UnbornTao

It's clear how easy it is for people to fall into believing good-sounding claims about love. It makes us feel good. You can see they want to eat it up indiscriminately. How come? Doing this easily leads to fantasizing about it rather than grasping it. We must start by admitting we don't know what love is. Why do you want to contemplate love but not death and suffering? There might be a bias there. You don't call an experience of dog shit an experience of love. Why?

You'd first have to grasp what "this" is before asking any further questions about it. So clarify "this" first. In other words: What is experience? And perhaps: What is perception?

That's the scientific definition but what about giving a grounded explanation for us normies?

Read it yourself first and then tell us. For the looks of it, stoic philosophy can be found to be valuable and interesting. Enjoy!

Haha. I'd say that you wouldn't trade enlightenment not even for all of Earth's gold. Drop everything you've got about it. It's you and nothing else.

I'm enjoying the Foundation show on Apple TV. Highly recommended. Beautiful visuals and scenery. I might read the books at some point.

Stop watching porn then.

Thank you.

Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel something.

I meant Razard's attempt at making up a cosmology. You're conflating a psychological condition with direct consciousness.

Avoid making up bullshit as much as possible.

yep

Of course he's just doing it out of the pure goodness of his heart.

You know you can use four, and even five, laughing emojis, right?

@Princess Arabia @Bazooka Jesus stop the childish behaviour. Instead of downplaying a communication, contribute something useful, or not. Keep to the original thread.

What is boredom all about? Why does one need distraction? What may lie behind this drive? What is one trying to get away from, if anything? What is one trying to accomplish? Why boredom?

People are easily fooled by the appearance of things. Go look for decent role models if that's what you want. There are highly intelligent and mature options out there unlikely these ones. There are men to look up to and yet you guys choose to follow opportunistic, cool-looking children.

Leo's busy playing Starfield. No new episode until 2024.

Unless you were totally and completely conscious, which is highly unlikely, there is always more stuff to become conscious of. And consciousness doesn't make you dumb, distinctions such as contemplation and inquiry can still be operative in your experience.

If you keep increasing consciousness, fear will subside, won't it? Maybe it's a matter of not having gone far eough. The point is not to stop with the fear but to keep investigating.

I would postulate that a genuine increase in consciousness is never scary. As a matter of fact, the more consciousness, the less fear. You'd become conscious of what something is which tends to reduce fear in relationship to it. But I don't know. I'd say don't confuse altered states, especially psychedelic-induced, with direct consciousness. After the trip, what are you conscious of?

Everything we think, do, say, and feel is a form of manipulation - meaning that it is generated in order to affect conditions. For example: you get angry to protect yourself from the hurt underlying the anger - the purpose of the anger is to manipulate the condition of being hurt. Similarly, in the case of telling a joke, sometimes the purpose might be to get someone to like you - or some other effect. In general, you might adopt ways of acting and relating that are endearing, funny, agreeable, intimidating, overbearing, loving, demanding, and so on. Can you see the dynamic here? These relate to the effects they generate. What something is in itself has no utility for survival. Within a context of survival, there is no inherent value in experiencing something for its own sake. Survival is concerned with what things are to me. It's a self-referential perception--a view of things based on how they relate to you, not on what they are in themselves. What is generated for a purpose is an effect. Affecting equals manipulation. Manipulation occurs as an integral part of one's self-survival. Since it is not simply about what something is in and of itself, it is generated to accomplish an end--to produce a particular effect on the perceived condition. Used this way, it isn't negative or wrong per se. Etymology of the word: to handle skillfully. For example, you might recognize that others aren't seeing you the way you'd like to be seen. In response, you may attempt to change that image so the desired effect is achieved. Can you begin to see the difference, and how it relates to this idea of manipulation? Now, within the activity of manipulating, we can make two distinctions: Direct manipulation: Being straightforward and open about one's actions and motives. Indirect manipulation: The form commonly viewed as socially unacceptable and negative - veiled, covert, deceptive, exclusively self-serving. It involves obscuring one’s motives and misrepresenting one’s true intentions, and is usually done to mislead others. Think of a scam, for example, or a lie made so that you can look better in the eyes of others.

You already likely sense or suspect how to go about this practice. Tell the truth. Be clear about your experience. Accurately represent your experience as it is. Be straightforward about your intentions. Avoid withdrawing relevant facts if a situation calls for them, don't lie or conceal. Become completely aware of your internal state and of situations. Call things by their name. Notice how you pretend and gradually move towards authentic expression. Don't assume that being honest has to always be painful. Practice and learn it on your own.