Jcent

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About Jcent

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  1. @ajasatya I have done one Vipassana retreat last April and have another one scheduled for September. I got recommended for a longer program the first time cause some crazy shit was happening. I'm going to speak to them again when I go there this September. They're very picky about long term residencies. And the downsides to these places for long term retreats have already been discussed.
  2. @GreenWoods Thanks so much for being so detailed. I certainly appreciate it, and I'm sure some others are following along as well. @Kindle This fucking place keeps coming back to me. I heard about it over a year and a half ago. Firstly, do you need to get vaccinated to go to Guatemala? And secondly, how is the food/ environment/ people there? Are there markets nearby? I'm consider staying in one of their quaint little houses and doing a dark room portion.
  3. @GreenWoods My plan was to go out west and Air BnB it for a year. But the cost is going to be ridiculous. The upside is that I control everything; food, schedule, etc.. The downside is the price. Maybe I'll have to adjust my plan. I was thinking about going to Sadhguru's Sadhanapada but it's cutting too close given I haven't fulfilled the requirements. Are you going to a specific ashram in India. Maybe we can go together.
  4. @John Lula I might be interested in Ralston's program as well. When is it?
  5. @Leo Gura Do you think it's worth spending a significant chunk of my life's savings to do this? I'm 19.
  6. I am looking for a solid ashram/program to meditate seriously for 6-12 months. Does anyone have experience doing one of these? If not, are there long term residential retreats that you are looking into or know about? I am at a unique place in life where something like this is possible for me, and the call to do so cannot be put off any longer. I have heard about: Zen Mountain Monastery Sadhguru's Sahanapada Peter Ralston's Apprenticeships (but these require getting a group of people together)
  7. @Girzo Respect man, we have an almost identical story. So you're considering just leaving it all and meditating?
  8. @Girzo I'm at the same exact place man. Why do find yourself at this juncture? How are you thinking through it?
  9. I'll be building one in the coming decades. Stay tuned.
  10. @kieranperez Thanks for such a detailed response. Upon analysis, there is a desire to become an extraordinary human being. I don't know about Buddha-level, but extraordinary. My intention was always to integrate art, business, and teaching into my life purpose. For me, I have no intent of living in a cave for the rest of my life. The only reason I would go off and do something like a year-long-retreat is to learn how to properly use the machine that is myself. I would go in with the intention of getting out of my own way, so I can actualize my business and artistic dreams, and thus serve the world with my unique talents. I've also done quite a lot of work on myself over the last 3 years, so I feel like I could breakthrough, especially after an extremely successful Vipassana retreat last year where I activated Kundalini for the first time. In this regard, my desire for enlightenment may be impure. Not a yearning for truth itself, but rather in a utilitarian way. In this sense, maybe the ego is co-opting enlightenment. There also is a magic-pill feel to it which I still haven't eradicated. Discipline must be built separately, I feel. I'm interested if @Leo Gura has any insight to this, for a young chap. Edit: My biggest concern is also brain chemistry and awakening young while the brain is malleable. Is this a valid concern, or is it just blind belief in materialism and the brain?
  11. @Jonson Well let me know if you need any help or advice. I spent probably 200 hours contemplating the decision and considering different outcomes. @Sahil Pandit Could you tell me a bit more? Did you go to an ashram or something? If so, how did you find it? And I know the answer is mine to make alone, and my intuition is alive and well. I'm just trying to get as many perspectives as possible so I can see if I'm missing something or deluding myself.
  12. @Salvijus Thanks for sharing. And yeah, both things are meaningful to me. In The Anatomy Of Story, John Truby writes that all great heroes choose not between a positive and a negative outcome, but between two positive outcomes (or rarely, two negative outcomes). I feel like I'm choosing between two positive things. Both are important and will get done eventually, it's just a matter of order and priority. Becoming financially independent is important to me.
  13. About 6 months ago I decided to leave college. Since then I have been working hard at home to build a solid routine. There has been a lot of growth such as permanently overcoming a pornography addiction and having sex for the first time. I've also made some successful small bets in trying to find out my LP. I've essentially discovered it but still have several positive-shadow issues to resolve around it. I'm now at a critical juncture. I'm 19 years old, almost 20. The question is this: do I start a business and evolve up Maslow's hierarchy of needs (move out, get a relationship, become financially independent), or go straight for enlightenment at an ashram or monastery? I already have a solid business opportunity; I essentially just have to restart a business that was succeeding last year. I had to shut it down to go to college. I've also done a lot of purification work cleaning up my diet, getting rid of a video game addiction several years ago, and now getting rid of this pornography addiction. The last gross addiction is YouTube and the internet which I can spend anywhere from 2-4 hours on per day. I've made massive strides in these last 6 months. Though there's been quite a bit of ego backlash, I've managed to build a really solid routine. But recently it's gotten to the point where I can work 10-14 days at full capacity, and then the ego will relent and take 5-7 days off. This is a recent development as I'm facing bigger and bigger emotional obstacles. Bigger Kriya breakthroughs, overcoming artistic doubts, seeing my full potential. Again I'm sort of at this point where I could go either way. I see the validity of Maslow's hierarchy. But at the same time I can't seem to reconcile this question: why would you do anything in life before becoming unconditionally happy? I've given myself until June 1st to decide. I know that I can do the business but it probably will be a 3-5 year endeavor. My dream business, which might be the second or third business, is a video game company. My LP is this: I use my creativity to elevate human consciousness. And the medium, which I have just discovered, is writing tactile, high consciousness stories, and bringing them to life (in this case, through video games). So I would love your advice. I'm at a point where I've spent the last 6 months doing small bets, building habits, garnering theory, etc.. But the time for building these strategic resources is reaching its end. It's time to move on to bigger and better things. What would you do in my position? I'm not sure if going to a monastery is a self-deception or exactly the thing I must do. There is still some laziness and inconsistency within me. Any feedback would be a huge help, as it's hard to ask layman for advice regarding these critical junctures.
  14. Start looking for business "frameworks". What are the common threads that unite the great businesses of our time? Once you have a few frameworks you can start coming up with new ideas using them. They're like idea machines. They will enable you to come up with literally dozens of ideas in a single sitting. I've identified probably 3 or 4 at this point. I'm then twisting them to come up with a business that is unique and meaningful to me.
  15. @Leo Gura I understand that it's multi-faceted. I just think that they're over-prescribed, as I know many people in my life who think there's no other choice. And reading everyone on this thread saying "go ahead!", I figured I'd offer another perspective. There's no one size fits all, especially with health. And that technology can't solve everything. I also understand your point about money. I was fortunate to be in school at the time, where I was accommodated for my concussion. The knee joke was something some random girl said about you a while back. It nearly turned into a meme. Some guy even made a song about it and posted it on that thread. Nonetheless, I hope others can benefit from the technology I benefited from. It's just meant to be another tool in the tool belt.