Jwayne

You remind me of me when I was 22 years old. All of these theoretical ideas (Illich, Scott Thornbury, etc.) need to be tested against the fire of experience. Many of the most important qualities are intangible and not written in the perfect lesson plan - like positivity, joy, patience, sense of humor and improvisation. You might like to keep a notebook write down your ideas after each day or lesson, depending on how much time you have. If you are starting your own school, then collaboration with your colleagues is important for keeping a professional dialogue going about your shared experiences and how to improve things. And lastly, don't be afraid of old school, traditional methodology, like listen and repeat. I am sure there was a time when you first learned English or another language. Listen and repeat is a fine and valid technique. Many aspiring teachers with big progressive dreams undervalue the need for students to make mistakes, feel free and to just speak the L2 (L3, etc.) whatsoever. Overall you want to build up the students confidence. You are empowering them. So make it a happy moment. And respect them by doing the old school things, too. Their brains need repetition and practice.

Whether you are old and/or ill, you want loved ones around you. Family and friends - even just one person - to be there to help take care of you and to give you company. If you have that then you can get through almost anything.

Virtual communication only has the advantage of closing distance. But it isn't faster or clearer. If you and I were to talk on the phone right now, we would have 1000x better information exchange and would also (in my experience) walk away on more satisfying terms.

There are alot of hallucinogenic drug addicts here, as well.

Sure, spend time being alone as needed. And also don't get stuck roleplaying digital identities as a substitute for your life offline.

99.9% of people come seeking that as a solution to psychological, physical, sexual, financial, etc. problems. And they end up in long winded cycles of self-deception trying to rationalize how the next stage of transcendence is going to make whatever repressed issue(s) they have better. Sometimes years or decades go by on the spiritual hamster wheel, and it would have been far better to confront their life problems head-on in the beginning.

Just be a student. You don't need to tell yourself that you're a sage or a mystic or enlightened. Just try to always keep learning and don't act arrogant about your experiences.

People overinvest in opinions without realizing it. They feel a need to keep up with everything and constantly stake out clever opinions on this and that. And it causes them a lot of stress unknowingly.

Many people here write in an autistically spergy way that looks almost like they've never socialized before. For ex: "YOU ARE INFINITE LOVE!!!" Its a fake digital persona.

By not bothering to have opinions on everything. Strive to learn when you can about what's important. Have the attitude of a student when possible.

Contribute howsoever you can to help those who are hurting. Starting with those closest to you. Begin with your family and friends. Try to be a positive force to brighten the world around you. A lot of people are sad and apathetic and will appreciate the positive vibes.

This message board is mostly used for egoic oneupsmanship via semantics. Your post introduces a topic that few are willing to address. We need real life friendships offline. Not more online anonymous posturing with our digital identities. I don't know why people are content to browse forums and annoyingly rant about how they are more enlightened than everyone else. We need real offline communities. We need to live our ideas in the world, with strangers, with everyday folk in our daily lives. We don't need to invest more attention in Youtube. We need to challenge ourselves to embody whatever realization we possess in the real world. And to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves about it. And to keep doing better.

You're right that the real challenge is bringing whatever privately held delusions you have about yourself ("I am so enlightened") to bear on the wider world around you in a positive way. Think concretely how to improve your relationships and to contribute to your real life community, like your family. And ignore every one of the clowns trying to one up each other on this thread.

You're not going to be healthy just by repeating quotes of Seneca, if that's what you mean. And if you're not healthy, you're going to suffer physiological problems (i.e. illness) Much of our mental and 'spiritual' suffering is physiological (psycho-somatic) Our happiness also depends on our physical state. So happiness, practically speaking, depends upon the conditions of your life. This is obvious. Nobody is happy when they're stressed, in pain and suffering in their job and relationships. The myth of a transcendentally blissful state acquired by sitting meditation that can erase all of life's problems is very dangerous. It makes for a vicious cycle of repression and self-deception.

This is exactly what I've talked to guys about for the last 5 years. And unlike anonymous internet communities like Actualized (where strangers weirdly boast about their drug usage), I like to have phone calls and do study groups. Nobody solves all their problems by taking hallucinogens and doing vipassana. Reading the dozens of rants of people's personal meditation sessions that are posted here is a waste of your attention. You also need to sort out your hormones and diet. You also need a real community - offline and online. It isn't enough to chat on message boards with people you don't even know who they are.