Christian

Be smart and think long term. Are you actually capable of sustaining the thing your intuition wants you to do in the long run? In other words, are you ready for the change? Be serious here, this is your life and you need to make strategic decisions that support you. Maybe it is the right move, maybe not. Depends on what your personal values are and how it fits together with the big picture of your life, but also your level of maturity. There are many subtle factors here so stay vigilant and trust your higher emotions. The only person who can really know the answer is you yourself. All the best!

@ChimpBrain You know what? You are right. It is great to have many definitions of the same thing - in this case god. Hitting it from different angles is important. And I am sort of preaching - I get that lol. But it may hopefully help some who are new to spirituality. That was my intention.

@ChimpBrain You make it sound like god is some sort of separated entity separated from everything else. That is NOT what god what god is. Be open radically open here. What god literally is is ABSOULUTE INFINITY!!. This absolute infinity is NOTHING and EVERYTHING at the same time paradoxically. God has no space, no time, no location, no meaning, no personality, nothing. It is completely neutral and it is YOU. You are god meaning you are the field of infinite nothingness that god is. This can only be experienced directly in present reality when your ego is gone. And this is what enlightenment is about; discovering your true existential nature aka god.

I have just had a pretty intense experience. I was laying in my bed casually on my back. I got into a meditative state and tuned into my body for around 1 hour. Afterwords, I witnessed something freaky. It was like my body was leaking on fire. I felt completely vulnerable and powerless like a child in the middle of a crossfire. And I got these associations of my parents fighting when I was younger. I was only 13 and very immature at that point and I could recall the absolute misery and powerlessness of that situation. The feeling of shit just going down and you cannot do a single thing about it because you can't even comprehend what the fuck is going on. To make matters worse, I also felt helpless because my parents never gave me any "true" compassion and love in the desperate times. It struck me so deep and the scars are still in me to a large extend. I am really angry with them that they could do that to me. What the fuck were they thinking? Fucking unconscious rats. My father also has blockages in regards to victim mentality and anger so I cannot let my emotions out on him. It is a really big issue and it pisses me the fuck off. I feel like he does not unconditionally love me and that is too hard to accept. He only loves me when I get an A, do what he wants, etc. Does anyone else have it similar? Any ideas/tips to let go of this mess? I know I sound like a total victim here, but that is truly how I feel. Why resist it? What you resist persists right?

I know, but the problem is that everytime I have blamed someone outside my self, regardless of whether it was true or not, they repressed my feelings. They did not listen to me when I was hurt or felt unloved. They just swept that under the rug and rationalized it like: "Oh, we love you, we give you a house, food clothing and look at that new object we gave you!" See, but that is not what I needed or wanted at all. That is not true love and it made me feel even more alone and ashamed. I never Got out of the victim faze, because I never went through it. And even when I act like a victim now, there is more trauma. Because when I behaved like the victim I was abandoned/ignored (more victim thinking I know). But it is true. My parents were not truly compassionate and only accepted certain parts of me and that has let to me building a false self. And it has trouble being assertive, stranding up for itself, not knowing when to back down, people pleaser, never that angry or sad (that is all part of the shadow). For a long time, I had no idea and I thought I had depression. But thinking back, it probably is not that. I meditate daily though and that has helped a lot. Probably need years of work to get out of this mess, but it is worth it.

Thanks Martin. It is cool to hear your opinion on this and victim mentality in general. I do agree by the way, but I have in a very subtle way tried to resist victim thinking. I think some part might have to do with me believing that victim mentality is wrong/pointless from "how to stop being a victim" video from Leo. So I just did not want to confront the truth that I do sometimes feel like a victim, but I think it is about time to do so. Maybe being a victim is what I need to move forward here. That is counter intuitive, but I can accept that. Resisting it definetly has not helped.

I have the same problem. I also slack off with the habits I try to install. Especially meditation. Realize that persistance is KEY. If you fall off track, accept that. No one is perfect. But keep going because some people get discouraged when they fail. Somrtimes you need 100 tries to do somethimg succesfully. The 99 steps prior are just steppingstones leading to the 1 success that is the reward for your desire to keep fucking going.

I get you man. Literally no one does PD where I live. And those who do are not serious about it. They are only into the flashy LOA bullshit and false spirituality. But that is why this forum was created. It was created so people like you and me can connect regardless of location. By the way, personal development in itself is personal. It is a journey you go on. You do not need other people on this journey. Sometimes, other people can be a major distraction to your growth if they distract you from the bigger picture. Think about what this point means in the context of your life.

Fulfillment and success are closely intertwined when you are in lower consciousness. When one actually give a shit about ones self and your self image, then when reality matches it, temporary fulfillment comes. But that is not true fulfillment. True fulfillment comes from breaking down ego. And people who are successful in life - at least some - open up to higher spiritual truths because what else is there? They already have everything else. But you can still pursue the real fulfillment without having the other areas of life in place. That would be a wiser move. Enlightenment is the only thing that is really worth going for. Everything else is just a fools gold.

I have in the past months been contemplating leaving Facebook and never coming back. It is just a huge waste of time for me. Every time I log in - 100x a day - and check what people are up to, I get feelings of being "not good enough", lonely, less than others and isolated. Also, I observe that within the 6 years I have been on that shit, it has not been worth it at all. It was just a distraction from looking inward and building a real life. But I guess I am also afraid of potentially negative consequences of leaving. What will they think of me? That one really gets to me. How can I muster the courage to leave? I really want to, but the fear of judgement is just so strong in me. I have never really been good at making rash decisions, but I know it is right for me to leave this time. Any advice/feedback would be appreciated.

Did it boys and girls! ?? Fuck Facebook

I have always had a problem with making friends and socializing. When I was 6 years old, I was told I had autism. Whenever I would have around children in kindergarden and normal people, I was and still am incredibly afraid. I am afraid of being abandoned and bullied like I was in childhood. And basically, I cannot trust anyone. The other day, I got a desire to catfish my girlfriend because I thought she was cheating on me. When I am in class or hanging with my friends, I feel an intense level of anxiety in my stomach every time someone throws social commentary at me or say something mean. It puts me in a vulnerable place. It disturbes me and I just do not know what to do sometimes. I also fest that I am not able to give people what they desire because I have a hard time reading social cues. Probably cause of autism. But I just with that I had the ability to be normal and secure in myself. And not always be so anxious. I get really goeod grades in school, but I have this intuition telling me that if I do not fix this now, I will have to live alone with no friends and no job. The thought scares the shit out of me! I just do not know what to do here. What can I do to turn this around? Because now, I basically feel fucked. Any exercices and tips would be helpful.

I think there is room for nuance. There are many different approaches to a minimalistic lifestyle and if you authentically like to be around your friends, then keep them. But when your level of consciousness and prioriteres rise, you can get more into spiritual territory and maybe cut those friends because you enjoy other activities now. But the transition in consciousnes development takes time and requires work ( daily meditation etc.) Do that and keep at it and leave those friends when you are ready rather than using brute force.

I would say there are two fundamental principles that will likely help you: Firstly, accept yourself and the desires you have. Realize there is nothing wrong whatsoever with playing video games or anything else existentially. Secondly, develop a regular meditation habit. This will help you follow the principle "awareness alone is curative". Be aware when you engage in unwanted behaviours (i.e video games etc.) and get in touch with the shallowness of these activities. If you do this, you will with effort reach authentic motivation and it will help you to change once and for all.

@SimpleTruth Sometimes, people who give a fuck about things have very black and white thinking. I sometimes notice that in me. In school, I am highly focused on getting good grades and I have this tendency to generalize and say either I get these grades or I am a failure. That is very limiting in itself and when people then try to ruin my efforts, I can latch out in anger and fear of the unknown danger of not living up to my expectations. That is something I am working through though and I hope you find these parts in you. These thoughts that are black and white. Look for should statements such as: I should be treated well by others as they are very limiting too and when reality gives you a slap (ie someone tells you some nasty comment) and says fuck you, you get angry and neurotic. So basically it is all about you. Your models and your agenda and the fact that reality does not match sometimes. And when it does not, shit hits the fan. Fix your beliefs first - preferably try to drop them altogether and live in the unknown. See where that leads you. Let reality be the master and you align with it. Not the other way around and accept reality. That will probably do you good.

It is great to see you are aware of your shortcomings. That already males it much easier to offer advice. I would say that you should accept these thoughts and integrate them. Because only when you have accepted something can you actually change it successfully. That which you resist has a tendnecy to persist and when these thoughts persist, and you deny or distract - you are not going to raise awareness and grow. That just delays the root issue to be dealt with In the future. When you decide to go In and actually investigate your emotions and thoughts, be open minded. And stop trying to look for 1 isolated root cause. We are inprinted with this idea to solve a psychological issue, we need this needle In the haystack - 1 root cause - but that does not contribute to your well being. It is likely just going to make you highly uncertain and not fix the issue. Because there are so many possibilities for potential root causes and your deciding for which is the right one is based on faith. Never truth. You will never know truly know and your higher self knows that. Just trust the process of being and feeling. Let it happen and drop your ideas and concepts In this context.

@spicy_pickles I find that when I set high expectstions on myself, I become neurotic and underperform. In contrast, when I tell myself I am just gonna do a half-ass job that makes me highly efficient because there is no pressure. I can focus on the task and not the result and pretending to be some idealized person. If you apply this, it will probably help, but again, I am not a professional at helping others handling high pressure situations. Good luck btw

Seeing through the ego and becoming enlightened is going to take a LOT of effort. You can get tiny glimpses here and there of your true self if you do self inquiry successfully every day. But do not attach yourself or care too much about these tiny experiences. They are not permanent enlightenment.Keep your eye on the bigger vision and take these tiny experiences of "THE consciousness" as bonuses on the way.

@awareemptiness If you are conscious, you do not really need a plan to do what is right for you. A plan can make you very rigid and stresser because of all the expectations you may have to fulfill it. And I find it is not great for creating results. You will find the inner ressources to take proper action just by letting go of beliefs/ideas about what should be. Another one of those counter intuitive moves.

Firstly, I would say that the number one thing that has helped me has definitely been meditation. Meditation calms the mind down and gets you in touch with the present moment. It sounds to me that meditation might be right for you as well as many other individuals including myself who is also going through this academic pressure which is highly stress inducing. Secondly, get a planner and organize your life. Something that I am looking into currently is lifestyle minimalism and tidying. If you have too much stuff around your study area and your house and it is not well organized, that will increase your stress levels. I just finished a book called "the life changing magic of tidying" which helps one develop a clean organized space and minimalistic lifestyle. I highly recommend if my descriptions apply to you.

After all, Leo is just another human being who has a lot of great things to say, but he surely does not know everything. I think you should do what you want and see where it takes you in this case. If you are happy reading fiction books and it helps you, great, but be mindful. If you like partying, do it, but always be mindful. You may find out that you are engaging in these activities to avoid a deeper issue. If that is true, dissolve that first and see if you still like the things you do. And lastly develop a daily meditation habit! It will help you get insights into this issue and investigate your beliefs. What do you believe about the world? What is meaningful to you? What would be a valuable activity to engage in given your short period of existence?

I do not study his videos in the sense that I do not take any notes or try to memorize what he teaches. All I do is try to do the exercises and install the habits he preaches such as meditation etc. That is also what yields the most results imo.

@fireworld Maybe what you are lacking is an inspiring vision for your life. A vision that drives you to step outside your comfort zone and accomplish things despite the struggle. I have a suggestion that might work: Sit down for an hour or two and ponder the possibilities you have with regards to creating your life. Think about what drives you, what do you want, what would I be doing to feel inspired and motivated? But really think. Do not be satisfied with a surface level egoic answer. Get in touch with your higher more spiritual self and let its faint voice guide you on the right path.

A professional athlete trains despite whatever state he is in in the moment. A state is a mode of being and should not depend on you taking action. What leads to success is having the discipline to build succesful habits that have you take action even if "you don't feel like it". The secret is to do it anyway based on a higher principle or value you hold. You cannot depend on the emotional state you are in to take action. It is always morphing and changing. Sometimes you just have to do shit despite what you feel. That is the cold hard truth...

@Orange If you are not working on your mindfulness by meditating, your mindfulness will die out eventually. Just like when a plant does not get water, it dies. And you might go unconscious again. Consciousness needs to be maintained and when you maintain it by meditating daily. But then again, I could be wrong and this claim might not be true. It would only be true if you lost consciousness when you were not meditating and I cannot conclusively prove that. Only you can notice if not meditating decreases your consciousness. So try it and compare your level of awareness when you are not meditating and just being mindful to doing both