poimandres

To my knowledge, Buddhism doesn't mention much of a Yin/Yang principle. It's heavy non-dual philosophy, focus inward, the "now", etc. End suffering. Taoism (it seems) seems dualism philosophy approach that seeks the unity of the poles. I haven't reach much other than the Tao Te Ching and the Dhammapada. A subtle difference, I would think, that Taoism would attempt to define a "God" if you will, while Buddhism (specifically Zen) could care less. Of course the religion's approaches to other doctrines is probably going to be different and have their own framework. I'd be willing to bet if you asked a Zen master about defining God, he'd probably respond with a Koan.

I'd have to see the proof. But higher level mathematics is pretty sweet! Calculus, probability, it's interesting stuff. LOL, just finished watching the video for proof.

Dr Seuss Orwell Aesop's Fables Beowulf Dante Alighieri All fiction with a very non-fiction message.

I don't see how space is not infinite. How could space not be infinite? If it's a gigantic box (or has some type of shape/boundaries), then what is outside of that box? There must still be space there, even if it's void of matter.. Even if my brain has no way to conceive it. That being said, nice paradox of a question of awareness/infinity!

There needs to be a balance of both. Walking that line and understanding when to apply pressure and when to be empathetic is the trick.

Love this dude. I'll have to watch this later.

I look at it from a perspective of recognizing. You decorate the temple with the appropriate icons, etc. Sure, from a non-dual point of view, why worship? From a dualistic perspective makes perfect sense to recognize that which cannot be expressed into words. Kind of like paying respect. Not to mention those images and words play huge role in effecting consciousness during ceremonies and meditations.

Take care of yourself first. I guarantee, once you get along the path long enough, you will want to bring some type of creativity into the world. It could be art, business, music, or offspring. Of course these aren't the only options.

I'd probably first start at what is stressful for you or why do you feel like you are taking it too seriously? I'd say I take it seriously quite a bit, especially if I'm working towards a goal. I kind of have "pit stops" where I let myself completely go (drink alcohol, laugh, video games, etc), then it's back to hard ass work for weeks. Got to learn to laugh. I've had to learn to control what I can and not worry about what I cannot.

31.

I'm sure this goes without saying: If you are reading a physics textbook, then yea, you will become sharper in physics. But reading a fantasy novel will not improve your lack of understanding of physics for example. I have noticed that when I read, my vocabulary will start to take on the languages used in the books. Most of the books I've read are old as dirt, so my language can come across as archaic. I'd also say books flex your imagination muscles and you can get lost in there and go as deeply as you want (subconscious penetration) regardless of fiction/non-fiction. Beyond the book, I'm not sure if physical changes happen in the brain regardless.

Any Jungian psychology based book will be dealing with Shadow self. Don't read Carl Jung's work directly, it won't make sense. Find something on Amazon that is a self-help book based on Jungian archetypes. NLP is a way to change you behavior through hypnosis. I haven't read any books yet, but I'm eyeing The Structure of Magic. 2 books. If I'm right, I think these are the foundations of NLP.

Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

Yes, some automation and jobs will become obsolete. Trucking industry is about to change with driverless semi's. But I was just getting at that there won't be droids walking around or we will never have an AI government (robots run our government). We won't ever get to the point where a majority doesn't work, lives off UBI, etc.. at least not in our lifetimes.

I don't think this will realistically happen within our life times, unfortunately. And I don't believe we will ever get to the point of something like iRobot -- too much politics in the way, etc.. I believe we can and do have the tools necessary to make it happen, but actually materializing -- politics :\

On one hand I'd like to know what's out in the universe. On the other hand, I wonder if there's nothing new to discover.

He's probably also telling you these stories to show you how their brains sabotaged them. Again, the pleasure principle from Freud, or the tricks our brains play on us as Leo describes. Their "ah ha" moment was when they actually saw it as well (and probably after hearing a million other stories like yourself).

I don't know the guy, but I would bet he's not telling you these stories to show how good he is. Just like sacred texts, the messages are portrayed using metaphor and stories. My psychologist did the same thing. "I had a patient did XYZ." But it wasn't to boost his own ego. He would tell me examples that actually related to my situation. Try to look at it from his perspective, he's seen dozens of cases and behaviour is predictive, so of course he can see how the end result is going to be (that's how psychology works). It sounds like Freudian if you guys are discussing childhood experiences. If he's asked about your relationship with your mother and father, in Freudian therapy, that tells how a person will seek out a partner etc.. So that's why he can predict how situations will end. Do you know what his background is in? Freudian, Jungian, Reichian, Solution focused, etc? Might not hurt to ask. If anything, perhaps find a new therapist? Keep in mind the type of therapist (Freudian,etc) and that will be the system they will be using. Trust is a huge portion of therapy and if you feel like you cannot open up with him, that's going to only hurt you in the end (and your wallet). You won't get very far in therapy no matter how many sessions you have with him because you won't want to talk about the stuff that's deep down inside that you want to hide.. The best therapy sessions I found were ones that I would sit in a just talk the entire time. Say literally everything I was thinking without analyzing or asking myself "How can I divert this conversation" or something similar. I would talk for like 40 mins, he would eventually stop me and give me an analysis. What if you forget about the new age stuff for a minute and accepted his system as truth temporarily? What if you silenced your ego for a moment instead of trying to silence his? It's ok to talk about the books that you read, but keep in mind, psychology is basically a slimmed down version of all this new agey stuff. Don't discuss Eckhart Tolle or anyone in there because the field of psychology has taken that message and condensed it even further. Let him keep telling you stories, it does effect you over time.. I have first hand experience of it. I guarantee, if you find another psychologist, he/she will tell you stories as well about their other patients. That's a part of therapy, it helps you build a relationship with them knowing you aren't the only one going through some situation or dealing with a problem. In a way, it works unconsciously, and they know this.. Everything is about the unconscious in therapy. I agree about the pills though. Generally, Psychologist do not recommend (or have the power to prescribe) medications. They know it's a mask to the root of the problem. Psychiatrists actually prescribe medications.

What I should have said was that you are already seeing the reward of the belief "I am not worthy of people's acceptance." Feelings of guilt, shame, unworthiness, etc.. If you start believing that you do not care about if you get approval from others (assuming you aren't hurting yourself or others), what do you think the payoff will be? What do you think the payoff would be if you said to yourself out loud "I don't care what others think, because I'm good enough for my own self. I live up to my own standards."? And then you started to believe and live those words? As some others have said before about avoiding situations where you might be "rejected", I'm not sure if that's going to be a good way of dealing with the inner root of the problem. By constantly avoiding the problem (fear of rejection) you won't overcome it and that's an indirect way of dealing with the problem, but the problem will still persist..

I believe psychotherapy is parallel to self-actualization. You have to examine your past behaviors and triggers to understand why you react to situations the way that you do. Psychotherapy helps you to see how your brain sabotages you and puts you in stressful situations. I believe @Leo Gura says multiple times in many of his videos that you don't even know the tricks it plays on you, that's how sneaky it is.. Psychotherapy helps you to see how this happens. It also helps understand and better equip yourself with dealing with people and have power over your situations (before your brain sabotages you). I believe this is Freud's pleasure principle.. In Freudian therapy, I believe the objective is for the "child" to meet the "adult". The other schools are basically going to teach the same thing, just with different terminology. Jungian is more metaphysical, but it's goals are the same. Any new agey therapy place you go to will be similar. Therapy isn't there to answer questions like "Why does life exist? What is the point in life? What/is there God?" etc.. Psychology is a framework of how to examine yourself through dream analysis, your feelings, your past experiences, etc.. It is introspection. It's not fun, it's work.. It can be scary, etc.. But the more you talk it out in therapy (if you have a good psychologist), and the more honest you are with yourself (and the therapist) the more you will understand yourself and faster.. I was in therapy for 3+ years. We would talk about a situation that brought up anxiety in my life. He would analyze my body and my words. He said, "tell me every detail about how you feel right now". I never realized while I was telling him my stories, my heart would race, my mind would start to escalate panic, my face would itch, my throat would be scratchy, I would start coughing, my palms were sweaty.. Knowing this (psychosomatic symptoms), I hope you can start to see the value of psychotherapy. In one of my first sessions, I told my therapist about one of my OOBE's (about how I saw God, which was really me) and said I wanted to become my "higher self". He understood exactly what I was talking about, but he put it in terms of Freudian psychotherapy. The path of therapy is slightly different than spirituality, but I believe it's congruent and it's aims are for you to become your best self. That being said, psychotherapy stole a bunch of ideas from religions, like meeting your higher self. Psychology took out all the zodiac/planetary/horoscope/rituals/prayers/meditation stuff and gave you the core of the framework. Kind of like Buddhism did to Hinduism. Screw all those Gods, God(s) do not matter, here's what matters. The goal is the exact same, said in a different way. I keep amending this, so I hope you get the full post.. You might want to check out Alan Watts' book Psychotherapy East and West.

You quit trying to fit a mold that other people have made for you. You live life from the inside out. You become the "Fuck yes or no" way of living. If you don't feel a "Fuck yea, let's do that" then you don't. You become unapologetically you. Your real self.

Don't know anything about Teal Swan's process. Why would you want to believe you aren't worth of other people's acceptance? And why do you want approval from other people? I think you are already getting the reward from those feelings..

@LifeandDeath I'll leave this here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73184.Living_Buddha_Living_Christ

Yea man, if this is your first time seeing stuff like this.. It can be a complete mindfuck.

As long as you are making positive changes and can recognize destructive behavior/thought patterns (and recognize results), does it matter what that book says about how it happens neurologically? It might matter if you want a PhD in psychology, but probably no other case.