UnbornTao

How come some people seem to have moved on from their past while others haven't? What allowed them to move on? Guilt arises in relation to the past. Stop being identified and attached to your past history. Guilt can't happen in relation to the present. The simple advice is get over it; become conscious of why you're creating these feelings, then drop them. Focus on the present and create a hopeful image of the future. That'll help in moving on by building goals. This may sound a bit ruthless, I see it more as tough love. Just some opinions.

Guys don't try to figure it out mentally and get on the cushion.

Anger is based on hurt, so let's start by contemplating it on our own. @Kalki Avatar According to historical hearsay, Jesus wasn't always a bag of joy lol Acting out or repressing emotions are thought to be the only possibilities in our culture. There's a third distinction that can be made! Which is, fully embracing and experiencing anger without acting it out. Mastering emotions is possible in the sense of knowing what they are, how they come about and what purpose they serve. I suspect that this makes you able to bring them about as desired, or not at all. Imagine an actor who uses emotions as tools depending on the occasion while being aware that emotions are being done by her instead of something inflicted upon.

Ground and clarify what you want to achieve first, then go do it. What skills do I want to develop? What is learning? What stands in the way of my learning? When I learn what happens in my experience? How can I master learning? Formulate questions like these without worrying about models.

People drink coffee so that they can better focus and have increased energy. At bars many consume alcohol in order to be relaxed and so approach girls free of panic. People consume sugar when anxious or bored. You're doing the same with less common substances. If you feel impostor's syndrome, try to learn doing what you do while microdosing without the drugs. On a microdose, contemplate questions such as: What changes in my experience? What allows me to be this way? What way would I have to be in order to experience this while "sober"? It'd be cheating if you were dependent on it when socializing, in this case. Otherwise it can be a useful tool. Hope that helped.

Yes! Conscious Relationships and Communication.

Yep. Currently reading Your Life As Art.

The work of Robert Fritz is phenomenal. Check it out if you want to learn about anything involving the creative process and actual creativity.

As a kid I used to wonder about who I am. In my experience I'd be naturally fascinated by this. "I am me, what's that about? What is I?" So coming to grips with the fact that I don't actually know (am conscious of) who and what I am was/is a huge revelation. It's very eye-opening. As an adult, that wonder now seems to be a little bit harder to experience since it's covered up by a bunch of shit, but the not-knowing is still the case.

pretty much this. Set some boundaries.

A bit late to the party, but he's 37. By soccer standards, with that age you're already old for playing optimally and consistently at your best. He'll probably retire in two years or so.

Integrity Part 2 if you feel ready for that. Understanding Relativism Part 2. More content on serious philosophy.

@ZenSwift those are exciting! Already pre-ordered the book years ago. in my mind lol I'd like to see more on: Distinctions, learning, creativity and emotions: fear, pain, boredom, inspiration, etc Bliss, freedom Serious philosophy. More profound/existential topics, even if just on the blog Entrepreneurship, leadership, business

cement lol. Appreciate it.

Some of this is just too funny. Is there a book on this practice untainted with dogma?

@Ulax

Yes, that's possible. But don't hide behind circumstances. In other words, don't use them as excuses, that'd be antithetical to commitment. Commitment demands getting it done no matter what challenges may come up.

Difficult read. Did you experience something new while reading? Did you grasp Kant's assertions? Started reading On Being and Time, stopped at page twenty or so. Might need to grab the Spanish edition.

Same.

You can't transcend what you're not conscious of in the first place. First, I imagine, you'd have to become directly conscious of the nature of being a self. Then we can begin to tackle becoming free of it. Or have a couple of enlightenment experiences right away.

I'm sure there's a lot of stuff yet to be understood, you just have to be honest and get over this "I'm done" feeling. Unless you want to stop wherever you're at, but it's possible you're fooling yourself. This is where a master comes in handy -- she can point out one's ignorance and blindspots. You might be going through a plateau. Also don't confuse truth with feeling good. Do you know everything there is to know? Do you understand everything, absolute and relative? Have you transformed completely? Have you mastered mind and life?

As usual I was coming at this discussion from intellect so I'll have to look into the matter first; might share my discoveries in the future. In the meantime, I'll say a few things. I don't understand why you bring up taste and emotions in the same conversation. They seem to be two different matters -- perception and emotion. One can actually learn to "perceive" or hold things differently with practice. We'd first have to cognize the way we're currently holding something (the assumptions you have about it, etc). A few months ago I was practicing at looking at dog shit and holding it as something beautiful/positive. Serious. Generate an emotion deliberately. Try doing: Joy Fear Anger Love Excitement Boredom "That's faking it since there's no circumstance causing or justifying your state". That's the assumption we're challenging. In your example, I'd say that with practice you can learn to perceive things differently. Things don't taste "bad", they taste however they taste in your experience. "Bad" is superimposed on experience. As a kid I didn't like kiwi and now I do, even though its taste is the same.

Study with as many masters as you can. I'm not a master and there doesn't seem to be an easy answer. So first become a master at something and then tell us about how to become one.

You actually create your emotions. Who else? They don't come from circumstances. They're not something that you somehow come across. I fear this might be heard superficially but consider that the reality of it is deeper than how it sounds. Haven't you sometimes felt excited, sad or angry and deep down suspect that it is of your own making? Sort of like an actor playing out a character. The emotion is there in the first place because it's serving a purpose. You're going through it because you want to do it. Otherwise, the same event would cause the same emotional reaction on everyone, but we can see that that's far from the truth. Now that doesn't mean we're creating them consciously, though.

I really like his emphasis on openness.