Hi! I'm sorry you are at a low, because it feels bad, but it is the beginning of something new. 
I understand why people do pick-up, but ultimately, it will not fulfill you. It is an external source of validation and happiness. It is competition, deceit, and concern for the shallow side of life. If this is your sole strategy for achieving contentment and ease, it is doomed to failure.
You say that you do 10 minutes of meditation per day and, to be frank, that's not enough. That's nothing. That's for some relaxation and a little focus, not transformation.
The 6 Pillars sentence stems are meant to bring your awareness to the center, and to write down what is observed/learned through heightened awareness. If your awareness is not heightened through techniques such as meditation, and you are doing the sentence stem exercise in a mechanical way with disbelief, then yes, it could be useless.
Start anew, do something different. 

@thehero Find and live up to your personal values and use that to determine what is "right and wrong" instead of using the reactions you're getting from other people. 
Soon, that will blossom into full integrity, entering into being grounded and imperturbable no matter what is happening where you become the chooser of your happiness and security, instead of other people. 

@AlexB It's never as bad as it seems. Even if you slide all the way back, you're really not the same any more. You will move ahead much faster now.
Your state will fluctuate a lot. Don't use state as a measure of growth. It's the wisdom and lessons learned that really matter, even if your state is sucky right now.

Accept yourself as you are. Surrender to the whatever the actuality is. Forget about evolving (for a while).
This is simple advice, but hard to actually do because it will take your mind a lot of beating around the bush before it even starts to admit all the ways you don't accept yourself. "Evolution" is part of the ego's habitual agenda, believe it or not. The counter-intuitive move is to drop it.
See my video: How To Love Yourself
The deepest evolution comes from acceptance. But it has to be a radical, deep acceptance. A deep surrender. Which isn't something you just do by thinking about it for 5 minutes. You gotta really work at the acceptance.

That's just cause you guys are taking the wrong substances in the wrong ways.
What trippers do not realize is how important the substance is. They trip on the wrong psychedelics in the wrong ways, gets some bad trips, and take that as a message to hang up the phone.
When you're tripping the right way, you won't be told to hang up the phone for 100+ trips. There is too much wisdom there to hang up on. The hang up happens because the mind isn't ready to handle it, and went too deep too fast.
When I hear someone saying they took 5 trips and got the message to hang up the phone, I laugh. That's like driving 5 miles outside your city and realizing, "Welp, I guess I've seen all the world has offer. Time to head back home."
Tripping requires persistence and patience and exploration of many different substances to find the right ones.

@Caterpillar Insights are tricky things. The more you try to force an insight, the less likely it tends to come. You gotta be in a relaxed state of mind.
If you're seeking existential insights (like enlightenment) then those require enormous amounts of concentration, and they do not come as knowledge or ideas, they come as radical shift in your experience of reality.
Minor insights are more intellectual.
A blank mind is good. "I don't know" is also good. But it will probably take a lot longer than 1 hour to get your answer. It might take 100 hours.
You gotta take into account that some of these answers you're seeking are MASSIVE. They aren't just an intellectual answer. They are life-transforming, so the large investment in time and energy will be worthwhile in the end.
The insights will be much harder to get than you first expect. But they will also be much more amazing too, so it balances out in the end.
Yes, it's possible to know what fear or a feeling is. It's even possible to know what all of existence is, what God is, or what death is.
The #1 factor that determines the effectiveness of contemplation is your ability to laser-focus on the present moment without distraction for long periods of time. Imagine focus so great that you feel like you could burn a hole through a steel plate. That's what really deep contemplation requires. It's not easy to do.
Or, the way I like to do it is let my mind wander around and randomly stumble upon insights. But this doesn't work so well for deep existential insights. It works better for minor psychological or life insights.

Oh, BTW, 5-MeO-DMT must be done an a totally empty stomach. No eating for like 4 hours at least.
You will be very sorry otherwise. I've noticed the trips can start to get wonky with even a bit of food.
I've also noticed the trips get wonky for me if done in the morning.
Otherwise I never get nausea.

@Ethan_05 Awakening is the most amazing thing ever. You literally become God.
Your motivation should be: I want to know what reality is and why it exists!
Tap into that deep curiosity until it's the primary thing driving your life.
Or find some other way to frame it. If you're a God-believing person, then you could frame it as: I want to know what God is!
Since you are young and in high school, you have LOTS of free time, especially during the summer. Stop screwing around and do a 10-day meditation retreat. You can easily get a glimpse into awakening within those 10 days. And then you'll have your motivation.

Abraham Maslow died before he could get a lot of people focused on the sixth step of the hierarchy of needs: the need for transcendence.
For a few months I thought a lot about what that step would look like practically, but nothing stood out.
Then I read a book about the relationship between vulnerability and attracting hot women called Models.  
The next morning I woke up with the realization that transcendence would be the entire hierarchy flipped upon itself, wherein one does the opposite of what they did to climb up the hierarchy.
What you end up with is a roadmap to personal liberation. 
Essentially we find that people climb up the hierarchy, strengthening the ego and strengthening their external influence. At every step, it seems like that step is the most important thing in the world. At the top of what we typically think of as the hierarchy, one may realize that there is no where else to go unless one looks for something other than the self. The process of becoming more vulnerable and loving then takes place. By the end, one goes as far as even giving one's life fully to the world through action (Be careful: I'm not necessarily talking about martyring oneself!)
Which answers what had confused me about transcendence: it's not like you totally stop doing whatever it is that you do in every day life -- its more about letting go of the attachment to perfection, outcomes, and the neediness for which you take actions. "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water."
I made sure to include a special note about how enlightenment (a.k.a. non-dual awareness) is always available from the very beginning, although our concerns with other needs may cloud that fact. Even if one were to become enlightened at a 'lower' level on the hierarchy, one could still proceed forward in the dream-known-as-reality by learning how to work through each level and make a big impact.
For example, Eckhart Tolle was pretty depressed before he had his enlightenment, but once he was enlightened he still had to figure out how to write millions of best-selling books -- and that takes a lot of courage.  
If you are wondering where you are on the map, ask yourself what you struggle with. Be honest about it. Look at what you get pissed off at. Look at what you judge others for.   
Finally, be careful not to confuse the map with the territory. It's not like you can stare at this and recognize your godly nature. There is a ton of experience to gain. 
I hope this helps you on your Hero's journey!

It's not that simple, overthinking is not something you can just solve with a 1-2-3 step formula. You've got to put in the work meditating, doing yoga, healing old traumas etc. That's a long term commitment.
But if you really want something you can do in the moment, make an idiot of yourself. Do something that feels so embarrassing that there's no more point monitoring your impression anymore.
The key is that it actually has to feel uncomfortable, not theoretically uncomfortable. You really have to stretch it. But once you do, you are going to feel like a completely different person.
For instance, something I'll do if I'm out at a bar or nightclub is just start shaking my entire body. It looks absolutely ridiculous and I don't want to do it. But almost inevitably nobody actually gives a shit. And you realize that you cared so much about protecting nothing at all.

@Staples
I'd try thinking about the problem differently.
Instead of just saying "how can I willpower my way into not being addicted", take a more holistic approach.
Do you have an idea of your life purpose? What does your diet look like? Do you have productive habits like meditation or going to the gym?
Part of the reason people can't beat their addictions is because they're trying to resist the urge when it comes up via willpower. They treat it like an isolated incident. But that's a bit like trying to win a game you've never trained for.
You beat your addictions through everything you do outside your addictions. Spend more time looking at what your whole life looks like.

Yes, that's good. That's the only way really. You must doubt everything until nothing remains.
Spirituality is like extreme skepticism taken to its ultimate conclusion, consuming everything, and even itself. Until only pure being remains.
Trusting me is not what I ask you to do. I ask you to be skeptical of everything equally, especially of your self.
You cannot trust anyone in this work. Not me, not any guru, not Buddha. You must discover what is true in your direct experience. Direct experience is all that really matters. My words are only here to motivate you to look more closely at your direct experience and question everything society has taught you.
There are no authority figures. The truth cannot be spoken or proven to you. You must seek it out all alone.
Make sure you don't mistake my talking for truth. All the ideas I fill your mind with are NOT the truth!

Lol, that's actually a major plus. The whole point is to lose your mind to the techniques and stop all this mental masturbation about theortical nonduality.

@Omario Be careful. Ideology is not consciousness.
All ideology is going to limit your growth.
People such as Peterson and Sam Harris are actually ideologues. Which is why they develop sorts of cult followings. It's a modernized form of religion.
People with strong opinions betray their lack of consciousness and understanding of reality.
The more conscious you become, the less opinions and enemies you will have.
Constant criticism, debating, and self-justifying are sure signs of low consciousness.
If an ideology or worldview appeals to you, you should be extra wary of it.

There are hundreds of different ways to embody spirituality in your career aside from teaching.
The reason your mind is stuck on teaching as the only option is because you're being lazy and not thinking outside the box.
Monkey see, monkey do. Be more creative.

@Empty Firstly, morality does not exist. You can do anything you want.
Murder, rape, incest, drugs, genocide, racism... whatever. It is all part of reality and in fact an action of God.
That is an extremely important point to understand. Until you understand this, you will never become deeply spiritual because you are not yet conscious of how your mind constructs these rules.
If you reject evil, you in fact create evil. The solution to evil is to fully love it. The problem of exploitation is not solved with judgment or suppression, but LOVE!
You want to realize and embody Divine Love. As your ego dissolves, what is left in its place is pure love for everything, and that's when your actions become truely moral. Morality is not about rules, it's about acting Good for no reason whatsoever, because it comes from your heart.
Why would you want to use a girl for sex? Why not love her without necessarily marrying her?
Sex is something you two can both enjoy. In fact, good sex is one of the greatest things a man can gift to a woman. Learn how to really please your girl in bed, and she will love you for it.
Follow your heart, NOT rules from authority figures. Your heart is more powerful than all the rules in the world. When your heart is strong it allows you to overpower all of your selfish fearful egoic impulses.
Rules are designed for heartless people.

@Phrae Sit your ass down and self-inquire. Everything else is distraction.
The only strategy that matters is that you actually turn inside and look at your direct experience.
The rest is games.
You can become enlightened sitting on your couch. If you would only discipline yourself and rivet your attention on: What am I?

@Space There are several deeper variables at play:
1) The baseline level of consciousness you were born with.
2) The degree to which you've deconstructed your mind. How much you've contemplated epistemic and metaphysical issues.
3) Your brain physiology.
4) Your karma
5) Your geunine degree of curiosity about reality.
My theory is that all of these factors are more important than dose or substance.

@TruthSeeker47 Hate to break it to ya, but you haven't been meditating. You've been doing the exact opposite, driving deeper into monkey-mind.
For meditation to be effective, it must be done properly, rigorously. You need to pick one proper technique and master the shit out of it. Like:
Do Nothing Labeling Observing the breath Kriya yoga Concentration etc. Pick up. Read the instructions for it. Then follow the instructions rigorously.
I have several good books about meditation in the book list. Might want to check out the Consciousness section there.

It's hard to become deeply enlightened as a householder unless you got some special tricks up your sleeve, like powerful yogic techniques or psychedelics or something.
The disadvantage is probably 10:1 to 20:1. If this wasn't the case, there would be no point in becoming a monk.
If you went at enlightenment full-time, hardcore, you could probably do it in 1-2 years. Although who really knows. These are just guestimates and everyone is different.
#1 factor in enlightenment seems to be undivided focus for long periods of time. Which is a rare thing these days. Which is why so few people get enlightened. Unnatural periods of focus are usually required.
It will have effect. But not likely to produce enlightenment.

@MM1988 Contemplate and observe why emotions happen. It's all right there before your eyes if you'd only look closer.
Start with the premise: all emotions are manipulations of the ego for the purpose of survival.
And then observe very closely.

@Lynnel The present moment is all there ever is.
Don't buy into the idea that emotions are locked in the body too much. This is disempowering.
Rather, you want to become conscious that at every moment your emotions are arising as a self-manipulation. You emote to fulfill the needs of the ego, and you have the ability to cut the shit and realize: "Oh, I'm angry because my ego wants X. Oh... That's just a mental trick. Let me just be peaceful."
That won't always work, but the more conscious you become, the more you'll see how emotions are just a ruse your mind is playing on you. And you can stop that game any time just by becoming conscious of the fact that it is a game.
The problem is: most people are not aware (in the moment) that an emotion is just a game. They take the emotion seriously because they can't even imagine an alternative.
Next time you experience a very negative emotion, try to notice it is just a game. And see what happens.
For this to really start working, you have become aware of your self-agenda and be willing to face the fear of surrendering it. Most people are too selfish to do that.
The only reason emotions have any sway over you is because you want to survive. So the counter-intuitive move here is: surrender the need survive.

Long story short: I'm 28. Been into music since 13. Always stayed off the musical radar, doing stuff mostly on my own and at home. Had some tiny successes: tracks placed in video games and ads, songs approved by a good producer, received praise from a number of pros. I would describe myself as good enough to have been a pro, both as guitarist and composer/songwriter. And yet, I'm not a pro. I never made the necessary steps to become one. 
My relationships with music started off exciting. I practiced and experimented and quickly learned how to make things work the way I wanted to. But with time, I grew more and more neurotic, setting goals I never achieved, making wrong decisions, overlooking obvious facts. When, about a week ago, I looked at my journal entries from the last couple of years, I was struck by all the woulds and shoulds, all the incessant planning. It shocked me because I knew that I'd implemented maybe 5% of the plans. Which led to the obvious conclusion: I never wanted these things in the first place. It was my ego, if you like, not the real me. 
I see now that I was interested not so much in musical knowledge per se, as in conceptual knowledge. Instead of being creative, I studied all the ways of boosting your creativity; instead of sticking to one practice regimen, I researched a dozen of them; instead of studying the works of a composer, I read his biography. You get the idea. 
Six months ago I had the devastating realization that I didn't want to be involved with music anymore. The things I tried to reanimate my interest!
pep talks from friends and family; rationalization; going back to early musical memories; therapy; meditation; Leo's life purpose course; going to concerts; forcing myself to write and practice; traveling;  self-help books etc. None of that worked. In the end, I decided it was time to put music's lifeless corpse out of my life and move on. I started thinking about my interests (none found), ways to start a business or jobs that would not bore me to death. I slowly started working on my teaching (not music) business, started looking into popular neuroscience and enrolled in a course where, working in small groups, we learn the science-based principles of effective thinking. Which is mostly similar to the ancient Stoic practices of observing your mind, dealing with contradictions, not reading useless shit and so on.
Over the last two weeks or so, I've been repeatedly asking myself the questions: "What can I do better than others?", "How can I be the most useful to humanity?", "What am I naturally good at?". I had some ideas, but nothing significant.
Today, I woke up in the mood for pondering. I thought about the direction of my life, how I didn't have goals and how reactive it was. I wrote down a number of ways I could make my life better. And then I lay down for a nap. My mind, however, kept working. It was going in the direction it'd never went before, putting before my eyes all sorts of images that I felt were exactly what I needed. Teary-eyed, I got up and had the most beautiful a-ha moment. 
I am neither an artist nor a craftsman. I am an observer. My calling is to share what I know about music -> art -> culture in the most profound and elegant way.
The truth is, I love sharing my knowledge, especially through writing, but orally as well. And my 15-year stint as a musician puts me in a unique position of being able to understand the challenges that thousands of musicians and creative professionals face. There is so much stuff inside my head that it'd be a crime to not let it see the light of day. And I know for sure that people will benefit from it.
Practically speaking, I'm starting a blog/public page named "Notes by an ex-musician", and another one, "Useful biographies". In the first one, I will be talking about the technical, mental and general aspects of being a musician, maybe provide some commentary and talk to local artists. In the second, I will analyze the lives of great composers (at first) from the standpoint of mastery (just like in Greene's books) and mine their biographies for nuggets of practical wisdom.
Apart from that, I'm planning on simply becoming an active appreciator and critic of modern culture. God only knows where I'll go from there.
This is it. It's been right under my nose all that time. And now everything makes perfect sense. I'll be honest - I didn't think I would ever find my life purpose. Really. I was depressed and nihilistic. I'm still surprised I found one. It's a very unusual feeling.
 
 
 

Just pick a thing you're passionate about and resolve to solve that one piece.
One piece at a time.

Life is the most amazing thing imaginable. How anyone can not be motivated by its infinite beauty is sad to me.
You have been given the greatest gift possible -- this infinte dream -- but you take it for granted due to petty egoic issues.