Someone here

I thank you for this beautiful comment.. However I want to clarify something: There is one main thing which I did not know at the beginning, Of my spiritual journey.. it is the main issue and you will realize it after your Self realization. At the beginning the “I” (ego) thinks that is awakening into the reality. It thinks that it will gain some new perspective, shift or wisdom and will become enlightened. But that is not true, yet it can hold you on the path for all your life with no result. But all this process is not about gaining., it is not about becoming., it is not about progress in time. It is not about the change of the “I”, who thinks that will become enlightened. It is about the death of the “I”. It is about the dissolving the ego within the God, Reality, Conciousness. It is about losing all of the attachement for the arising phenomena. It is about a pure freedom which remains after all cleaning process is through. But it is just a partial ralization of HUMAN BEING. From the point of the Self realization the job is not done. The true stuff starts at this point. Egoic tendencies are not totaly gone. Patterns of the conditioning are still present.You are one foot in the absolute “bliss” and one foot in the ego.

And how do you know that ? Have you died before ?

The problem with Neo-Advaita teachings Is focusing on the goal, or "end point" of Nondualism, which is the nondual state itself, while almost completely ignoring the path and the teachings on how to achieve same. In, say, Christianity, this would be the equivalent of talking only about the experience of "Heaven" while giving no importance whatsoever as to how to get there. They seem to think that simple knowledge and agreement of Nonduality as being the "default state of Existence/Reality" is all that is required, and no further seeking of Truth is necessary. To me, that is like being stranded on a deserted island with few resources and looking across the ocean at a lush, tropical island paradise and then being too lazy or afraid or whatever to take the necessary steps to escape the current misery of the lesser place and arrive at the better one. The red flag which led to my discovery of Neo-Advaita was that whenever I was interacting with members of this online Nonduality group I had joined, many of the members had very strong ego reactions to the teachings that I was attempting to share. A true Nondualist on the path to Enlightenment/Self-realization, unless they are raw beginners or noobs should be much more in control of ego's urge to react with negative emotions. With many there, the mere mention of the word "God" or "Consciousness" resulted in immediate contradictory posts, many with a clear tone of condescension. It became clearer and clearer to me that something important was being left out of the Nondual equation in that group, and that something was the EGO.

But Leo..isn't enlightenment the purpose of life? I mean what else is there to do after you. get your survival needs handled? I guess If you are still seeing life as a means to an end, then the answer is ‘yes’… Enlightenment is the ultimate purpose of life. This is not really the correct answer but the best and useful answer that I can give you right now. People are usually conditioned to think anything as a journey from point A point B. The thoughts like ‘I want to become rich’, ‘I want to become famous’, ‘I want others to think I am smart’ etc stem from this conditioning. There is always a feeling of lack and people are seeking something to destroy the feeling of lack. This makes people to always look forward to the future. But the truth is, nothing that you do, know or experience will destroy this feeling of lack, the feeling of ‘not enough’… It only causes an endless cycle of accumulating wealth, knowledge and experiences. This accumulation is never ending and the feeling of lack will be still there, no matter what you do. Only through awakening cam you realise the inherent value of being instead of doing and achieving.

I know I've made several posts about my smoking habit in the past .but this time I'm more serious than ever .and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to quit . Guys I need serious help to quit smoking .these days I smoke 15 stick per day . Its affecting my lungs negatively .I can feel the burning sensation in my chest. Honestly I don't know what I'm waiting for to fucking quit once and for all ..do I have to have a heart attack as a wake up call or what? Why am i being stupid? I think it's pretty clear that smoking is terrible for you, in so many ways. It's the most obvious thing in the world, and its constantly drilled into your head that smoking is expensive, bad for your health, bad for others around you, unhygenic, disgusting, smelly, etc, etc. and that you NEED to quit RIGHT NOW. For god's sake, even the packaging is plastered with warnings and graphic imagery, what more could possibly be done to deter smokers? For me, personally, none of these warnings mattered. When I wanted a cigarette, I was going to smoke a cigarette, end of story. I could list any number of reasons why I loved smoking (the taste, the social aspect, the chance to take a break, that satisfying burn) to counter any of the anti-smoking arguments. But none of that really matters. Recently..two weeks ago , as soon as I finished a cigarette, I crushed it out and realized that I WANTED to quit smoking. At that moment, the actual desire to NOT have a cigarette was outweighing the desire to have a cigarette. This wasn't the first time I had this feeling, but it was the first time I decided to seriously act on it. The next day, I didn't smoke. The day after that, I didn't smoke either, but I started craving one. The third day, I wanted a cigarette BADLY, but by that point I realized that if I gave in, I'd have wasted the previous two days. The desire to maintain that record, and taking pride in that record, helped me make it through that third day, and then the rest of the week. That record became my defense against smoking. It's like building a house of cards. Every day you add a card to the house, and at first, it's not very impressive, and not much of a shame if you knock it down. But after a while, that house of cards starts looking pretty good, and if you knocked it down, it would be a real shame. You develop an emotional attachment to the project. Right now, I've got a 2 weeks old house of cards, and it's the only thing keeping me from picking up a cigarette. It's not the health warnings, it's not the expense, it's that house of cards. I know if I smoke even one cigarette, that entire house comes down, and I'm not 100% certain I can start over again. I simply value my house of cards more than I do a cigarette. Every few days I'll have a nightmare where I have a cigarette, and I'll wake up, terrified that I ruined my house of cards, relieved when I realize I didn't. That's how I know I've really quit. Still, some days are pretty hard. On the way to college this morning, I saw a guy on his apartment balcony smoking a cigarette in the hot weather , and I got a strong pang of jealousy. But it went away after about 30 seconds. That urge fades, in time, but it comes back every once in a while just to call your bluff. Why I'm still hesitating? When I'm gonna finally quit for Good ? That would be one of my gloriest victories in my life .but I need help. ?

You could say so, yes, but for most people it would be utterly misleading. In the separated state, there’s a clear distinction between conscious and unconscious. There’s a lot of activity in the unconscious. In the enlightened state the distinction between conscious and unconscious ceases to be. So you could say that everything becomes conscious, or that everything becomes unconscious. These statements are equivalent, and equally absurd since there is no distinction anymore.

Here is some neo advaita stuff and where they get confused imo: 1)True, there's nothing to do. The problem is there is *some* work we have to do to our ways of looking to see that there's nothing to do lol. 2) There are no words to teach it. Important to note here that I would NOT say there is nothing to teach. The problem is there are no words for it. The words can only point our looking in the right direction. Once we finally see it there's nothing else to do but keep seeing it. 3) We need to define what the "it" is we are seeing. Lets say "it" is the full realization of impermanence, there only being right now, the inseparable nature of emptiness and form and it's dependent arising which means there is no self and all suffering ceases. In that case, sure, once you see it all there is is to keep seeing it. But here is where effort and gradually deepening realization comes in. We may only recognize bits and pieces at first. Like at first we might notice we are not our thoughts, then see that all things arise in consciousness, then we see they arise automatically, then we deepen that realization and see consciousness is empty too and dependently arising with all the automatic things, then we might see all the parts that make up the whole and how they aren't separate. We understand it to be not one, not many. There's only the passing manifested experiencing. The problem I see a lot with neoadvaita is with the *nothing to do* attitude. They recognize the Absolute, the emptiness, the void that precedes all things and is free of relativity. Then they think that's the end. There is nothing else to do. In doing so they solidify it and dismiss all that comes out of it. Not realizing all that comes out of it is NOT seperate from experience, NOT separate from the Absolute. What could we know about the Absolute *Un*conditioned if we had no Conditioned? They're the same. As Nisargadatta Maharaj says "As the Absolute, there is no Absolute" And, so, identifying with the emptiness/Absolute as a "thing" leads to "Nothing to do, no one to teach." They fail to see the conditioned and unconditioned/relative and infinite as one in the same arising . if it was *nothing* why do they go around "teaching" it lol. They are teaching that there's nothing to teach. It's literally still a teaching. If it was nothing why live at all? Having the freedom to see things as empty of flavor or quality that can cause suffering isn't "nothing." And they actually may very well be talking about the same thing but their ability (or lack of) to articulate it, by saying there's no teaching, makes it sound as if they got stuck identifying with emptiness as a reified ground of being. Alternatively some will identify as a Self with capital S. A God consciousness. This would be more accurate .

@Inliytened1 Thanks man. It's a philosophy born out of fear from the inevitable truth of reality. You can observe this for yourself by looking at the lives of people who turned to Advaita (and who became 'teachers’) of this dogmatic religion. (Where the denial they're caught up in, will make them say things like “there is no 'me’, no 'lives’, no 'mind’” and more of this type of escapist nonsense.)

please understand this ..you are gambling when you consider suicide..you don't know what happens after death..maybe you will live a worse life after you kill yourself. I mean who the fuck knows what happen when you die . At least you know this world and you can ground yourself in the Here and now .while in suicide you are risking going to a hell realm. You have no other options . .to be..or to be .

To recharge. Simply.

@Holykael what's stopping you from suicide?

If there's a man or woman alive that hasn't fantasized about having sex with another person, then they must not be all human. Fantasy is a natural thing, as is masturbation. Religion makes anything sexual a taboo thing, because they like to control people. It's that simple. If there is a god, he should not have created the human body to produce testosterone in men, because it makes us horny.

What are you even asking bro ? I don't understand the damn question ?

@Zigzag Idiot that's a hell a lot to read my man ? Tbh I didn't read it all .I just skimmed through the paragraphs . But generally you seem to be talking about the relationship between masturbation and religions. The way I see it is that Religion is about controlling people, it uses a stick and carrot approach, the stick in this case is the prohibition of certain sexual practices, with the claim that you are always under surveillance by an all knowing, all seeing being, who will torture you for an eternity after you die, in a place for which there is no evidence. By prohibiting sexual acts, religion exploits one of the most powerful urges in nature, and uses it to instil guilt, shame and fear. It's a fascist dictatorship believers impose upon themselves.

Dude has a great way of delivering content. My only gripe is that his videos tend to be a bit too long and a bit too ramble-y. If he could cut them down a bit, he could avoid repeating himself and make for snappier content. Also he does have videos with graphic illustrations like this video : He’s got ideas I agree with, he’s got ideas I completely disagree with, but either way I enjoy watching his stuff. This is just my 2 cents. Take it or leave it .

Why is masturbation always considered as a shameful and unhealthy behavior which will weaken you physically while having sex is almost to the contrary? What is the main difference between them? Although not all cultures view masturbation as something negative but there is some truth to this view if masturbation becomes an addiction wasting the individual's sexual drive and social energy. I guess Because the perception is that masturbation is failure. The ideal scenario is to have a sexual partner (or partners) and masturbation is what occurs when that scenario can't be achieved. Very few people fantasise about being alone and masturbating while they're having sex but most people fantasise about having sex while masturbating. Sex also has an element of conquest to it in most modern societies. In order to have had sex, someone else had to be persuaded that the person was sexually desirable. If the other person was particularly attractive then the conqueror has boasting rights and if the "performance" was especially impressive then there's added kudos. But masturbation can be performed by the ugliest and most repulsive human and the only prerequisite is to have reached puberty. There's no sense of achievement or ability.

He always insist and repeat in his videos to not take his teachings as a belief or an ideology and to verify everything he says in your own direct experience.

@Breakingthewall not to kiss Leo's ass..but he is the most awakend teacher that you find online nowadays.

@Breakingthewall why do you think Leo says that no one here is awake ? Its like this: Not everyone needs to lift weights and get great body definition in order to be fit, right? Some people might simply want to do some cardio, some Yoga and others might choose to not exercise at all. Your body will manage. Life will not be utterly miserable or anything. You won’t die. But someone who wants to achieve the peak of fitness, health and shape will need to lift weights. Right? So similarly, a spiritual awakening enhances your life experience; you live life at from a completely different level. But those who are not spiritually awakened might be living good lives too, and they might not even feel the need for an awakening. They are blissfully aware of the spiritual dimension, yet life feels good. IT IS NOT EVERYONE’S NEED TO AWAKEN IN THIS LIFETIME. It’s not even everyone’s need to be spiritually inclined in this lifetime.

The ultimate level of spirituality is reality. As far as we feel different levels of spirtituality, there is still someone in us, considering those levels as something important, something that leads us “to the end”. But there is no end. Same as there never has been any beginning. From the point of view of separate self, there si practiced spirituality, there are spiritual acheivements, spiritual faults and spiritual successes. But none of them are real, non of them are permanent. All of them will vanish with the physical death. Spiritual experiencies are not important. Labeling, naming or evaluating spirituality is the path to hell. But if you want to be a spiritual guy, there is nothing wrong with it, same as there is nothing wrong to be an athlete or musician.

Agreed. If a seeker is interested in the stages of spiritual awakening then he is not true seeker. Stages and destination are the way of ego. Ego wants to know the progress ,ego is always interested in numbers ( which stage am I in? ). Buddha never asked this question and he attained the enlightenment when his all desires died including desire to be desireless(the last hook). The infinite is the finite .the limited is the unlimited. Form is emptiness. Emptiness Is form . There is nothing to do and nowhere to go . THIS here and now is all that is .

you need to be enlightened to be able to know who is enlightened. Like an old saying: "You need to become saint, to know what is a saint".

My relationship with Masturbation has many bad effects on my health. I feel guilt immediately after masturbation. This increases my stress level. My mood is always nervous after masturbation. It increases negativity in my mind. It decreases my self-confidence. l feel tired the whole day. I feel energyless. Still haven't figured out why or how .because doctors say that it's perfectly harmless activity and all mammals do it .

nofap no-PMO(or no-Fap) is by no means a easy feat. Its incredibly difficult and takes insane control at least for the first few months. And even after those few months, its still incredibly difficult to make sure you don't fall for any temptations and unknown surprises while watching movies and stuff. I am doing it for a few reasons: 1. Motivation: I have insanely low motivation to really do anything in the past few months. And this low motivation is a result of certain beliefs. And no-PMO helps me increase my motivation. So, I will continue no-PMO at least until I rectify my beliefs and become naturally motivated. 2. I love to challenge myself: Being able to say no to temptations is my latest(by that I mean its 2 year old) addiction. It feels good each time I do it because It makes me feel in control of myself. 3. I notice that I don't fear things the way I used to before when I am on no-PMO. 4. I feel attracted to girls, even if they are not physically attractive. (I am not sure why because logic dictates I shouldn't be). My thoughts on Porn: The issue with porn is, it increases your expectations about sexual experiences to unimaginable heights. So, after a while even when you are married, you will prefer masturbation and porn to actual sex. Which is unhealthy for your relationship(I believe intimacy is a huge part of healthy romantic relationships). I think this is the only and a fundamental reason why I avoid porn. If you are naturally motivated, in good shape, already have a healthy romantic relationship, I see no reason why you should avoid porn and masturbation. Don't follow no-PMO(or no fap) like a religion. If it serves your interests, well then follow it. Otherwise don't.

I don’t believe in sexual orientation anyways .The type of sexual experiences or fantasy leads us to believe that we are this and that. I have had dreams where I am fucking a guy and also where I am fucking a dog. I also remember having an erection while watching a lioness in youtube. Just search “beautiful lioness”. I can look at this animal and fantasise about having babies with her all day. At the same time I have had huge embarrassing erections while watching a saree covered ass. These are nothing but associations made by mind i.e, I want to pour this semen somewhere. I know right, funny. Mind is a strange thing. The people who say that they are gay or lesbian or straight they are controlled by mind. Let’s be honest who on earth has not dreamed about having sex with their similar gender but we don’t do whatever mind says to us. We control our mind. There is no orientation.