Rufus

Just the fact that you think that you need music to survive your day, that means addiction, but it's up to you how much do you have to worry about this. As a composer myself who dug so deep in personal discoveries about the science of music, music is a very powerful tool for altering human's state, 1 - There is music for emotions (Contrasting Chords & Modulations), 2 - Music for the body (Beats and Rhythms), 3 - Music for the mind (Story, dogma, and melodic complexity), 4 - Music for spirit, mood and focus (Ambiance, Sound design, Textures and pads), A good composer is the one who knows who to balance these aspects in music to achieve a certain goal, And powerful composers can mix these elements in one epic track that can make you feel complete. The fact that you listen to emotional music, that could be a sign that you need some emotional balance in your day, maybe you need to do an action regarding this and find an activity or a GF, or someone to set with who can bring that balance back. The fact that you listen to body music (percussive), you need physical energy and excitement, maybe you can replace it with dancing, sports, running, skydiving, racing etc.. The need to listen to music for the mind means you need mental entertainment, maybe you need to hang out with cool friends, or go for adventure, play video games, or you can use it for beneficial aspects like doing intellectual habits, scientific research or find the thing that you really love. The need to listen to Ambient music is a sign that you need focus. you probably yearn to have some alone time away from annoying people and distractions, maybe meditate, read, study, go to nature, Make your Arts, or watch a documentary about insects and birds. See? you can take the music you wish to listen right now as a sign that you need to do something right now, you can replace Music with different activities, it's the same energy but it's up to you and your will to pick how do you want to convert that energy. I'm not saying that music is bad, it's never ever, Music is a sophisticated body hacking tool and form of art, sometimes you will willingly choose to listen to music because you don't want to hang out with friends or do physical activity so you can free your time to do other things, in addition that listening to music that beautifully combines the four elements can bring a great inspiration to your life, dreams and future if you know how to focus during listening. Music is a very powerful tool to achieve any kind of state, if you master what kind of music you need to listen to right now, with the right pitch, waveform, amplitude, and speakers positioning, you can literally hack your entire body, mind and emotions and make you alter your day and to help energizing yourself to help fulfilling certain tasks during your day, at a much deeper level, music and sounds can even be used for healing if you push the right buttons, it has the power to even alter physics and chemistry on an atomic level. But when Music is your only savior when your life is empty, you make a slave out of yourself, maybe it's time to discover some other activities.

Nop, because when you masturbate, you will become full of yourself

At first it may look to you so sad how people are deluded, especially when you look at people at war, poverty and how the people around you are angry, serious, silly or suffering from different life aspects, in time your tears will turn into peaceful laughs, not because you are mean, but because you realized it's all a joke, you laugh with a great sense of love and compassion.

@step1 Yep, all animals has a very small mind capability, but animals are not capable yet of saying (I AM) in their heads or making a mental self-image out of themselves, EGO is a man-made term that we usually use to describe the human self mental image, Although I mentioned in another post above that some animals such like cats, dogs, monkeys, dolphins, are developing a small ego. probably being domesticated and living with humans for thousands of years, It's likely to see a bored cat or a dog that needs an external attention and entertainment, but it's unlikely to see a bored wild animal in the jungle that needs an egoic entertainment.

+ Although due to my personal observation, some animals developed imaginative capability, but it's too simple yet to become an ego, such like Cats, Dogs, Dolphins, and Monkeys.

Simply animals do not have an ego, they don't have thoughts or imaginative capabilities. they are made of simple sensory systems and emotions that react to its surrounding compulsively without so many complex stories and mind exaggerations. That's why animals are beautiful

Many enlightenment paths call to essentially stop playing and just become dull, they are the easiest and the quickest enlightenment paths I ever seem personally, forget your name and your life, be nothing and do nothing and die before your die, these radical paths worked for so many people, but I noticed most of these people are either retired, too old, simple or with temporal disease, these paths are nice to explore to get the strongest taste about enlightenment, but I personally found it difficult to apply in our modern, capitalist life. You are obviously an ambitious guy, I don't think you are interested in becoming dull You as human have a powerful mind, unique talents and capabilities comparing to all other creatures at least on this planet, I believe that we are not here to just eat and reproduce. Enlightenment + Ambitions can turn your life into a fun game to play, ambitious enlightened people are the ones who are making the revolutionary jumps in the human evolution on this planet, you just need to work on your alignments and find the right balance between your ambitions and the spiritual path.

Now with most productivity threats are mentioned, I would like to add these: Eating more than needed. Not Eating healthy. Bad Furniture placement in your home. Keeping home dirty and unorganized. Bad sleep and uncomfortable Bed. Storing so much unnecessary objects at home. Online Video Games. Dealing with unnecessary people/friends in your life. Not caring about personal care and health. Full refrigerator. Computer: leaving so many tabs and windows opened. Having unnecessary Apps in your smartphone. Spending too much time at Actualized.org forums. (Opss! )

It's a beautiful book to start with, if you want to explore Eckhart Tolle further check out his other book (A New Earth) which digs around wider aspects in the subject.

It's completely natural for art students to feel confused between different major when they enter college, it's the very nature of the creative human that they want to try and experience many things, especially that creative people are emotionally sensitive, their passion is easily driven by admiriing different forms of arts, each one ignites a new passion, they see someone drawing, they want to become artists, they go to a big concert, they want to become musicians, the go to a mind blowing movie, they want to become directors.. etc I agree with the guy from the experience, I'm okay to admit that life purpose is an ongoing journey, you never stop and say that's it. I changed my entire career 3 times and I am preparing for a fourth change, and I can see a fifth and a sixth during the next 15-20 years, it's never because I was bad at these jobs, but because I felt that I mastered them enough that I learned everything I wanted to learn, and I want to experience something different next, I'm doing fine because I show devotion in my works in all different Jobs, and if ever your new career didn't work, as a fail safe key, just roll back to your previous job. whatever is learned, cannot be unlearned. What I did that I have set to my life a very big general (non-technical) purpose, example: I love to make people happy and more conscious, then I will use whatever talents and tools available to me at this moment to deliver my passion, whether it's a song, a movie, and art, a play.. etc I like to think that passion is the push to plan any creative project (pre-production), but as you go through production, production may sound like a donkey job for creative artists, but commitment is needed to finish it, otherwise all our efforts will go to waste, it's okay that once every while to have a new career or passion and to need to commit to finish it. I deem finishing a project as half the victory whether it failed or succeded. I'm aware that talking is easier than doing, but I'm living that way, and I'm doing fine, surviving happily so far.

Without a doubt, the internet is full of wannabe yoga crap, I'm looking for reliable Yoga resources by teachers who know what they are doing in different yoga types, but I also want to focus on the inner exploration and advanced spiritual aspects which somehow been neglected by the online community. If you can suggest both free or paid programs, it's okay, I would like to see what are our best options with and without the financial limitations. Any leads? Thanks,

I think It's okay to ask questions until you get the big picture intellectually, that's one of the main purpose of the mind, it's to gather information, dream and visualize something, then work to make dreams true, as a seeker, enlightenment can start for you as a dream to work on, make enlightenment the last life lesson you want to learn in your life, and after you know the principles, start working in make it an experience, as you are making it an experience you will need to solve lots of problems in your life, including social problems, health problems, sealing unfinished business with people, find the suitable job that keeps you calm, and minimize your list of obligation as possible, becoming honest and mindful, as you go through these actions, in time your ego will naturally dissolve and you will become relaxed and happy as a natural state, you will start to see the light coming gradually, keep moving forward in the path, You will know what to do when you reach there yourself, after that forget everything you learned about enlightenment, keep it as your personal secret, forget this term and no need to utter this ugly word again, and just live blissfully and make your magic in the world

I stopped watching TV long long time ago since probably 2002-2003, simply because I didn't have a TV! but I replaced it with other habits, I spent so much time playing video games, watch DVD's and online videos. Now this is not necessarily better, but at least I broke my attachment to TV, and now when I set on a computer I pick exactly what I want to do instead of being a slave who is forced to watch whatever crap they air on TV. Most of the NEWS you don't need it, it's just a compulsive addiction, when we keep watching the news we only torture ourselves over and over, and we are gonna feel useless because you have no control over what is happening in the world, NEWS are stressful because most of them tends to make you think that the entire world is set on fire, is this the reality? I'm not saying to not become compassionate about bad news, but be aware that bad news are happening not just in the countries mentioned in the NEWS, terrible things are happening everywhere, and guess what, Good news too! but how often do they talk about good news in TV? See how ugly the business is? these dirty capitalists are aware that humans are compulsively addicted to bad news.. bad news makes people panic, but nobody is interested in hearing Good news. scared people makes good slaves. Thankfully the internet raised my awareness in many levels because I'm a little conciouss in the way I'm browsing it, I'm aware of political propagandas and brainwash, and I'm aware how people are blindly attached to ridiculous TV shows that doesn't have any value in their lives. Now in time I still watch some movies and TV shows, and video games, but my view is much different, I have less egoic attachment to these things, I watch things because I want to enjoy its art and music in a mindful manner, not because some character is cool or someone is sexy and etc.

I would like to share what we know about food, ingredients, recipes, and diet systems that can enhance meditation yoga and spiritual receptivity. Please let's not cling to promote illegal drugs here, I care about natural legal ways that's possible to everybody and everywhere. Any thoughts?

Sorry I didn't read your question carefully, 100% my negligence. However, I wasn't speaking about you in specific, I generalized to the average readers by using the term (You), sorry If this is not the best way to talk about it, I'm still an unsocial beginner who's exploring the effect of words The Word "Nothing" in Leo's terms was meant for the Ego, the self-image, the ego is simply your name and all the non-physical mental concepts associated with your name, but the body is physically still there, the body is real at least to our current level of perception. you need to develop love and compassion towards your body and identity the same way you love other people and human beings and living creatures around you.. so doing what your body needs is NOT selfish, as long as it's coming from a higher consciousness, it is basic survival but enlightened people are surviving consciously. you will need to survive the same way the people you care about needs it. Leo is showing the extreme of self destruction, but if you entirely kill your ego, you will die! you simply cannot, but you can work on yourself to stop identifying yourself using the mind, and your can work in your life to make it simple by minimizing your obligations, treating your personal problems and unfinished business, and be honest, kind and loving.. and when your ego shrink to the minimal survival needs, you will gradually see the light ;). Regarding taking care of the body, I just commented about this in another thread regarding if Enlightened people has survival instincts, I will copy/paste: "Enlightened people do have thoughts and emotions such like anybody, they are driving a human body's as well, don't forget that :), a human body has needs, emotional needs, sexual needs, survival needs.. etc, such like everybody else. they often develop further sensitivity in emotions and perception and probably more thoughts than normal people, especially curious thoughts regarding life and what's beyond, but the thing is, they don't let the mind and emotion control their bodies. thoughts and emotions come and go, they are visitors, they feel it, they enjoy it, they examine it, if they sense something unpleasant they take it as a sign that a conscious action is needed, they do not fall into a slave reaction, they do what's needed to be done without the enslavement of body, ego and emotion. Enlightened beings care about their survival out of Love and compassion towards their egos and their bodies, the same way they love everybody, and the same way they love life and everything around them." Best,

Enlightenment is an ugly word to utter, and it is an ugly question to ask somebody, unfortunately, spiritual teachers needed to give it a name to make it easy for their students to learn, unfortunately, this word became so popular and it sneaked outside of the teaching rooms, many phoney people will misuse this word to egoistically show how superior they are to other people around them. I don't think It's anybody's business to think who's enlightened and who's not, this is an inner experience that you will not understand until you go through. Enlightened people will not come and tell you they are enlightened, and if you ask them they will probably deny this accusation even if they know it deep in their hearts, they are probably less interested in enlightenment than you do. Now do you want to know who's enlightened around you so you can benefit your awakening someday when you are willing? you must keep your mouth shut at first, keep what you know about them for yourself, and look at your friends, acquaintances or celebrities that happened to exist in your life, look at these few people who are different, mostly they are people who don't need so much people and bullshit around them to feel complete, they feel so intelligent even if they don't speak often, they appear to you wiser and deeper than you can understand, they are so honest, and mostly happy and blissful, their presence around you feels nice and good even if they don't know you well and even if they don't give a damn about entertaining you, they are so wise that they are gonna shake your existence with their words, arts, novels, speeches, movies, music, scientific discoveries, and all their actions, they will appeal to you in some manner even if they say everything that goes against everything you ever learned and believed and afraid to hear. they speak beyond the boundaries of religion, culture, Race, patriotism, Age, Family, and social standards, their actions makes sense to you but your ego is so afraid to admit it. These people can be as funny as Jim Carry and as calm as Echart Tolle. If you are meant to chase enlightenment during your life, you are so lucky to have just one of these people in your life, regardless of how badly these people can make your ego feel, something deep in you is still curious to know more about them and what they know, and it will feel so so so wrong if you ever think about harming them or disrespecting them.

I would like to add, when you are enlightened, you will have a wonderful ability in seeing things and make your matches using intelligence and common sense beyond the logical mind's limitations, when you see all your puzzles amazingly fall into a place, even if you don't have all the puzzle pieces yet, you will be able to see the big picture, and you will be able to spot these beliefs that don't fit the big picture, false beliefs will fall by themselves, you will say AHAAA with a great relief .

@Ella90 @Dhana Choko Thanks , I will check these out

Enlightened people do have thoughts and emotions such like anybody, they are driving a human body's as well, don't forget that :), a human body has needs, emotional needs, sexual needs, survival needs.. etc, such like everybody else. they often develop further sensitivity in emotions and perception and probably more thoughts than normal people, especially curious thoughts regarding life and what's beyond, but the thing is, they don't let the mind and emotion control their bodies. thoughts and emotions come and go, they are visitors, they feel it, they enjoy it, they examine it, if they sense something unpleasant they take it as a sign that a conscious action is needed, they do not fall into a slave reaction, they do what's needed to be done without the enslavement of body, ego and emotion. Enlightened beings care about their survival out of Love and compassion towards their egos and their bodies, the same way they love everybody, and the same way they love life and everything around them. Hope this helps

@David1 True and I am aware of that, politics and capitalism are playing the biggest role in banning Psychedelics, But does it do harm in a way or another? if not chemically or because of overdosing, there is still a great chance to cause physical harm, or extreme panics because of bad trips at least between stupid, compulsive and un-experienced people. I'm not saying no to Psychedelics, it's up to you if you know what you are doing, many people just don't. it's a personal responsibility in the time being, you cannot generalize it.. at least at this moment of our evolution on this planet, We are not ready yet for this move, If I was ruling a country I would work on raising the consciousness and the educational systems first for several generations, before I ever discuss legalizing drugs.

Within my own experiance you cannot stop the mind from thinking as long as your awareness is pointed there.Think of awareness like a mouse cursor, but our problem that by default it's snapped hard at the mind because we are so attached and identified with the mind, if your awareness moves to somewhere on the skin, an illusion will happen that area will start itching even if there is no physical change happening in that area in your skin. you can move your awareness to any aspect in your body and in different scales and advanced deeper dimensions. Awareness can be trained through meditation and being present to the moment. That's why for mediators it's recommended to focus your awareness on your breath, and how your lungs move when you breath, some like to focus their awareness on a candle fire, a view, an object or constant beats or frequencies, it's up to you to find your favorite method, that's one way to train yourself to become mindful.

Beliefs are there to give you a motive to investigate, but never to be taken seriously. During my journey, in a way my beliefs are taking the form of personal theories and powerful future expectations that feel's like common sense to me due to gathering so much data in my life, but I am not going to bet on anything, I'm not even willing to bet that earth is round even if we know this by heart, and I always remind myself what I know I know, what I don't know I don't know and sometimes what we don't know is worth looking for, it's a matter of how ambitious you are, as long as we don't know something we leave it open to change as we go through our life experience. blind belief will only bring ignorance and it will block the learning process, no matter what your belief is and who documented it.

Depending on the music, most of the music has emotional progressions, they are fun and they can help you to become energetically motivated and stimulate any emotional state depending on the music mood, when you listen to emotional music carefully you are already being meditative but not necessarily spiritual. because emotional music has lots ups and downs and it will stimulate the visual imagination which will distract the essence of spiritual meditation. but it's up to you how do you feel best, regarding a spiritual meditation, I personally would recommend it with silence, or steady white noise or brown noise, or repetitive beats or mantra, or ambient one mood music that has no surprises and ups and downs.

I have always been rational by my nature, but as I go through spirituality, I'm cleaning my mind from all biassed and bullshit, and as my mind is becoming more empty from judgements and expectations, I'm surprisingly starting to spot interesting synchronicity in my life, and it's crazy how accurate, I still don't understand them and I never tried to reason about them or think if they ever mean anything.

Leo said it, I would like to add as you mentioned that you grew up in a Muslim family, from the experience I can comment about this because I came from a Muslim background as well, although I was skeptical since early childhood and dropped religions long time ago, but later on after my spiritual discoveries, I opened my mind to investigate the essence of Islam, and I found so many matches hidden between the lines, accompanied with lots of horrible distortions, unnecessary stories, wars and political events, fear and violence and egoic threats. Most of the official story of Muhammad and the Quran has been dramatically distorted ,and probably lost for good, for so many reasons including political reasons and cultural differences and mistranslations, most of Muslims these days are brainwashed to never admit this fact, mostly because they are afraid of both the legal and the divine punishment that is mentioned in the distorted current common terms in Islam regarding questioning the religion, and I think that's the main reason why mainstream Muslims are difficult to open their minds to hear about other ideologies. There are so many enlightened/conscious Muslims who are aware about the distortions, but they prefer to keep their mouths shut for their security and to avoid social troubles. If you are interested in enlightenment but Islam is still valuable to you (and I completely understand), try to re-imagine Islam by re-defining the Islamic terminologies into New-age spiritual terminologies and surprisingly many things will awesomely fall into place, this will blow your mind. I can provide examples of this if you ask further. For me I'm not bothering to investigate Islam any further, The dusty book is full of distortions, biases, and mental pollution so I'm not interested to spend my entire life re-studying or to try to fix it to myself or other people who are not willing to listen, I'm more interested in the modern spiritual movements. I guarantee the essence is one.. but less unnecessary stories and distortions, past is past, and we are in the modern world now, our conditions, needs, values and lifestyle are now much much different than how it was 2000/1400 years ago in the wild harsh deserts of the Middle East, not to mention when you are in the spiritual path you will understand Islam better than ever and you will be 100% capable of figuring the level of distortion happened throughout history yourself.. with a wide blissful smile in your face