Genghis Khan

@Arthur Agreed. Blue values conformity. Green values community. Blue believes that strength is found in a moral, cohesive group. They want a group of people who all share the same history, values, and identity. Green believes that diversity, tolerance, and acceptance is a strength. Green wants many different kinds of people to all be loved and accepted into the group.

Honestly, I don't really know. I guess I could say that Truth is my highest value. Being able understand reality as accurately as possible. Not just Non-Duality, but many topics, such as history, science, religion, and everything else.

There is a lot more that determines the health of an Ego than just Spiral Dynamics. You can have a perfectly healthy Ego and be any stage on the spiral. Spiral Dynamics is just one variable out of many. Spiral Dynamics is more about motivations. What is the best kind of life? The answer differs depending on the stage. I say the best kind of life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!

Spiral Dynamics has nothing to do with Enlightenment. Your stage in Spiral Dynamics only determines what you want to do with your life. Enlightenment determines what your life actually is. You can be at stage beige and be "enlightened" at the same time.

It's like the difference between explaining what the Sun looks like to someone who has lived their entire life underground, and taking them outside and showing them.

@Joseph Maynor Anything I write about enlightenment is just nonsense, in the end. The only people who would understand are the people who don't need it explained to them.

I identify with this thread as much as I identify with my own thoughts. But at the same time, if this thread were gone, I wouldn't lose anything. All of reality is me, but then again, if you removed all of reality I would still be here.

It's an Enlightenment circle jerk if I've ever seen one. Isn't this how every religion started?

13th century actually, and don't forget, I also conquered the entirety of Khwarizm, Bukhara, as well as Samarkand, toppled the Xia Dynasty and Jin dynasty, as well as successful conquests in modern-day Russia. In the 1220s, I mellowed out after meeting a Taoist monk and receiving his teachings. I learned the secret of immortality and in 1227, "I died".

There's a divine purpose at work here. Cosmic forces dictate that Leo does not release a video this week. Somehow, a chain of events must take place in this universe in order to reach an unforeseeable outcome. That chain of events would've been disrupted by the release of an Actualized.org video. So embrace the absence of the weekly video. For reasons beyond our comprehension, the lack of a video is more beneficial to us at this time. Anyway, isn't there already enough content on Actualized.org to keep you busy for years? A new video will contain the same message we've already heard, the only difference is that it will be delivered with greater skill.

This entire stigma towards psychedelics doesn't make any sense to me. There are no shortcuts in life? Who said psychedelics are meant to be treated as a shortcut? Psychedelics are just objects that change your perception for a short duration of time when consumed. Attaching any other kind of meaning to it is pointless when you don't even investigate the effects of psychedelics for yourself. Perhaps this opinion comes from an idealistic standpoint which proclaims that genuine self-exploration can only be achieved independently, without any assistance from an outside resource. I don't care how much you meditate or self-inquire, unless you have exceptional talent and/ or receive training from an enlightened master, you will never experience an expansion of consciousness on par with what a psychedelic can facilitate. Using psychedelics is not a shortcut. It's more accurate to say that using psychedelics is a spiritual technique meant to arouse an expansion of consciousness. They're not some cheap way to get out of working on yourself. Psychedelics are useless for spiritual practice without any effort from the user. I was once very close minded, I thought I had the entire world figured out. One day I consumed a psychedelic for recreational purposes. Inadvertently, I experienced an expansion of consciousness that destroyed my entire perception of reality, and I was made to accept how little I know about existence itself. I would never have had an interest in spiritual enlightenment without experiencing raw reality through the use of a psychedelic.

I completely agree with this view of Spiral Dynamics. Allow me to clarify what I meant when I said you're Orange. I tend to follow the principle that one is only as strong as their weakest link. In whichever category you are the lowest, that is your default stage, in my view. For example, imagine a man who practices meditation and watches Actualized.org. He is a vegan, drives an environmentally friendly car, and attends a yoga class. The catch is, he works as a hitman for the mob. In this instance, this man would be Stage Green/ Yellow in every area of his life except for his work, which is stage Red. In this example, I would still consider this individual stage red. That's just a long-winded explanation for my discrepancy in categorization.

@TheAvatarState I only mean to stress the importance of Stage Green ideas, mindsets, experiences etc. It's relatively easy to intellectually dabble in Yellow concepts, but living a Yellow life is incredibly challenging. Especially without the wisdom that comes with Stage Green.

Becoming vegan is a big indicator too. I became so disgusted with the food industry that I completely changed my diet. IMO, if everyone knew the exact truth of how animals are treated in the meat and dairy industry, almost everyone would become vegan, or atleast switch to grass fed products.

You are at stage Orange. A lot of Orange people identify with Yellow but don't truly understand the Yellow mindset. The key difference between Yellow and Orange is that Yellow has embodied Green values and worldviews. A Yellow person is working towards a higher purpose that involves the entire world. Orange is preoccupied with personal development and success. I transitioned out of Orange and into Green years ago when I first dabbled in psychedelics. After that I got into all the hippie stuff, like healing crystals, meditation, pseudo-spiritually, opening the third-eye, spreading love and tolerance, and living a simple life. One with nature and a friend of trees, plants, animals, and all people.

Stage Green is all about living a simple life and taking care of the Earth. If you are stage Green, then you are tired of punching the clock every single week to support a system that is destroying the environment and ruining your health and happiness. You're tired of contributing to a sick and corrupt system that encourages us to exploit and dehumanize each other all in the name of material comfort. Why not cultivate a lifestyle that is true to your values? Go buy a farm in the countryside and plant some trees and crops. Grow some cannabis and chill out in the woods with some good friends. That's what I would be doing if I could. I don't consider myself to be in Stage Green, but it's still a far more appealing lifestyle than what Stage-Orange has to offer, at least according my own preferences.

This is the strangest day of my life. Today I've realized that low consciousness is the cause of all suffering. Lack of awareness is the cause of all perceived shortcomings in life. High consciousness is the key to mastering life. Realizing what I actually am was the biggest mindfuck of all time. What am I? What is reality? What is the fundamental nature of existence? The answer to these questions is so grandiose and unbelievable that my mind is going crazy trying to comprehend the implications this discovery. The universe has suddenly reached a breakthrough in it's evolution today. Now we must continue to go further. I may be in a hysterical state of mind as I'm writing this, but I just need to talk about this. This forum is an excellent place to talk about the Truth. This is the most important endeavor we could possibly pursue. You can't live life to your fullest potential unless you are in touch with your true nature. There are two powerful forces fighting for control in this universe. The force of illusion is dulling our minds, it's distracting us from Truth, it causes us to antagonize each other, and works to entangle us with a false narrative. The force of consciousness is working to reveal the true nature of reality, as well as encouraging acceptance and love for each other and ourselves. Most of all, the force of consciousness is behind the evolution of reality towards greater complexity. Eventually you will all realize what you are, because you can't avoid it. Ignorance cannot be sustained. I'm still in so much disbelief over what just happened. Earlier today, on the date this thread is posted, I experienced an awakening. I can't look at life the same way anymore. When I awakened, my initial reaction was pure astonishment. The Truth is unbelievable, but also undeniable once you see it. First, I couldn't believe I was so stupid to not see something that is so incredibly obvious. The Truth has always been accessible, all I had to do was look at it. That is the funny thing about Awakening, once you realize what you actually are it becomes so obvious, so blatant, that only the most profound ignorance could prevent you from seeing it. I am actually shocked at how unconscious people are, considering the availability of quality literature on the topic, as well as countless clues hinting at non-duality. I'm actually surprised so few people actually figure this out, there's so many resources to help you awaken if you simply apply hard effort. There are actually numerous signs all over the place hinting at the Truth (including this entire website), but we never decipher them. It's a shame, because Awakening is the most important thing you should worry about. It's impossible to have any control over your life if you're not even aware of what's actually going on. If you haven't awakened yet, I urge you to do so as soon as possible. Earlier today I was struck with an "enlightenment" experience and I wish to write about it while I am still awake. After discovering for myself exactly what "Enlightenment" refers to, I found there are many ways to describe the process of becoming conscious. I like to call it "Going Lucid", because it's very much like becoming lucid within a dream, except you are doing so in this reality. "Awakening" is a good term to use as well. Unfortunately any term will be slightly misleading and won't help you understand what it actually means to awaken. Below I'll do my best to convey what Enlightenment was like and try to accurately describe what it actually means. But first I want to point out that Enlightenment is not that hard to attain. For those of you who are still seeking "Enlightenment", it's just a matter of discovering what you already are. All you really need to do is just carefully observe reality, and you'll realize your true nature. All it takes is honest effort. I'm going to describe what happened as best I can. The awakening was not aroused by psychedelics or even meditation. It was desperation that aroused it. For the past couple months, I've been spending the majority of my waking hours contemplating my own existence, desperate to figure out what I am and what this reality actually is. Leo's recent videos were some of the deepest talks I've ever heard from Actualized.org. "Life is a Dream", as well as "Life is a Maze" were the two videos that hit me the hardest. Leo's words stirred something in me. It made me angry. I couldn't take it anymore. I was sick and tired of being in the dark, so I decided that I'm going to keep investigating this reality non-stop until I finally solve the mystery. I let go of everything I cared about except finding the truth. In the following weeks, I examined all the concepts Leo was discussing, and cross-referencing his ideas with other Enlightened masters, most of which I found in the Turquoise thread. I couldn't understand many of the concepts, such as an organic, intelligent, universe, or what non-duality actually meant. Whenever Leo talked about "becoming infinite" it just sounded like gibberish to me. I couldn't even understand the significance of a Samadhi experience. Suddenly all that changed in a single moment, after a certain line of thought. I was thinking to myself, "I am just a concept, and concepts are just thoughts, and thoughts are just sensations, and all of reality is sensation. That means that reality is nothing but this, the present moment. It's just this. Nothing exists but the present. But what am I? If the person I think I am is just an idea on par with any other unverified belief, then what is this? Wait a minute, could it be that I am everything? This entire reality could actually be just a creation of the mind, just as thoughts are? What if this is actually a dream, and everything and everyone is just an aspect of my mind? Wait a minute, if I actually observe reality as objectively possible, I will discover that it's the only explanation!" While considering these thoughts, it finally hit me, but it something beyond thoughts, something far more intimate. All of the sudden everything came crashing down. I looked around the room and everything felt like it was part of me. Everything, including inanimate objects, felt alive, as one living entity. ALL IS ONE! All of us, WE'RE ALL THE SAME MIND, THE SAME PERSON! Leo's words are exactly right, the universe is one super-intelligent organism. I just couldn't believe it. It's just so damn obvious. I created Leo, I created this website, I created the entire universe. And I don't mean this person typing this created the universe, I mean that the universe is all ONE PERSON. It's ONE INTELLIGENCE, which has created this complex reality for it's own amusement. THIS IS GOD! DON'T YOU SEE? Metaphysically, this all is a dream. Don't you know what that means?! It's all created by a super intelligent mind, which is what I am, it's what you are, it's what all this is. When I realized this, I burst out into laughter. It was the most hilarious punchline of all time. My entire life was a joke up to this point, and this was the fucking punchline. I thought about how much effort and seriousness I put into finding trying to be "enlightened" when after all, the Truth is so fucking obvious that you have to willfully distract yourself from it. It's just silly. I couldn't stop laughing at myself, at how stupid I was for not even noticing this. I just can't fucking believe how easy it was the whole time. This reality is fucking amazing, I LOVE this shit. I fucking love all of it. This reality is fucking genius! I'm really only writing to myself. This whole website is just the universe trying to make itself more conscious. That's the trajectory of our evolution. This is only the beginning. There is still so much to do. There is still infinite knowledge and infinite wisdom to be had. I've been spending years trying to figure out what Spiritual Enlightenment actually means, and today, it came to me at a random moment. I am trying as hard as I can to hold onto this state of consciousness, for there is still a risk of falling back asleep. Even after I gazed at the truth, despite how incredible is, I still must learn to embody it. I still have all my old habits and the same mind, the only difference is that I'm more aware of what is actually happening. Spiritual Enlightenment doesn't mean you automatically transform into a Holy Guru who has perfect control over himself. Enlightenment is the overcoming of delusion. Enlightenment is the prerequisite for genuine personal development, not the end goal. How can you properly improve yourself if you don't even know what you are?

Everything I've done in my life so far has been predicated on falsehood. How do I live an authentic life?

Update: It's been several weeks since I've written this post and reported on my recent mystical experience. I've given much time to solemnly reflect on what happened, and today I was prompted to revisit this thread after viewing Leo's latest video on the stages of enlightenment. Master Yamada Mumon perfectly describes the process of enlightenment through his metaphor of the Ox. His words brought clarity to what I've experienced. I'm only barely at the 4th stage of Enlightenment. I uncovered this fact upon hearing Leo's description of the third stage. I have seen the Ox and I'm now in the process of catching it. The mystical state I have described in this thread is nothing more than a witness's report of the Ox. I've seen the Ox with my own eyes after years of searching, but I've done little more than that. Since that mystical experience I have experienced deep confusion due to the metaphysical ramifications of the Ox. Most of my prior beliefs and desires don't make sense anymore. For example, I have lost my belief in an objective reality. I lost passion for debate or trying to have the best opinion. Things that once triggered an emotional response no longer have that effect. Everything has been turned upside down. Overall, I can't look at reality the same way anymore. But I don't know what to do or think about it. My mind has reacted with fear upon the glimpse of the Ox. I have come to realize that for some reason I am afraid to fully embrace the responsibility that comes with Enlightenment. It's amazing yet terrifying. This was only my second mystical experience. My first was several years ago, and it was triggered by surprise after consuming a psychedelic. I did not know what I was experiencing, and like the second one, the shock value prevented me from surrendering to it at the deepest level. After that first mystical experience I was desperate for answers. Seeing reality with genuinely unbiased eyes forced me to question everything I believed and try to find the deeper meaning of life. I searched everywhere for someone to tell me what this reality actually is. Science, Religion, they're all just stories about reality. They don't address the big picture question of what's actually going on right now. For a time I grew more and more concerned because nobody seemed to be doing serious research towards the existential mystery that this reality is. During my research of Eastern religion I came across a concept known as spiritual enlightenment. The idea of enlightenment seemed promising because it's a truth that isn't communicable. The dire importance of the metaphysical mystery of reality is in itself a profound and non-communicable truth, so obviously spiritual enlightenment would be the answer. On YouTube, I searched, "What is Spiritual Enlightenment?". Conveniently, Leo's video "Spiritual Enlightenment-The most SHOCKING truth you'll ever hear" popped up. Long video of a guy explaining what spiritual enlightenment is? Perfect. The video was released the same day I discovered it. I was fascinated by the content of Actualized.org because for the first time I've finally seen someone talk about the mystery of what's actually happening right now, in a metaphysical sense. That's how this entire journey started. When I first started, I thought I'd be some kind of Spiritual Wizard by now. Years of work and I'm only in the early stages.

Try redecorating your home or rearrange it into something new. When I first started Self-Actualizing I replaced my pornstar posters with art. I set up a little meditation spot by putting down a mat, setting up some art tapestries, and I got a stylish ash tray to burn incense in.

Spiral Dynamics is taught in some colleges. In fact, Spiral Dynamics was first discovered in a university setting. I would say that the reason why so few people understand Spiral Dynamics is because most people are in the first tier. People in the first tier are too busy trying to validate their ideology rather than taking the time to broaden their perspective. Spiral Dynamics is inherently a stage-yellow perspective, which is beyond the grasp of most people.

It's still all sinking in. Just wave after wave of pure astonishment and shock. Like an ego explosion. "Holy shit!" We're all the same person, literally. I'd like to add, during this experience I strongly considered the possibility of psychic phenomena. How can it not be possible? Everything is connected. The reason I say this is because after a bout of laughter my brother approached me asking what I was laughing about. I immediately began telling him that we're the same person. He was caught off guard because he never seen me speak in such a raw and open manner. He was fascinated by what I was telling them. During this process I felt enormous energy course through my body and I felt it somehow leave my body and hit my brother and go through his body, then back to mine, and this happened repeatedly, back and forth and created a sort of super connection between two people. This phenomenon was undoubtedly triggered by the awareness that I was talking to myself. I asked him if he felt it and he said yes. Obviously, I felt him feel it. I somehow gained the ability to actually be him just as much as I have always been me. I could feel all his emotions and somehow anticipate everything he did. This must have been a hint of psychic phenomenon. The possibilities are endless.

Science is excellent. The important thing is to try not to turn science into a belief. If you study science, always keep in mind that science is a language, not fact. Science is simply a means of communication. It's a method of describing reality. For example, The Law of Gravity doesn't actually exist, it's just a means to precisely describe a phenomenon in reality. It doesn't matter how concisely science describes reality, it's still all symbols, language and ideas. As long as you're conscious that science is a communication tool rather than an arbiter of Truth, then there is no harm in studying science. In fact, science is still very interesting and can increase your depth of understanding in many areas.

@Strikr LSD can take your mind to a radically different dimension if used correctly. The setting of the trip as well as the pre-planning and intent are important contributing factors for how deep you go. Doctor Lily would ingest LSD and spend the duration of the trip inside a sensory deprivation tank. This method is highly intriguing because it removes all stimuli and leaves you all alone with your mind. I can only imagine the intensity of such an experience. Most people probably wouldn't even be able to handle it without a panic attack. I know that the first time I became just a little bit conscious I had a panic attack.

Programming and Meta-Programming in the Human Biocomputer by Doctor John C. Lily 10/10 I believe this book should be added to the book list. If you haven't read this book I would highly recommend it. This book is based on Doctor Lily's psychological experiments utilizing a controversial psychoactive substance known as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or LSD. The book explains that every human is a programmable entity, a platform which is capable of running a vast amount of programs that each illicit a response to stimuli which causes interactions between programs, thus creating the human mind. When we are born, we have default programs, such as seeking food, safety, and a secure comfortable environment. As we grow older we install additional programs designed to serve and enhance previous programs, such as learning to speak and desiring social connection, both of which are programs which fulfill the impulses aroused by previous, deeper programs which are based around survival. Your personality develops as you continue to incorporate more information and build programs which enhance your core functioning. A fundamental difficulty of the human condition is that 99% of our cognition (thoughts, beliefs, emotions, ideas, etc.) are limited to the our current programming. While you can deliberately program yourself (learning new habits, abandoning old ideas and strategies and embracing new ones) you cannot make any fundamental changes in the mind by changing any single program. This brings us to the importance of metaprogramming. Your metaprogram is your core programming from which all other programs are designed to serve. Metaprogramming is essentially "Learning how to learn". You are not conscious of your metaprogram, because it is the core of your entire mental functioning. It is your entire approach to existence, which determines how you prioritize information and what thoughts you are capable of having. It is the center of your entire perspective on everything. It is therefore impossible to change your metaprogram through conventional means. A new program cannot override the pre-existing metaprogram, it can only be incorporated into the existing system and prioritized among other programs based on the agenda of the metaprogram. The mind cannot be manipulated deeply enough by ideas and instructions to change the metaprogram. You can only install new programs and replace old programs which do not serve your metaprogram as effectively. There does exist a method to change your metaprogram and unlock the full potential of the human mind. In fact, there are nearly limitless possibilities to discover within the human mind once you successfully change your metaprogram. A known method of changing your metaprogram is through the use of LSD. This book thoroughly discusses how LSD can be used to unlock the mind and change one's metaprogram. I won't delve into the technical details, but essentially LSD seems to have the ability to "loosen up" the human mind. When you are under the influence of LSD, your mind becomes extremely sensitive to stimuli, and consequently it becomes more malleable. When you are in this state, you can directly access your metaprogram and become conscious of it, and even change it. LSD can be described as a "brain scrambler" because it weakens your mind's foundation and it's attachment to various programs. This allows for the mind to create thoughts which are outside your normal programming and you can follow a train of thought all the way back to your original metaprogram. John C. Lily was a brilliant scientist and he is truly a progenitor of the kind of work that is done at Actualized.org. This book is based on strict scientific evidence. It demostrates what a serious investigation into the Self truly looks like, and can teach you exactly how to explore the inner workings of your mind, through scientific means. Highly recommended for anybody who is doing inner work, self actualization, seeking enlightenment, transcending the self, studying psychology, or is just plain curious about the fundamental nature of your mind.