Osaid

fasting, and eating things that aren't sugar

Well, ofc there is gonna be stress when the thing you look to comfort for in the morning is taken away from you. I think there would be similar findings if you took away someone's coffee for a week or so, or anything else they like eating or doing. And yes, food does have a significant impact on mental health. Simply eating can reduce cortisol and instantly make you feel less depressed. But, there is also such a thing as overeating. I think it is possible to adapt to a routine where you don't have food in the morning, but of course you will have stress and withdrawal symptoms before you get there.

I noticed that too, was wondering where the crowd was coming from

troll?

omg I was about to say, but then I thought nah I must be remembering wrong. I'm pretty sure its from your video called "What is Intelligence?"

Big picture thinking is less limited than small picture thinking, because it includes more of reality. If your thinking is not holistic, then as a result, your understanding is not holistic. Consequently, you end up with a more myopic view of reality and what is actually happening in reality, and this will translate into the things you do. For example, you could take a painkiller to combat your headache, but that by itself is a very myopic solution because it ignores what is actually causing the headaches. All it does is suppress the symptoms of the cause. This leaves you endlessly experiencing headaches and buying painkillers. A more holistic approach would be to find out what is actually causing the headache and removing it directly. This removes the headaches and also the need for painkillers. You can go even further and ask yourself: What sort of side effects do these painkillers actually have? What do these painkillers actually do to my body, at a more scientific level? and etc. There's so many examples of situations like the one above you can find in every day life, just gotta start being more cognizant of it.

More specifically, I would recommend watching Leo's videos about survival/ego. They go very deep and are related to your questions.

I don't see it, maybe clear your cache or change browsers

I'll have certain songs which aren't as good that I listen to in the mean time lol

Sometimes when I find songs that are really beautiful, I will purposefully abstain from them out of fear that I get desensitized to them. I only listen to them very sparingly. I think its reasonable to believe a music detox could work as a dopamine detox and potentially help with focus. I think it is something you can get addicted to, just like watching TV.

Well, to answer your title bluntly, I would say they are the same thing. I think what he is trying to do with this specific analogy is separate you from the idea that you are just the body, by making you realize that there is "something else" which is aware of the body. This line of thinking exposes the fallacious nature of dualistic thinking, but at the same time, it tackles the problem from a dualistic paradigm, and so the analogy itself is ultimately dualistic. This is similar to when you meditate and you realize that you are not your thoughts, but rather the observer of thoughts. Although this analogy does not explicitly address the fact that the observer and perceived are one, it does help to point you in realizing that the things you identify with aren't actually you, by virtue of the fact that there is always "something else" that seems being aware of that object. Basically, he is trying to point you towards the fact that whatever finite object you try to identify with, there always seems to be something else that is being aware of that finite object, and so it makes no sense to identify with some finite object as an identity. It is a good starting point for deconstructing your identity, although flawed in the sense that it is dualistic. If you go even deeper, you realize that the finite object is actually aware of itself.

You can realize that your everyday life is truly spiritual, which is what people are telling you here, but I'm assuming you're looking for something that will seem truly spiritual even from a paradigm which is not adjusted to spirituality. IME, experiencing a synchronicity is very good for this, although I'm not sure how you will be able to consciously conjure one up, just keep an eye out for them.

Welcome to the forum. From Google: Self-actualization is the complete realization of one's potential, and the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life. This concept is at the top of the Maslow hierarchy of needs, so not every human being reaches it. Here is another definition from Wikipedia: Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. I personally haven't read the book so I can't help you there, but it seems to be related. It is useful in quieting the mind and realizing your true nature. Being "more conscious" simply means to be more accurate in your perception of reality, and meditation and yoga can certainly help with that. I think you will find that self-improvement and spirituality can overlap sometimes, if not, at all times. It is good to be practical and get basic needs met, and I don't think it is contradictory to spirituality. Although, at the higher level, there are spiritual practices which are not very helpful with the more down-to-earth survival things, such as accumulating money, gaining popularity, etc. For example, I generally wouldn't say meditating on a mountain somewhere is good for financial safety (although it potentially could be), but it is useful for realizing your true nature. So, it's important to get basic needs met first, for sure. As to the specific conundrum of eating meat or not eating meat, I don't really have an answer for you on what the correct thing to do is, it is a very nuanced topic. Maybe, I'm personally not aware of any such thing existing. Maybe look into the Akashic Records, I heard it is related. There is a Youtube channel related to the forum called Actualized.org, I highly recommend you watch the videos, starting from the older ones and working your way up to the new ones. The newer ones can be confusing and hard to understand for people who are just starting out. I personally think this one is a good foundational video, along with many others you can probably find. There is also an Actualized Clips channel with shorter clips taken from the long videos, if you happen to be low on time, although they are not as thorough because they are shorter. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFc8wPBHyLl_cJphb6hDSIw Anyways, good luck, I hope this post helps you

What should I be focusing on right now?

Digesting food takes a significant amount of energy and will invoke various digestive processes, so eating close to sleep time will lower sleep quality. Diurnal animals usually don't, but nocturnal animals do. Humans are diurnal.

That's sounds great, hopefully something similar happens with my current friend group lol

How is it that the now is making you think there is a past which occurred? Because you remember things? Remembering also occurs within the now.

lol facts

Yeah it is very tough to see past pain, it is a very confusing sensation to me. Like, how can a sensation be inherently painful? or good? It certainly feels that way, I haven't had good luck transcending it.

Yes, true, although I wouldn't say philosophy is not spirituality, it's more like a subset of spirituality. It's a part of spirituality, but not the whole thing.

@Vagos No problem

Yeah, the name PSSD is a bit of a misnomer in that sense, because it is not purely a sexual matter. Anhedonia and emotional problems are reported symptoms. Maybe yours is more mild if you don't have reduced sexual function. This is from https://www.pssd-uk.org/what-is-pssd: The Term ‘PSSD’ is misleading, as symptoms experienced by sufferers are not limited to the aforementioned sexual symptoms. Many people also suffer with: Persistent anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure) emotional blunting sleep problems akathisia (a movement disorder that makes it difficult to sit still) involuntary muscle movements muscle wastage Loss of drive/motivation memory problems and other cognitive problems shrinkage of genitals and testes.

This condition is called PSSD, here are some sources: https://www.mazewomenshealth.com/sexual-health/pssd-post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction/ https://www.pssdcanada.ca/new-page https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/ https://www.pssdcanada.ca/ https://www.pssd-uk.org/what-is-pssd Some Actualized.org threads on the topic: There is a reddit forum on this topic too which may help you: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSSD/ I personally don't have any experience in dealing with this, but I think there are anecdotal methods in speeding up the process which you may be able to find through google searching or looking through the reddit. If you look at the thread by Espaim, it looks like magic mushrooms worked for him. Unfortunately, there is not much conclusive evidence on how to treat it or speed it up, so it's time to experiment and see what works for you.

To me, spirituality is the study/realization of metaphysics. Any sort of personal development that comes from it is just a consequence of learning about how reality works.