Reading books is essential in the process of self-actualization. Success, happiness, money, business, relationships, sex, nutrition, meditation, the subconscious mind, you name it, there's a book about becoming better at that that! One might argue that there is all the content is available for free online, but let's be honest here, nothing beats a well-written book by an expert in the subject.
That being said :
What is your personal favorite book topic, and why? How many time do you spend reading each day, or each week? What is the TOP 1 book you read this year? I'm in the process of creating a reading habit for myself. My goal right now is to dedicate AT LEAST 1 hour every day to reading. I don't plan on restricting myself to a specific genre at the moment, I'll just go with the flow.
My favorite book of this year has been Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana :

A short book about vipassana meditation. Not too much bullshit, just straight-forward how to meditate properly with a small hint of wisdom about enlightenment here and there.
P.S.: This thread is NOT about reviewing books, there's an entire forum section for that. I simply like to encourage people to read more than do usually do, and what better way to do that than by talking about the simple and elegant activity that is reading books.

I have read a couple but i don't think they quite fit the caliber of high consciousness books, what books have you guys read? 

Enjoy

Leo —
My name is Will. I’m 22 years old. I was born in Boston, but I’ve lived all over the world. I discovered your channel when I was 18...
I’ll keep it short. You’ve had a MASSIVE impact on my life. I feel blessed to have discovered you. You helped me answer the most fundamental questions: why, what, how; questions which have bugged me since birth.
The work you do is priceless, its value is incalculable. You’ve been a positive force in many people’s lives. You are appreciated. Thank you.
— Will
?❤️?

Hi Hardkill, welcome to the forums. I just read through this whole thread and I can empathize with your problem as I used to be in a similar position until I got it sorted. I'm gonna say some things now that you probably won't wanna hear.

You sound like a loser. And that's based on the few posts I have read. I have no idea what you look like or how you are in really life but based on the small interactions here and your avatar, you come across as really desperate and needy. If I was a girl or even as a friend, I would avoid people like you.

All you want is to take take take. You keep on blabbering away about getting an answer from Leo as if he will give you some magic pill. And I suspect that's the same thing you have been looking for from all that PUA nonsense.

Not a good first impression! Not for guys, not for girls, not for jobs, not for anything. Obviously you understand nothing about people, persuasion, human psychology, cognitive errors, mating dynamics. I'm not surprised since all the stuff you say you've read is a bunch of bullshit. I've said elsewhere on this forum that the whole "pickup" industry is a scam to take advantage of desperate guys. You are a case in point.

Learn to think for yourself. Become a man. Grow up. This is much more important right now than getting your dick wet. If you wanna get laid, hire a prostitute.

And I say this with love because I think you can change if you cut this bullshit and get serious with your life. I'm the big brother or father figure you never had giving you the talk on the edge of your bed about how to become a man. You're 29 and age is irrelevant because time is not real. You are 9 or 19 or 99. Doesn't matter.

Here's a question for you:

What is your life purpose?

If you don't know or have no clue, take Leo's course. Since you have a job, you can afford it. No excuses. And since you seem to love Leo so much and you want him to give you all the answers, this course will give you an overdose of Leo. Just you and him, all alone

Get your shit together. Stop fucking around and wasting our time with your bullshit mindgames. Nobody cares.

(I wish someone would've given me thís talk many years ago, it would've saved me a lot of frustration and madness).

You can thank me later

Much love brother and if you reply to this and you're still continuing your needy bullshit, I will not respond. Other members can continue playing your games and feeling sorry for you but I certainly will not because I pity no one. I empower.

Hint: tell us what you're gonna do tomorrow, what you're grateful for, express your positive attitude (it's good practise), tell us what a handsome motherfucker stud you are and how girls love you and you make them feel good and how much you enjoy making their days even 1% better, and how feminine energy inspires you and even making a girl smile is a victory for you and everything else is a bonus. Lie if you have to. Just tell us something nice. Since you are using an avatar online, mineaswell make it someone awesome.

That's why my name is Lord B.W.Y.R.A.

Be Who You Really Are.
That's my God. I am nobody. Just some guy, living his life, pursuing life mastery. Yes, I'm a genius artists in the real world but that's another story.

You can do this my friend.

Don't believe these lies in your head that you worship. You have created a false self, this person is an imposter, it's not the real you. Stop feeding that fucking loser victim mentality.

Now tell us how great you are and what a great day you've had. You have all your limbs, you have a dick that works and your dick and a winning smile and fire in your eyes. You are alive and breathing and make people feel awesome. You find inspiration in everyone because they are all sent here for you as a guide like angels in hell.

Or do you wanna go back to being mr. "i suck with women, nothing works" boohoo waawaawaa, i want mommy's titty? Huh? Poopy in your diaper? THROW OUT THE DIAPER!!! DIAPER'S ARE FOR LOSERS. Shit on the floor!

Get the course!!

And next time you see a cute girl, tell her you suck with women but just wanted to say hi and that you have a beautiful smile. If she still hates you, go to the book store and get some Bukowski novels so you can see what laughter feels like. Read Women where it starts with him as a 50 year old drunk who hasn't been laid in years until finally he bangs some 300 pound and the bed breaks. In the morning his wallet is missing and he blames the whore for hiding in her vagina, lol. It's a great book.

That's it. That's all I got for you man.

Oh wait...

Here's a good 3 step process that will get you far in life:

Look Good
Smell Good
Feel Good

Then leave the house and conquer your world

Enjoy your day.

Because they are frustrated humans, duhh. And every human makes mistakes. The spiral is just a model. For me it's debilitating to even use it. Master yourself, not man-made illusory maps. Reality cannot be boxed. 

I'm looking for something that has a message, something that makes you think, or at least that sparks strong emotions

You seem to be in an ego trap. Enlightenment is not what you think.

I didn't take Leo's word for it, i actually experienced the absolute.  Once this happens to you, it just is.   It's real.  You can call it whatever you want to call it at that point but once you have actually experienced it you will know for yourself and this debate melts away.

I've been meditating for a couple years now and I seem to sometimes do different techniques on different days and I feel like they mess eachother up. For example I will one day practice staying present and redirecting my attention to the present and other days I will do nothing and let thoughts take over. The thing is, It feels like each time i change techniques It feels like Im starting from square 1 again because if I use the "do nothing" technique, my mind is already trained to notice when Im off track and tries to get me to focus when thats the opposite of what Ive set out to do in that specific session. and vice versa, If i try to constantly redirect my attention instead of letting go it feels like Im resisting my thoughts and being too judging. This all has caused confusion and this confusion gets me mid session where I feel guilty for not concentrating/staying present or guilty for not letting myself go and it's as if I have to unlearn one technique to do the other one. 
Is this an actual thing? should I just stick to one technique?  I want to learn to stay present but I also want to learn to let go 
Also, does just sitting down and not really trying to meditate count as meditation? like literally just sitting down, and how is this different to "do nothing"
 
 

You're not alone. Many vocalists, including myself don't always feel all that comfy listening back to their voice however when I'm on stage, everything feels fluid and like I'm floating along waves. I'm not concentrating on anything, I am simply lost in the zone, in the vortex, within this powerful out-of-body, sacred space where I feel so at ease and because I'm not focusing or worrying about anything in such a moment, all I can do is use my melodic wings.
One thing that would help me when I was younger (and still does) when I get a few common mischievous "butterflies" in the stomach prior to a performance is to simply go on and do what I do as if I was singing in solitude.
Close your eyes. Feel the music. Embody the lyrics. Let it flow and meander throughout your whole body. Become the music. Let it breathe in your bones. Exhale the lyrics. Breathe in the music and let it travel and breathe throughout your whole being. Let it nourish and electrify your soul. Let it feed you its love and life. Love it like it loves you. Let it take you to the moon.
You can dive into that deep trance-like state where thought and time and the world around you kindly disappears for a little while and it almost feels like there's this vast open, empty space around you where once you open your eyes, and see the crowd in front of you it's kinda like "oh yeah! I'm on planet earth, that's riiiight." It's euphoric and nostalgic. And it's also like you are creating an energetic protective shield around you where no one or no thing can touch you.
However, I also enjoy giving the audience erratic eye contact. You certainly don't want to have your eyes closed throughout an entire song as you want the listener to feel as though you are letting them in, and sharing a sense of intimacy, but you don't want to just stare at the wall in front of you or the crumb on the floor either.
You'll want to close your eyes to center yourself, and to tune into the emotion and personal connection you feel to the song. Also to ground yourself and separate your flow from the distractions in your immediate surroundings.
Like I said though this stuff you wouldn't be thinking about while it's happening, it usually all just occurs within the spirit of the moment and it should not be taken as rocket science. These things should never be forced or labored or pretended. When you naturally feel the music it will just happen to the point of internal illumination where it's hard not to feel confident and comfortable in that moment.
Closing my eyes during performances is almost involuntary. I don't think I could get the full deep experience of the moment and the song without brief closure. It's just sort of a natural habit I adopted since I was a child. But closing your eyes to sing.. I mean this is pretty obvious I think for most people, it's just a natural reaction you have when you are experiencing music on deep emotional & spiritual levels and letting it cleanse you.
Also getting "butterflies" is only a sign that the solar plexus (diaphragm) is ready to open & expand & shine so the butterflies can fly away freely with bravery and grace!
Express your voice as much as you can, anytime and anywhere and have FUN. ? Also, if you have a tendency to record your voice and playback to an extent, I would advise to slow down with that and sing freely without the lingering pressure of surveillance.
Much love to you.

@hikmatshiraliyev  I know exactly what you're talking about. I went through that at the beginning, and honestly, even though I have progressed noticeably since then, I still do it sometimes at my new level of skill, maybe it's something that nags us the entire way. 
Good advice (for all of us) I think would be to tell you to treat your practice as though you were an unskilled carpenter trying to build a house. First you have to lay the foundation, and all you have to go on is advice from people who have done it before, and they can't physically assist you; you have to do it alone. As the walls go up and the thing starts to take shape, you don't need to rely so much on the advice of other carpenters, because you eventually, through repetition and error, get the feel of how to do things correctly, you just feel the correctness in the beams that you lay. You start to actually enjoy each little job that you do in making this house, and you don't focus so much on the final product, but rather find interest, peace and joy in the nail that you're hammering at this very moment. If you treat each nail that way, the house seems to get built by itself, you're just enjoying the learning process of setting boards straight and doing what's right in front of you without constantly looking up and imagining excessively what the thing will look and feel like when it's finished.
We just need to concentrate on what's going on right now at this moment in our practice. The house will go up on its own if we do that. If we're looking up all the time, we hammer our thumbs.  
 
 
 

I've gone through stages like this. These days I don't really judge people for their level of development. I enjoy making small talk and joking around with them. I will, however, state my opinion if I disagree with the things people are saying. Or, I'll call them out for being unkind. For people who have problems I empathize with them. For people who are toxic or highly negative I just avoid them. It took me a while to get to this stage though.
 
Regarding your current judgements, just notice them and see if you are guilty of the same thing you criticize others for (projection). Don't make a big deal out of it though like you are doing now. Over time you believe your judgements less and less. As you develop yourself further you will have fewer judgements.

Ever been lucid in a dream ?
What happens when you die ?
Your answer lies here.

Within Spiral Dynamics, each stage has valuable lessons to learn from even after you've surpassed that stage. In the video linked above, Leo essentially states that a good way to understand what lessons you can take from each stage is to examine a historical and/or currently living figure who is a healthy embodiment of that stage. 
I'm finding this slightly difficult so I'll just share my thoughts. I finding it difficult to understand what role models can be used for beige, purple and red although I have some current speculations. The role models won't be healthy per see they'll just be visibly clear manifestations of their stage and you can see some very good qualities about them
Beige is such basically ground zero and understanding what constitutes beige is so incredibly deep because it underlies everything above it. Beige basically just shows us what's at the very essence of all living organisms which are animals. "Understanding and integrating" doesn't really have to be done (it's already done) because beige is extremely qualitavely different from the other stages in how you conceptualise it. No role models are needed. 
Next is purple. Purple is basically just joining/forming a tribe in order to acquire more fundamental biological resources: food, sex, water, shelter and etc. Purple is still quite centered around beige in that your actions have very little other motive than acquisition of fundamental physical needs. But it is at this stage that psychological needs of bonding and connection start to be met. What is the lesson to be integrated here? That co-operation is extremely useful for getting shit done and also sometimes having a sense of belonging? That seems like a legit lesson although anybody who's above stage red would have most likely fully integrated purple. Maybe a purple role model could be a mother in a hunter gathering society who cares very deeply about her tribe/family? 
 
And now for red. People in red realise that they don't need to keep sacrificing for the clan to meet their needs, they can exercise their own will on the world and get whatever the fuck they want. A red person will act impulsively (it is the word impulsive that is key to understanding a difference between red and orange) to meet his needs irregardless of the severe pain and distress he may inflict upon others. I think a healthy lesson from red is that sometimes you just need to look out for yourself and ruthlessly act. It is in red that you can get people with enormously big egos but there are still aspects of a big ego which you can integrate. People with big egos understand that if they want shit to change in the world, they have to take action and use force sometimes.
Maybe a callous hit man who'll feel no remorse when killing for money can be your "role model" in the sense that you can respect the fact that there is an aspect of this man which has guts and wants to manipulate the world around him. Maybe your role model for Red can just be anyone who feels little empathy and will actively hurt others on an impulse to get what they want? As morally repugnant as that sounds, there are still qualities about red (and purple mentioned previously) to be integrated. 
What lessons do you believe are to be integrated from purple and red? Do you agree with what I've said are the healthy aspects of these stages? Pushovers and wimps with low self esteem perhaps have a thing or two to learn from red. By integrating red, you can have a burning desire to achieve success. If Leo ever makes a video on assertiveness I think he'll mention stage red. 

You're right, we don't seem to have much control over our state of being in terms of what perceptions arise or what internal thoughts we have.  That being said, it seems to me like I can have a particular attitude of acceptance to this fact, and I can be aware of it.  While it may seem like a huge issue that you don't have any control, which is up to you to decide,  I personally find it kind of nice that all I really have to do is be aware of exactly what I am feeling and to try and cultivate a loving attitude towards it.  To me it would be stressful to have too many things I had to control at once.  For example,  we seemingly have no choice but to exist, at least that I recall.  This might seem really oppressive.  Why shouldn't you have the control in your direct experience to decide whether you exist or not.  That being said, can you imagine if it wasn't this way and you had to constantly channel some kind of intention to exist, or had an emergency escape button (death) in your awareness that you had to avoid so long as you still wanted to live.  I think that would be exhausting to worry about.  
Don't worry about nothing making sense, that's a lot better than a lot of people who are flat out wrong because when you are wrong, you will have to unlearn something before you can adopt the right view.  You being clueless and curious on this forum is great in my opinion, best of luck.
Also, as always please be really critical of my ideas,  I'm still flat out wrong from time to time

Try doing a different approach. Don’t get stuck pursuing one technique. You sound like you have an awesome drive. Remember, enlightenment is getting where you already are. Right here. Not elsewhere. It’s right here. It’s true right now. Console yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. If you’re not getting good results fishing in pond #1, try pond #2. You’re not a failure. Just remind yourself your seeking something true that’s in plain sight. Keep going and don’t be harsh with yourself and spend some of that time just accepting yourself, even if you don’t know what that is. Console yourself, chin up, shed some tears of frustration if you need to (really, get that out of your system. I can imagine you may have a lot of pent up frustration so it’s important to release that and then accept yourself) and then stand back up, get back on the trail, keep your head up and continue your climb up the mountain.
Much love to you 

@Joseph Maynor has an interesting perspective on this.
It's hard to say whether Joe is talking about Leo. Maybe, maybe not. If he is, I find it unfortunate that he's making a judgement on what Leo has or hasn't overcome based on his appearance. You can only know so much by looking at a person, and by saying what he said, it looks to me like Joe is just revealing a personal bias toward what personal development and overcoming should look like.
I've been growing less and less enamored with JRE podcast lately for this very reason. Even if I didn't like Actualized.org, I feel like Joe is less interested in exploring and entertaining diverse opinions than he is with finding people and ideas that mirror his already held beliefs. You can see this in his rant about testosterone in a recent interview with the psychologist William Von Hippel.
That said, I think it's a good lesson for all of us on this forum who try to uproot their beliefs and really examine them. Whatever you can critique about Joe Rogan in this video, you can almost certainly critique in yourself.

Please read the article below and take a look at the diagrams. This is a very important and broad topic that Leo talks about in a lot of his videos, but a lot of Self Actualizers over look and often get stuck.
https://examinedexistence.com/the-four-states-of-competence-explained/
https://medium.com/@zainabz/the-four-stages-of-competence-ee5c6046b205
http://changingminds.org/explanations/learning/consciousness_competence.htm

I couldn't grasp Turquoise 2 years from now, now I can. You will feel that too: realize you're developing because you can now understand more stages
 
I wouldn't say I know a lot, but this is what I can tell you from my yellow experience, comparing to the previous stage, green:
Caring about everybody, loving everybody, respecting every opinion, wanting the best for the world sounds noble and beautiful. However, it is not enough, and you will get frustrated. You will realize there is actually a next stage you can go to get closer to being able to actually make a difference in the world.
You realize that to make a difference, it is not about just caring. It is about doing. However, you realize your ideas of what is going to save the world as a green person are not practical. There is way too much resistance from Orange/Blue people to make it happen. You realize that the never-ending battle between the three most common colors of today (blue, orange, green) brings the world to a stalemate, and that's why there is so much hatred, discussions and protests, but nothing seems to change. You can't promote change by just demonizing/criticizing how narrow the view of previous stages is.
You realize that in order to develop the lower levels, you should not combat them, but flow with them, understand their perspectives. See where it is coming from and why it is like that. Realize that the stages are not choices of where they want to be, but just a fact to be accepted, the consequence of the actual stage of global development. See how all the stages relate to each other: where they agree and live together and where they conflict and live apart. Understanding all these dynamics is what Leo repeats again and again: Systems thinking.
As a yellow person, you realize that you should stop this never-ending rant and stress, retreat into solitude, and watch. Watch the world and learn. Learn from all the dynamics of the system. Leave your meditation couch and go interact with the world and people to learn the little details. Increase your wisdom because with all the knowledge you have and your systems thinking capacity, you actually get meaningful insights. By getting the nuances of the system, you will finally detect where are the points you need to take action to actually create meaningful change, and you will see how counter-intuitive and hidden they are, and that's why it was so tough in the first place. It is as if you're training to become a hacker of the system.
You will not actually do much to make the world better in this stage, but you will be developing yourself to get into a stage in which you can. And when you have a lot of wisdom but not too much action, that's when you will start to want to leave yellow, and go to Turquoise. You realize that the biggest weapon against the problems of the world is not changing a tax rate, picking the right name at an election, protesting for the right reason, but creating a paradigm shift. Increase awareness and consciousnesses in people, and the rest will take care of itself. That's why many turquoise people will become spiritual teachers.

It sounds like you were having a direct organic, intuitive, SUPER-natural mind/body/soul reaction to the power of music. Music has the universal analgesic ability to shift our minds and tap into the sensation of empathy & emotion. It also raises our vibration. As a musician and practitioner of meditation, I find there is an immense close connection here. As Beethoven once said, "Music is the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit." It has also played a major role in countless spiritual and mystical traditions for millennia.
When someone is listening to a song or even gazing at a painting, there is a sense of hyper-presence being activated. And I've come to find that you can visualize & manifest anything through the magic of art, music, or any form of creative energy, and sometimes for me things begin to manifest naturally and spontaneously when I least expect it, when I decide to just let everything go. 
I believe any "flow state" someone is in where they're completely lost in the moment, whether they're dancing, writing, acting, playing a musical instrument, or what have them, this is a massive form of active meditation and I don't think it's talked about enough. Sedentary styles of meditation and body awareness in yoga are all fun & games and highly significant methods of course, but I believe these are just as powerful because it also taps into understanding your true passion, self-expression, and mystical potential.
I also believe being in the state and flow of creativity can directly lead you to nirvana. There has been numerous occasions in which I would spontaneously write something and later on contemplate where it even came from. I would feel convinced that "something else" musically possessed me, so to speak. And when I am in the otherworldly flow of creating, when the shivers & sparks come in, it feels totally out-of-body. It is an astral experience. But I'm not the only one who encounters this, this has been learned for centuries. 
Personally, by all means I am not underestimating your music addiction, but frankly, I do think it's one of the coolest addictions I've heard of so far. If it really is affecting your productivity, I wouldn't recommend completely eliminating music from you and the advantages it gives you, because I sense it would be eliminating an innate part of yourself and I would avoid the risk of life becoming banal and mundane.
I would try listening to music while achieving certain tasks, or if that is too distracting, I would try incorporating musical elements into your meditation practices. Using music as a method can be very experimental which could be something to be excited about. One can acquire deep metaphysical insights just from listening to one song. If you could practice meditating to some instrumental music or whatever your heart desires, and become really good at it, not only does this feel incredibly powerful and breathtaking in the moment, but also essentially, you wouldn't really be using music as a crutch anymore, but more so you will be using it as a productive tool for spiritual development, while also exercising the mind and awareness of your emotions and Goddess energy.

Why does is it have to be fake? 
Why can't you interact with people and be 100% real, most people on social media are fake-you're right. Imagine, you being vulnerable, loving, and compassionate with the words you write how big of change it will be and how much people will notice and resonate. Imagine if you actually provide someone value when you interact with them how much of a difference it'll make.
People can usually tell when something is fake based on how you write it and whether or not you actually put some time into what you are writing. If you are genuinely interested in something or you genuinely like something then express that-it's good karma and will come back to you. Of course if you don't really like something or not interested in it then don't comment on it. 
The problem with this approach is it takes time and dedication-but if you can have more heart to hearts you will build genuine followers-not fake ones. 
If you don't like social media as a medium, maybe you have to go old school and network at conferences, etc. or maybe different forums or blogs. Remember don't hate the players, hate the game or maybe you can change the game by being a game changer?

For sure. I've had non-dual experiences and there is NO WAY I could do even the most basic activities and inter-personal communication in a nondual mindset. Duality is a necessary tool to survive in a relative world. There are humorous videos online about what it would look like to live in a permanent nondual mindset. 

Yes... All stages need to be integrated, otherwise we'll have blindspots. 
That's pretty shallow stuff, man. These things are only by-products... 
 
Anyway, here's my selection: 
 
















(Be a strategic motherfucka!)