WildeChilde

@MarkusSweden The acting is really good, but I've never seen this show before, so I'm failing to see the connection. Can the red-haired woman see into the future? @QandC That drum solo was sick on Whiplash. I have to check out that film. Here's another good one. If there ever was an enlightened AI, it would have to be Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).

We mainly watch movies as a source of entertainment, but every once in a while, we come across a scene that is moving. It's the kind of scene where you feel the tears welling up in your eyes, not because of grief or sadness, but because you know you are witnessing the true unadulterated power of the human spirit. It reminds you that despite our many flaws, there is something inside each of us that will push us forward against the adversarial forces of society, government institutions, our peers, and even our own psyche. What are some movie scenes that have captivated and inspired you? This is one of my favorites.

The user Egoless has got me questioning things as of late, particularly with this video he posted. How do we know the non-dual state of awareness reveals to us the true nature of reality when it simply is the consequence of an alteration in brain activity? The man's explanation starts at 6:00. How do we know which perception of reality to trust? Could the enlightened perception of oneness and identification with the whole of reality simply be an error of judgement?

I haven't watched this show since I was a kid when they used to play it on Cartoon Network, but I just recently stumbled upon a video talking about Dragon Ball Z and its relation to Taoist philosophy. I always knew there was something deeper about the show that kept drawing us in. I don't want to spoil the video for y'all, but the content producer's analysis of Goku and particularly of Vegeta is relevant to the kind of self-development work we do here.

@Leo Gura Thank you Leo! Can’t wait see what you added.

I appreciate y'alls responses on this matter; I think I'm giving this former Zen practitioner turned Christian too much authority on this topic. Although, even this psychedelic resource website says we shouldn't take these experiences too seriously: "Unity and interconnectedness can be described as the experience of one's sense of self becoming temporarily changed to feel as if it is constituted by a wider array of concepts than that which it previously did. For example, while a person may usually feel that they are exclusively their “ego” or a combination of their “ego” and physical body, during this state their sense of identity can change to also include the external environment or an object they are interacting with. This results in intense and inextricable feelings of unity or interconnectedness between oneself and varying arrays of previously "external" systems. It is worth noting that many people who undergo this experience consistently interpret it as the removal of a deeply embedded illusion, the destruction of which is often described as some sort of profound “awakening” or “enlightenment.” However, it is important to understand that these conclusions and feelings should not necessarily be accepted at face value as inherently true. Unity and interconnectedness most commonly occurs under the influence of psychedelic and dissociativecompounds such as LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, mescaline, and ketamine. However it can also occur during well-practiced meditation, deep states of contemplation, and intense focus." https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Unity_and_interconnectedness

I"m open @egoless . I was a Christian for most of my life, and I feel like your first religion is like your first love; even though your relationship with them is over, there is still a part of them that's always within you. So how do we get into contact with Jesus, and how do we know that it is Him? How do you know whether His appearance is real or an illusion?

I watched the video @egoless . I can see why there may be some justification for the New Age founders being satanists, but do you really feel that the non-dual traditions of the past like Advaita, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and even Christian mysticism are satanic in nature? If so, then why have these religious sects produced so many compassionate, loving people throughout history?

Level of intelligence may be another factor too. Have you ever seen any of these people on a vipassana retreat?

@Pouya I think that's going to depend on you and what your spiritual background is like. Before I started on the path, I was an atheistic materialist who thought I already knew all the answers to life's mysteries. I wouldn't have even considered enlightenment work because my beliefs were too fixed. I needed the philosophical and spiritual books and materials to show me a) materialism is a supposition and a poor one at that b) there are incredibly intelligent and gifted people in this world who have transitioned from atheism to spiritualism and have never looked back c) evolution is an intelligent rather than a blind, dumb process of change d) the self is a concept and e) there is a way to truly know existence. If you're already pretty open-minded and are ready to jump in, just do it. A few books will help you learn some more techniques and terminology and avoid common pitfalls in this work, but from my experience, the techniques themselves make the greatest improvement in your quality of life. This is a highly personal activity, so let your intuition guide you.

Hi welcome @Pouya , glad you could come join us. To answer your question, there is a relationship between objective idealism and enlightenment. Objective idealism is a essentially a description and philosophical position asserting the unity and lack of separation between the perceived and the perceiver. Since it is a philosophical position, an appeal to reason and logic is necessary to make a case for its validity. However, when someone experiences the world in this way on a day to day basis, they are said to be enlightened. An appeal to reason and logic becomes unnecessary because one has first hand experience of the truth. Another way of explaining this is to say enlightenment is when one becomes conscious of one's true nature. You come to understand what the self is, what the Self is, and what your relationship is to other living beings and the rest of the universe. I hope this helped. In the mean time, embrace your confusion and self-doubt; you've already taken a few steps forward. Good luck my friend.

You might as well ban me or at the very least excommunicate me from this forum for what I'm about to say... I'm not entirely sure Trump is the stage orange/red kind of guy Leo depicts him to be. He may be accused of being a low conscious, misogynistic, racist xenophobe, but the testimonies of his previous lovers/spouses, the current black unemployment rate, and the growing peace between the Koreas say otherwise. He likes taking a comprehensive, dare I say, stage yellow approach to politics.

@WindInTheLeaf You can tell often times both by what people write about and how they write it. For example, if somebody writes a lot about 2C-B, LSD, mushrooms, etc. and gives a lot of trip reports, they're likely a psychonaut. If somebody constantly questions non-duality and demands peer-reviewed scientific evidence on any claim (that was me for a long time), they're probably an armchair skeptic. I've met all of these different types of people at some point, and if you meet enough of them in real life, you know how to recognize them in other formats like this forum. These are labels of course, and there is a lot of overlapping. The main point I was making was this forum has a rich variety of people that make it an interesting place to visit and learn from. Where I live, the vast majority of the people go to Protestant churches, vote Republican every election, listen to country music exclusively, eat friend greasy foods regularly, live for tailgating and football season, drive gigantic pickup trucks, and have health problems due to obesity and alcoholism. I feel like an alien living here, so it's great to have places like this where you know people care about the same things you do like the nature of existence, the welfare of our planet, and the ending of suffering.

I live in the Bible Belt, so it is very hard to meet people who a) are actually into spirituality and b) have enough knowledge and experience to discuss anything related to the topic. I go on another similar forum as well, but it can get a little dry and erudite sometimes. Here, you can find and talk to all kinds of interesting people: spoiled rich kids, the suicidal, the truly enlightened, the pseudo enlightened, psychonauts, doomsday preppers, hippies, schizos, anarchists, the insane, and of course just regular everyday people looking to improve the quality of their lives. This place holds me accountable as well. I wouldn't feel right to participate in a forum like this without continuing and developing my practice.

In Leo's newest video, he mentions one can remain conscious during dreamless sleep. For those of you who can do this, what is this experience like? Since there are no objects during dreamless sleep, what can you even experience while you are conscious during this time? Blackness? Thanks guys and looking forward to your responses.

@MarkusSweden This is true in the United States as a general rule. However, from my experience, where I live, it's rather taboo to even mention and single out groups publicly like that, whether in a positive or negative light. It's just as unlikely to hear someone hating on whites as it is to hear someone praising blacks or Muslims. Most of the people I know are too busy with their jobs, family, and mortgage to worry about what someone else thinks about a certain group of people.

You never know, I mean, even his buddy Kanye is experimenting with 2C-B and DMT. http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/kanye-new-album-metoo-stormy-daniels-russell-simmons.html

Yes I'm being serious. Recently, he signed the Right to Try Act which enables terminally ill patients to seek what's called "eligible investigation drugs". These include psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA. Thanks President Trump. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/30/politics/right-to-try-donald-trump/index.html

What aspects of your culture do you like and are proud of? What aspects of your culture need improvement? Do you feel your culture is in a downward or upward trajectory, and in what ways? More importantly, how do you personally relate to your culture? Are you a willing participant, a distant/detached observer, a trendsetter, a provocateur, a nonconformist, or maybe something else? Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

From the way I understand it, we each experience life as Atman or differentiated consciousness. After death, Atman will return to Brahman or the undifferentiated consciousness and source of everything. Brahman is eternal, but what about the Atman? When it returns, is that it, or does it differentiate itself again some other time? Thanks guys.

I finished reading Jed McKenna's Theory of Everything: The Enlightened Perspective, and while I enjoyed his humor and learned a great deal from his metaphysics, I felt there was an undercurrent of sadness throughout. I haven't yet read his earlier books on awakening, but in this one he writes as though he's a victim of enlightenment. He apparently wasn't seeking it and wishes it never happened to him. Am I reading him correctly? It seems to me he might have a case of something called depersonalization-derealization disorder. Anyways, thanks guys!

f. Be

Fewer rules and guidelines. If we are truly a high conscious forum, we don’t need them.

Great post @Charlotte I've had a deep appreciation for animals and nature for the longest time, but I've only experienced what you're describing only one time in my life so far. It was the time that I took San Pedro (mescaline). You realize these plants you see are alive, these trees you pass by everyday are alive, these insects crawling on the ground everywhere are alive, these animals flying/hunting around are all alive, just like you are. We see these all the time and don't make much of them usually, but if you ever look closely and carefully examine anyone of these, you will see how nature endowed it with such glorious detail and magnificence. I see these nearly every morning in and around the woods across the road from my house before I go to the gym. I catch them in our garden snacking on our vegetables sometimes, but to be honest, it's hard to get upset .

@Applejuice For intelligent, conscientious people, my answer is yes; it is both ethical and necessary. This trend has already started, but this is what is going to happen even more so in the future unless a deliberate cultural shift takes place: