Commodent

I live in Norway, and I'm pretty content with living here. I feel like things are fairly stable here compared to many other countries. The political parties seem to agree on the most important things so they usually just argue over trivialities such as road pricing etc. Economically things seems to be going well, and if things were to go terribly wrong with the economy we always have an almost £1 trillion oil fund as a buffer. The city where I grew up in has largely recovered from the "oil crisis" that happened a couple of years ago where several people in the petroleum industry were laid off. I'm currently living entirely on student loans (which provides a bit over £900 a month), and it's alright. An American I lived with told me that Norwegians are "so nice", and I tend to agree. I think that Norwegians are generally decent people but they can be a bit inhibited. That can make it a bit hard making friends, but you just have to be a little more patient in my view. Joining a club or something is a good way to make new friends, as you get to see many of the same people frequently. I'm really tired so excuse me if my writing is a bit off a mess. Let me know if you have any questions.

@hamedsf lmao, enlightened people can't be tired? That's a new one. If it weren't for tiredness you'd be dead.

@bmcnicho Anti-natalist ideas are not genetic. Anyone can have them as they become increasingly aware of the state of the Earth. I'd say the only psychological factor that I'm aware of is open-mindedness, and that is not going extinct anytime soon. Overpopulation is a global problem, not a local one. Every childbirth, whether it be in a 1st world country or a 3rd world country, has global consequences. This problem can be circumvented by immigration and automation. Good thing the A.I. revolution has arrived. Also, this is not a problem if one were to adopt instead of giving birth.

I don't believe in that whole "life is suffering" shtick. What bothers me about people giving birth is that our planet is already extremely strained, and there are plenty of orphans out there waiting to get adopted into a family. So I can't really find any good reasons why people would choose to give birth. It seems incredibly selfish. I know being a parent can be very giving, but there sure are a lot better ways to give to the world.

It's very real. It's the supercomputer of your brain that you are minimally aware of. The conscious mind is very slow and very limited in comparison. If you want to discover your emotional blocks you need to get in touch with your reality. You need to become acutely aware of what feelings are holding you back from what you want to do. You do not get in touch with you emotions simply by reading about fanciful concepts like id, superego etc. You get in touch with them by connecting with your own experiences. You recognize that these recurring emotions are remnants of (often several) bad experiences, maybe even from very early parts of your life which you cannot remember. How would you help a child that has suffered and is feeling bad? Deny his experience and conclude that his feelings are invalid? Or would you acknowledge his experience and do your best to make him feel loved and secure? What do you think would help the most? That's what you have to do to yourself, because the part of your brain that was dominant during your childhood (often referred to as the Inner Child) is still there, and it might not be feeling so good. Other than that I can highly recommend the book "Eastern Body, Western Mind" by Anodea Judith. It highlights the many ways blockages can manifest themselves.

How does one measure consciousness, i.e. how does one know one has succeeded?

@lmfao

@StarStruck Yes, you can certainly change the ego, but unless you're monk living passively in a cave it will always be there. It's a necessity to function in the world, and a strong and healthy ego allows you to manifest your wishes in the world and do big things. Now, whether you identify with ego or not, that's another question. It's really only a part of the whole. Identification with ego is also what makes changing it so painful, because in a sense it's been mistaken for you. Ego backlash is more of a physical mechanism, I feel, and it's not really painful in the same way as trying to change something you identify with. It just sort of happens regardless.

Suffering is there to avoid painful experiences, because if we didn't suffer we would keep doing things that are not good for us. So suffering can arise from what we do internally and what we do externally. For most people, I'd say it is mostly an internal problem that can be solved by resolving inner conflicts.

http://pete-walker.com/shrinkingInnerCritic.htm

You don't have to kill anything. It's more about changing your relationship to your experience rather than changing the experience itself. That is true liberation, the freedom to experience whatever might arise. Only wanting to experience a certain egoless state is prison, because you're denying the rich experiences that can be found in the ego state.

@winterknight Thanks, so enlightenment is not something you can lose touch with once you have "seen" it? Even brain damage wouldn't change that? Also, how does enlightenment differ from disidentification from the ego? And one more, looking at an object and "merging" with it, so that there is no separation between you and the object, is that ego death or simply a deep form of presence? I know these are lots of questions but they're questions I've had in the back of my mind for quite some time. Thank you for your patience.

@winterknight OK thanks, so if I were to get enlightened I would know for sure? There would be no doubt that what I am experiencing is THAT, which everyone keeps talking about, and not something else? Also, what is the difference between Enlightenment and a heightened state of consciousness? And one more, what is the difference between Enlightenment and awakening?

How do you know for sure that what you experienced is Enlightenment?

I assume you get anxious about watching bad YouTube channels etc. because you feel anxious about getting your worldview "disproven". What one should realize is that our worldview is an ever-changing flux that gets more and more refined as one explore different ideas. By only exposing yourself to certain ideas you are restricting this flow and thus stunting growth. What you really want is intellectual freedom, not the total and exclusive integration of the worldview that you assume to be correct.

@Truth Addict That's a quite difficult question to answer, but I would generally say favour your own ego, in a way that benefits all parties. Work empathetically with people rather than against them. That is the key. And remember, you are not responsible for other people's personal development. Unless they are open to it it's generally a futile task to try to change people. Place your energy where it actually matters.

@Truth Addict Yes, beliefs are certainly valuable. I have lots of them. But no matter how useful they are, they're still just one facet of who you are. The more self-exploration you do, the wider your sense of self becomes. What was previously a significant part of who you considered yourself to be will become much less significant once your sense of self broadens. Meaning you have much more to rely on if one part of your identity were to get squashed (i.e. beliefs). That's at least how I experience it.

That's why you should try to find other ways to feel alive. Addictions are usually there to fulfill some sort of need. I would also advice you watch Leo's video about ego backlash if you haven't already.

I can relate. I used to get in arguments all the time on Reddit and sometimes it would get really, really heated. I think I finally decided to stop it when I became aware of how out of whack it put me emotionally. I think it boils down to competition vs. collaberation. The second it turns into a you vs. me thing people will get defensive and won't listen. People want to make their own decisions, so when you threaten their autonomy by trying to change them and their opinions things will easily go south. So yeah, I think what has helped me is trying to adopt a more collaborative mindset and curbing the impulses that want to turn it into a you vs. me thing. And also, avoiding arguments with people who seem to be looking for a fight. I have always had a quite strong need to be right, probably because where I grew up being right was the only thing that mattered. It was an authoritarian, controlling environment where the right to have your needs met was determined by how well you were able to justify them and defend against any counter-arguments. This need to be right has in my case diminished over the past two years or so, so now when someone disagree with me I'm more like "whatever". I actually think a very important part of getting rid of this need to be right is having a stable core that is not rooted in beliefs which can easily be disproven. A firm knowing that you can live and do well without those beliefs, because you have a deep sense of who you are and that can no one ever take away from you. I think journaling and emotional work is what helped me get in contact with this inner being, so that might be worth trying out.

This is in many ways true, but many people seem to act like forgiveness is simply a conscious choice you have to make, an idea. Sure, certain beliefs might block forgiveness from coming through, but at the same time forgiveness is still just a feeling that might come and go just like any other feeling. You can tell yourself that you forgive them and find all the reasons why they became the way they are, but that is still just ideas if you're deep down still angry at what your parents did to you. So the way I see it, focus on processing that anger. Forgiveness is not a process, it's the potential byproduct of working through those painful emotions. Some people were so severely abused they might never forgive.

@Michael569 Hell yeah! I'm looking forward to the day we have chemo in the drinking water. Preventive measures all the way

@Michael569 I'm all up for chemotherapy on kids with ADHD. Nothing quite like it

Internal Family Systems

I've learned lots from it, but it's just too addicting for me.

If he triggers you it seems like it would be wise to get some space, regardless of whether he acts abusively towards you to this day. Do you enjoy his presence? If not, you have no obligation to keep in contact with him. You could give him a heads-up beforehand, so that he has some idea of what's going on and won't try to contact you needlessly. It's not a fun decision to make, but you should do what feels right to you. It sounds to me like you would also enjoy the works of Pete Walker.