Loreena

@Shin I really really wanna ask you so bad - what you meant by that.......I laughed out loud and rolled on the floor with that comment. I have to tell you - that's the comment of the century !

Aren't you too cute..

@Toby 1st situation : I'd make a huge bucket list of things I wanted to do in my life and that I didn't do for some reason or those that I put off for the future. So I wouldn't care for the future, I will try to have maximum fun and have as much fun as I can within the short span of time before I die. 2nd situation I believe in the power of prayer so I'll pray hard. I'll try to stay positive and imagine and dream that things are working out and they'll have mercy on my soul and set me free. When they bring the knife closer and I realize nothing works out I will utter these words before they finish me, " Kill me bastards. Fuck off. I don't care. But remember Karma's a bitch, she will come back to bite you in the ass so I kiss you goodbye."

@Shin When you realize that life is shit : @Shin it's a parody of "when you realize that life is a dream "

On a serious note though, you gotta find that imaginary hazmat suit within yourself. Life is shitty and people are shittier. The real power is in the power of acceptance. Accept that people are this way and the dissonance will vanish. It took some time for me to come to terms with people being repulsive and toxic. It does get on your nerves. But you know every cloud has a silver lining. Positivity can beat any shit,, really it can. People are people, they got not much power over you, don't give them so much power. Find power within yourself, Survival is tough, so be strong, Although I try staying positive I still think of this very often that how I or anyone can survive and thrive in a very hostile and narcissistic toxic negative environment. Would love to hear more perspectives on this one. Btw this question had been bothering me since ages.

Whenever I think of this situation I apply this quote

This reminded me of the power of now by Tolle

@Nahm

Hmm I know. So should I stop giving when I don't receive ?

@Nahm just answer (for me) a very simple question Would it possible for you to give all your love to partner/spouse with zero expectations in return ? You really don't wish to receive anything from your spouse/friend/any other ?

Oh sorry. I guess this reply was for the post Help others, help yourself. It's posted on the wrong page. Sorry guys.

@Nahm I know this guy Matthieu and I have his books. I am his big fan. My self actualization journey started in because of him. The point here is not seeking love within oneself. I know self-love. But one has relationships with others as well and they cannot be practically completely devoid of expectations. If I give love to him/her, I am expecting at least a fraction of it in return. So I really want to know why people use this phrase that in giving we receive, because I have helped a lot of people in the past, given my love to some, only to come to a point where I feel tired of giving because I'm the only one who is doing the giving work with zero expectations or minimum expectations, but reaching a point where I don't receive anything anymore and realize that people are only taking me for granted can be quite exhausting and depressing. So in my mind it doesn't make any sense to keep giving. So maybe this phrase doesn't make any sense to me, because the receiving is not really happening. It's another thing to experience joy in giving. I do feel the joy when I give. But when people take you for granted or demand more or make you feel guilty for not doing more, or even hammer you in spite of having done so much, you know you sort of reach your limit where you realize you are only giving and the receiving will never happen.

Thank you for answering! *list as many as you want.....

@Nahm Receiving the love, care, affection, attention, kindness and emotion from others.

@Nahm Receiving the love of others.

@Deep I agree. Now what do I need to do to experience myself as or my spirit ? If I slow down my thought fluctuations, will I experience my spirit ?

Do they mean the same thing.

@Nahm nah, money rains from the skies !

@Nahm that's what I would like to know as well. I am not sure if giving love also translates as receiving love. Maybe you could enlighten me.

Oh no I didn't mean that way at all. You didn't focus on the above lines. It's not when pursuing something that you're genuinely passionate about and making lot of money. Who can be luckier than you in that case. It's when you give up everything for the chase because the chase the rat race gets important in your life. When you make money and it lies within your deeper self-interests its well and good, in fact much better, ridiculously good. But for others who struggle losing themselves in that struggle only to arrive at a point to know that it was just a mindless chase and they could have invested more into themselves instead of investing so much into creating something that doesn't bring them lasting peace, it's for them who will need to understand how their mental conditioning is affecting them.

@Nahm you're right that desires don't bring any suffering. when we seek self-development we are seeking deeper expansion of self. This expansion is very fulfilling. However every experience in this world may not be truly self fulfilling. What about drugs. It's only an experience. What can be fulfilling about it. It's important to direct the expansion of the mind in ways that bring deeper fulfillment and no harm. By lucky I meant everyone doesn't feel the same way about life. Some people engage in materialistic pursuits and they're fine with it. They already have everything in life including mental peace. But for some the pursuit of pleasure and money brings fatigue and frustration. They are not mentally on it because they're doing it just for the reason that society expects them to do it. They crave more for the needs of the higher self. Their path is going to be harder because mental peace doesn't come easy and satisfying the higher is much harder than satisfying the lower self. In that sense, people who find their life enriching enough really don't feel the need to search for deeper meaning and they're lucky. They're happy as they are.

@Alex K that was so true

@Nahm obviously retreats vacations and hobbies and experiencing new things are a part of the self development process as well. The point was only not to get carried away by conditioned desires and cravings of the mind that lead to a fruitless chase and a hamster on wheels existence. But there is absolutely no problem with people who are content with money and other pursuits in life that bring joy to them. If that's the case and if they aren't losing their health, they're really lucky people.

Can we receive love if we give love ?