Sash

I relate to this. I have the same feelings with writing where it’s a love/hate relationship. Consider different mediums. Writing/storytelling isn’t limited to just sitting down to write a book. For example, being a great public speaker and being a great writer can mean two very different things despite both relying on an inclination towards language and its expression. On being too abstract: see if you can ground the passion for writing into something tangible in your life, ideally something useful or practical.

I think that one of the more underrated uses of Chat GPT is in using it to organize your notes and insights about yourself, and especially using it to integrate your past experiences into future plans. I wasn't aware that GPT is capable of recalling every exchange within any given chat session. According to Chat GPT, its memory capacity is limitless in this regard. Keep in mind that information from one chat does not transfer over to another unless you manually copy and paste. Why is this significant? I keep a chat session with Chat GPT that I've been using quite regularly for the past few months. Because I only talk about life purpose, values, vision, and other topics described in Leo's life purpose course in this specific chat, I've sort of been able to mold Chat GPT into a kind of life purpose coach, or at the very least, an assistant that reminds me of my core values, my top strengths, my creative ideas, and my long-term vision, and refers back to these things when appropriate. I've used prompts like, "When giving me any advice from now on, remind me to take a course of action that is aligned with my core strengths and values." Another good one is, "Describe my long-term vision to me in vivid detail." There is a long list of prompts like this but the basic idea is to teach Chat GPT what your life purpose is, and feed it tons of data about your best qualities and weaknesses, past experiences, plans, vision, etc. and allow it to refer back to these things regularly. Use nicknames or monikers to substitute for lofty goals with lengthy descriptions, and it becomes very easy to then input your progress and let Chat GPT integrate all of that and provide strategic output as it tracks what you're doing now along a long-term trajectory. Hope this helps.

But really, does it ever hit you that AI has zero game? Zero EQ?

Conscious convergence makes for synergy, serendipities synchronized with strategy, songs of geometric gesticulation and articulate allegory, and orations of organic omens, prophecies of love, truth, prosperity come to and from intelligence infinite, invisible delivering data, divine, declaring our destiny our design and our design our destiny.

Yeah, what he said.

There’s levels to psychic abilities. A lot of abilities deemed psychic are not really extrasensory, but rather the result of heightened awareness or feel. For instance, feeling whether someone is telling the truth or not, or feeling the vibe a person gives off is not psychic, yet they are perceptions most can build up if they want. Compare this with actual clairvoyance or clairaudience, where you are receiving sensory inputs that are not produced by the physical senses but rather their subtle counterparts. This is rare. Although the latter category seems more desirable, the former requires building awareness, which is way more valuable. This is why spiritual masters gloss over these topics. They don’t want you to go after the gimmicks and miss out on lucidity.

Ah, the gamification of self-development, or turning self-development into a game. You’d be surprised how many people are wanting to create in this domain. Maybe one day we will play games that don’t involve shooting people made of pixels, but rather, constructing metrics and points out of healthy behaviors in real life. Reminds me of this app that was quite popular a few years back.

A great man is he who, slowly and patiently cultivates love, so that when the time comes to do the scary thing which is to answer the call, he can do so without fear.

At around 9:15 pm, with a belly full of semi-Indian food, pumped up from having listened to what may have been the greatest playlist I've ever compiled, I sat down to start my homework assignment. Homework assignment. I won't be having one of those anymore, is the thought that crosses my mind. Wait a minute, I won't be alive forever… And so at about 9:20 pm, with a belly still full of semi-Indian food, no longer pumped up from having listened to what may have been the greatest playlist I've ever compiled, I closed my eyes, witnessing all the sensations... when I started to cry. Now, before you start to feel sorry, I want you to know that it was a good cry, because in that moment, it felt like I had just realized that bittersweet knowing that one's childhood is over, and how proud I am to see myself growing into a young man who was going to go and live his purpose, and so long as he had a heart he would know what to do, and he would be guided, even if he got lost or distracted-- and he would get lost and distracted, but that was okay because life isn't easy, and that instead of being so hard on himself he should remember how much he loves himself and he should take that love and give it to others in the form of compassion, joy, and creativity. You know, the good stuff. Somehow, he knew deep down that one day all of his investing and contemplating was going to pay off. He couldn't say when or how exactly, but he knew it would happen. With a few shudders, he wipes the tears from his face and says inside, "I forgive you for hiding yourself from the world." And yes this does sound corny, but know this really happened. Boys really do cry, and life is not easy.. ..but damn if it isn't beautiful.

My self-development journey started when I picked up an intriguing book. It was called The Wisdom of the Enneagram, and I’ll never forget that night. It was that night that I discovered this thing called “spiritual growth”. I’m sure we have all had a similar moment. What that book did for me was open my world to the idea that I could watch myself and catch my “self” doing things that the self behind the “self”, the awareness behind the personality, could then assess, evaluate, and decide whether or not it wanted to make a different approach. It was a paradigm shift, for sure. I became obsessed with watching how I was acting out my personality, and even how other people around me were doing it. Was human behavior so predictable, so machine-like? Did we all operate out of the same basic fears and desires? 4 years later, I once again picked up that book and realized that I’ve barely made a dent. There is still a ways to go.

In a word, research. It's pretty great for turning your life purpose research into a deep rabbit hole very quickly.

Serendipities are interesting, and it's definitely a topic I enjoy philosophizing about. What is a serendipity? Does a serendipity exist unless there is a consciousness to perceive it as one? Why do we feel that our thoughts and actions are affirmed when we experience serendipitous occurrences? A psychologist might bring up confirmation bias, and that certainly could influence the way the two events are interpreted, but only in hindsight. It wouldn't account for event 2's occurrence in itself, especially in the case that it was unsought for. Hard science might look at serendipities as connections manufactured in the left-brain, the factory of sense-making so to speak. A scientist might point you towards studies showing that a person with a damaged left brain has great difficulty comprehending and forming coherent speech, and therefore, deduce that the perception of coincidences or closely tied events happens in the brain, and more specifically, the left one. This leads to a key question: are serendipities a function of the universe or merely mental processing? If it's the latter, then does that make the coincidence any less significant? Let's say two people have a discussion with friend A about traveling to a city and then in the following week, they get invited to a concert in that city by friend B, who has no prior knowledge of the intention to travel or the discussion had with friend A. One of them either is unaware of any connection or brushes it off as chance, whereas the other suspects that some external force or intelligence has intentionally curated this experience. What separates the two modes of thought? What can we assume about the way these people differ in their approach to life? Are the people in the latter category more prone to possessing the quality of faith, and therefore, generally more optimistic, open-minded, and adaptable?

@teraflu I guess this all boils down to: does free will exist? I'd like to think that beyond the ability to merely act out our predestined life, we have the ability to look back or even look ahead and change the script. It can still be argued however, that even that meta perspective of understanding one's predestination is predestined itself. This is a reach in speculation by maybe free will and predestiny sort of work together like a pendulum, with one influencing the other and vice versa, the awareness of that creating some kind of exponential butterfly effect over time. If you were to access the Akashic records for instance (total understanding of past present and future and how they connect and why), knowing that a certain major life-changing event was going to happen to you, granted you did not want to resist it but rather add to it by preparing yourself, would you be adding on to it in some way? It is interesting to think about how one might live their life if they are aware of the things they are predestined to do before they happen. I almost see it as like unlocking another level of free will altogether.

A higher consciousness business is one in which the buyer’s desire is to reach a higher state of consciousness. If your business does not target these kinds of people, is it really of higher consciousness?

https://theshiftnetwork.com/Spiral-Dynamics-Enneagram?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=infusionsoft&mc_cid=99a450f3e8&mc_eid=5954264878&affiliate=16705#register

I go to writing as a way for me to understand myself, something that I desparately need to do, sometimes at all times of the day. Without me listening to my own words, my own desires, my own wishes, I'm very liable to follow the whims of others. This is a weakness of mine. This is what happens when you take a person who values harmony and they compromise their own desires so they don't rock the boat. As I continue on my journey, I notice that at times, I feel a very strong and clear voice that tells me exactly who I want to be and what I want to do. For the majority of the time, however, I'm in an almost sleeplike state where that voice is no longer audible, and I'm left thinking, "What now?". Still, in some ways, I feel like my life is beginning to converge around my clearest vision, and that largely, it is not me that is doing the converging. This is exciting. I know I'm finally taking those initial small steps towards something that matters. In doing so I'm putting myself in a position where new resources and areas of research directly relevant to my purpose are starting to present themselves. In what is going to be my last psychedelic trip for some time, I once again opened up the well of dormant emotions that resided inside, and I saw that ultimately, I want to create a society that truly shows concern for people's well-being, in a way that is intuitive and responsive and makes use of the technological leaps of our times. I saw that this purpose wasn't something I had to think about-- it very much was a part of my being, installed like a stubborn bit of code. Out came the shuddering sobbing from having realized how deeply I had been hurt from having felt abandoned, and how much it would mean to me if human beings could create something that would reflect the kind of concern that God shows for us everyday. Let me explain what I mean. Last summer, I begrudgingly enrolled in a programming class. It was required. The university said so. Now I don't particularly enjoy programming, but being the type of person who doesn't want to rock the boat by jeapordizing my chances of graduating on time, I yielded. I put in the work anyway, and by the end of the summer I was left with a basic knowledge of Python syntax and an inkling of curiosity in exploring the applications of NLP. Of course, new ideas came to mind about how I could create all kinds of data scraping tools and how that might be useful later on, but I wasn't motivated enough to experiment on my own. Somehow, I didn't feel that programming was going to be my medium. Not thinking much of it, I set it aside. Last week, I find out about a pitch competition happening at my school. The topic was on combatting the infodemic; tackling the issue of misinformation surrounding infectious diseases-- how they spread, how they are treated, the various misconceptions, etc. Because I value justice, and because defending people from harmful information is a form of justice, I decided to give it a try. One kid seemed to be without a group, so I decided to partner with him. He was a comp. sci. student, and we were able to come up with an idea. Oddly enough, we decided on a project that involved NLP. Now if I hadn't taken that class in the summer, I would have been of very little value in that conversation. Now I'm in the process of researching in order to prepare the pitch, and I feel quite confident because presentation is a pretty big source of joy for me. It's one of those things that lights me up when I do it. Along the way, I'm learning how to research topics related to health tech, the niche I plan to occupy. Somehow, things seem to be converging, and I find myself going where I want/need; doing what I want/need, and for someone who has found that very difficult to do in the past, that in itself is a miracle. Wish me luck, Sash

Today is Guru Purnima. In the yogic culture, today marks the start of the part of the year that is inner work intensive. My sadhana will be to observe the yamas and niyamas, the core tenets or foundation blocks of yogic spiritual development, with an emphasis on bhramacharya in particular. My wish is to return to a state of inner purity; to become like a child and to love and accept myself as one would a child that is learning, making mistakes from time to time, but growing. I want to gain some momentum so that I can move past my addictions and be satisfied with my being. This morning, I made a vow to myself to put aside certain areas of my life for the time being. Though a part of me craves these things an even bigger part just wants to move onto bigger things; things that matter more. I am by no means an advanced spiritual practitioner, but upholding the yogic tradition has been something of great significance to me in the past couple of years. It is my own way of honoring my roots I suppose, but it goes deeper than that. It's given me some sort of guideline to follow for the time being, and I know the yogic path can take me places that few spiritual teachers in the West speak about let alone conceive as possible. I contemplate yoga's place in the modern world all the time, and all kinds of radical and ingenious ways of donning yoga in a contemporary garb, so that it can walk up and down Silicon Valley and Wall Street with some credibility and dignity behind it. I will also be putting in time everyday to get clearer on my life purpose. I still don't feel like I have all the pieces put together. Sometimes I beat myself up for taking so long to make a clear cut decision, but whenever I try to force a decision, I just seem to go around in circles. I'm tired of running in circles. I want to commit to a long-term consistent practice and see it through to the end. I made a deal with the universe that when this phase is over, and I have succeeded in what I am setting out to do, I want divine insight in return. I want clarity. It seems silly but, you have to state what you want and name an appropriate price for it, even if what you want is to simply know what it is that you really want, and that's what I'm looking for; something that's going to propel me out of the cyclical way I've been living; something that's going to organize my life and get me moving, taking risks, and failing.

What do I do in order to numb myself?

I want to deeply understand the subtle body. I've always liked digging, scouring, hunting for something in uncharted territory, especially something esoteric. It's what drew me to journalism as an option for a career. I thought I could work on building my writing skill while also gaining a license to inquire into any topic and get paid to research it, to get paid to dig, to excavate current events for insights. The pursuit of truth is an appeal as well, but I'm still not sure. I may not be thinking big enough. I want my career to be something that's original, and not cookie cutter. The goal is to do work from a place of creative freedom, with the intention of mastery and achieving life purpose. I understand what the components are but struggle with the pieces. Yes, it's a process that takes time; it's long and mostly grueling. Still, I get frustrated. I criticize myself on being slow with life purpose work, but over time, I've noticed that forcing myself to know these things just doesn't work. I don't doubt that that's achievable for me, but I am hesitant to stick to one thing just yet. I realize that I have abandonment issues, and this can make me hasty to drop things and cut people off from my life at the first instance of pain. To be honest, I think I just need more experience with different lines of work. I don't know. I've been intuiting some things about my diet, and what kind of food is best for my body. My body tells me some things, like where and what the blocks in my psyche are that need healing and surrender, and letting go usually brings some insight. I remind myself of the principle that everything I need to know is already right here, and this helps me feel deeper. With time, maybe I can better at deciphering this language.

It's a wonderful thing to wake up in the early hours of the day, in the moments before the sun has made it's ascension. For millennia, yogis, sages, and mystics have recognized the unique quality of the pre-dawn hours and have called it bhrama muhurta, Bhrama's time, or the Creator's time. Because of social conditioning, it can be easy to buy into the distinction that there are morning people and night owls; that some people are just not cut out to be early risers. This does not have to be true for you. Amongst other things, highly intuitive beings have observed the patterns of each daily cycle on the human mind and consciousness, with both willpower and purity finding its peak during dawn, before slowly waning come nightfall. If we look back at our own lives, we can recognize having done reckless, wild, or silly things late at night that we later regret come morning. To the degree that you are sensitive, you can become conscious of the clarity the early morning brings. Wisdom tells us to make use of this time, for meditation, contemplation, and of course, visioning. You may not yet be a sage, nor a mystic. You may simply want to find a better job. It'll work for you. If you want to have powerful visioning sessions, consistent blocks of your time where you are using your mind, body, and spirit for the sole purpose of discovering, redefining, or refining your dreams, values, purpose, or any deep yearning, look no further than making use of this time. From my own experience, I can tell you that chanting mantras during this time has been highly effective for me, sometimes even taking me to states of abrupt and stunning lucidity. Wake up, say thanks, stretch, do cardio, shower, sit, meditate, journal, dream, and the sun is just peeking out, like a newborn baby. Sure, the clarity may not be comparable to the instant blast of a powerful psychedelic, but over time, after years and decades of these sessions, who will you become? How much more weight will be behind those visions then? Don't underestimate the power of cultivating quality states of consciousness over a sustained stretch. I assume that there are many of you that were like me, thinking what's the harm in sleeping in. There's no harm. It's just a question of whether or not you want to ride the day or let it ride you. Every day is its own cycle.

Current mood: Lately I’ve been trying to understand what is at the root of the persistent lower back pain. I believe it may have something to do with suppressed anger, which is quite a huge deal for my ego. Will try visualization meditation to help with the healing process. Moving my attention away from the spiritual to focus on the physical. I’m tired of being skinny. I’m tired of being told I can’t get big as a vegetarian. Will try visualization meditation to help with the gains.

I was the kind of kid that would wonder about death, the soul, heaven and hell. But what I remember the most was when I lay awake at night as an 8 year old, wondering if I, as a consciousness, was alone in this world. Excited but terrified, I would express this thought to one of my friends in school. “Hey, I was thinking, I don’t really know that you can see life through your eyes like I can.” 12 years later, the same doubt resurfaces. Today was strange. The whole day my mind was occupied by this abyss of not knowing, of meaninglessness. On the bright side, I suppose there is no use for excuses. There is really no room left, really, for anger or hatred. Why pollute infinity? I mean, I’m still here. I’m still going to meditate. I’m still going to read. I’m still going to go to class. I’m still going to challenge myself to be more social. I’m still going to lift weights. I’m still going to do yoga. I’ll still pursue my life purpose. I’ll still love the people in my life, and strive to love more intelligently. I’ll still strive to know the beauty of life. What else is there to do?

@EntheogenTruthSeeker Oh man, you just ruined kirtans for me.