Markus

Good one.

Life purpose is basically whatever you prefer to do. We have unique personalities, unique preferences. It's not "purpose" in the sense that it ultimately means anything.

Do which you like. Try both. If drowsiness is an issue then eyes open.

Second this. Now it's actually a 35 dollar book thing so buy it sooner rather than later - you'll get the updates for free.

99% of them are scams, yes. Total hogwash. Expect for this one bracelet. When it normally takes 1,000 hours of self-inquiry to have an enlightenment experience, while wearing this special bracelet you can do it in just 200. 800 hours of time saved! You see, it's very thin and looks very similar to the human skin so when you wear it and look at your wrist during contemplation, your mind will get confused as to whether it's a part of your body or not. That will open up your mind and make it 500% more likely to get into a state of not-knowing, which allows enlightenment to occur. If you contact me within 24 hours, you only have to send me 149 bucks on paypal (Enlightement's totally worth it!) and also give me your address so I know where to ship it;) Lol jk

Life basically describes the existence of a biological organism, from its subjective perspective. So, by definition, every organism has their own life. Meaning is a creation of mind - it doesn't exist outside of it. Life has no meaning because it'd have to be objective, yet any meaning is created by the mind, which only exists in the subjective dimension.

It's transitioning between REM sleep and wakefulness. Vibrations, sounds, visions etc are common. It's harmless, but generally happens when you're sleeping pretty light, either in an uncomfortable environment (like a couch) or when you're oversleeping (10 hours, 12 hours). So maybe your sleep quality isn't the best. Maybe.

This is neurotic, obsessive, and self-centered. This isn't a life purpose, hell no, and it isn't even a relationship. It's a needy, selfish, foolishly idealistic attachment to your idea of a person. For fuck sake man! To be specific, there are some very obvious problems here. One, you're trying to force your will on a person. That never works. Two, you yourself have unaddressed psychological issues. If you aren't mentally healthy yourself, how do you expect to take care of someone else, especially when they're mentally ill? However good your intentions, you will do damage. Also, how devastating would it be for you if she did die, whether from suicide or something else? If you see what you'd be doing as a "life purpose", your whole purpose and world would collapse. Let it go. You can't help her. Build up yourself first. Fix your emotional issues. Then if you still have the urge you could pursue a career as a social worker or whatever else.

@DimmedBulb I envy you! Good job.

Up it gradually. Don't jump from 2 to 6. You most likely won't be able to anyway. Joint pain is BAD. Muscle pain and pain from pressure are to be expected. So, up it gradually and listen to your body. If you get sharp pain or get numbness that doesn't subside quickly after finishing the sit, there might be a problem.

Barking? Ahaha, lol I guess Leo was on to something after all. Next you'll tell me you're seeing praying mantis people

Blanton's perspective is limited. Just hold it in your mind as a perspective, rather than a representation of how things actually work. Be open to the possibility of everything he says being right or wrong.

Though I should add directing attention away from your head is a good background practice for daily life. It'll definitely help with mindfulness and enlightenment.

I can give some pointers, things I think I should do in my own life. The key thing here I think is avoiding the mental masturbation trap. It's easy to get comfortable with that and use it as an excuse to procrastinate on taking action. I wouldn't re-watch all the vids, maybe some more fundamental ones. And then yes, think of ways to apply the principles. After that, it's strategizing time. I guess it's good to contemplate, having all that theory, what do you really want out of life? Distill it down to what it is at its core, and set a strategic intent in accordance to that. Then you can set the goals required for that and reverse-engineer all the steps you need to get to those.

Self-Inquiry has nothing to do with thinking. Yes, there are the questions, but they're just there to direct your attention. The point is becoming conscious of what's true. Yes, it's easy to lose track. It's a highly focused activity. When you do lose track, just bring your attention back. It's not obsolete at all, that's just a conclusion you've drawn in your mind, based on ungrounded assumptions. Self-inquiry is the most direct method and Leo has frequently commented in support of it, as well as Neti-Neti even recently. Pushing your awareness out of your head is just that - pushing your awareness out of your head. That gives less CPU for thinking, so you're more focused. Yes, it gives you a high of a sort. That has nothing to do with enlightenment though. It's a feel-good trap. The guided meditation is not inquiry, it's basically the same as "be still", "do nothing", "choiceless awareness" etc. Many names.

Barack Obama. Yes, I cheated, but just listen to him speak.

Yep. I'll tell you one way, which is just one way. 1. Throughout the day, do "reality checks" - try to do something that's only possible in a dream, like breathing with your nose pinched or pushing your finger through your other palm. 2. Wake up 2 hours earlier than usual, or if you're usually sleep-deprived, waking up at the normal time works too. Stay up for 30 minutes. Go back to sleep. 3. You might remember to do a reality check in a dream and become lucid. Also, keep a dream journal. When you wake up after a dream, put down the details, either in a notebook or using an audio recorder. Read those before bed, say, as well as during your 30 minute period up. Keeping a dream journal's very important as it'll improve your dream recall A LOT, so you'll actually find yourself in a dream. I've been meditating for 20 minutes a day now for a week but I'm still not enlightened. Might give up on this shit

A hypothetical brain surgery of some type that does not currently exist as a possibility and never might.

Fuck...the first post is gold. Though I'm not sure whether it's following forum rules.

Chrome has an extension called "kill news feed". It kills your news feed and lets you do everything else. If I had the power, I'd make such an option for Android and make Zuckerberg pay for it. Scrolling the news feed has such a nasty consciousness to it. When people post their ideas on Facebook, they're not posting their best. They're posting hate, they're posting gossip, they're jealous. Some of them, I assume, are posting good stuff, but just look at the news feed and it's telling you exactly what you're getting.

@Mat Pav I think we can sense a lot of things about people's internal state. We can sense confidence, neediness, desperation, shyness etc. I don't know how exactly - I haven't contemplated it. But clearly, a person's tone, body language etc gives us quite a bit of information about what's going on for them. Of course we make tons of projections based on that and get lost in those, at which point we're no longer talking about the person but our idea of them.

I'm doing enlightenment first, since more mindfulness and less egoic obfuscation will likely lead to being driven by more authentic motives, also helping clarify/morph your life purpose. Plus I imagine being content (at least way more so than someone who hasn't had any enlightenments) just feels better. What's the point of success if you're not content? Of course, take care of your education and such. I'm in med school so that takes up quite a bit of time.

Trump quite obviously is suffering. Put yourself in the shoes of the Donald for a moment, imagine doing the things he does and saying the things he says. It should become quite clear. Or just get only 3 hours of sleep for a night or more (that's how little he allegedly gets/got) and notice the Trump-like impulsiveness arise in you.

Why ask us? Listen to your body. The vast majority of Western people are sleep deprived. It's not the end of the world if you are, but it certainly has some negatives.

SDS = no voluntary movement. Either for x amount of time or as long as you can handle. Says nothing about technique: you can do do nothing, self-inquiry, noting, etc. DN = no manipulation of attention (if you notice an intention to control your attention, drop that intention).