Ayla

Your ONLY purpose on this planet is to be happy! If what made you HAPPY was to sell flowers on the street, that right there would be your life purpose!

Being present. I do not know how to explain it. But it is similar with relaxation to enter meditation state. It takes a lot of practice and surrender. It also helps if you don't think that it is "you" who falls asleep

YESSSSSSS !

Not in a sense... Literally Mind is "knitting" a story that you believe...and which you answer to... And other Minds are doing the same thing. But each of those minds are just talking to what they perceive in THEMSELVES, not in the other.

@Cinderella , Grace puts us in these situations sometimes. They are "turning points". From what I feel, you already know the answer but are too afraid to acknowledge it to yourself. The fear that you will regret your decision is a masked lack of trust in your own future and if I may say, in God (Universe, Source).. so basically you are putting yourself in a situation where choice seems impossible. Self confidence, co-dependency and self-esteem are the points you might want to tackle in yourself at this point. Life has taught me to stay very still - aka not make any decisions until I resolve what I can resolve within myself, then, starting from there, take action.

Yes.

@walt , I completely agree with you. I also think that consciousness "plays" sometimes in a way that is above our current understanding of things. It does so in the form of "facilitators" (channels, mediums, past life regression, etc, etc. etc.)... I see it a bit like your beard... it choses to grow it, or not! (I personally think it looks very cute on you)

It is pointless only because you think that I was trying to make fun of you or trap you, but I was actually being very serious. You think you are talking to me...but that is just not true. Think about that

@aurum yourself

You need to catch the moment when you fall asleep...as much as you can be aware yes

Thank you is my mantra

Have you ever considered/done tithing? What are your results/views? *To tithe is to freely give one-tenth of one's income to a cause that inspires them*

Well into my own self actualization journey, I have been put in front of a dilemma, and a pretty structural one at that: how to live my life in the new context? I have been taught to plan my life, to make routines, to invest in my future, etc. But from my own experience, I noticed that life can only be lived in the present moment. Being guided into what is the next step. It has been difficult to switch this paradigm and to fully remain present to what is, simply because of the deep programming . What is your experience with this?

I strongly recommend you to go on youtube and find either the Sedona Method or Byron Katie's "Work" The only real thing you can do, is to see the essence of your father. Who he really is....not his problems. Regard him as perfectly sane and safe. Keep that vision as your TRUTH.

Hummmm, interesting dissertation but not quite correct There's nothing to stop. It will never ever stop. To stop something, you need a reference point, and a moving/traction/push or pull. Everything is part of IT and everything is STILL. The movement, the stopping, the passing realizations, are still part of it, are it, are the play of it... Confused yet? You're on the right track

I'd like to give some practical tools and red flags to avoid such traps, or get over them in bigger chunks The ALWAYS trap ( I have always...been like this...done that...believed this...) : when you hear yourself saying that, thinking that, it is a sure sign that you're delusional! The ME trap: thinking that pain, disappointment, problems, upheaval, etc are happening to YOU...(they're just happenings.) The MUST, HAVE TO, SHOULD traps... self explanatory enough? All illusions! Cut them off.. The I THINK, I BELIEVE, I SEE traps: These are much subtler... much more stuck for us to see and cut off... Ego thrives in these The (I/you) NEED trap.. you are whole and perfect. There's nothing you need. It's an illusion The I AM SURE trap: Everything that you affirm with certainty and solidity... oh boy! Encompassed here: I am right and you are wrong...my opinion is good, yours is bad - with all degrees of variation More, later. Enjoy

Pwahahaaha! SO FUNNY! @Emerald Wilkins , this is quite common and, like Leo says, it will pass if you give it your unconditional presence. What will basically happen is that you will see others as different facets of yourself, as opposed to different (higher/lower) degrees of consciousness. Don't give it any thought. Just acknowledge when it comes, and let go of it. YOU are not that. It is just another illusion that Mr Mind presents you with so that it can trick you.

Yes, the purpose of life is to become enlightened. No, we did not "screw up". Consciousness is bringing us to different stages of evolution, then calls us "back home". It's like a movie that starts and ends at the same point, but with many experiences in between. Consider this: First breath is in. Last breath is out. In between, all is a play of Consciousness.

@aurum , Please question me I will not answer with quotes and parabolas.. but from my personal experience. Oh and... I have no claim that I am enlightened, but I do see myself as wide awake - which is a state where you are actually able to see the Light. When you are soundly asleep... you don't. You're just dreaming

Here's what worked for me as an invaluable "shortcut" : Try to catch the exact moment when you fall asleep. To be aware of it. To actually be present that moment. Do the same when you wake up. Catch the moment when mind starts. When enough experience of this has accumulated and has gain a certain momentum, what you will realize is that mind is like a wheel. Something shifts "in you" that allows it to start and stop. This SOMETHING ... is who you really are

@mike_herald Yes, Ego loves hard work. Searching. Striving, creating problems and question so that it can afterwards solve them... Something is watching all this.

I think we are talking here about two different things: One is what is usually referred to as AWAKENING - this is what @Dhana Choko and I are talking about. What @Leo Gura is talking about is the life-long journey on the enlightenment path. I think that, if the awakening experience was powerful enough, the enlightenment work will be much easier to sustain, because the "center point" would have shifted enough so that you cannot go back to old you. This will spread naturally over your life, and everything will seem easy and pleasant. Your core will be in a different state than before. If awakening is something that comes to you as a yearning and is pursued just emotionally and mentally, then yes, there is a lot of work to be done. In this context, the first step is to embrace the fact that Mind is not you, but just a TOOL that will help you undo your own mind. (using a thorn to get out a thorn in your foot, then throwing them both away)... and this is what Leo is trying to convey through his videos. The trap people fall into, is that they do not understand it as a TOOL, but as yet another philosophy...

Leo answers to that in his FAQ videos about enlightenment. Some people become awake - which gets them naturally to self-actualization. The majority tho, are first trying to self-actualize, and attain enlightenment through sheer determination and will power. The two sides of the same coin really

Also, because you are already your own self. The only thing you know for sure, is that somehow...you exist.

Teal Swan's videos got me out of the biggest rut in the beginning of my journey. I still watch her videos and appreciate her dedication and drive to help people, no matter how her personal life unfolds. There is perfectly valid help in her videos... but if you don't resonate with her teachings, just move on. I would not make a judgement about a person from what I read ABOUT them, but what they are bringing in my life. I also think, being smart, beautiful, successful and kind, she is the perfect example of the ones "we love to hate"