SgtPepper

Thats pretty interesting! I can't speak from experience, but I can see its applicability. Still though, is it fair to say it is equivalent to 40 years of meditation experience? seems reductive. I can also relate to your experiences of synchronicities, I have experienced similar stuff!

Dude I feel you. School sessions always brings emotion rollercoasters for me too. Overall though, it can be avoided if you prep properly. This means setting aside time everyday to study (actual study tho, don't dick around on the internet), do NOT procrastinate, and actually care about what you are studying (ie. Look at your textbook, read it, ask questions). If you do all of that with ease, school is pretty easy and can be a fun learning experience. My issue is I lack discipline and so I often procrastinated, I still got everything done, but not without anxiety and stress. Still though, I enjoyed learning about various subjects, some professors/teachers are inspiring and intelligent, the people you meet can also be uplifting and a good source of emotional/academic support. I already graduated from College, but if I could go back and give myself advice it would be definitely be to not procrastinate as much as I did.

Hell yeah! I'm right there with you. I'm also 23

Go to AA meetings. Have you tried psychedelics? They are powerful catalysts for change, so much so that the co-founder of AA recommended it to be part of the 12 step program. Try to see the bigger picture of your life too, why should alcohol be such a huge part of it? Keep going on your journey, but surrounding yourself with individuals who are also not so focused on drinking will help. Don't give up.

They're not bad, but then they can get you sidetracked and ultimately unfocused. But the way to re-focus is not to ban them from your mind, but to let them go and slowly, thoughts don't come as often.

It's for safety reasons and due to the illegality of these substances. Learn about the War on Drugs. Learn about what happened to Timothy Leary. Leo is right, the information is so easy to find on google or on Reddit.

How long have you meditated and how "hard" have you meditated? I haven't felt like I blended with the cosmos, but I felt my sense of self go away to the point where I started identifying with awareness and all of the contents within it, but how is this a "party trick"? Have you tried LSD? Why would you stop being concerned about the self? I do agree with that last part though. Still a desire is necessary to experience such a thing.

I don't want to be that guy, and its totally okay if its too personal and you do not want to answer, but I'm curious what occupation you're talking about? I am trying to become a Counselor/Psychologist (hoping to get into a doctoral program soon) and want to open up my own private practice to enhance my freedom and still do my Life Purpose which is ultimately to help reach their potential.

Love is like appreciating yourself deeply. It's being thankful and gratuitous of being. It's like thanking your fingers for having the ability to grasp, to then thank your brain for controlling your fingers, then thanking yourself for making it all happen. Love is seeking connection, but then reaching that connection, and being thankful for the connection, only to give it away for the sake of giving. Simply, Love is connection with yourself, with Being. John Lennon created a poetic song that to me captures the feeling perfectly: As to how to reach it? Very difficult to explain and it can be even difficult to create in yourself if you've never received real love from someone. If you have not experienced from someone. Try to imagine something you loved very much whether it be a person or an object, but get that feeling back and then try to keep enhancing it by basking it and spreading it to yourself physically, mentally, then spread it onto the world. Deep love is like one's love for one's favorite movie x100 or dare I say times infinity

You are both the universe and the ego. Yin-Yang. I guess it can be weird, but you are still your ego in society.

Maybe I am not. but I've had awakening experiences and they're not like what you describe, but I've also had times where everything felt "meaningless", but its a hump you get passed and you gain a better understanding of reality again.

Your grounding is Being. Nothing else to it. you are trying to grasp on to concepts when you should be grasping or having faith in the Universe by letting go. At times when consciousness work became rough "Dark side of meditation" stuff, I relax in bed, put on my favorite comedy shows, and just chill. You gotta be careful with trying to think your way into enlightenment or just conceptualizing and taking what enlightened people are saying as belief. Its an experience, or rather a revealing of nature itself, without thoughts. It's pure consciousness elevation.

What I mean by Elevating your consciousness is getting a clearer picture of reality. Wiping the mud from the pond you're looking into and realize you are staring at yourself. You are acting like Life isn't Life! It's not just a "field"! Are you practicing meditation on a daily basis? You want to shut your brain off to stop trying to conceptualize life. You want to just Be. Life is magnificent, brilliant, infinite depth, endless, creative, amusing, intelligent, and more. Have you tried a psychedelic?

you are the Self/Universe/Reality disguised as a person. You are choosing NOT to embrace what reality is by denying your ego. Transcending the ego is still important to realize the Truest Self, but the life and the play must go on. Why do you think Leo or Sadhguru or Alan Watts or Jim Carrey still play their ego part? It's still real in one way.

Elevate your consciousness and stop repressing your feelings. The people in those videos are being dramatic. Duality does exist... within non-duality.

You don't sound enlightened. And I'm not sure you're getting it. Being doesn't feel anything like that to me. How long have you been doing this? What are your practices to elevate consciousness? Are you feeling with your heart? it can't be just the mind, its gotta be wholesome.

looking forward to it!

Could easily take a month or two or even six depending on your schedule and the level of information needed to answer your questions. 1. If you are interested in books, some good sources are: Foods of the Gods by Terence McKenna Psychedelic Medicines (Literally scientists speaking about their research in the psychedelic field). I forget the authors name. The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide by James Fadiman The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley My Problem Child by Albert Hoffman 2. If you are interested in youtube videos or lectures, check out: Terence McKenna (Highly recommend) Alan Watts (briefly speaks about his experiences with LSD) Timothy Leary PsychedSubstance 3. If you are interested in an Free online resource: https://erowid.org <--- The best place to find trip reports, effects, articles, books, and much more. ----------------------------------- There's so much information out there. It's going to take you a while. Edit: Once I knew mushrooms and LSD were not addictive and physiologically safe, I tried them. so my research took me a week. After I tried them though, I ended up doing a lot more research because they are fascinating ?

I believe psilocybin cubensis is the golden teachers. I recommend those. Although all of those would probably be great.

Not true at all. When you kill the ego, what you are really doing is actually expanding your sense of self, but to the point where you can't actually distinctively identity yourself, hence why you killed yourself.

I agree with others. I think Leo is just very serious about this work. But I saw someone post here and say that they missed watching a movie with their mom and sister. I think that everyone here is at different stages of their lives and then on top of that in their personal development. If you're devoting intense time to meditation and contemplation 3-5 days a week, and meditating at least 20 minutes everyday, I do not see anything wrong with watching a movie with family. Hanging out with people can seriously make you grow.

It's very difficult. in my experience. I've tried a couple of times throughout the summer, but I am just reaching a point where I am realizing that it doesn't matter.

You're assuming there is an external world to yourself. the whole universe is not under a set of laws.

sounds like Satan.