UnbornTao

Many people seem to be stuck on adolescence and don't grow beyond that. You've occasionally encountered individuals who are mature and grown up. What's maturity?

I like Obsidian. You might want to check it out. It has local file storage so that you own your book, not the company behind the app. Also, since it is based on Markdown (plain text format), your files will be readable by any computer long after the software has been shut down. It's harder to learn at first but you can keep a simple structure.

Once saw a weird, instant lighting at night on the beach. Could have been a comet or a Perseid.

Of course being effective at business requires following whatever rules the game has. In that context, communication doesn't seem to be the best strategy. Sometimes it might be appropriate sharing your enthusiasm for the service or product, if it's a real sentiment. But yeah, manipulation is needed in business -- creating an effect on another for one's own's benefit.

Create a solution. If you want to stop certain actions and thoughts, stop generating them. As has been mentioned, you could stop all that for a time and take up a relaxing practice, or simply by doing nothing for three or four days. Maybe consider taking some supplements like CBD oil, melatonin, L-theanine. Take naps and cold showers, exercise, make sure your diet is whole foods, plant based, reduce added sugars and caffeine, replace with green or chamomile tea. Read a book for five hours, meditate. See what works.

We're holding manipulation as a machiavellian activity when it doesn't have to be. It may be the context of self-survival. Notice emotions are self-manipulations. You get angry in order to manage a sense of hurt. Manipulation can be done to empower others, etc. There's another possibility: communication, which is getting your experience across as it is, untouched. You're not attempting to gain anything but sharing your experience. Say you resent someone. Then you may say: "I resent you for saying that", with the only intent of communicating that experience. In this case, what she does with it is up to her, there's no attempt in your part to create an effect on another.

You hold certain ideals about what it means to be spiritually advanced, whatever that is. So drop them and relate to the person in front of you, rather than to your expectations of how another should behave.

I bought it a few weeks ago, thank you.

manipulation: by 1730, a method of digging ore, from French manipulation, from manipule "handful" (a pharmacists' measure), from Latin manipulus "handful, sheaf, bundle," from manus "hand" (from PIE root *man- (2) "hand") + root of plere "to fill" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill"). Sense of "skillful handling of objects" is attested by 1826; extended 1828 to "handling or managing of persons," especially to one's own advantage. Business itself is about manipulation, as well as domains such as politics. The whole game is about influencing, moving, creating effects on others so that you get your agenda met. It's a form of self-survival. It can also apply to a collective form of survival, like that of an organization or team. Not all manipulation is negative, scammy, unconscious or purely about your own benefit. You can do it in a straightforward way, and empower and inspire others, etc. Better to look into what manipulation is for oneself.

@AndylizedAAY Relax. Breathe. Contemplate.

Have you read it? What do you think of it?

Definitely look up to excellent individuals, especially in the field you intent to master. Ultimately, though, you should be focusing on your own skill and growth. The risk of burnout is possible, but you're extrapolating and getting ahead of yourself. Make a decision. What do you want to do? Figure it out for yourself. While pursuing mastery, challenges are going to arise in one form or another; this is inherent in the process. You'll also be pushed to confronting self-imposed limitations, regardless of what you commit to. I imagine that the experience of mastering a skill and field is well worth it, as you'll also learn massively and your consciousness will be deepened.

@Vajra what are you conscious of?

@AndylizedAAY yes I can, thanks.

Thanks for sharing. What about the state of the oil: natural vs processed? Does that account for the differences between naturally produced and ultra-processed? The least processed form is the healthy version, not just the plain one which in the manufacturing process has been stripped of many of its beneficial compounds. Processed coconut oil, for example, is said to be nutritionally deficient, full of saturated fats, etc. The extra virgin, unprocessed variety is beneficial even, sharing some of the healthy compounds from coconuts. It's sensible advice to avoid refined, hydrogenated oils.

Interesting form of fear: being found out! It is being afraid that people might recognize that, at our core, we may hold ourselves (assume, feel) as unworthy/worthless, vulnerable, unlovable, inauthentic, superior, inferior, incapable. This explains the social tendency to, or act of, "keeping it together," which is about pretending that everything's okay and positive with you and your life. With this dynamic, we aren't being straightforward with our relationship towards life. We're just hiding how we hold ourselves. Good news, this core assumptions about oneself might not be true in the end. Get at the root of what you assume about yourself so that you become free from it.

In order to notice that something exists, first its non-existence has to be allowed. For form to be recognized we must allow for its non-existence. We experience the distinction "apple" thanks to not-apple. We're conscious of the apple because we're conscious it's not a banana, and we distinguish the air around it as part of not-apple. This seems to equally apply to any thought, belief, feeling, attitude, and perception.

Notice how, for depression to occur, one's image of the future has to be held as a negative. Change your relationship to the future by envisioning a positive, hopeful one Contemplate: "How might my worldview be influencing the happiness that I am able to experience?" Ground yourself on your body, work on being present Avoid believing in negative thoughts, they aren't true, so stop identifying with being a depressed person, life story isn't true Consider physiological factors, too. Master the basics: daily, moderately intense exercise whole-foods diet consume less added sugar cut down on caffeine or replace with green tea more sunbathing supplement with vitamin D take only cold showers for a few months eliminate all meaningless distractions like TV and smartphone etc. It's always temporary! Relax. Be happy.

A high-quality variety like extra virgin olive oil, not refined oil made with sunflower and similar crap.

Can't read screenshot. Maybe try a different way, like saving or exporting the page as PDF. Perhaps there's another command to take one-page screenshots and not just the entire website. Regarding your anxiety, you need to become conscious of the "place" in which you're generating it and see it as ineffective. Become aware of how you're doing it in your experience. Anxiety is a form of fear, hence related to an image of the future that you're unwilling to confront. Look in that direction, it may help. Remove a component of fear and it can't arise. Some mindfulness would be useful. Focus on your breathing, relax and contemplate.

Activities are not existential. They don't exist by themselves but by relationship. Humans create communication, success, mastery, shame, boredom, sports, effectiveness, society. Another avenue of contemplation to go down to is: What exists? What is existential vs an activity, an invention? What exists independent of our actions, including perception, thinking, making sense, etc? What exists is prior to our conception of it. In order to become aware of "what is", concept is inessential. On the other hand, if no word is given, the reality of it is harder to grasp, since there would be nothing for the mind to place its attention on. Concept brings up a distinction to which to point. One drawback, however, is the possibility of being tempted to holding onto such concept, thus missing the reality that is being pointed at by that particular distinction, whatever it is.

@AndylizedAAY It was an offensive image so I hid it. Insults and inflammatory language are not allowed.

You're making up excuses for why one should lie and get away from imagined unwanted consequences. This is disempowering. We don't tell the truth because we want to get a lollipop (some form of self-interest, like wanting to be liked, being perceived a certain way, etc). Some caution and discretion are called for in certain social interactions. Depending on whether a relationship allows for brutal levels of honesty, those levels needn't be reached. Just become aware of this disposition. Lying makes you a liar! Take a look at the consequences in your experience. I suspect you're not being honest enough. There might also be some confusion as to what "telling the truth" means. It's more nuanced than telling everything you can to everyone, or sharing whatever comes up to your mind at any moment. It's a good book.

Read the book.