Being A Spiritual Seeker, Good or Bad?
By Leo Gura - September 7, 2015 | 42 Comments
3 rules for being an effective spiritual seeker.
Esi says: As usual perfect.
Gary in Oregon says: “You start at Nothing and return back to Nothing?”
Geeze, Leo! You might consider reading Michael Newton’s books, starting with “Journey of Souls” and then “Destiny of Souls”.
You just might discover that Nothing is Amazing.
Leo Gura says: I never said anything bad about Nothing.
Tony says: Hey Leo,
To do this work takes lots of persistence and effort. You know this. So a person kinda needs to know it’s not a wild goose chase. What have you seen or heard that makes you so certain it’s worth pursuing? I guess I should ask this as if I was asking the Leo that started the work since you have had an enlightenment experience and therefore that may be enough to show you this is legit. So before that experience; what evidence made you confident this was real and not just something most Buddhists or Elkhart tolle fans “believe” is possible?
Thanks,
Tony
Leo Gura says: Well, it’s pretty obvious if you take a few minutes to examine your direct awareness that you cannot possibly be the body/mind because who then is perceiving that? Your entire subjective experience, even according to science, is all 100% YOU! The tree or car you’re looking at isn’t actually a tree or a car, it is a rendering of your mind. You don’t need Buddhists to tell you that. So everything you’ve ever experienced in life has always been yourself. Contemplate that for a while.
sandy carter says: The entire human experience and the world seems to be a software program springing from
the belief in objectivity. There is no person doing or choosing anything. The only real I is
Awareness or Consciousness. All suffering is coming from the belief in objectivity which
can never be true because no mind occupies the body. The belief in duality or objectivity
fuels all thought, sensation, perception, feeling. This is literally a single projection occurring at amazingly fast speed giving the illusion that persons move about, go, do,act, react. It is like a movie in which the frames are still pictures and in which nothing actually occurs on the screen
where it appears. The belief in being an individual, an independent entity that can experience
the world objectively, is the source of all pain, suffering, despair.
Dave says: An important concept to grasp is duality. A thing can be true and untrue at the same time. A thing may be real and yet unreal. This is not mental gymnastics. This is the true nature of the universe.
Kathy says: Everyone’s enlightenment is very personal and very individual. It can be a very lonely road but only in appearance yet it’s very rewarding. Others will appear on your path for you to share and compare notes. We all reach our nirvana in different ways and yet its the same. The ultimate paradox. Have fun searching, for that which you seek, seeks you.
Ali Rida says: Hi Leo, When ever I watch Your videos I get inspired really hard, and I keep track of the ideas I acquired from you. I don’t really try them as much as I think about them. I think about too much to the extent I feel tired and the ideas feel negative and no more inspiring. For years and the same thing is happening to me, i think it is obsessive thinking. I can ignore the obsessive thoughts for sometime, and in the end all I know is that the thoughts are back and I’m fueling them. Can you talk about this problem? Thanks salaf
Nancy says: Thank you Leo. Thank you for your talks and guidance. You’re the best.
hey leo
your videos are awesome .since i start watching my life transform .thanks a lot
i
Ramona 
Ivan says: PLEASE TAKE THIS MESSAGE SERIOUSLY.hey Leo ,i recently discovered you on a youtube,and due to your videos i began to meditate although i did it acouple of times,well more than couple but im starting to grasp the concept of an idea you re promoting.But Leo im not writing you just to say good job or anything eventhough i mean it,I REALY NEED YOUR HELP SO PLEASE ANSWER ME.i have red alchemist at the age of 15-16 and i believe it was the start of my spiritual journy,i mean since i learned something about god as a kid i ve been asking questions.i learned from christian priests ,Jehowas witnessess,muslim students…you know,anything to try to find out anything about divine so i can somehow conect with it and improve my life,but more than just a will to improve my life i wanted to know the thruth.i needed to know the thruth,i dont know why but i could never stop asking questions.Now im 28 yrs old,have a kid 4 yrs old,who i named Noah and i looooooove him man,but im also treated addict for last 7-8 yrs.surprise surprise all that truth that all of those people told me as an absolute truth led me to a state where i feel more lost than ever.dont get me wrong im not blameing anyone for using drugs(i enjoyed it allot in the begining),but man after all this yrs i still dont know the truth and im writing to you because i feel like you could understand that devouring feeling of not knowing with a constantly urging need to know.tell me is meditation in any oposition to god?catholics are telling me its a sin,and all i need to do is pray like Jeus did.but didnt Jesus himself meditate in the desert for 40 days?as a christian this question realy matters to me so i need an objective answer.what is god anyway?you see im tworn apart by a simple questions.sory for such a long letter,but if you can answer me because it matters. what do you think god is?how can meditation be bad in gods eyes?can meditation be used in purposes of telekinesis,aerokinesis etc,and should one even try to attempt it just to wide ones posibilities?Leo thanx for listening(reading).and one last thing -why am i getting sad when other people do bad things to other people that doesnt eve concernes me?
Ed Humm says: I Ivan I understand your dilemas I am nearly 50 and been seeking the same truths for decades, but of late I have found many truths and the truth I am finding seems to lay in all religions and belief systems – believe. But there is more because all of this is linked to quantum science, check out Bruce Lipton – The Biology of Belief. Check out Dr Joe Dispenza – You Are The Placebo
Then just stop worrying, thinking and feeling you don’t know because you do know as you have been searching all this time. It is now time to sit yes just sit and meditate and in the spaces you will find you and then listen to your heart and then talk with your heart and let it know who and what you want to be and then believe it is so, feel it really feel it and do it over and over and don’t worry just sit and be…
You are your own truth – enjoy yourself
closer says: Ivan my brother , in Islam is a good thing to mediate because it leads to believe that there is a creator for this world , and like you said Jesus did it and also other prophets did it like Ibrahim and Mohamed , in Islam the truth is that Allah created us to worship him and sent prophets to tell people about heaven and hell and that this life is a test for us and that who created this universe didn’t create us for no purpose and he gave us knowledge and science to reach that conclusion , who believes goes to heaven and eternal happiness and who doesn’t goes to eternal hell
Mike says: Thanks Leo; you’re videos are honest and very thoughtful. I appreciate the help I’ve gotten from all of them. I feel the same way about circular journeys and it’s frustrating how the typical western mind just wants to circumvent the process and get right to the good stuff.
Keep up the good work Leo, you’re doing an amazing thing and it’s definitely being recognized and fruitful.
Robert says: As I have come to expect from you, this talk is excellent. There is one minor subtle point which I think detracts from this presentation. I believe that you should consider the possibility in your own belief system that rather than the concept that “we come from nothing and go to nothing” you might consider re-thinking that dogma as “we come from something and go to something.” (We just don’t have the knowledge to know what that “something” is). I am not proselytizing and personally, I do not embrace formal religion. However, there are innumerable examples that there is more to our human existence than coming from, and returning to, nothing. I find that the numerous scientific presentations in the near death experiences literature are surprisingly persuasive. (I particularly like the work presented by physicians Bruce Grayson and Pim van Lommel as well as the documented story of Anita Moorjani). Thank you for your terrific work.
Leo Gura says: Well, here is where you should examine your own consciousness rather than relying on second-hand accounts. Who were you before you were born? Were you something or nothing? Who are you when you go into dreamless sleep? Are you something or are you nothing?
Enlightened masters from various traditions report the same thing: every something arises out of absolute nothing. I’m not saying you should believe in this. You should seek to verify it in your own direct experience. It’s happening in you right now. Every thought you’re having is arising out of nothing. See for yourself.
Johnny says: Well , saying there is nothing before birth and nothing after death is an assumption drawn from your 5 senses …in other words it is a believe as well as saying there is something before birth and after death…
From my personal experience with OBE I can tell there is a ghost body (energy body with some sort of magnetic properties) and it has nothing to do with woo woo stuff by the way…. because of these personal experiences I believe there is something after death…
James says: Hey Dude,
Yup, totally. Finding the hidden nuggets of applicable truth from all the schools is key!
Since “waking up”, my ultra-rational world has turned upside down… I found grounding in Zen, but raced hungrily to decipher the codes & metaphors of other “schools” with a newly found ability for accelerated learning & information retention… my knowledge began to make it’s own connections as a background process… “aha” moments happen more & more frequently out of nowehere!
With the conscious & subconscious, ever converging, my adult mind collapsed & I became a very disciplined child with a silent mind on demand & generally high equanimity but there was a catch… getting scared of the dark! Along the road to facing childhod fears one by one, I stumbled across Alchemy’s “putrefaction of the child” & recognised that I’d previously completed prior stages of the process. The stages took me further & further until I fell into the world of Lucid Dreaming for the second time in my life, only this time (thanks to my studies) prepared to travel beyond sleep paralysis!
When you realise that beyond the extistential truth of matter & void, all things still have relative ‘meaning’ in existence & all that can be experienced is a “real” experience, a beautiful journey laden with pitfalls opens up in front of of you. Keen discernment is the only thing that seems to seperate the road between madness & ultimate enlightenment… also perhaps most essentially the ability to stay grounded & cultivate an “off switch”.
I sometimes describe an awakening as a pleasant & peaceful panic attack. In general, your eyes can really grow to focus on & retain light more too. I find it a little inconvenient in the dark to be honest because there’s almost more inner light than there is dark… kinda like that old windows screensaver with the stars yet faint & grainy… I like to think of it as “anti-light” (as in anti-matter!).
It may seem insane to a zen teacher to have a student achieve silent awakening yet still choose to “mentally masturbate” & continue plotting a map of the esoteric… However, with what could be one chance to make a difference & live an extraordinary life, why not follow the calling & rise to the challenge beyond the linear formalities & tired perspectives to find out just how far consciousness can be raised!? See what you’ve done Leo? You’ve created a monster! just kidding… Life’s pretty peaceful these days
Joseph says: Have you ever seen Mooji’s videos? What are your thoughts about him? He seems enlightened. I have also seen Noah Elkrief’s videos. He seems to have reached enlightenment as well.
world says: LEO, read Quran , if u haven’t already, you should give it a try !!
jouma says: life is a (test) to believe or not to believe in the creator , there is not absolute happiness in life , it is designed to be like that so people can think about a better place , the ability of dreaming and thinking has been given for a greater purpose which is to believe in the unknown thats the ultimate test its the hardest, its not about rest and comfort its about doubt and fighting and dying on that path only few can make it the rest becomes tired from the doubt and try something easier like Darwin’s evolution or circles, we are designed for that test and many questions today are answered in another dimension tomorow , do u dare to believe
Steve says: Wow thank you so much! It is an insight I needed long time ago.
“Die happy”, very well said.
Practical use! Thank you my favorite teacher on life meaning, motivation, and true happiness!!! I love the honest super amazing teaching!!!!
Leo, how can we all thank you? I am so grateful.
helm says: you could really make a video on neediness you know that?
Jarvis says: Is it possible for a scientist who nearly fucks up his whole mind with concepts about possibly every thing he perceives, to ever become enlightened without sacrificing his career ? Is the practice of rigorous science in some sense not an anti-enlightenment work?
Leo Gura says: There is no conflict between rigorous science and enlightenment. Becoming enlightened is just empirical observation applied to one’s subjective experience.
The problem is that most scientists aren’t doing rigorous science. Being dogmatic is NOT what proper scientific method suggests. Nothing in science has ever confirmed the existence of a self, so why should you believe in it so firmly?
truthseeker says: Say, “Each works according to his manner, but your Lord is most knowing of who is best guided in way.”(84)
And they ask you, (O Muhammad), about the soul. Say, “The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.”(85)
Maria says: Are you saying that the mystery and awe that I believe is out there waiting for me, in pursuit of which i work day and night doesn’t exist. And the road that i’ve taken eventually will lead me to nothingness, which somehow i’ll learn to accept through the collective wisdom that i will acquire along the journey, and that inspite is what actually waiting for me. But even after knowing this, I should continue pursuing that mystery ignoring what you just said and stumble across the journey till i realize there is no mystery. Because if i realize that right now i will stop the pursuit,
as the awe is what that drives me.
darim says: there is no proof of nothingness just couple people don’t have answers to death and birth , try to come up with theories based on this world rules and material instincts , just to forget about the doubts and annoying puzzles, while there is lot of proofs that humans don’t know it all , there is not a better feeling than dreaming of perfect place when you always feel happy and that’s after this life another eternal whole different life , that’s the circle right there everybody should come back to following the heart , levels which r felt but they r not reachable for human mind , humans denied god because they start playing the role of god , and forgot that they r not perfect and that they r vulnerable against the weakest reasons in this universe
Leo Gura says: No, I’m saying that THERE IS NO YOU!
So then…
Who is seeking awe? Who is threatening to quit? Who is reading this sentence?
Mary says: Well I don’t know where to ask you this, but will you be doing a video on perfectionism?
Leo Gura says: As a matter of fact, yes!
Mary says: Nice, thanks!
What about videos on topics of “Internet addictions” and “Getting over social embarrassment” (Kinda like the one you did with” How to stop caring what other people think”?
Vanessa says: THANK YOU for sharing this; i’m lucky to consider you one of my teachers along the way
Oblin says: I LOVE the video, expanding my understanding of psychology and the road of seeking a better life.
What can I say? Thank you Leo! I am overcome by my deep gratitude for your generous sharing of your insight. You are truly one best human soul that light up our road forward.
James says: Just wished to to thank you for your incredible effort and energy. Incredible things are occurring in people’s lives and it seems that you have something to do with it.
Sinz says: Last night I was listening to this on the way to a friend and you mentioned philosophy is mental masturbation. Later that night I was watching this new Woody Allens movie named Irrational Man, suddenly the ‘philosophy prof’ in the movie said: philosophy is verbal masturbation!
What are the odds!
Hi Leo!
I am really enjoying your videos. I find them both enlightening and entertaining! How would you explain the “you start at nothing and return to nothing” to a child. I have 3 children who have been brought up in Christianity. I am still on my path to spiritual discovery. I “get” much of what you are getting at. I am always left at the same question of how can you explain spiritual discovery to a child. I don’t think they would get it! Just curious….
Shannon
Leo Gura says: All you really gotta teach them is to be openminded and to question everything existentially.
This work cannot be taught. It can only be discovered for oneself. So teach them to think independently and question every belief, even the most obvious ones.
Riccardo says: Hi everyone, I just want to share one single quote, that has really pointed me in the right direction. It is something that one of my fellow meditators during a Vipassana camp said on the last day. And it subconsciously pointed me in the right direction. I want to share it with you. He said:
“well… you know, we live in this society with Hollywood and special effects, and so we have this tendency to think that Enlightenment must be something like wow… but perhaps it’s really something very simple, no special effects, something really like ‘that was it?”.
Haha omg! Hope it helps guys! Lots of love everyone
Rewa says: Hi Leo,
This is a great topic and as usual great!
Your second rule: “seek technique, not their belief” is a million $ statement….the root cause of communal riots, discrimination and war between nations….