Search the Community

@Niki Hi Niki! Let's clear the air for a second. When Leo says "the self is an illusion," what does that mean? An illusion is something that appears to be there but does not actually exist. The self is something that appears to be there in your experience, but it doesn't actually exist. It's just an idea, like Santa Clause. So, technically, your experience right now, forever and always, is one of no-self. Seeing that the self is an illusion is a totally different story. It sounds to me like you're thinking of enlightenment as an experience: some sudden experience of joy, bliss, ecstasy, feelings of oneness, etc. Those particular things may be side effects, but enlightenment is an inner realization of your true nature, and Truth is not an experience. Experiences are fleeting and don't last forever; your true nature has been around for an eternity. You're frustrated because you want to recreate that amazing experience you had, thinking it will promise you salvation. In fact, you may want more of those experiences. If you would like more of those experiences, look up Kriya meditations; you can get in some amazing states of bliss doing those. However, that will not cure your frustration. Your frustration likely lies in the stories you tell yourself about enlightenment and your feelings of unworthiness for not making enough progress on your journey compared to everyone else. If you're serious about enlightenment, you have to realize that there is no such thing as progress on this journey. Progress means gaining something, moving towards some ideal destination. Enlightenment work is kind of the opposite: it's a regression back to your primal state of awareness. Regression means losing things, returning to where you've been this whole time. What are you losing on the journey to enlightenment? Illusions. Illusions about who you are, what defines you, where you are, what you should and should not do. This frustration of yours is an opportunity to see through your first illusion. What is your frustration trying to accomplish? What's the hidden agenda behind it? Maybe it's not frustration, but it's depression? Maybe it's deeper than depression; maybe it's fear that you won't get the most out of life? Who knows? It's your job to dig deep into yourself and uncover your own illusions. Here's a reference point: Every belief you have about reality, about who you think you are (even 'I am nothingness'), and about what you should do, is not true. Every belief is an illusion that has no existence outside of the mind that constructed it. Any beliefs such as "I am a worthless piece of crap" or "I am a painter" are illusions that don't actually exist. You probably didn't sign up for contemplation. Facing your emotions and examining them is painful. It's much easier to meditate, and while that can help on the journey, you probably don't want to depend on it completely if you're really serious about enlightenment. And don't just abandon your practice when you're away from the cushion; Life itself is your spiritual practice. Any time you feel emotional resistance in your day-to-day activities is an opportunity to inquire about the hidden illusions that are fueling these emotions. See through enough illusions, and all those things that once caused your suffering won't anymore. Once you discover how the magic trick works, it's not even worth seeing it again. Cheers!

This goes in to my last post but I felt it was getting to long lol. When you respect someone truly you will show them the truth regardless of how they feel about it. I don't always know exactly what the best way to do that is because my ego can get in the way of the correct direction but yes sometimes you need to use that "Female Mercy" to just encourage the person you're talking to and try to sneak the truth in there or something but the "Masculine Mercy" is also very important and both versions can be true humbleness, not only the female mercy (I hope you've seen Leos video on that so I'm making sense lol) which often turn out as a false sense of humbleness which is complete fucking communist bullshit where everyone are equal as we base what "we" are on our dogmas and opinions. Yes, everyone are equal - nothingness is equal and (/because of it) can not be compared to anything, the ego which think it is something can be compared and a broken computer spreading viruses or a sick cancer cell is not worth nearly as much as a great computer repairing itself and work wonders or a completely healthy cell in the body. btw, female mercy is meant to follow that spiritual nature and see how we are nothing while masculine mercy is aimed at the armor, the lady in red (seen everywhere) or whore of babylon (aka Jezebel) as seen in the bible is the woman taking the mans position and say that all egos are equal when the ego is only the student who keep evolving through life, it doesn't stand still when working correctly or go in infinite cycles of repeat like in the luciferian system most people are stuck in. Ultimately we are all cells in a greater body but we all have a cancer (yes me too, I'm anything but perfect of course) however most people defend this cancer and fight for it (like explained in the first matrix movie), those cells eventually need to be healed or killed in order to heal the greater body. However many centuries that may take...

The only truth is nothingness

You've mentioned some symbolism but not a whole lot, if you've studied it some that would be awesome to see. I gonna assume you can't see how the same symbolism is everywhere in movies and video games etc judging from one of your more recent videos where you talked about how we spend our time on meaningless stuff but if you start looking for it and find it you'll discover all the benefits of it and to me it's the most amazing shit ever so to get a community like this to start talking about it would be really awesome. I made a thread about it in the Philosophy etc forum but no one have replied and it is a very difficult thing to start to grasp but it's there if you wanna see some more stuff than just "God is nothingness". (don't have a clue how much you've read yourself and how much you've just taken from other sources but if you've read stuff like the bible yourself and extracted that knowledge it should be pretty obvious)

The video from Leo on free will is contradicting in a way. I completely understand his perspective, but why do enlightened people like Matt Kahn, Teal Swan, Abraham Hicks talk about free will. The choice between fear or love is what they mean I think, or the point of focus in nothingness. Note: not in like 'who made the desicion', but I they mean that the observer self has a point of focus. The problem with this teaching is that you can ask yourself 'who am I', and still not be nice. For the people that do want to be enlightened, the who am I is not gonna get you far. I highly recommend the teaching on self-love that is overlooked here.

1. i think I now understand the importance of knowing why we the egoes "must" be destroyed.... The buddha keeps calling us a fool. Now I understand why we are fools. We believe suffering will never come to us. So we cling to our objects thinking it will give us pleasure long. It does.... We feel pleasure.... Just like kids playing with our toys.... It's very pleasurable....... No hardship.... Until we go to school.... We begin to have problems. But pleasure never lasts, it never does. It Will never ever last long. Even the earth and the universe. but to cling to our bodies.... Is surely foolish. That's why the Buddha emphasizes the importance of losing our body, the world. It is we that cling to the world and the body. It is us, it is not the problem of the universe. We keep blaming the universe, body, our lack of money.... Etc.... But yet we never look at our selves to see that it is use that clings to these things. We are clinging to them... And that we are blaming that which is lost. We intuitively know everything will be lost.... But we still cling to them. Good example.... A disciplined person. Eating healthy, good to people. Loving, work hard, great relationships, great heart, ... He goes to the doctor because of a sore stomach. The doctor says he has cancer. He says "me? Why me? I work hard, I'm kind, good to people, I have a great heart, I excercise and eat healthy. Why me?" That person is still foolish. It clearly shows that he always believed that his body will never break down if he eats healthy... When actually the it is a natural process of the law of the universe to things to be born and die. So even though he had done healthy things.... And was "kind" to people. He is still foolish to have believed that even his cared body will now betray his belief. But I'm not criticizing his care for health.... But all I'm criticizing is his belief that he will never suffer for clinging to the body. whats wrong with clinging to the earth? Well even the earth will be destroyed. Even the whole galaxy.... And nothing will be left. Which is nothingness we are going for. I believe.

I think that, just like there are "levels" of how much someone can be enlightened here in this physical world. I think that is also true once we die. Its not "black and white" there are levels "there" as well. So if this "nothingness" "feels" that we could have earned more on our own so well come back here with a birthmark. But if we have earned this state of being on our own then we can bask in this amazing state of real true "nothingness" FOREVER!!!! yay!!!! Also its really for our own benefit. We appreciate something better if we've truly earned it. No one likes taking charity.

I am just questioning why I guess. Once we become 100% "nothingness" that's it? We are just purely enlightened forever? What about guides? Maybe we then move onto another realm and become a guide for people still transitioning? These thoughts might be way way off I don't know, It is just something I think about often.

First of all. When we use the word nothingness. We have to understand that we have no idea what that word actually represents. With most words...like "dog"...we know it represents that 4 legged creature that barks. When it comes to this word nothingness. Its very abstract. We don't really have a grasp on it. Its sort of like how our minds cant understand infinity. Let's keep in mind that this same "nothingness" also created everything in existence and is the source of everything. (As leo pointed out in "All Of Religion Explained In One Video") So don't think of this "nothingness" as like a empty box. Rather think of it as this "being" you is the source of all existence and the only reason we're calling it nothingness is because our minds cant grasp the infinite. In other words, its "nothingness" but at the same time its "everythingness"...confusing but true. So to "grow into even bigger nothingness" is a Great thing...not a small little thing. Its a challenge and it involves perfecting yourself and expanding your mind and really being in touch with your inner self etc etc.

This is also true. In other words, if we haven't prepared ourselves to be in touch with our true selves (this "nothingness" or "God") then we are "not ready" for death. So our soul (this nothingness) is put back into another body so it can (so to speak) have another chance at life to achieve enlightenment. Once a person actually reaches this state of being and then dies, he wont come back to this physical world with a birthmark. I think the reason for this, is that who ever created all of us, wants us to achieve this state of enlightenment and get in touvh with this nothingness, but he wants us to achieve it on our own using our own effort, he doesn't want to just give it to us for free (so to speak). So like mike_herald said, when we die we automatically achieve that state of being. So before we get it for free when we die. This "nothingness" wants us to acheive it on our own. (Just like sort of a parent wants his kids to earn the allowance and not just give him the money)

This is right onto what I believe. I got really into understanding death after I started connecting people and I read this book called, "The Afterlife of Billie Fingers." Essentially her brother passed away and he was communicating what the other side was like. He explained it as being apart of the universe, that souls were entire galaxies. It was an interesting read. Also, sometimes when souls on the other side they will tell me that certain things they did were "lessons" for their souls. It makes me believe in past lives. But, then what? We learn all these lessons from multiple lives to grow into even bigger nothingness?

Well, since we aren't actually our physical bodies. We are really our souls (which are "nothingness" or what we call here at actualized.org "God") so then after we biologically die so then nothing really changes with our real self. In other words, we are comprised of a physical body and a non physical part...a part that cant be seen. This part that cant be seen is "nothingness" (see Leos' video "All Of Religion Explained In One Video"). That (what ever it is) remains after you physically die. My feeling is that the more you become Enlighten (which loosely defined means "getting in touch with that nothingness") so the more you will be "alive" after you die since all thats left after you die is that "nothingness". This makes sense to me...let me know what you think.

First we should define what the scientific method is before talking about it and judging it. Aren't even the methods to achieve enlightment scientific, as you look what's out there in reality? The only difference I can think of is the letting go of the objectivity criterion in spirituality. Regarding the quote of Neil Tyson, I wouldn't say science is true, but the knowledge gained through the scientific method is. By knowledge I don't mean the colorful models scientists make up to make their findings conceivable to human minds, but the mechanics of reality they discovered behind them. One thing is for sure: Science works, because it can be used to manipulate reality ( technology, medicine etc. ). Is there a better proof? "It works, bitches" - Richard Dawkins : D I have to admit as a student of physics that there is Ego-protection involved in my writing so far. But one thing I am genuinly interested in. Leo often says that enlightened people don't care about science because they already know the ultimate truth. But saying so they would dismiss the existence of some structural nature of reality, as physics exposes. How do you reconcile nothingness as ultimate existential nature of reality with the existence of a structure, like forces and energy/matter???

Hell yeah that's quite awesome but it still doesn't help when you when you accidentally delete a whole fricking paragraph ( like me). And how about this... by loving yourself you in the end love everything ( or nothing) because of you being the all there is ( or once again nothingness). Watcha think?

If it's guilt you struggle with you probably need to contemplate on how you are not responsible for a single one of your actions but have always been deceived in to sin etc but you still need to be 100% honest and truly innerstand this to move on. Also realize what you are - nothingness and don't let your ego get in the way because really you are just feeling that you're so important and mighty and therefor you should have taken more responsibilty etc as hard as that might be to grasp if your not ready but that is the blue mind control of all the good spiritual people including the awesome social anxiety folks. Not to make you take the opposite pillar of course where you just shit on everyone and everything because you take no responsibility but eventually you'll understand that paradox PS. the event and feelings are the lessons and the mind is the student, just something that came to my mind right now

@Arik Respect, man! @Zotikos Thank You for your insight & advice. The main reason I ended up between splitting sessions or maintaining one, longer, is that they affect me quite diffferently. The longest session of meditation, was btw. the hardcore version of not moving at all also and it was 96 minutes. My position was very uncomfortable from the beggining, but somehow I did go through it. After quite some time the unbearable pain in my legs was still present but from a distance, like I was aware of it, acknowledged it and that's it. Done nothing about it. There was no I, just pure nothingness. The bliss, peace, awareness and WOAH that was coming through me were unexplainable and undefinable. That was the hardest, but also the best meditating session I've experienced so far. The moment of pushing certain barrier during meditation is so rewarding. I will experiment with different frequency, but I think at the end, I might stay with one hour, but I'm going to place it in the morning instead of doing it right before sleep. Thank You, guys!

Hi everyone! I'm new here but "good friend" of Leo for almost a year now. For what I'm very very grateful:) But anyway I was just reading this topic and thought that I share my point of view on the ego. Alan Watts said something that ego is like a radar on the ship - constantly looking for a "danger". Egoistic ego danger. I believe that so called "danger" is unique for everyone of us, conditioned throughout our childhood experience growing up in particular family, place, friends, neighbourhood and so on the list is probably neverending. So it's a "program" runs by earlier defined emotions. Emotions are fuelled by thoughts. Thoughts arise constantly and the more we are identified with them the stronger the ego and the stronger is the emotion which affects our actions. Obviously thoughts arise from nothingness so it is our choice then to align with them or just observe it as a part of reality, just like sound or feeling or bird flying by. The more I read about it and put it into practice the clearer it gets. I know it's very chaotic and simplified - and it's hard to put it all in just few words - but that's how I see it at this stage of my life. Ps. It's nice to see others points of view because everyone gives different perspective and new insights and they all very interesting! Cheers and have an nice day!

Yes. It comes from God/Source/Emptiness/Nothingness... Once you've unloaded everything standing in Its way, it'll flow through you

God isn't so much the phenomena that you see. God refers to the ultimate SOURCE of this phenomena, which is sorta like Nothingness. The phenomena arise from the Nothingness and die back into it every moment. But this is all just ideas. Go discover what the words are pointing to.

Who is that one doing the "viewing"? Emptiness is a very tricky concept Ego uses to get/keep one down as it sounds like death and lethargy. Also from this category are: "meaningless", "nothingness", etc. People that claim "enlightenment" by DOING or NOT DOING... are just trying somehow to explain their experiencing of THAT which they have found. Let Mind do what it needs to do and let That one that witnesses the Mind reveal its truth.

Leo mentioned 'conscious dying' in one of his videos and it got me to ponder. Considering the fact that our innate nature is nothingness, would it be accurate to say that death is not opposite of life, but only opposite of birth? And wouldn't pursuing enlightenment then become a journey back home, so to speak, back to the place we all came from to begin with? This is another reason I find enlightenment so desirable and of great value, worth investing much time and effort into. What does 'conscious dying' mean to you?

Because the Bible is a story for your entertainment. It wasn't written by Jesus. It was written by people after him to sell the story of Jesus and their brand of ideology. The Bible attempts to communicate extremely advanced truths that most people cannot even begin to fathom. To do that, it has to dumb everything down into an almost unrecognizable form. It's like trying to teach calculus to first-graders using Sesame Street characters, glitter, and crayons. God had to be turned into a man because egos cannot fathom or stomach the notion that God is Absolute Nothingness.

so the infinity is us.... nothingness, everything is our true self. And is nothingness and everything is what jesus had called god?

Firstly, 99% of people are not doing enlightenment work, so for them self-improvement is all there is, and it's FAR better than doing nothing. Secondly, the term no-self is a bit misleading. What it really means is, "The self you think of yourself as being is false. But there is a True Self which awaits discovery." You as a personality or a human being is a fiction. But you as Absolute Nothingness or pure awareness is REAL! It's the only real thing! So self-actualization is still valid if you just understand which self is being talked about. When you start to get into enlightenment work, you're basically doing a deconstruction of the false self in order the allow the True Self to shine << that's what the deepest self-actualization work is. It's like washing your car by removing dirt rather than painting over the dirt. So in my mind, there is no paradox. The paradox is only on the surface, at the level of language. Life still goes on and there are many practical steps you can take to improve how you flow with life.

The rational mind will spin its wheels thinking about this stuff and not really get anywhere. It's sort of like space, but space is something, not nothingness. Nothingness is an Absolute. Another way to describe it that has been helpful for me is as pure presence or knowing. This nothingness is like pure awareness. It has no shape or form, yet it is aware of itself and the entire world. It is the thing that allows awareness of anything in the first place. Because for something to exist, it has to first enter awareness. Nothingness is the same as infinity. Like two sides of the same coin. Both are non-localizable, formless, and ever-present. Imagine if you were nothing. You would also be everything simultaneously. There is no "I" to be inside anything. Everything occurs inside of the true "I". The true self is like an infinitely large empty container within which all material reality happens and gets noticed. But all the above are just ideas. Adopting them will only get you stuck.