Flammable

@Violinpracticerdude Look up the pre-rational/post-rational fallacy.

Hello dear Leo-cultists, This is my first post in this forum - I am quite glad I stumbled upon this resource, so thank you all for being here. My question is - how do you avoid falling deep down the rabbit hole of thoughts when you are doing self-inquiry? I would sit down and start to inquire, but at some point I would find myself lost in thoughts, albeit relevant to the topic at hand. Questions like who am I? who is seeing? who is hearing the car? to whom did this thought arise? would stop my thinking for several seconds - just to then return to it a few moments later. When I try to just sit still and be aware, I almost feel as if I am going nowhere with the questioning without using reason and thought. So how do I resolve this conundrum - if I do not think, it feels as if I am going nowhere, but when I do think, it simply leads me to nowhere once again (just making my mind feel a bit better by forming a few models/concepts)?

I think it was dependent on the particular strain or whatever it is called for truffles, but my first one was 10 g which did not knock me out of my slippers as Leo would have said, but just fucked with my reality quite a bit.

@CreamCat In a way it is even better because he is well-informed (which you can judge from his videos/vlogs), but he still understands your perspective of things and the world as he is/was scientifically minded. In a way it would be harder for you to learn from people like Peter Ralston who would just shout 'SNAP OUT OF IT' at your face. The enlightened masters sometimes cannot even bring themselves down to your perspective in order to give you 'practical' advice on what to actually do or not do.

Thanks for the pointer @Nahm The confusion was precisely about the method of this full dissolution of 'ego' - as thoughts are unable to dissolve themselves, but just observing without thoughts gives no feedback either (except the occasional thought saying 'what the hell are you doing here just looking at the ceiling?') I guess my meta-question was - how do I rely on anything, be it thoughts or direct experience (which is sometimes subtly tainted by ego/thoughts)? Anything you use to self-inquire/meditate is part of the 'I' which is 'being dissolved' - such as the simple habit of meditating or the thoughts about thoughts themselves.

When you look around and see that thought is everywhere, it is quite hard to know what you can trust at that point - even your own practices become tainted with self/ego.

Letting go and surrendering is the same thing really - you have no control over it anyhow, so you cannot do anything even if you wanted. In both cases you have to experience it rather than resist it.

It is mainly curiosity for Truth. No real goal behind it or anything - at least it is really subtle and I have not located it yet if there is any. I cannot find an obvious mania to become enlightened or anything similar - if it is there, it is well hidden down in the psyche. Neither is there a practical want to improve my life - I am fairly content with what is in my life.

Ok, I get your point @Jack River What is your suggestion then? Focusing entirely on fear? Fear of what?

@Rilles but then do you just sit there and look at your thoughts? In a way then self-inquiry is the same as meditation in my definition book. I do not see the aspect of questioning supposedly involved in self-inquiry.

This is what confuses me a lot about self-enquiry - how do you do it without involving thoughts into it?

I think there are just fewer distractions when you are at home, hence why it is easier to be aware. As people say silence/emptiness is closer to what you actually are, so you feel more grounded when you are in a calm environment. I sometimes have the opposite situation where it is easier to focus on the Here/Now when there are many sensory stimuli - the overwhelming amount of sounds, sights and feelings completely take up my attention and leave no space for my mind to reason/conceptualize. I guess it is all a matter of practice/getting used to being aware.

I guess you can never WHY the universe/yourself

@Serotoninluv I noticed the exact same trend during meditation - as you closely observe where the thought is coming from and whether you will get attached to it, there is a sudden stillness in the mind.

Lovely post, @Nahm Thank you a lot of compiling this.

@Haumea2018 right on point! Sometimes we tend to lose ourselves in the end goal and ignore the path leading there when the path is all that matters.

Donald Trump and Jordan Peterson

Try to look closely at the mind and see that it is not you. Then whatever the mind/ego does or feels does not have the same effect/does not cause suffering. The mind/ego cannot understand anything, but that is not 'your problem'. Leave the mind to do whatever it wants and disassociate from it.

Just try to observe past or future in your direct awareness. See for yourself whether time exists.

Really good pointer here @Leo Gura Thanks!

I think @How to be wise meant they do not exist in direct experience, but rather as thoughts in your mind.

I was pondering over the same topic lately and a realization struck when 'I' was having dinner - try thinking which piece of food in your plate you are going to go for next and 'you' can quickly realize how you really have no control over it. You have no control over anything really happening. Try it in your direct experience - you really have no idea what is going to happen in just a few seconds, even when you are 'in control' as in writing an e-mail, scratching your head or drinking water. I like an analogy Leo used in one of his videos - the Ego is just like the Google search page which is the output of a system rather than an input (which would be all the employees running this complex system called Google search engine). Your mind takes ownership of anything you do, but try to see if that is really true in your direct experience.

That sounds awesome! Make sure to report back here with new strokes of wisdom. Definitely helps with understanding how tricky this 'me' is.

Bumping this post, so I can find it again!

He explains it quite clearly - without any fantastic Superman elements so that people can start relating!