EternalForest

You should have many types of friends around. I have a few friends for just going out and having fun, others for making music, others for nerding out (games, movies, anime, etc.) others for having deep conversations and self development. Sometimes they overlap, but they don't always have to! Don't try and find them, perhaps if you introduce the topics to the friends you have now in the right way a spark could ignite. Love your friends for who they are.

I do have OCD, and throughout the day, if I get into one my little "cycles", then thoughts may have trouble leaving my mind. Yet strangely, meditation gives me no real struggle. I can easily sit and just relax my mind. There is no clearing my mind. I might be the minority, but I can easily sit for an hour in an empty room and quiet my mind. I may look at the clock a few times, and sure, any more than an hour and it may become a challenge. But there's no monkey mind as far as I can see. If I try to focus like it's taught in certain meditation methods, it makes me over-focus because I already feel focused, yet relaxed, Thoughts may arise in my mind, but I can choose to entertain or to not entertain them at will. The worst that can happen for me during meditation is falling asleep! At the same time though, I feel no real need to make it a daily habit to sit down and meditate. When I do it's nice, but I don't get very much from it outside of some extra relaxation. I've had more spiritual experiences through astral projection or lucid dreams on a real-life level of vividness. Those experiences take me somewhere beyond myself, but meditation does nothing of the sort for me. One theory I have is that I'm not meditating correctly, there's something I'm doing that's keeping it from being what its supposed to be. Edit: I'd like to add that my favorite meditation sessions have been done in extremely large rooms, out in nature, looking at the trees around me, or looking out the window of a tall building from the 8th floor at the city below. Those have given me more enjoyment than sitting in a normal room, but it had nothing to do with the meditation itself, it had more to do with me enjoying the environment. Sessions in an environment I enjoy I could even see myself doing for 90 minutes. But even these experiences feel shallow to me. It feels like I'm sitting there doing nothing! And I know that's what it's supposed to be, but its an hour of "This feels nice." without any real lasting draw for me to return.

Ellie Katz said "The world is your playground. Why aren't you playing?" Your life is your own personal storybook you're writing in real time. It's an infinite adventure. Write the story you want to write most, the one you're most proud of, the one that will make you happiest. We're all on Earth for a limited time. So why not have fun? Why not try new things? Why not play?

@Enlightenment Wouldn't that turn the meditation into a concentration practice? Or are you referring more to meditation with labeling?

@Jordan94 Dullness? In the context of meditation and spirituality I've never heard that term being used. It seems to be counter-intuitive, since I always thought that maintaining an empty mind during spiritual practices was a goal that Leo pointed to in his videos, especially the earlier ones (not trying to stop thoughts, but discarding them). The article you linked to suggests that I become temporarily more neurotic to counteract this? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see how that will help. Tell me more about this "dullness". Edit: I've never maintained a meditation habit for an extended period of time. Not that I don't want to, but I haven't yet.

I'd echo the post above me and agree that a more multi-faceted personal development club with some spiritual elements would be a better fit for your high school. Hardcore spiritual techniques of the type you're referring to are best done in solitude anyway.

Half of the people who are eligible to vote aren't voting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections And from my personal experience when I talk to the average person on the street about politics, their opinions are surprisingly neutral. They usually speak in vague phrases, expressing simple truths. "I didn't like any of the candidates, so I didn't vote." "Politicians, they're all the same", phrases like that. Do any of you share this experience as well? Because the reality of what the average guy on the street thinks about politics is far from the fierce, democrat vs. republican, constantly in a state of protest/upheaval narrative that all the media outlets seem to push. On average, older people I've met have leaned more republican, and younger people more conservative. But very few people I've met have had particularly strong political opinions. They may lack the deep understanding that actualized.org promotes, but in my experience they're surprisingly more neutral, reasonable and open-minded than they're given credit for. They may believe politics is out of their control or their politicians are failing them, but they're pretty willing to listen to a new POV.

Pathik from Avatar the Last Airbender

If every perceivable idea can considered truth by just thinking about it, consider this set of phrases: Statement 1: There is no Absolute Truth. Statement 2: There is an Absolute Truth. Then what do we make of the Absolute? If everything is subjective/possible, then how can there still be a single truth?

@Mikael89 Only one I've seen better is Reddit. Now that I think about it, having an Actualized.org subreddit would be pretty neat.

Might be a cliche choice, but it was the biggest song ever for a reason. Just touches the heart and it's gotten me out of so many tough situations.

I'm conflicted on choosing to pursue the full fledged Hero's Journey and make a grand adventure out of my life or just stop everything and live out my days in solitude pursuing the highest spiritual truths and then finally share them with the world. The issue is that I can't do both. I can't pursue the hero's journey and make my dream of being a successful musician and filmmaker if I'm in solitude, and I can't pursue the highest spiritual truths if I'm after material successes. I'm at a crossroads.

@Sahil Pandit My intuition is telling me to first pursue the Hero's Journey, as its what I'm resonating with the most right now, and then when I become older, finally pursue the highest spiritual wisdom. The only issue with this path is that I fear by starting so old and already being so wrapped up in the sensory world, I'll be too far behind.

For various reasons, I'm temporarily working/living in a Stage Red environment at the moment, where a lot of greed, arrogance, belittling, screaming, abuse, power games, selfishness, dog eat dog mentality, survival of the fittest harshness, black and white thinking, lack of privacy and manipulation goes on. Even when they're not manipulating me, their low-consciousness negative energy rubs off on me and I can really feel it stifling my growth. I can't just ignore them, and have to interact with them all day constantly, sometimes spending 4 to 5 hours in the car with them each day. I have a greater life purpose and am actively try to self-develop myself outside of work in privacy, and try to block them out as best I can. I'll have myself a positive, fruitful weekend of spirituality, self development and progress towards my greater purpose and dream career, only to come back Monday and sit in a room for 8 hours with these people again dragged back down into the same petty, low consciousness yelling, arguments, manipulation, drama and toxicity. I try not to participate in it, try to be kind and neutral, and don't judge them for doing it, but anyone who's been in an environment like this knows that oftentimes this just isn't enough. I know Leo has said in past videos about toxic relationships the best strategy is to cut them out of my life. But once again, for various reasons that's just not an option right now, and until I get out, in the meantime I want to know any advice to help me deal with them in a way that doesn't drag me down with them.

@Truth Addict Very true, I never thought of it that way. I'll keep that in mind, using this as a tool rather than a hindrance. And I don't want to be too black and white myself either. From interacting with these people for as long as I have I can tell you they're good hearted and decent in many ways as well. It's a complicated thing, and you can't just lump people into "good" and "bad" categories.

@Leo Gura Try a different video format. Youtube works best with .mp4 and .wmv files in my experience.

It would easily be his video on Stage Turquoise. Being introduced to that model through the entire Spiral Dynamics video series revealed so much truth about the world to me in so many layers and facets, and if I'm able to achieve Stage Turquoise in my lifetime I would be very grateful. However, I am staying patient and am growing at my own pace. Spiral Dynamics can't account for all of life's complexities, but it sure is a great start.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s With an entirely new generation spreading green ideals, it was always a mystery to me why the movement didn't last, and why many of these people grew up to continue being stage orange. It's as if society was experiencing a turning point, and next step in evolution but it wasn't ready.

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@Flatworld Crusades Thanks for the support. Deleted post, I'll respond in PM.

Ask yourself why? "Why don't I want to do it?" "Why not do it?" When you come up with a reason ask, "Why do I want to do that instead?" Deconstruct that for a while.

A balance of both is necessary. "Life skills" can give you insights on metaphysical topics, and vice versa.

I understand what you're saying but at the same time I think you're underestimating how much unstructured time can be good for your brain. Giving yourself time to play, wander, daydream, listen to music, and chat with friends can put you in a great mental state to be creative or look at situations in a more open way. It's a great stress reliever.

@Leo Gura Ok, I see what you mean. I was under the impression that the US was pretty solid orange through much of the economic boom of the 60s. But come to think of it, what the 90s are to us, the 40s were to the people of 60s. So perhaps it was less evolved than I'm perceiving it to be. I guess moreso than the people themselves I'm just making an observation that the culture and the zeitgeist of the late 60s and early 70s felt more green than the culture/zeitgeist of today or really anytime since then.

I've been pondering this and researching this for years and still haven't come to any meaningful conclusion. I just can't accept any of the current explanations from science or religion, too many explanations and none feel completely right. I can't believe that there's nothing at all after death, but it's also hard for me to believe that if I don't worship the "correct" deity I'll be deprived any sort of afterlife. Seems cruel, since there's no way for us to know what the correct deity is (if there is one) until the moment of death itself. Surely if I knew what the correct deity was I would worship it. Why the guessing game? Some say you are reincarnated and never truly die, while others say only your ego dies and after death you discover your true form. Not to mention, what will become of our memories? Are they preserved, as seen in children with "past lives", or are they erased forever? The explanations are seemingly endless, but my heart tells me there can only be one correct answer, and I haven't found it yet. I'd love to hear the forum's thoughts on this.