Key Elements

2 hrs? That's a good amount of time. The type of healthy exercise I was thinking of is just walking at an incline for 1 hr -- going up & down stairs, and hills, and in between, lifting a few weights, doing treadmill, or whatever you prefer, on a daily basis for the rest of one's life. Of course stretch before doing this to prevent cramps. This could also be talked about in the LP in some way.

Definitely! Me too. I think whatever life purpose a person has, eating healthy and exercise can be incorporated.

I always go back to this saying: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. Many of us get caught up in the end results of what we're working toward or the way things will be when we finally achieve something. ... Achieving your version of "enlightenment" is not an endpoint in and of itself. If I research and learn something from someone famous or not because it was wise, I try to take baby action steps on it. This creates your own unique path. It will get clearer as you go along if you're really into it. Try not to cling or get obsessed with anything. Live in the present moment. Also, enlightenment isn't a requirement. To me, if it happens, it happens with "meaningfulness." But then, life continues. All in all, sure you could trust something because you could take actions on it, and it's a wise piece of advice, but sooner or later, you'll move on because the information gets old.

Weddings are only the icing on the cake because it won't be a reflection of what a marriage is about, but of course, there's always a paradox to everything. You get to learn by meeting a lot of ppl, whether it's "challenging" or not. It's like a huge family reunion of family and friends. You get to see how they're doing. You get to reflect and learn from that.

Great question. The term "role model" resonates with me more than "idol." But then, "guide" resonates with me the most. From my experience, I could be inspired by what was taught by these guides for a while, but sooner or later, I would have to practice and embody what was taught and go on my own path. We discover our own path because each of us is unique. I knew something was missing from my life. I was wondering why some ppl do better than others in life in terms of wealth, so I researched and discovered Robert Kiyosaki. He opened the doors for me of what is wealth and passive income. I was looking into different entrepreneurs like Trump (He is/was Kiyosaki's friend. So, I saw them a lot together.), Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Guy Kawasaki, etc. I wasn't just looking at these big guys but also other celebrity entrepreneurs and not so well known entrepreneurs. Spirituality opened up for me when I ran into Leo's clips, esp when he mentioned Ox's tail and I looked into Shinzen Young's clips and The Ten Ox Herding Pics. I've been looking into Buddhism my whole life, but the Ten Ox Herding Pics really struck me. I'm currently in the process of embodying whatever I learned and will express it through my life purpose.

@Elisabeth One other thing that just came into my mind: we can't take anything with us when we finally go. Nothing. If we have possessions, we have to give it up to someone we love, right? Speaking of giving, it's not easy for a human being to be generous. Think about it. How much materials can we give even if some of us may have a lot? Not much, right? I mean, it won't last. Even if an entrepreneur like Trump invested in an apartment complex and inherit it to his child, it won't last forever, although it's better than nothing, but if the entrepreneur isn't careful, he can spoil the child. The child may think he may never have to work in his life. In a practical sense, what does last that you can give generously? A skill. Mastery. Think about it. Do you need to get a PhD for it? Not necessarily. Even Mother Teresa was teaching geography to many poor children, and she spoke very little. She showed through her actions. What do you love to do? How can you turn that into a marketable skill?

@Elisabeth Listen, dear, please take a deep breath. You said a mouthful. I get it. I understand. Make sure you understand that you're hardworking, and that's a blessing! Some ppl, for whatever reason, cannot do this--maybe because of some bad habits or overthinking too much or laziness or whatever. In other words, they have a harder time getting out of it. The way to get out of whatever it is (for anyone), is to realize that we human beings can only live moment by moment. That's it. Whatever the mind projects in the past, or plans for the future, is only a "projection" of the mind. Sure, it's great to plan ahead, but dwelling on it is different. If you ever became aware of what you're doing, you can apply this moment by moment living. It's just like watching a movie. It's only one screen at a time. Notice that when you're doing the dishes or some housework, it can't be done by dwelling on the past or future. It only occurs NOW. Did you notice? It occurs now and it adds up. That's the only way it works. You got to empty your thoughts. Just let them pass by like the wind and be more and more aware of the NOW. I had an empty notebook that I planned to journal in. Instead, what happened was, I started writing in a foreign language. I kept going--didn't care what my thoughts where telling me. I just let them go. One day, the founder of a school hired me as a bilingual teacher. I have a website, a blog, and written a book. I still have a long way to go. But, my path is no different than letting go of thoughts and doing the dishes in the NOW. It adds up to something wonderful. That's the only way it works.

@Nahm I still like to learn new stuff and put the puzzle pieces together as I go along.

I never heard of this part in any Buddhist stories/history.

Hit Songs Mashup

Inducing the experience of the no-self with 5meo like that sounds fishy to me because... for example, before it happened to Buddha, he went around asking all the gurus what was life about? Why was there suffering in this world? Etc. Etc. Buddha saw many suffering homeless ppl when he left his palace. He had all these unanswered questions but none of those gurus answered his questions with satisfaction. So, he went ahead and meditated hoping to find the answers. Then, the no-self happened to him. That's more or less how it happened to Buddha. That was his mindset before it happened to him. That's why I think it's odd of how Leo is approaching seeing and being the no-self. I'm not against what Leo is doing. It's his choice. I just think the approach is odd.

@Nahm Let's just hope all will go well for Leo. He has a brilliant mind. He's very articulate. I'm using Buddha's life story only because it's easy to understand. If you look at his overall life, he was already doing very major things in his life before the awakening happened to him. He was a Hindu prince of the Rajput caste and gave that all up just to be a humanitarian for others, including untouchables. In those days, what he did was very serious because your caste and religion meant everything, including your survival. It's not like India today where religion and the caste system are so much more secular. In those days, society was stage blue/red; now it's orange. What Buddha did, his actions and his genuine mindset, probably triggered his awakening. And he went onto revolutionize the world, and out came Buddhism. The quote is right: "Leo has always been our cosmic canary in the coal-mine." It's just that for our time, for this day and age, inducing your awakenings of the no-self like this, and it being appropriate toward the ultimate goal, sounds fishy to me, but of course it's Leo's choice.

You know, I hear ya. And yes, I applaud Leo for taking such a bold step like this. However, to me, when I put the puzzle pieces together, the spiritual path is actually very well-rounded. It seems as though the overall atmosphere here is to focus on seeing and being the no-self. When I look at Buddha's life story, for example, he was very well-round. He was very humanitarian, and at the same time taught wisdom. It wasn't just about one focus.

I'm commenting from my own personal experience. This includes my experience on my own LP that I'm working on to increase free time, and just passing notes onto Leo. I don't go around labeling others when I don't know what they're talking about and don't know what's going on in their personal lives. We don't know if the other person is over thinking or not. To me, this is one of the disadvantages of talking on forums if you have questions or want someone to shed the right light on the info you present. Sometimes, or many times, you get the wrong light. Other than the no-self, everything else is a phenomena (or as you prefer to call it: illusion, hallucination, etc.) And yes, the result is to live in the now--moment by moment. That was not what I was referring to. I find that the little clues in life also count. Those little blessings that we run across. Although it's not the no-self, they also count--big time. Leo is going on multiple powerful trips. It's not wrong to say be careful and hope all will be well. It's also not wrong to ask, "Why skip all these little blessings if you have them?" To me, it's like skipping steps. It's just like climbing a tall mountain and think that you've accomplished something by taking a helicopter up to the mountain top.

@Faceless Yes, true. You know what, if the BFFs end up marrying each other, that would be called soulmates. Ppl wonder what are soulmates. Well, there you have it. But, the friendships I'm talking about are between the same gender--two women who are BFFs.

Sounds beautiful. I agree.

I have seen a friendship where the two isn't related. Their communication is very strong. They don't misunderstand each other. They're friends but not family, although they behave like it. They could show up in each others' houses anytime they wish without calling or notice or anywhere. I call that BFF. It's pretty rare.

Yeah..It makes sense I suppose, but it's hard to put things in words, esp things like communication and unconditional love and all the spiritual stuff. For me, the best way was to give examples. It's actions without words, right?

@Faceless I don't mind self-preservation at all, if that's what you're going to call it. We don't know what's really going on in someone else's relationship unless we know them. If I see two ppl with very lovely friendships with strong communication and unconditional love, I can't label that. I've seen a friend who ended up in the hospital in another country, and the other friend just dropped everything, including work/job and flew off to visit/help the other friend in the other country as soon as possible. I've seen a husband who took care of a mentally ill wife till death. They were young when she fell ill. He didn't divorce her. That's in real life, in practical life. It's not hard to understand. If you want to be "free" of self-preservation and live the no-self, looks like a monk's life is the way to go -- detached / stoic relationship with other monks yet you live as oneness. How the monk in this clip protested against the Vietnam War is not self-preservation. There is a monk somewhere in the middle of this clip, not the monk talking to Oprah.

@Faceless I forgot to mention that there are different levels of friendships. I'm talking about the BFF type of friendship--"highest" level. In a family, it's unconditional love. Many flaws but you learn to accept and show love through actions.

Acceptance is a key word. If two ppl don't agree with something, that's fine. Two ppl can't be exactly the same. Genuine friends can talk it out or share different things without fingerpointing, misunderstandings, or judging/categorization. Here's another quote that I posted already:

@Sevi True that. It's going to heaven (phenomenon) and being one with God (Absolute Infinity). I have to use (...) since that's Leo's terminology.

@Sevi Lovely pics. What would also be lovely is to become Absolute Infinity in the end and also be reunited with loved ones. That would be awesome.

Yeah, but the questions were not for me, they were for Leo. He is planning to do back to back 5meo again to see and become infinity. I'm not the one planning that. I'm not thinking of the word "infinity" all the time like you said. Ok, enough said. Take care. Those questions were for Leo. I don't have bad intensions for him. I just want him to stay safe. Simple. I don't want to go off topic either.

Yeah, ok. No one wants to go to hell phenomenon. My original questions were for Leo in relation to the infinity.