Help me create a conscious minimalistic lifestyle

[Torkys]

My life purpose is predicated on this (being a selfless vessel of God). How am I going to surrender to God if I don't live a godly, conscious lifestyle?

My biggest obstacles to this are distractions, namely video games, music, and the entertaining side of YouTube. I simply lack healthy activities where I can get rewarded for mastery and where I can relax and I can't find satisfying alternatives. My level of consciousness and these activities became so conflicting that I get numbness in my body and I feel heavy resistance in my head area.

Given this, why don't I just turn to meditation and being conscious? I literally channeled the insight "presence is the only spiritual practice". Because with such an overstimulating lifestyle, just sitting there feels worse than going back to my distractions. It feels like a lose-lose situation.

When I sit down to contemplate how to solve this, nothing comes to mind - just be present, you need nothing more. Even though presence is nudging me in the right direction, it still feels like I need a stepping stone to raw Being and God but I don't what that is.

With which activities did you replace destructive habits with and how do you maintain this?

Edited June 2, 2018 by Torkys

[Privet]

23 minutes ago, Torkys said:

Feels like I need a stepping stone to raw Being and God but I don't what that is.

You don't need it. You just try to distract yourself again, it all comes down to practices.

23 minutes ago, Torkys said:

With which activities did you replace destructive habits with and how do you maintain this?

Anything can be destructive if it's guided by the neurotic drives.

If you are very neurotic you just need to start small and be kind to yourself (but that doesn't mean you should be lazy and justify it by being kind to yourself).

Imagine that there are two rivers. In one river you can catch fish quickly, but it's little. In the other river the fish is way bigger but it takes way more patience and skill to catch it. If you want to catch a bigger fish you need to work. It's very easy to get pleasure by destructive habits, but the quality of that pleasure sucks, shoot for a bigger fish.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Privet

[okulele]

You do not want to replace the bad habits. That is just you not accepting them and wanting to get rid of them. It stems in fear.

What you need to do is understand them. Sit with the pull of the addiction until you felt all the pain underneath and it is gone. Then you have a very pure space for the high-conciousness activities you want.

Watch Leo's ''Fake Growth vs Real Growth'' and the one about addictions. It IS brutal. It is needed.

About the stepping stone to God. That's a common trick the mind plays. There is no stepping stone. There is no distance from I to I. When the mind says - ''This is not it, we need a stepping stone.'' - do not believe.

Edited June 2, 2018 by okulele

[Joseph Maynor]

For each bad habit you’re doing, try to see what else in your life is reinforcing that bad habit.  Then realize that to quit the first thing you gotta quit or restructure the things that are reinforcing it.  Get pen and paper and do a bit of reflection.

I do A to help me with B.  To quit A, I gotta quit or restructure B.

If you try to quit A without dealing with B, you’re gonna get a backfiring mechanism PLUS a craving for A every time you wanna do B.

If you eat Cheetos to make watching TV fun, if you quit the Cheetos but still watch TV, you’re ensuring that you’re gonna get cravings for Cheetos every time you watch or think about watching TV.  You gotta quit or restructure the TV component to quit the Cheetos sustainably. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Torkys]

@Privet @okulele Even though I clearly understand that a stepping stone is not needed, I want it. I would rather step on an unnecessary step than to jump and hurt myself. I would rather let my ego run around for a little - because it is just searching for God - than to choke it and make it angry.

1 hour ago, okulele said:

You do not want to replace the bad habits. That is just you not accepting them and wanting to get rid of them. It stems in fear.

I am very aware that I can not bypass and repress my habits. I need to accept them and see how they are trying to help me.

I have watched both videos.

4 hours ago, Privet said:

It's very easy to get pleasure by destructive habits, but the quality of that pleasure sucks, shoot for a bigger fish.

I know this intellectually but it needs to be embodied.

@Joseph Maynor I planned to journal this evening so thank you!

Edited June 2, 2018 by Torkys

[Nahm]

4 hours ago, Torkys said:

My life purpose is predicated on this (being a selfless vessel of God). How am I going to surrender to God if I don't live a godly, conscious lifestyle?

My biggest obstacles to this are distractions, namely video games, music, and the entertaining side of YouTube. I simply lack healthy activities where I can get rewarded for mastery and where I can relax and I can't find satisfying alternatives. My level of consciousness and these activities became so conflicting that I get numbness in my body and I feel heavy resistance in my head area.

Given this, why don't I just turn to meditation and being conscious? I literally channeled the insight "presence is the only spiritual practice". Because with such an overstimulating lifestyle, just sitting there feels worse than going back to my distractions. It feels like a lose-lose situation.

When I sit down to contemplate how to solve this, nothing comes to mind - just be present, you need nothing more. Even though presence is nudging me in the right direction, it still feels like I need a stepping stone to raw Being and God but I don't what that is.

With which activities did you replace destructive habits with and how do you maintain this?

You’re already God, it’s the falsities that need surrendering, and the idea of “I” “me” (what @Faceless helps us zero in on ??) Not sure if you’ve heard what he’s saying yet. I didn’t post much at all for maybe 4-5 days a while back, because I did not understand him. I didn’t recall ever just flat out not understanding what someone was saying, and it bothered “me”. I read his posts many times and contemplated. When I did understand, I cried in pure joy for 2 days. Dropped a 50 pound mental weight - Lifesized relief. In hindsight, I think I skipped a no self stage of realization altogether on the path, through practices & psychadelics, experienced Being. But then “Integration” & “Embodiment” were a “problem”, because there was a concept of a me (self) as a filter, thus perpetually chasing such experiences. I had no awareness of the degree I was fooling my ‘self’.  Hopefully that’s useful.

There’s no Godly lifestyle, this “you” (idea) is judging this “you” idea, resulting in doubly overthinking, imo, leading to the numbness & resistance experienced when that idea of you gets what ‘it’ wants (vg’s, etc). When it get’s what it wants, that’s conditioning and it feels like poop.   Could be a desire to be accepted & approved of, which reinforces “other”, which comes back to reinforce a false ‘self’, seperate from ‘other’. Contemplating & realizing could ‘break’ the loop, good ol’ fashioned sitting through it, doing nothing, ideally in nature.

Years ago, I was on COD (Der Reise) nightly till 1am, eating crap, then sleeping poorly, thinking poorly, etc. A shroom trip introduction of nonduality (on a foundation), and I just haven’t been interested in picking it up since. Not sure if that’s helpful, hope so. Consider not referring to those hobbies as distractions. Rather, realize you are already doing exactly what you want. If that doesn’t feel good, a deeper realization of what you actually want to be doing is already on it’s way.

”Get rewarded for mastery”... The choice to love yourself is the reward. There is no future reward. Alignment. To care for The Temple is the greatest “reward” because it’s inherent love. It’s connection by default. Simply remembering what you are. Uncertainty which allows choice, is the greatest gift in the universe. Yes choice is an illusion, but the entire life is an illusion. You have that gift. You are that gift. A dream gift is great for a dream life. Whatever you want to call this, in which you can do that, is The Present, the gift. How precious is it? How precious is Life? 

Healthy activities - start small & easy. Subscribe to a health magazine. It’ll come every month, easy automatic inherent accountability / reminder, and it primes your environment if you leave them lying around. Subscribe to health oriented youtube channels, and daily and weekly emails from teachers of health and well being. Put posters and diagrams of healthy food in your kitchen. Someday, before you’ve eaten anything, put an orange in front of you, for an hour. Then eat it slowly and deliberately. You might remember how delicious nature & well being are. 

There is a direction of causation (albeit illusory).... Being...aware...thinking...sensing. Look at this in the reverse direction and the ridiculousness is apparent...you can’t visually see thinking, you can’t think awareness, and you can’t aware being. That’s just silly. So in contemplation, use this ‘direction’ to see where you’re unaligned. I really rambled on here, if not useful print it and use it for toilet paper. Godspeed! (Slow af)

[Torkys]

I am so happy you responded, @Nahm ?♥️

You sounded as cryptic at first as @Faceless. I need to study this guy seriously though.

Enlightenment work will be inevitably done on my path. By surrendering myself, I mean my false self I am identifying with. Synchronising homeostasis and the Higher Self must be done. 

Thank you ? 

[Faceless]

@Nahm

?

??

[Nahm]

@Torkys You rock man.  I have a question for you...what is the ideal emotional & mental environment for insights to come, revelations to come, for enlightenment?

@Faceless ???

[Faceless]

8 hours ago, Torkys said:

My life purpose is predicated on this (being a selfless vessel of God). How am I going to surrender to God if I don't live a godly, conscious lifestyle?

 

Indeed, there must be virtue in one’s life. 

Virtue as in order. 

??

[Faceless]

@Torkys

I must say, that is a great purpose by the way

Responsiblity for the whole

Edited June 3, 2018 by Faceless