joegarland

I love this idea! Would love to see you and Brendan Lea on Joe Rogan together. Charles Eisenstein’s Podcast, whose work rhymes with D. Schmactenberger’s Collective Insights, from Neurohacker Collective Interdependence, maybe a long shot. Arts and culture podcast loosely affiliated in the Mark Fischer/Strelka Institute academic world Majority Report and Vaush LOL. Also long shots. Chipping my voice in to the BATGAP roar.

I took the course. Save your $2000 for something else.

Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind and don’t want anyone’s feedback. Fine. But why create this thread in the first place?

Bad idea. I chose to live in my car during a NYC winter for similar reasons. This was me for the next six months: There are a lot of things you’re taking for granted right now that you won’t have access to. You may end up having far less free time than you thought, and what time you do have will be tinged with a new, unexpected layer of stress. You’re adding way more obstacles than you’re removing.

There may be better, more sympathetic interviews with this author, but this one so clearly depicts two clashing worldviews. The interviewer just completely misses everything she’s saying—he’s thoroughly ensconced in the neoliberal framework.

I'm taking Eben Pagan's course, "Turning Your Talent into Income." In it, he gives you the fastest growing industries over the next 20 years. Here they are, in no particular order: Online business. Coaching/consulting. Software. Hardware. Alternative Education (info products, etc.) Design. (Graphic design, user interface.) Travel and transportation. Elderly care. Wellness/medical Animals and animal care. His overall message is to align your talents with what people want. I'm hesitant to take this advice. It sounds like selling out. It sounds like I'm going to be a cog. On the other hand, it might be very good advice and I'm an idealistic punk. My life purpose is to be an artist. If none of these industries are specifically related to my life purpose (with the exception of online business, but I'm not sure if selling my artwork online is what's being referred to here). I feel as if I'd have to compromise my original vision here. I'm not opposed to a compromise if it turns out to be a good marriage between myself and my audience, but I don't want to do something just because it's the most trendy or will get me the most money/success. So, anyone with business experience: is it going to be worth it to align my vision with one of these industries (spiritually, not financially)? Or is it going to lead to a lot of money but not much self-actualization? I don't want to be a cog. I could just be psyching myself out here and procrastinating on doing the research. If this is the case, call me out on it.

Van Gogh's last famous painting, Wheatfield with Crows, is often assumed to reflect the utter insanity that van Gogh was facing shortly before he killed himself. However, the scholar Cliff Edwards offers a different interpretation. Van Gogh had been studying Japanese art and religion for the final years of his life, and had a deep identification with their love of nature. Some of Vincent's letters indicate that he sometimes experienced samadhi, or something close to it, while painting. Edward's argument is that Wheatfield, which Vincent himself described as "wholesome and invigorating," does not reflect the insanity that Vincent experienced, but rather his feeling of unity with the world and a deep experience of anitcha, the ever-shifting impermanence of life. In short, Wheatfield with Crows could be considered a "non-dual" painting. d As a bonus, here's a painting done around the same time by Paul Gauguin, titled Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? I don't think either of these painters were anywhere close to enlightened, but these particular works show that they had a spiritual bent to them.

@Ray You're right. I'm training to be a painter, and I've got a lot of those doubts too. But these doubts about art and enlightenment are just a facet of the more general disdain for art that the current culture has. "Useless" things don't find an easy place in the modern world. Rupert gives me a lot of hope and encouragement on this path I'm on. I love this interview on his website: http://www.rupertspira.com/essay.aspx?intContentID=5&intEXID=12 and this video is great:

I was taking a 15 min nap, lying in bed. Not sure if I fell asleep, but suddenly I began to see a white light. And then my awareness--the "I"--began to expand beyond my body. I couldn't see anything but this white field of light. And then there was this tunnel. I thought "OH! THIS is the tunnel that everyone's talking about!" Even though I have no memory of such a tunnel. The tunnel led to a video game screen ("Copyright 1991 Nintendo" was at the bottom). Then the field of awareness began fluctuating in size as I began grappling with my ego. Suddenly I sensed a person entering my room and then I abruptly woke up from this state, although it didn't feel as if I had fallen asleep in the first place. Now I'm having a hard time knowing if this was an enlightenment experience or just a kooky lucid dream. Does anyone have a familiarity with lucid dreams, OBEs, and can help classifying this information? Where can I go to learn more, and try to replicate this experience?

Sounds like Richard Alpert has found Maharaj-ji.

@Leo Gura Dear Leo, At the end of your "Becoming a Sage" video you express doubt over whether or not people are interested in this topic. I, for one, am HELLA interested. This video is perfect. You've articulated my thoughts perfectly. I've wanted to be a sage ever since I was a kid. You also mentioned a desire to have a camera follow you around as you go about your day. I would kill for just one of these videos. I'm sure I speak for all of us here. You are a serious role model to me and to many others on this forum, and getting a little glimpse into your day would be an Enlightenment in itself. So look, I'm proposing that you do a vlog. It doesn't matter how many installments you make. It could be one, ten, a hundred. I don't care. Or make a special episode: "A Day in the Life of Leo." Anything that shows us behind the curtains. You said before that such a video would be boring. I say you're wrong. The following video is a guy just talking about a computer and it's mesmerizing. And you can do WAY better than a fucking MacBook review, Leo. So here's your message, Leo: make a vlog. We all want you to. Love, Joseph PS: I'm so grateful that Actualized.org exists, and that it is going in this direction. You are the answer to my prayers, basically. You understand my soul's deepest longings, and you're helping me get there. Not enough words to thank you.

I'm finishing up a class in American Religion at University, and I chose to write my final paper on Ram Dass's career as Richard Alpert. It's a fascinating history. If you don't read the paper, I definitely recommend the following books: Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD - Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain The Harvard Psychedelic Club - Don Lattin Enjoy! dass_paper_final.docx

@Neo Memories and thoughts can lose their pain with enough awareness. Just remain aware of the thought and how it is causing you pain. Do not engage with it; acknowledge it and let it go. I underestimated the power of this for a long time, but through it I have let go of a few major sources of pain in my life. It can take weeks and months, but it will eventually pass. @Frogfucius I felt a similar experience. It was like I'd fallen into this void, and when I got out it seemed like hours had passed when it must have only been minutes. Maybe I was just on the verge of sleep, but it felt amazing. Happened again today. For the first time ever, maybe, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's sit.

In the early stages of my personal development, I would've laughed at Tony Robbins, let alone Sadhguru. It was through the voices of "cool" people like musicians that I could begin to see that there was something to it. OutKast's "Get Up, Get Out" was a great stick in my ass. Rappers in general are paragons on persistence and vision. If you like the idea of inspiring newbies and lazy bums to aim higher, music (and the "image" of the musician) can be an especially good way to do that. Or if you want to address the more spiritual aspects of PD, you can convey that through your lyrics. Think of yourself as a divine poet if you want to. Rumi's poetry combines beauty with instruction very nicely. I wouldn't give up on music just yet. Try one, try the other, try combining them.

@Davie I stand when I meditate. Sitting does feel more "official," but I always feel pain in my back after an hour on my butt. Not so with standing. When people say sitting is the new smoking, I know what they're talking about.

Among the Important things listed was the experience of samadhi. It sounds a lot like B-cog, mentioned in the "how your mind distorts reality" video, when you experience an object "as it is" rather than as you perceive it to be. Out of all those listed, samadhi struck me as a very specific, practical goal to work towards, and I'm very curious about how to experience this. I'm sure the B-cog exercise will help, but I want to do more research on this. From a quick google search, I'm seeing a lot of different explanations, but none of them seem very practical. Where can I find a solid explanation of samadhi?

From the latest Cheng Hsin newsletter, after a reader asked Ralston his thoughts on McKenna: I think he nailed what I've been growing to think about McKenna: he's good for the dramatic side of enlightenment, but his understanding of enlightenment is incomplete and faulty.

I'm interested in Rupert Spira's story of meeting his teacher, Francis Lucille, and how it sort of attuned him towards experience enlightenment. It sounds from various places in the interview that Rupert was spending personal time with his teacher. (At 16:45 he mentions being in Francis's home.) I'm very attracted to this idea of having a regular teacher, especially one that you spend informal time with. But I don't know where to start. I have no idea how to find a teacher, how to request tutelage. Anyone have experience with a teacher?

I know my life purpose. I'm going to be a spiritual teacher and pioneer: I want to advance understanding of spirituality and enlightenment. The problem is that I can't settle on my medium. I have been drawing for years. I've always loved drawing. But for several months now, I've been a a sort of artistic burnout. I can't shake the feeling that art is useless, or at least that it can't carry the impact that I want to make with my life. I want to because I do want to do more: I want to design buildings and interiors, I want to write books, I want to teach courses. I want a really powerful, visionary sort of role. Sort of like Walt Disney in creating Disney World and EPCOT. But I don't want to recklessly abandon art. I know that I was have been intensely passionate about art and I still feel traces of it sometimes. But still the voice persists: my artwork isn't going to carry the impact I want to have. I can't tell if this just a sort of temporary lull of passion that happens on the hero's journey, or a cry from my inner muse to dream bigger. I really don't like the idea of quitting drawing--I've become quite attached to it. I can't imagine a passionate life without being able to draw, but I also can't imagine having a big impact if I'm going to focus my energy on drawing. My current plan is to keep drawing for the rest of the year and then see how I feel about it. But even so, that voice is really scaring me. I feel like I'm actually making a major mistake by investing any more time at all into drawing. I'm stumped. I can't tell if this is fear or my intuition. Any insights on this?

Thanks, @Saarah @Kenya. You make some great points. I love the "follow your bliss" advice but I forget it too often. Already I'm seeing the possibilites that drawing can have.

Right now I only have the money for 1 retreat a year. In several years I'll have enough to attend as many as I want, but for now my finances are kind of tight. In the meantime, I've finished college and I'm about to move to a new city, and if I can't attend the best seminars and retreats, I can at least live around the best spiritual teachers and communities. I especially like this pet idea of an "enlightenment dojo"--a place where you regularly attend enlightenment sessions. Like a Zen center, I suppose, but as bullshit-free as possible. Anyone have any recommendations? Do "enlightenment dojos" exist?

Yeah, US. Currently in Mississippi.

For all who've seen this video and went "OH SHIT" at the ending rant (starting at 48:06). He said the truth I've known for a while but was too afraid to consider: if you're not making Enlightenment your #1 priority in life, chances are you won't get it. The smartest thing you can do is to make becoming enlightened your only focus in life. I know I wasn't the only one who was shaken by this message and took it to heart. In this thread, I hope we can share and refine our potential strategies for getting enlightened. Here's my strategy so far: This message hit me at a particularly convenient time: I'm finishing college in 3 months and have no future prospects lined up. I have no real obligations, no history, nothing to lose. So in the next few months I'm going to be ditching everything in my current life and putting enlightenment on high gear. I'm 21 years old, my parents are still paying for everything, but that will be over within 3 months. Right now I have about $2000 in savings. I've thought about joining a monastery, but I prefer isolation and complete control over my schedule and techniques. So instead, I've decided on living in a cabin or shack or whatever in the middle of nowhere. Now, I have two means by which I can finance this: 1. Working a high-paying job for a year or two, earning enough to live off of for the next five years before moving to the remote location. 2. Going ahead and moving to the remote location. Getting a high-paying job is less likely, but it will give me more immediate time to meditate. I can work part time 3 days a week, and meditate for the other 4. This will continue indefinitely until I save enough for living. My day-to-day practice would consist of (numbers are arbitrary at this point): meditation: 3 hours of big mind/vipassana and 10 hours of self-inquiry per day. A few breaks to stretch out. reading: 1 hour per day to consider new concepts, techniques, etc. Walking/exercising: about 1 hour per day. Misc: eating, sleeping, bathing. 9 hours a day. That's it. Anyway, that's a start. I'll be doing more research and development on this. Meanwhile, I thought I'd ask here: 1) any tips on finding a remote place to live, for cheap? 2) any ideas for high-paying, low-experience jobs that I could work in for just a year? feel free to share your stories and thoughts.

@Leo Gura great idea! Looking into this. You wouldn't know any specifics on the company, would you?

I posted a topic very much like this in the Meditation forum. It's called "Enlightenment Strategies Here." I've decided to work my way towards living in the woods for a number of years. I'm 21 and have no obligations, so now's the perfect time. I've done a 10-day Vipassana retreat, so I have an idea of the challenge I'm setting myself up to. I intend to do it.