OneHandClap

Don't worry if you slip into this view or that one. As you said yourself, you are immortal—but not as Javfly, which is the form you currently inhabit. And part of being this consciousness means excelling and cherishing every single form. Thus, take care of yourself, take care of others, take care of this beautiful Earth that allowed this current body to manifest in this current time. One day, yes, you will return to the infinite. You will collapse duality. But right now, we live in relative duality. Remember to take this human experience seriously! It's a hell of a ride.

Consider, for a moment, that what you experienced on a retreat (that of infinite consciousness) was a perspective that you are currently not integrating or existing in as an actual reality. At the level of actual God-consciousness, there are no questions. The reality (and wonder) of the whole thing is understood without needing to verify with thought. In that mode, as you may recall, there is no sense of being a you, Javfly, who is connecting with anybody who is not you. But nothing/everything are two sides of a coin. If you are currently thinking "You are all imaginary, but I am real," you are in duality again.

Yes, correct. The main problem I see is people who have not yet reached an intuitive understanding of God-consciousness trying to internalize the idea of the Absolute as their human mind/self. This is what we call solipsism. Solipsism, as a word, carries baggage that The Truth does not. Within Truth, obviously, you, me, Javfly, and everybody else are negated and yet included as part of the greater whole. To some materialists, I use the example of the Big Bang. Prior to the Big Bang, as we know it, there was stillness. All was unified without time or space. After the Big Bang... separation. But the underlying stillness that existed prior to "matter" is still here, and it exists within everything. It loves to explore itself and have fun. Conscious beings just happen to be able to realize that fact directly. What solipsists often fear, of course, is that the whole show is just them as a human mind generating that field of experience.

You may be! Trust me, dear friend, I have been down that rabbit hole. Many practitioners have. I know right now you may think I am just a figment of your mind speaking, but remember—only at the level of pure consciousness (God, whatever you want to call it) is there ONE perspective. Reality is composed of infinite individual perspectives all overlapping, held within the one field of perception. But as you exist right now, you are a human with your POV, and I am a human with my own. You cannot verify this, but it's the logical occam's razor outcome. Remember that oneness holds manyness within it. If/when you reach "true God consciousness," you will feel this on an intuitive level. There is no me, or javfly, or churchill, or anybody else at that level of existence. But as you are in this moment, as a thinking human mind, you exist in the same field as all other minds

How do you know it's true? You can only "verify" solipsism through a thought pattern. AKA "I am real, you are not." "This person is imaginary." What happens if you stop thinking? Where do the concepts about self, other, real, and unreal go? They dissolve. But don't take my word for it. Step away from the mental masturbation and just BE for a few minutes. You will see that solipsism just a word, one possible viewpoint out of literally infinite viewpoints. Even oneness is a word. Get to the reality that those words are describing. The map is not the territory.

You have more work to do. There is nobody to claim consciousness. Consciousness is sovereign, and you are speaking as a human being. "You" as javfly did not make a single thing. If you think your mind is real and everyone else is a figment of your mind, you're delusional, not awakened. Consciousness is impersonal—it created you as well as everything else. One wave does not make the entire ocean around it.

I have watched Leo's videos for a long while, and even lurked here occasionally, but I am noticing a consistent and pervasive trend among some users here. This trend is that of believing that using psychedelics over... and over... and over... with the intent of "smashing the ego" is the way to permanent liberation. Misguided at best, potentially life-ruining at worst. There are many examples of people who thought they could force their way into full enlightenment via drugs, including Timothy Leary. Spoiler alert: Nah. There's really not much else to say here, other than to consider the question of why somebody feels a need to do psychs over and over. I sense that many individuals may be using this system of incessant psychedelic use to avoid problems in their personal life or otherwise engage in spiritual bypassing and/or spiritual materialism. I am not demonizing psychedelics (I have done a fair amount), but I am urging some of you (especially younger readers) to step away from your microscope and examine your life fully. Psychedelics are not the end all, be all to your life's problems. If you are having trouble making friends, building relationships, being honest, or otherwise excelling in the life you believe would be most fulfilling, there is work to be done beyond tripping. No amount of meeting DMT aliens or having peak experiences will remedy conventional problems. And as a final tack-on point here, there's a lot of ego-stroking about experiences related to "being God," "becoming God," "oneness," whatever. A lot of users seem to be tossing these words around but not ever doing the work to find a place of stable presence in life. The map is not the territory. Saying you are God/the Absolute endlessly does not alter your consciousness and imbue you with peace of mind. Beware this bypassing. Anyway, that's about it. If this resonates with you, you know what you need to do. If not, it's all good as well. I wish all beings on this forum the best of luck, plenty of love, and a reminder to brush your teeth twice a day. It's been a fun, if brief, ride here. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3

Hello all, this is my first post here, despite my active watching of Leo's videos and browsing here. I am a meditator and general Tibetan Buddhist/Dzogchen enthusiast who has practiced for several years now, mostly following a profound LSD trip that triggered a no-self experience. I had experimented with psychedelics for several years, but spent the last year or so doing mostly sober contemplation. Well, as luck (?) would have it, I stumbled across DXM. I am a drug nerd who takes comfort in safety and knowledge of what I'm taking, so I built my way up to a 720mg DXM trip a few weeks ago. I decided yesterday to take one last look at the void before moving on to full sobriety. And what an experience it turned out to be. The actual DXM peak (experienced on ~430mg of DXM) was fun but uneventful. Things got weird, however, when I smoked a joint later that night with my wife. I was in good spirits, and we decided to watch Survivor as I was in the post-peak phase. I dunno why, but Survivor, man. Midway through a scene, I felt something familiar... but off. This experience had almost identically occurred several years ago without the same combo of substances (at the time, it was another LSD trip with two bowls of weed). Essentially, I got fixated on the koan of "one hand clapping." I realized I could not experience enlightenment or awakening - I had to leave behind all sense of subject to "merge with" the object. I had this incredible rush of... energy... essentially telling me that the universe was constantly trying to get back to "it." No other word - just "it." An indescribable and subtle thing, almost like a joke. So I focused, or rather relaxed into, "it." I felt myself become the entire field of perception and mental activity, only to continue sinking deeper.. and deeper. I closed my eyes. I had the sudden feeling that I had always just been "it," and that my human existence was just a temporary distraction that I had dreamed up to escape the reality of being "one," which was a realm without any divide, and therefore no experience. I sensed that I had been here thousands, perhaps millions of times before, each time getting close... but not to "it." The untouchable. The unknowable. The beyond. The TV scene seemed to stretch forever in the background. Of course, by this point, I was fully convinced I had dreamed it all up—Survivor, my wife, my house, everything. I had been making a gigantic stage upon which to unveil the punchline of an eternal joke. My wife did not speak, nor did any of the cast members. This seemed to stretch on an impossible length of time. All I heard was tribal music (from the show, naturally), and the primordial "om" that we associate with "ascension." "I" was merging back with myself and ending phenomenal perception. I have never taken DMT, but from what I have heard and seen via replications, the experience was rather similar—a fractal "tunnel" stretching out before me, all emanating from a central point directly ahead. So, as this is happening, I begin to have bouncing echoes of thoughts that no longer belong to me. "Is this right?" "Is this real?" "Is this happening?" Each thought was accompanied by feedback from my environment - the TV show seemed to be sending messages such as cast members saying, "This is intense," "Go deeper," etc. Very, very bizarre. Every time I felt myself about to merge, I had a sudden thought such as "I can't leave my wife and family...," and I felt myself being pulled back out and into the realm of phenomena. There was subsequently a great rush of fear, and I could suddenly sense my heart hammering in my ribs. I was half-convinced I would die on the couch at that moment. Anyhow, I eventually slipped out of the tunnel experience and back into "normal perception," but had the sense that if I'd just kept my attention on the experience, I would have fallen into permanent "merging." I jotted down some notes that more or less said "It's like trying to describe a room you cannot remember the inside of." I also wrote things such as "Awaken others slowly from the dream," "We have always been trying to BE IT, RETURN TO OURSELF." I don't know what, if anything, to make of this experience. But I am certain that if that is my/our true nature, I will enter it peacefully, not through drugs.

Lol, okay man. We are discussing the OP's problem. You are the one who totally blanket-statement ruled out medication as a possible help. I think you have a clear bias against medication, which is fine, but it is still a bias. I am considering that some may be helped by them, some won't. You are speaking from a ground of close-mindedness about approaches to psychiatry that you are not informed about, aside from reading personal anecdotes. But you are right, I will not comment further. I just think OP would be misled by your "advice."

<3 Love ya. But seriously, I do take noots as well (noopept, aniracetam, choline, and a few others). They have helped my "conventional"/professional life tremendously and helped a lot with meditative concentration. People who bash on materialist substances as being worthless clearly are being hypocritical... seeing as the vast majority of this forum loves to find "enlightenment" in the form of LSD tabs and DMT... EDIT: And as a further remark, I guess we should all stop taking vitamins, eating, exercising, and everything else as well, since these are akin to "drugging ourselves" to change our consciousness. People are funny. If you take psychedelics, it's actually laughable to not even consider the benefits of long-term nootropic supplementation.

How do you actually know psychiatric medication is not for everybody? You are speaking for yourself, and maybe a few anecdotes from others. There are countless individuals who have used medication up until a certain point when they were able to develop skills to move beyond the need for such substances. It's unwise to offer blanket statements about what is correct in cases of severe psychological problems without having the requisite training. At the very least, take a balanced approach. Who knows how many lives have been saved due to individuals with suicidal tendencies getting a "breather" from their stress long enough to look at things more rationally?

Well, with all due respect, whether or not you believe in such a thing is not really important. Looking at Buddhist/nondual teachers who have spent tens of thousands of hours meditating and contemplating, I do feel it is possible. People like Peter Ralston do not depend on drugs to create an enlightenment experience—they are living it. One consistent theme I've seen on this forum is that people equate "being with the godhead" (usually inspired by an LSD/mushroom/DMT trip) with "full enlightenment." Full enlightenment is unaffected by causes and conditions. Enlightenment does not mean existing as some transcendent, formless singularity for eternity. Depends on your definition of enlightenment, of course. It is just a word. If we talk about enlightenment as a permanent cessation of suffering and seeing reality clearly, I do believe it is possible.

You are free to believe anything you wish - even nothing at all. But I do not think you will have a very fulfilling life as a human being if you view others as being illusions in your life. Best wishes

All part of the neverending, immaculate glory of Being, buddy. We certainly don't need anything at all to be happy, but it's fun to see what our creativity and emerging intelligence can do in this finite world... like virtual-reality games, or Actualized.org, or any other number of weird stuff. Love to you

Desire is really nothing more than anticipation of a given outcome. When we have lust, that is sexual desire focused on an orgasm with a pleasurable mate (or one's hand, lmaooo). Desire may arise in an enlightened being only if they incline themselves toward those lustful thoughts with the intent of having sexual desire. Which raises the question - is it still desire if it's cultivated intentionally? For example, when I'm with my wife, I can very easily flick on "desire" and start taking in the moment from the POV of a sexual creature. But generally I don't have much desire arise - it's a distraction for the most part, and I don't feed it with attention. Nota bene: I am not fully enlightened... so I can't speak to that completely. Just parroting what teachers have told me.

Sure, but I doubt most of us want to live in a world that says "all is fine" and abandons technology right now. And if we say we do, we are deluding ourselves... as we write on our computers/phones

You're preaching to the choir, man We have all had profound trips and experiences that teach us this directly... so we are on the same page. I was simply stating why solipsism (I, the individual = the Absolute, and all others are not real) is dangerous. Be well

A better question would be, "How do enlightened people see eating?" We normal people can experience desire for a chocolate cake and enjoy eating it, but the desire really isn't needed. One can still enjoy the experience of chocolate cake without the desire leading to it. Same with sex.

There's no reason why materialism can't help explain certain aspects of our existence, even if it's just a conventional shorthand. Example... you still use a car to move between apparent locations. We cannot just "teleport" via mind. The same way Leo and others take the Covid vaccine... it is an appearance within consciousness, but still "works" given the rules of conventional existence. One cannot simply "think away" certain diseases or issues with the body. And if they think they can, the rest of the world would like to see it

God, the Source, Totality... whatever name you prefer. The name for the emptiness underlying all of existence, yet also existing AS that somethingness. The Absolute = nothing yet everything. Solipsism is essentially hijacking the existence of the Absolute as a way of saying, "I (insert name of individual here) am the true Absolute. All others are just pawns in my world."

Yes and no. After an initial awakening experience, I saw sex as something dirty and unnecessary. A distraction from seeking the truth. Eventually, however, I came to the realization that sex is like anything else in life—one does not need it to be fulfilled, but it can be fun and provide connection with others. I have a "healthy" sex life with my wife. Sexual craving is one of many possible mind-states that arises, and part of being a sentient mammal. Fully enlightened beings may not experience cravings, but they can still enjoy it the same as swimming, riding a bike, or video games.

You are largely correct here - however, I'd also add that the academic definition of solipsism extends beyond the supposition about the mentally constructed world. Solipsism in everyday speech means that a person literally believes that they are the only conscious being, and that all others are merely philosophical zombies. A very dangerous misconception for those who start believing they, the individual, are the same as The Absolute (rather than seeing themselves as one of many - conventionally speaking - apparent manifestations of the Absolute).

Hey Edan. Sorry to hear you're goin' through it. I will offer some general advice as a ripe 28-year-old, so take it or leave it as it applies. First, you are 19. Some people are 45 and still haven't grown up or moved out of their parents' house. You have plenty of time to change. Second, psychedelics can help in some cases but also make them far worse in others. Be at a good place with life before thinking about it. They are often touted as a magic bullet, but they can harm as much as they heal. They amplify the mind's current state. Third, I encourage you to pick up one hobby that you feel you can give 100% (or even 60% to). It could be fitness, or writing, or art... it doesn't matter if you are good or not. Develop the discipline to do that hobby and you will improve in all aspects. Fourth, consider finishing high school in some form (even as a GED). It will help you in life tremendously, and you will feel it has "capped off" that part of your life so you can move forward. Fifth, do consider medication for the time being. Suicidal thoughts are no joke, and many are treated well by medication. You don't have to take it forever... but it will act as a crutch (much as when one has a broken leg) until you are healed enough in other areas to stand on your own. And sixth, check out meditation or yoga as a daily routine. This will help leaps and bounds. But seriously, cover your bases first. Finish up education, pick up a hobby, consider meds until you're ready to move past it. Changes that seem small add up over time and transform your life. You can always come back to the formless and infinite once you handle form and the finite. Best of luck, let me know if you have any specific questions.

Solipsism (as I mentioned on an earlier thread) is rooted, academically, in the idea that YOU are conscious, but nobody else, as far as you know. This is an incorrect view. Being/Source/the Absolute holds every mind within it, but it does not remove the individual aspect. The Absolute is simultaneously interacting as all of us and none of us. It is beyond ideas, beyond thinking... contemplate and seek until you reach a point of understanding. The experience can never be put into words! Short version: The Absolute is everybody and everything, yet all individuals exist (conventionally speaking) on their own within the Absolute. This truth is nondual (not two—but also not "one" for the purposes of everyday living, which is why the Buddha and other teachers had to teach other beings to find the Absolute themselves).

First off, don't frame it as trying to kill the ego. We all need an ego to function in a complex world. Ego is not a mistake; it is a feature of sentient creatures. Any attempts to willfully kill your ego will only reinforce it—survival is the ego's main goal. So, with that out of the way, awareness does not need thought to function. Awareness knows without effort. Right now, you are aware of everything occurring around you without needing to do anything. Why? Because your mind is not doing the seeing, the hearing, etc... there is only the seen, the heard, etc. Cognition need not be involved. To that point, "I am" is better off as a contemplation, not a "tool" or "vehicle" to teach what awareness and the nature of reality is. Reality alone recognizes itself and liberates by that truth. In summary, what you are trying to do in meditation is learn to trust in awareness already knowing itself. We do this by continually bringing awareness back to its own nature. No need to try to create an experience or get rid of anything. Just notice, over and over, what is NOT awareness. If you get lost in thought, notice that. If you see bright light, notice that. Don't cling to or reject anything. Good luck, friend