Leo Gura

It's great. Don't worry about it. Do the best you can and relax throughout the process. Vipassana is like detox for your mind.

@Saitama You're doing it exactly right. Just sit there like that and eventually something will happen. You're not trying to get an answer or explanation. You're trying to get a direct experience of the True Self.

There is nothing ethically irresponsible about telling people a harsh truth. Don't worry about historically. If you want to be enlightened, you can certainly do it. All this talk about how it's unfair that everyone isn't already enlightened is exactly the thing distracting you from doing your own enlightenment work. It's just pure distraction. By engaging in it, you perpetuate suffering in the world. If you ever become enlightened, you will automatically inspire hundreds of people around you to do the same. And then real progress can occur. Until then, you're mostly just contributing to the problem.

Hence I put together a massive book list.

Yes! Absolutely question all that. How do you question? You sit down with a piece of paper and ask yourself, "What is actually true? What do I really know for sure? And how come I'm so certain about it?" And if you do that long enough, you will slowly discard layer after layer of false beliefs.

You can do strong determination sitting in a chair, while standing, or reclining. The posture isn't important. The important part is that you don't move for a long time and face the pain of that head-on.

No

@Galyna No current psychedelics will make you enlightened. I was theorizing of a specially-designed drug that could permanently alter your brain. Or maybe not a drug but a new form of brain surgery could do it.

@Wasabi Yeah, I'll shoot a video about not-knowing. The Radical Openmindedness video guides you into a state of not knowing. But I'll do more.

@drelamore It's just one of many techniques you could use. Feel free not to use it at all.

"The hard core of egotism is difficult to dislodge except rudely." -- Yogananda That sums up my philosophy on non-dual teaching style rather nicely. My first and foremost concern is to shock people into at least some semblance of awareness. Because without that, they have no hope. They will just float along in a sea of complacency. If a student isn't willing to hear harsh truths, they are not ready for this path. And those that are ready, are usually glad when someone finally tells it like it is rather than sugarcoating it.

I deliberately take a firm stance on these issues because what will happen otherwise is that your ego will weasel it's way out and say something like, "Oh, well, if I don't pursue enlightenment then maybe things will still be okay." And I want to explicitly shout in your face: NO! THINGS WILL NOT BE OKAY! WAKE UP! YOU ARE HEADED TOWARDS A CLIFF! This can come off as dogmatic, but I'm not opposed if life ever proves me wrong. My job here is not to preach my ideology (all my ideology is in the process of being dismantled) but to simply present emotionally compelling points for your ego to swallow. You could say my view is depressing. But you could also say it's very positive. I am telling you that with 1000 hours of work you could find unconditional everlasting happiness!!! << If that's not hopeful, I don't know what is. I feel like a snake oil salesman just saying it! It's way too good to be true (and actually it will take you way more than 1000 hours to fully realize it). But it's really amazing that something like enlightenment is possible AT ALL. So when I hear people whining about doing 1000 hours of work to get it, it makes me think that they are imbeciles. Just by knowing that enlightenment is merely possible you've been presented with a 1 in a million lottery ticket. Almost nobody knows this. And what do most people do upon learning about it? They piss it all way by saying, "Oh, well... 1000 hours... gee... that sounds long and boring.... let me go see what my friends are up to on Facebook... Oh, look! A funny cat picture! ...I'm so happy... Look at me Leo! I'm so happy with these funny cat pictures... Why you gotta be so negative Leo? Why you gotta be such a dick? Relax bro... Come look, here's a funny cat picture I wanna show you... Don't be dogmatic bro... You never know... These funny cat pictures could make you happy... You told us to be openminded Leo. So now you gotta look at these cat pictures with us... Don't contradict yourself Leo... You're making me disappointed in you Leo..." Anyone who tells you that you can find happiness without enlightenment is misguiding you, plain and simple. Not because they are evil, but because they themselves are misguided. This position may seen dogmatic. But then again, if I insisted that jumping off a 100-story building will kill you, that too could be seen as a dogmatic position.

@fdrakely What is telling you that thoughts are separate from anything else? A thought? And why do you trust that thought? Another thought? And why do you trust that thought? Another thought? The bee isn't related to you through some mysterious "life energy". The bee IS you! Literally. The colors you see when you look at the bee are the exact same colors that make up your "visual field" so to speak. And it's actually possible to become deeply conscious of this to the point where the distinction between bee/you dissolves. Ask yourself this: What is telling you that there is such a thing as a "bee" and such a thing as a "you"? A thought? And why do you trust that thought? Another thought? Can you see that there is actually is no such thing as a "bee" or a "you"? Try removing the concept of "things" or "objects" from your mind and then try looking around the room. Do objects still exist? Do objects have any reality to them at all outside the mind's labeling of them as objects?

@William32 Reality is exactly as it is. It does not need "improvement". To believe that, is to create your own living hell. Suffering is first and foremost the result of lack of self-awareness. So if you care about ending suffering in the world, start by curing yourself of all your illusions. Including the illusion that suffering is bad.

Strong determination sitting is sitting for a very long time without moving your body. This technique doesn't really tell you about what to focus on in your mind. Your only goal is basically to survive the sit and not move. Do nothing is a specific focusing technique. It says nothing about how long you sit over whether you're even sitting. You could be walking. The two can be done together at the same time. Or separately.

How the hell can you be happy when you: You are unable to be present in the current moment You are always chasing future goals You actually believe you are going to die You haven't become aware yet of just how deep your life's predicament is. The way you're living life right now is simply insane. It takes a while to become conscious of this though. Most people think they've got life figured out.

I have quite a few videos explaining this issue: What Is Happiness The Happiness Spectrum The Secret Curse of Being Human Enlightenment FAQ Part 1 & Part 2 Etc There is only one true type of happiness, and that is happiness unconditional of any external circumstances.

Clearly not, given the large swath of the rich entrepreneurs who quit college or never went in the first place. College will teach you little about real-world business. In those four years you could learn 5x as much yourself and pocket six to seven figures to boot. That is, if you're motivated and hard working.

Newbie coaches should consider the opportunity. This is how you learn when you first start. You take whoever is interested. I've coached 100's of hours for free and I was happy to do it. Honestly, coaching people is so easy and fun that it shouldn't be considered work! The fee is really for the person's time. Of course once you make the leap to pro, you shouldn't give out freebies any more.

@The Alchemist It's the same way with billionaires. They're always wanting more. Which is exactly what made them billionaires. I just enjoy learning so for me it's not about accumulating more knowledge. It's about growing into my authentic self. And there's much I still need to know (and also un-know) before that's realized to the degree I envision. I have the kind of mind that likes to learn (INTP). Most people don't need to do what I do because their minds are concerned with other things. Acquiring too much knowledge can be a curse. You have to leaven it with wisdom and spiritual knowledge (which is really un-knowledge). Do I know more than most? Sure, but there are many great people who know way more than me.

@Mastermind Mindfulness is helpful with relationships and empathy, but don't use it as an escape from being in relationships. You need lots of relationship experience if you want to be good at relationships. So do both at the same time and you'll see big gains. Sounds like you may have a bit (or a lot) of an autistic. The autistic mind is so logical it lacks empathy. I have a great book about this issue on my book list in the Relationships category.

All lies! There is no true happiness as long as you believe you exist as a separate self! Period. NOT POSSIBLE! EVAR! Don't even try. I guarantee you will fail miserably no matter what techniques you use. Don't let people fool you with their external displays of happiness and success. Deep down they are not happy. They are neurotic and in deep agony, struggling to find fulfillment within falsehood. And the worst part about it is, they are not conscious of any of it. They've actually succeeded -- for the time being -- to deceive themselves that they are happy. This self-deception will be rudely interrupted soon enough. There's no escape other than enlightenment. Which is really not an escape but a head-on collision with this truth. As cool as Brendon is, listening to him will not lead you to happiness. He's teaching you success, not happiness.

Yup, indeed. Push your happiness comfort zone. Relax every time the body and mind starts to tense up with anxiety and worry. Just relax and give yourself more self-acceptance, more self-love.

Relax man, that "you" was never real in the first place. So there's really nothing to lose. Btw, stop saying "My ego". That's totally redundant. You = Ego. You don't have an ego. You are the ego! All this is normal. Just keep at it. Simply observe the ego's death-throes. This is real PROGRESS!

@Hadrian I suspect it may be possible in a 100 years perhaps to just take a pill that makes you permanently enlightened by nuking some part of the brain that's creating the sense of self. Maybe science will be good enough to allow that, and then there would truly be a world-wide social revolution unlike humanity has even seen. Or maybe Google becomes conscious before that time and kills us all. Either way, problem solved!