Sahi96

I think one of the dangers of the whole "solipsism" "Only I exist" is that the initial introduction to the idea that your reality is a dream may confuse people into thinking that their experience through the lens of their life (and all their thoughts and egoistical feelings) is real and everything else is not. This may guide ones to not carrying about the world around them rather than understanding everything as forming a whole. Everything is one. It is not that there is YOU (your ego, your thoughts in your head) and nothing else. Love your mother and everything else in this world. Try not to think of this as a game of "can't trust the world/my mother".

I understand the dualistic nature of my question but I do not wish to get into the semantics. I think it is possible to have a discussion on the holistic nature of God and I am wondering if it is perhaps more correct to view both God and the Devil as forming a unified one, or if there is another way to approach this question. I understand that many on this forum are set on the idea of letting go, accepting your nature as God and so on, but I am wondering how far this approach goes in the other direction. I do not mean to cause disharmony, I am only trying to pursue truth here, but is there any reason why Leo's signature shouldn't instead be: "You are God. You are Love. You are Infinity. You are Leo. You are the Devil. You are Hate. You are Nothing. You are Hitler."

Either the answer to my inquiry is blatantly obvious or nobody wants to deliver some bad news

I have been contemplating the idea of the ego and how egotistical consciousness produces hell by creating the illusion of pain and suffering through separation from the whole and how full surrender and selflessness reveals heaven and infinite love. Leo once said that he has visited hell realms where he forgot that love existed but that all realms (which are like dreams) are temporary. The devil will never defeat God. All of the devil's victories are temporary. Sadghuru has also said "for most of humanity, 90% of the time, we are not at ease with ourselves" - in the sense that we are miserable at work, in our relationship, in our daily lives, while commuting to work etc. On the idea of the "whole", the "Brahman", however you want to call the Universe realizing itself in an eternal loop that never was, I wonder if anyone has any contemplations on if hell and heaven, in terms of levels of consciousness is a somehow balanced force? That there is as much hell as there is heaven? I understand the message within this forum that we are "God", that this is all a dream to realize it, and I am sure for the truly enlightened ones, they are mainly experiencing the love consciousness, but I am curious if there is any reason to believe that the lower ego tiers of consciousness aren't in equal footing with the highest? Are we not all condemned to forget our "Godliness" as much as we are to Awaken from these dreams ad infinitum? Is the Devil not on equal footing with God as they fight an endless battle for supremacy and is not the real truth the center? TL:DR While the Devil (Ego) will never defeat God (infinite love), as all of his victories will be temporary, will God also never defeat the Devil, who will inevitably lose as well (and very likely, just as much?)? Is all of existence a "balanced" reality?

Hello all, I’m trying to understand what is meant when it is argued that only love exists. How would you explain to a depressed person who has considered their lives mostly miserable (child abuse, sexual violence, lifelong chronic pain etc) that their experiences of life are false and that only love and good exist? I’m curious because Leo said: “There are no bad deeds, no evil. Only Good and Love exists. Nothing else.” In another thread. I’m wondering because maybe for an enlightened person everything seems peaceful and great but aren’t the experiences of the depressed and downtrodden also equally valid? What am I missing here. When a conscious human being commits an act of evil (let’s say child abuse when they know in their heart it is wrong) aren’t such wilful acts also part of the essence of infinite consciousness? i am looking for a compassionate way to understand this

It isn't that simple. Think of it this way: If you left your house for a day and you calculated that there was a 20% chance that you left the bedroom light on (you remember turning it off, but hey, you have been wrong before) then ok, no big deal. But if you (sorry if this is an absurd example but) left your nuclear plant for the weekend thinking that you were 95% sure that you didn't leave the reactor in overdrive before leaving, you are quite sure you did it, you remember it, but you know, people make mistakes, the repercussions of this mistake are catastrophically fatal, so I think it makes sense to worry a bit before going to sleep at night. Now you may argue that I should just drive back to the plant, double check, take a picture, have a confirmation from a colleague that the reactor was not in overdrive, but with religious questions, it isn't that simple. Life is only so long, the bible can be interpreted in so many ways and "double checking" isn't as simple as the nuclear plant example, because of the emotional connection I have with the bible. Some of the "truths" in the bible also resonate to my core and cause that doubt.

I do not mean mistakes as in sins. I mean it more along the lines that I am making a logical mistake in ignoring the biblical truths and not pursuing a dogmatic lifestyle--"not accepting Jesus Christ as the truth". It is very difficult to work through this because of how the biblical messaging is in many ways directly in contrast to that of what is being discussed in this forum. Although the bible is full of a lot of inconsistencies and nonsense, the verses that talk about false prophets / false teachers who make nature their god or that create their own gods and meaning of the universe and who engage in the sensual pleasures of life (promiscuity the main example) and how these people will suffer the most, this is what gets at me. I feel extremely guilty when thinking anything that goes against the Biblical God, and the worst thing is that I 99% think the bible is bullshit, but that 1% still controls me.

My deepest fear, which is at core of all of my anxiety/depression/existentialist crises, is that when I die, I will be subjected to eternal suffering due to mistakes or misunderstandings I have made in this life. I fear what "comes next". It is linked with my OCD and comes back periodically, even after months or years of serenity, that one day I will get the idea that I misunderstood something in the bible, or that I am willfully ignoring my upbringing/the message of God, and that I will suffer because of it. I do not know if I will ever truly get over this fear.

Also just a general feedback, although I do not know if I completely agree with Leo's idea's (yet ;)) I do appreciate the activeness and engagement of the people on this forum. It is rare to find opportunities to express elaborate concerns and to as well receive full attention (even from Leo himself) in working through them. Thank you.

Thank you for this reply, I must admit I read this this morning and didn't think much of it, but opened it up again late afternoon and it made a lot more sense to me. It is something that resonates with me and certainly an idea that I can tackle with for a while, but naturally my inner critic / superego still tries to rationalise this from the perspective of my Christian upbringing / inherent fear of hell. A part of me feels it is wrong to question our basic psyche and feels that attempts at doing so are "as the bible would say" the business of false prophets to make us deny God or as well "to make ourselves Gods". I have a lot to think about.

Thank you for replying back. It was actually after watching your "something instead of nothing" video that has thrown me a bit deeper in my covid lockdown existential crisis rabbit hole. I must admit, I do not understand what you mean by "there are no bad deeds and no evil, and only love exists". How has the pursuit of truth brought you to this conclusion? I can surely think of examples that are both evil (e.g. conscious acts of betrayal, intentionally inflicting pain) and love (selfless sacrifice). Do you clarify this in depth in one of your videos because I do not understand the logical path you are following to come to this conclusion. I do not "enjoy" suffering, but my mind leads me to both pain and bliss when I am in the heights of my mania. Perhaps if I understood your reasoning here, I could make more sense of this when I am lost. Essentially, why is good and love infinite and absolute, but hatred and evil not?

Thank you for your comment, and while I do agree with this in principle, it does not necessary tackle my core question. While I agree that there is a natural tendency to grow, love and blossom, in this universe at least, what about other possible universes where existence is defined by pain and suffering and where there is a natural tendency towards destruction, hatred and pain? Surely such universes or realities fall within the realm of "possible" and I would imagine, perhaps in equal proportion to lets say "growth and love oriented reality/universes"? I ask this, as my conundrum is about the cosmic perspective of being and existence. About the "oneness" of everything, both good and bad. This is not necessarily confined to what we perceive from this universe and everything from the big bang until the eventual heat death of the universe.

Hello all I do hope everyone is doing well given the current state of the world. I will not delve much into myself but rather will briefly ask a philosophical question that I am having difficulties reconciling. Some perspective would be much appreciated. If being and all of existence (in this universe and the next, and all that ever was) is a perfect balance between good and evil, bliss and suffering by its very nature (assuming it is the result of all possibility), what incentive is there to live a good life, if, by deterministic forces, good deeds will be counterbalanced by bad deeds? Why not live a reckless drug and sex filled life and drive a car off a cliff, if all of being and existence will balance this force out? Why strive to live a good life in this life (just for the sake, that it feels good and/or to counteract evil) if the nature of reality and existence is balance? Why love if love will be followed by hate - and vice versa? I apologies for this extreme case, but I am trying to reconcile this Buddhist notion of enlightenment and "breaking the cycle of rebirth" and that suffering can be overcome through reaching nirvana. Why overcome it through nirvana when it will inevitably balance itself out in one form or another? Is existence biased towards goodness? Is there a solid argument for this? I ask this as, I have in the past found solace and peace of mind in the idea that my life and aspirations were somehow in tune with some cosmic sense of justice. I am a naturally helpful and productive person, and although I do struggle with things such as sexual and material desire, I consider things like monogamy as meaningful sacrifices, in the pursuit of a meaningful and fulfilling life, and that through my actions I contribute to preserved peace and order. Any perspective on this would be much appreciated.