Sevi

@Salih Tugsal thank you:) that's right, coming across with life changing concepts is such a blessing.. I consider actualized.org that way actually; I believe it'll open your mind to new layers too:)

Oh okay.. So they were hafiz and sufi. My grandfather was from Eskisehir; he never went to mosque, he was not a typical traditional religious man, he was visited by an enlightened master, they spent a day together where my grandpa witnessed master's some powers, also Asik Veysel stayed with him one night; he wrote couple of books about existence, back then I did understand nothing:) and actually my name comes from Yunus Emre's lines:) my journey had been already set for me when I arrived I guess:) but only after watching Leo's vids I started to really digest the essence of the teachings; getting out of the conditionings is a must I think to really grasp the essence of the experiences. And yes, I'm so looking forward to join the retreat, and I'm hoping to getting rid of as much distractions as possible to re-connect my roots.. I'm happy you joined the forum, it supports the practices actually, since most of the posts are on the related subjects. @Salih Tugsal

I never did a full month, but I fasted maybe just couple of times. Individually, that's a very interesting experience: when you stop eating and drinking for one whole day, also with a purpose to keep your mind away from your regular thought processes and from mundane desires; it shocks you by showing you your daily inherent habits are like. When you know that whole day long you won't eat and drink and will behave yourself, that's a very different start for a day; all of a sudden you have this huge time gap, you don't even know what you gotta do with yourself; generally either you strongly distract yourself with anything or it naturally gets you in contemplating. I remember I was so suprised realising that how much time and energy I spent in a day by just simply thinking what I am gonna eat in the next meal; you wouldn't think that you are spending that much effort in such a simple easy matter:) but you really do:) In social aspect, almost whole society, (or reasonable amount of people) start to shift the way they live their daily basis as a collective, like waking up around 4 am; so it really shakes society's habits too. So that there is a little bit if a room to experience and perceive the life differently. even i didn't fast i always loved to wake up that awkward hour with everyone, normally i sleep heavily, i cannot wake up just like that but knowing most of the people getting awake that time it is kind of makes everyone happy; doing such an out of norm thing all together.. In social level it really builds up the compassion and giving thoughts for others ( because it's kind of what's expected ) but it lightens the egos a bit. And at the end of the month the feast and the holidays are generally very joyous, like the Christmas essence. So ramadan has very similar sensations to Holiday Season here.

@Salih Tugsal hi! I'm from Turkey too. My late maternal grandfather was a Sufi too. Where is your father from in Turkey? Alhought I don't know so much about other Islamic cultures, I agree with you about Turks, since their original background of their belief system is completely different, they have a better understanding of the essence of the religion. And thank you for your vipassana retreat post by the way. I'm gonna do my first one in couple of months, it was helpful. * I don't remember if I posted on this thread before but; Leo's video was incredible about understanding the essence of Islam; it might be more right to say I think, it was more about Sufism; alhought Sufism is a fruit of that religion, it stayed pure while the religion has damaged by all the cultural, social, political conditionings and corruptions. I got suprised seeing someone who is not related to this religion, grasping it this significantly.

I find it so risky to write on such subjects; since I am most likely asleep in most of the dimensions of the realization work. I'd like to suggest to be more careful, caring and attentive whenever we want to discuss these things; otherwise it really becomes a very smart way of keeping ourselves distracted and asleep where we are; way more distracting than our mundane goals and ambitions. Once there was a post in the forum: a guy discovers using his alarm clock as a way to awake himself up in his day time from his unconsciousness. It works for him because he is already aware that he falls asleep so quick and also he is willing to do something about it. When people like Leo, wants to bring this type of awakening to us, it is so tricky and difficult to be receptive to that. For example, Muhammad, in Islam wanted use a similar method to that guy who uses his alarm clock to help himself; but it only works for the guy because he is already aware to a point. As being someone who lived in an Islamic country and heard what awakening call five times a day; I witnessed people still keep being wherever they were in their consciousness state; even if they stopped and prayed or 'remembered god' there wasn't a shift in their awareness, not even a bit.. The conditioning is such a strong blockage to overcome. Here in west, for the sake of 'look aware' mostly everyone hides behind the mental discussions but really nothing changes at the end of the day. That's why I'm almost 'scared' to write anything in the forum about these subjects, that I might be deluding myself even more. Mental activity is not the consciousness work. It might be a helpful tool but has to be used very very carefully in my opinion. It's fascinating that Leo's first video is about consciousness after his retreat; -and really what else could have been expected other than that when a being intentionally invests its existence to grasp the nature of existence- but the point is how can you communicate these things? He is doing an exquisite job, but how it's gonna register within us? And more, how are we gonna able to shift our priorities to do the consciousness work at the first place? Knowing the importance is one thing from his and other masters' videos, but how are we gonna get into 'doing' the work in the right order in our lives.. that's the question I have, for myself and for every one of us..

Yes. Of course. It's all about consciously knowing what you want. Then, it's planning the layout accordingly (your circumstances, your personality, your weaknesses especially) And it's good to know this type of choice takes longer, so you might find yourself not fitting with what others do or where they are at, so you need to keep your measurement system right, comparisons can fool you if you are gonna go in a unique path. And prioritization is also a part of such balancing act; sometimes you choose to stick to your values; sometimes you do whatever is essential to get ahead of the field. Well self motivation and to inspire yourself in a constant basis is a tricky thing. I believe it boils down into produce "hope" for future and the ability to tame the scarcity of future and unknown thus design and form the future that way. *well i guess i have to focus on this big event that I'm in right now I'm in the world's second big casino right now:) kind of fun:) in a way...

This is what I assume too. There is no easy answer to such cases. But to my opinion, continuation of YouTube videos rather than a sharp cut is kind of common sense to start with; maybe with a little less investment of time and energy on them. For game design type of subject, I would say to go against to your values for a bit and get a design job generally accelerates the process for you rather than one goes himself alone, till he builds up a momentum in that field.. But all these are just quick toughts occuring.. It takes to be more analytical then checking what your heart says about it I believe.

@Leo Gura Welcome back Leo:) We missed you:)

This video reminded me of Leo's way of questioning the existence.. And I think the rabbi's answers are quite useful for our daily lives..

@Rilles @Ether @Torkys

@Salvijus we do couple of different things; sometimes breath work, sometimes she plays her drum we visualize power animals connected to the contex we choose. Today we did a shamanic ceremony for the full moon, since it's a good frequency to clean and shift negative energies, so that we used some mantras and fire and etcetera; then we meditated.

Hey guys! My shaman friend and I are gonna meditate tomorrow 11:00 am EST, little over than an hour.. If you're available please join us!!! Couple of days ago we've meditated in a waterfall and did some breath exercises similar to what Leo showed; it hasn't been so long since we've established the routine but the momentum is mind blowing!! So, I invite you all to join us!!!

Google 'Sumerians - Oriental Institute - University of Chicago' the pdf file was too big I couldn't link it here.

Of course it does. Here I was not referring to astrology by any means; it's just an idea about how ancient civilizations form their daily basis. You might like to check Sumerian tablets, you seem interested in the historical references of existence.

Before monotheism, the planets were worshipped by ancient cultures. Before telescope, the last planet which could be observed by humans was Saturn. So the planets in order: Mercury -Venus - (Earth) - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn And plus: the moon and the sun. They were the rulers of what happens on earth; they were the 'gods' in that sense. So they were all given one specific day each. Sunday - Sun Monday - Moon Tuesday - Mars Wednesday - Mercury Thursday - Jupiter Friday - Venus Saturday - Saturn In French or Italian it is much more clear to see their connection. I don't know which civilization has started this, but generally such concepts always first seen in Sumerian Culture. *oh! Sorry! @Shakazulu you were asking a different question! Like when the schedule of working days started, kind of thing I guess.. That, I don't know☺

Yes this is one of my favourites in modern dance.. It teaches you a lot about spirituality unexpectedly.. It's interesting that you found it.. it's something among the modern dancers most of the time..

Sacred wine I guess:)

@CreamCat I definitely suggest to buy that. It's not about career or external success; it's about discovering who you are and your current values about life. Naturally a career path will be strongly attached to who you are and what you wanna do with your existence; but obviously it's a byproduct. Maybe you are gonna be following deeper inner work as your priority; and without getting into that journey by putting your conscious effort into it, you will not know. Generally most of the people are trying to figure out a career path in life first before asking important big questions about their existence and existence at large; but without knowing yourself and your core values basically you are sailing with no destination.. It can go anywhere and everywhere; but.. which is it? Course is about finding a true purpose: your own purpose; to be capable of celebrating each day of your life and having a strong reason to carry on, on those unbearable moments. Like very nicely said in his 'money psychology' episode, it's about growing that tree nicely, which eventually is gonna give its fruits. And he is just sharing his journey with people, he is not trying to impose any approach or ideology, on the contrary he gives his best effort to be at the same distance from every possible thing which creates room to question everything thus radical open-mindedness. That is an essential ground to stand to raise one's consciousness. As humans we want certainty, which is perfectly understandable but his all concept is all about embracing the paradox of life at every level basically.

An analysis of marriage and relationships from a divorce lawyer. It summarizes the major aspects of the relationships well.

To get into thoughtless awareness. But without applying this method, you cannot understand the difference of this one from the one you acquire from deep meditation. This is a slightly altered state, nothing to be scared of, you don't loose your control/consciousness or anything, but your perception shifts a bit. In Indian supermarkets there is this butter called gee, it's butter. You can use that. If you won't do it i will not write details. Opening of Sahasrara Chakra is equal to self realisation; for that the last step is related to previous chakra: Hamsa Chakra: the deities of this chakra is Jesus and Mother Mary and the quality is forgiveness. Long story short, ego and super ego meets at this chakra and implies pressure here. Thinking so much or even having the thought forms disturbs this intersection. To cure it, there are several ways. It's not like oh I'm gonna meditate and stop this thinking process. So you do some several work to cure the chakra. The more you think the more your liver gets heated, since it is part of the production of the energy (related sugar form in the body) that brain uses to support the thinking process... Well this stuff is pretty comlicated and interrelated.. That I need to write almost every day to make sense but.. Basically it. @7thLetter

@SFRL thank you? I'm sorry @7thLetter , nice to hear that you'll give it a try. I still recomend the butter. Yes I do it in a regular basis.

@SFRL

Okay. The more you do the further apart "it" will fall from you. And the more frustrated you're gonna get. Instead of purifying your attention, you keep distracting it with thoughts and analysis and judgments, and you're narrowing down your own gate into your enlightenment, if not closing. Stop talking. And stop posting at least a day or two. For the sake of continuation of your business you keep dividing your attention and you are disturbing your attention. Stop for maybe just for a day. Forum will survive. Don't do this to yourself. Put ice on your liver every two hours for about 15 mins and pour melted butter into your nostrils; hopefully it'll cure a bit of this nonsense. @7thLetter

@7thLetter I do a deep work with kundalini on a daily basis; and because I fell into right channel and I got really irritated, I'm writing this now.. what I would have loved to acquire, was to be able to stay in the witness position.. BUT!! ELAS!! I would be so so so willing to share the staff that I do... But more and more I see this is not the platform for it. I have to stop being in this forum. Talking and talking and talking about enlightenment. Really?? Really?? I can't believe myself I'm now writing.. But guess what if I keep hanging around withright channels what else is gonna happen?? Right?? "I" "do" "learning" ; "I" "do" "yoogaa" "I" "meditated" "A LOT!!!" "Like, the other day 'I' meditated like """8""" hours!!" "WOw" You know @7thLetter I distance myself from people too; especially when I feel there isn't any room to share the staff that I do; for a regular meditator, those things will gonna sound like absurd.. And you being judgemental like this, there is no question your friend distant himself. Who are you to judge someone else's growth?? You say you grow a lot, well hello to your ego, since your judgemental defence mechanism up there; maybe you're just kidding yourself, who knows?? How are we gonna measure?? Should we send the sizes of our dicks too? With the pictures of them for the proof?? It would be very convenient.

Hi? You still can, free from (whatever happened and still is) ? Sun always shines after every rain, after every tornado, after every storm; always. ?? You can talk to me You're doing great:) ❤