Someone here

I tend to talk to myself all day long more or less in a narrative way conversing with myself I guess. I'm never really sure what the hell is responding back to me. I've been told I am schizophrenic and I am sure of that to a small extent. Most people will roll their eyes and say sure... But though I cannot prove it I am certain there is something listening to me and occasionally responding. Call me schizophrenic or whatever, I'm indifferent to that. It's gotten to an odd point where it's become an ordeal. I am an anxious person by my own faults. Pretty much based on the topics I choose to look it. Regular shit loses my attention and more complex and frightening topics give me a sense of dread but I tend to go towards them. I think it's because of the absurd and scary nature of many topics. War, god, life, human characteristics and the reasons for this world. Most of them are meaningless. They have no bearing on my life but I tend to be drawn towards that shit out of fascination and pure obsession. I can not really turn my brain off. It's a computer that keep processing shit all day long.

I’ve always been an overthinker. It’s part and parcel of my anxiety, as I’m sure it is for many others. I get caught in cycles of thinking about past events, things I wish I could change and contemplating “what ifs.” My mind rarely shuts off. When I tell this to anyone, I get the list of things that help to “stop overthinking.” Meditation is always the first suggestion. I can relax my muscles. I can breathe deeply. I can listen to guided meditation. But the thoughts creep in, and as I try to keep them at bay, more sneak in and before I know it, my mind is full again. Lately though, my overthinking has been different. On a much more massive scale, there’s always chatter in my mind. I call this my “Busy Head". Recently I discovered this new meditation technique of observing the space between thoughts and it's helping me relax and switch off the monkey mind mode . But in other times during the day when I'm not meditating I get easily pulled back to my endless philosophical inquiries. More meditation. Less existential ruminating is what's required, I guess.

Interesting. It's not really a "guiding " voice that I'm experiencing. It's my normal brain chatter. But I perceive it as other than me which is a mistake . point is.. the personality is just a program. It's not in the slightest little bit who you really are. That's why you can act. That's why you can fake a personality that is not yours. Cuz it's just a mask. The fact that you can fake a 1000 different personalities in one day means you already have 1000 personalities inside of you. Potentially . Accurately they are just different characters that the empty self can take.

@AtheisticNonduality never heard of it .

perhaps "how" or "why "would not be the right question and questions may not be the right way to ponder this truth as this real I is perhaps beyond whys and why nots? I guess that's the real "why" because that's how reality is. Yes.. pure potential (reality) is beyond whys and why nots.. yet it manifests identities that ponder why and why not. The answer isn’t validating.. so identities are not usually satisfied with the explanation.. and keep looking for something more self gratifying. There isn’t any objective reason. All of this is imagined into existence from static potential.. and there is no powerful entity governing it.

I made a similar post about the same topic a while back but I didn't get any satisfactory answer .so I'm posting again . the problem I'm struggling with is simply desensitisation of my penis . due to over masturbation. I started masturbating when I was 14 and I'm now 25 and I'm still masturbating from time to time .the problem now is that I almost feel zero pleasure in my penis . This is due to me masturbating using a tight grip and beating the shit out of my dick like a horny monkey . I almost peeled some of my shaft and head skin . To the point now I only feel pleasure during an orgasm alone .and even that is getting weaker but not to a significant degree .it stil feels good . So to put it short ..I can get hard, but the sensations when my penis is touched aren’t as intense as they once were. I did some research and read some suggestions of using g olive oil to regain sensitivity. What else can I do ? Anyone struggling with similar issues ? Any advice appreciated.

I need advice on this one ..I'm not gonna open a third thread about the same topic ? What should I do to recover my skin and regain the sensitivity of penis ? Should I simply abstain from wanking it for a long period of time ..? Because thats what I'm gonna do anyways.

@VeganAwake im pointing to something deeper than that. Even the subject of whether we have a self or not is relative and subject to perspective. I have a self. I have no self. By means of a self I perceive self. By means of a self I perceive not-self. By means of not-self I perceive self. The self of mine that knows is everlasting and will stay as it is forever. All of these are true and false at the same time. the Buddha himself did not explain whether you do or don't "have" a "self". he is saying that such intellectual speculation is not the way to gain understanding. And notice that when one says "I have no self," the sentence assumes a self that doesn't have a self. So, the nature of the no-self is not something that can be grasped intellectually or explained with words.

Air, water, food, and shelter are all more important than sex. You'll be fine if you never have sex, albeit not the happiest person in the world. You'll die if you never have air, water, food, and shelter. but I think it's more important for everyone to realize that you can live without sex. There's a shocking number of virgins who must have the Cotard delusion, because they think you'll die without sex, despite having survived without it for many years. Some cultures and religions make sex as big deal, but all human and animals in this world do sex to breed their genaration and keep their kind, it's totally normal thing on earth, because of sex human kind keep growing without vanished, so sex is not big deal. The people who want you to believe that sex is important (and everyone’s doing it, and it’s normal, and anyone who tries to get you to stop is wrong, etc…) have an agenda. They are either trying to make money from you, or justify their own behavior by convincing themselves that everyone else is the same way. Eventually, most people grow out of it. Sex becomes just one of many things you enjoy, and it’s definitely not the most important one. There’s a lot more enjoyment and importance in, say, spending quality time with your family, paying bills and being financially stable, planning for your future, etc You know ..I like to believe that life is about much more than banging hot chicks . But that's just me

I guess what you were saying is that we get indoctrinated in schools and universities by all the human knowledge that humanity has acquired throughout history and we are not given a chance to self-reflect and derive our own answers...we are spoon-fed the answers of other people. Without alluding to the fact that all of human knowledge throughout history is just a matter of perspective. And that we can create our own perception of reality based upon our own perspective.

Yes, we can say our perspective is everything. Our internal attitudes toward life and others create the external reality we see. If we want to see a good reality, we must have positive/good attitudes toward life and others.

What is there, other than experiences seen through consciousness? Has there ever been evidence of something besides it? Has any empirical object been found without the presence of consciousness? Is there an argument that has not been filtered through it, relied on the logic appearing within it? Will theories arise outside of it? Is any memory remembered without it? Are there facts that stand on their own, that are not touched by consciousness?

This is an important topic that I feel qualified to talk about as I studied Buddhism and the concept of suffering in Buddhism. So, Why Does Life Suck? Have you noticed yet that suffering and misery is inseparable part of life ? And if you haven't ,don't worry, you are for a rude awakening as you grow up and gain experience. This wisdom goes back 5000 years in the Buddha's teaching "life is suffering " . But why ? Why does life suck fundamentally? According to Buddhism its because of your desires and cravings. There are so many more things that make life so hard. It also feels like they come in waves. one bad thing happens, and then they keep coming, like the world wants to kick you when you are down. So why does life suck sometimes? There are times when it has nothing to do with you, how hard you are trying in life, or how good of a person you are. Life gets hard, bad things happen, and sometimes it just plain sucks. The fact that life sucks sometimes is never going to stop because life is filled with challenges and difficult moments that we simply can’t avoid. Even if you had unlimited money, fame, or fortune, you wouldn’t be able to avoid the inevitable difficulties. The Good News: If life is always going to suck, and adversity is always going to be coming for you, you can’t control that. So stop trying. You can’t control anything in this world except your reactions. It’s time to stop focusing on the suck and begin focusing on the good in your life. Life is all about perspective, and perhaps right now you are choosing to obsess about the negative, the lack, the suck. This is addictive because we are biologically programmed to do so, to assess all situations for danger through the negativity bias. We are biologically programmed to focus on negativity because it keeps us safe and forces us to avoid things that may cause us harm or discomfort. We have evolved since the days of constant physical threats coming from wild animals or ominous sounds, but our survival instincts have remained intact. Because of this, we focus on the negative, and we now have to learn how to fight with the feelings that naturally arise from this. The First Noble Truth in Buddhism is the idea that everyone suffers and that suffering is part of the world. Buddhists believe in the cycle of samsara, which is the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. This means that people will experience suffering many times over. All of the things a person goes through in life cause suffering and they cannot do anything about it. Instead, they have to accept that it is there. People may use temporary solutions to end suffering, such as doing something they enjoy. However, this does not last forever and the suffering can come back when the enjoyment ends. Buddhists want to work to try to stop suffering. However, the first step is to acknowledge that there is suffering :it happens and it exists. The Second Noble Truth is the concept that something causes suffering to happen. For example, when a person is ill, they can only end the illness by understanding the cause. To do this, they may go to see a doctor, who may be able to diagnose the problem. This enables them to begin to understand the cause of their suffering. Similarly, the Buddha taught that people need to understand the cause of suffering in order to move forward and leave it behind. The Buddha believed that most suffering is caused by a tendency to crave or desire things. A person might crave something nice to eat or desire to go on a nice holiday or earn lots of money. Buddhism teaches that through being dissatisfied with their lives and craving things, people suffer. If a Buddhist wants to end suffering, they should search for ways to avoid ignorance, hatred and cravings. If they can do this then they will become free from samsara and reach enlightenment. The Third Noble Truth is knowing that suffering can end. Buddhists must recognise that there is a way to stop suffering and move away from it, because by doing this they can get closer to reaching enlightenment. Buddhism teaches that people should not be too focused on wanting many different things as the enjoyment won’t last. Buddhists must try to stop craving as much as they can in order to work to end suffering. If you have any questions. Feel free to ask ?

@GreenWoods We are going in circles. This isn't gonna lead anywhere. I guess different people have different paths in life .

Only things which are directly experienced can be said to be absolutely true, everything else is just good guesswork. So why is it then that when you directly re-experience that football hurtling towards you, it is in the place you expect it to be? Why is the world is consistent and hangs together following certain trajectories and laws?

@GreenWoods Since happiness is a state of mind, then the source of happiness must lie within the mind and not in external circumstances. Outer things do not make us happy; they only provide temporary distraction from our inner unhappiness.

Yeah well ..I kinda agree to a certain point ... It's not possible to distinguish the two.. Unless you go lucid on a dream. But for now.. You can't tell which is which. That is.. You don't know if you are dreaming or awake right now. You might have just woke up from one dream to enter another dream. And this might go on endlessly. Which is interesting because it kinda show that there is absolutely no difference between dream and "reality" in terms of phenomenonal experience. The same thing.. Sights sounds and different kinds of perception are identical. Except maybe in the dream state its kinda unstable and dark.. And there is a huge lack of consistency. All of which are the opposite in the waking state. It's pretty solid and consistent. But dreams only seem inconsistent after you wake up and compare them to the waking world. So it's not highly unlikely that this world too might be highly inconsistent relative to a higher order of reality that you might wake up to. Interesting stuff .

@Nilsi I don't understand your point /points. can you make a post explaining where do you agree and disagree with me ?

Of course there is a difference. An easy way to differentiate between our dreams and reality is by using a reality check. A simple one is counting the fingers on one hand. They should add up to five. If you are in a dream, this will likely not be the case. If you are suggesting that your life is a dream, then why would it matter whether we are dreaming or not? If you are not dreaming, then life goes on the same way you always thought it did. If you are dreaming, then cool. Live out your dream life and go back to the real world when you die. There is no point in pondering this question because regardless of whether we are dreaming or not, life goes on the same way. It would be difficult to prove that this is all a dream. In conclusion, you can use a reality check if you are referring to the dreams we have every night. If you are alluding to the idea that reality is itself a dream, it is futile to waste your time trying to prove it.

@NoSelfSelf I agree ,dick only makes me a male . But being a man is different story . I agree with the points you mentioned about taking ownership of the trajectory of our life .being our own bosses. However not all men are masculine enough to take responsibility in life . That's something I'm struggling with myself. Masculinity to me is defined by a man’s drive, motivation and compassion. A man in previous decades was defined as tough, rugged and mean. No smiling, except at a woman .. and no homosexuality at all. When i found out that i might be gay, that changed attitudes. And rewired my entire belief of what makes a man a man.

I understand what you're saying. I will try to explain my point again briefly.... Consciousness is changing and morphing all the time. We are not even sure about that fuzzy line that distuinghes "illusion" from "reality" . Because we experience dreams but we know that dreams are not real. Or less real than the waking world . So how can we trust that which decives us every night when we dream? Of course we can't. The only element that is present in both states of "illusions" and "reality" is the fact that the experience is happening or being experienced or held within Consciousness. Therefore the Consciousness of any experience is the only sure thing that we cannot doubt about reality. Does that make sense?

What do you mean "I'm not a man "? ? I mean I'm not non-binary . Or do you think that gender is a social construct as Leo talked about . Idk there is a lot of social expectations from men and how they should act and what it means to be masculine. To be the provider of a family .to work hard .Work your ass off every day all day to put food on the table. I think the main challenge for men today is the difficulty that comes with shedding old-fashioned ideas of masculinity. The idea of treating sex as a reward for hard work, promoting the idea of harassing women or almost tricking women into sex, was really normalised for me as a kid through a lot of TV and films, even family-friendly. On top of that, I grew up in a friendship group of guys who only knew how to communicate to each other through insults and jokes at each other’s expense, and it’s taken me years of actively fighting that to stop myself from just being mean to my male friends. Every now and again I’ll still do it, almost as a reflex, but I try my best to be more kind and complimentary. But I think it’s so difficult for men today to retrain their brains and behaviours, because so many of us are brought up to act a certain way

You are dead wrong. If there is no substance to reality, how come it exists ? It must be made up of something, no ? Otherwise what are these objects and perceptions you see around you all the time ? And There is only one fucking substance out of which everything is made. Which is consciousness. And this is not speculation or mental masturbation..apparently you are conscious right now .and everything in your experience is held within your consciousness. Consciousness is simply everything and anything. This is Consciousness. That is consciousness. You are consciousness. The brain is consciousness. Anything you think or possibly doubt in a million years that isn't consciousness IS fucking consciousness... Tada! And it can't be "defined" because there is nothing which is not consciousness to define consciousness in terms of it. That's why it's a mystery.

What I meant is that there is three forms to the same substance. Liquid ,ice and steam . Yet the three are one substance. They are water . So the real is the H2O molecule despite the different shapes and forms it takes. Similarly..consciousness can take different forms. Infinity of forms actually. But consciousness is the substance of everything. And it doesn't change as the substance. However it can take different forms. These forms are changing all the time .so they cannot be the bedrock of existence. Consciousness alone as a substance is .

Yeah great video from Leo . Though technically what I'm pointing out in this post is that we can't be certain of the ontological standards of our experience (dream ,awake ,simulation, brain in a vat etc). We can only be certain that we are conscious right now. and conscioconsciousness is the only real certain thing. I mean your first person subjective experience of the world . Right now..you reading my answer on a forum to the question , “How is it possible to be certain that I am not dreaming right now?”, you are a mortal human; as such, you are experiencing the Dream of Mortal Life. You can ascertain right now that your mortal life is merely a dream by committing suicide. Unfortunately, even if you kill yourself, you will awaken in a second dream . You will at that point again believe that you really are a human; but that will also be a dream. You would then need to kill your human self to be awakened from your human state. At that point, you would know that you are an eternal human, who was having the Dream of Mortal Life.