ajasatya

then sit down and, for 40 minutes, let go of your goals and of what you think of yourself. if you do it everyday, you might have glimpses of True Nature. fasting is useless here. 12 to 24h food fasting can be useful when you have some gut issues like infections or irritations. fasting for "spiritual purposes" is just another way of playing within the egoic pattern of pride and achievements. because the deepest insights are not separated from practical everyday life. bulimic and obese people should learn more about self-love and health. those are significant insights, not just mental masturbation.

"doing" can't be avoided. the sun arises, the birds sing, the heart beats and the universe says "I"!

poorly integrated mystical experiences can lead to huge ego trips. why be the best at everything when cooperation is so much more efficient and beautiful? and i have no better words fot that "teal" level. huuuuuge, huuuuuuuuge ego trip!

a bulimic person would have more "spiritual insights" by learning to eat properly a little more; an obese person would have more "spiritual insights" by learning to fast for small periods; have you ever heard of the middle path? what does enlightenment mean to you?

if you're seeking enlightenment, why are you fasting?

@AlphaAbundance what does spiritual growth mean?

compose build a beautiful portfolio (musically and visually) talk about it. make a podcast or an youtube channel or both teach!

you can think of an orange; you can say the word "orange"; you can buy an orange and eat it. i don't know why you think you have no free will. you may think "oh, but what if all of that was already written?". suppose it wasn't written: what practical benefits would you have? suppose it was written: what practical harms would be caused to you? you're just indulging in mental masturbation. let go of both existence and absence of free will. those are just useless mental disturbs.

i'd eat even better food! (high quality food is expensive in brazil)

that's also just a story

oh c'mon. why bash the guy? nobody has the same intuitions/experience on how physics work.

@Joseph Maynor amazing diet. but alcohol dehydrates you and prejudices your liver. you can substitute it for grape juice alcohol also inhibits neurogenesis: "More moderate but chronic alcohol consumption also affects neurogenesis, suggesting that inhibition of neurogenesis may contribute to the neurodegeneration associated with chronic alcoholism. Alcohol may lead to disruptions in neurogenesis in several ways: through increased levels of glucocorticoids triggered by stress, direct inhibition of glutamate–NMDA receptors, serotonin dysregulation, and inhibition of growth factor–mediated cell proliferation. Research is needed to more directly determine the function of adult neurogenesis and how alcohol–induced inhibition of neurogenesis might contribute both to the pathology and the behavioral changes associated with alcohol abuse." (source)

the disciplined mind is quiet when there's desire to be quiet and it's loud when necessary. i can't solve math problems with a quiet mind. complex math problems require a very loud and energetic mind. but loudness stay at work. it's completely practical and useful loudness. the undisciplined mind is attached to past and future shallow events that trigger guilt, shame, pride, anger etc.

this is where things start to get too paradoxical. there has never been and there will never be such thing as ego. there is disciplined or undisciplined mind. you're still fantasizing "true self". the ability to let go is something to be trained and "conditioned", so to speak.

none. conflicts are okay. people get hurt on conflicts because they're too attached to their ideas. it's an impossibility if you're seeking the truth instead of trying to be the right one in order to feed your pride. those who seek the truth should always doubt even his own ideas. imo, this is a huge leap towards scientific maturity. if you want to show that, say, A is true, then try to prove that A is false until you and everyone else (assuming that you're not alone on this inquiry process) have failed. be honest about it.

the means are completely different. they block streets, crowd workplaces, make long periods of loud noise or even refuse to work as form of strike. and when it just grows bigger and bigger uninterruptedly week after week... what's left to do? hell, give them what they want already. or at least speak up and negotiate. who is the target of vegan protests? huge CEO's? people in general (you and me)? wanna change politicians' minds (and consequently the laws)? 4 hours of pacific intervention, raising flags with beautiful messages won't do it. edit: [random extra info for the OP] owners of big companies that profit from animal misery are too rich and powerful and they usually exchange interests with politicians. so changing the laws on animal rights is a very very unlikely thing to happen.

No sign of death's approach In the cicada's cries. Basho

there are different kinds of protests. protests to make the average joe change his habits don't work. protests to claim for civil rights, aiming authorities, are something else.

@Giulio Bevilacqua nobody is going to change their diet because of a vegan protest. not even protesting against obvious poisons like synthetic sugar, alcohol and soda is going to be effective. by protesting, you're just feeding the feeling of discontentment. i'd just get out of such ideologies altogether. keep up your practice and that's good enough. if you want to convince others to change their diets, live an amazing life and build an extremely healthy mind/body system. people will be more inclined to change their diets because of the way that you experience life. they will ask you what you've been doing and eating. no protests needed.

no way out of the search, due to extreme suffering. that's usually when transformation actually takes place because the breaches and farces of the ego become clearer. in practice, the generic picture of such situation is someone crying, feeling weak and thirsty for deep changes. oh, i still remember the feeling. i'm so grateful.

it's best when there's no way out!

i understand what @non_nothing said and it's a proper thing to say, depending on the perspective. it's not something to be taken literally as an absolute truth, of course. there certainly is enlightenment. people go through crazy mystical experiences and, after proper integration, they come out on top, lighter, happier and healthier than before. the difference is radical and it's very easy to notice.

i agree to some extent. there exists realization of True Nature and there exists the alignment with it. but people love intellectualization and pride. people like to turn this into a big thing... or even a business!

okay. now you know why you, as an individual experience, are not special alone. now you know why we shouldn't lie or do harm to others. the real journey starts now. everything else was just a play of words.

@Pat Pagano hi. from my experience, addictions are not the root problem. addictions are symptoms of emotional holes and repressions. if you want to stop your addictions, you have to remake the way you live. this is how i stopped my porn, alcohol, masturbation and weed addictions. changing the way i lived was the hard part. leaving those toxicities behind was pretty easy if compared to changing. i'm sorry if you're not comfortable to talk about it but i'm going to ask anyways. what are your wounds? how do you relate to your family and friends? what do you think about the opposite sex? i always recommend the following video on this subject: we're always seeking happiness, but it doesn't mean that we're seeking on the right places.