Key Elements

I used to help someone suffering from severe schizophrenia. She and I used to go to this spiritual center and listen to a speaker. I just thought of something. Why not find others who are going through the same/similar situation, who are kind and open-minded, and talk to them about it and move on from there? People going through the same things are more likely to guide you better.

I think a simple lifestyle is preferred as opposed to a "lavish (money)" lifestyle is because it's not easy to maintain a lavish lifestyle. Who's going to maintain and keep the mansion clean? Who's going to maintain the toys, you know, fancy cars, boats, etc.? You probably want to find time to teach (share) the enlightenment experiences that you had and help understand that life means peace, peace of mind, and peaceful lifestyle. But, you're probably going to have to strategize on that because a lot of stigma is still attached to teaching enlightenment - you know, all the name calling - "woo-woo," "weird," "crazy." This lifestyle is simple maybe too simple for me. It reminds me of a Zen story... The Moon Cannot Be Stolen Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you shoud not return emptyhanded. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.” I wonder if there's a hospital nearby in case of an emergency. What about security? Like a security guard or security cameras? Living in a community has its benefits. There's safety in numbers. These things have to be taken into consideration as well as living a simple lifestyle. Kiyosaki, the guy who wrote, Rich Dad Poor Dad, saved his sister from cancer. It's because he is wealthy and famous. His sister was living a monastic lifestyle, and didn't have money to go to a proper hospital. Donations were not enough. So she called her brother for help. Too bad this is also the truth. Looks like a stage green lifestyle. It has its limitations.

Great summary. Actually, this is one of my favourite videos that Leo made. Have you ever went travelling and told someone where you were going? And then, later, they were in shock / or surprised in a funny way because they didn't understand why you were going there? Culture shock. Leo briefly mentioned it in this clip.

At some points in my life, I had the same questions as you. You don't have to go full fledge into college if you don't want to. You may want to take a course or two according to your vision / interests. Maybe at the same time, start to work part-time while doing a channel / startup. You may want to explore different areas to see which ones work out for you and go with that.

@GTITurbolover I just want to point something out here. Our paths are very different and unique. If a person does recognize an enlightenment experience, later, after self-inquiry and self-improvement, the person will teach it in a different way than another person. Suppose the person is a painter, the painter will express it in a different way than let's say a doctor. Just want to share a quote...

Your life purpose is different if you align it with enlightenment. Try it and find out.

I just watched this movie today with my family members - 7 of us. Before the movie, no one knew what the movie is about. We just got together for enjoyment - that's all. After the movie, the reaction was, "Oh my gosh, I was thinking of 'Key Elements' the whole time!" Because I'm the only one in the family who openly talks about enlightenment. What do I think about the movie? I could relate to the "soul" part when he's on the operating table having an outer body experience. I could also relate to having an experience into space. Yes, 'paranormal powers' could be developed. However, yes, I agree that this movie is very exaggerated to fit any mainstream culture.

Interesting I usually don't. Can you? But, I build it up toward that point. I would say, "Life is not just about work, work, work, and then retire," or "Life is not just TGIF (living for the weekends)." Others usually understand it this way. It goes from shallow to profound and depends on who you're talking to. If you're trying to bring up someone's vibration, it also has to be done through your actions. That's more convincing.

This is quite an interesting story you told here. Thanks for sharing. Yes, I do agree that we are living in the "Matrix" and to drop all beliefs. However, speaking from my own experience, this path also is a paradox. That's why they call it nothingness as well as everythingness. The opposites are true. It's just like saying there's no up or down in space. Since we're also talking about the everythingness, life is meant to be lived. Life has meaning. We are put here for a reason. Our spiritual paths are unique, and so on and so on. That's why the quote below really resonates with me. As we go along our paths, it does trigger 'ah-ha' moments.

@Leo Gura Just wanted to say this with the clip below. It won't be so easy to do a channel/startup with enlightenment. First of all, not all enlightenment experiences are the same. Secondly, it's extremely hard to relate to for the general audience. And 3rd, how do you even convince yourself that an enlightenment experience is real and useful? From what I learned from observing your startup, actualized.org, and other startups with enlightenment, a skill other than enlightenment, is the way to go. For actualized.org, it's self-help and for Shaolin monks it's kung fu. If you know kung fu, for example, you could make a living off of that and later express your enlightenment experiences in the form of a book (or whatever), but you would have to write it with strategy so that it will only be useful to those who could relate. Strategy is really needed here because it won't be useful if the product - ie book - goes into the wrong hands - lots of criticizing and attacking. Then you strategize, for example, write the book in 3rd person. Just wanted to share this thought with you - really appreciate your work.

@Leo Gura Just a little note here - a thought occurred. Since there is no "death," eventually, we become infinite. Does it really work like a smoothie? Do we all become one or different infinite? It could work both ways - paradox. I heard that there are different stages before we become infinite. (I bet there are! ) Some call it stages; some call it demensions. ------------------------------------------------ @Leo Gura I always thought that actions speak for itself when I discovered this. However, putting two different skill sets together with strategy seems interesting. It may lead more ppl to discover spiritual enlightenment and awakenings which eventually lead to making more peace in this world.

"One thing: you have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is not so cheap, to reach to the ultimate realization of truth. You will have to create the path by walking yourself; the path is not ready-made, lying there and waiting for you. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don't leave any footprints. You cannot follow them; there are no footprints left behind." -Osho

Now, you realized that this count a lot as well as infinite. It's so interesting transforming back to our ego and still living with it - the paradox. Our journey continues in this life. To make life more meaningful, try showing this divine love to the world. Showing = actions speak louder than words. After all, it's all you. How are you going to communicate/show this? This will be interesting - not so easy, is it?

So..whatever you want to see happen in this world do this today-step by step.

Here's another way of looking at it. Enlightenment comes in different ways for different ppl. So, if you want to focus on life purpose now, for example, go right ahead. But, don't be surprised if you make your life purpose meaningful, for instance, that something out of the blue or out of the ordinary happens, and then you go, "Oh, ok...wow!" After witnessing the wow moment, you just continue with your life but you learned something from that and do something meaningful again and meet up with another wow/ah-ha moment. See, enlightenment could work in this way cause life does have meaning, and it's meant to be lived. Otherwise, why are we even seeing this awareness?

@Prabhaker Thanks for the story! I wanted to hear that. Now I'm wondering why didn't you tell Leo? Looks like he was also having doubts of why you told the story. For me, I can't follow any stories 100%. I have to experience on my own and find truth in my own way. No one single story or material worked for me so far, including becoming vegetarian to vegan. I guess we're all unique - we can't find truth in the same ways.

@Prabhaker Some of the things you say sound romanticized. Leo and others here just want to get down to the bottom line and hear truth. I think you made up this story, added a few lines for drama, because I never heard this story.

Leo, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about substances such as 5meo, for example, being impure, being mixed up with some other substance and causing something like schizophrenia or some other mental illness. Or, maybe it's pure and it still causes mental illness of some kind due to your genetics or just because your brain chemistry is more prone. Remember, you recommended testing kit for purity of the substance? Pls understand what I'm saying. I'm not against what you are doing, just concerned, ok? First shroom trip was ok. After 5meo, second shroom trip was "epic." You said that on your clip. That's a huge change. In this life, there are always two sides to the same coin. You have to wonder what this really is, right?

@mikeyy I knew someone who took a cat scan and MRI. Both required health insurance. I'm not sure which type of scan is done for brain chemistry related to mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Is it PET scan? I just helped the patient. I didn't get to go that far into it. @mikeyy Look. Here it is. I have never taken her to the hospital (her family did) but this looks interesting. Just wanted to share. I knew it wasn't MRI.

@mikeyy Hey, I just saw your post. The two ppl I knew who took drugs took recreational street drugs that caused their schizophrenia. Now, I'm not sure which ones. One of them, her cousin mentioned it, and the other wrote it in her journal and someone got a hold of her journal and told me. It depends on your brain chemistry. Some ppl are more prone to developing mental illnesses more than others, esp if it runs in the family. It also depends on how long you've been doing it. If you're very concerned, you might want to take a brain scan. Pls, don't worry. Just do a lot of research before you do something. Yes, it's a great idea to study mental illnesses. There's more than just schizophrenia. There's also bipolar disorder - has to do more with mood swings. There's a whole range of them.

@Leo Gura I suppose when taking any substances, one has to be sure it is pure. Otherwise, it may induce mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. I saw you mentioning in another post to test for purity before taking any substances. The person who I tried to help, hers was drug induced. I also know of someone else who suffers severely because it was drug induced. Yes, it's best when experts are giving advices on substances, and that too more than one expert. I'm guessing you want to become an expert, especially on this topic, Leo-very profound topic too. Best of Journey and please be very careful. Schizophrenia is very serious . Note: This patient I was working with doesn't have a family history of schizophrenia. Her case was not genetic - purely drug induced. I want to include in a clip below that the patient I tried to help would probably look something like this if she went off her meds. Yes, she had it horrible. Notice how you have to talk to the patient in a certain way. However, don't compare mild forms of schizophrenia with severe forms of schizophrenia. There is a spectrum. Many can control it but some cannot.

@cetus56 Yes, I understood when you mentioned Prabhaker. That's why I mentioned parapsychology. That's the branch that studies spirituality - like near death experiences, seeing no-self, etc. @cetus56 My guess is, it probably is possible to have both schizophrenia and spirituality together. I have heard that maybe a monk who is in one of Dalai Lama's temple has both.

@cetus56 It could be genetic. It could be drug induced. It's in psychology / psychiatry. The interesting thing is parapsychology is also another branch of psychology, which makes it really interesting, but those are two different branches.