Donald

Hey , Here is what I think. Let's assume that you will get better at these activities ;you will not lie so often; you will be careful when you judge and so on ; you create a image of your self and you tell yourself ok this is me: I don't lie , I don't cheat ,I meditate and I am growing every day bla bla bla. But notice that is all an image, the image of your ideal self . And I think that the early stages of self development will not make your ego weak, I think that the early stages of self development will grow a healthy strong ego . When you think of yourself , what do you think ? If you are honest no matter how much self development work you have done , you'll have an image of the ideal self What makes the difference is a healthy strong ego , a sense of self that gives you the power to move on , that you are worthy , a weak ego cannot do that , a weak ego will defend itself to the core . Maybe I am wrong on this but I find the whole weak ego strong ego point doesn't make sense. To me ego is like death , either you're dead or not ; either you have an ego or you don't

@Neill His point is not that we shouldn't "chat" with our parents , it's the craving and how addicted /wired we are as a society/species to"chit-chat " .

@charlie2dogs It's not that I go around and tell to people , "Hey ,look I meditate , and bla bla bla " And I am not seeking "attention " . I'm just sharing something important to me , with people that are important in my life . Notice that I used the words "sharing" and not "trying to make them understand " .

I went to my parent's for like a week and I told them I meditate 1 hour a day . My mother replied : You're going to become a monk now !!! So I just told them I needed 1 hour of " silence " and no further information or specifications. I just kept it simple , same thing with "friends" ( the very few I have) . As we go on this road , don't expect people to understand you. PEOPLE SHOULD UNDERSTAND (SELF -ACTUALIZATION) ; it's another "should" statement. If they will ,great , if not that's how it should be

What I really find funny is when I tell myself : I Should Not Judge ; but you know what I've noticed that sometimes it feels more true /right to judge .

@Andre You have to accept that sometimes things will not be perfect, meditation doesn't need to be "perfect" . If it feels right that's great , if not , well, don't worry about it. Do not pamper yourself to much .

Stop reading for awhile , remember, sometimes you have to make one step backward !

@IVONNE You should not listen to music !!?

I was just reading some positive psychology and I came across the term "Metacognition" .-(knowing about knowing) . Amazing concepts!!!! •Declarative knowledge ; wich is understanding one's own capability •Procedural knowledge ; understanding the difficulty of a task •Conditional knowledge; how to use strategies to learn information So basically metacognition is a general term of study of memory-monitoring self-regulatory and reasoning in order to maximise one’s potential. Self-regulation theory is a system of conscious personal management that involves guiding one's own thoughts , behaviour, and feeling to reach goals. Sounds great except thereis one problem •Illusion of control , is the tendency that individuals have to overestimate their ability to control events. ( Notice it might be also the opposite) I love this one : " Individuals are driven by internal goals/agendas concerned with the exercise of control over their environment , they will seek to reassert control in conditions of chaos , uncertainty or stress. One way of coping with a lack of real control is to falsely attribute oneself control of the situation."

"Enlightenment" and "Romantic" , just another two beliefs

I think it would be great to cover this topic in depth . Metacognition and self regulation theory are really powerful stuff!!!

First be aware that your mind/self will always find faults in other rather than itself . It means that you are part of the problem !!! Consider that maybe your father is loving towards you , but maybe his approach is kinda different. Consider that giving (support) in the wrong time is as much damaging as not giving in the right time .

Compassionate , loving , honest , loyal , selfless , altruistic and so on It's beautiful how self deception works

@Tomek Try reading The Big Leap by Gay Hendrics

@PG13 Just sit there and be . As simple as that!

Be detached. You hold a belief on what love is . If it's becoming toxic for you just move on . Do you really need Prince Charming ?

I'm gonna quote Scott Peck : "Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth." This is my favourite : "The problem is that the experience of falling in love is invariably temporary. No matter whom we fall in love with, we sooner or later fall out of love if the relationship continues long enough. This is not to say that we invariably cease loving the person with whom we fell in love. But it is to say that the feeling of ecstatic lovingness that characterizes the experience of falling in love always passes. The honeymoon always ends. The bloom of romance always fades."

Do you know if there is any retreat location in Europe that offer a one year "course"?

No matter what answers we might give you , you have to sit and ask yourself " Wait a second, why am I into pick up " but be honest with yourself, that my friend will give you the answer

If I would have started when I was 16 my life would have been extraordinary Consider yourself lucky !!!

Use the system against the system, In order to escape from "The Matrix " you have to live in it and find ways to free yourself. - Strategic thinking! Find bugs in the system ?

My best meditation sessions are when I am clumsy/sleepy or tired .It depends though, if you feel like being sleepy / tired influences the quality of your sittings , arrange your schedule. Remember though we have made a commitment - no days off , no sick days , every single day for the rest of our lives! So of course there it will be challenging. I remember recently that I was travelling for 15 hours up and down to airports and guess what I meditated while in the plane ( in the toilet) for 30 min, if I didn't do that 24 hrs( since my last meditation) would have passed and I would have broke the commitment ?

Tell me how can you smell/taste or experience a " thing " that does not exist in any way shape or form ?

@Doddie First realise that playing video games has nothing wrong per se , otherwise every time you will play even a small amount of time let's say like 2-3 hours per month you will feel guilty. Try to contemplate death and how much little time you have left to achieve what really matters first thing in the morning. Like when you are in bed still clumsy. Try to rename your wake up alarm " contemplate " so the first thing you will do in the morning is actually have that nice boost . ?

What do you think being is ? If you think that being will get you discouraged , you're off track .