UnbornTao

@Sincerity Who here has seriously taken up both stances? Most of you believe Leo, and the hope of a pill to awakening is all too enticing to neglect or seriously question, despite what is said by people who know what they're talking about (I know you have your excuses not to listen to them, but come on). I've done the drugs. But I no longer do the "fantasy" involved here, which I used to believe in. Again, I also confidently believed in it and conjured up stories about my "awakenings." Not anymore. I could've convinced people and talked in such a way so that you believed I was more awakened than I actually was. And gullible people would confuse the assertiveness for the reality - or lack thereof - of it as long as it affirmed their own dispositions. And you'd have believed me. You'd have loved it, in fact. You'd have felt warm and cozy and validated in your worldview, part of a community reaching out for "the truth." Whatever is true and the case at any level. Again, it starts by calling things by their name. What exists? What is taking place? What is factual? What's memory? These are questions that point at the pursuit of the truth. What's lying and misrepresentation? What are fantasy and wishful thinking? What is a cult? I'm pointing out this gap or disparity because it seems people here tend to ignore it. But it's too big of a gap. You've already noticed my reluctance to provide a simplistic view of the world for the mind to piece these things together and so have the feeling of understanding. But yes, I'm not enlightened now. It's a possibility of directly grasping one's nature, and I base it on my past realizations. Right now it could be said that it is a conceptual placeholder. It's not an experience. Why do you think I keep repeating this? Because it's still overlooked and goes over one's head. Direct consciousness isn't a function of the brain. Without the fantasy, no one here is either really, from what I can tell. Maybe Leo might have had a few enlightenments, but I don't know. He likes to think of himself as more awake than what comes across to me. I know this is a weird thing to say and that most will probably not get where I'm coming from or why I'm saying that to begin with, especially given that the only things they have for making that assessment are the words, behavior, and expression of someone (to which their reactions are ones of liking and feeling good, which doesn't help). If you ask, I'll respond with 'magic', 'intuition', or just paying attention. Bringing this up here is a waste of time. Thanks for warning me @kieranperez I probably should go the same route as you.

The dead horse is 'listening'. Because it seems to me that you're burying your head in the sand on this topic.

I'm not sure what you mean. To be clear, I've already surpassed the reverential phase. It might take some time, though. If you want another cult for a change, listen to Adi Da. These guys are brought up for a reason. You already believe Leo, so at least give them a chance.

Could be. Try to look deeper. How come one would doubt his very existence to the point that this expression would even need to exist?

Too much to unpack here.

Are you being sarcastic or not?

Come on. I also understand the self-aggrandizement aspect of the drugs.

Something about the trap of the psychedelic path.

I've noticed Leo has built up a good repertoire of excuses to avoid listening to this point in any way he can. Oh well.

If it is perceived, thought, imagined, felt, sensed, intuited, or conceived - in other words, invented - then that is the truth of it. If it's a chemical transformation of the body-mind, then that's what that is. To start with, you call things by their name as best as you can. If you begin to make headway in differentiating between experience and something that isn't - or that perhaps transcends experience (even if just as a notion) - or in seeing that experience is relative, then you'll start to get the gist of it. A grandiose experience of feeling one with the universe is still an experience. Experience is also your whole life - again, everything you're aware of. And notice that it would be equally easy for me to talk like that, given the drug experiences and the videos watched from Leo. But I don't. Something to consider. Once again, it's already being said. If you're as open as you like to think you are, go back and really listen. I'm not undermining the possible benefits one might get from the drugs; I'm just pointing out the fantasy involved. Good luck.

That's why you're depressed.

A rationalwiki page. Remember this gem: how_leo_gura_argues_bingo.png

Let me look up that word. edit: checks out.

Isn't masturbation the ontological act of having sex with God? There, another Awakening.