Terell Kirby

how do you know shiva isn't some made up construct you're imagining? Be careful to check if your ideas of self / shiva are your own, or if they have been adopted by some external source. This is the real work

In my experience- state is only as important insofar to the level and degree in which it enables understanding. A state of kangaroo Consciousness is probably pretty cool to explore, but even better if it gets one closer to Pure Understanding. Same goes for all other states. After all, what’s a state of Enlightenment worth without pure understanding that comes along with it? Not much in the end .. just more played out spiritual ideas and platitudes

I asked God where I was and he replied: Nowhere

Only way to be God is to be Yourself! whatever that is for you

But Isn’t it obvious that academic philosophy is not in the business of guiding people to become directly conscious of what’s true in their experience of reality? I guess not. Academics are fluffed up through their sophistication, what is true for most intellectuals is what is polished and sophisticated-language and thought. An adherence to the traditions of academic thinking and speech. Yet that itself will not guide them to becoming directly conscious of what is true. You may have better luck discovering truth by staring at a rock for a few hours over listening to an academic.

Or they could just be online trolls, plenty of those to go around

You don’t actually know if this is the case. Same could be said about followers of this work. People parrot shit all the time-it’s difficult for them not to. From what I can tell though, it’s pretty difficult to banned from the forum. This guy was obviously trolling in an aggressive manner so he kind of asked for it.

I approached a cute girl at Trader Joe's yesterday-we talked flirted for well over 20 mins. Scariest shit ever, but it was fun. We'll see if she texts back, but doesn't really matter, the adrenaline from socializing with a pretty girl is sufficient. Helps to take mind off rejection and focus on creating memorable moments with girls youre attracted to-which doesn't require them to see you favorably all the time.

Wait till you discover that eyes themselves are hallucinations of the Mind. The "I" is unbounded, not constrained by anything except its own hallucinations.

This is worthy of a mention in the Guinness World Records !

Yup- this is fundamental to the human condition-and bloody difficult to get past

In my experience- it boils down to *** drum roll** state of consciousness. Others can be real and valid or illusory depending on my state. Real trick is having flexibility of mind to toggle between both . Non ‘other’ states are cool, but can be boring -especially if I’m craving human love (which I haven’t fully transcended). But it’s okay

I'd argue that most opinions of people are a result of cultural indoctrination, conformity and group think. Having an opinion is not the issue, it's how the opinion is derived (most of the time there is not intelligent or independent thinking involved.)

Your mind is constructing what is appearing before you at this very moment. You are sovereign, but it requires you becoming conscious of what your mind is doing. No one is giving advice-I’m sharing my own insights. What matters most is that I understand, what everyone else does is irrelevant

It’s not only that you have a mind … You ARE Mind- Eternally Becoming directly conscious of this is the REAL work. Everything else you are doing is distraction

All you have is your mind. No way around it-no matter how hard you try. The inside-outside distinction you make is illusory and based on concept.

Well a lot of us don’t understand what rationality is and its importance to the individual and collective survival of the human species-not to mention culture at large. Not understanding it causes us to dismiss the value of deconstructing it. Take idea of linear causation-which is a birthed from the rationalist worldview . Deconstructing linear causation changes so many fundamental aspects of how we interpret what’s happening in reality. Subtle but carries heavy implications that takes months-years to integrate (I have direct experience of this). I hope the video spends a great deal of time getting a proper understanding of rationality as a worldview, its relative importance as well as its limits in the realm of spirituality, epistemology and consciousness work. Of course tying it all back to God. Tall task! Looking forward to the next episode.

Realized I’ve been bogged down consuming a lot of spiritual content- mostly thru YouTube but also books. Paradoxically enough, consuming spiritual content, even highest quality, can turn into a limitation. The aim of consciousness work is to grasp who I AM. Grasping this comes along with understanding reality and existence itself, they are one in the same. Consuming spiritual content on media platforms is a deeply human endeavor. It’s odd because I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t do it, but if you’re doing all of that without grasping that YOU ARE the content you’re consuming, then it’s really for nothing. I appreciate Actualized.org- although the teachings are delivered through a human medium, it least it pushes you to really grasp who you are. As followers of the work- it’s important to remind ourselves that grasping the true nature of our Being is more important than worshipping the medium and / or teacher. Can be difficult because many of these teachers are charismatic and it so easy to idealize them and put them on a pedestal. Yet your consciousness means more in the end then their attractiveness of their personality, intelligence or spiritual talents. I’m planning to spend more time in meditation soon, bring myself back to source consciousness

@Leo Gura Not to get too ahead of ourselves- but I can see this three part series being a great segue into a video on insanity .. the opposite of rationality

Thing with 12 steps is that they’re primarily in the business of constructing a sense of self that helps the survival of its members and 12 step program itself (traditions, culture, language, narrative's, etc). There is a kind of identity one has to adopt to get the full benefit of being part of these groups. All of this of course is antithetical to genuine truth seeking and existential inquiry (to the likes of Leo’s / Peter Ralstons work). Ultimately- it’s conformity and group think, but healthy in a sense it can help you develop out of your addiction & codependence-but not much beyond that relative to serious spirituality.

Humor

Good example of a conformist mind. Big no no to question having belief and faith in something for these minds

I asked Claude AI why is it the case that humans take the adherence to social norms so seriously. I thought the response was quite good, pairs great with Leo's video on conformity. ------------------ Response from Claude: Humans take social norms seriously for several deeply intertwined evolutionary, psychological, and social reasons: Survival and cooperation: For most of human history, being excluded from your group meant death. Our ancestors needed to hunt together, share resources, and defend against threats. People who violated norms risked ostracism, which was essentially a death sentence. This created intense evolutionary pressure to care about social rules and to feel anxious about breaking them. The shame and guilt systems: We evolved powerful emotional responses—shame (fear of others' judgment) and guilt (internal moral discomfort)—that activate when we violate or consider violating norms. These feelings are so uncomfortable that they effectively police our behavior from the inside, often without conscious thought. Reputation as currency: In social groups, your reputation determines who will cooperate with you, who will trust you, and who will help you in times of need. Even in modern society with formal institutions, reputation still matters enormously. People monitor norm violations as signals of trustworthiness. Coordination and predictability: Social norms create shared expectations that allow complex coordination. When everyone follows traffic norms, navigation works. When everyone respects property norms, trade becomes possible. Violations introduce chaos and uncertainty that threaten collective benefits. Identity and belonging: Following group norms signals membership and loyalty. Humans have a deep need to belong, and conforming to norms is how we demonstrate that we're "one of us" rather than "one of them." Violating norms can feel like betraying your identity. The intensity makes sense when you consider that for hundreds of thousands of years, your life literally depended on remaining in good standing with your group. Those anxieties are still with us, even when the stakes are now much lower.

All are amazing, but above are my top 3 out of the list

Kudos to you for being honest (inserts crude, sexually charged and somewhat distasteful joke about wiener dogs )**