legendary

@FoxFoxFox Thanks a lot for the explanation. I agree that this model is merely a map and not the territory. But it's interesting to see such models that comprehensively bundle spiritual growth and paranormal abilities and explain/integrate all of them. That is a good way of looking at it. Neo Gura

Martin Ball

Yes!!

I've only read his books, but it is clear that the guy knows what he's talking about and has been obsessed with contemplation and self-mastery his entire life. Seeking out good quality mentors is essential for getting good at anything. And Peter is the best at what he teaches. Previously, I was slightly disappointed that Peter's workshops cost so much (although I think they must be worth it). But I guess I won't mind buying an eCourse, which is considerably cheaper and lasts 12 months. I think they'll be worth it. Thanks for bringing these to my notice. Cheers!

A cat unravels a ball of yarn, which ultimately ends up unraveling the cat itself Include the image if you're posting it on FB; makes it much clearer.

I would say so. Unless, you have already worked through all superficial materialistic desires, and want to make enlightenment your primary focus in life. Ramana Maharshi was one such case. No one would say he was ambitionless, but instead he had no material cravings and devoted all his time to spirituality from a young age. Based on your post, I don't think that is the case with you, but who am I to judge? One of the central themes of a powerful life purpose is to be internally driven. So you shouldn't be thinking about 'chasing external success', but instead, should be thinking about how your skills can make a positive impact on society and about authentically expressing yourself. Success should be a byproduct of such a life. Is there nothing about the world that you'd like to change? Not in a wishful thinking kind of a way, but through your dedicated efforts. Alternatively, you can think like an artist and see what endeavor would allow you to fully express who you are. I know that can be a tough decision to make at 20, but be open-minded and keep on visualizing about what your ideal life and career could look like. Also, there's nothing wrong with being uncertain as long as you are willing to make changes in your life based on what your intuition tells you: https://deida.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BK00906-interior-pages-12.pdf Leo's life purpose course would be immensely helpful for you. One excellent practice that David Deida recommends is to go on a solo retreat and meditate on what your life purpose should be. It should be like the retreat that Leo advocates, but centered around life purpose instead of Self-realization. I'd bet my money that the trajectory of your life will change if you do this correctly and fuse it with the LP course. Hope that helps. Wish you all the best

Check out the 'All understanding is metaphorical' video on his blog. It's a metaphorical image, so I wouldn't fuss over the sentence itself.

I've met people who do astral projection, healing, and even have clairvoyance. No idea about the figures, with which Dr Strange can literally chop people's heads. But I wonder where the comic writers got the inspiration for that from.

Dr. Strange is a caricature of paranormal powers, astral projection and spiritual development. Just like the Genie is a caricature of the Law of Attraction.

I like Tom Campbell's work, and mostly agree with him. Is that a belief for me? Yes. But my intuition says he is wise and is talking from direct experience. Please don't ask who is it that has intuition. Tom's central claim is that we live in a virtual reality (a dream). So everything is virtual, including your house, mobile phone and your brain (until someone opens your skull). When you call your mom, it's actually the Larger Consciousness System (LCS, aka God) that's voicing your mom. Simultaneously, your mom hears you on the other end, and you are also played by the Larger Consciousness System as far as her experience is concerned. Let's say you are in an elevator get some disturbance on the phone while talking to her. It's actually the infinitely intelligent LCS that computes (in a left-brained analogy) the probability of there being a disturbance, and accordingly decides how the call would be affected. So, with this example, you might ask, does my mobile phone have a Snapdragon 845 chip-set? If you open up your phone, you'll find it, but the fact is that it is a virtual phone and it works according to the limited physics rule-set of our limited reality. The same goes for evolution. The earth acts as if it is 4.5 Billion years old and is located in the Solar system in the Milky way galaxy. But actually that's just the rule-set of our limited physical reality. Asking whether or not evolution happened would mean that you assume that our universe is material and real, as opposed to virtual. Imagine you're playing GTA and are driving an old car. So you might ask, "But this is a virtual car, inside a game. How can it be old? And who drove it before me?". No one did. But the car will act like it has been used, because that's the role it plays in GTA. Tom asserts that evolution is fundamental to Reality, and that even LCS has had to evolve. I'm not sure how much I agree with that. His Big Theory of Everything centered around two things: Consciousness and Evolution. The purpose of our limited reality is to allow you to become more loving (it's a Love Simulator!). The evolution of mainstream science is real (within the virtual reality/dream). But, if you have access to Leo's booklist, check out the books on evolution. They'll show you how evolution happened as a result of an 'intelligent' process (and give you more beliefs, lol). It wasn't a dumb mechanical process as Richard Dawkins asserts.

Good pointer

I want to understand what the best sustainable technologies and practices are for creating a better future. Whether you believe in anthropogenic climate change or not, it is undeniable that the current stage orange businesses are taking a tremendous toll on the environment & human life: Deforestation & ecological imbalance Extinction of plant and animal species Health problems/deaths due to pollution (air, water, noise, etc.) The first step is to understand which technologies are likely to give us maximum benefits for minimum possible investment (aka optimal solution) The energy sector is the biggest contributor to Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, followed by the automotive sector, manufacturing sector, and others. So we ought to tackle these as a priority (at least according to me) in order to solve this problem effectively. Here are the technologies that I find promising, followed by their perceived drawbacks: Thorium as Nuclear fuel for electricity generation (Technology isn't available yet. U233 is a by-product, which can be used on nuclear warheads) Wind Energy for renewable energy generation (Not energy dense. Kills birds) Solar farms (Requires a large area) Photovoltaic panels on rooftops (Not reliable throughout the year) Battery technology for cars (Expensive. Range isn't competitive with gasoline cars) 3D printing for mass-production (Currently too expensive) Which technologies, do you think, have a promising future? I'd be glad to know what you folks think. Additionally, if you see any additional challenges we have as a global community, please comment. P.S.: Leo's life purpose course has shown me that I ought to make a better use of my engineering skills and use it on these challenges. But I'm sure that info from this thread will be useful for others who might want to build a life purpose around sustainable engineering.

I was about to ask a similar question. I know theorizing about these things doesn't make get me anywhere, but it's important to find good quality sources on spiritual topics. I only see mention of the 12 stages/dimensions of consciousness in new age blogs like this one. https://consciousreminder.com/2017/12/12/12-dimensions-consciousness-meaning/ Ans it is often accompanied with mentions of aliens and intergalactic races, etc. Why doesn't anyone cite references from any spiritual texts (Vedas,Bhagavad Gita, Buddhist Sutras, etc.) or enlightened masters who have spoken about the 12 stages/thresholds? If I'm mistaken, please correct me. Is this something that has just been discovered, or something that even enlightened masters don't understand yet? I'm coming at this from an open-minded skeptical perspective.

For me, it's YouTube and self-help content. It's crazy how the mind comes up with rationalizations about how I'm better off than others, because I spend my time in a better manner. But the truth is that it still keeps me away from doing deep work and just being. As Leo said, no matter how good your habit is, if you stop doing it for 7 days, and you face withdrawal symptoms, then it is an addiction.

@FoxFoxFox where can I read more about this? And what is its epistemological foundation?

Tom Campbell is a unique figure in modern spirituality, because he presents arcane metaphysical concepts in a very left-brained manner. He also talks about paranormal phenomena a lot. This is an interesting video of his, where he proposes that there is no liberation, and that once you reduce your entropy sufficiently (i.e. dissolve your karma), there are still ways in which you can serve; if not in this reality, then in some other. Last weekend, I was at a meditation intensive with Jan Esmann. Jan is highly Self-realised, can awaken other people's Kundalini by simply looking at them, and describes his state as beyond Sahaja Samadhi (Stage 9/10 from the Ox-Herding pictures). He was asked what he thought about Tom's proposition. He said that it is probably true and that it is possible that one's consciousness is on a seemingly never ending journey. Later, he also said that he isn't 'done', and that he knows that he will be reborn again. I found this quite counter-intuitive and intriguing, so I thought I'd share this.

Interesting take on this by Rupert Spira

Self-esteem issues aren't uncommon. Some people are better at hiding them than others, that's all. Check out the books by Nathaniel Branden and Maxwell Maltz. Secondly, do psychedelics (responsibly). This will help you in getting in touch with infinite love. Go to spiritual events/retreats/workshops, which will expose you to environments where people can be loving, authentic and kind. You are love. I went to a Bufo Alvarius retreat last year, where I realized this and yelled '"I am LOVE!" out loud at the height of my trip. What people generally mean by love is validation, and that will only make you a slave. True love will set you free!

I'm 26 myself and will be going back to college later this year for a Masters Degree. I agree with almost everyone's advice here. First off, forget the how, and focus on your vision for humanity and yourself. Next, understand what domains you'd like to master. You already have that. So the next step is to understand what it is that you lack, because of which you cannot fulfill your vision today. Often, it will be a combination of domain-specific knowledge, big picture understanding, and interpersonal skills. Then, you can see how a college degree can fit into your picture, rather than the opposite. But the bottom line, it isn't too late. You are God experiencing Reality, it's about damn time you began thinking that way!

First of all, kudos for listening to your heart. Have you taken Leo's Life Purpose Course? If yes, then I hope all exercises point towards this route. I didn't study philosophy in college, but I know people here in the UK who did, and unfortunately, most of them changed their fields after graduation. When we enter the job market, we face the harsh reality of a stage Orange world, and our desire to awaken humanity isn't met with enthusiasm. But I believe you can always make a great career in philosophy. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to be the absolute best that you can be, at this. It's not a problem of building a career, as much as it is a problem of job opportunity. E.g.: There are a lot of vacancies in Sales and call centers. So the industry is willing to tolerate mediocrity in their employees, and hence, we have many people living the boring 9-5 mediocre life. Whereas the number of jobs for a philosophy major might be less, so there's less scope for mediocrity. But, if you are really good at what you do, you WILL make a great career out of it. You can always move to other places for better opportunities. Secondly, try thinking outside the box. How could you use your knowledge of philosophy (and self-actualization) for societal development AND make money too? Perhaps the answer won't be becoming a traditional professor, but instead, could be something like launching online courses, becoming a life coach or even entering politics. Lastly, be aware that most philosophy departments are paradigm locked, and won't see past their biases and worldview. When articulating nonduality, you will have an uphill battle on your hands. But if you absolutely believe you'll love that fight, I say go for it!

Byron Katie, is that you, plugging your own work? Lol, just kidding. I love exploring self-actualization work from different perspectives. She seems to be a great role model for embodying love and compassion. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll be starting off with her audiobook soon.

This is what Spiral Dynamics is all about. Becoming a Spiral Wizard means that you can understand other people's perspectives without being judgmental or bitter, and you can help them in solving their problems such that you don't patronize them. I recommend taking notes on all Spiral Dynamics videos of Leo and contemplating on them. A truly Enlightened person would never think of others as 'less enlightened than him'. That is the ego creating a story about how self-actualized you are. No one in the Universe is doing anything 'wrong'. Everyone is exactly where they ought to be, at their level of development. Trying to communicate these ideas can be a challenge. But your desire to tell everyone about this is also heavily egoic. I fall into this trap as well, so I'm talking from personal experience. When they are ready for the Truth, they will automatically be drawn towards Self-realization work. Certain degree of loneliness/isolation is inevitable. But you can always attend events, retreats, workshops etc. where you can meet like minded people.

Physicists have long suspected that quantum mechanics allows two observers to experience different, conflicting realities. Now they’ve performed the first experiment that proves it. MIT Technology Review Article

Interesting. But this headline seems to be a result of the 'Chinese Whispers' phenomenon. The original title: Arrow of time and its reversal on the IBM quantum computer Became: Physicists reverse time using quantum computer From the Nature article: "...while in nature the complex conjugation needed for time reversal may appear exponentially improbable, one can design a quantum algorithm that includes complex conjugation and thus reverses a given quantum state." The physicists designed a special algorithm that modifies the state of the quantum computer in such a way that it would then evolve "backwards," from chaos toward order. lol Materialists' strategy for protecting their paradigms: