TheAvatarState

The movie "I Origins" is probably mostly green with flavorings of yellow. Recommended. Of course 2001 a space Odyssey, perhaps the greatest film ever created. Tree of Life. The show Altered Carbon really surprised me. In episodes 3-5 it beautifully weaved in themes of religion, the separation of body from mind (through interchangable "sleeves"), the human condition, and much more. It really makes you wonder what it means to be human. This struck me as yellow, excellent writing. The show Avatar the Last Airbender is mostly green with shades of yellow (and a couple of characters who I believe to be turquoise). Yes, it's a kid's show, and you better believe me when I say this. Don't be closed minded... I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you take the time to watch it. I wrote a separate post on it in the recommended books/media subforum.

@cirkussmile thanks for the reply. I had a major realization/epiphany today because I took this even further. The force behind it all... It's too beautiful and staggering isn't it? How we (infinite intelligence/consciousness) built this all from dust in order to experience this together. It's all building towards something, up the spiral. Is our entire "purpose" to experience and love? Is this what this whole thing really is?

You're welcome to try it, but the one time I tried 4-ACO it was awful. Uncomfortable body load, whereas mushrooms have a heavy, comfortable one. It was "trippy" but not organic. I'd stick with mushrooms.

@Barna Let me quote myself You are correct, you don't have to trust us. You'll arrive at the same conclusions if you do the work, just like Leo has said.

The only way to truly get this is to contemplate and figure it out yourself. But let me point you in the right direction. The self is like a computer program that you created. It's your ego. It's all your ideas of you and it's a projection. The ego cannot live in the present moment, so it does everything it can to survive by pulling you out and into the past or future. The self does not like unconditional love, because it thrives on division. The ego itself is a division of you, and it seeks to divide your reality into ever smaller pieces. To control you by fear. You don't have to like your life. Unconditional love is nothing more than the emotion you feel when you realize you are the universe. Love is an emotion of connection. It's not a choice, it just happens, because the self cannot survive with that realization. The self is literally melted away. That is your death.

@Serotoninluv what are you talking about? This man is obviously straight turquoise ?

@SageModeAustin Oh I've definitely experienced it, I just wanted to hear your thoughts on it. Why do all enlightened masters have the best senses of humor? That's the key. Reality is utterly fantastical and hilarious. Humor is such an interesting emotion... I think it's roots, funnily enough, are in existential matters.

What clicked? What was going through your mind?

This is where you're wrong. Your ego doesn't want to know the true state of reality, because it knows that will be its death. But the reason you're here on this forum asking this question is precisely because a part of you is curious. The true self. Which side do you want to see come to fruition? Red pill or blue pill? That is the choice you must make. But be aware that you're killing yourself with either decision. Killing your true self if you step away, killing your ego if you go down the rabbit hole. There's really no in-between option, believe me I've tried. But you know exactly where one of those roads leads... Contemplate and practice to distinguish the part of you that doesn't want to kill yourself, and the part of you that's curious about it (the intuition about it). That will be invaluable down the road. Good luck my friend. I'll add that your hesitation to go further is grounded in your misunderstanding of what ego is. If you truly knew what it was and how and why it functioned, then this would be a no-brainer (pun intended).

Nihilism IS a dangerous idea to embrace for someone just coming out of a materialist paradigm. Believe me, I know exactly what you're going through because I went through it myself. But nihilism is a necessary step to work through. Leo has said this before, and I agree with him. This is because nihilism is a partial truth. You haven't gone far enough, you have to contemplate and work through it to come out the other side a much stronger person. A more holistic thinker. And counter-intuitively, more grounded. Let's consider for a moment that there was this grand plan for everyone. Then would you really be a conscious individual? Is there any room left for free will? What if you don't achieve your life purpose? Are you then a failure? Can you see how that mindset could create a lot of problems and stress down the line? What is meaning? Leo has assigned this as homework for a contemplation journal, and I personally got a lot out of it. What is purpose? The fact is, there is no purpose, and all meaning is a mental construction. Meaning at its core is something you've constructed to help your monkey brain to do things for survival. It's necessary, it allowed us to be where we are today. Everything you've ever done has been based on meaning, so obviously it's quite a shock to your ego to be faced with the possibility that there is no meaning. That's the initial shock, which is where you're at. But when you think about it further, this will liberate you. Free you from the matrix. You can create any life you want for yourself. There's no false standard to hold yourself to. If you fail, it never really mattered. If you succeed, it also never really mattered from a materialist paradigm, but as you change what you value and change your metaphysical framework, you will see that the happiness and joy you gained is the real thing. What is the first thing people do when they realize they're in a lucid dream? They fucking fly. Nihilism is a spiritual insight trapped in the framework of materialism.

The ego can abuse spiritual practices and "enlightenment experiences" for its own good, and turn it into an addiction. I think you have to make a fine distinction between discipline and addiction. You control disciplined habits, addictions control you. Let's say a century ago, you believed smoking a cigarette a day was good for your health. You smoked a cigarette every evening at the same time, and nothing more. That's not an addiction. The moment you can't control the habit and it infects your daily thought patterns, that's when it becomes an addiction. It's not the content, it's the frequency of unconscious thought patterns. Addiction to "positive" things can be just as negative. Just because you're enlightened doesn't mean you're immune to addiction. It takes nuance and constant mindfulness to course correct. Addiction is the status quo of the ego mind.

@Leo Gura Have you heard the poetry of the wise Guru Laghima? "New growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old." "Let go your earthly tether. Enter the void. Empty, and become wind."

When I was watching Leo's latest video, it occurred to me that I used to have a similar practice as a child (age 5-6). Of course I didn't know what it was at the time, and I'm just now deciphering what I was Actually doing. In fact, this is the first time I've thought about this in many years. I don't know how it started, but the practice went like this: I'd say to myself "this is me" over and over again, and after a few moments, sometimes up to 2 minutes, I'd get an insane body and mind sensation. This wasn't me sensing an ego, it felt like a direct experience and wonder and amazement at being conscious. Purely in the present moment. I did this occasionally over the course of a couple years just for the body sensation, but I knew I was tapping into something special. After perhaps age 7ish, I was no longer able to tap into that feeling, and I eventually forgot about it... Until now. I think this is pretty fascinating that I did this on my own accord as a child. It makes me wonder that if children at that most important time (age 4-6) were taught true spiritual practices, that they would catch on extremely quickly. I feel like I had a close connection to true being back then, before I was innundated with all that social programming. Now I'm in the process of removing those layers of Bullshit to get back to where I was at age 5, except now with all the knowledge and correct metaphysical context. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

@non_nothing Thanks for sharing that. I'm sure this wasn't an uncommon thing. I just remember how easy it was to get this feeling. It felt like what I was sensing WASN'T what I traditionally thought of as "me." When I questioned "what is me" and observed, it pointed to something "within" that was marveling the beauty of existence. It marked the first time I went meta and become conscious of being conscious, and that fact stunned me. I can't overstate how intense the body feeling was; I couldn't hold onto it for more than a few seconds.

@AdamDiC I don't think you'll be disappointed. Again, the first few episodes are more childish, but it's necessary worldbuilding and reflects the characters' initial mindset. Enjoy!

@Tonypop100 Right on! Enjoy the rewatch, while keeping actualized.org stuff in mind

@Durka_Durka So I first watched the show a couple years ago, and that was when I first started consciousness work and watching actualized.org. Man, I have to tell you that my appreciation for The Last Airbender has skyrocketed since then. I really don't think that most people fully understand what's at play here, it's quite remarkable. There are no other shows like Avatar. It fits almost perfectly with everything I've learned from actualized.org in a beautiful way.