UnbornTao

Yeah, maybe. I'd also add that it is possible to discover the truth for oneself, and being a 'special' person is not necessary at all - just in case that's assumed, which is an easy trap to fall into. I appreciate that you admit that it's essentially just mental masturbation.

@CARDOZZO Muito obrigado.

The purpose of this journal is to share questions, humor, miscellaneous creative content, and raw reflections on personal empowerment and consciousness. My goals are to deepen my experiential understanding of these topics, improve my communication skills, have fun, and help others see things in a new light.

I understand it's hard not to hear that as a negative, but it is not about making yourself wrong or starting a war between two aspects of yourself, so to speak. You're perfectly fine. The place where these things come from, however, is a fantastical world of one's own making. It's mere philosophy. Like, I bet my money the guy on the video has a solid sense of self to which he's attached, like everyone else.

Create the enthusiasm. You might think that other things - things you'll be at the effect of - will do the trick but that's not true. It's like a skilled actor in a play: they can willfully become enthusiastic when needed, in a real way. Consider this possibility. Stop waiting for external things to spark enthusiasm in you.

Good, good.

First, learn to tell your ass from a hole in the ground

That's what I like to hear!

Yep, BS. Stop believing in yourself first.

What the hell is that?

Not sure. Be with them, love them. No need to tell them anything particularly "special," in my view.

Sort of. The point is likely still being missed, as one may still be operating from an intellectual world, as you alluded to. Have you seen cult members and their thinking and apparent certainty in the adopted doctrine's tenets? Consider that this might be a possibility here: believing stuff - certainly good-sounding and affirming stuff, though. It might even make one feel good. Or perhaps, in other words, you can easily make up shit in your mind. Chances are it is heavily biased, subjective, and based on wishful thinking.

That is... probably why you think that psychedelics increase consciousness.

Yeah you guys are full of it.

The guy is probably parroting Ramana. I'd try to grasp what the original guy was trying to teach.

And after this nice conversation, remember to drop whatever you think you understand, and contemplate things for real - without opinion or assumption interfering.

Yeah, I don't think my point landed. Fuck them both.

@Davino Not specifically. It's a general tendency I've noticed, and I included myself in that. Yeah, that relates to my point. Talk is very cheap. It went over your head. It's the same kind of BS as thinking one has grasped what Ramana was trying to communicate. That disparity, or gap, is what I'm trying to draw attention to. If this were a religion, one would be looking for ways to validate it, and eventually one might even succeed in doing so. The self-assuredness doesn't mean anything. This often takes the form of a purely intellectual endeavor. As such, it's a rather artificial ground from which to approach the work.

People rarely tell the truth. Don't you ever get the feeling that you're full of it sometimes? That what you're up to is often a form of intellectual pretension?

Your mind is incredibly efficient. Notice how, once you've made up your mind about something, you rarely stop to earnestly revisit the topic or your own conclusions about it. After all, in your mind, the matter has already been settled. The topic may have been transformed into a form of knowledge - accepted or rejected, neatly packaged, filed away, and now safely "resolved." This thing is what I think it is. Moving on to the next topic. Yet we often fail to recognize a crucial difference between what is "thought" on the one hand, and "reality" on the other. The concepts that we hold are not necessarily accurate reflections of reality. And maybe they make up your reality, strangely enough. Perhaps the mind instinctively avoids - or sees no reason to expend energy - re-examining things it believes are already understood.

You want things, people, and events to draw you out of yourself and your little bubble - perhaps by falling in love, taking drugs, seeking gratification, gaining approval, having your worldview confirmed, and so on. You may well depend on the "other" to feel happy, to confirm that you exist the way you want to. This ties closely to the need for validation. Deep down, you want to be acknowledged; you seek confirmation of your very existence. In other words, part of you doubts your own realness as a person. Very raw reflection.

And the Lord said, Let there be wind; and there was wind.

Fair, though I'm not sure about the quality of 3d printed books.