Naviy

Here Leo says that you can do different affirmations. But you must spend not less than 5 minutes on each. I personally do 3 affirmations currently.

What helps me - I do such tasks for the discipline itself. Discipline is cool and useful, it makes your life more satisfying, and you start to respect yourself more. For me discipline means that you do something when your "wants" or "don't wants" are not considered by you. So, I kind of took discipline as a practice - each time I don't want to do something useful, I do it just to improve discipline as I would improve a useful skill.

Well, everybody has emotions during meditation. Strong emotions sometimes too. Personally, I think, it is a good sign, because if you have strong emotions while doing such a boring (for mind) thing as meditation, this means that it works and opens up your subconscious mind, which heals your psychology.

I am 25, and I've never had sex (I am not 100% sure why this happened so). During my teen years, I suffered a lot because of it, but after 22 or 23 I kind of stopped worrying. Now I think that the mentioned fact is not necessary a bad thing. I can see how some other people are desperate for sex. How they spend their time, energy and crazy amounts of attention on sex. To me right now sex is some form of activity like football or videogames or riding a bike or whatever - you can, of course, spend a lot of time learning how to get more of it, or how to master it, you can find social acceptance in it. It could be fun, I guess (or boring), or physicaly healthy (or unhealthy), or interesting (or disgusting), or psychologically healthy (or pshychologically harmful), etc. But when people say something like: "You cannot have a normal life without sex", to me it sounds like when a football fan says: "Football made me the person I am now. It gave me discipline, health and the best fun in my life. You cannot have a normal life without football. Real men are all into football. You all must love and need football". I believe that it is not such a solid "scientifically proven" fact that we all NEED sex to have a normal and actualized life. It's a matter of belief and personal experience. And of social preassure. In society, where everybody is persuaded that football is needed for one to have a normal life, a "normal person" (football fan) will totally accept this social message, because on his experience, football gave him everything (he met his wife on a football match, he is socially accepted because he goes to football often, his father is proud of him because he is such a good football player, so overall he feels good because of football). While some other people, who never tried watching or playing football, look at this football fan and they are very jealous of him, their psychology is broken and their self-esteem is super low, because they believe what the football society said. Football fan is a "normal" person, and they are "outsiders". But other people, who never tried watching or playing football, look at our football fan and think: "Yeah, football might be fun, but damn... those fans are crazy". I mean, you cannot say that WE ALL need or do not need sex. It's a matter of personal experience and beliefs of a particular person. A person who never had sex, can whether have a pathetic life because of it, or have a great actualized life, or this could leave his life unaffected. Same with persons, who have sex in their lives.

@Guczo This thread might interest you

Just an interesting video I wanted to share. I think he explains well.

@7thLetter I used to consider myself an extreme introvert too. I know, you were specifically asking about other thing, but please, read Susan Cain's "Quiet: The Power of Introverts", if you haven't yet. There is also a website http://www.quietrev.com/ and there is a TED Talk of her (but still, this is not much, comparing to the book): It helped me to understand myself much better. Also, after reading the book, I started to feel myself much more aligned with my introverted character and much more satisfied with it. Reading this book was the starting point of changing my work. So, I think it is necessary for all people who consider themselves as introverts, to read such stuff.

I am a lawyer. There are things that I like and there are things that I dislike. I like solving "legal puzzles" (cases). I like to take part in important events of other person's life and recieve a lot of gratefulness from them, if the result is good. I like the feeling of doing something "correct and right" when I apply my theoretical knowledge in practice (feels like finally solving an equation when you are a mathematician) . I like the feeling after you win a trial. I like "being smart". It also fits to my INTJ personality type. But lawyers always deal with some abstract theoretical human fantasies like: rules, who is right and who is wrong, what is fair and what is not fair and such bullshit. I do not value these human fantasies much. I wish I was doing something more important or practical. Doctors and builders see the particular physical and obviously positive result of their work, while lawyers see only papers and fantasies and all the results are abstract. This profession is not my passion. But I am ok with it also. I think that the thing I could do most passionately, is to tell other people about self actualization and enlightenment (first, learn about it and practice it a lot myself, of course) - just like Leo does. And I'd love to work with nature and animals. Or do science (physics, chemistry, learn about space). Also I think I'd passionately do some work on legalizing psychedelics.

I used to do affirmations and visualization very consistantly when I was struggling with my fear of making speeches in courts. I used them to overcome my panic and fear. Now I've switched to a job, where I do not need to make speeches anymore (that's another story). So now I'm looking for new affirmations and visualization subjects. I've tried different affirmations, like: "I am full of energy and motivation", "I am sincerely grateful for my life", "Every day I become more and more confident", "I always think positively", and many others. But after a couple of weeks doing each one of them, I noticed, that I am not inspired by the subject of chosen affirmation. I just do not want to do them with strong discipline and consistantly enough (as I used to do affirmations when I really needed them). Also, after doing visualization ("How confident I am in court"), for about 10 months, 15-20 minutes every day, I started to really hate visualizations. Now, after I have forced myself so much to do visualizations, it seems so hard and painful for me, that I do not want to do this exercise at all. So, what are the subjects of your affirmations or visualizations? Are you satisfied with chosen subjects?

I've read these books. There is also a website, devoted to Douglas Harding's "teaching". The "experiments" section is particularly interesting. Also, Richard Lang (Harding's student) makes videos for youtube sometimes. http://www.headless.org/experiments.htm

I tried this, and at first I wanted to say, that what remains in such case - are only experience and awareness. There is experience and there is some emptiness, which is lack of experience. But then I noticed, that the lack of experience is an experience also. There is no awareness. There is no true emptiness. What happens - is constant experience after experience after experience. Also, the question "Who or what am I out of monkey mind?" is kind of wrong. The question "Who or what percieves?" is kind of wrong too. There is only experience. Nothingness or awareness - they are not "there". I kind of feel that there is no sense in trying to find them. Find what? Another experience? Experience is the only thing you can find (searching, finding, not finding, realization, etc. - all are experiences which have same equal value). You can make a conclusion that if you are not experience, then you are nothing. But this will be just another experience (in whatever form it manifests - intellectial conclusion or "divine realization"). You can think about it, or again, you can even exprience some "divine realization", but still this is not it. You cannot find nothingness (= True self, Truth, Awareness, etc.). You also cannot experience it. Find what? Eperience what? That, what is not "something"? Finding, realizing and experiencing can only occur to what is "something". Can emptiness experience itself? I don't know. Now I think that I don't know anything about enlightenment or nothingness. I cannot imagine what it is. I am not skeptical. On the contrary, I feel some kind of progress. I want to continue doing all the practices, searching and reading. Hm. Right now I feel lost and disappointed. I am not sure in anything. I am not sure in this message and in all that "I have understood" for the last couple of years.

Tried to talk with my friend about enlightenment and awareness today. Damn, that was a mistake...

Don't be a pussy

Sri Leo-ji Baba is the living manifestation of Truth itself

I love how each time he makes a new face that fits to the topic of the video

Yeah that's what I said - it does work and it is very powerful

Why is it easier to be in "sleeping" state, rather than being super mindful? It seems that we naturally "fall asleep" into thoughts or experiences, while a lot of effort is required to be mindful.

This is one of the best messages I've seen on this forum

Omg I am always so scared of this question, because I'd definetely do not what I'm currently doing (law)

What/who is controlled by will? What/who controls will? Will happens automatically. Control or lack of control happen automatically.

Well, when I do this, there is nothing to speak about. There is nothing to speak about. Thoughts with no descriptions automatically happen. Awareness automatically sees them. It works like a machine with no will.

I am 25 and I've been alone for my whole life, I am very convienced that finding a girlfriend is something that will never happen to me. Being alone is such a huge part of my character. I've suffered from loneliness a lot in my teen years. But now I've switched to other priorities and I kind of don't want to waste my time thinking negatively about it. I know that if I tried to improve this part of my life, I'd definetely have success. I am not poor, have a good job, my own flat, not ugly or stupid at all, I can discipline myself and teach myself how to meet new people and meet girls, I know that I can be attractive to girls etc. But I am not social, very introverted. Actually, there are more important personal reasons. After all these years of loneliness I just do not feel enough motivation to start improving in pick up or relationships. I understand that I have a deep dissatisfaction and I have a lot of deep pain because I've never experienced what it is like - to be with another human. This path of improving in realtionships contains so much obstacles, fear, shame, that I do not find it worth of it. Also sometimes I think that it is too late for me, I have missed my train (I know this is not true). I understand that my life would be better if I forced myself to start improving in relationships, but I cannot motivate myself. It is not a matter of life and death to me anymore. So. I don't know. I have two close friends right now and I do not feel lonely. One one hand, I have an inferiority complex because "everybody else" has been with a woman and I have not. Even idiots can have intimate relationships, and I, "such a great person" - cannot. It is "unfair" and used the be the source of a lot of inner suffering. On the other hand, I have different priorities right now, and I am developing so fast for the last couple of years. Yeah, I am aware of that I've written a lot of bullshit. I just wanted to share.

@Leo Gura You seem to be a very busy person. Why do you participate in discussions on this forum so actively? You have the most posts. Do you think you will be so active on this forum always, or are you very active only now, because the forum started working recently?

Maybe try guided meditations first. Or watch more Leo's videos on meditation, read about meditation on the Internet to motivate yourself.

@Leo Gura When I look at a thought directly, I believe, I cannot say "what" it is. "1 = 1" and not "1 = blah blah blah blah" "1" = direct experience of thought "what is" = "blah blah blah" So, I cannot describe anything. A thought does not equal it's description. Also, I feel that I need to spend much more time looking at a thought I think have not came to any conclusions.