Visitor

@emind Practice things that will expand your imagination, such as creativity. Then apply your knowledge to new imagined ideals.

Very funny. I heard a similar one about thirty years ago. It went something like this: Q: How many sociologists does it take to change a light bulb? A: None, because illumination is a social construct.

Unless and until ignorance is removed and Knowledge is gained (the Knowledge whereby the divine life is experienced and lived) everything pertaining to the spiritual seems paradoxical — God, whom we do not see, we say is real; and the world, which we do see, we say is unreal. In experience, what exists for us does not really exist; and what does not exist for us, really exists.

If your life purpose is to live in nature, then go there now. If it is your life purpose then nature will accommodate you to live there. You will learn and know how to survive there, and you won't be afraid to stay there. If not, then maybe the call for nature was more of a dream of evading the responsibility of being you in relationship with life.

@SimonH Market yourself. Imagine someone, exactly like yourself, coming to you with the exact question of how to start. Since you already know about marketing research, targeting clients, and promoting, it ought to be easy to get started.

@onilsson Relate to others as yourself (past and present). Then you can see the funny side of both the ignorant and not so ignorant side of yourself with others. Live and let live is always a good motto when dealing with others. However, if the other is suffering and wishes to not be so, then a bit of humor about yourself, being in a similar situation to them, can bring some fun into the relationship with others. In this way the so-called serious side is supplemented with humor (the joke being on yourself). To be able to laugh at yourself is a very good way to create self-acceptance. So while having fun at yourself, you are growing towards authenticity.

Some people are visual-based, others are hearing-based, and others are feeling-base. Some say "I see what you mean"; others say "I hear you", or others may say "I feel what you mean". Find out what you normally refer to when you respond to others. Visualization is not just seeing. Images (symbolic impressions) created by the mind also include hearing images, and feeling images. I am sure there are others. So when you are asked to visualize something, imagine it with your particular reference base.

The best way to make yourself funny is to laugh at yourself. This will invite others to laugh at, and with you, because it is not them you are making a joke of. The best comedians make a fool of themselves. To visualize that is to simply remember your most embarrassing, or 'doh' moments.

@Max_V Forget about being loved. You won't accept it if you can't accept yourself. When you do except yourself then you won't need love. So the only thing to do is to be loving, and while you are loving you won't need love because you ARE love.

Why do you think that you have to be constant? People basically feel either love or fear. Or in other words, true or untrue. Neither are constant while one still has a mind that wishes to identify itself (the ego), which it fears to lose. So self-inquiry is either about ego-self and/or Being. The first is untrue, the other is true. Both are inevitable. To know what is not constant is to access memory of what was beforehand. What sensation in the past is not constant because it is not now. What we feel 'now' is as constant as we feed it with either fear or love. If you wish the stay serene, then love is the fuel to keep it going.

Community Ethics.

Greed for validity is the problem Solution is to get in touch with your okayness regardless of what is happening. In that okayness there is no more need or want, or else you won't feel okay until those needs or wants are fulfilled. So in that okayness, anything else you wish to explore, create for yourself, such as a Life Purpose (LP), is done without greed, want or need. It becomes an experiment to play with and learn new stuff. Fears we have harbored in our life have fueled our wants and needs. Why not have a LP, for the time being, to overcome the fears that block the full awareness of one's own okayness.

1) The ego is claiming your improvement and has labelled itself as superior. To uphold that self acclaimed status, it creates biases (stories of self-favoritism) for itself. 2) Were you never in the same boat. 3) Every person has the potential to improve. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. There will always be somebody more actualized than yourself. Do you expect them to not have any respect for those less actualized like yourself. I am sure you do not hope so, or else there won't be anybody to help you along when you need it, or ask it.

I just came back, alone, from cycling with old friends. This cycling group, like so many other groups, are so fearful of each others disapproval that they will compromise themselves to appear loyal. Many times, this group of ten or more, have started a ride to eventually either changed route or turned back because of two or more have changed their minds. This behaviour is similar to sheep or ducks following each other; as soon as one veers off course, those behind follow. Conformity has bonded this cycling group from the start, but it has also alienated those without fear of being alone. Conformity has its negatives, and these oppose my authenticity, truth, and integrity; and I am willing to lose friendships because of it. I am not afraid of how others judge me, as they fear it themselves. I will keep in tough with some of these old friends, but I had enough of their fearful ways when they come together as a group. Today they veered off course and I was left alone to follow the agreed route and rode it alone. They knew what happened when it happened but could not make themselves admit to the error and correct their previously agreed ride route. They also know that I am my own person and not a sheep. I've been told by them before that they find it too difficult to not compromise their own integrity in case they will lose face by the others. Because of this, I have not lost their friendship on an individual level, but as a group, they are not who they are when alone.

The truth will set you free. Find the truth behind all your fears which has manifested into ocd, etc. In facing those fears, and finding your truth about them, will not only demythicize your ocd, etc, it will also contribute to your enlightenment.

@Shin Cold turkey, is the best quickest way. Don't worry, it won't kill you. Get rid of everything to do with accessing a video game. Not by relocating the game so you can access it later, but in the rubbish bin just before the garbage truck comes to pick it up. Gradual reduction methods don't work so well because each time you play the game (on a limited amount) the game becomes more meaningful and therefore harder to give up.

Sounds very deceptive (untrue) and exploitative of others (to fill the void of being untrue). Tip: Your truthful self is unconditionally loving. Love is the expression of truth. To be deceptive and exploitative is both unloving and not true to yourself. Fear causes deception, in this case it is the fear of not being lovable, so you falsify yourself as lovable to others. Being a true person is not only your true self, but it is most loved by all, because it is reliable, trustworthy, unchanging, consistent ... in other words, unconditional. If you create a conditional self, it will always be found wanting (unsatisfactory) because deep down you know it is a fraud, a deception and enslaved to your ego-self. A life of suffering. So find your true self, get in touch with that unconditional loving bit in you. You know, that part that is gentle, soft, forgiving, tolerant, fearless, patient, listening, self.

Sitting for hours on end can swell your feet.

As you already know, you need to burn as much as you consume. How you do that is your choice. Also, the body has a strange way of remembering routine exercises. It somehow burns less when it knows what to expect. Just a suggestion, try changing exercise routines. Instead of doing home workouts, go outside for a run. Then after a few of them, do something very differently again. Random routines.

@NickG Gaming and gambling addiction have similar triggers - boredom. Meditation without a reason can become boring. Boredom can be caused be wanting to be distracted but it's not happening. So gaming addiction fulfills that distraction. Seeking distraction from what? Self. The truth about yourself. The fear of being/feeling vulnerable and/or exposed. Why not used meditation and introspection for discovering your truth. Instead of being a gaming legend in your own mind, you can become a true courageous person in facing all your fears and emerging fearless and true...the person you always wanted to be. This won't happen over night. Many fear facing campaigns to follow through to be the victor over your own fears. It won't be easy, just like a gaming challenge. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. If you decide to do this, you will be the game to play and win.

@Wouter I think you are juggling too many things. You want too many things at once, as if you were afraid that 'time' will run away from you. Too heady for your own serenity. Settle down and let things unfold naturally. One step at a time. One blog entry at a time. One subject at a time. Don't be so keen on promoting yourself as a person who knows. . . Learn how to deal with dilemmas. Sort your ego out so you won't be so enslaved to all its wants, impatience, validations etc. It is running you instead of you running it. Stop the head games and sit with your heart. Listen to that deeper warm loving part of yourself, and find out what it is saying to you. It won't be a story, you will find it to be just a few simple words to steer you right.

@MasterNigel Slightly confused between thread title "Need Career Advice" and your question about obtaining 'a free and emotion expressing attitude' From what you wrote, I have no idea what careers you are interested in. About taking of a type of attitude is totally up to you, but would it be your true genuine authentic self?

@egoless Death cannot be experienced, only the dying bit can be experienced. If their is life after the body dies, then you cannot experience death because you are alive. If their is no life after the body dies, then you cannot experience death because you are dead. In regards to the ego, the ego will not be around because that it is a product of the mind due to brain activity. When the brain stops, so too does the ego. The Being is a mystery to reasoning, for it does not rely on brain activity to present itself, but brain inactivity (such as deep meditation).

Tough Love