still_no_satori

@Leo Gura I have heard you say 'Her' is one of your favourites. How would you categorise the relationship in that one?

You've probably seen it but Leaving Las Vegas (Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Shue) is a tremendous film about a very unique relationship (alcoholic with a death wish meets sex worker). I'm not completely sure if the actual relationship is very unhealthy or if its just both the protagonists are very unhealthily minded people. Either way its a top 10 all time film for me so I had to mention it. If you like psychological horror I'd recommend Antichrist (Willem Defoe), thats a pretty effed up marriage they have going on in that one! Kind of an art film so only watch if you like that sort of thing and don't mind disturbing imagery. And my joke recommendation is Kill Bill lol. You can't say thats not a very unhealthy romantic relationship!

^^^Revolutionary Road is a good recommendation. It may star Di Caprio and Winslet but Titanic 2 it aint! Blue Valentine is my main recommendation. Really good movie. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. It shows how a relationship can start sunshine and rainbows and descend into pure devilry. I'm sure a lot of couples went to see it thinking it'd be a nice little chick flick and instead would have ended up getting something disturbingly different! I think a great challenge for anyone in a romantic relationship (and who is considering to take it to the "next level") would be to watch Blue Valentine and read The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy. If you both still genuinely feel good about committment and marriage after that double bill, then you're probably good to go! If everyone did that double bill it would save A LOT of time and energy on pointless long term relationships that don't go anywhere.

There is a fantastic French horror film called 'Martyrs' that explores this theme. It is shocking and brutal, I was thinking about it for days afterward but an interesting watch for those on this forum imo.

They're branching out into Spirituality now. I think in 5 years or so Tyler's videos will probably be a bit like the videos you now make tbh. I watched Tyler's latest video recently and its a trippy walk through the woods whilst it goes from day to night talking about karma and shit. To me it almost looks like he has seen your videos and want to do something like them in the coming years. I also get the feeling he might be inspired by the Conversations With God books and wants to use his fame/infamy to do good things in the future with his business. I could be wrong, its just the sense that I got watching his most recent video.

I absolutely understand what you mean BUT nothing wrong with asking questions man. People generally love talking about themselves and asking questions enables them to do so. Only point I would like to make that could help is ask OPEN ENDED questions. If you're asking a lot of questions people can spit back quick yes/no replies to, I could see how that might become irritating and not build good rapport. Its a pretty common error but easily fixable. Very very quick article https://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/interviews/open-ended-questions.html

Don't worry about the first point. Since you are 18 i'm guessing you've grown up watching a lot of porn with massive schlongs in right? Because 5 inches is actually normal. 5-6 inches is the regular ol' standard size. So thats a non issue you can stop worrying about that, instantly solved because its not a problem! On the 2nd point, can you elaborate a bit on that? Do you live with a large family? Do you have Brothers and Sisters (and of your age)? Were you homeschooled? Been a member of any clubs/activities/sports?

A stable guru

I encountered a strange occurrence last night. Is it a coincidence? Does such a thing exist as coincidence? Is it a sign? It made me laugh if that means anything. I was reading a book about God from Leo's new booklist update (its the first in a trilogy, you know if you have the list). I was only about 30 pages in but I was immediately engrossed BIGTIME. Unfortunately I had to go to work so put the book aside and headed to the shower. In the shower before heading off I was thinking to my agnostic self, 'Wouldn't it be awesome if what is in this book is true! I would fricking love it! Imagine if it were true that I actually WAS God, how much more creative I could be!' (For those that don't know the book, if you know Leo's thoughts on what God is and what we are as a result, then the book is right along the same lines). As I emerged from the shower my father shouted out from his room, "Can you give me a hand with something?' I said "not right now Dad!" I only had a towel on afterall. But for some reason I knew I had to go in and help him right away with whatever it was, so I quickly popped on some shorts and a t-shirt and marched on in. He was looking at some American coins. He doesn't collect coins and we live in England so that was pretty weird. He said, "Can you read what it says on this coin for me? Does the writing say which President this is?" It had a President's head on it and writing underneath. I read the inscription for him. It was tiny writing so I had to really squint to make it out. I said "Nah Dad, all it says is, IN GOD WE TRUST". "In God we trust?" he said. "Yeah, in God we trust" I said. I didn't really realise what I had read out to him until a few seconds later as I went back into my room and I was like 'Woah, GOD DAMN!' LOL. I felt a bit euphoric to be honest as it was so synchronistic. Should I take this as a sign? Would you? P.S - A bit of personal context. I am relatively new to all this stuff (months, not years) and from a completely non-religious background. I used to be an atheist but around a year ago I started opening my mind to things a lot and became more agnostic. At the moment 'logically' I have to be on the fence but I do have an intuition that the things Leo teaches on these matters are true. I have been taking lots of action and have a Vipassana retreat in 5 days time.

Haha nice! What does this mean? Btw for anyone that has the book, have a look at the last page of chapter 1. I read that the next day after I posted and it was very serendipitous in regards to my original post! Just buy the book list, its pretty cheap and you wont regret it, do it!

What would your number one piece of advice be to a relative newbie going on a 10 day Vipassana retreat in 3 months time? (I have scoured the search function in the forum and have gained some good advice from it but didn't see anyone ask this specific question) Some context... - I have watched most of Leo's videos on meditation/enlightenment/nature of reality topics. Also all of Leo's retreat blog videos. - I have read and re-read Eckhart Tolle's books over the last couple of years. - I have been practising beginners Kriya Yoga every day for 5 weeks (routine currently around 25 min) - I have been practising mindfulness/body scanning type meditation twice per day for 5 weeks (10min sessions lying in bed before and after sleep) - I have never read a Vipassana trip report before (I dont want to 'spoiler' myself!) but I am aware that it involves some bodyscanning style techniques. - I know the daily schedule of the retreat and so am expecting the experience to be very taxing and the most difficult thing I have ever done (in other words I am aware this isn't some fun relaxing spa weekend!) Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you! From, A long term lurker, first time poster

I just googled that term. I have never meditated in that exact position. Although as a matter of course I quite often completely naturally sit with my left leg under me on sofas and such and for prolonged periods. My left leg is more flexible than the right as a result. The pictures I have seen of Vipassana retreats always have people sitting in various cross legged positions however. I have to admit this leg/feet pain issue is the main apprehension I have. Quite often my right foot goes numb or achey when I do my practises and it can distract me. In the 2.5 months since I started this thread I have worked my way up to 2 sits per day. One for 1 hour, the other for 45 minutes and I have been handling that OK. I'm pretty sure the cushioning I have been using is less comfortable than what will be supplied as well.

I'm going on this in 1 weeks time now. Anyone got anything to add? Can be of a very practical nature as i'm picking up supplies this weekend. Is there something you forgot to bring along but could have really done with taking (for example)?

If you want a very long term investment then its a very good one. An S&P 500 index fund is a great choice. Given the amount of money you have spare it may be best to follow the advice below from jbram first, that is good advice I will link a blog article I have personally enjoyed that expands on this very subject. It talks about the worth of accumulating 12 months of living expenses first and foremost... "Runway is how many months you can live your current lifestyle based only on savings. If you spend $2000 per month and have $20,000 in the bank or other liquid assets, that's a 10 month runway. That's pretty good. Your first goal should be to build a 12 month runway. Your number may be different, but a year is a pretty good first goal. It takes discipline to not blow your 12 month runway on something you couldn't previously afford. That's a good thing, though, because you want to develop that discipline before you make more money. People who make a lot of money but spend all of it are barely better off than people with no money." http://tynan.com/runway

@kieranperez cheers man! Got it from a book called 'The Dice Man'. Its kind of like Fight Club meets Psychotherapy meets Jed Mckenna, as you might imagine its a fun book!

The thing I liked best about Leo's picture was that HE IS WEARING THE BLACK T-SHIRT, its just hidden underneath the overshirt. He may not have looked like the Leo we know now but the Superman was there waiting to get out!

Jed McKenna inspired obviously. Would love to hear Leo break down his take on these concepts. McKenna states that 99% of people who think they want non-dual truth realisation actually want what he calls Human Adulthood. With Jed McKenna's books being so damn quotable, I think it would be a very entertaining video especially if interspersed with quotes like in the Aztec Nonduality video. With the video both being incredibly informative and wildly entertaining, it would serve a dual purpose, thats irony for ya. "Human Adulthood is the real prize. Anyone who is involved in spiritual pursuits is actually pursuing Human Adulthood but probably doesn't know it. Enlightenment is all about going and never stopping. Human Adulthood is all about wandering and exploring and playing"

I have tried L-Theanine and Huperzine-A. The only effect I can say for sure that I had from either is I had more dreams when I took Huperzine.

I youtube searched 'Be fucking patient'. Dont look at any video apart from Leo's at the top! Although someone who kinda looks a bit like Leo 'stars' in the second video too...

Astral projection seems like a dream after coming back, even though it feels more real than the physical universe while you're doing it. Excuse my ignorance on this topic I just haven't looked much into it....how is it that you know you are astral projecting as opposed to dreaming? What are the telltale signs?

Quoting from a book by Eknath Easwaran... The heart of this program is meditation: half an hour every morning, as early as convenient. Do not increase this period; if you want to meditate more, have half an hour in the evening also, preferably at the very end of the day. Its only fair to point out that Easwaran is a practitioner of 'passage meditation' and that is his chosen method but still...if a master of meditation says 30 minutes is fine then it is fine. This is the takeaway. Make it daily and make it something you KNOW you can sustain long term. In life in general it is much more important to commence a habit you will ACTUALLY DO than something that is supposedly optimal but that doesn't resonate with you. It is better to go to the gym twice a week for life than every day for 2 months straight, then get sick of it and never go again.

I played for a living (although admittedly a fairly meagre one) from 2005-2010. Poker was a lot easier to make money from back then thats for sure! Interesting to see a bunch of people who have played for a living on this thread. Ethically I see it as a bit of a grey area so I suppose it isn't very ethical. Yes people are playing by choice to some extent but what if they are addicted? We are then taking money from addicted self destructive people. People who may be fathers and so are depriving their kids of their time and money. We could say that isnt our problem and that person would play regardless of whether we are at the table or not but we are still part of the ecosystem, a little like a leech. The big problem I ended up having with the game (and most games in general) was that it simply doesn't create anything. Once a hand or game is over, its done, nothing was made, nothing was created, nothing was helped. It all became very empty and pointless to me. The flipside to that would be if you mastered the game so completely that you earned millions. You could then use that money to help people and do good in the world. For example Barry Greenstein donates all his poker tournament winnings to charity. But if we are only earning enough for ourselves, then I discovered it is a very empty existence. There is mastery in poker for sure but earning enough so that you have tons left over to do good with is like becoming a premier league footballer or playing in the NFL. It can be done but its extremely difficult and you have to genuinely love it. This video sums it up good

@Recursoinominado this seems to sum up a lot of the advice in this thread so far, thank you. @SunnyNewDay The retreat am I going to is in a very nice countryside area and in June should be nice weather also, so I will take this advice for sure.

@Kensho Good to get sound advice from an experienced source. Only expectation I have is it is going to be tough, that is all. Btw my nickname is from a line that caught my eye in a book many years ago. I remember googling 'what does satori mean' all those years ago. It was called 'The Dice Man'. Its a fun book if you like reading fiction, reminded me a little of Fight Club, here is the synopsis The book tells the story of a psychiatrist named Luke Rhinehart who, feeling bored and unfulfilled in life, starts making all his decisions based on the roll of a dice. Along the way, there is sex, rape, murder, "dice parties", breakouts by psychiatric patients, and various corporate and governmental machines being put into a spin. There is also a description of the cult that starts to develop around the man, and the psychological research he initiates, such as the "Fuck without Fear for Fun and Profit" program. Haha yes!

@Kensho How does one go about having no expectations?