Key Elements

So cute! Great analogy.

An enlightened person still has to live as a mind-body (ego) in maya (the world as we know it -- relative truth) after experiencing the no-self. He/she can now use this wisdom to improve himself/herself still living as an ego. The more the person is aware of this and practices this in the relative truth, the more the person is detached to the stories in the mind and the relative truth.

Then, do it in a public library where there are ppl. Seeing them will make you do something. Try the coffee shop in the bookstore. If you start to feel uncomfortable, get up and go to a book and browse. You may just need a change in environment. Go to an art gallery or a museum to do work if they allow that or if there's a quiet place to sit and work. If not, go back to the library or bookstore / coffee shop.

@Shin Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Do it now -- doesn’t matter how you are or feeling now. Go outside and do exercise -- walk up and down hills, walk up and down stairs, etc. We are nature bound anyway. We are not meant to stay indoors all the time. Spend time in the gym for not more than 1/2 an hr to do indoor exercises. Then, take your notebook or whatever tools you have and work on your life purpose or whatever work you have on a park bench outside next to the library or next to your swimming pool outside. At least you could hear the birds and be closer to nature.

This sounds just as complex as to what is going on in Myanmar (Burma) with the Rohingas. If you are just an ordinary person, living in a big city in India, especially in the south, you won't be facing such problems on a daily basis. You'll be living in a gated community. The worst that can happen is singing the national anthem in the movie theater for "your" country. I won't go into it because it's too controversial, political, and opens cans of worms. It's not what this forum is about. In order to be involved and seriously help ppl who are stuck in such situations, a life purpose is the way to go. Eventually, 'you' will run into a stage where you'll become a philanthropist, and then you can find ways to help out. You won't be stuck in a 9-5 job or other situations like that anymore.

There is no right or wrong. There is choice. Of course take into consideration radical open-mindedness, but not everything can be tried by everyone. One size doesn’t fit all. The decision to try whatever it is in life has to be a wise one and well thought out. Everyone doesn't have the same outcome / consequences, esp when dealing with the Absolute.

Yes. That's what it is. Everything, including yourself, is on the absolute level of things -- duality is part of non-duality. But, if 'you' are not aware of this, then you only have the perspective of seeing / viewing things at a relative level -- the body-mind (ego) in a separate world.

Enlightenment will literally reveal that everything is you. You'll see it and become it. If you become fully aware of this, and your life purpose did not take this into consideration, then you may change it or rearrange it to accommodate this. There are basically two things -- the 'experience of the no-self (seeing / being the Truth)' and then taking this 'experience' or 'wisdom' with you to fully master this life. A life purpose could help support and be a vehicle to you on this journey.

Swami Leonardo Baba

That's a really fun video clip. I'm looking for something very different and nuanced.

Non-humans sometimes do better. They accept each other regardless. We could learn from them.

Good point. Or, maybe perhaps "experienced" and hard to put it into words. But, life goes on. We're just presented with some wisdom to guide us through, and once we learned all our lessons, we move onto a better realm. At least that’s the best I can make of it. (I'm talking about our profile pics too.)

Fail early, fail often, fail forward...

We're getting too political here. This is a self-actualization forum.

@AlwaysBeNice I'm not talking about the physical being "shitty" and all that. It is still part of non-duality, and yes we are living in a world of abundance. I'm talking about the "spirit" or "soul" or "whatever you call that" not being influenced by the ego and actually knowing it's not going to be reincarnated for sure. Well, or at least having some hint of it.

The ego doesn't know that. It only sees and experiences the phenomenon and not interested in going beyond that.

If this is true, it would be nice to see where we're going after the ego really dies, and be sure of it. Why not go into a better phenomenon instead of this earth phenomenon? Or, why go into a phenomenon at all and become no-self? In your blog, you mentioned that life is a school. If all the lessons are learned in one's life, wouldn't we be in a better phenomenon or become one with the no-self? At least that's what I heard. Having choice is different from having free-will.

Yoga with your cat...

@Socrates It depends how you look at it. When I look at a self-improvement video, I ask myself: how can I apply this in a personalized manner into my own unique life? For my life purpose, I combined two skills together: art and foreign language to make it a unique skill. I love art, but it's not easy to market art, so I teach foreign language through art. All the other stuff in my life that I used to not enjoy doing, for example, housework, I try to make it creative and fun -- so that I'm drawn to it. Exercise was boring until I made it done in nature and simple. I used to have a routine in the gym that I got tired of.

Yes, of course. The answer is yes. People make their dreams come true by going on a journey of discovering themselves. They meet their true friends and life partner this way. You don't have to go all the way to discover this. You'll discover it along the way. You are not concrete in what you want to do or who you want to be with in your life. Once you discover these things, it's you who is going to tell us, not the other way around.

Yes I have. Find your life purpose. The answer is there. I have already given you suggestions here to think deeply about. Things will start falling into place once you embark on this journey. Too bad you will find out that the ego can't be satisfied -- ever. It will eventually be "dropped."