Emerald

It must take up a lot of your time. My time is monopolized by having children, so I guess this is my biggest barrier in that sense. At this point, I wouldn't be able to do a retreat because they are so little. Even carving out an hour a day for meditation is a bit of an ordeal. But fear of letting go of control is my biggest psychological barrier.

How could you tell if Shinzen Young is enlightened or not? If he claims to be enlightened, I certainly believe him as he seems to have firsthand experience. But ultimately, no one knows except for him. But what is it that makes you sure that he isn't?

Sort of reminds me of the biggest problem of capitalism - always trying to sell you the future version of yourself. You can never be fine as you are, because it isn't as profitable.

Build a strong ego through personal development and becoming as successful as you want to be. Don't feel guilty about it or feel as though you shouldn't be. But be mindful of the ego's illusions, self-congratulatory talk, and self-deprecating talk. Make systematic efforts to unravel the ego's illusions, as you develop it. Repressing the ego will never help you transcend it. If the ego has needs, meet them but do so mindfully.

This is the one that I was talking about. I think it could apply similarly.

The Sufi poem?

Waking up and not waking up are equally valuable endeavors. So, choosing to "stay in the park" may be appropriate for most people. That said, one thing I realized during my experience is how much struggling/suffering I endure as a constant backdrop during life to the point where I don't realize it... like a fish unaware that it is in water. Any happy moment is always spiked with this background sense of unease. I only realize it now through contrast with my experiences. So, there is no true peace of mind when immersed in the average perspective. Of course, there are degrees and levels of consciousness within the average perspective, so freeing yourself from some illusions will make life more livable even if you don't reach full-blown enlightenment. So, doing consciousness work is worth pursuing, even if you're uneasy about the idea of full-blown enlightenment.

That makes a lot of sense. I know that my emotions didn't go away during my experiences, so I would have likely still felt negative emotion had I sacrificed family and friends to become enlightened. It's just that I would likely have sensed that negative emotion as an inextricable part of the divinity inherent in all of nature and recognized it as empty of negative meaning in the grand scheme of things. Currently, I am unconscious of this phenomena, but have only a memory of experiencing that. So, perhaps one in that state of mind could interpret the experience in the way that McKenna does. To experience the I AM, do you have any recommendations for processes that you used to become more aware of it?

Well, you could try to highlight, improve, and frame whatever masculine traits are already there. Sort of like a reframing of your normal persona. In this way, the human personality is malleable. But masculinity and femininity are mostly pre-conditioned states of being. Inventing masculinity in your personality where there is none, is going to be crazy-making. If you want people to respect you, I recommend accepting your traits: both masculine and feminine. Human beings are naturally androgynous and have a mix of both masculine and feminine traits in varying degrees; so to attempt to get rid of your feminine traits would be repression. The main problem is that you equate femininity in a man as a weakness. It is not. Femininity is just an energy that someone has about them. For example, who would deny that David Bowie was a feminine man, yet he was unapologetically himself and had a very strong personality. So, my advice is to exalt the traits that you have... positive and negative. Max out each trait you have in the most beneficial way that you can. As Shakespeare said, "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." So, don't look at you traits as "negative" or "positive." You just have neutral traits that can be applied in beneficial and non-beneficial ways. Do this, and you'll be so above what those other guys think of you, that you won't even care what they think.

I see. That makes sense. I always assumed that nihilists were pessimistic about the emptiness of phenomena and thus unconsciously ascribing meanings to their belief in no meaning. Perhaps this isn't always true. But it would still seem to me that McKenna's words indicate an abstract, conceptual knowledge of emptiness, but not a firsthand experience. At least, I could say that his interpretations of the experience, differ from my memories of my own. Calling enlightenment "life-negative" and saying that it has "nothing to do" with love, compassion, happiness, heaven on earth, etc. just doesn't jibe with my experiences. He feels like someone with a lot of knowledge about non-duality, but not necessarily experience. That's just the vibe I get from what I've read.

I see. Would being a manly-man make you feel better? If so, why? How do you think others would react to you? Is it the case that you respect/admire someone who fits this description? Or do you feel like you don't get respect/admiration and think that a manly-man persona would help?

I have had two experiences of ego-transcendence, so I speak from personal experience. If something tragic were to happen, it isn't as though an enlightened person would feel no emotion. In fact, during my experiences I experienced joy, anger, sadness, rage, and many other emotions. But all the emotions were more intense and beautiful, while at the same time they didn't make me lose clarity and equanimity. So, the ego wouldn't get in the way of taking right action. You would still totally care if your mother was harmed in some way. You would feel even more compassion that you're capable of now. But emotions get processed through effortlessly, because even negative emotions are part of divine order and you feel it. The issue here is that you're trying to understand enlightenment from your current paradigm, so it doesn't compute properly. It's like trying to load Microsoft Word into a toaster. It isn't going to work because it isn't compatible with your current state of mind. It sounds very abstract and impractical, but it is anything but abstract when you live it. It is very practical and the benefits (if you'd had them) you wouldn't want to go back to identifying with ego. It is the only state of being that unconditional love is possible from... at least from my experience. So, because I'm not enlightened but I've glimpsed enlightenment, there's a strange sort of desperation that I have to get back. This attachment is something that I need to work through, if I want to really get there.

To Leo and other video creators working in a similar niche. I started my own Youtube channel about 2 1/2 months ago, relating to spirituality, psychology, and other similar topics. I've been researching how to attract my target audience but it's been more difficult than I anticipated. I have some technical bugs that I'm making steps toward correcting, but otherwise the content quality is high. Any tips on how to "catch eyeballs" and increase watch-time? Thanks

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

I was really into lucid dreaming when I was about 15 years old. I read a book on it and did many of the practices to where I was getting lucid dreams two or three times a week for a few months while I practiced them. The practices consisted of asking myself throughout the waking day if I was dreaming. I would either do this from memory alone or use a trigger. For example, every time I see a fire hydrant (any object really) I ask myself if I'm dreaming. It's really great because you can explore the dream world and mold it to fit your wishes. Also, whenever I would lucid dream it was always my intent to find cabinets, drawers, and other compartments to read the papers that were left in them. I wanted to use this as a means of uncovering things hidden in my unconscious. But I was only ever able to make this materialize a couple times. One time, I was in a check-out line at Save-a-Lot and a man came up to me with a watermelon and dropped it into my hands. It was surprisingly light because it was hollowed out. I opened it and found a flyer advertising a cult that worshipped and feared the cold. Dreams are very interesting, and being conscious in them is very empowering.

Thank you! It is called The Diamond Net. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvW2U2-szAK2lBzUYOw0DwA

Thank you. This is really great advice. I've looked at a lot of information online about SEO and different ways to grow a Youtube channel, and I often run across the same information. I'll keep the questions above in mind for the future.

I went through all kind of abstract explanations and ideas over the past six years, since those experiences, trying to replicate them again in a natural way. It's not to say that I didn't derive a lot of value from my contemplation and research. Much of it has really helped me get my mind right and understand my experiences. But my seeking has, in many ways, served as a distraction from the surrender and stillness necessary for the experience. This has been the recurring theme of my past couple days, with many synchronicities (including our conversation) pointing me away from seeking and postulating and toward the mundane experience that I have resistance to. This conversation has been very helpful to me. Thank you.

I'm assuming that you want to be more masculine to attract a woman and not just for the heck of it... Most women that I know are not attracted to extremely manly men, but men who have a more subtle, nuanced, and complex masculine energy. If memory serves, in a case study I read about years ago, women living in first world countries tended to find men who were of average masculinity more attractive than extremely masculine men. But women living in war-torn or impoverished societies found polarity masculine men more appealing. So, trying to be the "most masculine" could backfire, especially if it's a pretense. Simply highlight your natural masculinity and work on your other traits for the best chance of being noticed. Women like men who are interesting and exciting people first and foremost.

Thank you for writing this. I had always assumed the artificial induction of the experience was the sole cause of the re-constriction of consciousness and the foolish assumptions that came up afterward. It gives me a bit more to think about.

On the spiritual development side, I enjoy Shinzen Young, Teal Swan, and Matt Kahn.

Seek alignment with your true nature (enlightenment) by relaxing and surrendering to the experiences of your life. Love what comes up unconditionally by accepting all emotions and experiences. Relaxation is the only way.

@Trisha @abrakamowse I had two experiences similar to what you described; simultaneously giving and receiving unconditional love and a deep connection to al that is. Mine were induced through drinking a tea often used in shamanic vision quest rituals. Even though the experiences were the most beautiful experiences of my life bar none, I recommend seeking these experiences without the aid of psychedelics or entheogens. The heightened awareness ended as the influence of the tea subsided, leaving me with the memory of insights translated into a lower level of consciousness. I made some very unwise decisions in my life after that happened by trying to abstractly apply those insights.

Great video! Exactly what I needed right now.

Thank you for the advice. I sort of hit a dip this past week because I've been sick, but I normally post on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This I've been consistent with until this past week. I have to get the fire poker after me. When I said my content quality was high, I wasn't meaning that it needs no improvement or that it would resonate with everyone. I put this to avoid getting advice on improving content, and to put emphasis on getting advice on marketing techniques. I will definitely look into Gary Vaynerchuk.