Leo Gura

Enlightenment doesn't exist in the sense that it's just a concept in your head. Enlightenment is existence itself. Looking for enlightenment like an object within existence is of course a trap. You will never find a thing called enlightenment.

The distinction between reality/observer is false. That's what ego is. A boundary which does not exist.

There is a big difference between having a few enlightenment experiences and becoming a Buddha. The Buddha thing takes 40 years and it's only a path for the most exceptional people.

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A good book to read after watching the video.

@Mulky Correct It helps a lot to practice mindfulness meditation on thoughts themselves, so they can be seen as exactly what they are, and not their story.

No, thoughts and senses ARE the only reality. They literally ARE what reality is composed of. The idea of an external reality outside of immediate perception is just that, an idea. Thoughts are real, but the stories they tell are not. The existence of an external reality is one such story and should be treated with much skepticism. Maps are the stories thoughts tell. The territory is raw sensory perceptions, including the sensation of thoughts (but excluding their stories). In addition to the above, the territory is also your true existential nature: consciousness, pure empty awareness, Nothingness, and/or Absolute Truth. There are many labels we can use for it. But this awareness is not a sensory perception or a thought or an object at all.

It's not so simple in practice. Self-actualization work leads one into enlightenment work. Then after a few enlightenments, you come back down into everyday life and you still have psychological baggage to unwire. This is where true self-actualization only begins. Then you spend the rest of you life growing deeper and wider, mastering and basking in life. There is no end to self-growth if done properly. You grow until you're dead.

@cnorhistorian You've invested 20,000 hour in thinking. Thinking gets you nowhere in this pursuit. You could think for 1,000,000 years and not realize your true nature. Because what you really are is not thought, but awareness. Instead of thinking, you should be raising your awareness. And then directing it at the Absolute True nature of "you". There is an Absolute Truth, and it is directly accessible via awareness, but NOT via thinking.

@Saitama Welcome to REAL personal development It's not the rainbows and butterflies people sold you.

If the man read as many books as he claims, then ya'll would need to study self-help for 100 years to get as much theory into your brain as he has. Not sure what sense it makes to say that knowledge is a waste of time. It's not a waste of time if you use it properly.

These are not simple issues that have simple solutions. You need to study and research both issues, look for books and information products that offer real inner-growth solutions. And/or work with a quality life coach.

Hehehe.... This distinction you're making between "me" and "ego" is just more ego! The sly fox is calling itself a sly fox! And btw, Do Nothing does NOT mean that you let go of thoughts. Letting go of thoughts is NOT Do Nothing, it's a whole hell of a lot of doing! Do Nothing means you sit there and do not manipulate experience. Don't even try to manipulate yourself into non-manipulation.

I'm not a bat. I don't want live in a cave. Cabin sounds much nicer

@Clay Curl If you're in a cult, it's cause your mind created it. I don't do cults.

Throw all your rules out the window because they are wrong by the very fact that they are rules. Absolute Truth exists, and it is that which existed FOREVER -- before your body/mind were born, right now, and after your body/mind will die. What would be the point of enlightenment if it didn't transcend all that crap? How could one escape fear of death unless there was an change-less, eternal absolute that one could anchor one's identity in? All your experiences are real, but they are dreams relative to Absolute Truth. So seek the Absolute. It's right there in the midst of all your experiences! It's right there as your body/mind reads this sentence. Nothing is hidden. But you may want to focus more on the Who am I? and What a I? questions first. This Absolute Truth stuff is extremely advanced. Get some preliminary enlightenments first.

Avoiding creating a cult is hard enough as it is.

To follow your suggested path to chimphood

@Parki Words don't really explain anything. They are a confusion of the mind. Just sounds and images which function as symbols: things that are themselves not the thing they speak of. In actuality all words and symbols are illusions. Nothing can represent a thing better than itself. This is the fundamental deception of the mind.

Experience is true in the moment, but it's also ever-changing. Ask yourself what was true before you were born. What is Absolutely True and never-changing across all time? Believe it or not, there is such a "thing." And it's in your awareness right now.

Proper philosophy is exactly that. It's not a sense of frameworks, but a deep questioning into the truth of things. Proper philosophy converges with enlightenment. Of course most people get lost along the way.

@Galyna Nothing about enlightenment is hidden. It's all right in front of your nose the whole time. Being able to train onto awareness is one thing. Being able to penetrate into its depth is another. Do you know what that awareness actually is? If not, keep at it until there are no more questions and no more confusion.

@TruthSeeker Yup, that's part of it.

Great job! Keep at it! The best is yet to come