Search the Community

something similar happens to james than to you. you see that the self is not real. it is an entity created by thought without real substance. if you eliminate the thought, the emptiness remains, impersonal. okay. so james says, reality=nothing, before birth. you say: the self does not exist. ok, but those two things are said by the self. clinging to those two ideas is limiting, like clinging to any idea. what is intended is the total liberation of the apparent entity that tries to go to the bottom of reality, in truth, enlighten itself. you can say that entity does not exist, but existence exists. imo you have to let go of any idea, and the current present will be able to manifest itself for what it is, beyond any definition. existence, absolute, god. this is an experience, not a word

How would you know that if you were'nt the awareness that isn't moved? You are that immovable, impersonal, unaffected awareness.

Does this cause an issue? As all terminology surrounding these words reinforces the idea of a self, as opposed to impersonal words like "infinity", "nothing", "the Tao" etc, which leads further away from the egoic view of reality. I am God, appears to moreso give people strong ideas of their ego being the controller of reality and thus the idea of being able to manipulate reality at a whim. No me, no I, no God... Just reality.

?This book will teach you how to write better: This book is short and sweet. First Big Copy Lesson: No one cares about you. People only care about themselves. If you go only talk about you and your business people will not care. EX: "Welcome to Ace Tenis Coaching. We are dedicated to serving our customers. We have been focusing on quality services for years and have dedicated staff to help fulfill your tennis needs. Our team is focused on quality coaching and delivering great training. We aim to serve our customers' needs." Boring. I immediately shut off and retain 0 information. "Every amateur tennis player has the exact same problem with their tennis swing: They don't bend their elbow at the proper angle for their height. Sounds simple, but we see it every day.. chances are you bend your elbow incorrectly also, and we're going to show you how to hit the ball harder simply by changing the bend of your elbow. This little body hack will let you: Hit the ball harder, without swinging harder. Hit the "sweet spot" of the ball on each swing. Increase the speed of your serve by 20%. All these improvements come from simply bending your elbow in a slightly different position! This is just the first thing we teach you at Ace Tennis Coaching. Our advanced training will improve your game beyond what you thought possible. Our professional coaches have helped over 800 people like you take their tennis game from amateur to professional. We'll spot all the small things you're doing wrong and work with you individually to correct them and crush adversaries. Come by for an analysis of how you can improve your tennis swing. It only takes 20 min, and we'll identify all the tweaks you can make in your game that will take you to the next level." Lovely. I'm going to make an analysis now. Every amateur tennis player has the exact same problem with their tennis swing: TARGET: AMATEUR PLAYERS THAT ALREADY PLAY TENNIS AT LEAST ONCE They don't bend their elbow at the proper angle for their height. ATTENTION GRABBER USING A PAIN POINT Sounds simple, but we see it every day (INTERESTING FACT)... Chances are you bend your elbow incorrectly also, and we're going to show you how to hit the ball harder simply by changing the bend of your elbow. WHY YOU NEED US This little body hack will let you: Hit the ball harder, without swinging harder. FACT N1 Hit the "sweet spot" of the ball on each swing. FACT N2 Increase the speed of your serve by 20%. FACT N3 INTERESTED YET? All these improvements come from simply bending your elbow in a slightly different position! This is just the first thing we teach you at Ace Tennis Coaching. Our advanced training will improve your game beyond what you thought possible (BENEFIT N1). BROADENING THE TARGET BY REFERRING TO ADVANCED PROGRAMS FOR ADVANCED PLAYERS. Our professional coaches have helped over 800 people like you take their tennis game from amateur to professional (BENEFIT N2). CONCRETE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS. HELPS BUILD SOCIAL PROOF. SPECIFICITY CREATE TRUST. We'll spot all the small things you're doing wrong and work with you individually to correct them and crush adversaries (BENEFIT N3). THREE EASY-TO-READ AND DIGEST PARAGRAPHS ABOUT US. REAL CONCRETE VALUE THEY CAN PROVIDE. Come by for an analysis of how you can improve your tennis swing. It only takes 20 min, and we'll identify all the tweaks you can make in your game that will take you to the next level. CTA AND BENEFIT N4. So, Attention Graber using a pain point, Why you need us and some interesting facts + bullet list of more facts, About us that focuses on how we can help YOU. Concreteness and specificity win, Benefits, CTA Remember to let people know the benefits they're gonna get! Casual Copy We've established people don't care about you, they only care about themselves. So the first angle you should present is the problem your product solves for them. And then, what also matters is the way you present it. No one likes to read a boring chunk of text. Do you know how to turn any subject into something immediately boring? To get all corporate and impersonal. If you do this no matter if your topic is very interesting. No one is going to read it and the message will not be spread. Casual Copy is the biggest secret to engaging people. The way you turn every copy into casual writing is to write like you're talking with a close friend, eating lunch and you're explaining to him what you’re trying to sell, without boring him. Try these simple steps to make copy more casual: Grab your phone, or anything to record your voice. Start recording. Pretend you’re in that same booth having dinner with your friend. In your own words, between friends, explain to him why what you’re selling is so amazing. Stop recording, and transcribe exactly what you wrote. Err’s and Umm’s included. What you wrote is probably already a lot more clear than genericboring-copy. You can take-n-grab the parts that sound interesting, and cut the boring parts. But don't write too wacky. The point of your copy is to get the reader to take action. Don’t use jokes SO often that they disrupt the effectiveness of the message, making it useless. If an email is useless and annoying it is called Spam, and people will unsubscribe from it. Ultimately ask yourself: Is this adding people's knowledge? Am I helping them get through this by adding this in? How to capt people's attention? People respond to what is New, Novel, or Helpful. NEW: Being “new” wears off quickly. Can’t always depend on this. NOVEL: You can dress like a clown at a business conference which will get you attention, but it might not give you the right attention. Attention is good, but only if it results in buyers. HELPFUL: If you’re helpful to people, they’ll want to listen to you, they’ll want to subscribe to you, and they’ll want to pay for your services. AIDA Formula Use this formula when writing to someone (if it’s a group of people, pretend it’s just one person). Attention Grab their attention in this section. This will get them to at least read what you have to say. Interest Interest them with interesting facts about it. You have their attention already, so get them to slide deeper down the slope by getting them genuinely interested in what you’ve gotta say. Tell them interesting facts and interesting things it can do. Desire Make them under-their-own-will want to either buy your product or take whatever action you want them to. Show them what life could be like with this. Tell them how much faster a problem would be solved with this. Show them how someone’s life was greatly improved by it, and how they can have the same results. Action Get them to go and buy it! Or click a link. Or take whatever step you want them to. Tell them when and how to do it. Also tell them what will happen after they do it. Hold them by the hand and describe how everything will work. Headlines Easy headline formula: [End result customer wants] + [Specific time period] + [Address the objections] EX: [triple the conversions on your ecommerce store] + [in 3 days] + [or I’ll refund your money] [wipe away your debt] + [before your tax return is due] + [so the IRS won’t call] Or, reverse [I’ll refund your money for this conference] + [if you don’t get 7 real estate leads in one week] The “Three Lenses” for headlines: Competitive: This an aggressive headline that shows people “how to beat others”. Ex: “Download and steal all your competitor's profitable keywords.” Benefit Driven: This simply shows the benefits of what your product/article/service does. Testimonials also work well here. Ex: “Within 2 weeks you’ll be playing your favorite Beatles song on the guitar!” “I couldn’t believe after only 2 weeks I was playing guitar at the Christmas party!” Inspirational: Shows that “even you” can do something. Paints a picture of the user getting some benefit from your product/service. “You can teach your children to read by the age of 2 just by following these DVD’s....all from your home.” Real example: “Hassle-free WordPress hosting”. But now let’s run it through our “three lenses”: Competitive: "86% faster than regular Wordpress.....means more pageviews and better SEO" Benefit Driven: (this one is simply using a testimonial): "My site loads ridiculously fast, my pageviews are up, and my business is seeing the results!" Inspirational: "Even non-computer nerds can have a Wordpress site, with zero technical hassle" Using those “lenses” as a framework will help you crank out completely different headlines quickly Know your market Who's the composite average customer you’re trying to sell to? Gender Age Matrial status Kids or no kids Consuming habits Whats their day like Biggest fear Profession Yearly income How can you help them Imagine you're trying to sell high-end golf equipment. Your ideal customer is Bob. Male, white for 17 years, married with 2 kids, watches CNN, business owner, between 40 and 65, a dentist has his own dental practice, makes about 280k/year, and owns a home in a gated community with a golf course. Imagine what his problems are. Imagine what his goals are. Imagine his desires. For example, since he’s a business owner and a dentist, he’s likely an A-type personality person that’s really competitive. What do competitive people want? To win and beat their friends! With this knowledge, you can try to appeal to Robert’s deep desire to gain an advantage over his friends. Long or Short Copy It depends on what you’re selling. If it’s a difficult or expensive product, then longer is better. If it’s a simple and cheap product, then short is fine. Long copy but as long it’s not long-winded. Now if you can convince someone to take an action quickly, then fine. Imagine signup for like this: "I will send you an email with a healthy breakfast recipe, every morning at 4am. This will help you eat better, have more energy, and hopefully lose some weight. Just signup for your email address here." (You can add more info) But most importantly, make it simple and easy to read. If you read something, and it requires “extra cycles” in your brain to process that information, scrap it. Get straight to the real point so everyone is crystal clear on the message.

IMO- This guy has the heart of a good veterinarian. IMO- This is what Love looks like. It displays courage and isn’t paralyzed with fear. It seems impersonal. It acts deliberately and does so with a certain kind of intelligence.

@LastThursday @Nahm Some people have honestly debated whether computers have souls, but I don't think this can be possible. A computer is a machine that is constructed from all sorts of hardware, and it is certainly an amazing invention, but I don't think it has the capacity to think and feel the way a human does. It is, after all, a product of technology, and therefore, it cannot reason and feel like a human being does. That's not to say that computers can't accomplish great things. Like I said before, it is a marvelous invention, but it is an impersonal one. It spits out information, but not does not care about how we respond to that information.

I just opened the site knowing that you were going to say exactly this ?. what you say is true, the individual who is searching is not real and the search does not lead to an end, everything is maya. if you remove maya, there is nothing left, absolutely nothing. and yet you are. and yet maya returns, and you are the apparent experience that does not happen to anyone. is a deeper mystery than the certainty that the individual is unreal. . although on the other hand, the individual is unreal, as you say, and it does not matter at all what he discovers or not, what he seeks or not. the reality is that infinity is impersonal and the perceiving individual is a fiction, like everything else, that is formed in the infinity, which is still infinite and formless but it seems the opposite. you really are infinity, and that's like saying you're nothing, but not exactly the same. you are nothing defined, but you are.

The issue with this topic is that , you don't really know 100% if it is true that there is one God who created it all and that he has revealed himself to different prophets through thousands of years, I would say that there is one Infinite God, which has no limits, but this is not a nothing as in a void or an impersonal nothingness. The bible is a special book and should not be dismissed just with a hand wave, that's pretty arrogant, especially when the actual book goes back thousands of years and it is a red thread in the whole book, God used prophets to communicate and made him self known. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). Then Jesus comes along and says : Truly, truly, (D)I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never (E)see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! (F)Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet (G)you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never (H)taste death.’ 53 (I)Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, (J)“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. (K)It is my Father who glorifies me, (L)of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’[a] 55 But (M)you have not known him. (N)I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be (O)a liar (P)like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 (Q)Your father Abraham (R)rejoiced (S)that he would see my day. (T)He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”[b] 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, (U) I AM. This God , this I AM , is not some impersonal force, or Brahman , or the Void of nothingness. Its the personal God who : I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. God created ex nihilo, out of nothing, there was not eternal matter or anything else besides God, and neither was the Universe, so this is not panentheism, the universe is contingent if we go the philosophical route, something transcends it and brings it into being. Also one important quote is this from Paul in Romans : Romans 1:20, KJV: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" How could Jesus see that Abraham rejoiced? When Jesus wasnt born yet, and yet he appeared to Abraham. Also one interesting thing is that, the Christian tradition have produced alot of saints who lay down their life for this cause or did good things in the community. Also check out hesychasm ( to keep stillness ) which the Eastern Orthodox Church used to reach God, it is prayer and a gathering of the mind in order to reach Theosis ( Making Divine ), becoming deified. The Greek and Eastern fathers of the Church is a profound insight into mysticism and theosis, especially the monks of Mount Athos and St Gregory Palamas and Gregory of Nyssa and St Symeon the new theologian and Pseudo-dionysius the areopagite. And you have the desert fathers from egypt and so forth, Christian tradition has it ALL, but I only read the eastern fathers and the orthodox church, the others is not that interesting, but there is some profound Western mystics as well , Nicholas of Cusa , St John of the Cross , St Teresa of Avila etc, and you have one of the greatest philosophers of all time in thr Christian tradition which teachings holds to this day, St Thomas Aquinas. There is a gold mine within the tradition, thats why I recommend the orthodox teachings and the eastern fathers.

Not coming off as harsh at all, thank you for the feedback. I agree with what you're saying. I like the fonts (Antic and Antic Didone), but you're right that they don't seem optimal for the text. Thank you! Interesting that you say that, in the phase of creating the website, it definitely came from quite an impersonal place - and I liked that, too. Thanks!!

The metaphysical hindu worldview stands on the concept of "Brahman" which is the essence of existence. this concept points to the "transcendental absolute reality " which is "impersonal" and "neutral" .. "the first essence" from which everything conceived, conceivable and inconceivable emerged from. Brahman can't be defined in terms of "what it is".. Only in terms of "what it is NOT". So we can't give it any positive qualities.. Only negative ones.. Such as "infinite" =NOT finite.. Unchanged.. Uneffected.. Unmoved..etc. This infinite absolute has another facet to it "Maya" .. Which is the illusory unsubstantial.. Ever- changing phenomenal appearance which are like waves on the still water. Or like images on the screen of eternity (Brahman). As a self you are "Atman " which means "soul" or "spirit". Your soul or spirit which is who you really are is beyond this world of "Maya" . To be liberated or to attain liberation "moksha" you have to know your true self.. So liberation is simply the knowledge of your self.. "Atma jnana" which is to know that your essence or subjective self "Atman" is identical to the essence of all of existence and the objective self "Brahman

Keep refining and building! Good work. The website looked really good! The whole thing feels impersonal, which I kind of liked actually.

I put a tab and a half of blotter under my tongue and waited. I sat on my zazen cushion facing the wall with my eyes lowered, breathing deeply. I felt shaky, as if energy was surging through me that would let me sit still comfortably. The come up hadn't even begun yet but the anxiety was already high. A tab and a half of this particular batch of LSD was the most I'd ever done, and on top of that these tabs were the strongest I'd ever faced. The come up came on strong and swift. I found myself getting higher and higher. Each level higher bringing about its own fear. Each time I would break through into a higher level of consciousness, I would think to myself 'there's nothing higher than this' and it was only then that it would dawn on me that I was breaking through to yet an even higher dimension. I eventually got off of my meditation cushion and sat down on my bed. It was early afternoon. I quickly glanced out the window to try and ground myself but I couldn't ground myself in physical reality. A revolution was taking place within me, The LSD wasn't about the let me ignore it. I tried to play music to keep me calm but any form of music felt distasteful so I opted out of music. My heart raced, and raced, the fear got more and more intense. I shifted my position to a seated position where my back was leaning against the wall and my feet extended in front of me. I was facing the window and I looked out at the tree's and I noticed that they were no longer tree's. The leaves had taken the shape of geometric patterns that extended deeply into my visual field. I felt fear because I realized that reality was now radically different than it had ever been but I put the fear out of my mind pretty quickly by surrendering as deeply as I could to the experience that was unfolding before my eyes. An energy rushed through my body, like a rapidly flowing river. The river flowed through all of the objects in the room and then to the center of the universe. As the current got stronger, I began to feel a slight pull at my ego. Stronger and stronger it pulled at my ego until I finally let it go. It was so uncomfortable at first to feel my sense of self be pulled away and then tossed into oblivion. It had happened to me before in other psychedelic experiences but it’s a feeling I don't think I'll ever get used to. Anyhow, I realized that I existed without any sense of identity or self. I sat there on my bed, totally nobody. The revolution going full speed within me capturing the majority of my attention. What was the revolution? I couldn't tell, it was too much for my mind to comprehend. As the current of the river got even stronger, I suddenly became one with it. Like a small bubble merging into a larger bubble. I flowed (as the cosmic river) through all the objects in my room and into my cat which was sitting on the window sill. I flowed into my cats tail and waved it. As the revolution within me was dying down in intensity, I began to realize that I was reaching the peak of the experience. I got off my bed and walked downstairs to sit on the couch. The TV was on but I was too preoccupied with my inner state to even notice the outside world very much. I sat on the couch looking at nothing really. My full attention wrapped up in my deep inner state. I felt myself begin to approach madness as I became less and less responsive to the outside world. I was leaving the outside behind entirely and diving deeply within myself. I no longer heard sounds in the room or outside, no longer smelled the air, or felt my body temperature, etc. I let go completely into the beyond. As the last parts of my outside attention began to slip away a feeling that I might never come back washed over me, but I didn't fear it very much. I simply let go into the beyond. My thoughts became more and more irrelevant as I went deeper into my mind. My intellect became like a mosquito. Landing on different parts of the experience trying to suck out any meaning, philosophy, wisdom that it could take back with it into the egoic mind. I was so conscious however that I didn't care that it operated in this way. Large portions of my mind which (I realized) are normally shrouded in darkness or unconsciousness, had now become fully conscious. Where normally the intellect would take up quite a bit of conscious real estate, it was no longer large enough to even capture 1% of my full attention. I was deep in my own mind and with that depth came a great compassion for all life. I saw the landscape of my mind like the stars speckled across the night sky. The darkness of space being the unconscious parts of my mind, and the little specks of light were the conscious sides of my mind. As I went deeper into my mind, there was less and less dark space and more and more light. I began to approach schizophrenia. I saw it coming as I let go into my mind more and more. My conscious attention panicked and then rushed back to see what my body was doing in the physical world. It was like swimming to the top of the pool to make sure the waves were still okay. I immediately realized the futility of such a task. My body was sitting there, starring at the wall to my left, hands in my lap. The TV was on, the AC was running, the house was quiet. I felt the tug to turn inward pull my attention back away from my body and deep into my mind again. I felt myself entering schizophrenia yet again but I didn’t try to stop it this time. The part of my mind which gave things meaning was now under my full conscious control. I was ascribing the deepest of meaning to everything in my experience, even the smallest things were imbued with cosmic levels of meaning and purpose. There was no part of my experience 'inner or outer' that I wasn't consciously making blissful. I gave everything so much depth and meaning that I could hardly handle the beauty I'd made. I felt like a grape that was so ripe it could pop at any moment, releasing the sweetest of juices. The deeper I went into the schizophrenia the more images of my family discovering me starring absent mindedly at the wall began to play in my mind. Visions of my family crying at my bedside as I was completely unresponsive played in my mind. For a moment I grieved the loss of my normal self but just as I began to feel too sad I dropped all human emotions and became something cosmic. Something impersonal. I was now so deep in my mind that I was no longer aware of physical reality, sounds, smells, taste, touch. I was no longer even aware of emotions, or thoughts either. I found myself in the center of the universe as the center of the universe. I was no longer a human being at this point. I no longer cared whether or not I ever came back to my senses. The feeling of cosmic bliss was so deep that it fulfilled me completely. If I had died in this very spot, I would have been okay with that. Nothing mattered at all. I saw that there were no mistakes in the universe, no evil. I nonchalantly witnessed the beginning of man kind. Millions of human beings sitting cross legged on the ground. All of the human beings, animals, and insects serving no other purpose than to be sensors from which I observe myself from within myself (as the universal). I witnessed the first human hug, the first dance, the first song, the first death and murder. All of this pleased me to no end. I wasn't to keen on watching human history long however, or even cosmic history. I knew everything that existed in the cosmos, nothing was a surprise to me. One thing captured my attention more than anything else though- The fact that I was aware. I couldn't stop marveling at the fact that I was aware. Because I was aware, I generated nothing but Love. This was the most obvious thing to do. I generated love, love, love as the universe itself. I didn't spend long in this schizophrenic state, I felt my ordinary consciousness begin to come back as the parts of my mind which were now well lit began to go dark again. I felt my emotions start to come back, then my thoughts, then my visual field came back online, then my smell, taste, touch, and body consciousness. I shifted myself in my chair to appear more normal in case anyone walked in and saw me. I realized then that my ego had also began to resurface. I thought to myself- ''so that's what schizophrenia is….wow. I do not fear that.'' I got up from the couch and walked over to the small bathroom on the far left corner of the living room. As I walked on the carpet I realized that the carpet was bearing the weight of my body. I saw that the carpet was conscious and was feeling me walk across it. I tried to walk gently and calmly as not to cause it any unnecessary suffering. I then noticed that all the inanimate objects around me were fully conscious just like I was. Inside of each thing was a deep inner experience. I flicked the light switch with great care, I used the bathroom with great care, and closed the door without slamming it. Everything had intense cosmic meaning. Meaning was shining brightly from every single being in the room. I was no longer seeing the living room as the living room, I was seeing it as Living Eternity. I went into the kitchen and saw an orange on the counter. I picked it up and looked at it closely. I realized that what I normally referred to as 'the peel' was actually not a 'peel', it was skin. The same kind of skin that I have on my body and you on yours. I looked at a banana and saw the same thing. These were living beings who could feel. I thought of them as 'fruit' as a means to separate myself from them so that I could brutalize them without moral consequence within myself. I thought to myself- so then what do I eat? My intuition responded to my intellect immediately. I realized that eating these beings was necessary when it was in the service of ending suffering (hunger). I felt the floor feel the pain of my standing on it. I said to it- "why don't you move if you are in pain?" My intuition immediately responded- "Because I Love you." I was crushed by that response. I walked across the floor as gently as I could. My cat ran down the stairs and walked into the kitchen with me, carefully stepping across the floor as gracefully as it could. My cat rubbed against my leg to greet me and I saw through the delusion that there was a 'self' in my cat at all. All of my ideas of a relationship between my cat, our history, the ideas that my cat loves me, etc. was total delusion. I saw my cat as if it were a total stranger to me. I felt disgusted by it, and I pitied the cat. I saw that it had no spiritual depth. Its life was empty of all spirit, of all depth. It was purely a bodily existence. I do not believe that I ever got over this realization. Once I had seen that in my cat, I could not un-see it. Note- I did not use it as an excuse to neglect my cat, instead I saw it as an opportunity to treat my cat better. Since its existence was purely bodily, I could easily bring it joy and comfort with things like catnip, quality canned wet foods, keeping the litter box clean, water fountain clean, playing more often, etc. So I took up the responsibility to do these things and carried them out until his death a little over a year later. Beyond this point nothing remarkable took place. There were a few things which I walked away with that I didn't get to mention earlier. For starters, in the bathroom I looked in the mirror and smiled at myself. I saw my teeth were rotted and brown. I was shocked by this. A Jamaican woman's voice said to me loud and clear- 'You eat dead things (meat) and you wonder why you're rotting?' I left the bathroom with a strong conviction to become a vegetarian. As the trip came to a close I had a vision of myself sitting on a zazen cushion in a zendo. The vision had great emotional depth. I felt a strong conviction to devote my life to becoming a monastic. Two weeks later I packed all my things and moved to a zen center. I have lived here for 2 years currently. End.

Lots of great replies.... Ego = "A bad case of mistaken identity" as Ken Wilber put it. One that obscures the realization and experience of Being. Here's a quote from the glossary that I've never shared before when this topic has come up- Ego Seen as the Belief in a Self Other perspectives see ego as the belief in a self or entity. The activity of ego is taken to be the activity of a person -- an entity -- who has desires and hopes. So here ego is seen as taking oneself to be a person, separate from the rest of the universe, who was born to a set of parents, who was a child, who grew up, in time, to his present status of an adult who has his hopes, desires and goals. The belief that this separate individuality is one's identity, one's self, is seen by some teachings as the main barrier to the ultimate reality which is an impersonal and universal Being, or alternately, the Void. Enlightenment then is the insight that one is not really this separate individual, a realization which is equivalent to the state of unqualified Being, or nonconceptual Reality. Pearl Beyond Price, pg. 21

I feel like I'm opening up more and more to this forum. But it will still take some time. I still feel some anxiety thinking about interacting with people. I feel like pushing people away. My anxiety does that. The problem is that I have associated the word "people" with something negative due to my past trauma. My past trauma where my trust was repeatedly broken by friends and ex boyfriends. I started to look at people suspiciously. I can't be blamed. I was bullied throughout my life even by friends. When I had guys as friends as a teenager they would send me inappropriate sexual text messages. I was treated like a joker. I was constantly preyed on. I felt like a prey around people. This made me psychopathic, aggressive and defensive My ex boyfriends used me for sexual reasons. It left me feeling like I meant nothing to them. My first two ex boyfriends were extremely controlling. My second ex even controlled and decided what I ate. One day he told me that I should not cut my hair. His level of control became so severe that I felt hunted and it felt like a prison. I was never allowed to do anything without his permission. He would regularly yell at me. I would feel frozen in extreme fright. I constantly lived in flight or fight mode. He would blackmail and threaten me that he will break the relationship if I did not do as he said. My first boyfriend used to follow me around in the kitchen. He would be very dominating. He would order me to pour water in his glass and would get angry if I didn't do as he expected of me. I used to feel intensely uncomfortable around them. Luckily they weren't physically violent but Joseph was Joseph would constantly give me death threats if I said I didn't want the relationship. Joseph was very violent. He would look angrily at me if I said one word that he did not approve of. This led to condensed trauma. All these experiences led me to gradually look at people with fear and suspicion. I felt like people wanted to harm me either physically or mentally. Anyone who tried to be my friend, I would gradually feel anxious or find ways to escape that friendship. I still experience significant anxiety around people. It's difficult for me to trust. I tend to freak out. Out of fear. I go into flight or fight mode immediately. I get paranoid. I get angry. I get fearful. These are obviously trauma signs. In real life I cannot even close to someone without experiencing extreme fear. I mean that's what you would feel if you felt hunted all your life. But slowly I'm trying to work on my trauma so that I can respond positively to people. I really don't think that it would completely heal. Yet I feel like I can do this. I can try at least. A traumatized brain responds with fear, derision and anger. I still get episodes where I freak out around people and they send me feeling terrified. By escaping people this is not going to work. It will only make my anxiety and trauma worse. I have to gradually expose myself to people in a safe way so I'll begin to learn to trust again. I can't suddenly talk to many people at once. That will be too much pressure. I have to slowly start with one person at a time. Also getting personal with someone is difficult for me. It sends me into anxiety again. Maybe an impersonal approach will help.. Like simply talking casually without much personal exchange can help me feel better and comfortable. For people with trauma it's important to not push too far or too much. It can have a reverse impact. It's best to go slow from your comfort zone.

In brief, Fours want to express themselves and their individuality, to create and surround themselves with beauty, to maintain certain moods and feelings, to withdraw and protect their vulnerabilities, to take care of emotional needs before attending to anything else, and to attract a "rescuer" who will understand them. Fours do not want to restrain or lose touch with their emotions, to feel ordinary, to have their individuality unrecognized, to have their taste questioned, to be required at social settings, to follow impersonal rules and procedures, to spend time with people they perceive as lacking taste or emotional depth. Their Hidden Side On the surface, Fours can seem to suffer from chronic self-doubt and extreme sensitivity to others' reactions to them. But part of the reason for this is that Fours often hold a secret, inner image of who they feel they could be. They have an idea of the sort of person they would like to become, the kind of person who would be fantastically talented, socially adept, and intensely desired. In short, Fours come to believe that if they were somehow different from who they are, they would be seen and loved. Unfortunately, they constantly compare themselves negatively to this idealized secret self—their 'fantasy self." This makes it very difficult for Fours to appreciate many of their genuine positive qualities because they are never as wonderful as the fantasy. Much of the growth for type Four involves letting go of this idealized secret self so that they can see and appreciate who they actually are.

This is everything, but do you really see what it is? It is the infinite void giving a cry of joy absolutely wild. You have done 5meo many times, a lot of meditation. you have not opened the door of absolute emptiness and it has overflowed you with love? there's nothing, it's empty, but it's wild, it's joy, it's everything. it is an incomprehensible paradox, not simply: it is empty, there is nothing. of course there is no self in the ego sense, someone who does this or that, there is existence, and existence has a quality: love. since without him it would not exist. love is the cry of infinity when it sees itself, and I'm listening to it right now. hallelujah brothers!?? But yes, it absolutely impersonal, the death for the i that wants a better experience...but he gets a better experience, because he realizes of his illusory nature and accept his place, so he can relax and enjoy the experience

@VeganAwake @The0Self don't see it that way. there are no layers of ego and something underneath. the ego is a structure that gives a certain apparently shape to the substance of reality. If you erase this structure, there is absolute emptiness, nothing. but nothing is unlimited, infinite, and being so, it is absolutely everything that is possible to be, at this exact moment. and that is what we are if we erase the structures. To say that there is simply a void is an absurd nihilism, since it is obvious that the void is the ego itself and everything that exists. It is not a matter of logic but of living it. The infinity is impersonal because it is infinite, so without certain qualities, shapeless. but it exists and that is what we are, so in some way it can be said that the absolute total infinity, and that it is what we are, is a self in some way, in the sense that i am that

I'm a person who has struggled with boundaries for the longest time, I thought I would offend my friends and acquaintances if I ever said something. I became very submissive over time, submitting to everyone's demands. I thought that being selfish was a bad thing because that's what my mom had taught me, every time I did something for myself I was made to feel guilty Long story short I went through many changes this year and one of those changes was to implement boundaries, confront people on their behavior, not put up with shit and find my own peace. So far so good, I have come a long way and I have become successful at doing this finally. I have learned to become a little more selfish and not let others vulture on me. How did I achieve this? 1) First is to build your confidence to be able to say no Try it. Say a flat out no. This is for confidence building. If someone is offended, don't take responsibility for their feelings. Learn that true friends don't get offended and true people don't play victim to your basic needs. My ex boyfriend used to make a big deal if I slept off after a rough day at work. See? Don't allow such people in your life because they're only looking to meet their own needs at your expense. People who genuinely care about you won't throw a tantrum over you wanting your space. 2) be aware of what you want. Be more self aware. Ask yourself questions. Investigate your own needs and limits. This way you already know how much you can give to someone in terms of resources and time. 3) Be direct and use a tiny amount of social tact. This is a bit tricky. Often when we are too direct, people are hurt. I used to be indirect. If you give excuses about why you can't socialize, you'll always keep finding more excuses. For example if you said, "hey, I can't attend the party, because I have work to do." This works in the moment but then you have to keep giving the same excuse every time someone invites you. Instead be direct yet non offensive like, "hey, I generally do not prefer attending parties. You have a good time." in this manner you end it for good and the person doesn't bug you again. Don't say anything like, "I don't have time for you, " that's too harsh and personal. Always make direct statements without making it too personal. Use "I" in an affirmative and assertive way, for example instead of saying "why are you asking this?" simply state - "I don't like answering such questions." this way you put the burden of your boundaries being respected on the other person by stating yourself assertively and affirmatively. But instead of saying "I don't like/want to answer you," (that you make it too personal and without tact) make it more tactful and impersonal "I don't like answering such questions." The form of communication you use is absolutely important to convey the right impression and still maintain your social image intact. This is tricky and requires you using a lot of Nuance here and there. 4) asserting boundaries is absolutely important. Initially you can be soft. If the other person doesn't comply or tries to resist your polite request, then be firm about what you want and don't budge or submit. Also work on self esteem and people pleasing tendencies. I had low self esteem and I couldn't turn people down. Now I do it effortlessly. I have adopted the "I don't give a fuck attitude" and truly it works wonders. Once you stop caring what people think about you, you can finally rest easy and be yourself. And don't worry about socialization, because people who truly wish to respect your time and feelings will always be by your side. Those who are offended by you wanting your own space and time can Fuck Off. Good luck and have a nice day! (first time giving a structured answer.. Lol)

I'm a person who has struggled with boundaries for the longest time, I thought I would offend my friends and acquaintances if I ever said something. I became very submissive over time, submitting to everyone's demands. I thought that being selfish was a bad thing because that's what my mom had taught me, every time I did something for myself I was made to feel guilty Long story short I went through many changes this year and one of those changes was to implement boundaries, confront people on their behavior, not put up with shit and find my own peace. So far so good, I have come a long way and I have become successful at doing this finally. I have learned to become a little more selfish and not let others vulture on me. How did I achieve this? 1) First is to build your confidence to be able to say no Try it. Say a flat out no. This is for confidence building. If someone is offended, don't take responsibility for their feelings. Learn that true friends don't get offended and true people don't play victim to your basic needs. My ex boyfriend used to make a big deal if I slept off after a rough day at work. See? Don't allow such people in your life because they're only looking to meet their own needs at your expense. People who genuinely care about you won't throw a tantrum over you wanting your space. 2) be aware of what you want. Be more self aware. Ask yourself questions. Investigate your own needs and limits. This way you already know how much you can give to someone in terms of resources and time. 3) Be direct and use a tiny amount of social tact. This is a bit tricky. Often when we are too direct, people are hurt. I used to be indirect. If you give excuses about why you can't socialize, you'll always keep finding more excuses. For example if you said, "hey, I can't attend the party, because I have work to do." This works in the moment but then you have to keep giving the same excuse every time someone invites you. Instead be direct yet non offensive like, "hey, I generally do not prefer attending parties. You have a good time." in this manner you end it for good and the person doesn't bug you again. Don't say anything like, "I don't have time for you, " that's too harsh and personal. Always make direct statements without making it too personal. Use "I" in an affirmative and assertive way, for example instead of saying "why are you asking this?" simply state - "I don't like answering such questions." this way you put the burden of your boundaries being respected on the other person by stating yourself assertively and affirmatively. But instead of saying "I don't like/want to answer you," (that you make it too personal and without tact) make it more tactful and impersonal "I don't like answering such questions." The form of communication you use is absolutely important to convey the right impression and still maintain your social image intact. This is tricky and requires you using a lot of Nuance here and there. 4) asserting boundaries is absolutely important. Initially you can be soft. If the other person doesn't comply or tries to resist your polite request, then be firm about what you want and don't budge or submit. Also work on self esteem and people pleasing tendencies. I had low self esteem and I couldn't turn people down. Now I do it effortlessly. I have adopted the "I don't give a fuck attitude" and truly it works wonders. Once you stop caring what people think about you, you can finally rest easy and be yourself. And don't worry about socialization, because people who truly wish to respect your time and feelings will always be by your side. Those who are offended by you wanting your own space and time can Fuck Off. Good luck and have a nice day! (first time giving a structured answer.. Lol)

I don't know for sure either, but I think about it along these lines: The I-am-ness is something that is completely impersonal right? Impersonal in the sense that it is the only "thing" that is unchanging, while everything that appears in it is constantly changing, appearing and disappearing. It is also the only "thing" that is not distinct from anything else, it doesn't have any boundary that separates itself into "me" and "not me", or "this" and "that". In this case, wouldn't it be plausible that this sense of being/I-am-ness would be eternal, timeless and everpresent? Since it seems to be the only place anything ever appears in. I think the idea of some kind of structure or personal identity going onto another life or some place after death is implausible, but that deep I-am-ness/beingness could be transcendent of death in the sense that it is already always existing everywhere and cannot even conceive of death, since death always requires a limited identity that has seemingly differentiated itself from that beingness into something seemingly separate. No boundaries = No death

That's really a good point & reminds me of the phrase "ignorance is bliss". And what's crazy is although enlightenment is usually described as an impersonal experience, it's simultaneously very personal in the sense that every experience is different. Some seem to have an open receptiveness to it, and it can seem quite ordinary while others experience life shattering or debilitating reactions. Even heard it described as a terrifying realization. It's like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get. Here it could be described as shockingly ordinary and simultaneously extraordinary but completely unexpected. In a weird way it feels like death and rebirth yet it's recognized no one is living it. ?

Um... hello. I don't even know how to justify the "life" I have created for myself. Honestly it is so ridiculous (and sad) that I cannot fathom that "I" did it, nor that it is actually happening. Current life situation/backround: - hyper religous mom + criminal narc father - basically what set fire to the gasoline was Corona, taking my one and only real life responsibility from me: school. No more meaningless small talk and homework, no routine. Just homeschool and rotting for 6 months -> Full on Depression and Depersonalization got triggered (no emotions, all my memories feel distant and impersonal) which makes studying significantly harder. - filled my mind with all sorts of delusional trash, including Leo's videos. I desperately wanted to figure out the "meaning" of life. Well I got to the intellectual bottom of it and I did not enjoy what I saw. [even went to a clairvoyant priest in Ukraine who just starred into my eyes and told me I should not have read any of this lol ] - I have pretty much fully resigned, gave up trying to achive something like finishing school or making a singular friend - i go to therapy but it is so useless because I have no routine (or anything really) going for me - mother went to tarot card lady who said that everything would turn out okay for me and I fully trusted her. Well, none of it came true. This really fucked me up even further - all I see is contradiction upon contradiction TDLR: wasted my life, turning 19 in a few days, criminal refugee family, no friends , not exactly a good future in store for me Questions 1. How do I get rid of Depersonalization? 2. Am I beyond help? 3. What would you do? 4. Is it true that deep down we always know what we should do but we are too afraid to do it so we just don't? - Katy

That’s really funny because the exact thing the teaching is refuting is the exact thing that facilitated my Awakening/Enlightenment… ? Here I am still meditating like a mofo totally aware of it’s ultimate uselessness, a poster child for Neo Advaitans on what not to do, yet having seen beyond the need to let go or not let go. Reality still holds impersonal curiosity, so away it goes ?

Shitty feeling thoughts are like a really clingy piece of plastic. You know, the really thin clear kind they wrap things in sometimes and it's like... so charged statically that it just clings to you? The more violent your efforts become to rid yourself of the harmless thing, the less effective your efforts are and the more hilarious the scene becomes... to anyone but you. You don't realize that you are what's keeping it charged. You are what's attracting it. Except there's no plastic and no you. It's not personal which thoughts seem stuck to us. It's not a personal failing. Just some impersonal static electricity. Seems like we're one of those prideful, pretentious looking cats and some asshole dressed us up in a really demeaning costume. We're just like, "Get it OFF, get it off!" https://www.pinterest.com/pin/465981892668468700/ Liberation is not about getting out of the ridiculous costume. It's realizing you dressed yourself. And it's funny. And impersonal. We could liberate the world through cat memes. We will not become higher consciousness. This already was it, the pinnacle of human civilization and achievement, cat memes, right here, right meow.

Shitty thoughts are like a really clingy piece of plastic. You know, the really thin clear kind they wrap things in sometimes and it's like... so charged statically that it just clings to you? The more violent your efforts become to rid yourself of the harmless thing, the less effective your efforts are and the more hilarious the scene becomes... to anyone but you. You don't realize that you are what's keeping it charged. You are what's attracting it. Except there's no plastic and no you. It's not personal which thoughts seem stuck to us. It's not a personal failing. Just some impersonal static electricity. Seems like we're one of those prideful pretentious cats and some asshole dressed us up in a really demeaning costume. "Get it OFF, get it off!" https://www.pinterest.com/pin/465981892668468700/ Liberation is not about getting out of the ridiculous costume. It's realizing you dressed yourself. And it's funny. And impersonal. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2782520/Is-new-Grumpy-Cat-Meet-Garfi-fluffy-feline-furrowed-brow-makes-look-permanently-angry.html We will liberate the world through cat memes. We will not become higher consciousness. This already was it, the pinnacle of human civilization and achievement, cat memes, right here, right now.