Identity

After watching some contend of Christopher Bache (LSD scientist guy from Leo’s blog), I am thinking about whether it is possible to fully awaken. He talks about how his enlightenment experiences went deeper and deeper, until he realised it was an infinite progression with no way of reaching an end. Leo also mentions his awakenings going deeper and deeper, even when the previous seemed ‘total’. Is there an end state? Is it possible to fully become god? Or is maybe Christopher Bache’s realisation that there is no end (and no beginning) actually what makes the circle compleet? I guess I’m chasing some kind of deep samadi state that will be ‘my end’.

Was re-watching the self-bias episode and started to wonder what the collective self-bias is of the actualized community. Thinking of actualized as a collective ego. What is this collective ego? In what ways is the lens of actualized skewing reality? Now, I know that lumping the entire actualized community in one box is very simplistic. Many further distinctions could be made: - Leo vs. Followers - Degree of identification with actualized - Level of consciousness etc. However, digging into the core of what we would point to as “actualized”, this term that is separating between an in- and out-group. What is that self-bias?

Was thinking about the topic of open-mindedness more, when this distinction came to me and gave clarity. We could sub-divide open-mindedness into two categories: To content; this is basically being open to different perspectives, to different beliefs, to claims and ways of “physical” existence. It’s within the relative domain. To being; this is being open to what existence IS. To source. To dissolving into nothingness. To surrendering of ego. The absolute domain. Open-mindedness to content is more messy and confusing, whereas openness to being more simple, not easy, simple. Of course this distinction ultimately collapses again, but it gave me some clarity, so maybe it will do the same for you.

@Cepzeu Yup, me too. It’s a though cookie. Seems like it’s more about the degree of caring and limiting ourselves by it. Fully letting it go would require deep awakening I suppose.

Well, the distinction dus start to fade and they would be related. However, we could imagine a zen-master who is awake af, yet is dogmatic about stage blue cultural beliefs.

- Not having a vision for my life from a young age - Not building any true skills whilst being young - Caring a lot about what others think of me, trying to make them happy, instead of being true to myself - Living within the barriers of limiting beliefs

Have you seen this video?

I see you literally just now posted an answer that covers this question for the most part lol: “The problem is that you have to draw the line somewhere for pragmatic reasons. If you spend your time chasing down ever rumor found on the internets, you'll be doing that for 1,000 years and never awaken. So you must balance between openmindedness but also practicality. You have limited time and energy and focus. You must be highly strategic. Distraction is a tactic of devilry. The devil would love nothing more than to have you chasing down every conspiracy theory. Have you noticed that the most awake people do not talk about conspiracy theories? Why do you think that is? Don't discuss low level bullshit in a Zen temple. We are not going to wasting our time here talking about 9/11 inside job bullshit.”

@Leo Gura Hee Leo, awesome video you made once again. Gaining a truckload of understanding whilst watching it. I have some questions about the practice application of open-mindedness. Hopping between different paradigms, trying on different ones, sounds nice in theory. however, in practice it seems a lot more messy to me. For example, it is not as simple as trying on one lens or another one as you would on a camera or projector. Although one’s entire worldview could be analogous with that, in practice there are more minute, partial aspects being challenged. One belief or a chuck of them are challenged surrounding one subject. Also, it’s hard to “keep track” or be aware of what one’s worldview exactly is. Of course, this awareness is trainable, but it’s not like one has a list to look up beliefs and assumption (making one would be useful I guess. What seems to happen to me in practice, is that I either accept or deny certain beliefs. Than they get added into the repository/added to the snowball. Like that analogy of the boat you used back in the day, where your beliefs are planks making up a boat. You need the beliefs to survive. You can change a plank here and there, but if you want to stay afloat, you can’t take all the planks away (or are we trying to sink in this scenario, lol). Another issue is epistemology. As you question different ways of evaluating proof, this whole business becomes exponentially more complex. Now, we are not just changing lenses, but also lenses for looking at lenses ? So, if we look from the perspective or science for example, we could be open-minded relative from the scientific perspective (which allows more flexibility than religion for example). However, as also the assumptions holding that meta-paradigm in place get loosened, there is a new layer of depth and confusion “unlocked”. It’s like a numbered lock. Spinning one “wheel” of digits is quite simple to keep track of. 2 as well. But the more wheels you start spinning, the amount of possible worldviews gets rediculous. I’m not at the end yet, so maybe you mention more, but how does one practically go about open-mindedness? If I see a conspiracy theory for example, how do I look at it open-mindedly? If I read a book? If I talk to a friend? When do I accept/choose to live from a certain perspective? Which metrics should be used to evaluate a perspective? How deep should one go into confusion to still be functional? All these questions summarized; How does one live open-mindedly in practice?

An insight whilst watching the new open-mindedness video; consider a point of view as a perspective, not onto reality, but as reality. Consider that whatever point of view you hold, long and deep enough, will manifest. This metaphor of the projector is helpful here. Consciousness is the light. The point of view, perspective, belief, is the filter. Whatever filter is put in front of the projector, is the movie that is seen on the screen. This ties in with the idea of imagination. There are different degrees of it. More surface level points or view have the ability to change the content within what is assumed to be ordinairy reality. For example: - I am a millionaire pov, if able to be held deeply enough for long enough, will manifest. - I am unworthy of woman pov, if believed deeply, you will create a reality where woman don’t like you. - Self-esteem in general; if familiar with Nathaniel Brandon’s work, he goes deeply into all these beliefs. These are basically self-fulfilling prophesies. One tricky aspect I’ve noticed here, trying to change my pov’s, is that the old pov has to be totally removed. It has to not exist anymore. This is why it is so challenging to do this work. You really want to change your pov? Than your entire life movie will change. Your old friends will be moving our of your life for the most part, your job or studies, where you live, all of this is going to change. Personal development is like changing the content of your life movie. What you have to realize though, is that it’s about changing, not adding onto, for the most part. There is only so much content that your self in this human form can hold. There is time and space as limitations. If you want the movie to change, some aspects will have to shrink or disappear. What are you willing to give up to get to where you want to be?

@Derek White Good point, I think there is this definitely this notion of being different, being special. I notice it in myself often. Specialness; The idea that you are special, different, better, due to the personal development and spiritual work you are engaged in. How does it corrupt? Again, once the ego gets away with putting itself in the position of being special good individual, a lot of other shit can be swept under the rug. The means justify the ends. There is the in-group of self, or actualised, being and doing special things. The out-group is inferiour. Not able to understand as much, not as developed, etc. How does it manifest? - Judgement; others are less. They don't understand. They are selfish. etc. - Identification and belief; As @Derek White says, it can manifest in believing in things that are out of the norm more easily. Latching on to new identifications. I am special, so I have all these special possessions, abilities, beliefs. - Devilry; any other form of devilry, really. Whatever suits the self-agenda of mainting the specialness ego.

@GodDesireOnlyLove That sounds more like self-justification and defense mechanism than self-reflection ?

First idea that came to me: - Truth; this notion of Truth is very easily distorted. Looking at the collective ego of actualized, this term is thrown around a lot. Even when individuals have no or shallow understanding of it. How does it corrupt? By having ego’s take it and justify any position they hold. This is basically used as the ultimate close-mindedness freecard. As soon as the ego can get away with stating “it knows absolute truth” anything else can be swiped underneath it. How does it manifest? - Closed-mindedness, no need to reflect or scrutinize beliefs and stances - Blaming/hatred, from behind the Truth card, the self can easily swing around without compassion. There is an “other” that isn’t aware, thus lesser. - Specialness; I know the Truth! Look at me!

@Elton Those are some beautiful strengths. However, don’t let the outcome of an online test limit you. you say you have already found your life purpose. What is it? Is it building on those strengths?

@Intraplanetary Oef, I know what that feels like. This sense of really not wanting to do the final school assignments. As if I would burn when I had to do them towards the end. Anyways, lets think in solutions. The life purpose course is great. Would highly recommend doing it. However, it’s an intensive course that takes months to fully complete. Once you have that, it gives you an overall direction that takes years, decades, to actualize. So, I wonder whether you have the mental space and clarity to do it at this moment. Maybe you could share a bit more about your bigger picture. What are your plans after university? Is there pressure for financial independence right after? How clear is your vision for the future already? How satisfied are you with the path you are walking? Do you have momentum build up to start doing something after collage that you are excited for? etc.

Okay, seems like you’ve got your long-term vision in place, at least a clear enough sense of direction to start working on. To make it even clearer, I advise to do the following: - write out your vision in a clear statement. A few sentences. Try to see and feel it. - write out your current reality in a few sentences as well. As clear as possible, on the same metrics as your vision. Like a scientist would describe it. Now, don’t try to close the gap between your current reality and your vision in one fall swoop. It seems like the gap is quite big, which creates a lot of structural tension, which seems to manifest in doubt in your case. Try to instead feel the tension between where you are and where you want to be as a motivator. Use it as fuel. Let it make you hungry. What timeframe seems realistic to make your vision come true, 5 years? 10 years? Now you can start to plan for the road towards your destination. There is not one road, but a lot of different ones. A great tool to choose one that would fit, is to make different ‘cases’. For example: - case 1: I stay where I am. Hone my skills as much as possible whilst finding a job that can support me in the meantime. - case 2: I go to study/intern in a different country with more opportunities. - case 3: Job in advertising - case 4: etc. Lay down these cases on different pieces of paper in front of you. Which one is pulling you? Which one will move you truely to your vision? Which one stirs up the most emotion? Try to let go of fears and judgements during this process, really connect with yourself. If this helps, let me know, would love to share more! Good luck!

You are walking a certain path. It's like each step you take an infinite amount of new paths open up. Every step you choose a direction. As you take more steps, your direction gets more momentum. By consistantly taking steps in the direction your heart desires, you still step by step start to create more beauty. Whether you are able to directly set the step to the place where you are financially independent based on your passion, depends much about where you are on your path and what momentum you have created with previous steps. The most important thing is that next step you are taking every day. Seems to me that you are planting your feet consciously For me, my momentum had come to a very low point. It has taken my three years to gain momentum back. Now I have two businesses build on my values and more momentum is coming behind them day-by-day. Fully relying on them financially is not yet possible, so I am doing some other things as well, as training wheels. It's kind of like a plane, where financially depending on your business is taking off the ground and starting to fly. Whether you are able to do it or not, largely depends on the speed you have gathered. The effort you are putting in is your acceleration. Are you ready to fly?

+1 yes please!

Awesome video my friend, going to try this exercise over the next weeks!

@Emerald Cool that you are doing this! Never used Tarrot before, I’m curious ? I feel like my identity is spread out over different states and ways of being, and feel resistance to consistently live from my higher self. I have the desire to consolidate in my new way of being. What do I need to let go or integrate to stabilize?

❤️❤️❤️??❤️❤️❤️

Stage green is not “one thing” as simple as this. Rather it is a broad spectrum of mental constructions that share similar values and a similar mental construct that helps them to cope with certain survival demands. if you would put out a questionnaire with this question to 100 people clasified as “stage green” (which would be a very narrow assessment of a person), you would likely get a percentage of people going for option 1 and a percentage for option 2.

100% my favorite! ?

With the life purpose course you have (hopefully) found your inner compass. Your values, strengths, contemplations, creates a mass that points you in a certain direction. You were lost in the woods. Now you are holding a compass, showing you an overal direction. Your true North. What exact path do you want to walk towards that North? That is open to you. You could choose to start walking the gaming path, or the documantary path, or another path that is the overal right direction. At some point it's not some much about the path being the right one, but starting to walk one. Go on that hero's journey. Use that compass to guide you along the way. I have quite some clarity on my own inner compass. There are many different expressions for it. I started my own massage practice. I started my own training/coaching company. I teach at a university. I work with a training company. Each of these could be valid paths, leading in an overall right direction. I'm just walking along, making decisions using my heart along the way. Don't tell me your plans, show me your results - Ralph Smart Good luck!