r0ckyreed

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.

I was, but I wanted the hat to choose for me without my influence Lol! I guess Slytherin? There is nothing wrong with Slytherin, except Voldemort and Death Eators, and Donald Trump. Swag! That's a good point. This explains many evils that occurred.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your insight!

True dat.

Lol. Did you get Hufflepuff as your result? I don’t think a Hufflepuff would be hating other houses, but rather try to work with them. I am Ravenclaw because I am a lover of Wisdom and Truth. But I do love the warm heartedness, compassion and empathy that Hufflepuffs bring. The point is that we possess the traits of each house, but what are our strengths and which traits are easier for us to embody? I am trying to understand what you mean by how Hufflepuff is the only true house.

Already failed. You, blind, and eyes are illusions. You don’t know what blindness, eyes or you are.

Title says it. I love questioning reality deeply. Some of my most profound insight have come to me when I was observing something and wondering about it. I have question and critically think or contemplate it. I was on the verge of grasping something like infinite or eternity, but then it slipped away. I have tried meditation and I have found it highly useful for stress and concentration, but as far as insight goes, I haven’t found meditation as useful as contemplation. My favorite contemplation is distinguishing between actuality and concept. I have done this exercise to the point in which the distinction between concept and actuality itself is just more concept. But I am not sure what this means quite yet. Any pointers? What do you all think about contemplation vs. meditation? Why meditate at all when we can contemplate?

So I usually meditate by looking at my hand or closing my eyes. I also use have been using The Waking Up app at times by Sam Harris. He recommends alternating between meditating with eyes open and eyes closed. What do you all think, or find to be most effective for you? I think eyes open may be easier to find the no-head that Douglas Harding and Sam Harris seem to be talking about. I am going to start meditating by using the Headless Way by Douglas Harding and Richard Lang. I think it is very interesting way of attaining enlightenment. It helps you see yourself as the entire world and everyone in it as part of yourself.

@Leo Gura yeah. I’ve been mostly observing my hand and just being with my hand, along with contemplation about hand, visual field, actuality, concept, etc. Another practice I have been doing to quiet my mind is breath/sound awareness meditation (noticing breathing and sounds as they arise and dissipate). Another meditation I have done is to just stare into the darkness of my close eyes and watch the movies of my mind that play. I will try Do Nothing meditation.

This is me. I have been a contemplative for quite a long time. I questioned God and religion since I was like 4 or 5 years old after my dad told me that Jewish people don’t believe Christ was son of God, and some people don’t believe Christ existed. I have been contemplating for pretty much my whole life, but not on nearly as deep as I do after I studied philosophy. Meditation is something I learned 2 years ago when I took Eastern Philosophy. So it doesn’t quite come naturally. Also I do have ADHD so it is a challenge to sit in stillness, but I think it helps improve concentration. The longest I have ever meditated was one hour. True. I typically incorporate contemplation into my meditation. I use this analogy in that contemplation is asking God a question, but meditation is listening to God (or stillness) for the answer. I think one of the things that has held me back from doing a retreat is the belief that meditation is a waste of time, but I realized that all the times that I don’t meditate are waste of time. Thank you all!

Where do you all get your research information from? Where and how did Leo find out about spiral dynamics? How can I use google or other sources most effectively to help facilitate my research on personal growth? Any advice would be highly appreciated!