Ignorant Youtuber thinks Actualized.org is a cult

[exhale]

I am not going to waste my time watching the video.  Though, as stated before, actualized does have a recipe that is consistent with early cult formation.  The idealization and unquestioned acceptance of Leo's teachings by some (not all) is a concerning starting point.  As Leo stated, there are cults and cult-like organizations.  Actualized is the latter in this situation. 

I have benefitted greatly from Actualized and Leo, and do not say this with any defamatory intent.  But we all need to be careful with how this group moves forward.  I believe Leo has also stated this in the past himself.  

[Rufus]

Very expected, This channel is definitely not for everybody, the people who are really interested in the content discussed here are stage yellowish-green and above.

[lmfao]

Isn't there a quote for this situation, "There is no such thing as bad publicity"? 

It is far easier to turn negative attention into positive attention than it to turn no attention into positive attention.

I found this insight very interesting in the conflicts I've had with people. It relates to that feeling of respect people have for each other after butting heads. Children do it quite frequently. Hate and conflict is the path to love and understanding. It made me realise the power of antagonism. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by lmfao

[4201]

Honestly I don't think that's a bad video. That's a fair reaction from someone who is a total outsider to all of this and I don't feel like his reaction is particularly unhealthy or neurotic, just ignorant to a field that is very obscure and hard to grasp. It's easy to be too caught up and lose perspective of what "normies" would think of all of this. This video delivers exactly that perspective. 

Leo probably doesn't care about fixing his public image to look less crazy to potential new followers (perhaps because he's too identified with being radical and crazy!) so I would bet videos like this will increase in numbers. 

[mark patrick]

I hope Leo will pay attn to this. it's just the sort of thing that can snowball. look what happened to dr. Tim leary or Willhelm Reich (really, I mean it if you don't know your history go watch some documentaries - or youtube vids about them !). I'm knot just paranoid here. the empire never ended and the wich hunters are still here.

sometimes I think we can forget that we're still living on the planet of the apes.

smile and keep breathing brothers and sisters. it helps. Bright blessings to you all. Mark

[fridjonk]

If any of you are triggered by this video, which it looks like. Just know you have some more work to do.  

[whatishappeningtome]

16 minutes ago, mark patrick said:

I hope Leo will pay attn to this. it's just the sort of thing that can snowball. look what happened to dr. Tim leary or Willhelm Reich (really, I mean it if you don't know your history go watch some documentaries - or youtube vids about them !). I'm knot just paranoid here. the empire never ended and the wich hunters are still here.

Yeah I mean a few poorly written articles talking about "the dangers of Youtube cults" with Actualized.org as the central story could be incredibly inconvenient for Leo. Leo's response in the past on this forum has been "I don't do cults" then went on to say if you create a cult out of Actualized.org it is your own mind's doing, which is a good response but I don't think most people would fully understand what he means by "your mind is what is creating the cult". 

[sleeperstakes]

He definitely took a lot of things out of context and is uneducated on a lot of the things Leo talks about, however I don't think all the criticism made in the video is made without there being at least some element of truth to it.

Rather than immediately shooting down any criticism of this community and of Leo's videos (which is probably what that youtuber expects/wants), why not use this as an opportunity to view this community from an outside perspective. 

The air of "spiritual superiority" was something that was picked up on in that video that can sometimes be present in Leo's videos is something that could understandably make someone think that this community is a cult. Even if it's not intentional, i can see how this would come across as obnoxious to an onlooker.

Tldr; spiritual work does not make you better than anyone in any way and a little humbleness can go a long way, especially if your goal is to get people to join this community and spread this knowledge.

[RendHeaven]

6 hours ago, Shiva said:

What do we learn from that? - Don't listen to kids on the internet who try to make money at the expense of other people and spreading misinformation.

tHiS ViDeO iS SpOnSoReD bY sKiLlShArE

Pitiful

[RendHeaven]

40 minutes ago, fridjonk said:

If any of you are triggered by this video, which it looks like. Just know you have some more work to do.  

Yes, just an year ago I would have been enraged.

Right now I'm certainly disturbed but I'm more... sad instead of mad?

But not sad in the sense that I am personally hurt, but more sad in a genuinely empathetic way.

Scrolling through the list of ignorant comments on that video made me want to befriend these people.

Edited March 18, 2020 by RendHeaven

[fridjonk]

@RendHeaven Just know this is exactly how it was meant to be. Of course, the majority of people online are orange and it's perfect just that way, a beautiful work in progress.  

[SgtPepper]

I watched the video and my reaction is -- whatever.

I could type out my opinion of why this person is wrong or why I see Leo in a different way than him. 

In the end, I don't see this as a cult, I am here voluntarily and I rarely bring up Leo in my personal life. I found psychedelics before I even found Leo. I understand why an outsider may see this as a cult, but it's fine. A cult is a lot more drastic if you actually research about them. 

 

[SOUL]

Quote

In modern English, a cult is a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or by its common interest in a particular personality, object or goal

Hmm

[Derek White]

 

8 hours ago, 4201 said:

Honestly I don't think that's a bad video. That's a fair reaction from someone who is a total outsider to all of this and I don't feel like his reaction is particularly unhealthy or neurotic, just ignorant to a field that is very obscure and hard to grasp. It's easy to be too caught up and lose perspective of what "normies" would think of all of this. This video delivers exactly that perspective. 

Leo probably doesn't care about fixing his public image to look less crazy to potential new followers (perhaps because he's too identified with being radical and crazy!) so I would bet videos like this will increase in numbers. 

Right.

Leo should be more mindful of how others perceive him, especially if he wants to help and reach out to more and more people. The "creepiness" factor is definitely a problem, and saying "I'm better than Jesus, Buddha..." doesn't help.

[4201]

1 minute ago, Derek White said:

 

Right.

Leo should be more mindful of how others perceive him, especially if he wants to help and reach out to more and more people. The "creepiness" factor is definitely a problem, and saying "I'm better than Jesus, Buddha..." doesn't help.

You may be right but I believe there's little value to look at what Leo "should" be. No matter how hard you try you can't design a better Leo. Parents can't even design their own childs.

[Osaid]

I've seen a lot of stuff like this on Leo and the best thing to do is to ignore it. There will always be people like this. Nothing can be done about that. 

Honestly though, I still find myself harboring an emotional response when I see this kind of stuff, so that's something I need to work on.

[Derek White]

16 minutes ago, 4201 said:

You may be right but I believe there's little value to look at what Leo "should" be. No matter how hard you try you can't design a better Leo. Parents can't even design their own childs.

I’m saying he can present his material in a non-creepy, more palatable way. Like he use to.

I don’t have a problem but I can see how outsiders will consider him weird and us weird. It will hurt his channel and might even create problems in his actual life in the future.

I mean... if a big youtuber like Pewds calls him a cult leader than that could have serious consequences for him. 

And he can do simple things to avoid that negative attention if he wants to.

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Derek White
Added the last line

[4201]

16 minutes ago, Derek White said:

I’m saying he can present his material in a non-creepy, more palatable way. Like he use to.

I don’t have a problem but I can see how outsiders will consider him weird and us weird. It will hurt his channel and might even create problems in his actual life in the future.

I mean... if a big youtuber like Pewds calls him a cult leader than that could have serious consequences for him. 

And he can do simple things to avoid that negative attention if he wants to.

 

Sure I do recognize that and I used to write long posts about this topic in the past. What I'm sharing is that doing that didn't change Leo and didn't bring me anything either. But perhaps you'd be better than me at convincing him to change his public image

All of this is motivated by fear of Leo receiving backlash from the entire youtube community. Who knows perhaps Leo is 100 miles ahead of us, ready to handle all of this backlash and wanting to benefit from all the attention. His channel could easily become a very controversial topic discussed about left and right on youtube granting him lots of publicity. In the end its his business, not mine.

[Derek White]

4 minutes ago, 4201 said:

Sure I do recognize that and I used to write long posts about this topic in the past. What I'm sharing is that doing that didn't change Leo and didn't bring me anything either. But perhaps you'd be better than me at convincing him to change his public image

All of this is motivated by fear of Leo receiving backlash from the entire youtube community. Who knows perhaps Leo is 100 miles ahead of us, ready to handle all of this backlash and wanting to benefit from all the attention. His channel could easily become a very controversial topic discussed about left and right on youtube granting him lots of publicity. In the end its his business, not mine.

I'm not really trying to convince him. I'm pointing out obvious trends. I don't see his channel benefiting from the backlash. It defeats the purpose of having a channel if it doesn't get views and people hate it. I think he knows what he's getting himself into so I'm not worried. 

But who cares, the hate won't be directed at us. If you like his content support the channel, and if you can afford it support him on patreon, no need to get peer pressured by society.

[RendHeaven]

9 hours ago, 4201 said:

1) That's a fair reaction from someone who is a total outsider to all of this

2) I don't feel like his reaction is particularly unhealthy or neurotic

1) Yes, for sure.

2) I disagree. To me, the whole thing seemed chalk-full of neuroticism.

I make that claim in contrast to the 'ideal' of someone who is more non-judgmental and selfless.

That is of course, a relative perspective. It's also true that a neurotic person amidst a society of neurosis is not particularly neurotic! 

These judgments depend entirely on your frame of reference.