Terell Kirby

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

Including the idea of a separate self that exists independently outside of NOW. The unfolding of your entire life has been almost exclusively mental, grounded in conceptual knowledge and backstory. God awakens when it sees its work in the unfoldment of reality; it sees itself as a sort of master craftsman through Divine Consciousness and Intelligent. Consider how much you resist this unfolding, and how much suffering is caused by not recognizing that it is all your Minds work. To fall in love with life requires you see the Intelligence of your own Mind- bask in the fact that it’s Eternal.

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

On the heels of the latest Actualized.org video on conforming, I'm now realizing how empowering it feels to say NO. Saying NO to unhealthy things, is saying YES to healthy. This entire year, I've been assessing what has worked for my personal development and growth, and what hasn't (includes people, activities, ways of thinking, etc). It has become all too clear now the ways in which I limit myself and my growth for the sake of being liked and approved of. Saying NO is one powerful, under utilized tool in this work. I hope to get better at it as I age and develop.

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 )**

Women with pets are awesome

Why not just do it yourself? Why even rescue it? Does it even need rescuing? Or do you just have a need to play hero? Just some things to ponder / contemplate

@Someone here is this post some cry for attention? What’s your motive?

@Leo Gura props on Where’s Waldo fit for Halloween- looks good in you

Once you become conscious that life is a dream, you can laugh at people for taking themselves so damn seriously, you’ll also laugh at yourself

Umm no .. that’s not considered game at all. From a Spiral Dynamics lens- Arranged marriages are an example of stage Blue conformity and traditionalism. Game for sex is introduced at Stage Orange

Well I guess you’ll be able to validate if this the case during the retreat

Finding that this is what it all boils down to. Awakening lies in not only being able to verbally answer this, but also having a direct experience of what it is. Absolutely speaking, Existence = ‘X’ what is X to you? No bullshit-what are you actually conscious of?