aurum

@somegirl The Wim Hof Method has had a lot of success tackling autoimmune disease. From the scientific POV, the breathing technique he teaches causes the body to reset the nervous system by dropping oxygen levels. And the cold has shown to decrease inflammatory markers, stimulate the immune system, increase vascular health, etc. But I believe it goes deeper than the science. Monks were doing Wim’s breathing technique way before he was (Tummo). And they didn’t know anything about oxygen saturation. So why were they doing it? The answer has to do with Spirit. The Wim Hof method realigns you with God. Which is why healing occurs. But this is obviously way outside the scientific paradigm, so it has to be talked about purely in terms materialists can understand.

@Consilience good insights man! Your schedule is intense, I like it. As far as a the whole psychedelics debate, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I’ve used them in the past and plan to use them again in the future. The insights are radical and often genuine. And I do believe they can create true healing for people, as seen from my own experience and from the experience of others. People have literally cured hard drug addiction with a single session of Ibogaine or Ayahuasca. At the same time, I’ve also seen people who have spun their wheels with psychedelics. People who may have had deep insights, but seem to still struggle with many basic emotional problems, limiting beliefs, etc. I don’t really know why some people seem to get better results than others. Lack of “manual” practice and integration perhaps. Lack of proper intention. Or perhaps this debate goes deeper than any technique or substance. Perhaps it’s simply the soul’s will to have that experience. And all our arguing about what method is best is just laughable. What I do know is that I currently resonate with more of a manual approach as well. That feels like it gives me the deepest integration and embodiment, which is what I’m really interested in. And if I can sprinkle in some peak psychedelic experiences every once in a while to see what that brings, I’m happy with that as well.

No I didn’t watch it. I don’t know what Leo’s perspective on the wiki definition is. But I know I do not agree with it. Of course you could still potentially use that word. No word will perfect. But the point is I feel it’s a generally ineffective pointer due to so many preconceived notions about “solipsism”. In many ways I feel the same about the word “God”. Way too much baggage for most people. That’s why new agers had to rebrand “God” as “Source energy”. Is it the same thing? Of course it is. WE know that if we’re experienced. But the newbie does not. For the newbie, the word “God” is potentially very threatening, whereas “Source energy” has no prior associations.

I’m with you on this. Using “solipsism” as a term at all seems to be doing more harm than good. I’ve also had members reach out to me who were unnecessarily freaked out over “being alone”. Part of the problem is that solipsism is already defined. And as its been defined in the past by philosophers, its extremely misleading and NOT absolute truth. “Solipsism” in that way essentially means “my ego is all that exists”. Lol. So really, why are we still using that word at all? It’s not accurate and it’s just confusing people. Of course, you could argue that people will find a way to confuse or dismiss Absolute Truth no matter what words we use. And that’s true. Absolute Truth can be mind-boggling or cause to ego to get defensive. It’s inevitable. But still, if different language helps even just a bit, why not use it? The only other option is to create hierarchical content for people to consume when they are ready. But that becomes extremely difficult. How can someone like Leo know who will be ready or who isn’t, and how can he make sure they only see the appropriate content for their level? As I said in another thread, the beauty of the internet is that it has blown open spiritual teachings for anyone and everyone to easily consume. And the downside is the exact same.

@Rasheed no. Fake news. Thomas Delauer does a pretty job explaining IF: https://youtu.be/S0wKBCjpu7A

Yeah that’s one of the mindfucks I had on LSD. You realize that even this story of “I took a psychedelic and had an awakening” is just more imagination. That is not what actually happened. Psychedelics are just more content within consciousness. It’s more like consciousness awakens itself, with no outside tool or authority all, just by its own will. Mind-blowing.

@Carl-Richard The Wim Hof breathing I feel helped me tremendously getting back to normal. I didn’t even do a lot, just a few rounds over the course of three days. My mental health and energy levels were so much better.

Yes. But the purpose of that human experience includes realizing you are God. It matters very much on a practical level. When you don’t know you’re God, you suffer and create all sorts of unconscious manifestations that you usually aren’t wanting. The beauty of realizing you are God while still alive is that you get to become the conscious painter of your life. And your life will be far more rich for it. That’s different. In that case, you’re not ready. Go live an average life for a couple years and come back. Maybe get some therapy. Or maybe just do some basic personal development. That is really okay to do. No, but as I said it sounds like you may not be ready for deep spiritual work. You don’t need to do 5meo tomorrow. Take baby steps.

From my perspective, you’re hedging. If you follow theosis to its natural conclusion, you will literally become God. That’s what is really implied by “union”. Of course you will also be finite and limited. That’s correct. And in that sense, we could make a distinction. But there is ultimately no difference between your finite self and God. The finite self IS God. God does not “want a relationship” with you or “is close”. That still implies two, where there is only one. One, One, One. It’s all God and it’s all You.

I said that because usually if we “don’t want to know” something intimate about a partner, it’s because we are afraid of the answer. It’s pretty much always about safety and / or love. So for whatever reason, she didn’t feel she was getting that. It might not have been anything you did per say, could be her issues. Or maybe it was what you didn’t do. This is a good answer as well.

This is the whole crux of the problem with this conversation. We’re in deep non-dual territory, where language easily starts to break down and become non-sensical. Because of course language is dualistic. But we can take a crack at it. Let’s say you and I are both looking at a table. But I claim the table is imaginary. What does that mean? Well, from a conventional perspective, not much. The table is physical. It has defined properties and constraints. I can touch it, smell, weigh it. I can hold a memory of it. I can cut it in half. I can even give it to my brother for his birthday. All that is possible. In fact, it’s precisely because it’s “so real” that we forget that the table itself is imaginary. That physicality itself is mind. And why would you do that? Why would you create such a persistent illusion that you forget the table is imaginary? Because you wanted to experience remembering. By remembering, you come to know yourself. And you cannot remember if you don’t forget. So that’s what this spiritual work is. God is choosing to remember that it’s God now. God is choosing to remember that it imagined everything into existence by BEING IT. Including physical space, time, all limitations, all scientific laws, birth, death, the earth, this forum, your cat, everything. So God doesn’t just imagine. God IS what it imagines. The table is God, and the table is imaginary. And all of it is You.

No, because I’m imagining that I can’t. You’re also assuming that You/God is interested in transcending its imagined limits. You/God have no such desire. There is deep wisdom is the limitations, that’s why You/God imagine them.

I actually can’t fly because I’m imagining I actually can’t fly. You can fully experience imagination as if it was fully real. It’s just not. That’s what makes it an illusion. Albeit a highly convincing. A master illusion.

If you’re insecure/worried about what she is masturbating to, can you really expect her not to be? Agreed, “gotcha” games would not be a good idea. But assuming this partner was mature enough, this sounds like it was an opportunity to even further explore your sexuality with each other. Really get to know each others kinks. What does she get off to that maybe she doesn’t want anyone else to know about? Or maybe even discover some new fantasies. The key would be to approach it with radical safety and non-judgmentalism. Which is not easy. The temptation would be to want to say what you think the other person wants to hear. It’s possible that enough maturity was not present in that relationship, but you might be able to do it in the future.

Limitations are also imaginary. But necessary. You’re already creating a universe right now.

@Roy did you ask her what she masturbated to?

@Spooney Spoonerson I'm doubled vaxxed. Hasn't given me any problems I'm aware of. In fact, I got the omicron variant a couple months ago and I'm pretty sure the vaccine helped. My case was mild, only had symptoms for a couple of days. You could argue "well what about long term risks?". That is a gamble. All health decisions have a degree of uncertainly, but IMO the vaccine is pretty low risk long term and may help your immune system be better prepared. So honestly, I'd say just get the vaccine if it's really that big of a roadblock to your dream career. But it is ultimately your choice.

Jim Rutt talks about it a bit: Skip to 27:52. It’s an interesting idea, but all good ideas can be corrupted by lower consciousness individuals. Which then creates the conditions for more lower consciousness behavior, thus solidifying the loop. How to break the loop? That’s the million dollar question. Really it’s the same question as how does an individual change? How does someone go from a self-reinforcing negative spiral to a positive one? In my experience, it comes from a deeper place than the conscious mind. The conscious mind believes it to be in control, only to later recognize its own folly. Likely we will move through a similar collective phase. When we do, perhaps an idea like liquid democracy will make rounds. Or not. Doing the “right thing” becomes less important at that point.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Leo, it’s that he’s a counterpuncher. If we start arguing left, he argues right. If we starting arguing right, he argues left. Since there tends to be a lot of no-fap positioning on here, I’m not surprised he usually throws out the opposite stance. I suppose there’s a meta teaching here about not being attached to any particular belief. Or maybe he just really likes porn

What exactly do you feel you missed out on? And why can’t you do it now?

@Johnny Galt Reminds me of Charles Eisenstein’s work. I certainly resonate with the idea that we’re in a global shift. What exactly that shift looks like and how it plays out, I don’t know. I’ve only had glimpses of foreshadowing. My temptation is therefore to jump to looking for solutions and answers. I need to “figure it out”. And yet, I feel my deeper longing is actually to relax into not-knowing. Which implies a deep trust and surrendering. Jumping to answers is often a coping mechanism. We need to feel in control and that we have some agency over these problems. “Solutions” can temporarily alleviate that pain and make it seem like things are getting better. But the trap is that by jumping to solutions, our solutions often become shoddy and half-baked. We are moving into territory where not only do we need “new solutions”, we actually need entirely new meta-paradigms for problem-solving. Solutions generated from these old paradigms will ultimately fail to bring about that change we feel the world could be. Thus, even “changing the world” needs to be surrendered. Everything is as it should be. That is the real revolution.

The point of any creative activity is that you are getting to express your Godliness. You are touching who you are at a deep level. Such an act is intrinsically satisfying. You get in the flow. You feel deeply moved, connected, whole and at peace. Of course, art can provide more traditionally tangible value as well. You can use art to pay your bills or to make some sort of political statement. But that is not the primary reason humans are interested in art. It goes way deeper than that.

@sleep That’s partially a product of your age group. Most young people are not ready for such a deep commitment. They barely know who they are or what they want out of life. The fact we are moving through SD stage Orange also means that people highly value their individual autonomy over getting in a relationship. That will shift more as we move into Green. Also, we need to recognize that the quality of a relationship is not necessarily determined by time. The universe has no problem setting you up with partners that won’t last long if they are conducive to the lessons you are seeking to learn.

@something_else Really common dilemma for guys getting into this. Sounds to me like what you want is to continue playing the field a while, beef up your social skills, get some fun single experiences under your belt, and then settle down with a girl you really like. If that is what you want, you may have to let this girl go. It will hurt, but you two want different things. You can’t do everything at once. Possibly. But also, don’t think getting into a relationship is suddenly going to put things on easy mode for you. Long term relationships have plenty of their own challenges. And you still will have opportunities to work on your social skills, just in a different way. I wouldn’t do it if you feel like you can’t commit to it. But there’s also no guarantee that even if you get in this relationship that it will last forever. People break up all the time. Some relationships are meant to be short. Bottom line: do some soul searching and figure out what is most important to you. What is your highest priority?

The thing that will increase your pickup results the most is doing pickup. Yes, working on your general self-esteem may help. But it also may not. It’s not a guarantee that truly high self-esteem will turn you into an ultimate pickup machine. That is a lie PUA teachers sell. Many of the guys I know who are the best at pickup are pretty damaged. Pickup becomes a way for them to fill that void. If you actually healed that wound, you may lose interest in pickup. On the other hand, you have to have some level of self-efficacy and non-resistance to succeed in pickup. So working on your “inner game” might help there. And sorting out the other areas in your life may bleed into you having an easier time with pickup. It really depends on the guy and why you’re doing pickup in the first place. What do you want to get out of this?