Selene

I would also caution that assumption :). When I say conscious creation of meaning/purpose it most definitely involves a mystical component and is far from a mental exercise. It involves learning how to quiet your mind so you can be guided by your higher self to become aware of what your deepest calling is. It involves opening your self to feel deep emotions and follow their trail to lead you to what your particular purpose is. Like you said, it is listening to and searching for the place where “our deepest gladness and the world’s hunger meet.” And undergoing that process is choosing to consciously create meaning/purpose from the place of your higher self :).

@Mu_ Those were great videos and I have definitely fallen into the traps of which you speak. I think it is difficult but extremely valuable to get to the point where you truly experience first hand that there is no mysterious meaning/purpose “out there” or even “inside you” that you can find to fill the emptiness you feel. I know the peace you speak of once you accept that and see that it is ok, and learn to take joy from being and stop seeking meaning/purpose as a remedy to end your suffering. And I think you are so right that this is key because without it you will be chasing meaning and purpose forever for a mistaken reason and your suffering will continue. But beyond that, once you have found this well of stillness and peace within you and are no longer seeking meaning/purpose as an end to suffering, you can start to seek it with a different reason in mind. You can become aware of the difference between consciously creating meaning vs. unconsciously looking for it somewhere. For me the emotion of meaning is created by focused attention on a subject/project I am curious about. You can consciously choose to pursue that feeling and uncover what subjects/projects will stir it in you. And the life purpose course is a great way to start uncovering that I found

@Adodd I know exactly how you feel and was there myself for a long time… A few things have really helped since I started the work to find/become aligned with my life purpose are: 1. Understanding that you are both an ego and a higher self and that you will need to grow both aspects is essential. You will need to find a balance between self actualization (for the ego) and seeking enlightenment (for the higher self) and can use both practices to reinforce and compliment each other. It is wonderful that you have taken on learning practical aspects! I found that focusing on emotional intelligence first was the best thing for me as fundamentally your quality of life is determined by your emotional state and a little bit of improvement in this domain can go a long way. A few key things that helped with emotions are: first understanding that there is no specific way “should” feel. In fact, you should feel exactly how you do feel at any given moment because your feelings are a direct reflection of your thoughts/beliefs about a certain situation wether you are conscious or unconscious of those thoughts/beliefs while you are having the emotion. Sometimes when I would start to feel down, like sad or apathetic or bored or frustrated, I would start to get angry with myself and think there was something wrong with me or that I should be improving or that I “needed to fix myself” and this would just amplify the negative feelings. What really helped is starting to trust myself that I should feel the way that I do feel and that there is a reason for why I feel that way, I just need to help to figure out the “why” so I can use awareness to improve the situation (See Leo’s “awareness alone is curative” video and also Teal Swan has a ton of videos about how to work with and process emotions. I really like Teal’s work with emotions and find her to be a great counterbalance to Leo’s teachings. Her process for learning how to be unconditionally present with an emotion is what has helped most. Also her video about boredom). With this shift in attitude, when I start feeling negative I can become aware of that and instead of reacting, I can use the negative feeling as a trigger to remind me to get curious and welcome the emotion thinking “oh, there must be something here to learn” and then I go practice Teal’s process and it has done wonders for me. Also as fluffy as it seems, writing down 10 things I am grateful for each day forces me to focus on the good things in my life and it really helps. And of course from the enlightenment perspective realizing that you are not your thoughts or your emotions 2. For the ego (aside from the emotional work): Leo’s life purpose course. As much as you will be tempted to just focus on enlightenment exclusively, that is a life long journey and you will need a secondary strategy to boost your well being. I can guarantee you that you do have passions, you just don’t know what they are or where to look. Leo’s course is perfect for helping you discover that. He has tons of exercises to help you find your values, strengths and gives a step-by-step process to walk you towards uncovering your purpose. One of the things he said in the course that has helped me on days when I am struggling or doubting is to commit to finding your life purpose no matter how long it takes. For now, make your life purpose to be to find your life purpose! That is what I did and having that as a driving force has been what gets me excited to get going on the material and really delve deep into the exercises he gives. It is worth the money, it will really help you to know who your ego is and what drives you and motivates you. But you will have emotional struggles during the material. This is why focusing on emotional work and enlightenment work at the same time really helps. 3. For the higher self: Learn how to connect with being. If you can really work on this skill it will be your comfort when you are struggling on your path to finding your purpose and you can return here to gain peace and creativity. I connect with being through meditation, yoga and being in nature. Good luck and stick with it!!

The Gateway is an investigative journalism style take on Teal Swan and the controversy surrounding her, it's a 6 part series. I'm on part 5 and so far the reporter has done a good job of being neutral (if a bit skeptical) and building suspense on both sides of the debate, we will see how it ends lol. But either way, its just an interesting perspective on it, no spiritual insights

@josh jones Thanks for the podcast recommendation, I started listening to it and it's really good so far!

Hi Tearos, I think the reason why it is so hard to look at relationships from a spiritual perspective is because it requires your mind to hold a paradox/contradiction and this is difficult for us. On the one hand - you are infinite, absolute, and therefore able to meet your own needs. But on the other had - you are finite, you have a relative perspective and have wants and needs that are real and true for you. The trick is to hold space for both of these perspectives as true, because they are. Another way to think of it is, if you are absolute infinity, then you are you, and you are also the person in a relationship with you, so you ARE meeting your needs yourself, you see? The reason I say this is because it seems that you are looking to meet your own needs in order to avoid the pain that you feel when you look to others to meet your needs. Yet there are some needs that you have as a finite human, such as intimacy, connection, sex that you will not be able to meet on your own, and this is ok. It is ok to look to others to meet certain needs/wants that you have, because other people ARE you. It is not something that need be in conflict with your status as an infinite being so you don’t need to go about your spiritual journey trying to completely deny your humanity in order to realize yourself as absolute infinity. You are both at the same time, you are both sides of the same coin, one is not in conflict with the other. That being said, I understand your desire to avoid the pain of the “lovesickness” you describe and I have experienced it myself, many times. Some things that have helped me on the way are: 1. You can’t run from the pain. No answers, no solutions, no new person, no insight is going to make it so that you don’t feel pain. It will come, it is inevitable. But what you can do is turn around and face the pain. Let the pain wash over you and be ok with feeling it. Sit with the emotion, don’t try to change it, don’t try to make it better or distract yourself or avoid it. Just be constantly present with it, and you will find that you can bare it. There is a lot that you can bare if you are willing to turn around and face what you are avoiding. If you can find a way to make yourself OK with pain when it shows up, then you don’t have to run from it any longer, and it will not be something you fear. Also realize, the emotion you feel is not you, you are the infinite presence experiencing the emotion, and the sensation can not hurt you. 2. Stop thinking of yourself as something broken that needs to be fixed, or something sick that needs to be healed. Because underneath your infinite presence is there, it is whole, it is valid, it is worthy and there is nothing that you need to do for those things to be true. When you undertake self actualization/consciousness work, don’t think of it as a process that will mend you, or as process to smash down a false wall to see what lies beyond it, instead think of it as a gift that you are giving yourself - the ability to see reality for the truth of what it is by lovingly scrubbing away the layers of dirt/grime (which are your particular ego hangups) that have collected over your life time. Have patience for yourself, love your ego self and gently correct where it has made a mistake. Here are some videos that have helped me with understanding validation, acceptance, self love:

Congrats Leo, and thank you. Here are my questions: 1. What will be/has been one of your most difficult ego attachments to let go of? 2. With the stage you are at on your journey, are there still moments when you are so excited/passionate or anxious/afraid that you can't eat or sleep or escape racing thoughts? 3. What is your favourite emotion to feel and why?

I am usually sitting up, relaxed with back straight and feet on the floor. It has happened at various times of the day, like 11am, 7pm, 3pm - even when I have had a good sleep and feel rested when I start to meditate. I am wondering if I am relaxing too much and need to stay more focused? Or if this is something that I should go with and allow to happen? Perhaps there is something in my subconscious that wants to be seen?

Hi everyone, This is my first time posting! I have been meditating on and off throughout my life, but started a daily meditation habit about 2.5 months ago and recently my meditations have started to change a bit… I usually decide on a method before starting (my favourites being mindfulness with labelling, body sensations or do nothing), take a few breaths to centre myself and then just let the meditation happen. Lately I have been finding that as I allow the process, my mind will eventually quiet (even with the labelling), all will become still, and it's as if my awareness drifts and time seems to go a lot quicker. Previously I would remain in this “focused drifting” state for the remaining part of the meditation, but recently it’s as if I have started dreaming at this phase. Not like my ego mind starts thinking to itself about my daily tasks or memories or plans for the future, but like I am actually slipping into the dream world of my subconscious like I would be if I was sleeping except that I am awake. It has the exact feeling and texture of a dream so I know it is not just my ego wandering. This usually lasts only for a few moments as once I become “aware” that I am starting to dream, I snap back into the “focused drifting” state. Has this happened to anyone? Is there a way to stay “aware” and watch the dream to see what it shows me? Or perhaps this just means I am too tired and need to meditate when I am more awake? Thanks in advance!