Donald

@Monkey-man Do some research before you go. This is no joke! How are you going in an ashram and not being sure if it is a scam or no. How can you say : "I have no idea" ? Your job is to do the research.

@7thLetter That's a struggle in and on itself. You cannot control another person's behavior, but you can influence. I remember couple of years ago trying to do the same. Try to accept them as they are. Being a perfectionist on others more often then not means that you're a perfectionis with yourself. I know it's hard to see your friends eating Cheetos and watching Tv, but it's better to accept and move on. Except to be alone in this journey.

@Preetom I'm no where near a master but here's what might help you: 1- Change your expectations about meditation, expect it to be challenging and difficult. There are no rainbows and unicorns! 2- Let it come, let it be, and let it go. Your mind is not a "single thing". Consider it as a system. Hence, conflict is inevitable, that's why sages speak about the term "unified mind". The degree to which you can accept your mind's inner conflict is the degree to which you will make "progress". 3- Practice self-acceptance. Here's a practical exercise. Start noticing people around you and be aware when you judge them.In other words start practicing acceptance for another human. Then once you've mastered the skill turn it inwards and accept your self.

"The world is not so simple that we can just make and follow rules about what is right and wrong. We seek an understanding of ourselves so that we can know what we ought to do in any given situation. You will gradually replace the beliefs you hold with truths you discover. Self-knowledge is a more reliable guide to behavior than adherence to arbitrary imposed standards, though both are susceptible to error. You will make mistakes no matter which path you follow, but mistakes made on the path of self discovery will correct themselves, while those made on blind adherence to subjective standards simply perpetuate the folly".

@Inglorious Thick Face Black Heart , it is such a surprise. This book appeared "Machiavellian" to me , but ...I was wrong

Beginning with childhood have been taught that the highest prize in the world is the approval of others.We are obedient to please our parents.We are studious and well behaved in order to please our teachers. When we try to get our own way we are told we are being selfish and bad. Somehow the ideas of good and bad get tangled up in our minds with the need to gain the approval of others. Later in life when we experiment with "selfishness" we experience a sort of bad feelings, we feel guilty. This is not how "nice"people behave. Nice people aren't supposed to be selfish too often. We often allow others to treat us unfairly because we do not want to confront or challenge them, nor do we want to disturb our ingrained notions of right and wrong. Instead, we conform ourselves with feelings of moral superiority. We tell ourselves we are above conflict over unimportant trifles. But despite what we think, we turn the other cheek. Not because is right, but because it is easy. Extract from Thick Face Black Heart

@Bronsoval Yep you are right!!! Intelligence is taking the given information and processing it effectively and drawing conclusions. Intelligence is a component of wisdom, but a wise person goes beyond intelligence. He is able to use intelligence for a big picture understanding, to see down the road so to speak.

@Old Soul It is not a matter of brainwashing!!! Our parents taught us what they thought was the best. Period. Get over it. It's not that some evil genius wants us to be unconscious, oh no!!! You don't have to be against society as a whole. Don't fall into that trap, you see. Don't feel superior about being just 0.001% more "aware" than other people. And watching Leo's videos will not be enough, even when emotional release happens instantly, you should watch yourself AGAIN AND AGAIN. You may understand Leo on his videos and have like a "oh I knew it" type of moment and feel good about that. Eventually thinking you are growing. Don't want to spoil the surprise but GROWTH DOES NOT COME WITHOUT EMOTIONAL LABOR!!!!

"I don't like your video!!!" Be ready to hear that a lot.

@Alicja_ Growth requires emotional labor, what we are doing here with self development is one of the most difficult things to do. Especially when everyone around you is doing the exact opposite. In our day to day life we do not have "models" of people who have conquered themselves.

@Leo Gura I read one of your replies when you said that it's more like a circle, you keep coming back and you skip some information that is not relevant for the moment. And I found that to be true. I have read almost 30 books this year and I am aware that in order to internalize the wisdom I need time, plus, given the fact that sometimes I feel overwhelmed from the information. It's very contradictory and very challenging. I remember a time , I read Mastery by George Leonard and then the next book was, guess what... The 4 hour work week ( I know that they treat different topics ) but still... Man ... this work is overwhelming... and the mind is easily confused. "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool"

My current occupation requires me to work 10 hours a day , plus the fact that is a fast pace job . Still I meditate 1 hour a day , go jogging everyday, read and have the time to contemplate. Look at your daily routine, stop the activities that don't serve to you in the long run , like : Hanging out with friends / party and useless chatter Stop watching TV Social media and so on Stop coming up with excuses, Learn , Commit Do

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. "- The Buddha Judgements will kick you in the ass sooner or later!!!

"We need to understad motherly and fatherly love in humans ,if we want to understand love for God ." -Erich Fromm

Just to make this clear , the perception of an enlightened person does not change from that of a normal one . Nothing changes , nothing is added . Simply the concepts and the emotional attachment to those concepts drop . But ... If you take care of your mental and physical health you will notice benefits. There is a big distinction between the two

"Adult play games , children only play" -Osho

@SharpadoxWatch your motives , it's easy to confuse life purpose with the narcissistic need to be "great" ... Is it influence (service/contribution) or recognition . Ex. Imagine someone who is loving/nice to people because his purpose is building deep connections and relationships ,Vs someone who is just doing it to get something from others ...

What is your best advice if one decides to go to India, not just merely for "tourism", but actually living there and getting the most out of it?

"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton , who does not know or understand himself and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be ,whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain." -Erich Fromm The principle of growth tells us that real growth happens from inside out . In life there are stages of growth and each step is vital , we cannot skip the basics . We understand this concept when it comes to physical things , but if we apply it in terms of human relationships we sense difficulties. In order to cultivate deep relationships we must consider "character ethics" . Shortcuts will not work . Here's another quote from my notes : "The most important ingredient in a relationship is not what we do or what we say , but what we are"

@TimStr I categorize books in terms of insights I had , then I ask myself how can this book help me ? How can this book change/challenge what I know ? I've got notebooks where I write a brief yet detailed summary of the book . Then I use Evernote to re-write again digitally. And I sync it with my Pc so I can add on the spot . I created a book summary folder , quotes folder , and key insight folder each and every one of this folders belongs to a category: Psychology,Philosophy, Relationship,Sociology and so on . Firstly you may organize everything in a perfect way but what matters is how you internalize and apply the knowledge you get from the books in changing your life . Secondly, ask yourself why am I reading ? What are you looking? Is it to be "cool" and show your friends ," ohh look at me I read books" or is it because you are deeply interested in learning and building strong foundations?

@SomewhatAnonymous Being a self developed guy you must be aware of the following quote : "If the only tool you have is a hammer , you treat everything as it were a nail"

"One can easily get the impression that realization, kenshō, an experience of enlightenment, or however you wish to phrase it, is the end of Zen training. It is not. It is, rather, a new beginning, an entrance into a more mature phase of Buddhist training. To take it as an ending, and to "dine out" on such an experience without doing the training that will deepen and extend it, is one of the greatest tragedies of which I know. There must be continuous development, otherwise you will be as a wooden statue sitting upon a plinth to be dusted, and the life of Buddha will not increase"

@Will Bigger Society in general is in a constant disability to see and promote high consciousness content. That's the way things are . It's the environment and programming that makes people have certain beliefs. Stop seeing things in terms of "We and Them" . We are not better than them .

@Motus I've been pondering on this topic for quite a while,it's interesting to see how much we neglect the daily aspects of life . If you are familiar with Kohlberg's moral stages of development, one of the highest stages is that of a principle based individual, one who has integrated all principles and lives according to them . Integrity. Now I've been lucky enough to watch myself fall into the traps of "I don't need principles, I transcend principles" type of thinking. And that's what most of spiritual seekers do . Psychology and Spirituality are part of the same path , as a dude called Ken Wilber used to say .

@electroBeam Peter Ralston : " In this type of work you have to be Grounded and Open at the same time "