r0ckyreed

Notice that, THAT right there is imagination. You have a certain idea of paranormal that has a negative meaning to it. What you firmly believe will become your reality. Meditation is all about facing your own “inner” demons/fears and watching them like clouds in the sky. Notice that you are suffering from imagination right now and as a consequence, it is preventing you (or shall I say, you are preventing yourself) from waking up to truth. That is the whole game is that you are playing chess against your ego. Your ego doesn’t want to meditate and will use fear to avoid life to preserve itself. Fear becomes your prisoner if you let it. The good news is that you are capable of doing anything you put your mind to. Just notice when the mind is imagining fear and keep going through life. Courage is being afraid of something and doing it anyways. let me know if this helped.

“Arguing you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying I don’t care about free speech because I have nothing to say.” —Snowden I think privacy and freedom should be fundamental rights. If we give people power over others, they will use it. It’s like Tony Stark. He made weapons to protect people, but once he saw how his inventions were used to harm people, he stopped making them. How far are we going to go with surveillance? Where do we draw this line? If you give cops that power to enter anyone’s house without warrants, you would see a larger disparity among minorities being targeted. How do we define suspicion? Is it defined by mainstream culture? How do you account for other cultures? What would stop police from abusing their power? Or better yet, what would stop people with power from abusing it? This is question of private vs public, or freedom vs safety is much more complex.

I mean when you run, you are breathing just the same. Yet, runners aren't hyperventilating. Why should it be different when you are just lying down, and breathing at race pace?

So I was discussing philosophy of science to a guy on RuneScape, and he asked he how I knew that my perception/direct experiences aren’t false. It hit me that Direct Experience is the one thing that can’t be false because it is reality exactly as it is (or how it appears and disappears). Also, if direct experience were false, what would it be false in relation to? Imagination is what is false. Direct Experience is Truth. Even if this is all a simulation or the matrix or whatever, the fact of direct experience still remains true because it is exactly as it is. Saying that the direct experience in the matrix is false and the direct experience outside of matrix is true already is biased and imagination and more stories on top of Truth. If I wanted to look at it another way, it would be that Direct Experience (in the matrix) is true and life outside is concept and imagination. So the whole idea of simulation and matrix theories are all bogus and don’t disprove anything about the Truth of Direct Experience. We are imagining falsehood. matrix and simulation are also imagination. Truth is what is happening now. This was the contemplation I did, and I realized that the whole veil of perception problem is all imaginary and constructed. What do you all think? It is kind of hard to explain this. Please watch the video below. What do you all think? He says “the only thing we experience directly is Consciousness.”

The thing that I haven’t realized yet is that the boundary between Actuality and imagination is Imagination. Hence, Actuality = Imagination. I get how all distinctions are imaginary, but it seems like my hand is Actual and not Imaginary! Am I actually directly experiencing a hand or reality, or am I just imagining it all and only directly experiencing imagination or consciousness?

Yeah that’s the problem I have is that when I close my eyes, I still see my minds eye of the room.

I have always wondered how to Astral Project. I have tried following guides of other on YouTube, but nothing has worked. It just seems like I am imagining it. Has anyone had any success in Astral Projection? I also used to keep a dream journal during my Philosophy of Dreams class back in College (really mind blowing class btw). During that class, I had my first lucid dream. The issue that I am struggling with is that I have not been able to remember my dreams, and I have been too lazy to keep writing in my dream journal. Any Conscious Dreamers that could help me out? Thanks!

Thank you!

What do you think about the idea of me waking up and sharing my dreams with myself in the mirror? I think I am just gonna have to find a way to not be lazy about it.

Thanks. I have had two lucid dreams, which were mind blowing. The first lucid dream I had, I was in a car, I got out, and I still noticed the ground moving. I had so much awareness that it woke me up, and I felt my whole body vibrating (sleep paralysis), which was really dope! I also really want to become a more conscious dreamer, but I have not been keeping up with my dream journal.

Is this the book you are talking about? https://www.amazon.com/Way-Liberation-Practical-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1937195171/ref=nodl_

Life is a dream. All people and your body are imaginary. You are nothing dreaming you are something, dreaming a human, an earth, and others. This is the dream of life. “Life is but a dream.”

In my opinion, we should first learn how to think before we stop thinking. Too many people don’t know how to think and thinking becomes a self-deceptive and suffering mechanism. Thinking or imagination is God’s gift. If we neglect thinking, we neglect a big part of our lives. Almost everything around you is born of thought. True, but I also think we should strive to be a conscious thinker. Too many people are unconscious thinkers or do not really think at all. Our mind is a muscle and if we stop using it for a while, it may become weak. If we use it in a conscious/contemplative manner, it may become stronger. I feel like that death will be my ultimate no-mind. I might as well grow my mind while I am alive and brief periods of silence in mind will help, but I do not strive for permanent silence in mind. That to me would be death. Thank you.

From the video you shared above

what do you all think of Leo’s new video? That was what I was talking about here. Solipsism is also a concept, but it was pointing the Direct Experience of total Aloneness as God. Pure Raw Direct Experience is all there is. The idea of a human person or character is hallucination which kind of goes against the traditional idea of “solipsism.” When you discard all of your fantasies. All that seems to be left is This and mindfulness is the process of seeing reality LITERALLY as it is. This video above reminded me of Douglas Harding’s headless way method where he had the realization that “he had lost a head. But instead, he gained a word.” The headless way seems like an interesting way of getting struck by enlightenment. Sam Harris talks about headless way on his meditation all called waking up.

I just watched whole video and did exercises! It is awesome! However, the most common objection I get from people is “just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there.” But then a question came to me which was “just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean that it is there.” Another analogy that I was thinking of was that God is the silence out of which the music of my life appears and then disappears.

I resonate with that. When I try to become the Witness of thoughts, there is a moment where it is completely still. I am trying to observe the thought, but it is still, then I eventually realize that I have been gone or lost in my thoughts for a while. Kind of like in a dream. Interesting! Thank you for sharing! However, I disagree that “thinking is a disease.” I think that unconscious thinking is disease, but if you are using your mind in a conscious way, such as contemplation then thinking can be good. One thing I’ve noticed when doing a lot of meditation is that my memory about things has gotten worse after sitting still for a long time. Our memory is about repitition of our imagination. Suppressing thoughts can be dangerous. But maybe I am misinterpreting it. My thinking has been a huge ally in my life. I have used critical thinking to help resolve some of my emotions. I have made thinking into my ally, and I notice that many people use their thinking in distorting and limiting ways. Meditation has helped me think more clearly in a way because I feel like I am more aware of when my thinking can be dysfunctional. But I don’t know, what do you think? I am more of a conceptual/philosophical person in nature. So maybe thinking is used to ground my reality and is the tool of the Devil. I think I may see it now.

I have also tried running meditation (run for miles and observe nature, body and mind). I found it is interesting, but I am not for sure if running is meditation?

I got Ravenclaw. Tell me what you all got. https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=mte2mdawoq2srl This test helps you know your strengths and values. Here are the following houses and traits: Gryffindor: Chivalry, Bravery, Courage, and Determination Element: Fire Ravenclaw: Knowledge, Wisdom, Intelligence, Learning, and Wit Element: Air Hufflepuff: Loyalty/Honesty, Justice, Patience, Hard Working Element: Earth Slytherin: Ambitious, Cunning, Leadership, Resourcefulness, Self-preservation Element: Water In reality, you are all of these, but the sorting hat quiz helps you pinpoint which house represents you on average, overall.

Just a few resources that helped me meditate. Nothing too special. Feel free to share your own resources that help you so others can learn. Meditation is so important and is a good habit/skill to development. https://meditationspark.com/how-to-meditate-while-working/ https://www.inc.com/matthew-jones/7-easy-mindfulness-meditation-ideas-to-try-at-work.html https://thedailymind.com/how-to-use-your-work-as-a-meditation-tool-to-change-your-life/ https://zenhabits.net/work-as-play/ https://medium.com/personal-growth-lab/how-to-reach-flow-state-using-10-flow-state-triggers-473aa28dc3e5 https://collegeinfogeek.com/flow/ These are only the beginning. What sources help you?

Hello all! I am new to this health section of Actualized.org Forums. The reason why I am posting is that I am concerned about my diet. I will just get to the point. I am eating really unhealthy and hardly exercising. When I do exercise (which varies from one day per week or every 2 weeks) I typically run, do push-ups and pull ups. I do not work out as much as I need to. My main concern is my diet and the long-term effects of it. I think the shit I am eating now will affect me years down the road. I still live with my parents, and they spoil me with a bunch of stuff that I know is bad for me. I eat a lot of sugar (ice cream, cheezits, oreos, etc.), and somehow, I am on the low end of being underweight. I am about 6 foot tall and weigh around 145. I think I have a good metabolism because I eat a lot of crap and don't gain weight, even with my lack of exercise. I used to play tennis and do cross-country, but now during COVID, I am sitting around meditating, contemplating, and working on school work. I do not notice any negative health side effects, but I do want to prepare for the future. I watched Leo's video on health already, but do you all have any recommendations on food? I am mainly concerned that if I continue on this road, I will have long-term problems and I may already have them. Here is my diet so far: Breakfast: I eat Apples, bananas (sometimes eggs and sausage) Lunch: I some times snack and skip lunch. But sometimes I will eat chili, quesadillas, tacos, pizza (some times vegetable soup), spaghetti, broccoli, corn, fruit cocktail Dinner: Same thing as lunch in terms of food My ideal goal: Exercise (Run 3-5 miles, push-ups, pull-ups) 4 times a week or every day Breakfast: Eat apples, bananas, fruit smoothies, eggs and sausage (which I already do) Lunch: Chili, vegetable soup Dinner: Fruit salad, Chili and vegetable soup I think if I can stick to just the fruits, vegetables, and protein (chili) then I may have a good diet. I am just tired of being addicted to sugar because I realize that my bad diet is a like a drug that will harm me later on. EDIT: I think part of my problem is that my parents eat like crap and buy the crap and then I eat it with them. This is a consequence of living with family. My parents will buy me ice cream, cereal and a bunch of crap that make it hard to avoid junk food. If you all have any questions (personal or not) please ask away , I won't be offended at all. Thank you all for your help! <3

I mean. Yes and no. Trump is a house on his own, but I think he fits well with Slytherin house in general, as well as with characters like Voldemort, Pettigrew, etc. who are manipulative and egotistical and stage red. Here’s how I may use spiral dynamics with Hogwarts: Slytherin: Stage Red/Orange (Individual) Hufflepuff: Stage Green/Blue (collective) Gryffindor: Stage Orange (Individual) Ravenclaw: Stage Yellow/Orange (Individual) Of course this is an overgeneralization, but I don’t know. From my observation, Hufflepuff societies seem more like a cooperative, collective, whereas the others seem like they are individual and competitive. I don’t know. What do you all think of this?

That’s a great idea! What kind of meals do you recommend that I prepare that are healthy and taste good?

Thanks. That’s a good point. You are right!

Yeah. I told them. My problem is that I feel guilty if I refuse to eat their prepared meals because they spent time and I know people in other places are starving in the world.