Joseph Maynor

I would slow down. Do one pillar per week or every 2 weeks. Take your time with the sentence completion items. Make sure to record yourself or write down your responses. I recorded myself on my phone. That gave me very intuitive responses because I didn't have to worry about writing the responses down. That sentence completion material will give you a lot of fodder to strategize the rest of your personal development. With sentence completion, what you are doing is peering into your subconscious mind to take a look at beliefs that are running in the background for you that you may not even be conscious of, so you don't want to rush that process. You are gaining awareness of your subconscious beliefs basically, uncovering them. Once you gain fuller awareness of these beliefs, you can then figure out how to unwire some of the limiting beliefs from your psyche. You can target certain beliefs and work to unwire them. You can do this with re-programming your subconscious mind and with enlightenment work.

@thetrut11 The person with high awareness would not engage in the conduct. So, even though it is probably predetermined, the key is increasing awareness to avoid egoic obstacles. Even if that sense of control is illusory, it is still probably wise to indulge in the illusion on a practical level.

I love this saying. I heard this out of the mouth of David Lee Roth, actually. He's a crazy dude, but wise.

Mine: Lack of motivation Succumbing to distractions Fear of performing scheduled tasks Procrastination Fear of rejection Lack of momentum/ stuck in a rut Low energy/ fatigue Fear of success Fear of change Laziness

How about this one -- acting as if our beliefs control reality. That's a biggie.

What are some examples of optional adversity that we routinely choose, in contrast with mandatory adversity? Clarifying example: How about guilt from indulging in addictions? That feeling of guilt is optional adversity. You are choosing that optional adversity of the feeling of guilt every time you indulge in an addiction. And that guilt is punishing you. I define mandatory adversity as that quantum of adversity that you need to face to cause your life purpose to become real, no more and no less.

I think I have found the answer. 3 weeks later. None of these obstacles are real. They don't exist in reality. Correct me if I'm wrong. Basically I was under an illusion. There is no self to be constrained. There is no free will.

I'm going to buy this. Thank you!

The Tao Box By Priya Hemenway Awesome for learning the Tao Te Ching by Lao Zi. Ya'll will love it. Eat it up. Very highly recommended. I read this on my last trip to Taiwan and it was life changing. But I was in Taiwan, so keep that in mind. You see people embody this stuff when you are in Taiwan. There are temples everywhere in Taiwan where you see the rubber meet the road with spirituality there.

I find that I have moved into do nothing meditation for 1 hour a day. And it's like when a thought comes into awareness I am also aware of acceptance and loving it, almost like giving the thought a little touch of love. I just started to gravitate towards meditating this way recently. I've gotten away from all the other kinds of approach to meditation. Just naturalness.

If this were the case, wouldn't gravity be capable of being transcended? This seems to be impossible however.

Do nothing meditation.

Not in Taiwan. Just returned from 2 weeks in Taipei. Taiwan is amazing and the people are so awesome.

@Vaishnavi Philosophy is not dead. Although some people wish it were.

@Key Elements Philosophy both as theory and as embodiment. Originality in Philosophy. Advancing the ball in the subject. That's what excites me.

Or do we want to shine the light of awareness a lot on defects in physical appearance?

My ego interprets it as a defect. My self image.

Well it's part of maya so it's an illusion, but from a practical basis one still has to deal with the adversity of looking odd or something.

An illusion.

@WelcometoReality defect in physical appearance

Do 1 hour of meditation each day.

@ZX_man Start with writing a list of ways you are suffering. You need more clarity as to your problem.

Words of wisdom. I gotta remember this. Thoughts cause emotions.

@xXguitarsenXx INTJ.

@nahtanoj Read some books on Buddhism and start studying Indian Philosophy. Expand your knowledge of the different ways of thinking and practicing. There's a ton of information on Wikipedia.