Key Elements

@Maxx It crossed my mind many times already that enlightenment is not just a simple answer of just take 5meo or X, Y, or Z. It's because it "speeds up the process." This may not be the answer.

@Hardkill Hey, tell you something. You could take it or leave it; it doesn't matter. Deal? You could start off simple by taking a walk outside in the fresh air. But, keep this in mind: be very aware of your thoughts -- let them just pass by as if you're seeing a leaf being carried away by the wind. Do not catch hold of any thoughts -- nope, no thoughts, esp. negative ones. The thing I'm trying to say here is, it's just you and yourself. You have to first learn to be by yourself. That's all. You and yourself -- in peace. (You may develop an exercise routine for yourself after a while.) Then, after doing this for a while, I want to say to slowly take steps toward your life purpose. Why do I say this? Because without getting to know yourself, step by step, you will not be able to seek help. How can someone else help you if you don't know yourself? For example, an university counsellor may ask you a simple question, "Are you more interested in arts or the sciences?" If you cannot answer his questions, he cannot help you choose a major. This is just one example. *** Secondly, I'll make it even simpler. If you can sit in your room by yourself, without over thinking or have any distractions, great. In this case, just take small steps into your life purpose. It's a lifetime / lifelong journey that will help you discover and develop yourself in your major / personal areas. If you try to skip steps, it won't work. You got to get your basics handled first. *** We like to eventually hear your other interests, or how you discovered them on your journey. Why? This is what this forum is about, right? It's to go further and further along the journey, and if you share something along this process, we all (or at least some of us) will learn from it. *** Yes, life is demanding like you say -- very challenging. But, f***** up, I'm not sure if I agree. Life is testing us and demanding us to be at our full potential. It requires you to come up with around a handful of interests and then find a way to make at least one or two of them into something that you enjoy doing and eventually becoming a life purpose and beyond. Then life gets easier, but it's up to you to find a way. Good luck.

@Jedd From my experience of finding my life purpose, I had to choose something that I like to do to survive. And then, I chose something else to add to it -- to make the thing I used to survive more creative. This is the basic pattern I followed to discover it. Please feel free to have a look if you want to see an example.

If you are to go out into the real world right now to try to make a living so that you'll be able to survive and stand on your own, which of these from your list would you choose? You're going to pick from this list to survive.

What is this? Interesting It reminds me of Star Trek, and in that show, The Borg Race where 7 of 9 came from. Or, God forbid, the Borg race has taken over earth.

Nice karaoke song...For Christmas Hot Chocolate - Polar Express (movie)

@Nahm I get what you're saying. We have so many non-biodegradable containers already. Let's just hope they don't find a way to invent and contain a simple, fictional ego.

Well...being immortal with an ego isn't easy living. Can we or something else be contained without the ego? I'm guessing - maybe not.

It's not the case. Why? It's a matter of understanding the deep info or not. A lot of these info are already posted on the forum, many of them on the pinned or popular threads. It's a matter of you doing self-inquiry on them and finding a way to incorporate it into your life.

Interesting rant... I understand the rant, but the question is, what have you learned by being on this forum? If you can get something beneficial to yourself, that's great, but can you identify it? *Remember, this is not about what others are mentally masturbating. Don't label. This is about what you learned. For me, I learned how to communicate better and share my thoughts. For example, some things are meant to be shared and better communicated in the pinned threads. Some things are more appropriate in the joke thread, etc., etc. Why is that? One reason is, it reduces debates. If a person is serious about the info given, he/she will go out and research it, do self-inquiry on it, and incorporate it into one's life. The person will have to digest the info before taking action on it. Being here also gave me different ideas on how to incorporate spirituality into a life purpose. For example, you could tell it in 3rd person or as a joke so that those who are ready to hear it will hear it. Those who are not will just gain a skill (self-mastery).

I just saw this video. It reminds me of this thread. The reason why it's inspirational for me is because it goes beyond just sex. They are beautiful women -- both inside and outside.

Just wanted to bring up the question here and share. What about this leading to this? I remember Leo telling someone why not achieve full "Buddhahood" and not eat cheetos? But, sometimes you have to wonder what exactly is full "Buddhahood?"

Ok. This may sound "crazy," but from my understanding and what I've researched, this is when we do well in school (earth phenomenon) and become one with the no-self upon passing away. What does this mean? Some ppl call this being a Master. You can appear to someone on earth to teach them a lesson by guiding them in some way. So, in other words, life purpose & the way you set an example to others and the way you contribute counts (toward becoming a no-self/Master, and also being lighthearted). *** Come to think of it, it may also work like the professor in X-men, where he sees everything from the "mind." But, in the case of the no-self, it's (you're) not embodied. So many pointers in movies nowadays. *** I wonder what others came up with, but they're not saying it. *** Nirvana (not the music group )

I like what you said here. I like this word -- strategically. I use a simple pen and notebook to write a foreign language repeatedly. I enjoy that while learning a new language. I take a hike in nature. And you know, I'm planning to get a new smartphone to make YouTube clips. What if you travel around the world living in nature, meeting awesome diverse ppl, solving world problems, and all you have to do is click some buttons on your smartphone. Come on..everything starts with a dream.

Ok cool. Same clip. Tbh, I didn't notice, but I wanted to comment on it a bit more. It's because we're still embodied and still have to deal with our ego. To live an embodied life, we still have to live out our karmas and our ego. And, because of that, the combination of superpowers (if a person actually has it) and ego and karma can sometimes backfire on a person.

Interesting topic, but... There is a difference between enlightenment and having superpowers. What's the difference? Shinzen Young explains here at around 3:30. I really like how he explains it, and how he explains the other things. To me, he's basically saying that one has to move on and go deeper and incorporate the deepest thing to life. Otherwise, we get stuck in one stage or the other in life.

Let me add: You can't objectify anything: not people, not women, not chairs. Why not chairs, even though in daily life chairs are actually objects? Because when a person passes away, he/she becomes one with everything, unless he/she becomes reincarnated (that's a different story). But, ultimately we are one, like everyone is saying in this thread. Ultimately we are one, but how do we work towards living that kind of lifestyle in real life? There comes a point where we have to meet and interact with other people. How you interact, who you choose to interact with, and the topics that you bring up counts.

This is a very interesting question: how do I stop objectifying people? By working on yourself so that you have something to bring to the table. What topics are you going to talk about? Is it useful? Will it benefit both sides? Will it benefit all? Because when you actually meet others and discover another person, no one would want to be objectified (not even yourself).

So, what is awareness to you? To me, in the daily life, there is a difference between keep thinking, thinking, thinking, continously, and then there is being aware that you keep thinking and moving on so you could do something else.

So, the question is: Why is thinking not awareness? Thinking involves thoughts. Examples of thoughts: I'm hungry. I'm thinking about eating an apple. I'm thinking about eating an orange. I feel sad. I feel happy. I feel angry. This is obvious. So, what is awareness? You are just observing without being caught inside your thoughts. You notice that you're happy, sad, or angry. You notice that you're hungry and crave an apple and an orange. Ok, so when these things happen, do you go about your day solving problems? Sure you do. You're just not caught up in your thoughts and making whatever you're experiencing and solving even worse. Another question came up in this thread. Should you go for enlightenment? That is completely your choice.

It could take years to incorporate seeing/being the no-self (enlightenment) into one's everyday life. After "experiencing the no-self," the person is still embodied. Embodiment means one still has to deal with the ego. Mastery of dropping the ego on a daily basis may take time. It won't be perfect. Shinzen Young explains it in each one of these traps. Life, the journey, continues.

This clip is a reminder to work on life purpose and not just get any job, and also to go for enlightenment because it's not the paranormal.

Make yourself a frozen popsicle out of orange juice or some kind of fruit juice. Then you get to suck on it for a while and think of ways not to crave.