LastThursday

The truth is, is that everything is a belief. In order to be conciously aware of anything at all, there is a belief of its existence. Belief is baked into reality. The best that you can do is let beliefs be fluid, let them change, and don't cling too hard to them. How else do you raise your level of conciousness?

Careful now, there were no actions and no speaking, just words on a screen. Words which you interpreted and reacted to. Don't get lost in the @Shin fantasy. Don't get too lost in the @Joseph Maynor fantasy, even if you enjoy it.

For the love of god!

I can neither confirm nor deny. The only thing that matters is if you're sure. What I say is irrelavent. What is your direct experience? Sit with that direct experience and come back to me in 48 hours. Or even better when you're fully Ox stage 10 Turquoise Enlightened. Do the work.

@Shin no. I'm you. Don't be dellusional. Hello. HELLO! WAKE. UP. NOW. @Nahm row row row your boat gently down the stream...

Perfectionism is not mastery. To be a master you have to start as an amateur and then you will make a lot of mistakes on the path. To be a master takes dedication and stamina and it's not a sprint to the finish. I have worked on some projects and ideas for over ten years, sometimes with breaks that last a year or more. Do I feel guilt? No. Sometimes you need plenty of time to learn something deeply and let it seep into your bones. The number one thing you need for emotional mastery is to be very self aware. For example, I know my stubborn inner child well enough not to fight against it, if I did, nothing would get done. Instead I bore that child first, by sitting there and doing nothing for as long as it takes, until the child is asleep; and then I work. Learn what makes you tick, be a master of your own self.

Bingo! Memory makes the world hang together. But what is that sensation of memory? Slippery isn't it?

Whoop whoop! It's Thursday (again).

@noselfnofun The thoughts about the past are a direct experience. The past is not. Alternatively, the past is just a thought, not concrete reality. And the thought always exists in the now. Say you keep having a recurring thought about your mother. Where does the thought go when you're not thinking about your mother? When the thought comes back, how do you know it was the exactly the same thought you had before? How do you know you had that thought before?

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.