Zweistein

@Victor Mgazi Alright, let's do "The Work" ;-) (Byron Katie style) From what you wrote, it seems to me that you believe that you have an unhealthy family relationship because you believe that ego appears to be against raising awareness. Now ask yourself: Is that true? (probably you say yes, right? ;-) Now, can you be absolutely 100% sure that this is really true? (now you start to really inquire, right? ;-) How does it make you feel, if you believe this thought? (miserable? helpless? ..... notice really how you feel, let it sink in for a few minutes and face those nasty emotions!) Once, you really feel it - you can now ask yourself: How would you feel, if you wouldn’t actually believe that you have an unhealthy family relationship because ego appears to be against raising awareness? Do you feel the difference? ;-) Now, turn it around: 1. you have a healthy family relationship - find reasons/situations why that could actually also be true 2. egos are not against raising awareness - find reasons/situations why that could actually also be true 3. now this one is good: you are against raising awareness - can you find a reason why that might be true? (hint: maybe because you still believe in these kind of thoughts?)

My secret energy boost - not secret anymore now ;-)

Why did I choose this title for my journal: “Why do I=you=we exist?” I’m here in the forum and I’m asking this question because I have a little tiny-tiny bit of hope that some of us can actually come together and work as a team & combine our infinite potentials (while keeping judging and egos at minimum). If we don’t manage to do this, it’s of course ok, too. I understand that it’s a huge-huge-huge amount of responsibility and that manipulating systems can backfire in unpredictable ways. I’m here to help connecting the dots and to keep improving myself. It’s the only way that makes sense for me at the moment.

Emotions come and go easily these days. I understand that emotions come along with monkeymind thoughts and I (as observer) can choose to believe or not to believe in these thoughts. What's your relationship with disappointment, Tsuki? ;-)

How about we stop believing in thoughts like this once they arise? Does that help? ?

? Amen!

Yes - I used to collect rocks in the first half of my life until I understood that they were a substitute. I had a need to hold on to stuff to fill my emptiness. Nowadays, I feel more and more "complete" and it gets easier and easier to let go of stuff.

Self-inquiry. I have been doing Byron Katie's "the work" for a few years and it's magical. I have reached a point where I feel like I can clearly see my issues (and I see them once I observe myself giving advice - then I "turn it around" and I can find out what I'm projecting). But it doesn't just help with that - one also learns to see other people's issues that way, simply by understanding why they tend to give you certain advice. Oh yes, I know - it sounds like I have it all figured out. Don't worry, I still have some work left to do ?

I just had 5 days without kids and husband and guess what I did? I completely reorganized & minimized stuff in our house and in my office (which was a complete mess - believe me!). Letting go of sooo many things - feels incredible ??

Oh - don't get me wrong. 50% of the time I totally enjoy nihilism, but in the other 50% I rather learn and create. Apparently, I still have to learn a bit about nihilism ? Creating might actually be a nihilistic act, too, since I'm in some sort of meditative state/trance when I create. I guess my point is that I don't want to stop learning, which obviously involves some thinking and therefore, one easily looses touch with the present moment....

I love to play and I don't want to be stuck in nihilism

@George Fil Yeah, you are right - I wish you all the best! Moving to another country is an incredible learning experience!

In case anyone else wants to share this with their scientist friends, here are the links to the articles: Edwards & Roy (2017): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206685/ Meagan Day's article: https://jacobinmag.com/2018/07/capitalism-science-research-academia-funding-publishing Especially the Edwards & Roy (2017) paper is a good one to share, because there is a chance that people might actually cite it ;-)

We can only speculate - maybe to find out that nobody can answer this question? Or that only we can answer this question for ourselves? Collapsing the wave function sounds good to me at this point ;-) It feels magical to have infinite potential!

Yeah, having patience is so hard sometimes... My brain is also "digesting" Ken Wilber's knowledge tree at the moment and I feel like a Brachiosaurus that is about to get hit by a huge asteroid. Not sure if I should keep eating the leaves or run for my life.

@tsuki Sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt your flow here with my comment ? Please ignore it and just keep going! ?

@now is forever Thank you for reflecting with me ? There is always always always more too learn, infinite amounts. Finding balance between (1) thinking/learning, (2) applying what one has learned, (3) being still/meditating and (4) creating is the key to a wonderful magical world!

@George Fil Why are you choosing Amsterdam? Isn't it expensive to live there plus there are so many tourists?

Leo is Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris and Trump as well - just like you and I are, too! ?? Once we really understand this, it's much easier to love everyone for who they=we are, isn't it?

I believe you. I grew up in Eastern Germany - I was 12 years old when the wall fell. So, no - I wouldn't want communism back - of course not! I believe that all we can do is heal our inner wounds and if we are lucky it heals humanity, too.

As I silently observe my monkeymind, I can see that my thoughts have changed over time. In a situation, where I typically found myself judging, debating or giving advice, I can be so incredibly calm these days. It gets a bit scary sometimes actually, because it feels like I can "see" what people think, but then I can respond in a much better way. Yes, of course - I just failed to observe my thoughts silently. But that's completely fine - there is no point to beat myself up about it. There is anyway no point to believe anything ANYONE says. So, don't you dare believe me (or yourself ?)!

@George Fil I completely agree! I'm working for a social business nowadays ? The profits go into hiring more people and back into the business itself. But will it be sustainable - that's the big question! Marketing is not easy! Maybe I should add that it's an environment-friendly business, too. We make useful items and art out of things others have thrown away (that's called #upcycling and #trashart - feel free to "ecosia-google" it). Really cool stuff! ?

P.S. Also, I'm wondering who is (or used to be) a scientist here and what do you think about this topic? For me, it was one of the reasons to leave science behind (I used to work in Earth & Planetary Sciences). Then I worked in industry and got sick of the maximizing profits attitude. So, after that I decided to start my own business, which failed miserably because of several different reasons (stress & health issues plus being a woman and mother of 2 kids while working in nanotechnology is not a good combination ;-). I would seriously love to do some science and research again, but I wouldn't dare to go back at this point exactly because of all of the reasons summarized in these papers above! Well, I guess nowadays I research whatever I want anyways - which gives me so much more freedom

See, this comment was made without much inner reflection and not very empathetic, was it? @aurum Thank you ;-)

Will you recover from this? ?