Matt8800

@Victor Mgazi Theravada Buddhism calls Kundalini awakening the Arising and Passing event. I think it is much more clear about what it is without so much dogma and superstition. Daniel Ingram wrote a book called Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha in which he described it in detail, what that stage looks like, how to move past that stage, what stage comes next (Equanimity) and how it fits into the progress towards enlightenment. One of the best books Ive read.

@Max_V one of the central ideas in Buddhism is that not accepting impermanence causes suffering.

@Cesar Alba first, be mindful and carefully observe/investigate your inner world as you do these things. Second, if you dont love yourself, investigate that carefully and sort that out. Once you have been doing those things, moving forward is possible. One step at a time.

@Why? Did you have a stage where you had a breakthrough and felt a sense of bliss, euphoria, etc? If so, you are in the Dark Night phase that follows the Arising and Passing stage. Daniel Ingram's book explains it and how to move past it. Its a necessary stage but can last a long time and be debilitating if not handled skillfully.

@Philip I highly recommend getting Daniel Ingram's book. If done right, the Dark night phase can be worked through without a ton of difficulty. If not done right, it can last for years and be very detrimental to one's life.

@lmfao According to Daniel Ingram's book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, it sounds like you are in the Dark Night stage. I would recommend getting his book as he explains how to navigate through this stage. If not handled right, it can last many years and detract from one's life.

@stephenk According to Daniel Ingram's book, "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha", you have went from the Dark Nights stage to the Equanimity stage. You are getting close to completing your first stage of awakening.

In Daniel Ingram's book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, he would call that an Arising and Passing event. He also says that the Dark Night stage is comes next so be prepared

I just want to point out that nearly every statement you made was an assumption. Those assumptions were influenced by your bias/paradigm. Leo specifically said the kind of intelligence he was referring to was not logic or reason. What is your definition of intelligence? Many experienced meditation practitioners would claim, as I would, that they have experienced intelligence without cognition. Also, since we are limited to the English language and our our own non-paradoxical, dual input from the senses, many of Leo's explanations could only be largely metaphorical. Self Organization Theory (which I believe takes a step towards explaining abiogenesis) is a pretty sound explanation as to how we get order out of chaos. How molecules self organize can be explained to some degree mathematically. Regardless, the fact that Self Organization exists at all implies intelligence. Occam's Razor says the most direct implication is the most probable to be true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-thermodynamics-theory-of-the-origin-of-life-20140122/ Im also curious about your experience with intense psychedelics. I used to be a skeptic of people that claim to obtain understanding through psychedelics until I tried DMT. I used to be an empiricist but now I consider my own experiential evidence to form conclusions. I have experienced similar things to what Leo is describing.

My goal is to live in the present moment and be open to the immense beauty that this universe has. Nobody feels guilty for looking at a beautiful sunset. Why should someone feel guilty for having a beautiful moment with a beautiful women? Its not about giving up beautiful moments; it is about our attachment to those moments. I dont understand this whole "I have to avoid pleasure" attitude in spiritual communities. The Buddha addressed this to his former colleges/renunciates. Live in the moment, experience beauty as it comes in its many forms and stay unattached.

He is upset and doesnt know why. The reason is a behavior that is common among other apes also...its call mate guarding. You didnt do anything "wrong" (who has the authority to determine it wrong?). You just did something that many human males are biologically wired to dislike.

You wont change her. Get a new gf and you'll be glad you did

1. Truth 2. Love 3. Beauty 4. Being present All other values are either sub-values of the above or are resolved if the above are resolved.

@Nadosa The existence of your ego is an illusion but "your" awareness is not. The ego doesnt exist but something does. You just need to realize what that is.

Yes, there is meaning....subjective meaning. People want to believe that objective meaning exists but they dont stop to think about what that means. Only consciousness can attribute meaning to something and consciousness is pure subjectivity and unrelated to objectivity. For that reason "objective meaning" is an oxymoron. If you dont think your subjective meaning is important, it is because you dont understand what/who you are yet.

Maybe its because the claims that they can heal are false. People used to think that fire walking was supernatural until they discovered there was a scientific explanation. A guru that can claim he has supernatural powers is going to get more followers than one who does not. People get attached to their claims because they want to believe it. They want to attach to a belief that other people's "magic" can save them from their reality rather than taking responsibility for their own spiritual growth. If we do not require empirical or experiential evidence for other people's extraordinary claims, how do we choose which claims to believe? Do we believe all of them? None of them? When in doubt, remain agnostic.

@Source_Mystic I have a couple questions: 1. Please provide links to resources that shows that people have been injured from holotropic breathing. There are a lot of people doing it so I imagine lots of people are dead if you are correct 2. Even if Leo was misguided regarding this technique, so what? Does that mean the rest of the information is not valuable? If you are looking for sources of spiritual information that contains no errors whatsoever, you'll be looking for a long time lol

@EtherFirst, you need to define "god". Are you referring to a large primate-like, petty, angry deity that obsesses about potential genital misuse of a specific species of apes on a nondescript planet or do you mean more of a god of spinoza/consciousness of the universe type?

YOU would be ruining every HE is working towards.... That perspective is totally unhealthy. Remember, predators smell that kind of enabling. I would recommend changing that before you start attracting more predators....its inevitable otherwise.

Good luck. The New Testament was written almost 100 years after Jesus died so everything that was written is hearsay from hearsay. I agree with Leo on a lot but I disagree on this. I dont think Christianity is any more about enlightenment than Mormonism is. Christians that became enlightened became enlightened despite Christianity, not because of. There is no reason to think otherwise. There might be some morals to be learned from the stories but thats just as true with three little pigs and humpty dumpty. I was raised as a Christian. Ive read the bible 7 or 8 times, almost everything by CS Lewis, etc, etc, etc in hopes of trying to substantiate why Christianity is not a fabrication. I could find nothing in over a decade of searching.

Then I guess nice guys get all the women they want and it is all a non-issue

No, women dont flock to men just because they're arrogant but it certainly helps. The most potent kind of arrogance is when there is a touch of self depreciation, not taking yourself too seriously and tempered with a touch of humility. Women would call that the "sexy" kind of arrogance. Another way to say it is extreme confidence without apology about how awesome you are. I dont think anyone would call me arrogant anymore but Im still very confident in my own abilities and what I can offer. Im not saying arrogance is a good trait; just that women are naturally attracted to it.

Combining psychedelics with meditation is extremely effective. Ive been doing it for over a year now.

Why are you trying to keep it a secret? Tell your parents, disown your brother and let the chips fall where they may. If there is fallout, maybe your brother shouldnt have made the decisions he did. That is what a strong woman would do. If you dont feel strong now, fake it until you make it.

As a last resort, consider hiring an escort that you can sense kindness from and telling her everything to see if she can help you feel more comfortable talking to and touching a woman. Because you have no experience, you are overthinking it and making it worse.