Lento

1. As you might have noticed, the higher you go with the spiral, the more complex, nuanced, and sophisticated your thinking becomes. We might say that stage Purple has a surface level understanding of life, while stage Green has a deeper understanding. So, high vs. low in terms of the spiral equals complex vs. simple in the actual world. Now, is complex thinking always better than simple thinking? I would say no. Sometimes it is better to think simply about some things, and sometimes it's better to understand them deeply, it mostly depends on the things themselves and how you value them and how they should be fit in your life for you to have an organised healthy system. For example, you don't teach a 1st grader Darwinian evolution, it's way too complex for them to comprehend. Instead, you start with the basics that will build a stepping stone for them to integrate with other stepping stones, and then after they reach some level, you can teach them about evolution. That would be systematic thinking. Notice that no hierarchy of values needs to be constructed. Yet, these, and other kinds of constructions can be made when you're a systematic thinker, and that what we will be discussing in the next point below. 2. To answer this question, we have to take into account that there isn't one way to manage a system or to solve a problem. Some solutions can be more effective than others, and some plans can be better than others, and so on. Reality is really complex, and often times we aren't able to comprehend its complexity. However, tier two people, for some reasons, have the ability to deal with that without much effort. They can handle complex issues, maps, problems, projects, paradoxes, etc... all at once, or at least that's how I imagine them to be like. That being said, how would you manage a system that is clear and obvious to you and vague and obscure to others? Well, it depends. You can be selfish about it, while at the same time monitoring and making sure that your system is sustainable and under control. And you can be selfless about it, while at the same time doing the same thing above. And you can be somewhere in between. So, for example, Taliban leaders know how to manage and manipulate systems. They know how to manipulate Trump and to make him make stupid mistakes. Are they good or evil? I don't know, and I don't care. All I know (assume) is that they're at tier two level of thinking and sophistication, and that Trump isn't.

@Commodent Not trying to disprove your point or anything, but do you think that pushing yourself beyond your limits is healthy and sustainable on the long-term? I'm saying this because my experience was not very pleasant with always pushing forward, even though I got some special fruits, but I wouldn't do that ever again unless I have no other choice.

@Rigel If I may add in a bit to your great advice, that I prefer to taste the waters as well at first and every now and then. What do I mean by that? Well, consider the first example you gave about learning a new language. I think it's wise to focus on one topic at a time, yet I would take a look every now and then at the whole project, how it is going, how big it is, what are the main keys (highlights/headlines) to it, how other people are handling it, where I am best and where I have to work more, and so on... The point is to get a clearer picture of what I am going after, and to make my actions optimal for achieving the best results possible in the shortest period of time, and to get myself motivated towards the end of the project as well. Another example is when I'm reading a book, the obvious thing is to read it chapter by chapter. The counter-intuitive move is to always check with the index. Another example is when you're studying a chapter and you need to memorise it, you don't try to memorise it first, but rather you take a wider look and read the whole chapter to get in touch with the points being made, and then after you've finished you can start memorising stuff.

Absolutely. I mentioned earlier that I'm merely interested in sex right now. No, she was/still is attached to me for some reason, but never a stalker. This is good to know. Thanks!

The funny thing is that before you knew that you don't control your thoughts, you actually thought that it was possible to take full responsibility for your life. You thought that you had a free will, and you actually used to have it, no? It's amazing how tricky thoughts are! Until you break that thought of no free will, you will stay be thinking that you have no free will. Break it, and you will have a free will again. For that to happen, you need a paradigm shift, you need to move your thinking outside the bubble of spirituality.

Not a single response from the opposite sex. It must mean something bad ?

Congrats! You did the right thing for the both of you. You will look back after one month and be thankful for this decision. Sure. And sure the pain won't last. Let it all out in a journal, or here. We all support you.

By engaging in life and facing more challenges.

@assx95 No.

Of course, and thanks. It's interesting to me that I was stupid enough to not be able to think of that move. It didn't even cross my mind. Guess I'm still warming up ? Me too. That would be problematic for me at the moment.

Answer it for yourself and you will become enlightened. Try the question: what is deception?

@Gili Trawangan You, sir, are the best! Thank you!

Dude, you're very young, it's okay to have a strong sexual desire at your age. I would say go with it fully and don't hold back, discover your sexuality, whatever that means to you.

I told you, I don't necessarily want to get laid, but I also don't want to miss that opportunity. Instead of just criticising me, how about offering some practical advice?

My intuition tells me that she wants me, but that she's afraid probably due to her traumatic past with her husband. And although she seems to want me, she doesn't give much room for me to make my moves, but still she never rejected anything I did. So, maybe she needs more time to adjust? Maybe she's a bit shy?

I don't mind her completely out of my life and I don't mind being friends with her if that's what she wants, but I received mixed signals from her and I thought why not have sex if available without much work or trouble? I mean seriously, why the night before Valentine's day? It would be an extremely rare coincidence if it's so. I mentioned so much details because I wanted you to get a clearer picture, not because I'm overthinking it. I could easily just go on with my life. Then why contact me again multiple times? I completely stopped talking to her, and basically to most people at that time. If she moved on, she'd have just let it go not call and then come to see me at work and telling me that she missed me. I didn't mention that I used to stare deep into her eyes, I'm not sure why, she's beautiful, and she would laugh and then blush, but now I tried to avoid that strong eye contact, I also am not sure why. How so? What would you do? And for God's sake, is two hours so much wasted time? The whole thing was two and a half hours. Not true, but please ignore this, and help me get laid ?

@Serotoninluv Thanks for taking the time to respond. I like the movie analogy. I noticed that the transition between stages happen while the structure of the identity remains untouched. It is still there as a structure, but only the content has changed. That's what I'm asking about. Do you think that at tier two the whole structure of identity dissolves instead of being replaced with another structure/content?

You're right, and I'm sorry. But I'm not poo-pooing anything. I shouldn't have jumped to the end and given the ultimate answer just yet. Other people need contemplation as well, I shouldn't ruin it for them.

@Leo Gura I appreciate and understand the importance of the relative, and I am actively working on transcending my survival. Come on Leo! Don't treat me like that.

Yes. It's unexplainable, just as much as love is. We can have our theories about relating desire to survival, but they aren't enough to explain the unexplainable. In the end of the day, it just is what it is. (P.S. I'm not a newbie).

So, if mind and nowhere are identical, and nowhere and everywhere are identical as well. So...? I guess all are labels for the same thing?

So where is where? Where is the place happening at all?

I agree with the opening post. There is non-duality, and there is duality, and then there is trinity, that is the collapse of both into one. Old wisdom should never be dismissed or underestimated.

Good points! I would say that people do that to gain authority over each other, like tricking other less intellectual people into thinking that the truth is something while it's actually nothing, and that they have it and others don't. It seems like a survival mechanism, the more intellectual a person is, the less power they have in the material world, except that they have their imagination and genius, and so here we are. Man uses other animals because of his vivid imagination, and so people do between each other. They might not be conscious of that behaviour, but whatever. God can a dangerous devil. It could also be due to inferiority/superiority complexities, and it could be a self-deception where the magician fools himself with his own tricks, and/or it could be something else as well.

I can come up with many theories, but ultimately it's unexplainable. And desire is indescribable. Just like God. Perhaps desire is God?