UnbornTao

@flowboy You don't eat sugar? What were the first weeks like after quitting?

What exactly is a perspective? Is it a way of holding reality? How could you shift perspectives in a way that's real and profound? How could you relate to something differently?

You jump into a pool, you get wet - instant karma! Notice the consequences of your actions. What and how you think - what you do with your mind - has consequences.

In the context of spirituality, the notion that "all roads lead to the same destination" is mistaken. Not every path or practice shares the same purpose and goals - most of the time, they differ significantly from one practice to another, even if their self-described mission statement sounds similar on paper. Beyond the goals claimed by proponents, what do these practices actually achieve in the end? This is an open question, not necessarily an attempt to denigrate or dismiss them - just an invitation to soberly assess the results of any given tradition or practice. More often than not, people are seeking a better experience; and in the majority of cases, they are invited to believe in something assumed to be true by others involved in the practice.

Keeping your feet on the ground doesn't necessarily imply inflexibility or stubbornness. It means having your perception rooted in accurate, real distinctions, avoiding wishful thinking, and being present with the event as it occurs.

It's possible that your tastes, even your interests, are changing, or it might be an emotional struggle that will eventually pass. Do you still like it? Make sure that you choose something you like before committing to it. Remember that commitment demands going through plateaus and emotional "crises." Moreover, even if you like it, that doesn't mean that it's going to be constantly easy and enjoyable; pursuing your passion might even be the hardest option, so take these things into account. When you commit to mastery, no matter what you do, you're going to face these kinds of challenges. It ultimately comes down to you. Introspection is what I recommend.

How does the invention of language influence your experience? Without the context of language, what is your experience like? For example: Can your internal dialogue exist without language? Could most of your thinking exist?

Your concern is about sex and survival, which have nothing to do with the metaphysical. Animals gonna mate. This domain seems to involve primarily raw experience, not belief systems and intellect. So instinctive, animal behavior goes rewarded prior to other aspects like personality and intelligence. Not sure that helps.

How did this particular invention come to exist? What if it were to be rebuilt from the ground up? What would it take for you to do that? 'Reinventing the wheel' helps you grasp its nature at every level. This, in turn, enables you to recreate it more effectively - opening the door to genuine innovation. Contemplate its foundations, which requires starting from nothing, as if it hadn't been invented yet.

No experience, state, or perception - however novel, healing, or dramatic - is enlightenment. "Enlightenment" is a direct consciousness of your nature or the absolute nature of existence. Mistaking mental activity or a process for the realization is a common trap. Doing that is a denigration of it.

Can a thought be true in and of itself? How could a representation of something possibly be the same as the thing being represented? How could a concept be the thing it is referring to? A thought is always about something; it is never the thing it is attempting to model or signify. Are these not distinct in nature? Contemplate the implications of this.

When it comes to seemingly simple - or even "basic" - communications from others, is there something beyond the expression that you might be missing? An insight, perhaps? Do you tend to dismiss such interchanges as basic or obvious, based on the impression they make on you? Do you take them for granted in any way? What does it take to truly listen? There may be something deeper underlying them, especially if they come from a skilled or profoundly conscious person. Listen carefully and ask questions such as: Where are they coming from? What is the experience they are pointing to? What's the reality behind the communication? How are they perceiving reality in a way that allows them to be masterful or conscious in that particular subject or domain?

Hope arises from imagining a future that is positive and, at times, even fantasized. This emotion has its roots in the positive expectation of how life, an experience, or event may - or will - unfold or turn out. That's my current view of what hope is in its essence. Disappointment, on the other hand, occurs when that hopeful expectation collides with reality - when what actually happens falls short of the imagined or idealized outcome. Is disappointment related to the past?

Useful distinctions: Subtle and gross Abstract and concrete Broad and specific Shallow and profound

Do you assume you're already an open person - or as open as you can be? That might actually be a sign of closed-mindedness. It seems to be a common trap.

A dynamic to balance: Zooming in — Immersing yourself in something; paying close attention to its components and inner workings. Zooming out — Stepping back; dissolving distinctions to focus on the big picture or overall direction. Reflecting on where something is headed.

Yes, they're innovative but this kind of PCs usually come with compromises. They're thick, heavy, get ridiculously hot, loud fans, negligible battery life as compared to M1, and performance drops radically unless plugged to power. This is nonsense. Even if plugged in, they can't match M1 and when they do, battery only lasts for 4 hours at best. Worse screen, webcams, etc. To be fair, many win on the graphics department. The PCs that you mentioned exemplify two half-assed jobs, versus one thing well-executed, as is now the case with custom silicon Macs. Microsoft still hasn't figured out how to adapt Windows to 2-in-1's for both use cases without bothering either one or both groups. By restricting their OS to the traditional mouse and keyboard input, Apple avoids this dilemma. I'll believe it when I see it. When it comes to efficient computing and ARM productivity, Apple is currently at the top. They have a head start over the competition. Intel misses Apple, not the other way around. As an amateur, I suspect that the x84 architecture will probably become irrelevant in a couple of decades as it is inherently inefficient, hence unsuitable for portable devices. ARM and RISC-V seem to be the future of chip design.

That's weird. What software? Is it the only thing stopping you from upgrading?

Contemplate the cost of procrastination. You may gain instant gratification, but what happens in the long term? Do you feel satisfied? Can you finish what you start? Are you happy with the outcomes that result from constant evasion?

Principles are real and profound "rules" of existence. For a principle to truly work for you, it must be deeply experienced, not just thought about. You need to see it operating live, in your own experience.

What do you habitually apply* yourself to? What are you giving life to? Notice where you put your attention, time, and effort on. What do you usually focus on throughout the day? Is what you're doing serving your goals? Have you noticed that the bodies of those who sit all day long accommodate to that lifestyle? What do you want your body and mind to accommodate to? As the old Tibetan masters used to say: You become what you meditate on. 1. Apply: think, do, feel, focus on, create, invest, consume.

In what ways are you empowering your own life and the lives of others? And what are you doing that goes against this principle?

You may not be able to fully appreciate highly skillful people unless you pay attention to where the person is coming from. How do they see reality? How do they use their mind? What do they focus on? You might even need to be reasonably skillful yourself at that particular craft in order to begin to truly appreciate mastery in others. Among other things, this would require leveling up your observational abilities. Adopt a beginner's mindset. Remain humble and embrace the vulnerability that accompanies this state.

Being open (-minded) is an antidote to dogma and ideology. Remember, however, to stay balanced in your implementation of openness. The principle is not about "anything goes."