LastThursday

This is capitalism. Allowing too much free time is inneficient. We work 8 hours a day because that is the most that capitalism can get away with. If it were possible, you would be made to work 24/7/365. AI and robots will only make for more productivity, not less work or less working hours.

He's 60.

Go and die in a warm sunny place with a beach and good food. Not sure I'd tell anyone, couldn't be doing with all the well meaning pity and falseness it entails. Actually. Who am I kidding? I'd be a party animal... Give me pity and falsity. My ego can **** *** after I die... Yes I'm conflicted

You never really know what other people think. Because you are not them. You are just making a judgement about the actions and words of other people, and creating a story about what they're 'thinking'. The story belongs to you, not them. The stories you tell yourself, make you happy or sad or lonely. Drop the stories and directly choose how you want to feel instead. What am I thinking about you?

Every day. But it's the sort of thing that will only slowly destroy all the joy in life, if you let it. Life's too precious to let it be spoilt by the inadequacies and stupidity of other people. Give yourself space to be sad today, but smile tomorrow.

@CreamCat you are right. Arguing for the sake of argument or out of some form addictive behaviour is counterproductive. But confrontation and conflict are normal parts of being alive. Avoiding such things may build a shadow of resentment, guilt and humiliation or create other mental health problems. How much better it is to up your game in being able to resolve conflicts yourself swiftly or to be aware enough not to escalate things when not necessary. How much healthier is it to be able to confront fearful and potentially argumentative situations head on?

I can't even begin to think what an Amish restaurant is like, but it would be so cool to visit one! One of the joys of being alive is that you can lead life on multiple levels. On one level we're animals who need to eat and sleep and fight each other and reproduce. On another we're human beings, who have feelings and desires and aspirations. On yet another we're imortal infinite beings with no boundaries. And even higher still, we're just a non-duality aware of itself. If we're conciously aware of and directly embody these many levels, then we can choose to live life how we want; we don't need to grip so tightly on to things for comfort. In one sense there is nothing to lose, because we never had it in the first place. What makes us truly happy and connected is to constantly keep expanding. By that I mean mostly expanding our awareness, because deep down we know that we're just playing a human character in a play, we're not really that character, we're more than that.

Because it may just be the switch that allows you to turn off the simulated reality on a whim? To 'awaken' from the simulation dream.

@CelticQueen17 those are some good questions. I don't really know if my self actualization is a journey, more an unguided process of revelation with no clear end goal. To be more woo woo about it, my reality seems to be slowly crystallising from an amorphous nothing as a baby into ever sharper relief as an old geezer - only to go back to slowly realising I'm an amorphous nothing again. Is that a journey? Hmmm dunno. What else do I do with my dream life? I suppose I should keep it neutral and family friendly... I have a strong drive to keep my skills sharp and learn new ones. I like to practice being very open minded and non-judgemental (including to myself). I'm intensely curious and have a voracious appetite for knowledge. I like to laugh at the ridiculousness of life and people including myself. I'm good with my fingers and I'm good with symbols, so I write software for a living, but that's nearly the anithesis of spirituality; brings in the bucks though, so that makes survival easier. Where would a I like to be if I were actualized? If it were possible to do real magic, then that's what I want. To unleash myself from my own chains, be authentic to my core, handle any situation with ease and be driven by my own adventurous playful spirit. If I'm enlightened along the way so be it. @CelticQueen17 what makes you tick? Who would you be if you were actualized?

You're most welcome.

I really exist, but that doesn't matter. Eventually you'll realise that you don't exist - that's easier to verify. Solipsism's ok, but it's lonely and it makes you go round in circles. Oh, and eventually you'll realise that existence and non-existence are identical, but don't take my word for it. I still exist though

@Shin it's an easy trap to fall into. Making an argument against something, using the very thing you are arguing against. It's also easy to get snared by the trap, and then to argue against it...

@Cortex I object!

@Shin isn't @Joseph Maynor using words? @Joseph Maynor aren't you using concepts to point to being and Enlightenment?

Maybe, psychadelics?

It's difficult to grasp at first, but everyone around you, including yourself and the entire universe is made from the same stuff. One word for that stuff is God, another word is awareness, yet another is Truth or even Absolute Infinity. That stuff can shapeshift and manifest itself in an infinite number of ways. But it's all One in the end. You are not separate from it, you are it.

@andyjohnsonman do it. It will quiet the mind, improve concentration, improve body tone and balance and release stress.

To be directly concious is to strip away all the stories and narrative you have about your perceptions. For each direct experience you have there is a 'cloud' of indirect experiences attached to it. Say for example you had to explain what a 'banana' was to somebody who had never seen or eaten one. That entire explanation is not direct experience. If instead, you give the person the banana and tell them to peel eat and eat it, that is closer to direct experience (for them). It's extremely easy to confuse non-direct experience with direct experience. Nearly all our dysfunctions in life are caused by this confusion. This is why meditation and hushing the monkey mind is crucial.

Normally Sunday afternoon when I'm doing extreme ironing.

@CreamCat with less teeth.

True magic. The effortless manipulation of the fabric of reality: conciousness. The 'laws' of physics will seem old fashioned.

Perform the following experiment. Choose two different objects. Hold each one at arms length, let go of them both at the same time. What did both objects do? Describe it to yourself. How is the description you told yourself different from the actual event? Is gravity the actual event, or the description?

Honestly, a feature length episode of quality content you'll find nowhere else every week for the last however many years FOR FREE. Give the guy a break. If he put out an episode a month and made me pay for it, it would still be worth it. As Leo says endlessly you need time to DO THE WORK.

I guess ambition (perhaps passion) can be both a pull and push effect and even both simultaneously. Maybe the creativity itself is not the ambition but this: I see the word 'need' in there, isn't that a deficiency? I don't really mean to break it down so much, but I just don't grok ambition - it's interesting to me to get to the crux of it. Isn't it just a future oriented process and as such a kind of story you would tell yourself?

Are ambitious people deficient in something? They strive, because they are lacking in whatever it is they have ambitions about? For example, if I'm hungry doesn't that make me ambitious about finding food? Or is it something else? Are stamp lickers fulfilled?