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Hey everyone! This post is specifically for @Leo Gura, but I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. I feel like this could be a really important conversation for the Actualized.org community and I want to know if other people feel the same! Firstly, I have endless respect for you @Leo Gura. Nearly every area of my life has been drastically improved over the nearly 10 years of following your content. Your work is undoubtedly the highest quality that I have ever come across, and following your videos was pivotal in my own awakening experiences. It's hard to even imagine what my life would have turned out like if I hadn't come across your channel when I did. You have my endless support. I am, however, increasingly confused and concerned about the overall tone of this channel. The wisdom in Leo's videos is AMAZING, but there's only so much of his delivery that I can stomach at one time. I feel incredibly depressed by the dark, confrontational, and frustrated feeling that has been expressed in nearly all of the videos since 2019. In Leo's blog, he described a hatred towards humanity that he's felt from looking at the unconsciousness in the world, but I don't understand how that can coexist with the unparalleled depth of love and God-realization that he has very clearly attained. There seems to be a very personal, human kind of anger in Leo's videos that I don't see even in much less awakened teachers. I don't doubt that Leo is one of the most awakened humans to have ever walked the Earth. I love the videos he took on the floor right after an awakening in 2018 - his joy, love, and humor are all so clear right after the experience. However, while the same wisdom is in all his other videos, the energy feels entirely different. Leo could be talking about radical acceptance or divine love, but it still has an eerie feeling to it that I don't get when I experience it for myself or learn from other teachers. I truly want to understand what I am missing from this picture, everyone. Everything about Leo's channel feels so intentional, but the feeling I get in his delivery and even in messages on this forum seems a bit contradictory to the words themselves. I know we haven't actually met, but I fucking love you, @Leo Gura. I have so much respect for you and I hope no offense was taken here. I know that this work is all about higher levels of consciousness beyond human likes and dislikes, but still, I care about your well-being and I just hope you're okay. I also don't want to invade your privacy in any way at all - I just want to understand what I could be missing here. Welcoming everyone's thoughts! Thanks

This is something I tried to grasp after several ego-backlashes. There are period in my life where I can meditate, do some trips, contemplate and have some new realizations, be very in tune with God, dedicate every day thinking about what true reality is and what im experiencing. And then something happen in real life that makes me so tired and maybe even pointless to pursue it, I just have no natural pull, it seems that it's something that you "have" to do rather than "want" to do. And then I become less and less aware, which leads to some suffering, not being happy with material things - money, sex, career, drugs, etc. and then I go back to meditating, contemplating, reading books of god-realized authors. And then I fall again. Yet over the years my sense of reality, even at the points where im not living very consciously, I feel a slight change in perspective. Like sometimes I'd be very busy and focused on survival and it hits me how pointless it is, or it's just all a dream, and that regardless what I do or pursue, it really doesn't matter unless I can become awakened and break the cycle. Sometimes Im fine with the idea that it may take several lifetimes. And sometimes Im not. Curious about your struggles with this.

How are we to reconcile the apparent infinity of states of consciousness we can be in, with a range of "awakened" states of consciousness? I'm really struggling to make sense of this. On the one hand, some states are obviously more conscious and Godly than others. But on the other hand, what are all states of consciousness but consciousness itself? I feel choked by states of consciousness and sense that whatever state I find myself in, that must be the closest to God and Reality I can be at that moment. I have this feeling of losing God in the form of the current state of consciousness for it to be in a never ending purer state. However, going forward in that direction seems endless, as well as in the rest of directions. I feel kinda lost and amazed by my own infinite mind. The more I awaken, the more I feel that it is all The One Reality, manifesting in a particular state, yet the existential urge for ever deeper exploration of Godly states of being keeps on increasing. I would really like some high-quality advice here to get some orientation @Leo Gura Thanks in advance

Start speaking with your own words or you will be kicked out of here. I'm tired of seeing the stuff you've picked up from books. Speak from your own heart. This is why you aren't Awake yet. Because you got caught up in all the hoopla How do you know the way I write is not exactly the way I write from the heart? Maybe that is exactly my style, by personality, education and studies? (I know... ) Luckily the way how boundless, free and open my mindstream is is not defined by external evaluation. Be happy you got your own Awakening without decade-long meditation training. Including intensive studies of finding the right meditation tradition/practice for oneself, and comparing the paths across traditions for doing that. Others have been not so lucky. All I write would have been tremendously helpful for me back 10 years ago, especially the sources/quotes and references to books and other authors. The Tibetan Buddhists tend to avoid claiming and commenting on their realization, or that of others. They just say: The conduct with which one lives ones life, that is the best way to judge realization. Both at oneself and others. Life will point out with suffering any realization just claimed or imagined and not actualized. Is there anything "technically" incorrect in what I write? Any statements that you don't agree on besides "speak more from the heart" or speak/write subjectively? I agree with you on the value on writing/telling "from the heart". Yet, I also see the value of balancing that with the experiences of others, for example by quoting sources. And then finally, to quote a post from Soul: "Also, I'm not sure where you get the notion that you have any authority to determine what is or is not being awakened and who is or is not awakened. This isn't the first time you've said this to me and I suspect I'm not the only one you have said it to." And concluding with the words of Soul: I hope we don't have to go through this rhetorical dance again. Or one more dance & chuckle? Water by the River PS: Still awake just enough

Hey guy, i have had the most crazyest experience of all time. Im still totally shocked of what just has happened. I'm now socialising in this stage green multi ciltural social circle and was on a ptesentation in a park about making a fayrer economy. I was there and during the presentation who was seated at the border was crazily chuckling and smoking a joint a little like a crazyman. After the Prasentation i went socialising in the garden area I was stuck with him. He was staring like a mad man and tellying me that meat doesnt give you energy only green veggies, i said that it would depend on the nutrition and than he talked how weed makes you clear and alcohol makes you crazy und confusied and weed makes you clear and I thought he would talk yibberisch because he also talked about how the bad eliete always pull the strings and how they control us and make us literally weak! He also said that thoughts will make you weak and makes you suffer. But he didnt excactly in these words, he was talking yibberish. He also starred at me and said in an almost aggresive voice "you must concentrate! Concentrate! This was so crazy that I had been looking for any escape possible and because his eyes first seemed paranoid and I thought he was squizzo and was talking strange because he said that he quite often doses up to as much as 800microgramm lsd and that something from there what have had stick to his mind. I saw a way to flee him while he is talking yibberish but I decided to exploit him to take the joint as compensation for the head acke he was causing me. I took maybe 3 or 4 tokes and we was saying, be careful with a crazy smile and twinckle. Then something clicked and reality was dialing in and we connected in samadhi and his shit immediately started to make sense. I have had an awakening... What he was talking about that how we suffer from attachment to thoughts how we attach to thought and this energy he was saying was intruth the level of consciousness and that certain foods make you weak means lower consciousness and concentrate was meant as being present and it made soo much sense and he was talking that cannabis was awakeng you more if you be present and it was a kind of awakening me and than i knew... I was quite awake and he was claiming to be always in this state if I stopped drinking, smoke a bit and be present and he showed me some tensing exersizes he makes which he claimed he invented them for releasing emotions and thoughts and I was mindfucked because these are important kriya yoga banda areas. He said he felt that was right and he stickes to the routine. This was so hard, because the people around us all seemed to think of him of a crazyguy too and that could mean that I was seen as crazy too, because the words he used make in absolut other contexts no sense and sound like madness, and he was talking about god is consciousness and how to increase it and that he would rather be poor and in this awakened state than loosing it for money and junk and it makes sense that the elite makes you unconscious (In my state I did not agree with him on that particuliar matter but if I had discussed that a bit I might have found out that this also could have been a preawekening misundersranding. Then he said in his crazy misuse of words, if I am ready to get the real big picture with a twinckle in his eyes while he was picking up some piece to built an even stronger joint, chuckling like someone who has seen the truth but doesn't make sense to the persons around (at last there were fewer people than 10 mins ago). I then suddenly declined because my rational mindwas soo shocked to have been awakened and this guy started again talking yibberish again and the other peopke avoiding him. It was also highly probable that this was getting into psychedlic terretory real quick. So I hastely grabbed my stuff and said that we hopefully met again and off I went. I was still awake but my ego was strongly reacting to the truth and how crazy it might have sound talking about god and truth. I also was quite exstatic and about 3 hours later at home wheb I write it down I still am quite awake but I am still in a real shock but also in awe about this awakening. I'm so happy to have realised it. This was like getting a koan right or yogi transmission of high consciousness. Sorry if this sounds crazy or stupid but this is exactly what has happened and this guy seemed to be naturally very spiritual and conscious and not really followed any existing spiritual path or had some kind of disabbility or mental illnes which makes him not use our normal spiritual words or maybe he renamed him because he didnt bother to use the concepts. It's so hard to describe because he was high conscious but aware that his mind body had some disorders. What he meant was behind the speakable as I awakened and it did make some sense in an understanding and connnecting level and there dtill were some disagreement about concepts. But really holy sh*t I almost didn't want to go out but I went and during the presentation in order to train my main state I did higher my level of consciousness or awareness as excersize and he was attracted to me. It was also funny because i noticed around us were also a bunch of stage green spiritual hippies talking in their sleep. so maybe I'll see him again some time.

Yes, there are quite many ways one can use the word Enlightenment when one knows where its aiming towards (Absolute Reality/Infinity Consciousness). There is only Suchness, or Infinite Consciousness, or Being, or whatever (put in a term/signifier of ones preference), or Raspberry (credit to Ralston on that one), and of course the mindstream of these beings (animals or babies) is nothing else... Buddha-Nature for the Buddhists.... Yet, I believe it makes sense for clarities sake to limit the signifier/term Enlightenment for a self-reflective being that once had a self-aware separate-self (ego) and transcended that in Enlightenment, and can now actually talk about it. I agree that the contemplation/self-inquiry-part should be done in the most direct and efficient manner, and also be communicated as such. I wrote extensively on these issues also. Yet, based on all I know and am aware of, my guess is that for 95%+ of people Enlightenment needs practice to gain awakened (nondual and empty) states. All spiritual systems are based on that. I needed a lot of practice in training in these states. Of course, ladies and gentlemen like Anandamayi Ma and Ramana and others got them delivered more or less free home. Yet, the teaching system of these "naturals" (often dis-emphasizing the training of awakened states, because they got them for free) is maybe not the most promising approach for the majority of people who don't get these awakened states delivered for free. The final end of spectrum is something like Tony Parsons "Just do nothing" approach. Which is actually the last stage in many systems, once awakened nondual states "run" on autopilot without any "artifical" actitvity of the separate-self. Nonmeditation Yoga in Mahamudra for example. But teaching only that is like teaching people the final 200 meters on how to climb K2, and then kick them out at base camp in summer cloths and without oxygen, and then wondering why they freeze and choke on the way to the summit and don't reach it. Selling Water by the River

For the majority (95%+) of cases I doubt that sober inquiry can do it. The "liftoff platform" for Enlightenment (the platform on which the accident of Enlightenment can happen) normally are awakened nondual and empty states. 95% is of course a rough estimation, but if asked and based on the contemprorary & historical cases I am aware of that would be my estimate. I don't agree on that. See Ken Wilber Pre- Trans-Confusion on the topic of babies. Animals are not enlightened, they are not even self-reflectively aware. Yet, these are beings that share the same Infinite Impersonal Consciousness that is the true essence of all of us. But anway, something has shifted for you, and that is wonderful. Enjoy it, and try to live from it. Selling Water by the River

Yes. That is what I can confirm, and that sequence one can also find in every spiritual tradition. The bold parts of your text are excellent. Welcome home to a home you never left. What was your practice/path? The normal sequence is: 1. Practice (or just Karma/"luck". But I would estimate from what I have seen that for 90% it was practice). Efficient way: Meditation + psychedelics + integration work + many other things. 2. Many Awakenings (some traditions already call these Enlightenments)/ into stabilizing awakened nondual and empty/impersonal Awareness states: Into all these aspects (some aspects of Absolute Reality show up, like emptiness or nondual unity, love, timelessness, Infinity, and so on... But the separate-self is STILL yet not fully seen through). The separate-self gets more and more transcended, ones identity more and more empty and more like Pure Awareness, and then it gets nondual/unity with the whole visual field/manifestation. These Awakenings (field getting nondual and ones identity more and more just empty awareness) are normally caused by the practice that makes accident-prone. And then comes the accident that is called Enlightenment (that can't be willed, since that would be a spearate-self wanting that which is already the case, and by doing that covering it), and for which practice makes accident-prone. Enlightenment tends to happen for most only in very specific Awakened States (nondual/unity AND impersonal/empty). For that, I have written elsewhere (Mahamudra stage 3 (Awakened states of nondual and empty) "One Taste-Yoga" to Mahamudra stage 4 (stabilizing these states without doing anything) "Yoga of Nonmeditation). Bliss: These awakened states are already very blissful without needing external experience for that. 3. (Full/Basis/Great) Enlightenment into the True Nature of Oneself: Infinite Reality = Infinite limitless Impersonal and totally Empty Consciousness CONTAINING Infinite Manifestation, in an infinite Unity/Totality. The essence of every appearance/manifestation is the same Suchness as Infinite Consciousness/Awareness. A deep identity level shift, away from a separate-self to being aware that "one" is and always was the Totality/Infinite Reality/Infinite Impersonal Consciousness. Phase 2 is gradual(!), Phase 3 (Shift of Full Enlightenment) is a sudden and complete understanding into the eternal and immortal nature/essence of all of Reality (limitless) and ones True Self (Awareness/Nothingness containing all manifestation). It can not be mistaken, is sure, doesn't need any external validation (understanding it by being it, and IT is infinite/all there is and can be). It is totally beyond "any further" and beyond any need for any confirmation. It is self-evident. This insight/understanding/realization is "more assured/ultimately assured" (beyond any chance for being shaken again) because anything else can only possibly just be more phenomenal arising (including any sensory-arising like visual arisings, but also including any other (I-)thoughts/concepts/I-feelings/n+1). Why? To quote Ralston: IT IS YOU. Infinite Consciousness containg any possible appearances. Limitless. Infinite. Any limit would appear in IT. Empty. Any arising (tree, thought, I-feeling, anything) appears IN IT. Impersonal (onself can be nothing specific or personal, since one contains it all). And its Pure Awareness (without any location, without any second) itself. Potentially unaware if nothing arises. But always right here, never can not not be here, independent of whatever happens/appears IN IT. It is waking up. Its essence is understanding that the separate-self as independent "anything" DOESN'T exist (just appears as illusion IN THAT), and never existed (was always an illusion), and can/will never exist (even if in another life illusions-arisings will occure again in ones True Being/Reality. The Awakenings (2) are insights/understandings into aspects/properties of the nature of Reality/True Self/Infinite Consciousness. That then evolves, towards nondual/unity awakened states. And THEN the final big shift of full Enligthenment can happen, in which the nature of Infinite Reality/Ones True Identity as Impersonal Infinite Consciousness/Infinite Reality is revealed. 4. Stabiling this Enlightenment, and letting it reorient the character top-down and back again towards love/openness/staying in nondual impersonal Suchness ("BEING the Totality"). Even then still, the separate-self character can still hijack the show (peak, plateau, permanent), but the separate-self-character and its associated suffering has lost its mirage-like seductive power. Its essence (Suchness/Infinite consciousness) is immediately seen when feeling into it. And that holds true for all building blocks of the separate self. So lapsing after Enlightenment is just a hang-over from a long time of illusion , and once noticed any emerging separate-self-arisings can be killed/transcended by just looking into it. Bliss: A lot and growing, since the awakened states now get even more stabilized and are always accessible. When True Nature is known, and if the separate-self-character "hijacks" again the show: Just look into these arisings and realize again their essence as manifestation IN the Infinite Reality/Consciousness that one really is, and return to what one really is. While after (only) Awakening(s) (stage 2), certain elements of the separate-self-character are not seen fully through, or are NOT understood. One of the last stages is a very nebulous empty separate-"something" that is already in nondual unity with everything manifesting. But there is still an "Understander" or "a not yet fully understander" or some "seeker" -arisings there.... Roger Thisdell stage 4 vs. stage 5. Stage 4: stage 5: Maybe that is helpful for some. Please don't beat me. Selling Water by the River

I agree in that there are much higher levels of consciousness which are unaccessable as long as you imagine living a human life. Luckily we are not a human. Why seclude awakening to there not being physical form? How can the ego die when it is just a fiction? To me awakening is to be conscious of the eternal presence of God and forever recognizing God is you and this does not contradict imagining yourself living a human life. You can live a human life fully aware that you are God playing a character. If there is a post awakening marked by the return of an ego it just means you had an awakening experience not awakening, and you are giving away your power to a ficticious self fabricated ego. Yes you limit yourself down. Doesn't mean you cannot be conscious that you are the One that created the game and that you are all the characters in the game and none of them. That is playing the game in awakened mode.

Howdy. I suspect maybe Jim Carrey and Kanye have had mystical experiences or awakenings. Certain people admit to dabbling in psychedelics like maybe Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Lex Fridman, Andrew Huberman, Terrance McKenna, Ram Dass, Tim Leary, The Beatles, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, etc. But I get the feeling Steve Jobs, Joe Rogan, and Bill Gates never had a mystical experience or awakening nor were they interested in them. I would guess wealthy intelligent people would pursue psychedelics and awakening. Why don't we hear from more wealthy smart people or even people like Putin or Saudi Royalty or others? Are they afraid of the stigma or loss of political power? Do they know the unwashed masses are not ready for the truth? Does awakening hit every socioeconomic class equally and in the same percentage? I would guess wealthy smart people would arrive there in higher numbers. Wealth allows people to fulfill Maslow's hierarchy of needs and pursue spiritual needs. But maybe wealthy smart people are too comfortable and are incentivized to self delusion of materialism and creature comfort. "It is easier for a camel to pass though the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?" Meaning the wealthy cannot find truth. Hardship and difficulty reveal universal truth? So maybe poverty leads to awakening? Maybe ignorance sends poor people into institutional religions which disenfranchises their awakening and channels it to empower the institution and machinery. Maybe wealthy smart people have too much passion for their business or hobby. I would guess wealthy smart people would all end up at mushrooms and god realization. But I suspect I am wrong. On the other hand, maybe I am God and I only dreamt all these people and it is all an illusion. Can you name more wealthy smart people who did psychedelics or are awakened? Why don't they speak more about it? Are there secret enclaves and retreats of awakened people? Is the topic discussed by Oprah, Springsteen, Obama, George Bush, Trump, etc? It's too taboo? Thanks

1. The ego is always focused on THEN WHAT. Mines is too so I understand your question...also I did mention that some people become more creative. There are spiritual gifts that are awakened as part of the process. For example..being able to taste the food of others without having to actually put it in your mouth is considered a psychic ability. So one change is you break the boundary of the individual and experience the collective consciousness. 2. When I tell you other people's bodies are your bodies you aren't getting it. When I tell you, you are talking to yourself you aren't getting it. Every conversation you have with another person has a different meaning depending on the perspective. There is subtle nuance you can gain access to at certain states. Again you can only understand this through Awakening. But I'll do my best to give an example. Somebody could tell you something and at one state of consciousness it could be hey go talk to that person maybe they can help you. At another level you realize...you are literally telling yourself that person you are telling yourself to go talk to....is the KEY TO EVERYTHING YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. THIS is what I mean....it literally changes your ability to read situations. You can also literally access the emotional, and bodily sensations of others, which means when they talk to you...you GET THEM. You truly understand them in that moment at a level you can only understand from their perspective....which is SECRETLY YOUR PERSPECTIVE. This is the bonkers level paradoxical aspect of reality you can only experience through awakening. Even telepathy is possible...because there is no location/destination/time, everything is always absolute wherever you go. When you watch a video on youtube....that video wasn't made months ago, YOU made that video....INSTANTLY and tell yourself a story. All of reality is separated through explanations/stories, sensations, so intelligently that you will only ever get to perceive what I am saying through a dedicated daily deconstruction and meditation to untangle these webs. But in truth, if you are doing awakening to obtain something....you aren't going to make it. You must want to awaken because you just want to know the truth of reality, what it is and why it is the way it is. You must desire to connect with it and awaken more than anything else. If you want to awaken to get more money, or improve your relationships...at some point that motivation will falter. Because awakening actually strains relationships....because it becomes harder to relate to others after you awaken. You see through all their egos, and egos....can be tiring because they are addicted to the future or the past. Egos don't care about NOW. The only time they ever care about NOW is when they are hungry, or bored. But once satisfied they immediately start planning to maintain that satisfaction out of fear of losing it. The ego never stops....always scheming, and planning for a better experience. Well guess what? Awakening trumps any experience you can buy. ANY. Because you escape the confines of time/space/ ....but not in a way for personal gain, but in a way where you experience the TRUTH of what you are. Example: Duality/Falsity/Illusion: You listen to music. Unity/Truth: YOU ARE MUSIC. This is an example of how an awakened person perceives reality. They listen to music....but are aware they ARE THE MUSIC. TOTALLY different experience than listening to it as if it is separate from you. Think of awakening as being able to turn the dial up, on the intensity of the experience. When you become music....every note is felt as if each note is your arm, your leg, etc. Like being an ocean of melody. Versus a person listening to the melody. But the beauty is....you couldn't understand the beauty of being the ocean of melody, without the contrast of being a person listening to the melody. So awakening isn't even valuable without the experience of being asleep.

1. Awakening is really just about waking up to your true nature. If you don't awaken during your life you will awaken at physical death. So all will eventually awaken. 2. Awakening does have some tangible benefits that differ depending on the person. Some become more creative, some get over past traumas, etc. Awakening can make you more loving in that you TRULY REALIZE you are only ever talking to yourself at all times. This discovery is more outrageous than you realize. I'm not kidding. I'll put it in easy to understand terms right here.....do this exercise right now. Close your eyes. Imagine a boy and girl sitting on a bench. Have the girl and boy talk to each other while you are watching. Now in this scene walk up and introduce yourself. ^^^^^THIS IS YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!^^^^ So your entire life is just you talking to yourself. Your trauma is with yourself. Your suffering is with yourself. For many they don't like this message. This is why awakening is about SELF-LOVE and one of the main components to awakening involves solitude. For many they don't want to know others are really them. They feel like they lose something in the process. But this is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The water you drink is you, the air your breathe is you, everything is you. An intellectual understanding is not enough. Without an AWAKENING which is a DIRECT INTERFACE with all there is....you won't really understand. Do you know you can be so awakened that someone next to you could eat Pizza and you could taste every bite? Do you know that you could be so awakened that you can smell and feel every sensation in a supposed OTHER? That you could become so aware that they are you...that the boundary between you and them collapses so much that there is no privacy? You feel everything you normally feel in your own supposed individual body....you feel it in their body. Why? Because their body is really YOUR BODY!! This is how ridiculous awakening is. This isn't some normal thing. It completely eradicates all current scientific understanding about life....because IT IS JUST YOU DREAMING!!! Right now I currently can talk to TOTALITY, as I can imagine a duality between me and INFINITY and have a conversation. You can too....if you are willing to deconstruct everything......but it is not easy. You will feel like you are going INSANE. SHIT IS BONKERS!!! But how bad do you want TRUTH? Lastly here is the counter-intuitive nature of life. The most awakened people...would probably not even be recognized. You see one of the biggest barriers to awakening...is personal success. Money, fame, fortune, status, etc. make awakening REALLY TOUGH. As a result some of the most awakened beings....could literally be homeless beggars and you would never know.

Well, you're wrong about that. Truth is a very tricky thing. Which is why Awakening is required to understand it. No unawakened person knows what Truth is, nor do most so-called awakened people. In the end Truth is very simple, but your mind is so full of wrong ideas about it that you are all tangled up and confused. Just take a moment to look closely at your hand. That's Absolute Truth.

What are you doing then? This is what the work is about. A concept is a concept. You must know permanently, so to speak. This isn't a state, though. Perceptive abilities remain the same. Your experience of yourself, the world, others and emotions remains largely the same, except that now you are free from them. You can be bored and enlightened. It's clear to me you're holding some ideal about this. Monks experience despair, desire, jealousy, joy and pain. Awakened warriors throughout history killed people. Enlightened people aren't suddenly able to walk on water. If you cooked amazing omelets before enlightenment, after it you would still be able to do so. See? Solutions to what? What is self-serving might conflict with what's true.

Yeah the forum has definitely evolved. In the past, people were still talking about book like Think and Grow rich and how to be successful. And then, people move on to law of attraction. And then to non duality. And now so many people are on psychedelics and so many are claiming to be awakened.

I’d like to introduce you to the foundational concept/“doctrine”/dhamma of Buddhism which distinguishes it from essentially all other forms of spirituality. This is the concept of dukkha (suffering, stress, dissatisfaction) and dukkha nirodha (the cessation, or end, of suffering, stress, dissatisfaction). This is by far the primary focus, teaching, and practice of Buddhism. You will find this simplified way of explaining the aim of Buddhism in a bit more complexity when looking at “The Four Noble Truths” which is also seen as a foundational aspect of Buddhism. I will use my own words for simplicity’s sake, but you can research the four noble truths in more depth on your own. 1. There is dukkha in existence/experience/life. 2. There is a cause for dukkha. This cause is a combination of clinging to what we think we truly want which will make us feel better AKA stop feeling dukkha in the moment, being aversive to what we do not want AKA what we believe causes dukkha for us, and the ignorance (avijjā) or lack of wisdom paññā AKA perception of a stable, real “self” which can be threatened or which must find peace for itself, failing to understand the nature of dukkha, and failing to see the transient nature of both pleasure and pain (anicca — impermanence). 3. There is a real and obtainable end to dukkha. There is a real and obtainable end to suffering which at least thousands of human beings have already realized. 4. There is a path to become a human being who has realized the end of suffering in their own life. There is a clear path, method, guide manual, and practice to ending suffering. This can be seen, at least in part, to be The Noble Eightfold Path which are eight steps or necessary requirements which acting in unison lead to the complete end of suffering if they are developed to the necessary degree. Hinduism talks about Liberation, and in many ways Liberation in Hinduism also means an ending of suffering. You can think of Buddhism as a later evolution of Hinduism which focuses primarily on this goal whereas Hinduism has a bit of a different approach and less clear or emphasized end goal when it relates to suffering. The whole idea of what it means to be fully awakened, or an Arahant, in the models of Theravada Buddhism (the original school based directly on the teachings of Guatama Buddha) is that you have freed yourself from the grips of suffering. The first important step is to see that this is an actually obtainable goal for us. You will likely not believe that this is possible whether consciously or in more hidden parts of your psyche until you reach an experience which clearly convinces you of this possibility being a reality for yourself. That moment is adequately called “stream entry” or the moment one has entered the stream which carries one to full awakening in the definition of the Theravada model. This is also the moment it is literally impossible to doubt the efficacy of the Buddha and the teachings he gave on eliminating suffering. Ending suffering is different from ending pain. Ending pain is not the goal of Buddhism. Pain is a reality of embodied life. Suffering is the amplification of pain into a much worse thing to bear. Suffering is mentally-created dissatisfaction and a lack of accepting the experience you are having. This can be eradicated. Freedom from suffering is in part about non-resistance, but true non-resistance has very little to do with allowing rape, allowing injustice, or perpetuating pain through a lack of action. True non-resistance is dissolving the false view of an actual self as an entity and arriving at the point in which you turn from a person who is alive to life itself. The human experience has built in preferences and in turn preferred modes of action. A lot of that is about reducing pain and increasing pleasure. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. The issue comes when you create a false view of an individual who can fight against LIFE IN THIS MOMENT AS IT WISHES TO BE EXPRESSED. Stop fighting, and allow life to live as it lives. There’s a hell of a journey in front of you to get there in a consistently experienced sense, but you will thank yourself immensely once that journey has been completed.

I like Snoopys perspective on these not so happy transitionings from this life to the next: ... and the end of suffering is possible, as stated by every spiritual tradition since millenia. Thousands of Realizers over the centuries stating that. And the recipe is transcending the illusion of the separate self-contraction, becoming the Nondual Totality/Reality, and then finding out what is aware of all of that... or the real You, Reality itself. And before talking about keeping that final Realization while being nailed at the cross, it is a good start maintaining some Awakening during everday life. There have been prominent cases who have had challenges with staying in the awakened perspective during these unfortunate transitions (Jesus on the cross “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me"). But since the Real Nature of every being has no moving parts or anything else objective/material that could be "damaged", apparently "IT" didn't get damaged while suffering that procedure. Or any other of the lovely mishaps you mention. But Nightmares are possible in the dream for sure. IT never changes, because it is empty pure Impersonal Awareness itself without any core, mechanism or objective/material anything. And it is also all of manifested/imagined Reality in a nondual way. Worst case you can have is a nightmare. Although a veery realistic one. That is why Karma is so important: Its all a dream, but one can have a nightmare, and Karma works with mathematical precission. So, anyways, just take up some hopefully efficient practice and see for yourself concerning the topic of the end of suffering. Selling Water by the River

@UnbornTao That is the issue. You are putting labels on to the gurus and assuming they are Awake as a trophy. You think being Awake is having a certain experience that leaves you "Awakened" for ever. It does not work like that. You can only be Awake in the Now. You can not grasp, hold or "save" in a closet the Awakening and claiming that a person is Awake for life. Awakening is not an understanding that you come, or a conclusion. Is an opening in your energies, and activation, a boundless state. If you lose it, that's it. The end. You can't be cheating saying "Nahhhh I'm awake but I do have some addictions here and there, damn, let me go smoke some blues...but all is alright, I'm awake! I'm God and everything is a mind yada yada". ??? You guys just don't get that having an experience and building a conceptual knowledge around it can be done by anyone. That is certainly not being Awake. Unfortunately I suspect Leo's supposed "Awakening work", is built around this structure, seeing he kinda of thinks about this topic in the same way as most of you.

GPT-4 script about a movie of a dmt cult ChatGPT Title: The Elysium Experience Setting: A secluded compound deep within a lush, wild forest. The area is dotted with ornate tents and communal spaces. A large wooden temple stands at the center. Characters: Lea: A journalist seeking to expose the truth behind the mysterious cult. Elder Cyrus: The charismatic leader of the Elysium cult. Believes in unlocking higher dimensions of reality through DMT. Raven: A cult member who befriends Lea. She's torn between her loyalty to the cult and her budding relationship with Lea. Jonas: A skeptical ex-member on a mission to rescue his younger sister from the cult. Act I: Lea infiltrates the Elysium compound under the guise of a seeker. She's introduced to the rituals, mainly the DMT ceremonies led by Elder Cyrus. Lea experiences a DMT trip and it's unlike anything she's ever experienced, causing her to question her original mission. Raven befriends Lea, sharing her personal story and why she joined. Act II: Jonas sneaks into the compound, sharing with Lea the dark side of the cult – how they exploit members for money and how some members never return from their “trips”. Lea and Jonas discover that Elder Cyrus has been altering the DMT with other substances, making it more addictive and easier to control members. Raven confronts Elder Cyrus about the real intentions behind the DMT ceremonies after overhearing Jonas and Lea. Cyrus, feeling threatened, decides to accelerate his plan: a mass ceremony where everyone will ascend to a "higher dimension" together. Act III: Lea, Jonas, and Raven plot to prevent the mass ceremony. The climax of the movie is a dramatic confrontation between Elder Cyrus, armed with his enhanced DMT, and our trio. Raven, caught between her loyalty and her newly awakened skepticism, ultimately sides with Lea and Jonas. this cult is southeast asian in the Han Dynasty ChatGPT 2 / 2 Title: The Cult of the Mystic Orchid Setting: Southeast Asia during the Han Dynasty. A secret enclave in a hidden valley, lush with tropical vegetation and a striking, ethereal beauty. The central focus of the cult's compound is a massive temple made of stone, adorned with colorful orchids. Characters: Min: An adventurous and curious young Han official who has heard rumors of a mysterious cult. Shan: The mystical leader of the cult, who claims to have knowledge of the ancient arts and the ability to commune with higher realms through DMT. Zhen: A loyal cult member who befriends Min. He has a quiet skepticism and is more aware of Shan's manipulation than others. Lin: Min's elder sister, a renowned healer who uses natural herbs. She's concerned about Min's obsession with the cult. Act I: Min, intrigued by the tales of the cult, disguises himself as a local and infiltrates the enclave. He witnesses the mystical rituals, where members consume DMT extracted from local plants to induce visions and altered states of consciousness. Min experiences a DMT trip and is profoundly affected, believing he has glimpsed a different world. He becomes enamored with the cult's teachings. Zhen, wary of Min's rapid devotion, takes Min under his wing, showing him the daily life of the cult members. Act II: Lin arrives in the area, looking for Min. She discovers the cult and, pretending to be a seeker of knowledge, gains entry. Lin witnesses Min's increasing involvement and becomes concerned about his well-being. Zhen confides in Min and Lin about his growing doubts regarding Shan's intentions. Together, they uncover that Shan is exploiting the members for their labor and resources, enriching himself under the guise of spiritual enlightenment. Act III: Min, Zhen, and Lin confront Shan, demanding an explanation. Shan admits to his exploitation but defends his actions, claiming that he it's about a family, their daughter, and their relationship to the cult ChatGPT Title: Beneath the Blossoming Trees Setting: Southeast Asia during the Han Dynasty. A tranquil village on the edge of the majestic forest, which conceals the hidden valley where the Orchid Cult resides. Characters: Ling: A headstrong and curious young woman who becomes entranced by the Orchid Cult. Mao: Ling's protective father, a local blacksmith. Mei: Ling's mother, wise and intuitive. She has a deep connection to local folklore and traditional remedies. Shan: The mystical leader of the Orchid Cult. Zhen: An older member of the cult who becomes Ling's guide. Act I: The family leads a harmonious life in their village. Ling often listens to Mei's stories of spirits, other realms, and traditional legends. Ling encounters members of the Orchid Cult in the village market. Their tales of enlightenment and other realms captivate her. Against Mao and Mei’s wishes, Ling ventures into the forest to find the Orchid Cult. Act II: Ling is initiated into the cult, introduced to its rituals, including the consumption of DMT extracted from rare orchids. Mao and Mei discover Ling's absence and set out to retrieve her. Ling's experiences with the Orchid Cult make her question the values and lessons imparted by her family. She becomes more distant, drawing closer to Shan. Zhen, witnessing Ling's transformation, feels a bond with her, reminding him of his own daughter who he lost touch with after joining the cult. Act III: Mao and Mei infiltrate the Orchid Cult, disguising themselves as seekers of truth. Mei, tapping into her knowledge of folklore, quickly discerns the manipulations of Shan. Zhen, recognizing Mei’s wisdom, confides in her about his past, expressing regret and the wish to help Ling see the truth. Mao, Mei, and Zhen form a plan to show Ling the true nature of the Orchid Cult. Act IV: Mei challenges Shan in a public display of spiritual knowledge, drawing upon her vast understanding of local legends and traditions. As Mei’s wisdom unfolds, many cult members begin questioning Shan's teachings. Mao finds Ling and pleads with her to remember her roots and the love of her family. Ling, torn between the two worlds, has a profound vision during a final DMT ceremony. She sees her ancestors and the spirits Mei often spoke of. They remind her of the importance of family and the dangers of blind faith. Act V: Ling, with renewed clarity, decides to leave the Orchid Cult with her family. Zhen, inspired by the family’s bond and Mei’s wisdom, decides to leave as well, seeking to reconnect with his own family. The cult disbands as members, disillusioned with Shan, seek genuine spiritual paths. Shan, defeated, contemplates his future as the forest reclaims the hidden valley. Closing Scene: Back in their village, Mao, Mei, and Ling sit beneath a blossoming tree, a symbol of renewal. Mei tells a story, one that Ling has heard many times but now hears with new ears, about the strength of family bonds and the enduring spirit of ancestors. The scene fades as Ling places an orchid in her hair, symbolizing her journey and growth.

You're conflating consciousness with the way you live and with emotions, which are relative. Enlightenment doesn't change anything. Examples of awakened individuals doing silly (and human) things abound. Because they still have to act like a person. Nissargadatta smoked, zen warriors killed people, etc. You could be enlightened and stream games. And certainly get bored, angry, jealous, etc.

Awakening to yourself as God is not the same as awakening to perfect self-love. For example you can reach a unitive state where you awaken to everyone being you and can have a temporary awakening into Perfect Self-Love. But to have a permanent awakening you need to do the following thing. 1. You need to clear your Chakras, all the way from the root all the way to the Crown Chakra. 2. After clearing your Chakras you need to be energy sensitive enough to connect to your heart chakra until you find your inner voice. To find your inner voice your throat chakra needs to be clear. Your heart chakra is the key to the kingdom of God. The voice of the God/Absolute within you is found in the heart chakra. This is where Infinite Love/Perfect Self Love rests. 3. Your Crown Chakra is how you connect to the Collective Consciousness where Infinite Intelligence Resides. If you open your crown chakra and are not ready to deal with the infinite voices, visions, etc. that comes from the Collective Consciousness it can drive you mad. So be careful with this one. 4. The key to your journey will be faith, you need to trust your synchronicities, you need to trust your resonance, the purpose of your life is to unite your intelligence with your heart. This is the beginning of inner wisdom, because now your mind can communicate with the source of your authenticity which is your heart. 5. The heart never judges you, the heart always accepts you, the heart does not care about your personal survival, it cares about the collective survival of all. Your mind only cares about your personal survival. If you do not jailbreak your mind (which is how you open your crown chakra) then your ability to expand your perspective to a universal perspective cannot happen. You will have a close/small mind and will be unable to see outside your perspective. This is a terrible state of affairs because you will be short sighted, quick to anger, and unconscious to the truth of what you and life is. You will scheme and manipulate your way and will never reach true happiness which comes from complete SELF ACCEPTANCE. Both the individual and collective self. For me to reach this permanent state, I had to be broken ALL THE WAY DOWN. I am currently from a survival stand point at rock bottom currently. Pretty much everything that can go wrong as gone wrong and yet....THIS HAPPENED. So its paradoxical, I discovered the true meaning of why we are here by having my social dignity stripped of me. Also I cannot stress this again. You will NEVER achieve perfect self-love through demonization of the ego. Demonization of the ego is a trap. I will say it again. IT IS A TRAP. Demonization of the ego= Self-Hatred. YOU CREATED your ego, if you created an ego dedicated towards love over personal gain then you will not fall for this. If you created an ego dedicated to personal gain then you will hate your ego. The key to life is to realize that while personal gain is nice, nothing beats love. When you only seek the personal at the expense of the collective your punishment is self-hatred. Why? Because whatever you do to another, you are doing to yourself. This is an ABSOLUTE. You have never hurt another, only YOURSELF. You have never judged another ONLY YOURSELF. All this is merely words, you will have to walk the path but I will give a couple tips that will blow your mind. 1. If you demonize ANYTHING you are walking counter to the path. With that said discernment is not judgment. Many people get this mixed up. Discernment says that is not for me and here is why it is not for me. Your heart does not engage in discernment only the mind. When they connect an inner conversation takes place. Your mind says what it likes and doesn't like but is taught how to lovingly express its preferences while also being encouraged to consider a much wider perspective. 2. It is impossible to waste your time because once you make a concerted effort to walk the path EVERYTHING is going to serve you and I do mean EVERYTHING. 3. This concerted effort to walk the path must come from an authentic deep seated desire to unlock the kingdom within you. 4. I had no idea what I was doing with my chakra system and did a lot of foolish stuff. But I was protected and ultimately cleared out and connected the whole system. I now understand what each chakra represents intuitively. Here are some traditional Spirituality Traps. 1. Spirituality likes to demonize human expressions of nature i.e. technology as inferior to the forest or the woods. This is a trap. I literally broke through USING technology. For example video games and online Satsangs and Leo's own videos all were important for my work along with psychedelic trance videos as well, and chakra music. 2. Porno was helpful as well, it allowed me to heal sexual trauma that I was unaware that I had. In fact porno actually supercharged my awakening process as I was able to wake up faster using it as a tool. If you use it excessively though it will cause an imbalance in your chakra system. 3. After you break through all you need to do is follow your inner guide your inner Guru and enjoy and share your love. That's it!!! Finally!! I thought sober Unity Consciousness was enough, I didn't know there was a higher level beyond that.

Where do you stand on your Life-Purpose? If you meet this 'ideal woman' tomorrow and she asks you 'What contribution have you made to the world that you're the most proud of?', what would your answer be? This is your problem right here. If you can't answer this question, the conscious women see you as a guy practicing 'new-age pop spirituality' and they don't take you seriously either. That's why you meet those kinds of women yourself! And, to give you an idea of how things could work with someone who's genuinely awakened and who genuinely has integrity, she will be interested in what your Life-Purpose is, she will see whether it aligns with her values or not and if it does, she will fully support it. An unconscious woman will hold you back from following your passion if it means that the profit goes down for a month. But, a conscious woman will not nag you when that happens and she will support you instead.

By the way, there is no such thing as be an awakened person, there is access to awakened states. if you are awake, you are awake, if you are asleep, you are asleep, now.

I would love to get everyone's opinions on the realities of finding a highly conscious partner as a young person. I'm 23 yrs old but I've been doing this work earnestly for many years, and I've gotten decently far for my age. However, of course, it's rare to find anyone in their 20's who takes this stuff seriously. I seem to run into two situations when I'm talking to a girl I'm really interested in: I meet some girls who are into spirituality, but it's more of a new-age pop spirituality. Moreover, I find that most women I meet in this group often have a lot of trouble with really basic maturity, like managing their finances, developing emotional intelligence, and communicating well. I meet some girls who are super mature on a character level and I have great chemistry with, but they have absolutely no interest in spirituality... and my dedication to spirituality is confusing/frightening to them. I know that the deeper I get into this work, the bigger the rift is going to be between me and the people in my age group when it comes to spirituality. I've done the pickup thing and I've also gone to tons of spiritual events in Austin, TX where I live... and the only dates I go on end up in one of those two groups. I generally have no problems attracting a partner, but it would be so much easier to get along in a long-term relationship or marriage if we both have those same values. I really genuinely would like to get married and have kids someday, but this is leaving me wondering - should I just settle for someone who I get along with on a personal level even if they don't care too much about spirituality or just practice new-age pop spirituality? It seems to me that I could spend years pounding nightclubs and hippie events and still never find someone in my age group who is going to take this stuff seriously. Not just as a hobby or a couple of yoga classes - but genuine spirituality and awakening... aka cares about and experiences the shit our boy Leo talks about. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this! Super grateful for this community and for Actualized.org!

Let's see, @Javfly33 is right, awakening is the end of suffering, and whoever says no is not awake and has never been awake for a second. what happens is that it is extremely difficult to be awakened and you return to dream state, then you suffer. but that is not why you are going to say that awakening is not the end of suffering, it is, completely. mental suffering is like physical suffering, it pushes you to withdraw from a harmful situation. if you succeed, the suffering ceases. If you are awake, you are out of suffering, and whoever says no does not know what awakening is, equates it to knowing things, which is precisely the dream