Norbert Somogyi

400 IU is equivalent to 10 micrograms, barely able to make a measurable difference unless you are severely deficient (~5-10 ng/mL). There have been products with 50,000 (! - 1250 mcg) IU per capsule with 60-120 capsules since 2000, which are meant to be taken weekly or bi-weekly (7700IU/day and 3750 IU/day respectively). Let's say we add up 80 capsules' worth of Vitamin D3, which is 4 million IU (it would take 10,000 days (roughly 27,4 years) to consume that much at the aforementioned dosage, way beyond the shelf-life of the product). They are severely and intentionally downplaying the potential of D3, since it is so cheap and generally much more effective than other much-more expensive methods. Furthermore, it does not guarantee repeated admission of patients. Here is an overview of clinical trials addressing this for multiple conditions with incredible benefit. In short, feel free to up the dosage slowly to 5-10K/IU while also addressing other cofactors such as Magnesium, Omega 3 (each have incredible benefits alone - but they work synergistically with D3, activating it and helping you absorb and use it more efficiently) and K2 (standalone vascular benefits), which in combination with D3 is also for avoiding hypercalcemia. P.S: Test your levels and experiment, different bodies react differently to different doses.

5k IU/day sounds like a good maintenance dose, but sometimes 10K+/day is needed (including adjusted cofactors such as K2, Magnesium and Omega 3). Here's an overview of 50 ng/mL (125nmol/mL) and corresponding effects, furthermore this overview of how much you may need to take and/or what blood level you need to reach depending on risk factors (both including many referential studies and other information). Still, do your research - test your levels and experiment. Risk of toxicity does not really appear below 100 ng/mL

60+ is pretty good (if ng/mL, barely adequate if nmol/mL), what's wrong with it? How come you decided to reduce it?

@Human Mint I am from middle Europe, it is not so sun-deprived but far from better parts of the world like around the equator. Most people if not all would benefit from supplementing vitamin D.

You mentioned survival and striving for significance, great topics for contemplation. How does one go around to transcend either of them (or at least striving for significance, which sounds a touch easier to accomplish)? Since SD is an integral (pun intended) part of the conversation, I think it's something akin to a Turqoise society that has integrated the previous stages (including their shadow manifestations). Where we have moved beyond competition, everyone gladly plays their role according to their talents and life purpose. A generally pro-life behaviour celebrating the wonders of life. Can we reach it? Perhaps, but it will take centuries (and/or one or two reboots). As long as the foundation of society is run game theoretically, a competitive 4D chess for resource-accumulation - we have little to no hope of moving beyond hiearchies. I think it is a combination of greedy Red, and a manipulative Orange with the help of Blue's structural integrity that is wreaking havoc throughout the world currently. None of them are integrated properly at a sufficient scale, just look at how different parts of the world can be seen behaving at such different stages of the model. We have to move beyond at least Orange (not just in small communities). Furthermore, Spiral Dynamics barely touches upon spirituality (that's where Wilber came in), which I don't think can be left-out/skipped when it comes to transcending hierarchies. Experiencing the inter-connectedness of the world, being able to truly see the good in others, unconditional love and other transcendental experiences are needed imo. You can also think through the lens of Maslow - the majority of people are operating from deficiency needs. As long as we don't change that, it is rather difficult to appreciate the joy of others, and wish for it regardless of character. Furthermore not many of us are able to cultivate and actualize our inner potentials - transgenerational traumas (shame, violence and/or missing parents, lands acquired through violence and bloodshed) poverty, capitalist greed, pro-profit infrastructures of physical and mental health care, cultural differences, bias and self-deception of humanity and the list can go on. If most of us were to fulfill our deficient needs, we could gain motivation for growth which eventually goes beyond focusing on the self. I apologize for the babbling, but thank you for reading. This is such an interesting topic.

The Geopolitics of Peace - Jeffrey Sachs in the European Parliament - YouTube A strong voice of reason, amidst the current chaos. Here's also an accompanying article along with an edited transcript. Question - how to embed videos into posts?

A little late to the party.. I also just turned 27 and live on my own, so I can pretty much emphatize with what you are experiencing. Here's how I can imagine this process (and the path I am on, metaphorically) Feel out and cultivate your own inner garden that only you have access to. Explore everything it has the offer - the grass, the plants, the flowers, the trees, the ponds and the fauna that lives there. Practice gardening and start digging out the parasitic plants or bugs that keep you and the garden down from thriving. Things that eat your energy away (mostly without you noticing). Don't forget that you can seek out others who have done the same and would gladly help you with this process. You can replace these parasites with healthy plants that fit into the culture and can thrive while living in harmony with the rest of the garden. You were born into someone's garden and grew up there. It can be healthy to revisit that garden and see what the gardeners there are like and what have they been up to. No need to stay there forever, but such connections are deep and intricate, don't just throw them away. Don't forget that not only you have a garden, but others too. You can explore them and see what they are like, perhaps you can find some along the way that look similar to you and can help each other cultivating it - or just hang out and enjoy what life has to offer. Sometimes it can be healthy to sporadically (pun intended) seek out sages outside your garden - at their own oasis. They can show you a different perspective to life that may help you figure out what's best for your garden in this season and the next. No need to overdo it since it can easily lead to confusion. As you practice this type of gardening you experience a lot of things and not only get wiser on the way, but you will also gain connections that make life meaningful. You can find out nut justwhere you fit into your own garden (or the surrounding forest in general), but you can also find someone with whom you can support each other with gardening. Sooner or later if you both see it fit, together you can even start cultivating your own garden and reap the fruits of your labors. Season by season, eventually passing on the torch to the next generation. In layman's terms - Get your shit together to the point you feel as a congruent man who knows what he wants. This can be done through inner work, psychedelics, therapy and most of the times your own personal combination of these. Find out what you feel most close to what you are meant to do in this world and how can you contribute. Something that brings you out of bed with joy, ready for each day no matter how challenging it feels. Learn to build relationships, make some friends and find some hobbies or stuff that feel meaningful to you. Eventually you will someone you cherish each other with, and if you feel like you are ready for marriage and beyond - you will know what to do. I almost left it out, but don't neglect your family. Even if you can't connect deeply, they are in your life for a reason and love you how they best can. Figure out how you can fit into this system of inter-connected lives and what brings you pain and what you can forgive. This sounds like basic self-help to the T, but I feel like this is being neglected here (within this community - it is easy to get lost in the meatphysical and spiritual endeavours - but they are not always the be-all and end-all). I don't feel like there is much more we can offer. All of us are on our own journeys and we can't really foresee when you or anyone else will get to the point where you feel ready for xyz and/or reach their goals, only you do. Just know that you are far from being late to the party, and instead of trying to jump to marriage find things that are in your control that can bring you one step closer to it each day. All the best!

The easiest? Probably. Will it be fulfilling? Does it have the capacity to improve you as a man? I guess not, but find out for yourself. @Average Actualizer This forum may be spirituality-inspired, but we have a dedicated sub-forum for topics and discussions about spirituality. What you are saying can be true, but imagine what it takes for an average dude to reach that level. What we need to go through, years or decades of inner work, trauma healing, self-actualization etc. Is it truly something ideal to strive for?

A bit late to the party, but how are things going? As said before nature and deepening emotional connection can go a long way, if she is open to that. However if you find yourself at a wall, the question of sustainability comes up.

I have a huge list of conditions set towards myself, a future relationship and security of existence in case I were to have children. Doesn't feel like I will reach there in the next 5 years, but it is not out of the question.

This is overly simplistic, but yeah. We will gravitate towards certain women and certain women will gravitate towards us (this does not always match up), depending on numerous factors such as culture, personality, upbringing environment and corresponding traumatic patterns. This can change over time, especially if you are successfully healing your traumas and self-actualizing. In such relationships your partner will be triggering the hell out of you without intention. Handle it well and you will develop as a person. In case you are secure, then more conscious factors come into play. The thought of 'no one likes me' comes from trauma and feels like a self-sustaining and perpetuating reality which is hard to break out of. In this case the realization that some people like me is not a hard reality to face, but a sign of evolution and development. This situation is also interesting that we tend to spend so much time thinking about what others think of us, but essentially it signals that we are rather selfish and see ourselves as the center of the world. For some this realization can add oil to the fire, while for others this can be a free-ing recontextualization. In case of the thought of 'everyone likes me' it seems to me to be either a facade to maintain control stemming from fear of lack of it, or if it's genuine it can be a disorder like psychopathy or narcissism. I'm not sure if the latter can be healed or cured, but yeah in case of the earlier it can be a painful grounding experience to realize. Just my two cents.

@Javfly33 I find them attractive, I just don't come across them very often. They don't blip on my radar, unlike conflicted ones (which for some reason I find myself more attracted to and seems to be vice viersa, maybe because they are similar and we attract alike). Someone commented recently that girls give us back what they receive (our subconscious beliefs), which I resonate with.

If they are truly open, a controlled psychedelic trip could open the doors for them. In a sense they could experience a sense of Unity and Love which otherwise would be an outlandish fantasy to them. I also second the notion of leading by example. Becoming the very essence of Love can indeed open them up just by being in your presence.

For a long time I was thinking I am experiencing the same, however I realized I find myself with emotionally conflicted girls because I myself am one (disorganized attachment). Girls of that sort I ended up being attracted to (or attracting), while with more secure and emotionally mature girls I just don't feel it clicking (even if they seem to be interested).

Pretty deep. Back when I was a teenager and jumped into spirituality (was not mature enough to handle it) and sat down for an hour each day, I ended up having a glimpse into what I think was infinity. The curtain was pulled back, the structure of my ego just disappeared and all I could see and feel was unity and the abyss. It felt like seconds but could have been minutes, but I was an awe and struggled for a long time to find the words to properly explain it. Someone I consider knowledgable told me it most likely was a Satori experience.

I just found this on Android - YTDLnis. One of the only ones I found to be able to easily convert even lengthy videos (3+ hours) on youtube. On desktop (Windows) I used to use IDM (Internet Download Manager - although it has a 30 day trial). I see a lot of recommendations for YT-DLP (it is a command-line based software, but there are supposedly GUI versions as well). Y2Mate is often recommended too, avoiding the hassle of downloading software let alone tinkering with CMD.

Interesting how I've been thinking about this lately, realizing more and more how guilty I am of this. I've come across a reddit post listing a few foundational books which I find suitable for myself to begin this endeavor (which I've been putting off for years, self-deception is a bitch). You can find it here There are also a couple such books on Leo's book list as well as videos. Videos such as this or this. Finally journaling and contemplating can be really helpful tools as well.

One time as I was travelling on a subway a guy in his late 30s (who seemed completely ordinary from the outside) sat in front of me. I just couldn't get my eyes off of him (I'm also a guy, straight), something was definitely there but I wouldn't be sure it was awakening (I am most certainly not awake). It was an interesting experience, keep in mind I was spiritually bypassing at the time (tons of meditation).

I think I get what you mean, but the mathematical (necessarily exclusionary by your words) infinities you seem to be referring to are merely finitely infinite if you get what I mean. On the other hand judging by the words of Leo and all the discussion (constructive or not) regarding awakening, that the infinity you get to experience is totally infinite and has no bounds whatsoever. Therefore even talking about it is reductive in a sense, since words can not make you grasp infinity by their design alone. Then again it can be useful to determine what degree of awakening we are trying to define (there goes the infinity I guess), and can such degrees even be mapped through our current toolkit of understanding. Furthermore, what about human biology? Doesn't that kind of impose a limit to the degree of infinity you can experience?

I don't have a direct awakening experience so I am a little hesitant to respond here, but here is my take. The word de-fine can be used to mark the boundaries of something (amongst other things). This is like the antithesis of the infinitude of awakening, kind of like an impossible request. Isn't it?

Things become mundane as we grow during childhood because we are slowly adapting to the environment we live in. Developing a sense of self different from the world around us through mimicking others, picking up roles and forming our personality etc. Unfortunately the society we live in has created an environment that is largely unnatural to us from an evolutionary perspective (it is still catching up), furthermore technology has been doing nothing but killing our attention-span. However it is still possible to rediscover this sense of wonder. Just look at Sadhguru with his crazy beard. The dude's content 24/7! The initial question is, what are you distracting yourself from in the present moment? (I'd say it is not the present moment that is at fault here, something is blocking you from experiencing it as it is). Fear? Pain? Anxiety? Take a look at them and see what you find. You can also watch Leo's video on happiness to start with:

AI is incapable of experiencing human emotions (imitating a shallow version of them at best), furthermore that perfection is not relatable. Killing the possibility of forming a genuine relationship with an AI (rightly so). Also as others have said before, as long as the AI has no choice but to be with you, it becomes a property. Which ends up resurfacing some twisted (albeit somewhat familiar) power dynamics. Just no.

Exercise (if done well) tends to increase my capacity to feel my body, making me more susceptible to feel what makes me feel good and what does not. Making me want to feel and live healthier and cleaner, which results in me being able to spend more moments in my life enjoying/living instead of suffering. Being able to spend more moments living instead of suffering can be considered a form of living longer. Chronologically I may go earlier, but that would no longer be the priority (nor would I mind).

Sounds like you may benefit a lot from IFS Therapy. Regarding the way you view your self-acceptance (as some kind of accomplishment or trophy you could use to get validation from the external world) seems to be a rather big obstacle. In my mind the more you accept yourself the less validation you tend to seek from the outside. The strength and the light start to shine from within.