UnbornTao

Recognizing that you as a self are not especial, existentially speaking, is at the same time disturbing for your ego, and liberating.

Then what are you pointing to? By "agreeing" do you mean adopting it as a belief? What would be the point of agreeing without being directly conscious of it oneself? I don't really know about those guys. Ken is smart and may have had enlightenment experiences. He's also pretty attached and stuck on intellect. Has Daniel expressed or mentioned if he's had enlightenment experiences himself? How does he talk about this subject?

Dropping the roles you play makes you bigger. It empowers and enlivens you. It also makes you more present, "real-er" and effective. By doing that, you become a more powerful human being, not just the small, limited persona you were rehearsing before. Haven't you felt pushed to drop your roles by dramatic or dangerous situations, whether physical, emotional, or social? Imagine you're being hunted by a lion. In this example, the roles you play are irrelevant. You don't play smart, funny, mysterious, or charismatic. You run for your life without giving a crap about social concerns. So, try dropping your roles to see for yourself. This post is about the principle of self-expansion. Keep reflecting on it.

Poor wording. I meant that Windows hasn't been optimally adapted to unconventional form factors by Microsoft yet. New touch-focused features piss off desktop users and viceversa. No desktop OS has been made truly touch-friendly without having to compromise on usability in some way, as far as I know. Both Apple and Microsoft seem to be experimenting with their OSes in this regard. I didn't say that Macs were innovate but rather the PCs that you mentioned. You may have misinterpreted me. What about metrics like hardware quality (trackpad, screen, speakers, keyboard), weight, thickness, temperature, noise, performance, battery life? What's the touch experience like? Not as good as a tablet, I bet. Overall, the M1 Air is the winner, except for touch and graphics. Many people would prefer an excellent traditional device instead of a mediocre or even decent 2-in-1. I don't think this form factor has still fully developed. Yes, PCs are of course versatile, open, cheap and customizable. For gaming, they're pretty much the best platform. Besides, they can offer discreet graphics card support. Well, it's true and I frequently feel the same. A screen without touch capabilities, except TVs and other specific gadgets, makes you feel like living in the Jurassic era. Plays Jurassic Park soundtrack. Yes. Qualcomm is their main competitor when it comes to mobile processors. Apple has been at the top of mobile processors for more than a decade. Their custom silicon dev kit used an iPad chip! In a way, M1 was the culmination of a decades-old development that started with the first custom iPhone chip. They leveraged their expertise with their mobile custom processors and applied it to the desktop. That doesn't seem to be the case. The M3 has been rumored to be built on 3nm and ARMv9 technology. Apple might choose to use that new technology only in their "pro" devices, though. I'll be patiently waiting for an Intel or AMD processor with similar relationship between performance and efficiency as that of Apple Silicon. Both companies will likely have to switch to ARM sooner or later in order to achieve that.

You're confusing intellectual prowess with enlightenment. It is possible to be very smart but not enlightened. For example, Nissargatta was awake and also illiterate. There's no correlation between these two things.

I'm deeply curious as to what intuition is. In my childhood, it was easier for me to be intuitive. The process of becoming adult diminished that ability, as well as curiosity and creativity. Intuition seems to involve a free and open awareness. But what is it?

Getting lost in conceptual abstraction is a continuous trap my personality type must be specially cautious of. I'm very likely to fall into it. Watch out for intellectual masturbation. Ground your considerations on your experience.

How do you know that there exists an objective, external world? Who told you that? Where did you learn it? How did you come to that conclusion?

Do what you like and make it work for you.

Following a set of established distinctions has benefits and a major drawback: becoming stuck on or enclosed within them. For instance, a psychologist who perceives reality through a psychological, scientific paradigm misses what's in front of her. Without being aware, she's slowly become entrapped within that technical field and its particular distinctions, which are also shared by her peers.

Being deeply invested in something, especially on an emotional level, makes it harder for you to be impartial, unbiased and objective. It increases the probability of being partial in relationship to it. To the extent to which you're invested in an activity is the degree of difficulty in adopting a meta-perspective and subsequently becoming free from it. So, based on this: What are you invested in? How are you biased in regards to it? Become aware of this dynamic in order to free yourself from this particular domain or activity.

Huh. Do you subtly assume that what you think is true because the thought is yours? Since it is a thought held by you, you automatically and blindly believe in its legitimacy. Bad move. Be very vigilant of this dynamic because you likely do unconsciously follow it.

Telling the truth is a skill that can be developed. Instead of taking on spiritual and philosophical fantasies of all kinds, use honesty as your spiritual practice.

Listening prioritizes the message itself, not the one expressing it, much less her personal details, credentials, agenda, etc. What are they trying to communicate? Is it true, factual, logical? Then, you can ask about the person. Keep in mind that who's communicating is rather secondary, tertiary or even irrelevant sometimes. What if Einstein told you that 1+1=3?

What about your book?

In order to change something, first we must know (become directly conscious of) what the activity is about. Before attempting change, we must grasp its nature. Instead of asking: How can I stop being depressed, anxious, fearful? Or: How can I be happy, joyful, humorous? First, focus on contemplating what each of those are. Once insight into their nature is gained, you'll be able to control and generate them at will. For example: How many of us attempt to transform ourselves without knowing what self is? This is the norm, not the exception.

Perceiving reality through models can easily become a trap. You get lost in the model by taking it seriously. Besides, you lose what actually happens by superimposing concepts onto experience. Watch out for this trap. Don't take models so seriously. Reality is happening before your eyes. The menu isn't the actual food, no matter how good or accurate it looks.

How you frame an event determines how it is seen -- as an opportunity, a problem, etc. How you frame a situation creates the opportunity or the problem. Recontextualization solves the problem by helping you realize that it was of your own making in the first place. A problem isn't "out there"; it is caused by the way you perceive and make sense of a particular circumstance or set thereof. Perceiving opportunity is more empowering and healthier than the alternative.

What are loneliness and aloneness, fundamentally?

Reinventing the wheel helps you grasp its nature at all levels. It then allows you to restructure or recreate it as you wish, enabling the possibility of true innovation. When something is reinvented from the ground up, mastery and understanding relative to that are gained more easily, or they at least get accelerated.

Integrity when presenting ideas: holistically though out expression that can stand on its own.

Holding a negative future is what allows for depression to emerge. Therefore, create a positive vision for your life. Then, depression won't arise. What personal goals can you come up with that are aligned with your values? Create a list and start pursuing them asap. Be passionate about life, learning and relating.

@flowboy You don't eat sugar? What were the first weeks like after quitting?

What is a perspective? Is it a way of holding reality? How can you shift perspectives?

What is up with boredom? Why do we despise it? What is boredom based on or motivated by? Loneliness! It is because we feel lonely that we seek to be together, entertained, with the latest movie and novel. This entire industry is based on our collective inability, aversion and unwillingness to be alone. Increase your tolerance for boredom. Bare, raw experience, being mindful, aware and sensitive.