Bodhitree

@UDT Yes that’s been my experience. I have met some senior executives in Fortune 500 companies and those in the pools of General Managers from whom these senior executives are selected, and even in the best companies there is a hard-as-nails competitive focus on whose team has the higher headcount, more succesful products and best releases. These people are not “nice”, and even though IQs are generally high, I wouldn’t count them as particularly advanced. I think that as you develop higher, those areas where you can still earn decent income go down. There seems to be a problem with where any place where you are rewarded with good money requires you to compromise your principles, or present yourself untruthfully, or be ruthless rather than compassionate. Creative endeavours tend to stay clean — if you can master writing, or making music, or even painting, there is a potential life path. Personally I’m done with chasing management roles. My time in that milieu was on the fringes, and I’m not interested in repeating it. But I think it is an interesting area to talk about, so that people don’t tend to invest themselves in areas where it’s difficult to truly develop yourself.

@asifarahim Loneliness often comes together with boredom and impatience, so it’s useful to work on them at the same time. I’ve spent a few years by myself in an apartment on the top floor of a flat building overlooking a beach, doing nothing but studying Buddhism, meditating and some foruming on the net. I only went out for food shopping. Maybe that qualifies me to speak on loneliness, I’m not quite sure. Its about what you want from other people. If there is nothing you want, you will find there is a lot less need to be with them. But it will be necessary to look within to find out what you are used to getting from your interactions with others. A good exercise in mindfulness.

My answer was achievement… I was quite sensitive when I was a young man (sheesh, just realising this is the truth of the matter, I am no longer young) and it was only after I got good at something and proved myself in a social setting that I stopped being overly sensitive.

Everyone has a unique path in this. I think it is possible to talk to others about what engages you, your enthusiasm, without being pushy. It is important to let people know these things are out there, just being silently present is appropriate some of the time but it is not enough on its own. ‘There is of course a certain level of caution to be employed, you need to lead people gradually into these areas. If you immediately start talking about God realisation then they are likely to think you’ve lost your mind. I begin with basic spirituality and some self-development, because it’s a good non-offensive intro into the path. Beyond that, when someone expresses an interest the role I try to take on is as a mentor and a guide. I don’t think any of us holds the fount to the one and only true wisdom, but what we can do is pass on good habits about finding the right information, and this includes the right defenses to avoid getting spiritually bullshitted. The first thing to know about the spiritual field is that 95% of so-called guru’s or teachers are fakes. Our task as mentors is to teach others to sift the gold flakes from the dirt of the river bed. And I’d extend that even to the Buddha: Osho once said, learn from the Buddha but don’t be a buddhist, and he was not wrong. Becoming an -ist or an -ian is the short path to giving up your intelligence and your originality. Once you set out down that way all you are aiming for is being a poor copy of some ideal from history. And there is so much more to being what we are. Every human being has the birthright to be unique, creative, wondering, alive. Lastly I would say, don’t think you are ever done, and don’t get stuck on one source of teachings. We all go through phases, jags when we’re into one thing or another. It’s about taking from these things that which is beneficial, and discarding the rest. Your path is uniquely your own, and no-one can lead you by the hand to enlightenment.

Hmm. This ‘fear of missing out’ is not really my thing. I don’t usually consider myself part of a group or bound to do what others do, I generally just do my own thing with a large ‘don’t care’ sign on my door.

@benny Sounds like you are establishing a very solid foundation to build on. Congratulations for digging yourself out of the mire and starting self development work! A few tips, or areas where you might want to put some focus… Enjoyment… try doing a cookery course or wine tasting… excellence extends to enjoyment you know Spirituality… I would suggest starting mindfulness or yoga (also good for meeting the ladies) Make the mental health a priority… often depression has to do with unhandled life issues The arts… you have a few hobbies, that’s a good start, I would look into finding a passion

@Ya know The traditional Buddhist answer would be renunciation. The Tibetan Buddhists divide the mind up into beneficial qualities, those leading to enlightenment, and unbeneficial qualities leading to poor karma such as anger, hatred and ignorance. The idea is that you promote and grow the good qualities, and renounce the bad qualities, allowing them to die off. In general after a few years practicing with them I found it to be a pretty good system. It is based on growing into what you want to be. Of course where the rubber hits the road is in observing yourself, looking at what you actually do rather than what your impulses lead you to think. The idea is that the impulses will take care of themselves, as long as what you actually manifest in this world is beneficial to yourself and others and helps them on their path. There is an American Indian story about a grandfather who tells his grandson that there are two wolves doing battle in the old man’s heart, and that one is vicious, spiteful and full of hatred. The other is brave and noble. The grandson asks which will win. The old man replies, the one that you feed.

Read up on the history of hell in Christian literature. It’s a real eye-opener, in the Bible there is very little mention of it, it was basically invented in the Middle Ages by various writers and poets whose visions were declared as accepted by the church after their publication.

@flowboy As I understand it, mediumship is a much more controlled experience, a temporary opening of a certain door while the schizophrenic charges along without a seeming care in the world and just flings all those doors wide open. Voices can range from almost-present and pieced together out of partial whispers that you think you hear, to a whole bunch of them literally screaming at you. Reckless, incautious, spontaneous personality types tend to have worse experiences, obviously.

They’ve been around for a long time, but they don’t seem to be making much of an impact. There was a short documentary about them on tv not long ago, comparing how the movement was doing now with what it was like in the 1970’s.

This has been a good read, it’s opened up a few things. Kudo’s to all those who have contributed to the summaries.

@Inliytened1 Maybe it will be so we will have to ask.

I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t read posts or threads like this, other than a quick skim to see what is inside. The reason for this is, my realisation may not be the same as yours, and I don’t want to have a catalog of other people’s realisations in my head when the time comes for me to have mine, it would be like “select experience x and replay”. Similarly, sharing these kind of experiences is not the same as the teaching of an enlightened master. It matters what sticks with you that really proves to have made a difference, to have transformed some part of you, and that you can only tell six months down the line.

The booklist is pretty interesting, I noticed a few titles on there that I’d be interested in as well.

@Javfly33 The past is truth, but what we know of it comes only through artifacts that exist in the present. Our view on the past is continuously updated and revised, as new knowledge about the past is revealed. But ultimately it is looking at clues in the here and now which tell us. The past is not a certainty, it is just a shadow.

@Opo Generally I would say the scientist in your film was right. There has been research which says that young people are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of drugs such as marijuana which are known to occasionally bring on a psychotic break, and once you have one of those and the psychiatric medication that goes with it, it is difficult to emerge clean and healthy. Most people who suffer a first psychotic break do so before they’re 30 — about 75% — and about 25% of the population has in their lifetime an experience with a serious mental health issue. There is such a thing as drug-induced psychosis, which is basically going tripping and not coming back down. This is often the beginning of being given a more serious diagnosis, such as schizofrenia. It helps to be well-informed before you go to do something risky.

Hmm, my feeling is that most people who have this strong sense of justice had a wrong done to them early in their life. You may find that most of your impulse to strive for justice comes from that early experience.

@Thought Art 25 is young. I would say work a little on meditation and peace, and the same time that you chip away at the music business. If you put the hours in you will get there. But music like most creative endeavours is a field where not everyone reaches the top, and you should be prepared for that… if you do music for the right reasons, for self expression and for the music itself, whatever you achieve will be ok. Look back in another ten years and see what you have achieved.

So, how did you end up in Bangladesh?

Well this is part of the problem. The people who run psych wards know very little about consciousness, and so they can’t really give you guidance to move through your most high energy states. At most they can slap on some medication to make things calm down again. But really if you had a master’s skills you would be able to get out of that state of mind by yourself. It’s a good indication that you can still be wrapped up in the world and swept away by circumstance.

Leo is not wrong, and the best way to get through immaturity is life experiences. So go do stuff. Not necessarily psychedelics though.

Yeah Leo, he is a real character. Somebody did a thread of summaries of a lot of his videos, I have been working my way through that, it’s kinda interesting. Shorthand for watching for 1.5 hours a pop. Anyway my point stands, be careful what you stuff into your brain, you may find it coming out of your mouth again after a little while.

Ohh stabbing, no, not a healthy train of thought. Inner violence is bad for the mind. I once played World of Warcraft, a game in which you endlessly fight with almost everything else in the world (except for questgivers), it was very unhealthy. In terms of whether aliveness will ever come to an end, no I don’t believe it will. But the question is, will you still be who you want to be? Your spirit could be transformed or poisoned, or twisted by the world’s bad impulses which it carries within it. And anyway it is morning over here.

@Gianna Taking in lots of viewpoints can be confusing, I totally agree that it’s not desirable. But not taking in any viewpoints is also not ideal. I always look for high-quality ways of sharing information with others, which often boils down to finding promising communities, or finding good books. But even then i have to take time to absorb things, so I read a book and end up thinking about it for weeks afterwards.

I think mindful consumption is the thing to point at. If you vegetate for hours and hours, then it could be harmful. If you know what program you are going to watch and just watch that, then switch the set off, then you are in much better shape.