The Don

Hi. I still have social anxiety and it's very hard to get rid of it (for those who have it) because it's wired into our nervous system. Anyway, I have to be grateful for it because it pushed me towards self-actualization. Thus, I understood where social anxiety comes from. As I was reading a book this paragraph struck me: With that being said, I've never had a girlfriend and I'm 25 years old (you can guess that I'm still a virgin). At the moment I'm pretty fine with my social anxiety because I accepted it in the sense that I'm not beating myself up because of it. It doesn't bother me that much. Meditation and reading is helping me pretty much. The only thing that I'm afraid of is that not having intimacy and human contact will affect my health and well-being in a negative way. I would like to be fine and happy without a girlfriend or human contact. Is that possible? What are your thoughts on this?

Yes. Thanks. Sometimes when I listen to something or when I read something I just get myself lost in that experience. I'm very attentive & focused. I would like to have that attentive experience every time when I read or I memorize something. I rarely get to that point of attentiveness. Nootropics could help me with that but I'm afraid that they'll damage my brain. It feels amazing when you have powerful insights.

I see a lot of posts about psychedelics on Actualized.org forum and I'm tempted to try them. I've been doing research about Magic Mushrooms and I understood that my psychology needs to be in good shape to not have a bad trip experience. I've been meditating for six months now (every single day for 30 minutes) and I feel better relatively speaking. The only problem I have is when I read a book, I don't retain much information from it and I would like to fix/correct that with psychedelics if possible. I'm a beginner at reading. I'm learning how to read. I'm focusing (concentrating) intensely when I read but only a little bit of information gets stored in my memory. Why is that? Should I read a book many times? Jordan Peterson had to say this about reading: Is he right about taking notes? @Leo Gura, any of your insights about reading would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello. Take a look at this video.

Hello guys. As I was watching @Leo Gura's video about Nootropics, I reached the point where Leo says that caffeine is not recommended. Why is that? I'm not a coffee drinker but I drink a lot of Green Tea. According to webmd.com: So, because Green Tea contains caffeine, should it stop drinking it? I feel like Green Tea is helping me A LOT with my work. It give me a boost in relaxation. I feel like I'm in a meditative state when I drink Green Tea. I'm so discouraged right now. P.S: When I wake up I eat 3 cloves of raw garlic and I drink a cup of Green Tea. After one hour the substance kicks in. Man the effects are awesome!

Hi. This subject will be about reading books. My frustration lies in the fact that after I finish the reading of a book, to be realistic, I only retain about 3% of the information. That's pretty sad considering the fact that my focus is well developed as I meditate for 30 minutes every single day. How do you read a book? Do you take notes? Do you read the same pages several times? Do you read the book more times? How about you @Leo Gura? What's your method? What's your way of reading a book? I guess it's not just about reading a book. It's also about studying a book.

Thank you guys! Here is a video that I found on YouTube. It is about reading.

L-theanine, especially when used with caffeine, can be a safe and effective way to maximize mental performance without resorting to brain-enhancing drugs. (study)

Yes. Why would the nature itself put caffeine into Green Tea? I don't see the source of caffeine from Green Tea to be unhealthy. It's not uranium, of course.

@Charlotte, haha. I know but I don't have a girlfriend. I've never had one.

Hi. Yes. All of these side effects are normal and therefore could be more. Check out this video about the dark side of meditation. I personally don't have any side effects yet and maybe they'll come, maybe they won't. Who knows... But the most important thing you can do is to keep meditation as a daily habit. Good luck.

Hello everyone! As I'm building my existential vocabulary for understanding life, I've encounter the word 'relative'. It's been two hours since I'm trying to grasp the meaning of 'relative' but it's still unclear to me. If the term 'absolute' has the meaning of "something that cannot be qualified, changed or diminished in any way", does it mean that 'relative' is the opposite? I wanna have your perspectives on this. Thank you in advance.

@Salvijus, thanks a lot for you explanations. It was a "a-Ha" moment for me and I'm very happy to see people being able to help. It feels good to understand the world better through knowledge. Now I'm at the word "wisdom" which means "the ability to make good decisions based on knowledge and experience". 'Wisdom' is a much easier word than 'relative'. @Leo Gura definitely knows the meaning of 'relative'.

Hello guys. Human nature is full of shit. That's a fundamental truth. It's the human-nature problem, do you get it? A huge part of our thinking and acting is exclusively CHIMP behavior. We, humans, are fundamentally wrong by nature. That's why we have so many problems and that's why we'll never change. For example, when somebody says I've changed for the better, actually he didn't. What he really did is made a choice to act differently. "Fuck those people." - George Carlin

Thanks man. I would like to have your own definition for MAGIC. It helps me a lot to see more perspectives.

Hello. I've been watching Leo's video about the importance of building your existential vocabulary. As I read and contemplate the definitions for 'reality' (from multiple dictionaries) I gain insights and my mind is coming up with my own definitions. E.g., my mind came up with those explanations for reality: "everything that exists as it is or the things that we experience". It's remarkable. It works and I love doing this. Are you doing this too? What's your method of building your vocabulary?

I came across the word MAGIC; This is what MAGIC looks like in my own definition: 'An effect apparently coming from a supernatural power'. There are lots of definitions on the web with slightly different meanings. When I see so many dictionaries with so many explanations for a single word I'm blown away.

Tell me a few ways on how to completely purge any negative emotions.

Great topic. I was captured by it. This Sungazing thing seems very interesting to me. I'm not willing to try it right now because I don't have my life in order but someday I will... At the moment I practice meditation every single day for 30 minutes. It keeps me in good shape psychologically.

Yes. It's very intimidating. Sometimes it feels like I don't get it. Sometimes language seems unclear. But in the end we'll get it.

As I'm leaning a new word today (EXISTENCE), it feels that is so hard to understand... It's tricky. The words can be described in many many ways. When you're able to define the word as you like you reach the point where you understand it. Otherwise nothing is clear.

You gave a great example with the red apple. Love it. Yes, I believe so. I would consider the apple to be red because I see it that way. If there are no colors in reality, it means that seeing the apple by being 'RED' is something subjective. P.S: What definition do you have for reality? Your own please.

Thanks for reply. "as it is" in my context is the meaning of 'absolute'. Something that is 'objective'.

When we're in a deep sleep state without dreams, there's not even a 'nothing'. Nor darkness, nor brightness. I believe the 'deep sleep state without dreams' is what follows after we cease to exist. But there's a claim that 5-MeO DMT takes you out of the dream. What does that mean? Is the 5-MeO DMT experience similar to what is the 'deep sleep state without dreams' experience?

Enlightenment is not a state, not an experience, not an emotion and not an insight. Those are all functions of mind. Enlightenment is not about mind and not about body either. Enlightenment is becoming consciousness. Am I right? So if I'm right, everything is a tragedy because the beauty is the body itself and the human mind. The beauty is NOT consciousness. Without a human mind we couldn't talk about total consciousness. Consciousness can't have a mind but an extension of it as a mind. Like us, we, the ego. It's very sad because the human mind is temporary. How can we cope with death? We try to become total consciousness by fooling ourselves (meaning embracing paradox because otherwise wouldn't work) or by making our minds drop any experience to believe we are pure consciousness. I don't feel one with Jupiter yet. I'm no denying total consciousness but it feels like I live in a tragedy. Isn't the EGO beautiful?