EternalForest

Wanted to get your opinions. To me, it seems the best way is to just learn martial arts. Ignore verbal abuse, and if physical abuse begins, use self-defense techniques.

@Sahil Pandit Agreed. Thanks for responding to all my threads, even though I don't always respond back, wanted to say I appreciate it. @SpaceCowboy Hm, never thought of it that way. @Eric Tarpall lmao @Epiphany_Inspired @Salvijus Sending love back is definitely valuable. @Matt8800 I'm going to start learning it very soon. @Wyze Report them to HR.

Tell people how to create a board composed of a collage of photos of their dreams, goals, places they want to go, things they want to do, and what they value, in a place they can look at everyday. There's power in seeing your goals visually every day, making them real to you.

Every few weeks I get these intense bouts of nostalgia thinking about all the people in my life, the memories I've made with them, all the things I've done, all my regrets, all my proudest moments, how things have changed, and what I'll do when they are gone. I think about the times I've had with them and how irreplaceable those times are, but its not your typical/normal type of nostalgia. In these moments I am almost brought to tears by eras gone by and feel so grateful to have been a part of them and have this feeling that no one else around me can understand the depth of what I am feeling. It's this sort of warm, deep feeling for the people and memories that is impossible to put into words. I'm not feeling this right now, so I thought it would be a good time to be objective about it and discuss it. There is also sometimes an even more intense element to it, where I feel as though I took it all for granted and want to just live it all again, and the fact that I can't sometimes brings me to tears of sadness. It's an era that will never come back and I'll never truly relive it the same way again, and nothing since can or will ever replace it.

Meditation (plan a retreat this year) Concentration Contemplation Self inquiry Reading Researching Journaling Exercising Yoga Saving Money Plus, keep on track with your life purpose and your top values. Make your mark! Have a great 2019 everyone.

@Andreas Creativity. Through the thick and thin of life you can always create. Suffering often fuels creation, so even in suffering creativity can thrive. And in joyfulness and high consciousness, creativity feels like a free flowing euphoria from the soul, in all artforms, visual and audio, stories and songs around the globe. Edit: It also gives a lot of meaning to one's life, when all practical things have been taken care of such as food and shelter and where logical ends, creativity begins. It gives meaning to life when all practicality has been taken care of.

@CreamCat Never knew about that, how disgusting. Trying to stifle a sincere, ambitious company because you own a piece of paper which you aren't going to do anything with. Life's too short for that bullshit

Just the opposite, doing more spiritual work and education will enhance the rest of your life, including hobbies (including gaming), relationships and life purpose. Once you have a strong purpose you'll be so into it you'll barely have time for games, but in the time that you do spend gaming I think you'll appreciate it a lot more. Good luck.

It's alright, I probably haven't even fully integrated 25% of the techniques and mindsets he talks about in his videos yet, a new one can wait

I know, I know, the title is pretty out there, but hear me out. Leo has said in the past that art is a sort of "pseudo-spirituality", and I agree in the sense that a piece of art allows you to see the beauty of a certain aspect of the infinite. For the sake of this post let's assume video games are art, which I personally believe, but I know some take issue with. When I think about the concept of an engrossing, high quality open world game it gives me the same sense of wonder and openness that meditating or camping and spending time in nature does. That natural sense of exploration and awareness of your surroundings is emulated well by the best games. Examples of games that give me this feeling are Skyrim, Minecraft, Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy X, Breath of the Wild, Ocarina of Time, Ratchet and Clank, Kingdom Hearts 2 and The Witcher 3. Now I know art is subjective and everyone probably has their own list but these games are definitely on the more open world/artistic side and bring out that "feeling" for me. When playing these types of games consciously (not from point A to point B, but fully taking in the surroundings and the experience), I see a lot of potential for them being used as a tool for spirituality. These games can also give us insight on how we get "lost" in our everyday life when in many ways it is no different than getting lost in the game! In the sense that it too is an illusion. Here is an interesting technique by Michael Highland which expands on this point and shows the potential of using video game play as a spiritual practice. QUOTE (source: http://www.awaken.com/2013/08/using-video-games-as-spiritual-practice/ ) I wanted to provide a simple guide to those of you interested in actually trying this out. First I think I should clarify what I mean by ‘spiritual practice’. I want to relieve you of any fear that that this exercise has anything to do with religion or god. It does not, at least not inherently. When I say spiritual practice, what I have in mind is a any activity that, through repetition, brings an individual greater objectivity, equanimity, and love. Countless such practices have been formalized by spiritual teachers for thousands of years. Shinzen Young is a meditation teacher whose recordings I highly recommend. He makes this important distinction about spiritual/meditative practice: “Formal sitting is to meditation as playing scales is to music. Even great musicians still play scales, but scales are not the purpose of music. In the same way, even experienced meditators still do formal sitting practice, but formal sitting practice is not the goal of meditation. The concert is the goal of music practice; living one’s life fully is the goal of the meditation practice.” I believe this should be true of any spiritual practice – the goal is simple to live as fully as possible. Simple enough. Background I’m basing this experimental practice on my relatively superficial knowledge of meditation techniques (yogic and zen) as well as some first hand experience with dream yoga (lucid dreaming practice) as it’s approached in Bon Buddhism. This is the beta version for lack of better terminology. This practice is intended for gamers – if you’re new to video games, it’d be especially challenging because much of your mental energy will be dedicated to processing and controlling the game. You should be past the point of checking which is the ‘X’ button, and ideally choose a game you have some familiarity with. The primary goal of the practice is to maintain a heightened awareness of two things, the idea that the game is an illusion, and of yourself the feelings you are experiencing while playing. Let’s discuss each in a little more detail. Awareness of Game as Illusion The first awareness is a purely mental recognition of the game as purely an illusion. Imagine being in a dream, and then recognizing, for whatever reason that you are dreaming. It’s an ‘Ah ha’ moment, a mental understanding. You can reinforce this idea through an internal dialog, something like “This is a game, it is an illusion”. It will be challenging to hold only this thought in your mind while playing. Don’t punish yourself if you realize you’ve become distracted. Rather, take a moment, breath deeply, and refocus your mind on that recognition. In fact, each time you lose touch with the awareness it is an opportunity to experience how easily we lose ourselves in the virtual world. Awareness of Your Thoughts and Feelings The second awareness is a a sense of what feelings (physical and emotional) and thoughts are arising in your body. You should play in a comfortable position, but try to let the awareness of your physical body promote an energized rather than sleepy feeling in the body. If you’re too tired to hold yourself up, try the practice when you have more energy. As you play take notice if your body tenses or reacts to events in the game. Notice if you experience any internal dialog or thoughts. Notice what emotions arise. This part of the practice is simply an exercise in observation, you should not try to control or limit how you react to the game physically, mentally, or emotionally. Rather just observe and continue playing. The Practice Find a comfortable place to play, ideally somewhere without any other distractions. Turn off background music, lower the lights. Attempt to make the game as immersive as possible. Plan on playing for at least 30 minutes. Choose a game that you know well, that you can play ‘on auto pilot’. I’ve been using MF2 multiplayer in my own practice and it seems like a good choice. Likely though, any game could work. Before you start playing, try to gain some somatic (bodily) awareness. Take a few deep breaths through your nose, feeling your torso expand and contract. Roll your shoulders and neck. Shake out your arms and hands. Take a few moments to simply observe how your body feels. Now set an intention to remain fully present and aware while playing. Say it to yourself: “I will remain present and aware of myself and of the illusion of the game” If you are new to the practice it can be helpful to use a timer to remind yourself to refocus. You can vary the delay but I recommend 5 minutes. If you are using a timer, set it. Begin playing, first maintaining only an awareness of your body, thoughts, and emotions. As your mind begins to shift from the thoughts and stress of the day into the game world, keep a gentle awareness on the recognition of the game as a game. When the timer goes off check yourself, did you get lost in the game? If so, observe that, and re-establish both the awareness of your self and of the game. You can continue to reset the timer for 5-10 minutes if you find it helpful. Otherwise simply self monitor. Take note of how challenging it is to hold the first awareness in your mind. It’s helpful to set a stop time – 30 minutes is good to start. If I don’t use a timer, I have a tendancy to play to a point where I am mentally fatigued and the practice is no longer effective. It’s much better to end the practice while you are still sharp and then go back to playing like normal if you still want more later. When the stop timer goes off, quickly shut down, or pause the game. If you can lie down on the floor, or in a comfortable seated position with your eyes closed. One last time observe how your body feels, what your mind is focused on. Lie still and let your mind relax. There is nothing to focus on now, no effort. Stay in that relaxed place for 5 or 10 minutes, letting the effects of your practice settle. When you feel ready slowly wake your body up and return to the ‘real’ world. Try the practice everyday for a week, and take note if you experience any change in your day to day experience. Goals The practice is certainly an end in itself. And because I am still initially experimenting with it, it’s hard to say what the long term effects will be. My hope would be a general increase in awareness of one’s feelings and thoughts, and potentially a greater sense of objectivity – the ability to look at all things as separate and virtual in a way. Philosophically, I personally resonate with the idea of looking at real world as a game that is designed by me to challenge and reward myself. A game that I am choosing to take part in, similarly to playing a video game. And please keep me posted if you’re trying this out! Source: GamerThink.Com

@TheAvatarState Oh sure, nature is more fulfilling, ultimately, @Hellspeed is correct. I was just mentioning that I've had experiences with certain video games that are similar to experiences I've had with nature, but of course not in the same league.

@Anton Rogachevski I am not projecting or judging. There may be lessons to be learned, but when you get those lessons it is assumed that you are getting the full package, not just cherry picking. I've seen countless comments from experienced practitioners not to use techniques without going all in with the philosophy, as it could be very dangerous. I don't want to use psychedelics. I've never been drunk or high. I'm not assuming anything. I'm aware of their effects and side effects and it's not something I'm interested in being a part of.

@Truth Addict I'm in the same boat. I'm not necessarily against a strict meditation regimen, but when I see the strict Zen groups I see more tension and dogma than spirituality. And as far as psychedelics, my intuition tells me that they will spoil everything for me. I'll glimpse the truth and then be in misery for 40 years until I get there. And who's to say that that psychedelic glance was even the truth at all, but rather a unique effect of the psychedelic and something I'll never be able to replicate naturally? My approach to spirituality is all natural; natural, independent insights without any outside dogma or drugs.

This is the first song that came to mind:

@Cepzeu Totally agree. my best sessions are the ones where I literally do nothing, do no technique, stop trying to block thoughts, stop trying to keep perfect posture, stop trying at all. And those sessions are so insightful and enjoyable that I wish they could never end, I could sit for hours in this way. But the minute I start focusing too hard, wondering if I'm doing it "right", looking at the clock, those sessions are the most fruitless.

@non_nothing Can I remember all the numbers that quickly? No, I cannot.

Lol, that video was created in sort of a confusing way. He never said he was going to put NEW numbers on the screen, the way he was talking the viewer assumed the same numbers were going to appear again, and then surprised you with 9 new numbers.

For me it feels like the path has yet to begin. Over time I always find new information and "start over". I still feel that my true path is years away from beginning.

I'll tell you a secret, It's actually quite challenging to legitimately get people's attention. Most people around you aren't even paying attention to you, and if they are, it's for a brief few seconds before they go back and do their own thing and they forget they even saw you. Focus on what you're doing, don't worry about everyone else around you because they're focused on their own thing anyway.

@petar8p @Joseph Maynor Thanks for the advice, I suppose I was just looking at this too negatively, now that I think about it I definitely haven't gotten my foot in the door as much as I could be. The opportunity isn't gonna come to me. And yes for what I'm doing, moving to a different may definitely have to be an option. And at this point @Leo Gura I've got plenty of work that I could show I've done over the past 2 years. In the meantime I'll get to know the scene a little better and volunteer/intern. @Samra .

@Leo Gura >"Experience" does not have to mean that you were a salaried employee during that time. Experience could mean: you working on a project in your mother's basement. That's a very positive way to put it, in that case I definitely have experience. I'm trying to get a job in audio engineering. I have a certificate in it that I earned last year, but there aren't that many jobs for that in my area, and the ones that are around require more skills/experience than I have. The easiest answer to that would be to relocate but I can't do that at the moment. My "dream" so to speak is to be able to make money on my own from my own music & DJing/performing. And I am working on, that but until that happens/earns me enough to be my career, I want to have some form of income because atm I'm working for the family business and living at home and I don't want to be dependent forever (I'm 22). And yes, I could just work at Walmart or McDonalds for now and swallow my pride. But before I do that I'd like to at least try and get a job at a radio station or something like that that's relevant to what I've been studying.

Btw, the reason I'm getting a job is just save money temporarily for the business I'm trying to start. Also, I have ways to make money self-employed but I'm trying to increase/diversify my income.

He talks about some names to research at the beginning of this video:

Try reflecting chapter by chapter. Read a chapter, reflect on it, try and apply it, read the next.

Never. At best I'd feel equal suffering for both, but by default I'm going to look out for my own species first. Honesty, I find it disturbing for someone to feel little suffering while watching their own species get tortured, compared to an animal they can't even communicate with. If I was on a sinking ship, and could only save a cat or a guy, I'd save the guy.