Gesundheit

Yeah, notice how you're judging them as "low-consciousness". Can you let go of that judgement? This is key if you can. Because the ultimate goal is to integrate low consciousness into your life instead of denying it. The more you deny something, the more shadows it leaves behind.

The moment you talk about it you lose it.

??

Solipsism is just a student misinterpreting the pointers offered by his guru. The guru says: Stop thinking about the world and concerning yourself with it. There is nothing out there, or here, but you. You are imagining the whole world. The students, unfortunately, was born with a triangular head, and you know the rest.

Socialize, especially with people that know nothing about enlightenment.

@Hawkins This is a common problem and you are not alone. Your mind wasn't actually blank. It was busy and failed to perform. On a scale from 1 to 10 how would you rate your relationship with your emotions? If it's low, then chances are what I said above is true and you need to get in touch with your emotions. For that purpose, I would recommend a retreat or a vacation where you can take a break from life and focus more inwards, and perhaps treat yourself a little bit better. I did exactly that a few weeks ago, and I tend to be more of an introvert. Miracles started to happen! On the way back home, I started chatting up with random people in the bus and on the streets. I talked with one guy for about two hours and with another for about 30 minutes. All of it was completely effortless. I hope my experience inspires you, and I'll be happy to see your reaction. This retreat was the first one I have ever done (10 days; 5 of them were vacation with friends, and 5 others were me alone doing inner work). It was one of the best things I have ever done.

@Shiva99 I don't know your life situation, but since you said you tend to slack off without negative motivation, I have to assume that your basic needs are met, because if they weren't, you would have to be authentically motivated to fulfill them, because there's no stronger motivation than the fear of death. So, if you let go and nothing happens, doesn't that mean that you don't actually want anything to happen? Don't you think that it's a message from your authentic self that it doesn't really have desires? If you slack off and do nothing, what exactly will happen? How exactly your life will change? And most importantly, will you feel good or bad?

Confidence is the feeling that you have before you understand the situation lol. Jokes aside, the type of confidence you're talking about is derived from ego. If you identify as ego, it's very easy for you to lose confidence once the external circumstances change. However, if you identify as the Self, you will be confident as you are without the need for external acquirements.

@Shiva99 Don't feel bad for who you are or what you want or do. Everytime you feel bad, ask yourself: why am I feeling so? Notice that it's probably a judgement about yourself that is causing you to think negative thoughts and feel negative emotions. However, recognize that these feelings are the feul that is allowing you to make all this progress. Think of it as a pendulum, the worse you feel about yourself, the more progress you will be able to make. That's negative motivation, which is fear-based. However, there is another form of motivation, which is love-based. Read more here: www.lifehack.org/829873/positive-motivation In my opinion and experience, if you want to be completely authentic and at peace with life, you will have to drop both forms of motivation and learn how to be present in the moment, which requires high levels of awareness. So, if you really want to solve the problem once and for all, raise your level of consciousness. Meditate more, contemplate more, do whatever you feel is required for you and feels natural and most importantly right for you. Ask yourself: in this particular moment right now, what do I really want? Maybe it's a certain food or a drink or a talk with a friend or anything else. This will be your emotional compass that will help you understand your thoughts, feelings, and desires, and ultimately yourself, which will lead you to the ultimate peace of mind.

Are you saying the epistemic problems of science would not resurface in spirituality? Cuz I already see them and they're gross.

Ego survival.

Trying to go meta on existence by dissecting it into thought and perception, and whatever else it could be.

I agree. Although I would argue that you won't necessarily be cast out if you don't conform. Since you exist and have value and things to offer, people will have to conform to you. The more valuable you are, the more authentic you will be able to express, the more influential you will be. Your place within your social circle will change depending on the value you provide for others. However, value is relative and arbitrary. Some people will like you for your insecurities because of their sympathy, and others will run a miles away from you. Some people will like you for your passion, and others will despise you for it and be jealous. Some people will like you because of your conformity, and others will bully you for it. Etc... There's no science to social interactions. And probabilities don't apply here. You can have the best maps in the world, and still be unlucky and suck, and fall into the first pit on your way. All you're left with at the end of the day is yourself. After all, if you don't love and value yourself, what does it matter if everyone else does? And if you do love and value yourself, what does it matter if everyone else doesn't? Sounds about right. Maybe it's stages that everyone has to go through. Then again, "Alpha" people seem to have it naturally. For that reason, I think it's possible to copy their strategies without necessarily having to go through all the stages. Their strategies are simple (although unconscious): confidence and self-love.

Else.

I will, of course, that's my devotion. Nothing shall escape my microscope. So now we're talking facts? Okay, but how about you stick to your facts and I stick to mine? You don't see me so I don't exist. I don't see you but I believe you exist. To talk to someone you don't believe exists is asinine. No? Being true to your facts should make you almost paralyzed. Although, to me, it doesn't seem to be the case at all. Maybe it's not me who wants to believe in a second layer. Maybe it's you who's denying anything your current paradigm. You're undermining thought as if carries no truth whatsoever, and yet you're using thought to tell me what's true and what's not. You will say: but I'm pointing you to your direct experience. Discard the pointer and look at what it's pointing to. And my reply will be: yeah, but that would require a leap of faith on my part to trust your pointer and give it value. After all, what if you're deluded? What if you pointing me to my direct experience is nothing but a delusion? You see, I don't take these things for granted anymore. You're assuming that perception is the ground layer of reality, or raw reality. Is this assumption true or false? Yeah, poor me.

And what if after discovering that there is no me, years later I discovered that there is me? What if "me" is an idea only from a perception standpoint? Wouldn't that make it a relative fact to that particular standpoint? After all, I am here. I exist. How can I say that I don't? Just because I can't (currently) perceive something (myself) does not necessarily mean it doesn't exist. Maybe I will be able to perceive myself in the future. Maybe I'll discover some other tool than perception and thought. Right.

Insightful response, as always. I thought about it. There would be no difference to me. But that doesn't make my subjective perspective the absolute truth, only a tiny part of it.

And who said if something exists as a concept it doesn't actually exist in reality? Why impose limitations of the human perception on existence?

No. You're assuming that consciousness is the fundamental building block for the layers, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's something outside of your consciousness to comprehend. Have you considered that possibility? Maybe consciousness is not so efficient after all. I disagree with the myth that being or God or reality is consciousness. To me, consciousness is a human projection onto reality, not reality itself. I don't make the mistake and confuse my projections for reality. I recognize my projections as projections. And I don't feel bad for not-knowing.

In other words, you can only be conscious of things you're already conscious of. Wow! Thanks for that dude. Isn't infinity infinitely infinite, which means it's outside of itself? Paradoxical, but would you consider that proof of materialism?

Cannot absolute truth be a concept? Why impose that limitation?

You don't know your destiny, but it's inevitable. So live in the moment and don't try to control life.

@Carl-Richard Generally what you're saying is that I should learn to conform to my society, at least to a certain degree? Am I getting this part right? If that's the case, I fundamentally disagree. Because it doesn't matter the culture/content I have, since I influence the people around me too. It's a two-way highway. Society can influence me, and I can influence it too. And as a matter of fact, the most confident and self-loving people are generally the ones who set the trends, regardless of the actual content of the trends. Notice how radically culture has changed over time and in different places. It does not make sense to say that culture is changing by itself or by conformists, or by fake people. The people who set the trends are not the socially awkward ones, obviously. They're the most authentic to themselves. But maybe it's kind of paradoxical because being authentic implies a certain level of conformity, although it would be authentic unlike just being a conformist for the sake of being a conformist, or simply out of fear. It could be. But it's one thing to learn and practise spirituality by yourself (more authenticity), and it's another thing to cram knowledge from others (more inauthanticity). That's why the inwards path would work while forcing it through reading books and watching videos wouldn't. Most people don't go into caves. Most people are naturally socially gifted. It's the minority that find their way to self-help. Most people never think about anything consciously, and yet generally, things work decently for them. Ramana wouldn't need moves in order to get laid, he had enough status to speak for him