Search the Community

If somebody held a gun to my head and asked me what I wanted to be my answer is as follows. He would probably stop me after professional chess player. I wanted to be a professional chess player. The problem was that there was no college major for it and it is hard to make enough money as a chess player unless you are world class which I wanted to be. I would study everything intensely, but the need to build another line of work takes the fun out of it. I Wasn't raised to be a champion like most child prodigies. I felt lost in life because it looked like following my passion wasn't an option. I needed to develop some other line of work. my second choice was to change the school curriculum to reach emotional mastery in schools to prevent suicide. This is also very hard to do. I don't know how I should go about pursuing this project. The best I know is to write a book on the subject. I'm on chapter 3 so far. I am very interested in psychology, but I see myself more as an advocate rather than as a therapist. Psychology was my initial major but I didn't like the career paths. Sociology is also interesting, but I'm not sure about the career paths. My next choice would be philosophy and politics. I don't like it, but it has a lot of noble goals to strive for. If the impact on humanity is important enough then I would push through the difficult parts. I see beauty in having well thought out positions and using them to improve people's lives. It requires selflessness and objectivity which Most people lack, hence the polarization of America. The common problem is that I am not confident about the career paths. It leads to frustration as I feel lost in life.

Enlightenment FAQ - Part 1 - All Your Questions Answered https://youtu.be/H0GbcGMar_E Introduction to the Enlightenment FAQ: Leo is creating an Enlightenment FAQ series to address common questions about spiritual enlightenment for those who have followed his previous content. The series aims to clarify misconceptions and fears and provide a deeper understanding of the journey toward enlightenment. Difference between Understanding and Experiencing Enlightenment: Enlightenment extends beyond understanding the concept of "no self" intellectually; it must be experienced personally. The difference between talking about enlightenment and living an enlightened life is vast and necessitates a profound shift in perception and everyday experience. Visibility of 'No Self' and Psychological Obstacles: Despite being a simple truth, the realization of "no self" is obscured by our psychology, culture, and inherent resistance from our ego. Achieving enlightenment entails unlearning deep-seated beliefs, requiring significant effort and a radical shift in perspective. The Matrix Misconception: Enlightenment is not akin to living in a simulated reality like "The Matrix." Unlike the film, enlightenment posits that while the physical world exists, the individual self is a fiction. This realization is paradoxically more complex and challenging than escaping a simulation. Reality vs. Illusion: Enlightenment does not claim that reality is an illusion; rather, everyday physical objects exist. What is illusory is the perception of a separate self observing these objects. Enlightenment challenges the reality of personal identity, not the existence of the external world. Enlightenment versus Religion and Philosophy: Unlike religion and philosophy, which construct models and theories about reality, enlightenment is about directly experiencing reality without the interference of mental chatter. Enlightenment is the practice of being reality itself, rather than thinking or hypothesizing about it. Mental Chatter and the Nature of Enlightenment: Theoretical constructs, which are common in religion, philosophy, and science, prevent direct experience of enlightenment. Enlightenment occurs beyond the scope of mind-driven rationalizing and theorizing, in the realm of stillness and non-thinking. Risk of misinterpreting enlightenment: Leo emphasizes the difficulty in discussing enlightenment without it being misunderstood as another belief system, philosophy, or religion. He is meticulous with his language to avoid this since enlightenment is about direct experience rather than theoretical frameworks. Enlightenment vs. nihilism: Leo differentiates enlightenment from nihilism, emphasizing that while both acknowledge the lack of inherent meaning, nihilism, as a philosophy, often leads to despair, whereas enlightenment embraces this lack of meaning as a positive truth without attaching any dark significance to it. Language and stories in conveying enlightenment: He acknowledges the conundrum of using stories and language to convey enlightenment. Though they are flawed mediums, they're necessary tools for pointing towards the truth. The goal is for individuals to read between the lines and pursue the deeper truths hinted at by these stories. Misinterpreting Leo's teachings as another "story": Leo addresses the potential confusion that his teachings are just another narrative by clarifying that his role is not to impose his story as truth but to guide others to experience what he points to, encouraging viewers to look beyond his words to the underlying reality. Achieving strength and power through enlightenment: Leo provides a paradoxical answer to whether enlightenment brings strength and power. It does, by freeing one from mental and emotional limitations, but not in the ego's sense of gaining control or dominance. True strength comes from acknowledging the lack of an intrinsic 'self' and finding inner peace. The illusion of free will in enlightenment: Addressing free will, Leo asserts that the sense of a controlling 'self' is illusory. By examining the origins of one's thoughts in a meditative state, one can realize that the self is merely a construct, and thoughts arise independently of any willful self. Purpose of life and enlightenment: Leo states that life inherently has no point or purpose, which can relieve stress and emotional distress. The yearning for purpose is an ego-driven desire, and recognizing life's purposelessness is an aspect of enlightenment. Life's inherent pointlessness: Reality simply exists, and life is a continuous flow without needing a specific point or purpose. Our search for meaning or purpose is driven by the ego's need for significance, leading to distress when we feel insignificant. Enlightenment reveals that the meaninglessness of life is itself without meaning, which liberates rather than depresses. Misconception of nihilism: The idea of life being meaningless can prompt existential questions like suicide, but this stems from an egoic misunderstanding of enlightenment. Recognizing that there is no "self" to kill or be killed invalidates such reactions, reframing meaninglessness as a freeing truth rather than a negative one. Value of business and family despite pointlessness: On a practical level, both business endeavors and family life are ultimately seen as pointless in the grand cosmic scheme, which is liberating because it allows one to pursue these activities for the inherent joy and experiences they bring, rather than a need for legacy. Enlightenment's effect on emotion: Enlightenment doesn't make a person devoid of emotions. Rather, it enriches emotional life by allowing one to fully experience and appreciate emotions in the present moment without being controlled by them. Monastic lifestyle not required for enlightenment: Enlightenment is about inner realization, not about assuming a particular lifestyle like that of a monk, unless one personally finds it meaningful. Aligning lifestyle choices with inner understanding is emphasized. Ego's contradiction to survival: The ego, being an illusion, is not necessary for survival and can in fact threaten survival through harmful behaviors. Letting go of the ego can lead to improved quality of life and better chances for thriving. Ego's lack of positive qualities: Enlightenment teaches that the ego is completely illusory and does not inherently have positive or negative aspects. Good things in life are not the result of the ego; they can exist without it. Misconceptions about losing the good in life: Enlightenment does not mean losing the valuable aspects of your life like family, relationships, or achievements. These are not directly created by the 'self' or ego, but are aspects of life that exist independently of our perceived control or creation. Enlightenment and motivation: Becoming enlightened does not equate to a loss of motivation or turning into a dispassionate individual. Rather, enlightenment helps eliminate neurotic obligations, enabling a person to pursue authentic desires and more genuinely aligned activities. False motivations and enlightenment: Enlightenment helps to dissolve false motivations driven by societal expectations. If business or success does not resonate with your true self, enlightenment enables you to let go and seek what genuinely fulfills you, possibly even increasing motivation if those pursuits are authentically desired. Inherent nature of motivation: Motivations stem from the body and the unconscious mind rather than from a 'self'. Enlightenment may change motivation, but does not eliminate it, as the feeling of being motivated does not originate from the ego, which enlightenment reveals to be an illusion. Enlightenment and self-actualization: Enlightenment does not negate self-actualization or self-help; it represents the advanced stages of personal development. Lower levels of self-improvement are necessary steps on the journey towards enlightenment. The role of self-help in relation to enlightenment: Depending on one's stage of personal development, self-help may still be relevant. For those dealing with basic life problems, self-help advice is useful. However, as one progresses, the focus might shift towards practices that advance spiritual growth and release of ego. Leo's personal development journey: Leo acknowledges his own continued journey towards enlightenment and the value of self-help in his life, illustrating that while one may understand they are in the 'matrix', practical aspects of self-help remain beneficial until higher levels of enlightenment practice are reached. Engagement with Leo's work: Leo welcomes interaction with his content through comments, likes, and shares, and suggests signing up for his newsletter for further insights on personal development and enlightenment topics. He emphasizes the balance of exploring both basic and advanced stages of personal growth. Riddikulus

You guys clearly understand the concept of being pushed to the limit of exploding after years and decades of trauma but then can't seem to apply this same concept to the Palestinians or for what Hamas did on October 7th which yes - was horrible. Were women truly oppressed under patriarchy - was the feminist movement including the suffragettes in England who vandalised buildings and committed arson justified in fighting for women's right to vote? The level of resistance will be in line with the level of oppression. When describing situations it doesn't have to be the most absolute use of a word to apply as people can be partially metaphorical to make the point. Like when people refer to Gaza as a open air prison - it isn't true in its most literal sense but partially true in the sense that freedom of movement and restrictions exist for Gaza. If we're talking international law then definitions require more precision to be used and applied (genocide, ethnic cleansing for example). Otherwise, certain words are used as analogous to make a point. A revolt or resistance doesn't have to exclusively be only to the most extreme absolute versions of oppression and it doesn't deny the fact that some form of oppression is occurring that needs resisting to. Ethnic cleansing/displacement is still happening and has been for decades - they aren't supposed to resist that? When people are denied a state their denied a certain type of more 'civilised' and accepted means of protection/deterrence - when a group of people don't have a military, navy, air force, intelligence agencies or the backing of a global superpower they need to resort to guerrilla warfare and other unsavoury uncivilised tactics like suicide or terrorist attacks - which they are then gaslighted as savages for and I get it, it is savage - but it doesn't detract from their cause being a just one of equal human rights, self determination and dignity even though they go about it in undignified unjust ways of which they have been left with little choice.

They invaded Russia because there was no other choice. Russia had already plans to invade Germany and it was just a matter of time. Russia already prepared for many years to invade Germany, thats what you will not learn in school because of propaganda. And you should not forget that Germany almost defeated russia so it was not a suicide mission.

There is no hell or heaven after you die. When you die, you die, that's it. If you want to be less depressed - you need to ask who is depressed? Is it you that is depressed or is it your body? It is your body that is depressed. You are not your body. Then who are you? You are not. You do not actually exist. When the body realizes it, then it lets go of it's belief in a seperate self and alongwith it goes your depression (and you). Instead of doing something stupid like committing suicide, if you have a great deathwish... then use all that energy to engage as much as possible in SELF INQUIRY.

@Danioover9000 Lol, all in good faith. True, important we know what each of us means by our definitions or else we're just talking past each other. Doesn't it exist at the expense of never offering the other side a fair sovereign state that when they fight for the dignity of they're subjugated, oppressed and gaslighted for as savage. The military occupied area of West Bank which could possibly be their future state gets continually eaten away at through settlements - that's not a peaceful atmosphere for negotiations. From the river to the sea has different interpretations but in practice they have negotiated and come close to accepting recognised borders (not from the river to the sea) but these deals fell through on other details such as right of return, rights to resources (water), demilitarisation and the issue of still having Israeli security points within their 'sovereign' state. So Israel would always have the means to protect themselves but the Palestinians don't? Likuds charter also mentions from the river to the sea and that no other sovereignty will be recognised within it. On the contrary and in practical reality Israel has implemented that via military occupation and settlement expansion in the West Bank and now clearing out Gaza - that's actually from the river to the sea in practice and not just in ink. Palestinians have one of the highest literacy rates in the Arab world. West Bank is littered with check points and trouble for kids on the way to school not to mention delays and clashes which obviously restrict access - including permits restricting development of enough schools. I guess they are also preoccupied with securing their survival before higher aspirations of higher education like in Gaza where schools are routinely destroyed or damaged through periodic operations which btw the current destruction of schools only shifts these kids into what will probably come to be make shift camps where Hamas can more easily recruit motivated vengeful kids who've had loved ones die. Couldn't the October 7th atrocity likewise be provoked by past atrocities done to Palestinians. Just by the numbers alone they have suffered far more deaths than Israeli's and much more discrimination - this can never justify a genocide however and each life matters besides the numbers. The elderly politicians themselves aren't fighting yet it's 'old men who plan for wars that young men die for'. It is admirable of Israeli society to create a sense of national pride and unity (as long as that doesn't manifest in particularly ugly ethno-nationalistic ways) and the meaning that comes with that. 'Man dies for fiction more so than facts' - we are dreaming creatures that die more readily for symbols we attribute meaning to (a religion, a flag, a idea) The centre of gravity has moved much more right blurring the middle and aligning the society especially when it comes to this war and after October 7th. The polls showing Netanyahu popularity plummeting is good at least, though other troubling polls show over 75% believe in Gazan's leaving Gaza being a good idea or majority of Jews (80%) not caring for how much suffering Palestinians incur in the next phases of fighting: True they aren't oppressed to the level of a Warsaw ghetto or slaves and its silly of people to equate Israeli's to the Nazi's also. Again with how words are used it doesn't have to be the most absolute use of a word to apply as people can describe situations in metaphorical ways like when David Cameron called Gaza an open air prison in the past which isn't true in its most literal sense but partially true in the sense of freedom of movement and restrictions. If we're talking international law then definitions require more precision to be used and applied (genocide, ethnic cleansing for example). Otherwise, certain words are used as analogous to make a point. A revolt or resistance doesn't have to exclusively be only to the most extreme absolute versions of oppression and it doesn't deny the fact that some form of oppression is occurring that needs resisting and protesting to. Ethnic cleansing/displacement is still happening whether they live in a nice house or not - maybe it's worse if a family had a big house with a nice garden in West Bank which they get dispossessed of because their loss is greater - nonetheless a home is a home whether big or small. As for Gaza - they exercised their freewill and democracy which was overseen by 3rd parties and deemed a fair election but they made the mistake of using their freewill to choose the wrong party not as sympathetic to Israel/the West. When people are denied a state their denied a certain type of more civilised and accepted means of protection/deterrence - when a group doesn't have a military, navy, air force, tank units, intelligence agencies or the backing of a global superpower they need to resort to guerrilla warfare and other unsavoury uncivilised tactics for offence and defence like suicide or terrorist attacks - which they are then gaslighted as savages for and I get it, it is savage - but it doesn't detract from their cause being a just one of equal human rights, self determination and dignity even though they go about it in undignified unjust ways of which they have been left with little choice.

I see it in another way, A country that been tortured by a terror organization that traumatized thousands of children in shelters since 2000, murdered hundrets of Israelis in suicide bombing when their fellows refused any peace suggestion you can think of, causing Israel to do countless operations when hiding, using and disguising to civilians making the world put the pressure on the wrong side drawing Israel as an opressor when it doesn't deserve this, and in the end kills, rape, butches and kidnapp 1600 Israelis. Thats why Israel has been exploded. The moralizers can get down their mountain and visit here for couple of days or stay quiet. Enough is enough. Israel response might have flaws tactically but absolutely and utterly understandable to me.

Like if I sit at a beautiful tropical beach and meditate myself to death will that be the same as shooting myself in the head? honestly life on earth Is made for animals I don’t belong here lol. I just can’t handle I gotta do this properly if I’ll do it this is like my 10th post about suicide, sorry if it’s getting too repetitive. I’m just really trying to decide here

@zazen Why they moved to the right? Because of the suicide bombing. Before that, half of the Israelis were highly into the negotiations and peace.

This Aella Girl Newsletters are very good food for thinking about different perspectives the last one was this one below. As a Child who was spanked by my parents and even Grandparents I made me think that this Valuable info came to late: I would break more windows if I could go back in time A Disobedience Guide for Children how to make your parents stop hurting you AELLA - DEC 31 This post is not by me. It was made across some comments in a private facebook group, and I’ve collected it here. The authors requested to remain anonymous. I’ve very lightly edited it for readability/post format. Author #1 I've thought about rebellion against my parents' violence far too much. (I have intrusive thoughts about it.) When I was 15, I finally hit my mother back, and then she never hit me again. That's a comforting memory, but I wish I'd done it much earlier. What I didn't realize back then is that sometimes violence can be deterred not because you can outright win a conflict, but because it could be more costly than the victory is worth. I wish I'd fought harder and smarter, earlier. Adults are physically stronger, but they have so much more to lose. Even a 4-year-old can break a window. It would have been miserable in the short term, my parents would have yelled and threatened and punished, but I think it'd have only taken two or three windows before they never hit a child again. I know this only works when your parents are paper tigers. My parents' violence was relatively limited, they had some internal divisions over it, and they didn't have an ideology or community that supported it. I hate that I believed the mirage for so long. If I'd solved it sooner, it might have set the family on a much better track. One of my brothers killed himself, another died in a drug-overdose-or-was-it-suicide. I doubt my parents see it this way, but I mostly blame them. I wasn't strong as a child. It was only as an adult I realized how good it is to be strong, and decided to train in strength and combat. I appreciate my unearned testosterone. Upgrade to paid Author #2 It'd have only taken two or three windows before they never hit a child again I'm thinking about this with my own dad, who also used violence (and wasn't very committed to it / regretted it later), and man, this still feels pretty dangerous to me from a kid perspective. Like, maybe they stop hitting you but now you are a child with "behavior problems" and they don't trust you anymore and they are "worried about you" so they make sure you're always supervised and you have no privacy and maybe you can escalate again but they can escalate as far as institutionalizing you. I wanted my dad to leave me alone more to do my own thing, and he had complete (legally sanctioned) control over my freedom, so the best way to get more privacy and freedom was to capitulate to him and be thought of as a "good child", I think? (I also think you would hate this framing but I'm actually not sure how to reconcile that with my model of what would have happened if I'd intentionally broken windows as a child) (I do wish I'd told him not to hit me every time he did, and stayed obviously hurt/mad at him for longer each time, I think that would have helped him feel more like it wasn't an acceptable thing to do, given that he was already somewhat conflicted about it) Author #1 (The following is about my situation, maybe some others, but I doubt it applies to all situations) I was also the "good child", feigning placidity and affection until my sharp left turn. With finesse, I think the "good child" reputation can be complementary to a violent anti-violence strategy. After I hit my mother back, she was, if anything, a little nicer to me for a few days. Which is odd—you'd think she might at least try being cold. (btw it certainly wasn't fear; she definitely knew that I'd only hit her in self-defense, that I never initiated violence with anyone, and that I was principled in general.) I think it was a few things, several of them related to me being a "good child": -She wanted me to like her. Me hitting her back indicated that perhaps I *didn't* like her. -She wanted me to want her to like me. Me hitting her back indicated that I cared less for her opinion than she thought. -She wanted me to still be the "good child", who was never in trouble, whose academic and musical accomplishments reflected well on her, who made her look good to her friends. If she behaved consistently with that, perhaps it would still be true. -She wanted it not to have happened, not to be real, for everything to go back to normal. One thing I didn't understand when I was young, when parents seemed so powerful, was that parents are overwhelmed like everyone else and would much rather not have more problems. Is your formerly "good child" now a "problem child"? You don't have time for that. Please let it not be true. (I'm sure there are potential pitfalls. People might ignore some problems when they can, but they'll find time/energy for dominance challenges from those they consider beneath them. Gotta avoid that framing.) Some things that are on your side (for some, hopefully most, parents): -Their pride: they want to show you off to their friends. They want to say "my child is top in their class, won the music competition, and look at this cute Father's Day card they made". -Their shame: they don't want to say "my child dislikes me, breaks windows, tells everyone I assault them, is a problem child". -They want happy family times, Christmases and birthdays, teaching you to ride a bike or drive a car, building a snowman, playing Monopoly. They're trying (sometimes incompetently) to steer the family situation toward that. -Punishment is costly: Supervision costs time or money, involving therapists and social workers costs money and pride, it all costs more of your child's goodwill. So you're 4, or 8, or 12, and you break a window and tell them you'll do it again if they assault you again. They're shocked, this can't happen, the world is awry. They ban you from TV or computer or whatever. Maybe they test it again a month later, and you break another window. Maybe they call the police to try to scare you (my parents tried this a couple of times against my brother when things got especially violent). Of course the police will do nothing of consequence. If they even turn up, they'll sternly tell you that it's illegal to break windows, maybe bluff or bluster about jail, and leave. They hit you again, you break another window, and they send their problem child to a psychologist for an oppositional defiant disorder diagnosis. In this case, you tell the psychologist this: "I know that the law doesn't take child assault seriously, but I will do whatever it takes to be safe in my home. I am not a problem child. Here's my most recent report card, see how my teachers all love me, here's the phone number for the school, call and ask if I'm ever in trouble. This isn't about a personality disorder, this is about child assault. But I'm open to other solutions. If I require safety and my parents require violence, then we aren't compatible. Can you refer me to the foster care system? You don't think it's warranted? Then I'll make my own inquiries." (Foster care can be a bluff if you want. Your parent/s would be ashamed if anyone even heard you were seeking foster care, and they'd fear that their long-term relationship with you is in doubt.) So you're theoretically a problem child. They still don't want their windows broken. Next time they want to hit you, they hesitate. And eventually it's six or twelve months later, they haven't hit you and you haven't broken any windows, you got an A in math or something, maybe you're back to good child, can it be true? They never need to find out it's not, if they never hit you again. Other strategies might work. Go to their workplace, tap a glass until you have everyone's attention, and tell them all that your parent assaulted you last night, and could everyone please tell them not to attack children. A lot of people would want to avoid the shame of that occurring again. Run away for a couple of days. I've heard of parents saying that their child being missing is the most scared they've ever been. Depending on the parent, that might be a cost they don't want to pay again. Call the police, even if the assault didn't cause a visible injury. The police might not take an assault that leaves no marks seriously, might tell you not to call again about normal parental assault (call again anyway), but it'll be very embarrassing and memorable for the assaulter. And maybe it did cause a visible injury. (The police will probably not press charges the first time if you change your mind and stop cooperating. Or if your parent does get charged, well, it's dangerous to assault people.) The police report may help protect you from any institutionalized problem child stuff your parents try later. An unarmed 4-year-old can't fight back usefully, but even a 10-year-old can bite and can try to eye-gouge, if they can withstand the pain of the fight. The adult will surely win, but if the child always fights back with extreme viciousness, it may deter the next attack. (You don't have to actually gouge out their eye, you just have to make it look like you're trying to. And if your parent does get injured, well, it's dangerous to assault people.) I suspect you can still keep the "good child" reputation even if you do this. "My child is gentle and good in general, except they go fucking crazy when physically attacked, strong primal instinct I guess" is a plausible thing to think imo. he had complete (legally sanctioned) control over my freedom While I agree that a parent can cause a lot of trouble for you and it's much easier to be regarded as the good child, I think you still overestimate their power, especially compared to yours. If they devoted their life to ruining yours, they'd probably succeed. If you devoted your life to ruining theirs, you'd probably succeed. You both have horrific options, and you're both afraid of the other's escalation. (Or maybe they're not afraid, but you can make them afraid.) You worry about how they'd feel if you did something unimaginable, some trauma they'd never forget, like you embarrassed them so badly at work that they switched jobs, or you called the police and there was some protracted CPS investigation, or they have a scar from a fight. Fine! The stakes are no lower for you. It's decades later and we're still talking about what they did, maybe still having the nightmares. And in some sense, your victory is inevitable. Who's the more needy in your relationship now? Of course parents differ, but I think in many cases you can do unthinkable things and your parents still end up wanting you to like them and wanting to think well of you. I skimmed the book by the mother of one of the Columbine shooters (not recommended, at least not at face value) and she's desperately clinging to the idea of her "sweet, beloved child" led astray by the other shooter, recalling the time he cared for her when she was sick, and the way he made the family laugh at dinner. I don't think the legal sanction aspect is very powerful. Police hate domestic violence calls, social workers are overworked and underpaid, and the justice system has very few options for punishing children. They won't imprison you for breaking your parent's window, and they can't sue you. As in so many things, rules aren't really rules, they're just risks and costs, if even that. And it's all unbearably embarrassing, calling the police or whoever after assaulting you. They don't want to do it. They'd rather threaten to do it, bluffing that you'll not call them on it and demonstrate that authorities will do nothing that matters. (Unless you did actually do something the police might care about. Maybe you go as far as juvenile court. Super embarrassing for the parent to have a child go to juvenile court though! They'd probably rather threaten it than do it. Especially if they're in the witness stand explaining that yes, technically they did hit you first but what you did was worse.) (Aella’s note: I think adults could pretty successfully explain that no, it was a ‘spanking’ or whatever, and your kid is being dramatic, in a way that would not be embarrassing for them. I’ve known adults who were very careful to ensure that their physical punishments caused the maximum possible pain without any visible injuries, so they wouldn’t risk legal trouble. I generally don’t endorse lying, but giving yourself a physical injury to blame on your parents at as evidence might be a viable strategy here, might embarrass your parents more, and is something that’s hard for them to physically prevent you doing to yourself.) So much authority over children is smoke and mirrors. Schools make threats about your "permanent record". Parents count to 3 without saying what happens at 3. Of course there's a few things they can actually do, like withhold money or computer access or internet or transport, and that'll hurt (maybe immensely) in the short term. (Though, they're afraid to use all of their real options, because then they'd have no more leverage at all.) But eventually it'll be months since they last hit you, and they want to be a happy family again. From another angle: what is the limit of what is possible for a child? Joan of Arc led an army at 17. Fred Burnham became a scout in the Apache Wars at age 14. John King became a pirate at age 10. In this fantasy of going back in time with the knowledge and skills I have now, one can probably find a way to apply cunning and charisma to stop parental assault.

The following is a copy and pasted YT comment from a Rupert Spira video. He was speaking about Universal Love. "Love is the Experience of the Unity of Being" is the title of the video. This comment caught my attention and I would like to hear your thoughts on this. I could feel the pain in the words while reading this and it actually made me very emotional. There have been numerous forum users who have spoken about Consciousness in this fashion and I think it is a very important subject to address because so many of us feel this way. I don't think it is addressed enough so we can truly understand this part of Reality and why it exists - apparent or not. It's a pretty dark comment but this is an example of how a lot of people feel that's why I'm sharing it with the intention of understanding why this is so. 2 days ago (edited) It is not like that. It's easy to be fooled by words that please the conditioned ears. Here's Rupert talking about love and oneness, while baby fawns are being torn apart, eaten alive by predators, screaming in pain from the top of their lungs to absolutely no avail, while the mother gazelles helplessly watch in distress from a distance. A woman forced to watch her daughter being brutally raped and killed by the invading soldiers, followed by the execution of her husband and her two sons. The woman lost her mind, threw herself over a bridge and committed suicide. What would Rupert tell the baby fawns and the mother gazelles, if they ask why? Because, that was exactly the question, the woman asked before ending her life. WHY? Will Rupert tell them, oh, don't suffer, because your true nature is all happiness, but, somehow, you decided to forget your happiness nature in exchange for this experience? Really? If this is what you believe, then, not are you only insulting their sufferings, but, you're actually killing them twice. It's better you say nothing than to deceive yourself twice. Oh, How long are we going to deceive ourselves ? Rather, how much longer will consciousness deceive Itself? If he truly believes that it is consciouness and consciouness Alone that is doing the whole show, then, it calls for the question "WHY" ? Which will inevitably invite self introspection. Consciousness needs to introspect itself as to why it has all these itches and impulses to manifest, rather than, continuing to indulge itself, in all kinds of self deceiving, self aggrandizing, schizophrenic, narcissistic self praises and worships like a dictator. This is a WRONG understanding of Existence. These insane self deceiving understandings are coming from old religious and spiritual ideologies and beliefs, founded upon self ignorance and self dishonesty. Existence is not all good, all loving, all peace or all happiness. Existence is not like that. It has never been like that and cannot be like that. It's a very self ignorant and self dishonest belief ,only , to perpetuate further self deception. Just like the great honest philosopher put it. " Every history of life is the history of suffering ". The question is always, Why? Religious or spiritual ideologies have always offered distorted ,ignorant, childish and dishonest answers due to ignorance and dishonesty. Saying God and the Devil, or, consciouness and mind, finite mind or ego, can only lead oneself into further self deception. Just as you do not get something from nothing, You do not get sufferings from all happiness, or, all love. What is never within, does not and cannot manifest as without. Consciouness can only manifest what is within. No violence within, no violence without. No suffering within, no suffering without. All the endless pains and sufferings are the itches and impulses within consciouness, that, found its way to manifest. No matter what, You simply do not get apple juice from oranges. No matter how you twist, turn and distort. Consciousness has to ask itself by introspecting as to why it has all these itches and impulses to manifest ,which are experienced as endless pains, tortures and sufferings in what we call " Life ". There's no another way for consciouness to liberate itself from its Own desires, itches and impulses other than self introspection. It is consciouness that gets liberated from its Own itches and impulses, no one else! It has to face its own darkness in its Own Psyche, rather than go on to further deceive Itself playing childish, self praise and self worship games. While it indulges in all kinds of self deceiving ganes, countless life forms are being eaten alive and go on suffering, at this very moment, and, every moment,crying out and screaming in pain from the top of their lungs to absolutely no avail. Do we not hear their screams? Or, is consciouness too busy deceiving Itself , boasting and bragging how happy , peaceful and loving it is? Eternity means absolutely nothing in self deception, other than, condemning itself to an eternal damnation as the history of life shows. One can NEVER be too careful when it comes to the Absolute True Nature of oneself or Existence as Is in Itself.

@Livingstone The world is filled with ego, which manifests itself through projection and ignorance. You don't need any degree, knowledge fills you with insights, but the only point of learning anything at all is to expand your perspective. Universities don't teach you any more than ChatGPT does, it's merely the game of degrees, diplomas, titles and certificates which self-perpetuates narrow thinking, specialized studies and the export of responsibility to authority. Society plays the game of validating certificates, but look at all the successful entrepreneurs, they're only where they are because they ditched this mindset and society tries to mimic them and fails because there never were any rules to it, they just did their own thing. Institutions slow you down to match their timeframe. You wait days to go and memorize some stupid speech that you can just watch right now on YouTube. It's either public knowledge, or if it's not, do you really want to participate in hiding knowledge away and monetizing it? Ideally, it'd be an environment of open thought, sharing and holistic interconnection through the lens of whatever is studied, group discussions, active participation, constructivist reimagining. Open thinking, active doing, immediate testing, passion, spirit, truth. But that's not what we see. Students are depressed, look at the suicide rates, look at what you're trying to do, you're trying to help but the elaborate means of getting there through all the bullshit diplomas to justify a human's ability to interact and help another human while outsourcing responsibility to some "professional intellectuals" is exactly what got us into this mess. Nobody can talk frankly anymore, everybody's distracted, people are referred to suicide watches, to group therapy, to some impersonal institutions, to fix problems that stem from being unable to interact with their own environment due to its nature. You and I are discouraged all our lives from sharing our thoughts, ideas, gaslight into inaction, blind trust in a system of consensus bullshitting, depressed and stopped from learning on our own and making our own decisions, constant second guessing, constant need to validate our thoughts with at least one more person sharing the sentiment, constant doubt and fear of getting things wrong and being shamed for it. The only way I got out of that were psychedelics that I started three months ago. The most valuable part of the psychedelic experience is to get fully in tune with yourself and to be able to experientially and emotionally feel that which you already know to be the case. To accept the truth and shed all doubt for the ego-game that it is. I had the same idea as you. I though, hmm what about psychology to help people? That I realized, it's a narrow focus, monetized profession, strict timetables, you'll be called crazy if you do overtime or want to help people outside of work because "you're not earning money doing it". It's so limiting, then I thought how can I do better? What do I even do? How do I help people? And I realized, people are everywhere, everyone's got their own unique problems. A person really just needs to vent and become in tune with their emotions, desires and thoughts. For the next two weeks, I spent a lot of time of Reddit, typing with people in awful situations, sharing insights, just talking about their life and hearing them out. It feels like I made their days better. Your goal is noble. But what I realized is that my drive was really out of needing that which I gave them myself, I never had anyone to help me and by helping them, I used them as a proxy to help myself. But I kept realizing how complex life is and how much there is to integrate and that I really need to work on myself. Because you can only help others up to the state of mind that you yourself are in.

Bro what if the real point of view that cares about Israelis is that this war only leads to more future threats, terrorism and anti-semitism? From a article: “Did you know that since the United States brought its “war on terror” to Africa, terrorist attacks on that continent have increased by 75,000 percent? That’s right: 75, then three zeros, percent. I learned this neat little stat from a new article by journalist Nick Turse, who also notes that “according to the Pentagon, terrorist attacks in the Sahel region alone have resulted in 9,818 deaths — a 42,500% increase.” People have been documenting the way attempts to bomb terrorism out of existence actually creates more terrorism for many years. In 2010 Professor Robert A Pape wrote an article for Foreign Policy titled “It’s the Occupation, Stupid” about his study with University of Chicago which found that suicide bombings are the result not of Islamic fundamentalism but of foreign military occupations. Some notable excerpts: “More than 95 percent of all suicide attacks are in response to foreign occupation.” “As the United States has occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, which have a combined population of about 60 million, total suicide attacks worldwide have risen dramatically — from about 300 from 1980 to 2003, to 1,800 from 2004 to 2009.” “Over 90 percent of suicide attacks worldwide are now anti-American.” “Each month, there are more suicide terrorists trying to kill Americans and their allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Muslim countries than in all the years before 2001 combined. From 1980 to 2003, there were 343 suicide attacks around the world, and at most 10 percent were anti-American inspired. Since 2004, there have been more than 2,000, over 91 percent against U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries.”

@Bazooka Jesus Dude..so you got the information that He took cocaine and meth (on YouTube right?the best source for historical facts). And now you conclude he is a massive drugs addict, who has lost his mind and was permanent high. Right...You think so very simple. By the way even people who take regulary drugs can be functioning mentally pretty well. Committing suicide in his position was reasonable, he lost the war and the enemy would surely be not friendly to him If he did not kill himself before. To make IT more clear: He would be executed for sure. So he would die anyway

Lol, right... except maybe when he was high as a kite on crack cocaine / methamphetamine 24/7. Like leaving the whole country in ashes and committing suicide? Well played, Adolf.

Recent podcast interviewing Adeptus Psychonautica about the dangers and traps within the spiritual/psychedelic community and the recent developments of actualized.org and the forum. What's really interesting is the host OXSN has his own intimate experience following Leo Gura and even initially defended him when Adeptus made an expose on the Connor Murphy incident. Watch how his journey and close friend's suicide sobered him from his own paradigm and ideology (the details of the suicide were vague as he didn't wish to disclose much; what's revealed is that OXSN did expose his friend to spiritual teachings including those of actualized.org before he ultimately took his own life) Some interesting points within the video: 34:09 "The example I use is like, if you saw a bee, like a buzzy bee but it was not trying to be a bee. It was trying to be a fucking elephant. It would be like 'you fucking bellend', just be a bee, just eat the pollen. Enjoy your life as a bee! Don't pretend to be an elephant, you cannot be an elephant, you're a bee. Be the fucking bee. That's how I feel when I hear all these like, you know, the people who get really obsessed with all the God-Consciousness. And that's not to say there's no value in those thoughts, but the value has got to compile back into a human being. To sit there and go floating about like 'oh, I'm so enlightened, I'm so God-Consciousness' is like, it serves no purpose other than to be like a wanker. But if you could embody that, if you could live your life like, when you come across someone who is like truly spiritual and truly a good person, a true role model: they don't have to tell you how fucking enlightened they are. They don't tell you what a good person they are and how better they because they achieved God-Consciousness. You just know like 'wow, this is a great person'. They don't need to tell you this. So all these people who like beat you over the head with how fucking spiritual they are, I could only assume they don't realize how fucking conterproductive that looks. Because I don't see anything spiritual with, like we say with the sort of 'the Leo Guras' of the world." 50:40 "I've got say, if there's one thing, out of all of Leo's flaws, the one thing I'll pull up on: the guy has like zero compassion and he's so detached from his own experience of a human being that, in my opinion, he doesn't seem to realize the effect he's having on these group of people. So that when he comes out with something really flippant on the forums, or- I'm sure he seems to handle things in his way, and not necessarily had something that's led to what's happened to your friend, but he's answering things in his way with zero understanding and like 'no, these might be people in trouble'. When I've been on the actualized forums, it is an absolute meeting room with very, very definite and very obvious mental issues. There's some serious fucking problems on that forum, and some of the moderators should not be moderating fucking dogshit, in my opinion. But they're all egging each other on and, one of the best descriptions I've ever heard for the kind of behaviors on actualized, which came from one of my friends James Jessal: there's a lot in the way where Leo describes his own activities, which feels like a challenge to the audience. Like 'I did all this 5meO-DMT so it got me here so you should do it'. And the guy will say things like 'you shouldn't do this', but it's a challenge. Like 'if you do this then you get to this level of Consciousness' and 'you just don't understand, you just don't understand, unless you've done it, you just don't understand'. So there's this constant challenging of these very vulnerable, very fragile, very destabilized audience; I just see people's fucking heads explode. Alot of people contact me because they want to talk about that experience. Especially the stuff around solipsism, which to me, it's almost hard to understand how people get so destabilized by that, but whether I get or not, at least I understand that people are going through this. Like people believe in this and they don't necessarily want to believe it. They don't want to believe that their loved ones are figments of their imagination 'but Leo's said it's true so must be true!' It could really fuck people's heads up."

Like from the highest perspective am I killing myself? Lol

@zazen Palestinians in the west bank are under the responsibility of the PLO as their official civil authority, while in Gaza strip they are under hamas. IDF is found in wide forces within the west bank for security purposes since 2002, what proved to be the only way to stop the suicide bombing happened in busses and restaurants from ones to twice a week. I'm in the middle of the video of Daniel Levy but it sounds he suggests a return to 48' lines? Later he uses definitions and creates some sort of scheme or n not so clear equation from it, to moralize against the Jews moves in 1947-8 but he overlook the fact that they stemmed from a survival challenge they have faced after almost lost in a civil-like war between them and the Arabs reinforced by 6 Arabs countries. By the way the land occupied in 1967 was under Jordan. About Gaza he doesn't suggest any pratical alternative way to eliminate hamas besides moralizing.

@MarkKol I can relate I spent much of my 20's drinking to forget or depressed when i wasn't. Do you have any data related to the lack of testosterone being responsible for school shootings? Intuitively as you say I'd think it'd be the opposite, and the more violent people usually have too much in them. I can see though, going around shooting up a school, isn't the average reaction of a violent guy looking for trouble in a bar. It comes from the same place often, the desire for significance being met in an inverted, destructive or harmful way Six Human Needs https://www.tonyrobbins.com/mind-meaning/do-you-need-to-feel-significant/ 1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure 2. Uncertainty/Variety: the need for the unknown, change, new stimuli 3. Significance: feeling unique, important, special or needed 4. Connection/Love: a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something 5. Growth: an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding 6. Contribution: a sense of service and focus on helping, giving to and supporting others These are a reasonable way to model human needs, and we each rank these as more or less important in our daily lives, which drive our behavior. It explains why someone can jump out of a plane, while another person feels happier in a steady job earning a wage. It also explains some of the more horrific acts seeking one of these needs to be met. Also, it could just be the kind of person that sits in their room miserable and alone, is the kind of person that has or generates less testosterone anyway, rather than it being directly related to the violence itself. When you hit the level of considering suicide, which I used to do a lot in my 20's, and still do very rarely, then it opens you up to these type of horrific or otherwise inconceivable actions.

@FourCrossedWands Is that official? Have the investigators conclusively determined the son did kill him, or did the father commit suicide, or some other cause? Also, my heart, understanding and empathy goes out to the victims, but also to mass shooters, they do have it rough sometimes in life. Don't forget to seek a professional out there, a hotline, or go do therapy and psychoanalysis too.

Sam Harris's faulty biased narrative is infecting a lot. They genuinely believes an ideology has the power to make 2.3 million people in Gaza or (2 billion Muslim in the world) to be gleefully waiting for Martyrdom and willing to commit suicide bombing any day. Let's dismiss basic psychology and the cries and calls for help by the Gazans to save their lives and believe Sam Harris instead.

Jews in Israel should have been committed collective suicide or let Hitler or other Nazis to finish the work, ignore the Jewish ancient connection to Israel and allow Arabs to have Israel as the 22th Muslim state in the world. Only that would be considered fair to these people.

Do you also believe it’s possible that. muslim suicide bombers will get however many virgins in heaven etc?

@Scholar it takes courage to be vulnerable and open to understanding extremely complex topics, such as suicide. Relating to them more holistically invites more nuanced and compassion forms of clarity, thus elevating their meanings towards a greater good.

This is getting ridiculous, I am developing much more empathy for people who commit suicide, even though I'm not the type of person to consider such a thing. But I can see how if someone felt this way for half a year or so that one could easily completely lose ones rational perspective of things. The emotions are so all consuming that it's really hard to even imagine a framework outside of it, and considering the influence these emotions have on ones thoughts, it can easily spiral out of control. Obviously I am just describing the experience, I don't want to concern anyone, lol. I simply don't remember having ever felt this doom and gloomy this intensely before, and I am not the most emotionally regulated person in the first place, in terms of my dispositions, so it's not like I don't have a sense of what even intense disregulation can feel like. The therapy lamp seems to have helped at first, but there seems to have been a backlash effect.