Key Elements

Be careful with doing #1 and #3. Monks/gurus/sages do those things for a good reason. They could make sacrifices for someone else or for the world. I understand that we live in a non-duel reality. Our thoughts are coming from nothingness - that we are just a "program." There is no "you." Yes, I get all that. The thing is, the opposite is also true, right? That's why they call it paradox. We don't live in a black and white world; we live in a gray one. It's not so easy to say that it's completely non-duel/no free-will when there is paradox. You (we) could at least plan your (our) next milestone. If it doesn't work out, that's ok too. So, how do you explain paradoxes? Non-duel verses duel? Ego verses fictional ego? Free-will verses no free-will? What is the paradox of no free-will? Surely, we have a drop of free-will, no? It's because of paradoxes. If not, what's the point of us seeing this duel awareness we call earth?

Here's a little hint. Go to Kiyosaki's book, Guide to Investing. Fill out the diagram below from the book. Once you're done with that, go to Spiral Dynamics (Leo's clip and also there's a book on it) starting from stage orange with the diagram and go to the more advanced stages. Experience that with your passion (something you love to do). Take action on that.

Paradox Poem

@Leo Gura Are people really ready for enlightenment? (Footprints to Ox's tail to Riding the Ox Backwards) Or, do they need to work on life purpose first along with a required Hero's Journey keeping the following in mind? Enlightenment means internal peace. That's what we all have - peace as the only emotion internally. All the other emotions - fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, rage, lust, etc., are all created and conditioned by us ever since childhood. Happiness means peace, but we interpret it as excitement, which is only temporary. Knowing this, we know that we are "2-faced," our true-self which is peace and our false-self, the ego (all the human emotions we created). If we continue to choose our peace side, we are better able to focus on important things, such as life purpose, Hero's Journey, and family.

@Martin123 Very interesting questions... Questions I thought about: Who do I hang out with? Are they friends? Am I able to relate to them? What are topics discussed? How important are they (topics) to yourself and the others? How often do we meet? How often do we talk? Am I detached from them? Do we take actions on our goals before we meet? How openly can I speak to them? If I had any enlightenment experiences / awakenings, am I able to speak to them about it with ease, or do I keep it a secret?

Paradoxes

Can you be more specific about your next major milestone? (For example, mine is to write a book about awakenings / enlightenment experiences in two languages to influence someone like Trump. )

Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to do because we take them for granted. I listened to a song too, the song below, and saw a metaphor. At 2:42, there is a man standing on the edge of the river pondering whether or not to swim across the river. At last, he just threw everything down and decided to swim across. He made it. I took this as a metaphor. I asked myself, "Should I make video clips for my students and send it to them on WhatsApp?" Sometimes I also wait and ponder. Then, I decided to just pick up my mobile and record the clips and send them. It doesn't matter whether or not it's perfect. It's only for my students. So I did just that.

@DimmedBulb Cool. Tell you something...There must be some idea in those thoughts that you could try out. I tried my first idea, which was making baskets as birthday return gifts for children (in US, they call them goody bags). It didn't work very well when business (the demand) picked up - busy and exhausting. Next thing I did was wrote a simple bilingual book. That worked. That's how I got my job - because my mentor noticed and presented me an opportunity. If the first thing doesn't work, keep trying and take baby steps actions. That's how it works. (Note: self-employment is different from pursuing passive income. Passive income is the preferred income. Takes patience.)