Markus

Wish he'd narrated it himself I imagine. It'd be weird to listen to Ralston by not-Ralston. How could anyone else deliver it right?

The point about always being aware is really beneficial. It's after starting to do THAT that I really started to see some shift in perception. Didn't read all the other long stuff.

@OnceMore Be honest when it's relevant to the situation. Telling "Your ass looks fat and saggy." to someone just because that thought came up is pointless, so there's my disagreement with Blanton. He's not exactly an enlightened person, so Radical Honesty surely ain't a cure-all idea. But besides that, yes, sure it's fucking shocking. That's the point. The fat dress example. You can be sensitive and compassionate to her but what good does lying do her? Anyone who would ask whether they look fat in the first place suspects the answer deep down, they only ask to delude themselves and they rely on people sugarcoating stuff. Trust me, one day waking up from a delusion hurts way more when you've been entertaining it for an indefinite time. People turning against you? What does them doing so say about them? Why would you want to associate with people who don't like the authentic you? It's stupid. Be wise with this. As for business and work-related stuff, first of all, the mind always exaggerates the potential negative consequences of being honest. And secondly a job where you have to kiss other people's ass will never truly fulfill you anyways. You want to reach a career situation where you don't have to answer to unconscious people. The point of being honest and authentic is that it's one of the most fulfilling things you can do. Plus it gives you as well as others the opportunity to be more effective at what you do. Being inauthentic, lying, manipulative, deceptive leads to subtle suffering that considering how often you do these things will snowball. When you're not honest with yourself, you can't change. When you're not honest with others, you deny them the possibility to take responsibility for their own lives and act based on accurate information. How you wanna live is completely your choice. All I'm saying is it has consequences.

These are really important. The first I actually haven't watched but I should and so should you. The Big Picture of Self-Actualization (big-picture overview of this work) How To Get Started With Self-Actualization (how to get into this work) How To Become A Strategic Mothefucker (strategy to start doing this work) Lifestyle Minimalism (time is a valuable resource you're never getting back Radical Openmindedness (this is huge because you're going to encounter a lot of stuff that's "out of the norm") How To Get Shit Done (you need to, after all) How To Stop Judging Yourself (very very important to avoid self-sabotage) The Power of Self-Acceptance (really important to love yourself) A Rant Against Morality (because morality can assfuck you to shreds otherwise) Meditation for Beginners (because meditation is the key shit) Concentration vs Meditation (important distinction to get the most out of meditation, which is the key shit, as I said) Awareness Alone Is Curative (awareness is really fucking important) Spiritual Enlightenment - The Most Shocking Truth (enlightenment is one the key things to take this work to the maximum) How To Create Your Dream Career (life purpose - another key concept, since a lot of your life will presumably be spent working What? You're saying there's 14 videos here? I don't know what you're talking about

You may not be afraid of them but Leo certainly is He's stated numerous times he doesn't like them at all.

Takes wisdom to see that though, doesn't it. Another thing is, even when you intellectually understand it, you'll start seeing it on new and new levels. And it'll really start making sense how every time you create a self you cause yourself suffering. The more you'll see it, the less you'll do it over time. So keep being mindful of that all throughout the day. P.S. These new ranks on this forum haha. "Butt Monkey"

@Leo Gura I'm sympathetic to your concerns as well as the concerns of forum members who don't want it shut down. I imagine the problem can be greatly mitigated with stricter rules and a warning followed by temporary bans for breaking them. A permanent ban for trolls and people whose content is not only not substantive but simply toxic. I think a place for discussing the ideas presented on Actualized.org in some form is of tremendous value. You're a creative person, I'm sure you can come up with something stricter without shutting shit down completely. Cheers.

I recently watched some of Johnny Soporno's stuff, intro to seductive reasoning 101 (4 parts on Youtube). He's in an open relationship. In any case, I think he has an interesting perspective to listen to and he seems a pretty content person.

Leo talks about the problems with a competition mindset. Swimming excellently for the sake of swimming excellently is something different I suppose.

If your mind is clear, sure. I just fall asleep or get into a pre-sleep state. The way I recognize that is if my thoughts become nonsensical.

I have no idea. I would imagine by self-transcendence Maslow meant something akin to the embodying of enlightenment, not just getting who you are but embodying the truth. I don't think he himself was enlightened though. A lot of non-enlightened people get that there's something to surrendering to something higher than oneself, having a higher cause, etc.

Didn't notice until you pointed out!

There's no ideal. Do what works for you.

Absolute truth and reality are synonymous, yes.

The theory of non-duality or whatever you wanna call it doesn't exist for the purpose of debating it. It exists as a pointer to help you become conscious of what's true. Existentially speaking, what you're writing is as good as bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla, rinse and repeat. Language has nothing to do with truth or who you are. You can think you are this or that, so what? The point is who you are, not who you think you are.

@Mondsee The "I don't know how to reject people" part. Say it because it might give him a bit of a more holistic understanding of the situation, thus less anger and hurt and more compassion. It's not guaranteed. You want to give him at least a chance of understanding that you aren't a goddess sitting on a pedestal denying a peasant an access to 'the pussy' but a human, an equal, someone who has problems just like him.

As I said, it's absolutely possible. But the yogi ultimately doesn't care too much for the positive-negative distinction. I want you to take "fuck monkey mind" as meaning not to take its content seriously. Don't fight it. It's like a child - love it but don't think everything it says is some godly wisdom or sth hahaha.

Yes, sure. But in the end, fuck monkey mind.

The poetic title is telling you this one is a must-read! May 25th, June 10th, June 19th. 2017. If you think these weren't awakenings you can call them whateverdafucks. I'll spare you and me the details and communicate what I actually find interesting. All three follow the same basic plot. I'm asleep, having a really fucked up nightmare. It deals with me losing my mind & going insane. The world becomes so unbearable and incomprehensible that I just surrender to it. Fuck this shit - if you're gonna destroy me - do it! I wake up all freaked out. Then, as the strong emotions die down, I notice something's different. There's no fixation anywhere in my body - I'm not sure where the fuck I went. Life plays like a movie. I take action along with the whole universe. Thoughts pretty much don't arise - they're pointless. The afterglow in the following day is having a relaxed body, a relatively quiet mind, and a focus on sensory experience rather than thought. Simple actions are just taken, not thought about. The ego arises and spins some bullshit, but then I remember - why the fuck would I care what it says. I'm more honest, because who am I protecting exactly when I lie? This doesn't seem to me to be just some Kundadlini shit, rather genuine awakenings or at least glimpses. Rali told me that based on my description. The ego took a blow each time. I had these awakenings while practicing immersing myself in my sensory experience whenever I remember, without a really strict formal meditation. I'd do the same thing sitting formally for perhaps an hour, and maybe walk for 30 minutes. Some days less, rarely more. I've been seeking for two years, starting shortly after Leo's first enlightenment video. I've done probably about 400 hours of self-inquiry and 400 hours of meditation in that time, sometimes having a daily formal practice of 3-4 hours and sometimes nothing. Pretty pathetic that I still haven't been able to install a daily constant meditation habit after all this time. But hey, at least these awakenings. Sensory immersion in daily life is a concept strongly emphasized by Rali from Naked Reality, and it's probably helped me the most. You can meditate on the cushion but if you take nothing back to daily life, good luck getting anywhere. Takeaways. 1) Bringing mindfulness into everything you do is really, really important. It'll make your progress much better. 2) Dreams can be a great catalyst for awakening - they can create scenarios so much more terrible than life (hopefully) will, putting you in a position where surrender is the only option left. Isn't it awesome when you can bring what you've learned in meditation into something as unconscious and dumb as a non-lucid dream? 3) Enlightenment and transformation really are distinct. When Peter Ralston says something, you better listen. The awakenings haven't made me a better socializer, they haven't made me drop any of my bad habits, they haven't made me more productive. They've made me give less of a fuck - which can actually be counterproductive at first. I reach for a sip of lemonade without guilt because guilt is fucking stupid. Yet it gives me terrible gas - the lemonade, not the guilt. It's practically stupid yet there's no egoic motivation to stop me. Enlightenment builds a powerful FOUNDATION for transformation, which I recommend you use if you want transformation. But transformation is hard work. Enlightenment is easy - it just happens, given the right conditions, creating which is perhaps not so easy. 4) Don't stress over the importance of awakenings. Just keep doing your consciousness work. Bonus question to you out there: Do any of you think, like I do, that reading informative text written in simple sentences is more enjoyable than reading eloquently phrased, complex sentences? This is Markus and I'm signing off, click the like button, post me your comments down below, and come check out the Actualized.org for....wait WHAT?

Everything the site says it'll cover. I've taken it.

I think this is the first time I've legitimately asked for advice or input on this forum. My feelings about whether this will pay off are mixed - I may get genuinely insightful replies or some cliches from people who don't really know what they're talking about in practice. Why do I think many people on this forum give advice on stuff they shouldn't be giving advice about? Because I do it myself. It strokes my ego. It's quite human I think. Anyways. I feel an urge to connect with other human beings. At least a part of it is trying to fill a void inside me - and I know it won't help do that, only connecting to being can. That said, I feel frustrated about the pettiness of human communication. We crack jokes, we play cards, we watch stupid shit on Youtube and giggle like idiots. Whenever I happen to be in a social situation involving a group of people, pretty much all interaction seems superficial and worthless. Genuine sharing of thought and emotion seems very rare, yet it's something I crave. All my best social moments have only involved one person besides myself. So I think making individual friends rather than chit-chatting in groups is a good strategic move for me. I have some questions in the next paragraphs. Is the urge to connect with people on a deeper level just chasing something that can never be fulfilled? Is it just pure egotism to prefer or value "deep" conversation topics over small talk, humor and chit-chat? How do I go about pursuing deeper connections with people since basically everybody's built a wall of one height or another to hide their true personality? Is this pursuit worthwhile or am I better off accepting that socializing will always involve a large amount of bullshit and games? It seems to me that all I really and truly want to do with other people is cuddle, fuck, and have honest, vulnerable interactions. Everything else - I'd rather be alone.

@Arkandeus Cool perspective to have. Essentially, I'm complaining about others' behavior (which I cannot change) and not taking full responsibility for my own actions towards others.

@Truth Thanks for the insightful reply. So much valuable stuff here. I think people and physical discomfort are my two last major stumbling blocks. After 2 awakenings or at least glimpses, it's the deep-rooted stuff that still gets to me. I do have a fear of loneliness and abandonment, as well as an overwhelming need to be loved by someone. Thoughts keep telling me being alone somehow devalues things, even though many of my most joyful moments have been alone. I crave female attention due to self-esteem issues. All worth introspecting into. I spent 3 days at a friend's for his birthday and I think it gave me some valuable lessons. Self-expression is a pure joy when it comes unconditionally, without expecting any kind of reaction from others. Connection is about emotion rather than content. I spoke one-on-one with a friend of a friend who also has existential interests, he seems to be quite invested in a lot of spiritual make-believe so a lot of the stuff he said didn't make much sense to me. But I expressed myself and he did himself, and it was a beautiful few hours, as we were connecting. I felt free and uninhibited. Neither of us really cared if the other got or agreed with anything. Also, a lot of us have a tremendous fear of intimacy and vulnerability. That's why we talk about chicken shit, bull shit and elephant shit, as Fritz Perls put it. Intimacy is something we desire and fear at the same time. Also, a lot of people (I would emphasize my generation) have poor social skills in general. The takeaways? I can only influence my own way of holding things. I could be more honest and vulnerable. I could express more curiosity. I could be a better listener. I could develop better social skills to pursue my preferred types of interacting with people. And accept the results. It is on me to express and pursue my desires and intentions with people. Nobody owes it to me to share themselves. It's on me. And If I don't click with someone, I gotta move on. Entertaining "What ifs" is bullshit. I've got to accept the consequences of having high standards. Looking for something authentic inevitably means weeding through a lot of people, cutting out a lot of people. Just a matter of psychological development in today's society - a lot of people don't really want honesty and intimacy as their ego can't handle it. But I intuit it's worth it. Cheers.

@Truth Which is exactly why I don't do much of it. But regardless, it seems like a crappy icing, much like video games. It's not horrible but at the same time, it doesn't really attract me because I think life has more enjoyable spices to offer, in addition to the cake of the inner work. I enjoy playfulness and humor, and find that's one of the easier things I like about socializing. I think truly connecting with people is something everybody wants to do but is afraid to do, so most social interactions end up as small talk (if even that) and playing stupid games. With the people I occasionally hang out with, there's a lot of silence, watching videos and whatnot. Interestingly enough, staring silently at each other feels better than the talking, a lot of the time. The issue for me is most of the time, we're not even communicating. We rarely talk about anything related to one another, even our interests. What's the point of being around people when it doesn't add anything enjoyable on top of being alone? I can sit by a camp fire, watch videos, eat, and take a sauna alone and be happier than when I'm doing it with others around. Because all they contribute is some nothing-saying drivel about stuff I can't even relate to.

Cons of enlightenment? You'll no longer be the most special person on the planet. You can't reflect on how badass you are because you don't give a fuck about anything. Life will become extra ordinary. Duh it's not good for "you", because it'll erase you.