Nic

My pleasure, I'm not into making contacts here, I'm more on the opposite side, making less contact... so, I'm sorry, I'm not into skyping, I hope you understand and I'm a big writer, it makes me believe in my own bullshit even more you see? - I personally don't chase enlightenment. I chase lasting happiness through self awareness. Enlightenment is in my view like getting old, in the sens that you become it, you don't choose to become it. I've looked for truth & happiness not enlightenment. I had recently the chance of being able to taste what enlightenment is like through that mindset, and I'm still not looking for it. I got interested in it after the experiences, this is why I believe I'm here I guess, but on the forum, it feels like it's a new religion, a concept or a fashion just because in every second post there is this word "enlightenment" in it... I'm not saying it is bad and I find it normal for people to have questions about it so they don't feel like they do this all for nothing. - Yes I think it is possible to live with a healthy mindset with or without looking for enlightenment. What is important in my opinion is the amount of love you express, as you are what you express, nothing more, nothing less. This realization made all the difference for me. I found out that my happiness was directly related to the amount of love I expressed, that the reasons of why I didn't express love in the first place was because of my mind finding reasons not to do so. I learned from then that the voice lives with fear and speaks lies based in fear and that I was falsely identifying with the voice, that it was just a voice, not my voice, that I didn't question before biting into his stories. I hope it helps! Take care!

@Algi I find myself in the following situation: One of my brothers and his wife are sailing round the globe since 8 years, on their way from New Caledonia to Australia at this very moment. I told him briefly about the no self and the no freewill concept over skype the other day. They both just went outrageous... My brother can't control himself when emotions are involved... (I made him at least realize that...) he is the kind of guy who is really involved in ecology and want to change the world. He plans now to come back to Europe and I can see myself already having big conversations about it, but live, which means he is constantly going to push my buttons (he knows them by heart), my ego, by making fun out of me and interrupting me. I of course told him to look at Leo's video, but he didn't watch any of them. On one side, I see that his huge ego is just going to be full of the best arguments to make sure that I' m wrong in his mind and he'll deceive himself. On the other side, he'll notice that their might be some truth to it and I'll be winning the argumentation. In both outcomes, I can see from here my ego growing. The first outcome, I'll feel sadness, for him and his wife. Because I really love him and I would like him to see the world in my eyes so he can be released of all this political non sens he is involved with, always preaching, and seeking for solutions, know it all kind of guy, (some girls told me that same claim towards me years ago, I'm probably not much better than him, still I like to believe that I'm improving, and I always take into consideration that I'm could be wrong...) The second outcome: I'll be very proud to make my brother change his mind and realize something about himself that he will later attribute to his own discovery as he always does haha... The thing is and the truth is that my clinging to the story of the path to enlightenment is not better that his clinging to a political party. As much as I want to let go, I feel the resistance to what is in me, the clinging of telling the story, at least to my loved ones, the need for argumentation. This is a real blockage I have to learn to let go of for my personal growth. I have these lessons somewhere in the back of my mind, and in the back of my self development files on my computer, also in the back of my bookshelves ... but my ego in the middle tells me not to look at them and to write this post instead... I'm halfway there. I've been there already years ago. Everything comes into place, I accept where I Am. Everything is fine as it is. I'm honest with myself and I know that the problem comes from listening and clinging to the voice. The more I talk about it, the more I write about it, the more I can see and recognize the lies in the voice, the more I see the urge of letting go, in that case the forum can be a therapy as well.... but Will it be enough to let go of it all? Only time will tell! Take care!

@Andrew You have images of yourself in your head. These are dreams. You could have the same kind of images about your partner or the world, they are just not reality. You construct a fake reality in your head, compare this picture with the only reality there is and judge. So you basically do 4 mistakes. You bite into the dream of yours, you resist reality and you divide the world in good and bad by judging it. Finally you believe that your judgment about yourself is correct that of course is also a dream. Best thing to do, is to not bite in the dream. Remove the faith you have in those dreams by taking notice of the emotion. When you feel the negative emotion, this were you can tell yourself... I'm lying to myself right here! Nothing ever fits the expectations of the mind! It's a dream, wake up! I hope it helps, Take care

Happened the same to me years ago, hard and painful to realize it, but this is part of the process. I would lie if would say that It is not a problem anymore. To say the contrary would mean that I don't have an ego anymore, which is not the case. This realization of self deception, actually can make you feel humble and notice that this work is a lot harder, more subtle and longer than you can ever imagine. It will never stop. If you don't hunt your ego down, it will hunt you as long as you are not enlightened. You are still identifying with the voice inside, this is the problem even though you tell everybody how to and what it is all about to free yourself from ego. And it is a problem when you are trying to make a point. You will identify with what you think. This is a BIG problem!!! This is the reason why I'm thinking to force myself of leaving the forum for a while, I'm starting to have much more mind chatter than before, my ego loves it though. This is where I see the problematic paradigm for seeking peace of mind. Will this forum and the chase for enlightenment in general create more or less mind chatter, more or less identification with your thoughts, this is what you have to pay attention to. Take care

Did you show them some of Leo's spiritual enlightenment videos? Why not? That could lead to some interesting conversations or are they so dogmatic you can't even talk about it. Be prepared for an unstable relationship on the long term with them, romantic or not! Your true nature will come out of you one day. Lying to yourself is never a good idea. Their "Jesus magic" as you call it, is just another story, it is like a political party. Join it if you like, in reality, it won't make you or them happier. You could be a moslem, it wouldn't make a single difference. Your mind tells you that christianity is better than moslem because you're a westerner. Their so called faith in Jesus is a lie. They don't believe in Jesus, they believe in their stories about Jesus. They put their faith in their beliefs, not the truth. So drop the question-answering process... What is good for me, for them, for my life, the world? Where are worries created? Nothing is bad or good. The voice in your head is playing with you because you are wrongly identified with it. Notice it, thank it for the offer it has made and get on with life. Get a master at this. Enjoy the art of letting go of thoughts. Take care

They are a lot of traps on the way. The fact that people can take your hand on the way is a blessing, take this chance. You will fall in the traps anyway, teachers can get you out of the traps quicker. Don't think you can climb the Mt Everest on your own, you'll be soon coming back down or remain at the same level if you don't use sherpas.

Do you have exemples in your life when it is the case that it is good to resist? I "know" that at work for exemple I could do more for my colleagues, my customers, the company, the environment, but if I would do all the things my head is telling what is good for everybody, first of all I would not go through another day like this at work, I'd had a burn out very quickly, second, what tells me that if I do it, my mind is going to be satisfied??? In that sens I apply self protection and try my best to be OK with my own decisions and doings, reminding me that what I'm doing is my best. In a sens I resist what my head is telling me, that I could do more, that I'm not OK, that my colleagues are lazy, that my costumers are adults which act like selfish children, that my company abuse their employees, and ultimately that the world is not perfect as it is. I (try my best to) stop judging and biting into the internal dialogue. In this case I see resistance as a good thing. Resisting the ego by not biting into it. Thanking him for his advice and go on. As long as this will make me happy, I will apply that philosophy.

@Gary Hi Gary, when you are back from your retreat, I would like to have your opinion and allowance about me releasing every now and then my notes and/or transcriptions about your (free) podcast, the theory (not the mastery course), with the link to your podcast, so that the people can see better what we are talking about here, so they can have a better view if they want to join your mastery course, which the first 4 exercises are free of charge, I wouldn't know why they have not already signed up. But some people like reading more than listening especially on forums, also they could use it, summarize it (if not already done by me), which was like doing a mandala in the Himalaya with buddhist monks. This also could help me here as I could link directly to an internal page the transcription/resume and the link to your podcast when I see that someone has questions related to a topics that could help to understand things better. I would understand if you refuse, I mean this is your lifework and also, you might not see it as a helpful thing, people has to do the work on their own at the end, but I guess it could actually be good advertising and help a lot of people. All I want to do is thanking you and help others, so tell me what you think of it! Take care

@Waveenergy Hi man, sorry I won't give you arguments but the identification of the root of the problem. You already feel that stress is not good for your body apparently, there is no better argument than the one you already feel. The more you worry, the more unconscious fear based emotions you express and therefor feel, this of course means stress for your body... Does worrying help in any situation? Could anything that happened to your body be avoided? Those questions can't be really answered so don't even ask the question! The problem is not your health but the question-answering process, identification with the voice, not being conscious. By giving you arguments of why you shouldn't be worried, this will actually increase the identification to the voice. Step out of the running wheel and observe the dialogue that is happening in your head. Take care my friend!

Sure!

Hi falk, Having a bit of mind chatter here my friend? I give you mine back... The problem of human beings is that they always try to make sens out of everything, life, love, war, enlightenment, not enlightened, rollercoasters... where there is none. Things are. Nothing more, nothing less. As I see it, life is not about being blissful or enlightened but it's about being in harmony with the world that reflects only how we use and trained our mind to perceive it. For the notion and expectation to be happy whatever the circumstances. I give you my word that this is actually possible. Not because I reached enlightenment but because I raised my awareness about what emotions are and how they arise. If you become aware that those emotions are the result of your unconscious mind and you make through practice that entire process conscious, then It's ok to feel bad, you'll be able to reverse that in no time and reduce the chatter in your head because you become aware of it and choose another path that what you usually take by automatic, unconscious reactions. I don't want to cut my arm and see if I can be ok with that, my life is enough like anybody else, full so called of crapy, challenging moments. I'm just saying that your level of happiness is the result of expressing emotions based in love, and this is a mastery that you can verify by yourself doing the course I advertise in the topic where we review programs. At the moment I'm in a low of the rollercoaster, I know I will reverse that. I'm conscient to be still on my way to get better. It takes time, step by step, I'm slowly getting back to where I was a few years ago when I did the program seriously. This moment is perfection, there is only our mind in the way that prevent us from seeing it the way. Take care! Edit: The goal for me and I assume for everybody else, is to be up the rollercoaster most of the time, and not to dramatise when I'm down, nothing more really.

@Falk I will... tomorrow ok? I got a "real" excuse, I'm sick...

Long version I'm sorry for your friend. It's not gonna be easy but to see that guys like Nick Vujicic can teach happiness to others, might give him hope! I hope he will find peace.

1) Bangladesh 2) Alaskan crab fishing, or I doubt that you'll make to a year on one of those boats mate, but you'll surely meet interesting people like former prisoners that want to make some serious cash. Enjoy the beauty of modern society, sounds like the perfect plan! I hope you'll find peace But In my experience, I only found peace in trying to accept what is, not in running away from everything. Take care!

Hi Actualizer, the real problematic is not that people agree or disagree, this is not the real problem, the problem is that we all have ideas we want to share, questions we'd like to answer, or find answers to... and this is the basic of mind chatter, where the ego has its roots, (rational) thinking. It's what we've been trained to do since birth. The real question is: did this community help you reduce mind chatter? If tomorrow you come without questions, then perfect! Is this community a good thing? If you want to chat, virtually socialize, sure mate! But If you want peace of mind, I'm not that sure! It all depends what you do with it! This community is a tool. Make sure not to harm yourself with it (create more mind chatter), and this is a message for me too of course. I noticed my mind chatter increased since I'm here, exactly the contrary of what I was looking for... what about yours? I didn't have much social interactions before this forum besides at work. Trying to help people looking for answers to their "not valid questions" made "not valid answers" grow in my mind. I might leave one day actually... Take care

@Falk Your post made me laugh as I could really relate to that! Yeah, I got to make it to a full hour one day, that would be already a good improvement! Thank you very much for the description. It motivated me but I could hear my ego in the background say "NO, you won't make it anyway!" I don't know why though? Got definitely to work on that! Take care!

Hi dodoster, I have paranormal experiences myself, I don't know if I'm deceiving myself, I wouldn't say that those exist or not, Ultimately, at this present moment, I just can believe to know the truth but I will not experience the truth unless I become enlightened, about para or normal experiences alike. What tells me that enlightenment can give me or anybody answers on the paranormal... ? There might be another level... What I know, it seems like to me, there is something else to this life that our eyes can see. I'm not trying to make sens out of it, I'm not labeling it, not judging it, I just do a simple observation. My point is that you are looking for an answer that sounds logical to you. I can give you a lot of answers about the after/before life... will you bite into it? How will you be sure that this is the truth? Believing me will not bring you closer to the truth because it just won't be. But after you believed me, one day, a so called professional about the paranormal or the normal will tell you a better story that you'll bite into. Cool man, your rational part of your mind will be satisfied again, but you will just believe in a story that brought you satisfaction for not being in doubt anymore. And this time you will be sure to be sure! What we are doing here on this forum is mostly mind chattering to its finest. Exchanging, comparing and believing ideas or answers to questions that are not valid. Even what I tell you right now is mind chatter. Nothing is logical, especially the paranormal, my advice is that you should look at those experiences like any other experience, it just happened. Nothing is bad or good, nothing makes sens, not even and especially the fact that we can ask ourselves questions. Don't worry, I was looking for answers too and most people still do! Your last question is about past events... the questions on the top can't be verified and are implying to many factors for one to tell you the correct answer. Just live the present moment, which is not possible if you are trying to make sens about the world. The only sens you will find will satisfy your mind but it won't be the truth. If you want to see a sign from those experiences, I would recommend you to follow your intuition (as I see it, your heart, nature's intelligence), but not your common sens (so called human intelligence). Unless a ghost punches you in the face and tells you that he is going to make your life a living hell, I wouldn't worry. Embrace those moments of not knowing what is happening! Take care

On the path to spiritual enlightenment, from what I've experienced, nothing leads you nowhere. And this is exactly where I want to be! You are trying to make sens out of something that doesn't make sens at all. Stop the question-answering process my friend!

Tank you Gary for taking the time out of your retreat???

Please describe your mediation, your experiences, and how you feel afterwards, I never did it for so long! I'm very happy with my 20-40 min sessions for now, motivate me!

Here is my favorite guitarist of all time Kelly Joe Phelps, I'm following him since 1999. Concerts for $15, such a humble man.

Hi Stephanie, I don't know if it exists, I just know that If you look for an answer, that will make the thing that you are trying to get rid of stronger. The question will make you spin until you find an answer that you like... and then come the next question. Like "isn't it something good to be able to ask questions?" Step out of the running wheel. The question-answering process is making you believe that there is a right a wrong, this creates the (false) separation. Silence is golden has never been so true. Watch your head looking for an answer, it runs on automatic. Understanding is not what will help you on this path. Doubts will help you much more! Not the answers to those doubts, only the feeling of doubts, watch it and embrace it! Take care