Joseph Maynor

The more you detach from conceptualizations, the less monkey-mind the Ego will generate over time. Enlightenment is a life long practice.

I hear people espouse this idea, but this is just another thought -- and therefore untrue. The paradox is that reality is both a dream and not a dream -- and we can also detach from this paradox. And none of this affects reality one whit.

I think everyone would be well-served to watch this video again. It's amazing how well Leo lays out some basic principles of Enlightenment that even a lot of advanced students miss. I just watched it again myself, and I was amazed at how good it is. Invest an hour and fifteen minutes to watch this video today.

No, because that is a pointer. We can point without encapsulating. It's still a model, but much less encapsulating than a definition or 'this is like that'. I can say 'this' or 'this is like that'. The former is much less distorting than the latter. It still assumes a kind of individuation that is problematic. But, we refer to reality as an Idealism for that reason. As an idealism, it is by definition not definable in concepts. We gotta be able to speak. Language is inherently dualistic. But that doesn't mean that reality can be defined in concepts. That is empirically confirmable. That's what makes this kind of expression acceptable to us. We can confirm it empirically. Once you experience nothingness, you realize that reality is the antithesis of a thought. It is that which contains thoughts. But even this container metaphor is just a model. Reality must be observed in itself.

What I am implying there kind of irreverently is that reality cannot be encapsulated by concepts. That's why we use the term 'nothingness' to refer to reality. But we gotta live that not just say it. Saying 'reality is a dream' is like trying to encapsulate a 3-dimensional phenomena into a 2-dimensional model. Almost any statement of the form "Reality is x", where x is a concept, is gonna be technically false. Now, we can speak-loosely in many contexts, but if we're concerned with the highest level of truth, those statements are all technically false. This is why we call reality 'nothingness' or 'everything'. A common mistake I see is people give lip-service to this in theory but oddly forget about it in practice. All that does is cause a nasty trap that will haunt you in this work until you see it and go -- oh shit! -- I've been sloppy -- I got hoodwinked by the Ego/Mind again.

Wow, I didn't realize you had such substance. Why don't you share your wisdom with us more?

Go back and watch this video for nostalgia. Remember when we were first exposed to this stuff? It's been 3 years already.

I just watched the video again with more of an objective eye. It reminds me of when I trip on LSD. When I took 7 tabs one day, this is very much the kind of observations I made. Everything is in the Now, and the Now never changes. There is just emptiness and illusory change within that. You just have to accept reality in the present moment -- the Truth. Spirituality is about systematically removing barriers to authenticity. You're just an awareness of the content of being in the present moment. LSD is a hell of an Enlightenment teacher. As you said -- "perfect understanding of the present moment." Thank you for recording this and sharing it with us. It's funny how you start to take the keen-awareness of LSD for granted when you trip. You're like -- how could it not be like this? I get it! Then you come down, and you realize -- shit! I got a similar "decision-tree" observation while tripping too. I laughed so many times during this video because it rings so true to my experiences on my trips. // Here's a section from my 7 Tab LSD Trip Report for reference: So, I'm walking along these quaint streets in San Francisco around the Haight-Ashbury District where I was. And first off -- my sense of boundaryness was like completely gone. I had the distinct sense of being nothing and everything at the same time. And this isn't just some kind of theoretical mumbo-jumbo. I really experienced the sense of being nothing and everything at once, and it was right there in the Now. This wasn't some kind of idea thing, it was experience-able. I'm walking along towards my office and of course I'm tripping-balls. Everything is in high-relief and ordered as LSD so characteristically gives us. And I'm like really just being Authentic, no BS, no clinging. And I'm noticing all this shit basically filling all these input channels as I'm walking along. I steered my thoughts to Enlightenment and started to contemplate. And I realized immediately that the dirty-little-secret that nobody wants to talk about is that all of this Enlightenment ordering that we do -- with our Minds -- all of this arranging -- all of it -- is total and complete BULLSHIT. Ego-stroking at its finest. That was so clear to me. I was embarrassed. The 'I'm more conscious than you are' game is pure Ego. Pure unadulterated Ego. You and your rules. Notice that your rules always have your Ego on top. Always! That's as fixed as the Now, it never changes.

It cannot be encapsulated in words. Furthermore, paradoxically it is not an it. Language haha.

I have a degree in Philosophy. I would never have done anything differently. Just expect to create your own career and not to get much help job wise from your degree. If you have a love for Philosophy, you might as well take the opportunity. I was so happy when I switched my major to Philosophy, as I was studying it on my own for a couple of years before that. I had (and have) a passion for Philosophy. At that time -- Philosophy was all new to me and I felt like a kid in a candy store looking at all the philosophy books at the bookstore. I just remember seeing so many of them and thinking how I'd love to read all of them someday.

Great video from Emerald on point:

Where you want to get to is where you are systematically detaching from all your attachments. Don’t suppress your thoughts, that is no good. That is the Ego trying to control. Acknowledge reality fully, and then move your awareness away (if you so desire). But don’t suppress or repress anything. I know in your newest video Leo you talk about suppressing thoughts — that’s a trap. Allow the thoughts to be there, just don’t identify with them. That’s the proper way to handle thoughts. When you use the Ego, you reinforce the Ego. When you allow the Ego but don’t attach to it, that’s when it releases. Some work that really helped me was finding my top 3 Ego attachments. Once you find your attachments, you can work on detaching from them. Re-cap: Don’t suppress thoughts. Let them flow by, just don’t identify with them. If you must, move your awareness away from them once you’ve acknowledged them, but never suppress them. That just feeds the Ego, which creates more thoughts. You want to let reality do it’s thing fully, just don’t identify with it. Cultivate an absolute lack of resistance to what arises. Watch — and do the exercises in the video. This is practical work everyone needs to do.

There are no levels of consciousness.

Strong desire to know conceptually for whatever reason. We all have this too. But many of us see the trap in it as well. Don’t identify with thoughts and beliefs as facts, that’s the error. It’s clinging to conceptual knowing that is the source of this kind of trap. Now, his motive and reasons for wanting to take this approach is unclear to me.

Specifically, enumerating Metaphysical truths/speculations in Enlightenment work. Video on point to watch:

Leo's new video brought me back. Outrageous. How the hell could I sleep with that video. Impossible. Ok, I'm going back on my sabbatical now. See ya.

Ok. If that makes you feel significant, go for that.

Maybe both of us or neither of us are right. That's always a possibility with beliefs too, is it not? Paradoxically it is true that Enlightenment has levels and also has no levels. And that paradox can be detached from as well. Dis-identify with thoughts, the voice, and emotions.

What was he taking? Am I missing the obvious? This is like one of those news stories missing the key piece of information. Until we know those details, we are just spinning our wheels folks. Yeah, I need more information to comment on Leo's video one way or another.

One of the most uncertain things to do is judge a person's motive. I don't think Leo would be wasting his time lying intentionally to us or himself. If that's what's happening, I'm sure he would have better things to do with his time. So, the motive issue seems to me kind of dirty pool. You don't know. If you don't have something nice to say about someone -- make sure to say it very well haha. Just kidding.

There are no stages of Enlightenment. Truth has no stages.

I've been practicing this technique and I've had a lot of success with it. I like how you start with a tension in the body and then release that rather than looking at the mind to solve everything. This kind of technique keeps us from getting too top heavy in this work. Very good technique.

All watching this can do for you is goose you to step up your own work on the path. Nobody can do your pushups for you.

Keep walking the path Leo. We're gonna be walking the path until we die. Paradoxically Enlightenment must be both sought and not sought. Thinking you've found the destination is just as bad as seeking. Both of those "views" miss reality by miles. And it is reality that we're interested in, not concepts of reality. Being the explorer just is doing this work. Push on friend. I'll do the same as well. There is much more to do and much more to experience. We're only just getting started -- just scratching the surface of this work. // My synopsis of Enlightenment Enlightenment -- Be an explorer in the fullest sense of the word. This is what we are here to do. This is a life where you are supposed to be expanding. Do not waste your potential, do not waste this life. Discover your authentic-self fully through a life-long, multi-faceted process of reality exploring reality fully. The practical result of Enlightenment is liberation from all culture. PILLARS OF ENLIGHTENMENT (REALITY EXPLORING REALITY FULLY): 1. Daily Meditation Habit (Microscope on the Mind) 2. Non-Dual Theory (Scaffolding to orient the Mind to favor awareness over the Ego) 3. Psychedelics (Exploring inner-being) 4. Self-Inquiry (Realizing no-Self fully) 5. External World-Inquiry (Realizing no-World fully) 6. Cosmopolitanism/ World Travel (Exploring outer-being, world cultures through travel, learning other languages) 7. Education (Exploring world ideas, culture, and history leading to reliable knowledge and wisdom) 8. Cultivation of the Authentic-Self (Maslow's Pyramid, Life Purpose (including Career), Self-Actualization, Self-Transcendence) 9. Spirituality (Reconnecting to being the Watcher and purifying away illusions) 10. Cultivation of the Body (Nurture and fortify the Body, it's your constant companion) 11. Exploration of Art (Exploring non-linguistic ideas and patterns of ideas, exploring linguistic arts like poetry and fiction) 12. Life Practice (Perfecting your strengths in a way that makes you feel good/proud, eradicating weaknesses if authentically desired) 13. Being Good (Being a source of love and inspiration to others rather than not doing this, assisting others) 14. Authentic Relationships (Where you realize and perfect the idea that we are all One)