Elshaddai

Why can't it be love, rainbows, butterflies and sunshine and free candy forever mannnnnn But on a serious note, I've been thinking about this question alot. Why can't survival be an easy and pleasurable affair as opposed to being hard and grueling?

I was struggling for a long time with my belief in the biblical version of god and my jewish faith in said god yet I've always had my doubts. After reflecting on traditional religion vs science and reason I realized religion to be false and science correct because you cannot escape the emperical evidence behind scientific claims.

This is very similar to schopenhauer's teaching on the will to live which I think is spot on. You really can't escape evolution and humans are in a constant state of ceaseless striving, which creates suffering. The trick is to embrace it I guess.

I know about osho, but since watching the documentary "Wild Wild Country" i've been very suspicious of his teachings since his ashram became very corrupt and devilish.

Well where is this producer, I can give him tips on making it more interesting While original sin is a good concept to explain the cruel and selfish behavior of humans I don't really believe in the bible portrayal of god as true. I find it very practical to believe in original sin when people around me do selfish things and makes me more forgiving of them. "Forgive them father for they know not what they do" kind of feeling. I'm assuming when you mean infinity you mean death? Are you saying that struggling for survival and staying alive is metaphysically false and death is the truth? This is why I wish I had an ego death would it be the answer to my questions? I see what you mean but iv'e yet to realize my character isn't me. If you don't consider this human life to be the "real world" then what is? Sounds alot like nietzsche's view on life which is very empowering, but definitely not easy to always embody.

I like trippy music, if anyone knows music like this please recommend it to me.

I've been thinking alot about what to study in college and honestly I'm not sure what. I mostly gravitate to the humanities and thought about studying anthropology,philosophy and history, but there is little in the way of high paying jobs in those fields unless I want to and work in academia, which I don't know if I even want. So should I first pursue something more practical like bussniess management or practical engineering??(it's an Israeli thing, basically 2 year courses that almost certainly land you with a profession). Any advice?

The reason i've been thinking alot about the bussniess management degree and practical engineering route is because I have a vague vision of working in my dad's busniess as a broker and make a living that way. Then when i'm more mature and stable financially to get a degree in philosophy, but i'm willing to comprimise and study what i'm truly passionate about in my free time if I won't have the time to study a degree in philosophy and work full-time. and yet this is all still speculations on my part since who knows if i'll even like this line of work and find it very fufilling. You know, it's interesting that you mention the pros and cons approach, since i'm currently reading a book reccomended here on the site called Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heat and Dan Heath. In the book they write that this approach to decision making is VERY flawed at coming up with ideal decisions, mainly because of our many cognitive biases that come into play in the decison making process of most people. I'm starting to think more and more like what @Elisabeth wrote that I need to figure out what I want to achieve in life and find my life purpose and study what moves me towards that. Problem is I haven't figured out my purpose! Time to contemplate and figure out what that might be for me. I will appriciate everyone's input on how to find this purpose.

If so, why? I must admit, that from an outsiders perspective, Trump seems to me like a very ridiculous person to elect as president of one of the most powerful nations on the planet. Greedy capitalist with many weird and offensive antics sure, but not a man who has to make policy, handle defense budgets and control crises like covid-19 and national civil unrest. Also, he is most likely in bed with some russians But hey, I don't mind being proven wrong. Maybe trump has some virtues i'm not seeing that only Americans can. Now i'm not sure this the best forum to ask since most people I see here are very liberal and left wing and yet I would love to hear your thoughts about your president.

Your'e right, Leo talked about this in one of his videos that the work I do needs to provide some value to people otherwise no one would be intrested to pay you for your work. Being depressed is something I've been very used to and wouldn't want again. And my fear is that if I don't chase something i'm genuinely passionate about i'll become depressed and bitter again. But @Space Coyote and @Thought Art have a point that having my finances in check can help me learn what i'm really pasionate about, which is philosophy. So rephrasing my original question: Should I postpone learning a degree that i'm passionate about for a diploma that will almost certainly land me at the very least with a typical 9-5 career?

I started noticing that the more I work my various fears, addictions and generally sorting out my that one of my greatest fear is not a fear of failure but success. For example I have a fear of approaching women and talking to them in parties for example, not because I will fail, that will probably happen anyway at some point with certain girls. No my fear is what will happen if I actually succeed and start a relationship with her and then somehow screw it up down the line by doing something weird or autistic. This fear happennes to me so persistently, that even when girls approach me(which happens to me quite a bit actually) I preemptively sabatoge my chances with said girls by being cold and seemingly detached from her to turn her off. Any tips to relieve myself from this crippling fear??

I think of myself as weak, like most humans are. "Nothing is surer than that people will be weak"- Blaise Pascal

I see Sadguru is popular around these parts I'll look at the video later tonight and see if it helps. Usually my coping mechanisms when anxious and stressed are very bad and are mostly hard addictions to things like video games and weed which i'm to cut out of my life. Maybe so, but I find myself very afraid as of being so vunverbale for Im afraid she will percieve me as being somehow weak. Thanks for the advice you are definitely doing enough and I do appriciate your input!

@smurf88 This is good advice, The end goal is very important but my fear is that if I don't pursue what I enjoy e.g philosphy and go for something like bussniess management I will end up regretting it in the future. Care to elaborate why? I'm genuinely asking since like I wrote above I'm afraid that I pursue what I love and end up poor for it, especially now since the economy is very bad where i'm from because of covid-19. I understand ultimately I must make up my mind for myself, but by god i'm so indecisive!

Yes you are right! I really want to stay in my comfort zone and can't handle the resistance when I try to leave it. But of course I also fear living a life full of missed oppritunties. It's like a fear lasagna with more and more layers of fear. Easier said than done! in the moment i'm so paralyzed with fear thay I don't act and try to leave the comfort zone.

Both. concerning autism I do have Asperger's syndrome so that probably doesn't help since I've always had problems socially and i'm afraid of screwing up again. Also I have doubts whether i'm even attracted to women to begin with since i'm definitely have homsexual urges and had a relationship with a man. I should also mention that in addition I also have of failure like in areas like work, relationships at times and concerning travel.

You mean the reason Hilary became candidate over Bernie is because of corruption?? Could this also be the reason he lost to Biden as well?

Faliure, suffering and hard work(or in a word, life).

This is really good advice but very contradictory which is really my problem. I'm thinking more and more about actually doing something with passion which is philosophy like@K Ghoul recommends since while learning something more practical like bussniess management is a good idea but I don't think I have the same passion for it as I do for philosophy since honestly I study philosophy in my free time because I enjoy it very much. Then again, I do need to feed myself and I don't know if philophy will land me with a good job outside academia though I saw google hiring people with that degree which surprised me. @UDT meaning how other people percive me? because I can tell if I go with the humanities some people wil definitely look at me strange. I do just that already! the question is should I deepen my studies by getting a degree in it?

As an Israeli I think global warming is the least of our problems But yeah if you think you can't handle the climate then move somewhere else that's colder.

As the title suggests, I often feel very angry and resentful towards society and how I was raised and educated(or should I say, indoctrinated) and how truly dysfuctional the majority of people really are. This is my experience anyway, but idunno, maybe some societies are truly better and more conducive to personal growth and happiness than others. Why aren't we all taught personal development and how to live well in school or even kindergarten, about the many real benefits of psychedelics and how to generally be more virtuous and loving human beings? My experience living in a mostly blue\orange stage society, is that it's the source of much delusion and suffering in the world. Now I do admit my view is skewed by personal biases of mine since I was bullied, emotionally abused, manipulated, lied to and very dissapointed even by the people closest to me just for being different and awkward. Am I just venting here or is there some merit to my arguments?

I'm pretty sure it's not in the intrest of most schools around the world to really help the lives of their students. I agree with what you are saying. The survival of society in more important then growth and fufilment for those who are in power. Yes forgivness is the answer but honestly it's a struggle to forgive at times, but I understand it's ultimately worth it. Well what would happen? wouldn't that only help improve people's lives? or counterintuitvely, worsen them? What if I told you that I am like that, why do you think I stuck around for all of this personal development since 2014 thanks to leo's vids? But you are correct experience really is the best teacher.

Very interesting that you say that, because I think my trips were very positive experiences without any negativity at all!

After my psychdelic trip I decided to meditate more consistently. As I am meditating I notice something that is to me shocking and unbelievable: The wall in front of me at starts to change and morph, as if i'm still tripping! Now i'm sure some people will think i've completely lost my mind, and maybe I have, but what i'm saying is true i've medtitated twice and the walls start doing their own thing. Kinda freaks me out actually. I will definitely meditate again and look more into this phenomena. Am I alone in this? Has this happened to anyone before?

@Mantra Yoga A bit late, but I find your comments on yoga very informative and interesting so thanks!