Leo's Blog: Infinite Insights
Miscellaneous bits of wisdom about personal development, philosophy, epistemology, nonduality, life purpose, psychedelics, etc. Published randomly throughout the week.
- penetrating mental vision or discernment.
- the sudden act of grasping the inner nature or truth of a situation.
- a deep understanding of a person or thing.
Insights here are meant to be quick and half-baked. Consider these food for thought.
I've deliberately disabled comments to keep the blog streamlined. If you want to discuss any of the blog posts, you can do so here: Actualized.org Forum
There are more techniques to get enlightened than most people imagine. Case in point: Turkey's traditional Whirling Dervishes. Many Western tourists know of this odd-looking ritual, but how many of them know that this is a legit enlightenment technique? Developed by none other than the great Persian mystic Rumi.
Whirling is not just a hokey ritual but a form of active meditation. The spinning is designed to shut off the egoic monkey mind and produce states of ecstatic trance.
Read more about Sufi Whirling Dervishes on Wikipedia.
The symbolism of the ritual is pretty interesting too. The dancer wears a tall thick camel hair hat which represents the tombstone of the ego. The dancer's white skirt represents the shroud of the ego which must be cast off (sound familiar?). The taking off of the black cloak prior to whirling represents spiritual rebirth into the Truth. The crossing of the arms represents the number one, for the nondual unity of God. The whirling is done around the center of the heart, which represents unconditional love for reality. And mantras are mentally recited while whirling to further still the monkey mind.
If you decide to give whirling a try at home, watch out that you don't hit anything, or fall down, or faint from dizziness. This can be a physically dangerous technique. You can easily crack your head open. Best to do it out on a grassy field.
When your solo enlightenment retreat fails:
P.S. This is also what it looks like when your first business fails and your first attempt to pick up a girl fails ;)
Here's a really good video explaining how psychosis intersects with spirituality.
Very few Western scientists, academics, doctors, or mental health professionals understand what psychosis is and how to properly handle it — because they are spiritually ignorant, operating from the materialist paradigm. This is not a clinical problem so much as a cultural problem. Doctors will often just think of you as crazy and load you up on drugs, making the situation much worse. If you know anyone who has suffered from symptoms of psychosis, show them this video. It could be a life-changer.
Something about this animation rings so true of how universal mind works. Universal mind has this sort of whimsical intelligence, which makes it so creative.
Notice how much intelligence is displayed here. This is a tiny glimpse of infinite intelligence. Notice how it is non-rational. It's not less than rational, it's more than.
If you're in the US, it's time to vote. Early voting has started in many states.
2018 is an important election cycle.
Who should you vote for? Vote for the most conscious, the most Spirally developed candidates who have a reasonable chance of winning. Do not fall into the trap of voting on single issues. Vote on the overall level of development of the candidate. The more conscious the leader, the better they will lead, the less corruption and egotism they will enable.
As promised in the Nootropics video, here's a nootropics forum I like:
It's a great resource if you're trying to optimize your brain health.
P.S. The Nootropics subReddit is also great.
It can be easier to recognize what consciousness is when it changes rapidly and fluidly right before your eyes. Can you see that the image below is pure consciousness? Look at what consciousness can do! Try staring at it as though you were meditating on it. Become aware that it is you. This is NOT pixels on a screen! This is CONSCIOUSNESS!
Marvel at your own beauty.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect explains why, when people are ignorant, they tend to be aggressively ignorant.
"If you're incompetent, you can't know you're incompetent... The skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is." — David Dunning
Basically, the more of a fool you are, the less capacity you have to recognize that you are being a fool. Have you noticed? — when dealing with a fool, how difficult it can be to convince him that he's a fool? That's precisely what makes him a fool!
Arrogance & intransigence are the hallmark of fools.
Humility is the hallmark of sages.