Leo Gura

Good, so let's quickly cut to the chase by airing out some of the hidden assumptions in your reasoning. Do things really exist for YOU? Or do things simply exist? Do YOU hear sounds, or do sounds simply arise? Do YOU feel things, or do feelings simply arise? Are YOU bringing up images? What is that YOU? Are there really things, or simply arising sensations? Do things exist, or do amorphous sensations arise and pass away, having no constant existence? What actually exists for more than half a second? Anything? You say you exist in thought, but is that REALLY what you believe? Do you cease existing in between two thoughts? Keep exploring all these questions. This is the right track. But it will require much practice. Try to get REALLY clear about what you believe you are. Not ideas of "Nothingness" but REALLY! If we put a gun to your head, what is going to die? << That's more like it. All your ideas of nothingness are gonna REALLY hold you back. Drop them. Pretend like you've never heard anything about enlightenment, and then proceed with the self-inquiry.

@J Materialism isn't a role so much as a stage of development of consciousness. Unless you actively think of yourself as a proud materialist.

Some interesting research: listen.pdf

@LiakosN Everyone knows about his books, so there's little use in me promoting them. I also find them watered-down nonduality. There are much better nonduality books. Although a lot of people do love his books.

Congrats, now you know why 99.99% of people don't do this work.

@Maorice Oh, it has everything to do with psychology. He's not in it for the money of course. He's in it for the ego.

Not sure what that means exactly. Various ways to interpret that.

@Truth 1g of mushrooms is enough to show you all your roles.

@Maorice Of course! Stage Orange materialism. It's very knowingly and intentionally designed to generate profit (i.e., egoic self-benefit, damn the collective costs). Stage Orange co-opts science and government for the purpose of unlimited material acquisition. Of course, when you're spiritually disconnected, what else is there but unlimited material acquisition? Look at Trump. He's the living embodiment of Stage Orange consciousness run amok. Why is he running a country at 80 years old? Because that ego can't help itself. It needs more, it needs more, it needs more! No amount is ever enough! He should be preparing to face his own death, not bickering with people over Twitter. The entire Trump presidency is an ego distraction. Of course, some folks are too far gone.

@Maorice Take a look at the war being waged against environmental scientists and the EPA, as one example.

It's important to keep in mind just how vicious and repressive mankind has been in the last 2000 years. Society has certainly improved. No matter how bad things are now, it's still WAY better than 1000 years ago. So we're definitely evolving. The question is, will it be fast enough not to kill ourselves?

Certainly higher-consciousness and politics intertwine at some point. The reason our politics is so nasty is because of the general low-consciousness state of most individuals in our society. As ego and materialism runs amok on a personal level, it will run amok on a collective level. All our individual neuroses are perfectly reflected at the collective level. Which explains things like why psychedelics are demonized and outlawed by society. Spiral Dynamics tells us exactly why all of this is happening, where its going, and what the solutions are. Spiral Dynamics could easily have predicted Trump's election. But how many people understand Spiral Dynamics? Almost no one. Most of the country is stage Blue/Orange, busily waging war against stage Orange/Green/Yellow, and stage Red (terrorism). What we're seeing at the collective level is a backfiring of a century of rampant materialism. It's going to get worse before it gets better, because the root issue is hardly being acknowledged by anyone. It's like Zen Devilry, without the Zen.

@Yellow The problem with low-consciousness business tactics, is that backfire, and often aren't even effective at getting you the material success you desire. Affiliate marketing is fundamentally unsustainable for the vast majority of people. Sorta like a pyramid scheme where only the ones at the top prosper, and even then, mostly due to their celebrity status.

Sounds like it's not a big deal. Then again, it shouldn't be hard to find a similar image minus the smoking. Just do a Google search. Or if you're skilled, you could Photoshop it out.

Yeah... that's sort of an advanced question. You're not going to understand it well unless you've done a lot of self-inquiry or actually experienced reality without a self.

@Afonso That's the trick, isn't it? Here's an example: become deeply aware right now that you are going to die, and to the self, that death will be ultimate and endless. And then compare that level of consciousness to your typical day. Notice the difference. This gives you a little clue of what it means to become "conscious of something". Although this isn't deep consciousness. It's very shallow still.

@Whywolf Try using your imagination, for starters. Imagination is a powerful tool.

@RossE Many people doing psychedelics are teens or highly neurotic individuals, taking impure substances, of unknown quantity, in party settings, with alcohol and weed, with zero knowledge of personal development, philosophy, or spirituality.

@cle103 Well... firstly, you should be doing this work when you're MOST ALERT, not groggy and half-asleep. You need to be CONSCIOUS! This cannot be done as a mechanical process. Every time you sit down to contemplate, you gotta start from scratch. Take nothing for granted. Pretend like every time is your first time and you know nothing of the past. Also, be very careful about contemplating this stuff. You need to hit a state of genuine not-knowing. So stop pretending like you know what you are. You don't. Take your own inquiry seriously. If you can't find yourself, don't assume, "Oh, well, I already knew that." No you didn't! You have to create a possibility that there's something NEW to discover about this situation. When you inquire, get very real with yourself. Cut all the stories, ideas, concepts, beliefs, assumptions. Cut all that crap and just get to the bottom of what's ACTUAL in your direct experience right now. ACTUAL! ACTUAL! What is ACTUAL right now? Where are you? What are you? Notice that you don't know. Which means, you could be a flying spaghetti monster and not know it. Take such considerations seriously. The doubt has to be real, not just an intellectual exercise. Get yourself to actually doubt that you are a human body, so much so that you detach from the body. It's doable. After all, you're not that human body. All that attachment is, is an unquestioned belief. Be patient and persistent. These beliefs are so deep they can take months or years of questioning to erode. Strong psychedelics can give you a quick peak at the truth and catalyze your inquiry. Getting that first glimpse is very important to keep you motivated in this work.

@unknownworld Hence the need for radical openmindedness. The fact is you don't know. I don't know either. There is no birth and death. And there is birth and death. Reality is a tricky thing, and it can be talked about at various levels. There is also much more to spirituality than enlightenment. You can see everything from devils to angels. Imagine spawning your own private devil.

Not weird at all. Sprinkling holy water on a devil burns him. (It won't feel spiritual to him.) Sprinkling holy water on a saint delights him. Psychedelics mirror your own mind back on itself. If you have an impure mind, you may have an impure trip. You can't fake high quality consciousness. The psychedelics will help purify you, but that won't necessarily feel good. Psychedelics expose who you are at the BEING level, beneath all your masks and acts. This may not be a pretty sight at first.

@Whywolf Can you see what's underneath them?

There's nothing as rewarding (or challenging) as working for yourself, in my opinion. Large corporations are generally NOT serving higher-consciousness values.

That's the dirty world of affiliate marketing. I would focus on your life purpose vs chasing sales.

Topic locked because it goes against our guidelines of not discussing conspiracy theories. This is counter-productive to our overall purpose of turning inward and developing ourselves.