Key Elements

I overheard an interesting conversation today between two people. I'll call the two people teacher and student. It went like this: Student: I saw something on YouTube today. A dictator of country X increased the number of concentration camps for his people. One of his soldier decided to gather a group of around 100 soldiers to defeat the dictator by stabbing him in the stomach to kill him while the other soldiers backed him up. The lead soldier did not succeed but escaped into another country and was telling his experience on YouTube. He was like a Samurai. Teacher: No wrong! That soldier is NOT a Samurai. Do you even know what is a Samurai? When a Samurai goes on a mission like that, he either completes the mission successfully or he dies trying fearlessly. Anything other than this is disgraceful and he would not be considered a Samurai. He doesn't let his ego get in the way by escaping to some other country, live to tell the tale, and earn money through YouTube. If he doesn't succeed, he sacrifices his life. More on Samurai

Whoa there...now now...like I said, life is a school. If this happens, we may not graduate properly. God knows what the no-self has install for us. We were once dinosaurs, maybe, rulers of the earth. We may embody into some other form once the human embodiment is gone. Let's not take that chance and try to trigger some peace in this life. This looks like a better embodiment but you never know. You never know if we get a worse embodiment.

@Brimstone I get what you're saying. The simplest solution to dealing with all these cases is simply let the thoughts go by (all the emotions/ego) and just be. Just be in the moment and continue with daily life. Continue with work/life purpose/other stuff in being without being disturbed by ego. It's not perfect but try your best.

The no-self loves having kids - little gods and goddesses. It puts us all in this life on earth called school, and sets up its own rules to see how well we do in this life. Does anyone have awakening experiences of life being a school? One of Leo's blog explains life being a school - earth phenomenon. I have heard from others that when you graduate well, you go to heaven phenomenon and there are 8 different stages of heaven phenomenon. And, 8 different stages of the opposite. And then, there is the no-self.

This is a great topic. When it comes to ego, sometimes it's hard to put the main idea into the right context. Where do we draw the line between misinterpretations, misunderstandings, and ego? It's not so easy to draw the line for yourself and others.

Yes, true. Some people are emotionally triggered, and it's obvious. I'm just trying to say that sometimes it's not very obvious. It's subtle and not as easy to recognize. I think this is what I'm trying to say. Here, I'll give examples. I do notice something among people in real life, and sometimes because of this we're not as opened up to conversations/communications as we ought to be on the forum or elsewhere. Could the ego play a role in this? Probably. Here's a simple example. Two guys are good friends. They share lots of things together without hesitation. The first guy visits the second guy's home and meets his wife. The first guy thinks that the second guy's wife is overweight. So, he just points it out to her, not knowing that it made her feel uncomfortable. On the second visit, he points it out to her again. This time he notices that she's not saying hello or talking to him. When he points it out the third time, she started confronting him saying that she already knows she's overweight and it's hard to keep it off and to change the topic. However, he brings it up again and again in the future. Could this be ego? One could say it's subtle ego. Sometimes different life experiences triggers ego is what I'm saying - in subtle ways. And, we pick sides and it's not so obvious. So, instead of thinking that something deeper is going on, we just pass it off as laziness to keep off weight or some other negative thing. Ok,, here's another one. An old man from Germany decides to get his son an arranged marriage to a gal from India. The son agrees. But, the son's friend thinks that it is strange and keeps bringing up the topic in negative ways. Instead of actually travelling and finding out what arranged marriages is about from all different angles, the friend just keeps assuming and criticizing. I'm only saying that the ego is subtle. Sometimes being emotionally triggered is not that obvious.

No I'm not. The message is for everyone. Sorry if I didn't say it quite right. See, this is what I mean.

Ok, I will give examples of what I mean for futher clarification. 1. Let's say that someone just graduated from the university as an engineer and tries to look for a job. He has a hard time because the job market lists engineering jobs with the requirement of 5+ yrs of experience. A person who has just graduated with an engineering degree has a different perspective than someone who has 5+ yrs of experience in engineering and who has helped in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Unless, the newbie gets more experience in the same field, he will not be able to communicate with someone who has many years of experience in the same field. Let's take this deeper. Most people can relate to the above example. The same concept could be applied to more profound things. 2. One person has just started dating. Another person has been married for over 10+ yrs with children. The one who has just started dating may not even be able to relate to the one who has been married for years. They may have different core values when it comes to commitment. If they have a discussion about how to have a successful marriage, it's quite possible for misunderstandings and misinterpretations. 3. It's very unlikely that a person who has travelled and lived in India for years and eventually became citizen there will be able to communicate that experience with someone who likes to stay in his own backyard. 4. It's almost impossible to relate to someone with an awakening or awakenings if the other person has no experience of awakenings. This is what I mean by misunderstandings and misinterpretations in communication.

Maybe it's not just one-upping. Maybe is also misunderstandings and misinterpretation. Different people have different life experiences and words and experiences are limited.

When you go into a public area, try to avoid the crowd is what came to my mind - a way to stay safe. Also... Be alert of your environment. Stores and other places have security cameras. Look for them and go with someone or friends/family if you can.

I learned a lot from watching your startup - YouTube clips, website, actualized.org as a whole, and spirituality. I'm sure others have too if they are looking at it at different angles and also at it in this angle. It gives ideas on how to do a life purpose.

@SuperLuigi Sorry, but I'm not sure what you're getting at too. I think ppl like Bill Gates are not greedy. He has an AIDS foundation. No projections please. He's not planning to inherit his wealth to his children. 100% goes to charity.

A financial advice company is different from being an entrepreneur. When I went networking, I never met a single entrepreneur / investor / angel investor / VC who told me not to reinvest for that amount of money. That amount of money to some of them is nothing. It's peanuts because the money is just sitting there. Why is this? Sure, many of us here would love to live in nature. I would too. However, we're not at a stage where we could get away with no money. We're not at that "enlightenment" stage. I've been looking into Robert Kiyosaki, author of Guide to Investing. He's a real estate tycoon - somewhat like Trump, but not really. His sister is a monk who follows Dalai Lama. While she's monk, she got cancer throughout her body. Her fellow monks (sisters) did everything they can but couldn't raise enough money for her treatment. So, she called up Kiyosaki, her brother, and he saved her life. Kiyosaki said that if it wasn't for wealth and reinvestment, she would've been gone. In real life, I've seen fellow temple members supporting an old monk to go to the hospital because he had a heart attack. It wasn't a very good hospital. The bill was already over $10,000.00 (US). Anyway, this is something to research and find out in real life. @SuperLuigi, I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm saying that life throws things at us.

Really? Learn investing and get yourself stable before you decide to help others. (Aka becoming a philanthropist) Money decreases in value when it is kept idle and very low interest rate in a bank account. Good luck. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/making-sense/is-your-money-safe-at-the-bank-an-economist-says-no-and-withdraws-his

Invest in real estate. It's called "parking your money." Rent out the apartments and you will have a stable income for the rest of your life. Then you could pursue the things further up on Maslow. Don't "win" the money. A life purpose could get you there.

Well, I tried almond milk, like it was suggested in Leo's clip. The one above is the one I tried. I don't mind the taste, but other family members do mind it. They prefer regular whole milk.

I really love your suggestion! I was in India. I met a good friend working as a bilingual teacher. He was my colleague from China on a foreign exchange program in India. We became good friends there. Now we're both in the US. He's now studying his Masters in Bilingual Education. We live a good 14 hrs drive away from each other but wish to meet. Yes, travelling and living in a different country for years is an excellent opportunity and experience.

@sleeperstakes In the beginning when I started, I have multiple interests / passions too. To help me decide, I tried to find the interest I'm best at and move on from there. Pick a major at the university that best matches your interest.

@The Monk That book led to my career and life purpose - a very powerful book. You must've seen this diagram (B-I triangle) in the book. To me, it's an interesting life puzzle to solve. If you pair this up with Spiral Dynamics, you got your life purpose. It's easier said than done.

@The Monk This is an interesting post at a very critical time in your life. That's ok. Have a little fun with it. Look into the local newspapers, sites like Monster.com, and your university to see which are the most attractive careers for you. Talk to the university career counsellor and your high school counsellor about your interests and how they could match up to a career. At the same time, you could start working on your entrepreneurship. Start by making a blog on Facebook or do YouTube on what you love to do - in other words, your interests. It's free to start here. However, first start reading about it and what it is. I highly recommend: Guide to Investing by Robert Kiyosaki

I love cats too.

@AilinKyung If your external environment is troubling you internally in subtle ways, and you find it that way because your thoughts are there, try going to a quiet place, like the library, and be in the present for a minute and let go of everything (all the stories you've experienced during the day). Then, after you cleared up some thoughts, be prepared to work on something. Remember, when you are present in another environment, everything else that you've previously experienced doesn't really exist. They are just trains of thoughts.

Why are you lying? Just be yourself. Why do you feel the need to lie? Not all lies are "bad."