OneHandClap

This should be the default-copy paste antidote to every single regurgitated "soLipSisM iS tRuE!" post on this forum.

I've taken Lexapro. It helped my life immensely. My entire family, generations and generations, has struggled with panic disorder. I'm down with spirituality and have done retreats, tripped hundreds of time, reached godhead, yadda yadda, but there are biological truths as well. Without SSRIs, I may have ended my life. They were a temporary fix that showed me a different way to engage with my neural chemistry and remain centered. So with all due respect to the posters above who are ardently against antidepressants, it's fairly clear that none of you have ever experienced the depths of misery that are possible for some people with genetic predispositions to mental illness. But whatever makes you feel holy and enlightened, I guess. Lol. Edit: I think @soos_mite_ah's take is a good one. They are temporary and not the end-all-be-all magic fix to life. But it's like insulin for diabetics. Most people do not need it, and that's great. But the few who thrive on them may need them. Life is not black and white.

They're called intrusive thoughts. Everybody has them in different situations and with varying levels of intensity. The problem isn't the images, it's your reaction to them. You are not "making" them appear; they are spontaneously appearing. Therefore, let go of the need to suppress, change, or destroy them. The moment you can do this, you will be free of the problem. Images are just images, thoughts are just thoughts. And yes, as others said, OCD can intensify the recurrence of and/or fixation upon these thoughts/images. Professional help and medication are options, if you feel they are extremely disturbing to your quality of life, but otherwise don't worry too much. Everyone has thoughts and feelings they try to ignore or push down. You just happen to notice them more readily.

Logical gap in here somewhere. It is certainly an assumption in terms of death and the sun rising, but that is because those events take place in some imagined future state. I don't think "eating food helps you survive" is an assumption in the same way you're stating it here. There is fairly obvious evidence that eating food does keep us alive. It's an easily tested hypothesis. I understand what you're driving at, but you are playing fast and loose with the word "assumption." If we keep stretching it, we can call literally anything an assumption. The trouble with this via negativa is that it leads literally nowhere. We can call anything and everything "an assumption," but it makes no tangible difference in the way we interact with the world for things like eating food. At best, it's just a way to look like we're the ultimate masters of deconstructionist thinking. If we're going to step back and say "Aha, you can't know literally anything," then there's zero point in even trying to discuss reality anymore. At that point, you have essentially removed yourself from any conversation about knowledge or the ability to know. It's similar to a solipsist saying "There are no other people." It's already negating itself by the mere fact that the solipsist is telling this... to other people. A solipsist cannot take part in debate because they are beyond the bounds of logic that the rest of us adhere to. So, in summary, if we want to claim we can't know literally anything, there's no point in even making the statement "You can't know." Because that, in itself, is a logical assertion that is self-defeating.

Damn, that is wild. I'll admit, I was somewhat skeptical while first reading because I was like, "C'mon, sometimes the 'energy' we read from people is way off..." But lo and behold, you proved me wrong. Sounds like a certified asylum masquerading as a restaurant. Glad you're alive

I think there's plenty of ways/explanations we can come up with, but ultimately those end up being stories. As Nahm often says, they only occur as thoughts. We have to imagine that such a thing is true for it to be true. So in that sense, the best thing to do is forget the stories, the beliefs, the reasons, the logic. All we know for sure is that there is THIS experience, right now, right here

It has nothing to do with God "choosing" to make anything—it's a survival instinct that plays out in the human realm. Humans are threatened by "strange" ways of thinking and behaving. The "will of the Absolute" has zero to do with it. It's a human notion, through and through. There's no dualism between humans and the infinite, in which humans are struggling "against" something by design. It's just the way it is. If you lived in a tribal culture, you might be seen as a holy mystic for having these kinds of experiences. It all has to do with culture, programming, and social norms.

Hey bud, been there several times before. The simplest answer (hardest to do) is to realize that no matter what you might think about reality, if it involves any fear, it's not the end of the road. As @Seraphim said very nicely, oneness tends to get corrupted by the ego and twisted into a solipsistic nightmare where we think "Oh shit, everyone is ME, I am everything." In reality, it's more like... everything is everything. "You" and all other beings just happen to be small portions of the grand show. In truth, there is only the show, not even you or other people. But right now, what you need to focus on is laughing at the absurdity. Don't try to figure it out or put your foot down to establish the boundaries of what is real. Just laugh. Realize you will someday die, and nothin' really matters at the end of the day. It's a gigantic, hilarious experience that no amount of thinking will ever solve. So for now, set aside the thoughts of instant manifestation. Set aside ideas of one vs many, self vs other, oneness, solipsism, whatever. Realize that reality is just what it is... reality. Have a good time, pet a dog, watch a stupid movie. Life's a trip.

First date at a coffee shop never failed me. Small investment, and you get to learn if the woman actually likes you or just wants a free meal and company for a few hours. It's how I met my wife, in fact Just a casual reminder that dropping fat stacks on a woman to impress her is never a good idea for a first or even second encounter. If she likes your vibe, she'll stick around.

Fullllyyyyyyy agreed on all counts. Hit it out of the park as usual, mr Flyboy

This is God realization right here

What is the sound of two booty cheeks twerking?

The thing is, if they are already God, there is no need to try to shove it in their face or explain it to them. If they are in the right spot to seek it out, they will see your behavior and ask questions. If they want to play the material/success game, let them have fun. There is no "mandate" that everyone must awaken. It is a choice given with love.

Well said! I definitely had a low-key manic phase where I went around telling all my friends, family, etc about how they needed to meditate and directly perceive reality. I wanted them all to share in that bliss. A few awakening/insight/satori experiences later, I understood how futile and empty that compulsion it was. It was more of wanting to be viewed as some awakened being than actually having a genuine drive to teach. A few close friends still do consult with me about practices, but I never pressure, only reply to what they need at that moment. As you said, everyone has their own path

It's very easy to go the distance and keep your mouth shut. One who has actually reached "genuine enlightenment" has no need to run around telling other people. They demonstrate it in their compassion, their wisdom, their discernment, their honesty. There is no need to become an evangelical preacher. Edit: I am not saying everyone HAS to shut up, only that those who are called to teach will do so in a straightforward and simple manner, without trying to force it on others. The ones who end up institutionalized try to force it.

Not all of them are. Many modern teachers who have "gone the full distance" are as normal as you or I. The difference is that they've learned to keep their mouths shut and not try to convert people/preach to them about what God realization feels like. "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." The ones who end up in mental hospitals are the ones who have a manic swing after a huge breakthrough and try to show off their new spiritual ego by telling everyone and their grandma how they've cracked reality and understood everything. In short, keep it in your pants Nobody else can be enlightened by shouting "crazy" shit at them.

Anytime, my dude. I'll admit that I have been disheartened by the extreme solipsism vibes that some posters give off here. We can only retreat into DMT tunnels and infinite bliss voids for a certain amount of time before we come back to the basic ideas of Zen... All ideas are dualistic and wrong. If we think we have the full truth, we are just making up stories that sound true. Materialism does not have the "whole picture," but neither does Leo's model, nor does Buddhism, or Christianity, or any other philosophy in history. The thing I do like about this forum is that there are many who make an earnest attempt to understand reality using the tools we have. Anyway, to cut my ranting short, happy to talk about this stuff anytime—PM me if you get a little worn down by the absolutist talk and want to wax philosophy/existence Cheers.

I had a hard time with quitting weed. One thing you have to consider, over and over, is... what do I gain by quitting? The fact is, people telling you that you should quit (and even telling yourself that) is not enough for us hardcore, addictive personalities. My own "real quit" came naturally, from just noticing (over time) the negative effects that smoking weed had on my life. Pay attention to the time wasted sitting on the couch. Pay attention to grocery bills from munchies. Pay attention to the cost of the weed. Pay attention to the anxiety from smoking. Pay attention to literally everything, and the choice will make itself. Voila.

Leo's beef with science is more philosophical than pragmatic. It's pretty clear, from both his videos and his statements on the forum, that he does respect and even admire scientific progress, as it's an inevitable part of an evolving universe. That being said, I share your feelings that the anti-science/knowledge vibes can come off a bit dogmatically. Sam Harris has interviewed a few nonduality people (Adyashanti, Rupert Spira, etc), and it's the same basic dilemma... one simply cannot prove that there is, or is not, a material universe that is inaccessible to consciousness. One camp says there is a universe beyond awareness, and the other says it's too big of an assumption and therefore worth discarding. Personally, I'm completely ambiguous on the question. Agnostic, you might say. Does it really matter if there is or isn't a universe that persists beyond personal experience? Probably not. I am more materialist in thinking than many people on these forums, no matter how many oneness, Godhead, nondual, reality-dissolving experiences I've had via psychedelics and meditation. We simply do not have the ability to make universal "truth" statements. It's like asking a software program to describe the room its hardware is located in. We have zero access to it either way, so no need to go on polemics for or against it. All I do know is that materialism, as a scientific approach, has yielded the most consistent results. Mysticism has either demonstrated none, or done extremely poorly in replication. If there are auras, let's see them. If there is such a thing as consciousness "leaving the body," let's have some studies where NDE patients accurately report data they couldn't have experienced from their body. So, in short... is consciousness creating everything, or is consciousness merely reflective/aware of external phenomena and representing them through hallucinations we term "experience?" That debate will never end.

Oh, I did, which is that reality is a big dream and we're dreaming for fun because the void is boring or whatever... but that doesn't really help the people who are dying of cancer or starving or victims of molestation. I'm just offering the counterpoint, which is that the true task is to learn to love this experience of reality. Call it a dream, call it real, call it whatever... it is what it is.

Hahaha, right back at you. I've had many "oneness" experiences and Godhood terror and all the rest, so no worries there. I just like busting balls. What fun would life be without a little bruising? Love ya.

Absolutely. There was no pain or fear in the formless void. Therefore, pain and fear are not "real." They are human emotions we feel in response to that which is seen as unpleasant or frightening. But if we can love the void... there is no fear!

It sounds like a nice story, I will grant you that

Your method is great Everyone has to come to their own realization of that fact—that the mind produces infinite stories—to stop buying into said stories. You seem very grounded! Another good way to go about it is to ask oneself... did I believe this when I was a child? If we really think back, we "understood" reality the best before we understood anything at all. When we were children, we experienced life without needing to understand, grasp, or conceptualize. Awakening is a process of coming back to that original state, prior to all the ideas and attachments to our petty little beliefs.

This is just as much of an assumption as the assumption that the sun will rise again. Your assumption here is that there is no material universe that continues to operate without your perception. Well, surprise, both of those are assumptions. Universe, no universe... they're both just beliefs. Words. Leo's words, to be more precise