HMD

@Leo Gura Are you talking about the stage Green kind of love ? I smoked a high dose of hashish some time ago, during this I had a mystical experience, as I was listening to Sufi mystical poetry. Since then, I have developed an intense appreciation for other human beings. I appreciate that they exist. I appreciate that I can communicate with them, no matter how weird, malevolent, and stupid they can be. I appreciate the diversity and the beauty in them. But as you said It's hard to describe. Maybe because you are now at higher stages, so absolute love comes easier for you.

@Leo Gura Can you please describe it? what do you think stops one from experiencing it ?

@integral Exactly!

@integral Recently, i have fed almost all information about my worldview, development stage, and core beliefs to it, and asked it to create a model of me. Now I ask Chat GPT specific challenges that I face in the developmental journey. And surprisingly, It gave me valuable insights. I also gave it some of the most common negative thought patterns that I have noted down in My journal, and asked it to re write these thoughts in a more positive, healthy, and inspiring way. And THAT has been a game changer as well; It essentially let me edit the life-story that I create in my mind with various powerful alternates. The key here is to make keep these mental models as close as you can to your Direct experience to avoid the trap of being deluded. Finally, I describe my half-baked theories and models of reality (that I develop to understand reality better) to It and ask it to make these models more robust and fill in any gaps. For instance, I created a mental model to navigate the landscape of emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. It was pretty basic. Here is how the conversation went: Me: "Create a model that uses a garden as consiousness, beliefs as trees or plants, fruits and flowers as thoughts, negative beliefs as weeds, the sun as God, the soil and the nutrients as things that keep the mind healthy" ChatGPT: " Here is a model that uses a garden as a metaphor for consciousness, beliefs as trees or plants, thoughts as fruits and flowers, negative beliefs as weeds, the sun as God, and the soil and nutrients as things that keep the mind healthy: The Garden of Consciousness: Imagine your mind as a garden. It's a place where all your beliefs, thoughts, and emotions grow. Trees and Plants: Your beliefs are like trees and plants in the garden. They provide structure and shape to your mind. Some beliefs are strong and healthy, while others may be weak or unhealthy. Fruits and Flowers: Your thoughts are like fruits and flowers in the garden. They are the products of your beliefs and emotions. Some thoughts are positive and nourishing, while others may be negative and harmful. Weeds: Negative beliefs are like weeds in the garden. They can choke out the growth of healthy beliefs and thoughts. The Sun: The sun represents God or a higher power. It provides the light and energy that nourishes all the plants in the garden. Soil and Nutrients: The soil and nutrients in the garden represent the things that keep your mind healthy. This could include things like mindfulness, self-care, therapy, and other practices that nourish the mind and promote mental well-being. Garden Maintenance: To keep the garden of your mind healthy and flourishing, it is important to tend to it regularly. This includes regularly identifying and removing weeds, nurturing the healthy plants, and providing it with the necessary nutrients. This model can help you to understand the relationship between your beliefs, thoughts, and emotions and how they influence each other. It can also help you to identify negative beliefs and thoughts and work on replacing them with positive and healthy ones. Also, it encourages you to be mindful of your mental well-being and take the necessary steps to maintain it." Me: How can we represent emotions along the lines of this metaphor? ChatGPT: Emotions as the Water: Emotions can be seen as the water that nourishes the plants and helps them grow. Just as water is essential for the growth and survival of plants, emotions are essential for the growth and development of the mind. Emotions as the Sunlight: Emotions can also be seen as the sunlight that shines on the garden, providing the energy and warmth that is needed for growth. Just as sunlight is necessary for the health of plants, emotions are necessary for the health of the mind. Emotions as the Soil: Emotions can also be seen as the soil that provides the foundation and context for all the other elements of the garden. They influence the way we perceive things and shape our thoughts, beliefs, moods and feelings. Emotions as the Gardeners: Emotions can also be seen as the gardeners that tend to the garden, taking care of the plants, removing the weeds, and ensuring that everything is healthy and thriving. Emotions as the Fruits: Emotions can also be seen as fruits that grow in the garden, like the product of the beliefs, thoughts, and mood. They can be positive or negative, and they can convey the nature of the emotional process. Ultimately, it's important to remember that emotions are a natural and important aspect of the human experience, and they play an important role in shaping the garden of consciousness. Understanding and managing So, From here I delved deeper into the nature of Emotions and understood them better. Because I already had a good understanding of what everything else is represented by, but I couldn't figure out where emotions fit.

@Ulax Thanks for sharing. I'll take note of these.

What are your top 10 rules of thumb when it comes to using the mind effectively without letting it take over completely?

That voice in my head has always been there. It might feel like an ally or an adversary depending on the situation. I try to protect myself from it at times, while it protect me at others. It has greatly benefited me in my life. It has helped me get laid, make money, win disputes, stand up for myself, and much more. Additionally, it has protected me from getting hurt. To put it another way, survival. However, the voice has never been without cost. You have no control over it. You have no choice over what it says, and you believe it all. If not all, then certainly the majority. And it isn't always good. It is the ultimate demon, tyrant, deceiver, and manipulator. It's the sniper and Red Riding Hood. It's none other than the Devil himself. I trusted it because I had no one else to rely on. I needed answers, but no one was available to provide them. So I trusted the voice I could hear the best. Because God was nowhere to be found outside the temple or somewhere above the sky, far beyond my reach. I eventually realized, though, that God had always been creating It—God had sent It, and God had created it. However, upon further reflection, I realized that it was all me; I was the one who was creating this voice. That God was right there; it was simply me. I was God, creating all the joy, terror, lust, love, fear, and joy. And, of course, the "I" and the Devil too. I created it all so that one day I might come home. Just as you are creating me, this text and the meaning behind each word. A reminder for you to return to yourself, your home, my home, and our home. The one to which we are inevitably and ultimately forced to return to.

@Leo Gura Makes total sense. And always being open to the possibility of your current beliefs being wrong (constant not knowing)?

So, After a lot of contemplation, meditation, and failures I became directly aware of my beliefs. And that was a huge step in my development. I became aware of how I held beliefs about almost everything and how I use these beliefs to filter what I see, How my whole Identity revolves around a bunch of beliefs, and that Direct experience is way too profound to be converted into some sort of belief. Direct experience is truly unbelievable. And while I have faith that living in direct experience, without hinging my sense of self on beliefs is better than the contrary, I am still not sure about what exactly is the advantage. I mean, sure I am a lot happier, peaceful, calm, present, funnier, and loving but one thought keeps popping up and that is; can you really live life without holding any beliefs at all? For context, I am 22 Y/o male in my last year of college, struggling financially, without a father, and with a whole family to take care of. I have just started working for an amazon client, however, I don't have a lot of experience in that field, so Idk how would that work out, but I digress. I feel like I do need some beliefs and I need to choose them consciously. Maybe my perfectionism is playing a role here in making me think that I have to live perfectly without any beliefs, RIGHT NOW! Perhaps, I need to pace myself, let's say, by getting rid of the most toxic and limiting beliefs first, improving my beliefs in different areas of life (social, financial, spiritual, etc..), and improving my meta beliefs; This way I'll be able to get more success in my life, to sustain myself and my family. and Then I can start to live in a more belief-less place. Please share if you resonate with this, or have resonated in the past, and how did you make sense of this paradox? (Also, I am open to any strategic ideas that you might BELIEVE are the best, given my whole family and financial situation) P.s: I have been getting rid of many of my limiting and old beliefs and had some awareness over beliefs, but this is the first time I see the whole picture. (This is another belief that isn't a match against direct experience, but do you see the point I was trying to make earlier?)

Visit a registered dietician (If you can), they are professionally trained to treat diseases like rhinitis. I am still in my final year so I wouldn't give you any nutritional advice. But we have whole courses and specific classes about each and every disease linked with nutrition, and rhinitis is one of them.

One meal a day would slow down your metabolism, or at least it wouldn't be as fast as it can be if you were to eat, let's say, six meals per day. According to literature, the best frequency is five times per day in the following manner: Breakfast - Snack - Lunch - Snack - Dinner