SgtPepper

Me too!

if your goal is to not "abuse" it, you have to set proper boundaries around your usage of it. So maybe use it biweekly and create a ritual around it. Use the time to meditate and self-reflect.

Yoga is complex as fuck. Your conception of yoga is less than basic and is pretty much developed from western propaganda about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga Just read that whole wiki page and you've only scratched the surface. One aspect of yoga is about stretching, but your next issue would be what you think stretching is for and the potential it has for us.

Hehe. I love those songs . You can tell I am a big Beatles fan by my username. Another great one from a radically different band: "Well, I have a home Longing to roam I have to find you I have to meet you Sanctum your face Slowing your pace I need your guidance I need to seek my Innervision Innervision My pupils dance Lost in a trance Your sacred silence Losing all violence Stars in their place Mirror your face I need to find you I need to seek my Innervision Innervision Innervision It's never too late to reinvent the bicycle Small breaks for the new Giving you life Giving you force There's only one true path in life The road that leads to all leads to one There's only one true path in life (innervision) The road that leads to all (innervision) Your sacred silence, losing all violence"

All that's required is for you to surrender, thats it.

Pretty awesome song. Too many good psychedelic songs to name. But I'll leave one I really like: "We were talking, about the space between us all And the people, who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion Never glimpse the truth, then it's far too late when they pass away We were talking, about the love we all could share When we find it, to try our best to hold it there, with our love With our love we could save the world, if they only knew Try to realize it's all within yourself, no-one else can make you change And to see you're really only very small And life flows on within you and without you We were talking, about the love that's gone so cold And the people who gain the world and lose their soul They don't know, they can't see, are you one of them?" - George Harrison

Lol. I feel silly. Hmm. I can certainly see that. Why not right? I still think Ego is part of it all else it would not be, but it is. It just should not run it without it being fueled by inner-being.

You are right! But. This is something I wondered yesterday actually. How does one hold an ego idea such as conservatives have terrible principles, but at the same time recognize the multiple perspectives? In another context the principles of conservatism may actually be the best principles to have for a particular situation. The perspective that Trump is a horrible president for example is contingent upon who you are asking and further, their education, culture, and life experiences. So... Who am I to say one way is good or bad. From a relative perspective, it just is, and it depends on the context whether a set of ideas are useful or not, and it will always be related to the ego's position. I am not saying this as someone who love or hates Trump. To me there is a bigger systemic issue with government and politics and its in relation to the average person, but that besides the point because it is a relative perspective lol. I am not attacking Leo here, but it surprises and slightly confuses me how he encourage the ability to hold multi-perspectives, but yet appears to hold finalized conclusions about Trump, when from a relative perspective, it's all relative to the situation, the person, and more. From a relative perspective it would just make sense to not even have a "real" opinion on the issue because there is no determined perspective. It's like going in circles cause nothing is absolute besides the absolute itself, but for the sake of order, communication, and my relationships, I hold a view, that I recognize is relative. Maybe I am not seeing the bigger picture on relativism yet. So I will look into it.

Yes I do. But I find it difficult to be able to separate a conversation about ego vs. contemporary issues of society at large since I feel that to make changes in society, requires ego, accumulated knowledge, and an effort to find what direction is "better" than another. Society at large is in its own ego and perhaps evolves when individuals within society drop ego so another evolved ego can form to change the Society Ego. If I drop ego, I probably would not even post on the forum since It is ultimately much more pleasing to sit in peace and let it be. There's nothing to fight or change. I am not at a point where I can balance staying in a non-ego state while posting opinions. In one way I am and another I am not. Ego loves to participate and connect with other egos who are ultimately itself.

haha. I do not really see myself as resisting green. If anything I feel I am moving to yellow. I have a little bit of orange because I am young and I gotta make something of myself financially speaking. Maybe I should re-watch the stage Green episode though... I lean toward liberal values with a libertarian twist. I am very open-minded compared to people I know. Connected to my emotions which is why I am not in the STEM field and I am also a musician. I am not very materialistic. I like nice things, but I am not strongly attached to them. If anything I am more fascinated by systemic thinking and how we can apply it to improve the function of our society. It is very clear to me that life is a system within a system within a system. My main issue is mastering discipline and strategic thinking.

Self-reflection and self-understanding 100%. In a sense. I want to teach others how to effectively self-reflect that they can heal themselves so they won't need a therapist or psychologist. and I am 100% going to be bias. As long as I communicate, I can only speak my experience and it will inherently be biases, else I'd sit around here saying I don't know because I only know what's real to me. I am only aware of my ego. I can only communicate through that avenue.

I definitely agree with that. or at least, that's always been my concern since I was a teenager. To me there will be authorities and hierarchies. I mean just look at this community, we are all on this pathless path, but lets not kid ourselves to say we equally value each other opinions. I am 24 and I look up to Leo because he is older and has more experience than me in this field. At some point, I will outgrow all teachers and become a teacher myself for another student. How else can I listen to someone with complete attention if I do not humble myself or else I would not be reading any books or watching Leo's content. I mean why not just become a heroin dealer vs becoming an engineer that develops phones? Why not, become a prostitute, sucking 21 dicks a week vs getting a job at a daycare taking care of people's children? Because we individually actually PREFER stuff. As long as I'd rather be a labor in construction than sucking dicks for money than I will always value something over something else. Hence Hierarchy. Or forget about money. As long as I'd rather snowboard than skateboard, then snowboarding will always appear "higher" to me. YES in the bigger picture, when you zoom out, we are all one, but from our relative small perspective, this stuff does matter. the sameness and difference episode is relevant to this discussion. Edit: Disclaimer: excuse my passion btw. I enjoy discussing and am not trying to be argumentative. I am as much a student as everyone here. I am just becoming extreme in my communication here to get across my point. @Jack River I agree with you. As someone playing the capitalism game, in western society, going into the psychology field. That is exactly what I plan to do and am hoping to earn a living by guiding people with many perspectives and approaches.

That's not really practical. The only thing you can do is start with yourself and spread the word. I do not think its as simple as you posit to be.

Was it like that in the Peru community? I do not see this happening as a shaman who has experienced 100 doses of ayahuasca is more experienced than someone who has only done 25. Hence there will always be a hierarchal perspective because it does serve our ego. In the sense that if I am looking for advice or some sort of ailment. I feel some sort of "negative" way, Am I going to visit the shaman with 100 doses of ayahuasca, maybe he appears to have higher wisdom. Or will I visit the other. Yes, we can learn from everyone, everyone has their own wisdom, but when it comes to survival, I do not see the hierarchal perspective going away because it is useful when it comes to survive. I will always view someone who loves children as "better" from MY perspective, than someone who abuses their children. From God's perspective, he Loves all because God is Love. Personally, I think ego will always exist and is part of God's plan. I think the main goal of this work is to learn balance between ego and God. Ultimately it is all God, but you need to save yourself before you can save someone else.

YES. Education should focus on encouraging self-reflection, awareness, creativity, internal motivation, acceptance, tolerance, openness, communication, discussions, listening to others, humbling yourself, recognizing weaknesses and strengths, and how to get better at all of it.

Psychologist don't only look to Thought as a way to solve neurosis. They also look to awareness and self-reflection with or without thoughts. Now even if you realized and conceptualized it. "All neurosis is caused by thoughts, so stop having them!" (this idea would fit in the field of psychology) It would be a hypothesis that one could test in the western world, etc. However, You are not even considering the amount of "hard wired" beliefs, habits, defensiveness people would have to unravel within themselves to even come to that realization themselves. how would it help a person who is in need right now? I don't really see how explaining this to someone with severe OCD would help them. They would think you're full of shit or feel they are not in control. That's how strong the EGO is. Psychologists meet their clients at their level and respect their journey too. Breaking ego pattern requires psychedelics, self-reflection, patience, time, and openness to change, that is what psychologists CAN provide to people who do not know how.

Be careful you are not visiting a Psychiatrist and expecting them to perform high quality therapy. Psychiatrist fundamental approach to solving mental health is through Pharma drugs. I agree with your critique on the average psychologist, BUT the good news is there is a wave and a push within the psychology community to be more holistic and systemic. The truth is if you want a good psychologist with deep development, you're going to have to look in the same way you can find a life coach who has poor development vs someone like Leo who has a strong personal development experience. Everyone here should also realize that psychology is a new field. It didn't even really start until the work of Freud and William James which is late 1800s. There is so much to integrate and refine when it comes to this work and its not even easy to prove given it is difficult to measure and conceptualize psychological phenomena in a way everyone can easily digest and understand, and then TEACH to new upcoming psychologists.

Don't they have shamans instead? Pretty much the same thing. A therapist is someone who will listen non-judgmentally and create a space of acceptance like a mirror for the individual to find themselves. In addition, they can guide that person and enable them to feel their feelings deeper, when they do not know how to. Perhaps this will not be as needed if everyone becomes masters at self-reflection. But someone certainly has to model those techniques for it to become easily adaptable on a community level. I am not sure, whatever "problems" people have regarding their psychology. Psychologists specialize in psychological phenomenon from a subjective perspective. They work to conceptualize psychological experiences in a predictable way that can be communicated and understood in an "objective" manner, at least in the western worldview. Thanks to the work of Sigmund Freud, we can look at someone's comment and realize, oh yeah! thats just a projection of their own issues. Psychology was born out of need for people to relieve their neurosis or to even understand why it is occurring. I went into the field because I saw the world around me and decided the world needs more people who can help others guide and find peace and relief in their mental experiences.

It's definitely a minority. but I've met a couple of professors during my education that were into mindfulness as a way to cope with mental health. But I did not bring up enlightenment too much or ego dissolution, but one of them expressed that they liked Jim Carrey's recent speeches, so that says something. but honestly, I don't really know. Very hard for me to break student-professor relationship without feeling fear of judgment. and I rely on these individuals to write me letter of recommendation so I am not THAT open about my experiences because I may come off crazy and unprofessional.

Not true. There will always be a need of a teacher to show the way for newcomers. In addition, therapists are trained and geared towards shadow work, not enlightenment. Also there are psychologists and therapist out there open and aware of meditation, yoga, and enlightenment. Source: I am studying to be a psychologist.

Yes! . Same here...

Thank you for posting man. It was nice to read! and Good for you on securing a way to do toad medicine with Dr. Octavio! That's just such a one of a kind experience. I definitely plan on doing the same perhaps 3 years down the line and when he is in the Americas! Hopefully in the US.

It's just survival behavior. What do you expect? Human Beings are just human beings doing their best with what they got. Where's your compassion? Be wholesome. As Leo says, your pessimism is BS. Saying we'll never change is like saying you will never change. you're looking directly and speaking in the mirror bro. Your post comes off a bit like a projection of your feelings about yourself. Change comes with acceptance and awareness of the present. Only way to see through the bullshit is to look in the mirror and make a change. Became aware of yourself and rise above the bullshit.

I've looked up blackout trips reports. I found some interesting anecdotal stories. Psychedelics are definitely not good for people with underlying mental health conditions like schizophrenia; individuals prone to psychotic breaks for unknown reasons, or individuals with devastating trauma in their past. OR at least in self-experimentation way. In a therapeutic setting with a trained team to help guide your experience and a therapist to help integrate and process the experience. It could be a very different thing. https://octaviorettig.com/toad-medicine/ I also don't remember all parts of my experiences clearly. and I am not necessarily in control either... There's just absolutely no interest to act in anyway that would be deemed illegal or dangerous. I keep to myself and I am typically aware of others. If anything I am more aware of awareness itself while feeling my feeling intensely, and watching my thoughts shape my subjective reality. My feeling and thoughts are obviously my own personal issues.

Yes I've also tried Psilocybin and N-N DMT, multiple times. I have read plenty of bad trip reports. They can happen. I do not get concerned with them because thinking that may happen to you increases the chance. It won't happen because I am careful and I only experiment with psychedelics that can be done solo with no danger. Only way I could have a bad trip is if I overreact and let fear control me. I never do, I breathe and wait. Some psychedelics definitely require assistance like Salvia or 5-meo. I would not try those solo because they are too disorienting. I've heard people have bad trips on LSD and mushrooms too. It's either personal issues, they mixed it with weed, or it does not mesh well with their genetics (I hypothesize) I haven't had a bad trip to the extent of bad trip reports or getting hospitalized. I wrote about my experiences in the post above. I am not trying to put any blame here. psychedelics are powerful, but man do people also try to avoid taking 100% responsibility for their actions on these substances. Maybe its easy for me to say. I probably appear like an inconsiderate ass from someone who's had a bad trip. Maybe I don't understand and that may be very true. Still though, I wonder why some people commit not so-well thought out actions on these substances.