caspex

Honestly I am maybe halfway through in subduing Gluttony and Sloth but they come very strongly in waves sometimes. I have learnt to not guilt myself over external influences disturbing my productivity goals. Yesterday I was shocked to see that in a situation where I'd normally give up on the rest of the day I decided sit back down and continue studying. This tells me that Sloth has been largely subdued because I was able to continue the inertia of my days of studying and break the older hidden tendency of mine to give up. That tendency to give up is itself a pattern that has been moving along for years gaining inertia. I had enough troposthenos and more importantly, a state of troposthenia, to be able to beat that. Yet yesterday I failed at beating Gluttony as I ate from stress due to the same event. I think I consumed an extra 1000 or more calories yesterday which I didn't need to consume, it occurred purely from stress. I think I need to take some time out and compile everything I have figured out in this journal so far and see what is missing. At this point in the journal we have only progressed, however little, in 3 compulsions. Namely Cowardice, Sloth and Gluttony. While we do have a definition for Lust we don't have a benchmark. I still have to revise the definition and benchmark for Gluttony due to the earlier stated problems. I think there's a need for a periodic review over everything including whether I can still beat compulsions I already beat for eg. Cowardice. I am sure once you beat a compulsion there is a deeper level to beat. If it's distinct enough I hope to also map these levels. Right now I envision a system of 11 compulsions with their definitions and benchmarks for beating them, various levels they can be beat at and an explanation of behavioral changes in people who have beat 1 compulsion, 2 compulsions, 3 compulsions and so on. I do think that last bit is the most challenging. I predict I'd be done in 5 years if we keep moving at this pace. If anybody wants to DM me about their own insights into any of the 11 compulsions they are more than welcome to message me on this forum. Make sure these insights are from your own life which you have applied rather than any intellectual exercise. For example "I recently observed that cleanliness enables Troposthenia"

I prayed to Shri Rama for this experience and had it for two days. Made a post about it then. I forgot to post about it here. This experience reminded me why I do this in the first place. Daily Upasana still going strong, haven't missed a single day.

This is why I usually buy games that are story based and probably a one-time experience. I try not to repeat consuming the same media again. The only game I bought which does not match this criteria is Terraria but I played that so much I am bored with it now probably for a long time. Same goes for Stardew Valley.

UNBAKED IDEA: A possible framework for sloth in Plasmism Sloth is inertia which restricts one's will. Inertia is the tendency to resist change, whether that change involves starting or stopping. Inertia can either enable or disable one's desires. The inertia that disables desire is what restricts the will. The cause of sloth is an inability to overcome inertia. Inertia is strengthened by mass. Mass represents the degree of significance and meaning assigned to the object. There are two ways to overcome inertia: reduce the mass of the object maintaining the current state, or introduce a competing object with greater mass. NEW WORD! Troposthenos: The ability or strength to redirect oneself to overcome inertia. Troposthenia: The state of mind characterized by a willingness to exercise one's troposthenos; a disposition toward self-redirection and change. TROPOSTHENIC MATRIX

should trillionaires exist?

Natural Selection

Update I have successfully been able to study for 7-8 hours a day for the past three days. 2 hours of reading two newspapers (relevant for an upcoming exam which tests current affair knowledge). About Sloth I think it is suffice to say now that I neither suffer from cowardice nor sloth. Sloth is truly about comfort. If I studied only one way prioritizing hours and not the learning, I'd be slothful. Why? Because it'd be me being bounded by the comfort of seeing those 8 hours on the clock, regardless of the quality of the study. Beating sloth is about diligence after all. I have been getting in quality hours, this is why right now I am not slothful. Unlike Cowardice, I don't think I have truly beaten Sloth, this is just an intuition and I can't detail why. I have a feeling that the benchmark to beat sloth has to do with the quality of utilization of one's time. If the time you spend is of low quality such as doomscrolling you are generally slothful. If it's of high quality meaning such as spending time with loved ones or pursuing a hobby or maybe seeking truth, you are not being slothful. Still thinking about how to benchmark beating sloth. What caused this change? Was it a change in attitude? No. I realized a while back that it wasn't my fault, but that it was the external environment which wasn't conducive for my focus. I talked it out with my family to support me fully and provide me with at least 12 hours of uninterrupted sitting. This is why it all works now. About Gluttony As for Gluttony, for the past three days I have followed a diet and have been eating around 2000kcal. This is not a real deficit for me but it's a big improvement considering I normally eat around 2700 - 3000+ kcal a day. I am 5'8 and 2100 would be enough to sustain me. Too much eating takes away too much energy in digestion. It's hard but I have been trying to eat only for sustenance rather than for escape. It's not terribly laborious but it does demand will. For gluttony of other sorts such as excessive media consumption, I also improved that SIGNIFICANTLY. The newspapers give me enough news for the day and the only real use for the internet media left for me is either to watch something spiritual, religious or sometimes a game like Chess. Instead of spending my free time on the phone, I spend it now with friends as my first priority and listening to some long form content I find interesting as I walk as my second. To continue with the 8 hour study schedule (which requires about 10 - 11 hours of sitting time) everyday I need to do something very meaningful in the evening to feel rejuvenated and do it all again the next day. After all those 12 hours take three fourths of my day (after deducting ideal sleep time) which leaves me with maybe 4-5 hours to do something I find very meaningful (apart from all the productive stuff, which I also find meaningful.) I have using that time to hit the cinemas or hangout with friends. I feel right now in my life I don't consume anything for other than sustenance, maintenance or productivity. This does qualify my benchmark for beating gluttony but I need to continue this for a while before I can conclude I have overcome it. A Critic of my Definition for Gluttony and a Possible Change to it Would visiting the cinema to watch a movie qualify as consumption for other than sustenance, maintenance or productivity? Well, for me it is quality time and I find it meaningful and rejuvenating. It is technically a sustenance consumption because it helps me feel relaxed enough to be productive enough the next day. BUT when I do that it's not what I have in mind. For me hanging out with friends or watching a movie at the theatres is a highly meaningful source of fun. I don't do it for productivity or sustenance or anything else. It'd indeed be wrong to cut out meaningful fun as a way to beat gluttony, because this type of consumption DOES NOT cause gluttony. What's interesting is that when I watch a movie I do so I can immerse myself into, which is a way to seek oneness through dissolution. This technically qualifies as Gluttony if you go by my earlier definition. However I did state that all seeking of oneness through dissolution is NOT gluttony, yet all gluttony is seeking oneness through dissolution. What's the difference then? I believe it's ESCAPISM. If escapism is involved then it is Gluttony. When I hangout with friends or what a movie in the theaters it is not from a place of escapism, and therefore doesn't qualify as gluttony. This calls for me to update the definition of Gluttony and the benchmark for what counts are beating it. Will do so in time.

why what didnt you like?

yes

this is my current goal, to embody this state the best I can. It's truly heaven when it happens and for me it happens randomly. It's like everything is a bonus. It's so fun I cannot describe the feeling. All anxiety is gone and you love everybody and everything. Life truly become Sunshine and Rainbows. Even the terrible shit is fun. When bad shit happens, even if your emotions turn into anger or depression, that whole ordeal is fun. The same way you would describe the change in emotions while watching a movie or playing a game as fun.

Lmao I certainly appreciate the spice @Mellowmarsh you bring a very important point to light. Here's what I think I do not advocate politeness, what I ask for is gratefulness and love. Politeness is not authentic when all you do is polish your words to make them sweeter. No, the point is living from a place of gratitude.. more importantly the embodiment of Love. This doesn't always mean sweet words. One's words can be very rude at the surface but if one is embodying oneself from a place of Love that Love oozes out of their being. In real life this Love can be detected through actions and tone. Even your very energy gives away the amount of love you embody despite how unpolished the words are. I love that authenticity, yet there is also a form of authenticity where the person isn't direct but rather playful. There words are not direct because their authentic Love manifests as feeling. There are many ways to express love and I commend you to pick one and are going with it Mellowmarsh. The problem arises when we converse on an online forum. Here, much of the other cues are striped away. The only source for that Love to present itself is through words. Maybe not explicitly, but implicitly such as how much interest you show in somebody's idea. Your authenticity which may come off as rude precisely does so because there are no other cues present. This would be my guess if you are truly being authentic. It is very important to note that if anybody reads this thread and decides to be more grateful, they do so from a place of genuine appreciation and not a place of sugarcoating. When I say I love something, and when I say I appreciate something I mean it truly genuinely. These words I write here are exactly my authentic feelings. @enchanted I agree with this. The main focus is group dynamics. Engaging with quality posts more often from a place of gratitude will encourage more quality posts. Even when I praise somebody I make sure the praise is real and not shallow. I do not praise people unless I feel they deserve it. The reason I did not praise people even when they deserved it earlier was because I did not operate from a place of love. When I see a person with a good outfit, I praise them because I genuinely mean it, not because praising them will gain me imaginary social points. Same with this forum.

This is why I usually avoid posts with maybe over 20 replies. The reason for vast amounts of replies on a post are seldom due to a quality discussion. Seeing that engagement while almost none on that of some quality post is what made me make this post.

I have a Samsung watch too the distance measurement and heart measurement have been fairly accurate at least to the degree it matters for me. You post has encouraged me to take a spiritual walk too. Thank you. I was thinking the other day about what I should be doing when I am in the state of non-doership. A weird question. Of course, my existence and existence are one, there is no doer only the happenings all through and through. I was thinking about this and it came to me what wild animals do in their free time. They either sleep or perceive reality in what I assume a satisfied state. Of course evolutionarily this can be explained as conservation of energy but that's not what the animal thinks about. Even as I walk in nature and sit and observe the trees and sky, I get these thoughts of productivity or the future or the past or maybe of people. However, you know what I feel when I simply observe nature as I sit there like a satisfied wild animal? That this is the point of life. It's not anything crazy. Just sit there on that rock observing the sky and the trees. That's the point.

Exactly. The rarest type of feedback I see is of genuine appreciation. In communities where this type of feedback is common they often host great spaces for discussion. Even in my relationships I observed how important it was to give credit to people where it's due. This is just plain gratitude. We shouldn't take quality posts for granted at all.

That's good then. Maybe I haven't been active enough to notice. Yes I agree we cannot guarantee what people consider as 'quality' and what they find 'trash'. However it's not practical to ask people to simply up their perspective. In my opinion asking for simple gratitude in a community can already up the base quality of posts because it encourages better posts. This forum may even become more active if engagement increases. It's not so simple. You can't post on a public forum and act like you did that only for beauty and intelligence. There is always an element of sharing and feedback involved. Some people post for validation, some post for help, some post for an honest discussion, some post to potentially help another and some post for analysis. We all have our reasons but their is common thread between all and that is feedback. Feedback can encourage or discourage to post more; but a lack of it always discourages. In my experience very high quality posts have gotten ignored because the kind of feedback they require is not of critic or addition (the easiest feedback to give). Sometimes what a post requires is genuine appreciation and that is the least common type of feedback. If we don't provide feedback to quality posts then they will eventually slow down. If this change towards gratitude has already been happening then I am glad.