WildeChilde

@MarkusSweden Stand up for yourselves.

This is a highly political issue. I wish I could give you an honest opinion, but I know we have to behave on here . I would say if everybody were awakened though, either one would be fine. At the very least there would be peace.

@billiesimon Sure man. I'll pm you some stuff.

@billiesimon Tinder does seem to complicate things doesn't it? I usually don't talk about these things on this forum because it's more spiritually-based, but you sound like you need different perspective. My advice to you is stay single, stack up the money, have some fun (use protection every time), get your mental and physical health in shape, and wait. Men are in a strange situation right now in Western society. Just be patient man; 8 years from now you're going to see a big change. If you haven't already, do some research. I promise you won't regret it .

@Elephant -greater resilience under stress -increased creativity and problem-solving ability -greater focus and concentration on the immediate task On a personal basis, I can connect with people better. Mescaline showed me I can let my guard down sometimes, and my friendships and relationships have become richer because of that.

I've tried mescaline in the form of San Pedro and with great success. Here is what I did: I used a little more water when brewing the tea, and I later froze it and defrosted it before consumption. The end result was a straight liquid with very little viscosity. A lot people have problems consuming and keeping the tea down because of its snotty texture. This process from my experience eliminated this aspect of it. I consumed it on an empty stomach and in the morning. Because I prepared the tea and my body, I did not even come close to vomiting. The only tedious aspect about consuming the tea was the bitterness, but if you can handle the taste of raw kale, you can handle this. As far as the experience goes: It was beautiful in every way. Nature looks absolutely stunning with the enhanced greens and reds. You can see the details and characteristics of every tree, building, and animal you come across. Whenever you have an emotion, you feel it until it literally overtakes you; if you try to control your laughter, you will only laugh harder from the futility of it. For a lot of people, we develop a certain callousness as we age to help protect us from the world. Sometimes though, we come to identify with this callousness and believe that this is an inherent a part of who we are. Mescaline showed me this is false; it's simply a mask. The spirit that lives in me now is the same spirit that lived in that little boy from 15 years ago who skateboarded with his friends and dreamed of becoming a rockstar. He hasn't gone away; he just has to earn money now and pay his taxes. Anyways, my point is yes I would recommend mescaline because it is a true psychedelic experience with a high probability of a good trip.

Hi Leo, I'm sure these have already been asked, but: 1. What is your IQ? 2. Do you enjoy singing or playing any musical instruments?

There seems to be an overlapping theme of non-duality and the shared goal of attaining higher levels of consciousness, yet each are received differently by the community. "New Age" is the most incredulous label, "Neo-Advaita" is sometimes used in a stigmatizing manner by the old guard, and "true/authentic spirituality" is almost universally praised. What is it that separates these three? Thanks guys.

@Joseph Maynor Thanks Joseph; that was a very detailed and easy-to-comprehend answer. I tried studying Advaita Vedanta, but at my intellectual and experiential level right now, I honestly find the whole Atman/Brahman dichotomy to be entirely opaque and inscrutable. It's the same kind of confusion I had when trying to understand the Trinity back when i was a Christian.

Thank you Leo. You put your heart and soul into Actualized.org, and because of this, people across the globe are actively improving their lives, becoming more authentic, and, most importantly, discovering who they really are. We’re very grateful to have you here with us.

According to this site, Jesus and Mohammed not only were enlightened but were important messengers of the Truth. http://enlightened-people.com/list-of-enlightened-people/

@Shanmugam You'll have you forgive us Shanmugam; us Americans can be a little slow sometimes . Thank you for your original post and your article. It cleared up a lot of the misunderstandings I had. I always felt Neo-Advaita was missing something that the ancient traditions had, namely stressing the importance of the doing as a primer for no-doing. I'll still read the work of teachers like Adyashanti, Rupert Spira, Eckhart Tolle, but it's time now to take up a practice. Thanks again.

@testimo I’ve been in your situation before too; you realize how contrived the whole exotic foreign country experience is especially when you see how the locals live. First world problems are still problems. The developing countries will eventually encounter the same issues at some point in the future. I got out of my existential crisis when I started shadow work. If you haven’t already, read into this. When you learn how to incorporate your shadow, life becomes exciting again. You get in touch your wild side.

@testimo If you haven't already, be very clear with your husband that you are interested in neither working nor having kids. If he already knows this, what are his feelings about it?

I'm reading a book now by Jan Esmann called Lovebliss: The Essence of Self-Realization, and in it he seems to suggest that there is a higher level of awareness than even sahaja samadhi (classical enlightenment) called Shiva consciousness: "It can only be reached through Siddha Yoga, which means the Yoga of Shaktipāt. In this yoga, which is also known as Kundalinī Maha Yoga, you get visions of what we call pearls: small luminous dots appearing in your field of vision whether your eyes are closed or open or whether you are meditating or not. In the beginning, they come in meditation, but later also when out of meditation. There is a white, a black, a red and a blue pearl. The Blue Pearl is the highest and seeing it is actually a blessing in itself, even though you may feel no different from it. If you are fortunate enough to enter the Blue Pearl, you enter an infinite cyan-blue space, or infinite void of supreme cyan-blue lovebliss. It fills the entire universe, yet the entire universe is contained in that small pearl. If you have this supreme experience, or reach this state (language fails: you ARE THIS), which is the most supreme any yogi can have, then you by definition become a Siddha: A perfected being." Jan's language and concepts are a bit arcane, so I'm not sure how prevalent this idea is. Is anybody familiar with this? Thanks guys.

Leo seems to beat up on himself too much with regard to this topic; I learned this from watching his Hawaii trip videos. He said knowing what he knows now, he doesn't feel he was qualified enough back then to start a project like Actualized.org. I'm a late-comer to his content, but I've watched a lot of his earlier stuff and of course the latest. The content is different, but the quality, depth, and sincerity is always there.

@Haumea Basically he said for him it was a temporary state, but for the select few it's a stage. This is him describing it; it sounds really rather exciting: "Meeting the Blue Being Once inside the Blue Pearl and immersed in (merged with) the Blue Infinite Void, you may get the darshan (graceful meeting with) of Lord Shiva. He may appear as Krishna, or whom so-ever you are devoted to, or whom so-ever He chooses. All gods like Rama and Krishna and so on are avatars of this one Blue Being, who is the one God taking a personal form for the sake of His devotee. If you get His darshan, or better: if He makes you One with Him for a few moments, your full enlightenmentis guaranteed and you will reach Shiva Consciousness eventually. If not in this life, then when you leave the body at death. Alternatively, if you have some unfinished business, in the next life. Shiva Consciousness If you enter the Blue Pearl and the pearl explodes so that you become permanently One with this Blue Infinite Void, then you become established in Shiva Consciousness. Or rather become Shiva Consciousness. I am not in this state, though I have experienced it clearly enough, so I will refrain from further comments."

I tend to favor Taoism because of its simplicity and completeness. By understanding the Tao (nature of reality), you understand how to live life and how to lead others (go with the flow/be flexible). Which religion most closely aligns with your current beliefs and understanding of the world?

I've become more stoic overall. Whenever I encounter an issue and negative emotions come up, I can see through them and take the necessary course of action. Awakening allowed me to see how emotions can be great tools, but they should not dictate your behavior. It's better to respond than react.

@Robert It’s a small sacrifice. I kind of like dressing and speaking that way now, so it’s really a non-issue. The fact is I do like older women, and because I live in a more conservative part of the country, I try and mitigate the age disparity.

I'm in the same situation as you Psyche and have similar tastes as well. Not only do I look younger, but I have what many would call a "pretty" look. It's an advantage with college-age girls, but if you're into older women, it makes things more challenging from my experience. What I do is dress more maturely. I'm talking about chinos, button downs, loafers, navy blazers (if appropriate), etc. Unless it's a tee or henley, I tuck in my shirt. I speak to them in a casually manner, but I don't use a lot of slang. I try and make it clear I'm not the boy-toy sort.

Maya: appearances within consciousness Atman: individual consciousness Brahman: mind-at-large/Godhead Being: the foundation of everything Dream: events within consciousness Ego: personality Reality: truth

I've been a pretty big fan of MBTI since college, but lately I've read a few articles talking about the Big 5 as being the assessment endorsed by leading psychologists. Jordan Peterson seems to like it a lot, and while I find his stance on objective truth a bit puzzling, his explanations of Jungian psychology and other topics are very clear and resonant with my own experience. Which one is better? Personally, I feel the Big 5 is a more detailed analysis of one's personality, but at the end of the day, I don't know what it means to hear that a person is let's say moderate in extraversion, high in conscientiousness, low in neuroticism, low in agreeableness, and high in openness. By contrast, if I hear somebody say they scored as an ESFP, I have an idea of what they are like. They'd probably be a good person to have at a party for example. I've read criticism of MBTI saying that it is too black-and-white and gives the tester an extreme result. Additionally, they say that the results are often highly variable, where a person could test as an INTJ one day and test as ENFP the next. This hasn't been my experience, but I can see how this could happen if the person taking the test is basing their answers on their current mood. I like MBTI and am warming up to the Big 5, but I'd like to know y'alls opinions on this topic.