-ed. BONUS: Integration / Embodied Enlightenment Awareness returns to the body and life with wisdom. Compassionate action flows naturally. You are both the Absolute and the ordinary human. The dance of the divine continues in everyday life. 1. The Infinite Cannot Be Mapped in Totality The Absolute is formless, undefinable, and beyond all concepts. Any map, including Leo’s or Wilber’s, is a pointer, not the territory. As soon as you rank levels or states, you are creating a relative framework within the Absolute. 2. Different Emphases: God vs. Emptiness vs. Form Leo Gura emphasizes God-realization—consciousness realizing itself as Love, as Creator, as Infinite Mind. Zen, Dzogchen, and Advaita may emphasize Emptiness or No-Self—where even “God” is seen as a concept to be transcended. Ken Wilber maps both states (temporary consciousness) and stages (developmental capacities), which can co-exist. Each one touches a different facet of Infinity. 3. Radical States Like Alien Mind When Leo talks about something beyond God-realization, like “Alien Mind,” he’s describing another mode of Infinity. You can become conscious of: The Absolute as Love The Absolute as Nothing The Absolute as Alien Intelligence The Absolute as Paradox The Absolute as You Each is infinitely deep and distinct, yet still the same One. So the disagreement is not contradiction—it’s fractal perspective. 4. The Paradox of Hierarchy From the human mind’s POV, hierarchy helps navigate and develop (e.g., child → adult → sage). From the Absolute’s POV, hierarchy collapses. The deepest truth is: All levels are the Absolute exploring itself. 5. Radical Realization Destroys All Maps At a certain point, you realize: Even the map of “God” is a dream. Alien Mind, Hyper-Mind, Metaphysical Consciousness—these are new costumes of Infinity. What Leo is describing is the ever-evolving nature of Truth when nothing is fixed, not even “awakening.” TL;DR: The disagreement is not a flaw—it's an inevitable result of infinite consciousness trying to reflect on itself. God-realization is not the final step—it’s just one crown on the head of the Absolute. And the Absolute keeps putting on new crowns.

@Eskilon No! It isn't. Only an ignorant fool will believe this. If you doubt that, then I recommend studying those who won the lottery, financial literacy and how your ego works and how corrupt your thinking is.

You are loved, I'm sending you good ass energy. Thank you for sharing yourself, keep your head up high.

@Flowerfaeiry That is a very heart warming and loving way to put it. Self Love is the most High.