Dan502

I sort of have a vague idea about studying psychotherapy. Otherwise I live a very plain, simple life and work an administrative job. No stress, no achievement and no love.

One of my favourite sayings is "never let anyone else tell you how to feel about something". It's sort of a clunky phrase in that people will tell you how to feel, inevitably and it probably is best to let it happen some of the time. It's also not particularly true because some of the best advice ever could effectively be a way of showing you a new perspective, in order to generate within you a certain kind of feeling. However, I've always liked the saying. Probably because it appeals to my ego. It's also a reminder to be sceptical and mindful.

Are there any particular themes? For example, you don't care what they think about what you wear but you really care what they think about your political opinions.

Thinking of you @lukej. Thank you for sharing this and all the best.

It wouldn't be an Actualized.org video without slamming the egos of the usual groups, some public figures and of course the viewer. If you don't like getting told over and over again how selfish and deceptive your mind is, this channel probably isn't for you Although yes I shared your feeling of repetition when watching the self biases video. It felt less like a new topic and more like a reminder to look at our biases.

When I visited the US for a holiday from the UK, I was shocked by the pharmaceutical adverts on TV. It felt really dystopian. Here, there is none of that advertising. If you have a condition, you visit your national health doctor and he/she writes you a prescription. Yes it might take a couple of weeks and yes they might get it wrong, yes we have some private health here and yes you still have to pay for the prescription but it still feels more like a community service and less like a giant corporation can't wait to profit from your illness.

How to tackle the obesity of wealth. We're not here to tax abundance, although we may raise taxes. It's about regulating and inspiring the wealthy to change their relationship to money and get fitter. A healthy business doesn't even want to sit around and get richer. It wants to create and compete. The government is responsible for creating the environment in which businesses will operate healthily.

A part of me probably seeks the stimulation that comes from the unusual discussions that take place here. Through posting here I may also be pretending to myself that I'm wise and perhaps I get a certain amount of pleasure from that. I suspect I try to post non-controversial comments in order to maintain that pretence. I may like this forum because I think enlightenment is "cool" and because I believe, religiously, that there is something to attain here, even though I make virtually no effort to meditate, at least not for any length of time, and wouldn't touch psychedelics with a barge pole. I might also like it because I have some tendency to seek truth, in my own way, and because in some ways I have some spiritual maturity relative to the average person, some open-mindedness, intelligence, some sense of some of the things that are talked about. Some hope. Some potential. Some desire to learn and some humility. There are also other perspectives from which this question could be answered.

Bernie was on Joe Rogan yesterday.

I love the thought that I could... bring that feeling here, now. Then I reflect upon the fact that it's a feeling. Can we create it? And what is it? Where is it?

I like @mandyjw's response about finding inspiration. Medium.com is a wonderful platform for writers and writing. Share you work. With anyone and everyone. Go really minimalist on your word count and write about stuff you care about. OR write about very ordinary things but in a way you care about. YOUR perspective. YOUR style. Reading stuff you wrote should feel like getting punched in the face. BAM! BAM! Wait, whatthefuBAM! Work out your preferred tools. Laptop? Phone? Notepad? Biro? If you like writing with a quill feather and parchment, get a quill feather and parchment and carry them everywhere. On the bus, on the train, in the bathroom. A writer will get out of the shower to write and then get back in again rather than waiting although if that's not you, don't worry everyone's different. Find your behaviour, find your niche.

I suppose most people who ask "why is reality the way it is?" have a fairly limited experience of reality and so one answer might be something like... if you become more conscious of reality, then the answer might become more apparent.

To take my mind off the inevitable suffering and death that the 90% of us who aren't lucky enough to die in our sleep will one day face. And in the case of any real self-improvement, to maybe delay that awful fate.

@rnd you seem a bit daunted by the complexity of it all. I know how you feel. What do you think about this kind of plan for starters: 1) make a list of half dozen areas of policy (e.g. economy, social, foreign, environmental) 2) check what the top three candidates' headline policies are in those areas 3) See what your opinions are and talk to some friends about it I expect members on this forum might offer reasoned opinions on the levels of consciousness of each candidate too and how that's reflected in their policies, with the caveats that: 1) it's important to "do the work yourself" to validate those opinions; and 2) it's not a politics forum so discussions relating to politics should be expressed in terms of, and geared towards, your own development.

Maybe someone had to work overtime, got home late and the cat had eaten some of his dinner. He thinks "I wish I had all the power, could be anywhere at any time and knew everything... hey, that would make a good book". With this seemingly foolish joke, my point is to humbly ask whether the basic idea of a God could come to anyone reflecting on fairly ordinary circumstances.

What a wonderful question. There is no "behind". If your intuition is telling you one thing, I wonder what is telling you the other. And what that means.

@Moreira it's like you're my twin. I've gotten slightly better in some areas and continue to work on my routine althouh I currently appear to be suffering from some kind of exhaustion so it's possible I haven't quite nailed it just yet.

Could a developed person, sensing a rise in the public's appetite for a nationalistic leader, vote strategically for Trump in 2016, thereby satisfying republicans in the short term while the economy was relatively stable, so that by the time a recession hit and people wanted a change in leadership direction, the pendulum was more likely to swing back left again rather than giving someone like Trump the excuse of hardship for which to blame outsiders? This seems unlikely to me as two terms is probable and is long enough for Trump to do more damage but is just a thought. I've never met anyone who claims to have voted like this.

This makes sense. Leo talks about spiritual growth and one aspect of that is discomfort. The dream seems to indicate an imbalance of discomfort relative to the other aspects of spiritual growth; joy. It seems empowering that you were able to leave.

Did anyone notice that in Zzen's video, he drank a smoothie similar to the one Leo showed us how to make? I've never tried psychadelics so am treating the video as a personal reminder that even though it's pretty cool to hear about these mystical states of consciousness, I don't actually understand or can relate to them myself. I sometimes judge people on the sophistication or sensibility of their dialogue. Sloppy expressions of rhetoric turn me off. It seems worth acknowleding that Leo is very careful about what he says and uses plenty of caveats. In fact it's the first thing he does in the Collective Consciousness video . This indicates groundedness and is conveniently ignored by critics. The conscious politics videos should indicate that, wild awakenings aside, Leo hasn't lost any of his intellect or composure. A cynic might say that such reassurances shouldn't be necessary and that those who need them will filter them out anyway. I wonder what I'm filtering out. Oh, love. If Zzen actually cared, he'd have acted out of real concern rather than making a bitchy YouTube video unless he wasn't particularly skilled at acting lovingly, which is possible as most people aren't, or unless my own understanding of love is overly-simplistic, which is also possible. I'm talking from my humble experience of love with a small "l" here, rather than love with a capital "L".

For context, there's an intensity to Kushu2000's recent posts. For example, to paraphrase, " I meditate for 2 hours a day, let's have a dick measuring contest", "If enlightenment = death, why don't we all just kill ourselves?" and "Do we all think Leo is spiralling into Lala land?"

Ralston advocates approaching things from a position of not knowing. I think he's trying to empty their cups. And yes this is my ego reacting to someone making fun of Ralston I'd probably delete more of my own comments if I could.

You can't buy your way into heaven.

I think you'd have to love what you did. And/or you'd have to be very conscientious. Which I suppose is self-fulfilling because it just means you work hard...

I'd make a list but this is my real name and photo and if various people I know found it, it could adversely affect my life (oh look, survival). So for the time being I'll just say: I'm curious about counsellor training but am not sure I'm empathetic enough but might pursue it anyway. I also have some "bad" habits.