Dan Arnautu

@Shanmugam Thank you for the input. Nice to see someone who has done some research on the topic. So, I should not worry right if sometimes I have short samadhi experiences during meditation, right? I see that it's pretty easy for me to get into those states. I do not have a lot of monkey chatter on a day to day basis.

He does not adress the problem of consciousness leaving the body while in a satori state.

@Anna1 I do not mean the guy who left the body having aged 20 years in 8 months, but Sadhguru, by using his energies forcefully to bring the guy back.

@Prabhaker I appreciate the input but you are entirely besides the point. I asked if you think you can accidentally leave the body and never come back when you are in a state of union (I don't mean the ego dying, I mean consciousness leaving the body), and you gave me an excerpt from Osho that has nothing to do with the question. Pay more attention, please!

Storytime Day 9 | Thursday | From Rags To Riches People always seem to assume that just because I NOW have a lot of material stuff (e.g. expensive desktop pc, expensive guitars, gadgets like ipods, tablets, bluetooth headphones etc.), that I may have been a spoiled teenager or that I may not know what it is like to be poor or not have money. In fact, a surprising thing that most people don't know about me is that I know what it's like to be at the bottom, maybe a lot more than most people. When I was younger, at one point my dad was unemployed for about three years. He was laid off because of an economical crisis at the time in my country and there were no jobs anymore. I went through this period without hot water, heat, internet (this in particular being on and off) and pocket money. My father also got into a depressive state (actually more like full blown depression)and sometimes lashed out on me or my mother. I was put in a very difficult spot. My mother also later was diagnosed with cancer, which only deepened our external problems. Thankfully, she recovered fully and is now happier than ever. I try to spend as much time as I can with her, because, like they say: ”90% of all the time you will ever spend with your parents is spent before you turn 18”. So, I try to make the most of it while I still can (even though I already got past that age). I remember my mother crying in the kitchen because she was left with no money after paying for my birthday party. She thought I could not see her, but that was the moment when I decided that I would need to work hard and get my financial situation handled as soon as I get out of school. They deserve much more than this for all their hard work. Also, in instances when I got sick, I remember I felt very guilty when I saw that my mother needed to put off maybe bill payments in order to be able to afford medication. After all this pain and turmoil, luckily my dad got a handle of the situation and found a job in Belgium. This meant that we could resume a normal life again: we could afford basic utilities again, replace faulty equipment and get pocket money again etc.. Slowly, I started to save the money he was sending me every month and start to buy the things I needed and wanted one by one. I also sold a lot of stuff to be able to afford the things I have now. Funny enough, even though I consider myself a pretty soft spoken and introverted guy, I think I would make for a pretty good salesman. I sold a guitar so I would be able to buy some PC components I needed; I flipped stuff I did not need and bought a second monitor; I bought a highly underpriced guitar with the money left from that and flipped it later for double the money etc. This process went on and on and on, my equipment thus getting better little by little, selling what I no longer needed, negotiating with my father for stuff I wanted to buy, finding offers among my friends etc. Writing this now, I realize that I do enjoy flipping and selling a lot. It may be of great help to me in the future. Anyway, I think the takeaway here is, as cheesy as it may sound, do not judge a book by it's cover. You never know through what difficult situation someone may be going, or have gone through. Also, the following goes along with a previous journal entry: Don't let whatever happened to you define who you are right now. Don't let tough situations make you bitter about life and make you feel bad that you had to go through them. In retrospect, it may not have been the thing you wanted for yourself at that moment, but it may have been just the thing you needed in order to grow. This was Dan, I'm signing out! See you on my next entry! Have a great day! ”Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” -- Jack Ma

Are you interested in trying Hawaiian Baby Woodrose (LSA)?

@abgespaced So, the same as Leo's?

@Visitor Yeah, let's meditate in a cave for 10 hours a day and do nothing else. Using leisure time for anything besides meditation and spiritual practice is an ego trying to escape seeing it's true nature. Give these guys a break. They are trying to better themselves. Some find themselves with a lot of free time after giving up addictions such as video games, gossiping and what not, and are in a genuine search of a more healthy and maybe more productive form of relaxation besides spiritual practice. @Mrkvn8 Dating Improving your social skills Starting to create online content (youtube videos / blog posts etc.) Picking up a skill to master Reading books Watching documentaries and biographical movies Going to the gym Listening to an audiobook while walking outside Journaling Creating a Commonplace Book Decorating your room and work space Selling what you don't need and buying what you need or want Traveling Shopping for new clothes Creating a new style for yourself Actively listening to music etc.

@Steph1988 I'll hit you up with a DM.

As a follow up to the ”30 Ways Society Fucks You In The Ass”, I would love to see some high consciusness alternatives to the things described in the video. Also, I think it would be a fun video for Leo to shoot and might get some more people on board with self-actualization. The latest videos were pretty deep and I don't think everyone would be so advanced as to really get what he is saying. Please give a thumbs up if you would like to see this too!

@Steph1988 Right now I don't practice a whole lot. For the first 2-3 years of my musical journey I had periods where I usually studied for 6 or more hours a day, but that was because I enjoyed playing a lot and everything was still new to me. Right now, I can go and had gone sometimes months without practicing. My guitar teacher keeps me accountable to learn though and that is a good thing. As for what I focus on most of the time, the situation is like this. I told my teacher what my problem areas are and what my goals are, and was up for him to design a strategy meant to get me where I want to go. I just do what he tells me and see the results pouring in. It's a very important thing to check your ego at the door, admit you don't know and make an effort to be "coachable". I also had many bad teachers and can therefore recognize a gold mine when I see it (as in a good teacher). Also, keep in mind that how much I practice and what I focus on is irrelevant for your situation. If you would copy exactly what I did, you may get smaller results, bigger results or none at all. Each one of us has different problem areas and goals and therefore there is no ”one size fits all” program that will make you an awesome guitarist. If you hit a plateau, find a good teacher that knows what he is doing and let him make a plan for you according to your goals and needs. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Career/Business Day 8 | Wednesday | Tough Summer My life situation is gonna get pretty hectic soon. My plans for the summer are to: Get my driver's license Prepare for 5 exams that I need to take in September (accumulated failed courses from the last 2 years) Go to a 3 day Metal Festival to see my favorite band Sell my computer / Buy a laptop Maybe travel to Spain for a month Continue to take guitar lessons with my teacher over Skype Start to teach guitar myself Hit 9% bodyfat again I also wanted to start to create youtube content and blog posts, but I think just may be too much for a summer. I'll see what I can do and cannot do. Right now I also need to figure out how I will transport all my stuff from my rented apartment to my hometown (441 km). Big thing I need to transport: 2 Guitars Desktop PC Audio System 1 Monitor Miscellaneous stuff Too bad I don't have 4-6 hands, haha. I might need to deliver all the stuff, but the delivery services here are pretty poor, so I might end up either without my stuff, or with broken stuff. Even with all of these things, I am glad that I get to take care of them early. I almost finished college and am barely 19. I also believe that I am already pretty prepared to handle life. I've learned a lot more than I could have imagined in only 2 years. I've learned how to be independent, how to be more assertive, how to make friends in a city where I don't know anybody and I got a lot of free time to read, practice and grow myself. There is only 1 more year to go and the easy part will be over. I am pretty hyped about that. "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." -- B.B. King

Spirituality Day 7 | Tuesday| My Spiritual Practices - Sadhana I've started integrating both a meditation and a mindfulness habit about 1 year ago, but after some time, I was kind of jumping on and off. Right now, the consistency seems to be pretty good, and I am also trying to be conscious for most of the day. My practices include: Going through my 3rd Headspace (guided meditation) program, the Mind Series. I've already finished the Take Series and the Discovery Series, which lasted in total about 3 months. Listening to Practicing The Power of Now when I am out and about and also trying to keep inner body awareness for most of the day. Keeping awareness in the muscles I am training when working out (3x a week) Doing Yoga on rest days Looking for signs of defensiveness when interacting with other people Avoiding and defusing arguments Not blaming Cleaning up my diet Constantly checking my body for shallow breathing Using Pranic Breathing when I feel intense emotions (anxiety, uprising panic, too much excitement etc.) Actively instead of passively listening to music Avoiding multitasking Being immersed fully in the task at hand This entry is meant to be an overview, I may go more in detail on each practice in the following weeks. "Whatever happens, the question is, are you becoming a better human being - more stable, more joyful, more clear within yourself?" -- Sadhguru

@abgespaced That's great, mate! So, what is your life purpose?

@Spiral Well, I know it is hard. A thing that can help you is to do an exercise from the book ”How to be a 3% man” by Corey Wayne. There he gives you a number and you need to list the qualities that would make the perfect woman for you. Then, he gives you a smaller number and makes you cut and get to the core qualities that YOU can't live without in your idea of the perfect woman. For example, maybe the perfect woman for you is blonde, has blue eyes and is extremely educated. Being educated may be a core quality you need in the perfect woman, but having blue eyes isn't, so you can overlook that. See where I'm going? It satisfies both your high standards and reality itself. Another upside to this is that once you have those qualities listed in your head, you immediately notice women that have them in everyday life and it's much easier for you to make a selection. Also, when you know your are looking for a red Ferrari, suddenly you see a lot more red Ferraris outside. Why? Because you were actually looking for red Ferraris.

@Nahm Yeah, it's easy to get trapped into futile language games and miss the point entirely. We may all be the consciousness, but that doesn't help with habit change. I love the more practical approach once in a while. What use does spirituality have if it doesn't improve our lives and resides only in theorizing, right?

Fitness/Nutrition Day 6 | Monday | Cutting Phase *Cutting = Lowering the bodyfat percentage while maintaining muscle mass This is my third cutting phase to date. I've been cutting for about 2-3 weeks now and it's going very well. I'm able to eat fulfilling meals because I push my first meal by 6-8 hours after waking up (intermittent fasting). I usually just drink black coffee and sparkling water until I get hungry enough to break my fast with a piece of fruit. Stats 2 weeks ago: 66 kg (16% bf) 80 cm waist Current stats: 64.4 kg (13-14% bf) 76 cm waist (dropped a lot of water and glycogen in the first week) My current goal is to get to 9% bf again and then start bulk up to about 70-75 kg, or until I get to 15% bf again. Intermittent fasting helped me a lot in being able to go out, eat pizza and drink with my friends while still leaning down. I am going to post a pic below of what I looked like previously at a body weight of 60 kg (at about 10% bf). This is to prevent further arguing of most people that say 60 kg is too low of a body weight for a guy my height (1.75 m). That is true for guys that haven't been training on hypertrophy for a sustained period of time. I let you be the judge. The picture below was taken on the 18th of September, 2016. This was Dan! I'm signing out. Have a great day! ”Fall in love with taking care of yourself. Mind. Body. Spirit.” -- Unknown

@Moreira @Clint Eastwood After reading some of his books and listening to a lot of his lectures I really do think that he is the genuine article. It's really hard to believe that he has gone as deep as he had into eastern philosophy and combined it with notions of modern metaphysics, science, epistemology etc. just to control some sheep. His teaching on non-resistance are a very miniscule part of what he preached.

Because otherwise that is the surest you that you will become a zen devil.

A funny thing I notice is that those who have a high degree of Openness also have a high degree of Vulnerability. Hmm, interesting.

Your cognitive style is... Intellectual Your organizational style is... Balanced Your energy style is... Ambiverted Your stress management style is... Responsive Your interpersonal style is... Cooperative Your Scores on All 30 Personality Traits Openness Traits Your level of imagination is high. Your level of artistic interests is high. Your level of emotionality is high. Your level of adventurousness is about average. Your level of intellectual interest is about average. Your level of liberalism is high. Conscientiousness Traits Your level of self-efficacy is low. Your level of orderliness is high. Your level of dutifulness is about average. Your level of achievement striving is about average. Your level of cautiousness is high. Extraversion Traits Your level of friendliness is about average. Your level of gregariousness is about average. Your level of assertiveness is about average. Your activity level is low. Your level of excitement-seeking is about average. Your level of positive emotions is about average. Neuroticism Traits Your level of anxiety is about average. Your level of anger is low. Your level of depression is about average. Your level or selfconsciousness is about average. Your level of immoderation is low. Your level of vulnerability is high. Agreeableness Traits Your level of trust is about average. Your level of honesty is about average. Your level of altruism is high. Your level of cooperation is high. Your level of modesty is about average. Your level of sympathy is high.

Wrap-up of the week Day 5 | Sunday | Rollercoaster Week For the past 2 years I've been pouring huge amounts of information into my system which needless to say is really hard to integrate in a short period of time. It's like I have some sort of a spiritual or informational hangover and lately I've been experiencing extreme mood swings, irrational anxieties, and involuntary self inquiry. I'm working on getting more willing to let go of my need to know. I thought everything was so certain until now. Now I can see that nobody knows anything about this existence and that that naturally should make one uncomfortable, insecure and scared. It's really tough when you need to give up all the crutches and how Nietzsche says it, you need to become your own center of gravity, ”to become God”. I need to develop more emotional tolerance to uncertainty if I want to go on, but it's not easy. Though, I am willing to go through it. It's just a phase in my overall development. My spiritual development especially started to kind of skyrocket and it's pretty hard to control it. It's somehow manifesting itself, not giving me any time to breathe, to integrate it. I feel like I'm going too fast, like I'm going directly for the big boss instead of going easy towards it. I need to find my own pace and my own point of balance. I'm starting to see the world with fresh eyes. I look at everything in awe. I don't know what any of this is. Nobody knows. We know how to use it, but we do not know WHAT IT IS. This is an extremely humbling realization and also threatening to the ego. It's easy to be comfortable with the present moment when there is complete certainty in everything, but it is much harder to be comfortable with the present moment when there is complete uncertainty. A funny thing a philosophy of mind teacher told me was: "Even up until now, we do not have a definition for what a tree is. We literally DO NOT KNOW WHAT A TREE IS.” Let that sink in. Let it humble you. Let it show you that you are only a speck of dust in all of existence and there is a much higher intelligence at work. ”Don't be phased by the illusion. Now, you would say, that is very well, but I can't bring myself to that. I start to shake and I can't stop it. It is not to do with my will. And no amount of gritting my teeth, clenching my muscles, exercising my willpower can get rid of the shakes when I am really scared. That's true. But, you must remember that the secret to all of this is not to be afraid of fear. When you can really allow yourself to be afraid and you don't resist the experience of fear, you are truly beginning to master fear. But when you refuse to be afraid, you are resisting fear, and that simply sets up a vicious circle of being afraid of fear and being afraid of being afraid of fear and so on. And that is what we call worry. Worry is simply a chronic condition and people who worry are going to worry no matter what happens. Because, when one possible threat is exterminated, they will immediately discover another. Because worry is an infinitely skinned onion.” -- Alan Watts

All of these thoughts are going haywire into my head. Since all of my certainties were shattered, it's really hard to get comfortable again. It's like I'm punching myself in the face constantly and have no control of my hands, but in this case with my mind. What is reality? What the fuck is this thing? Why do I not dissapear in the next second?, etc. This triggers intense fear in me and it's really hard to calm down, even when I try to meditate. It's really hard to talk about this, as I was an extremely stable guy until about 2 months ago. I felt much more at peace before. I wasn't thinking about this stuff all the time. It's really hard to figure out if it's just spiritual purification or causing myself unnecesary suffering. It's like I feel unsafe in reality and something is coming to get me every second. I feel no sense of security. I did not break my meditation practice. I feel at peace for about 1-2 hours, and then the thoughts and fears come back full throttle. It's really intense. I can't go on with my day properly. How do I ground myself and resume a more normal life again, not being in fight or flight 24/7? One day I feel perfectly fine and happy and joyful and the next is the complete opposite. I had 2 panic attacks at the gym. I haven't had one in like 4 years. What is happening? Is this just an addiction to certainty? I know that nothing really changed in reality, but just my view of it. But it feels pretty real. I don't know what's at the core of it.

Weight training 3 times a week Yoga on rest days Intermittent fasting for 6-8 hours after waking up Avoiding sugars until noon as they can make you have a sugar crash Healthy eating Supplementation on what you lack Exposure to the sun Waking up at the end of a sleep cycle and not in the middle of it Avoiding people who drain your energy