UnbornTao

First, let's question the validity of such claims. What did he went through? This "ask me anything" attitude is predicated upon false preconceptions -- assuming that enlightenment implies knowing everything. It doesn't. It's being directly conscious of the absolute nature of you, existence, life or another. It's only the beginning. It doesn't tell you what time, self or space are, as examples. OP doesn't clarify what enlightenment is in his experience. He also seems to be coming from a cosmology.

Nobody knows whether genetics have anything to do with "spiritual attainment". Honesty and hard work, on the other hand, do seem to have a correlation with producing insights. Genetics isn't an impediment to enlightenment because it is relative. In the end, what matters is what you become conscious of, not whether it happened on the beach or on the mountain (relative).

Sounds good. Too much rhetoric though. Your description is too dramatic and doesn't sound like it's grounded on experience. Another issue is that you bring up irrelevant stuff when it comes to enlightenment: Why bring up life purpose, meaning, good and evil, shamanism? These are relative matters. That it is beautiful and that many people get convinced doesn't mean it is authentic. To be clear, I'm not denying the possibility that you might have had an enlightenment or insight. If that's the case, you might be confusing the consciousness with what your mind did with it. Only you can know. Coming from a cosmology and referencing external sources doesn't sit right with me. Phrases like "I'm the father, I'm the bodhisattva, I've crossed the stream, holy grail, winning love, true vine" sound like your experience doesn't stand on authentic enlightenment. You seem to want to convince others with rhetoric instead of simply communicating what you went through.

@ThePoint semen retention works relatively quick for me. It's been a couple of weeks at most and I already feel more masculine, deeper voice, stress resilience, etc. Probably because it increases testosterone. Now, I can't say for sure. There may be various factors involved. This is obvious but nevertheless useful to make sure that it is well handled: restful sleep, clean diet, mindfulness, exercise, etc. Start with one small change, if you prefer. Avoid added sugars, caffeine, TV, excessive internet and smartphone use, etc. That will at least free your awareness and time. From that, a course of action will become clearer, imo. But in the end, you need to take action. I stopped using internet and my smartphone for an entire week and that dramatically increased my calmness and sleep quality improved.

The only thing that's true is the truth. So yeah, -isms are false specially because they approach the matter superficially, intellectually. A lot of people want the convenience of just having to choose and adopt a belief system of their liking. Even if the -ism is based on an individual that was authentically realized, it inevitably degrades into dogma as that's what the masses tend to do with any teaching. That said, Buddha's teachings are genuine and profound. They may empower your work in various ways. For me, they're simply inspiring. No need to become a Buddhist (whatever that entails in actuality) in order to benefit from its teachings. Just, you know, kill the Buddha in the end. Which is to say set your so-called "knowledge" aside when contemplating your own experience.

That it is uncommon doesn't imply impossibility. Anyone can become conscious of their nature because what they are is already the case. If you disagree, you're conflating possibility with probability. I guess "should" is irrelevant in that aspect. And meditation seems to me aimed at healing and calming the mind, which of course won't necessarily lead to direct consciousness. For that, we should start thinking in terms of contemplation, in my view.

@Godishere is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to.

@Adamq8 I think you're confusing a self with the nature of Being.

"Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave." – Diogenes.

We're born ignorant and with almost nothing. Based on that, my claim is that a genius makes himself one. There certainly are factors beyond one's control. Of course, a supporting environment and a healthy upbringing can assist you in becoming masterful but these things in themselves mean very little when it comes to being a genius. If you think that geniuses had a luxurious upbringing, filled with comfort, excess, and ample free time, take a look at their biographies. From my experience, geniuses are more likely to be made from really painful upbringings.

We're born ignorant and with almost nothing. Geniuses make themselves that way. Certainly, a healthy upbringing and supportive environment can assist one in becoming masterful but these are external factors beyond the individual's control. Take a look at their lives. The ones with painful upbringings are more likely to be geniuses, not the other way around. Trump vs Elon Musk lol Additionally, Da Vinci was homosexual and left-handed in a time when both were socially condemned, plus he had some serious emotional problem/s and a shitty childhood if I recall correctly.

Two intriguing perspectives concerning maturity: Being able to do something that lies outside of one's self-concern, something that doesn't exclusively serve your individuality but something beyond it Being able to do something beneficial for another without her knowing about it

"It is what we don't know that hurts us. There is no such thing as being in conscious pain, if you’re in pain it’s because you’re unconscious, that means you don’t see something, you don’t understand something. So freedom from pain and suffering and confusion can only come by you knowing what you are all about and it can be done." – Vernon Howard.

I disagree with the definition of creativity given by Leo and some members of this forum. Creativity is creating something from scratch that didn't existed before. That is how it shows up in your experience. From that definition, we can see how creativity is more profound and rare than what passes as creativity in our culture, which fundamentally is combining existing things from an external source and then adding your own "unique" stuff onto it. The place from which most people create is pretty weak. They create from a "self-centered" place or stance. To the degree that the creation comes from you and not-you is the degree of mastery that the final result will exhibit. That's the place where masterpieces and true creativity are born. That's what allowed Bach, Chopin, and Da Vinci to create timeless art. Contemplate: Where does genuine creation come from? What allows for true creativity to arise? What makes a creation masterful and genuine as opposed to mediocre -- simply putting something together?

What makes a communication powerful? Three formulations on an aspect of effective communication: Being behind your words; presence Putting yourself at the source of it grounded on one's experience Keep looking into what principles create or allow for powerful communication to occur.

What a gem.

Concern yourself not with IQ but with your curiosity quotient. What do you want to know? How much do you want to know it? Develop your sense of wonder and curiosity. Following that passion always leads you down right tracks. Learning is one of the highest joys in life.

I discovered Lord Of The Rings relatively recently. One element I loved was this song, especially when it plays at the end of the last movie. Beautiful, imo.

Humorous comics that depict cultural and self-hypocrisy and double standards in a witty way. Fun read, in my opinion. https://search.brave.com/images?q=the far side https://www.thefarside.com/shop/books

You're not being honest enough. Look into your own perspective and emotional state first before blaming "others." You might be frustrated for whatever reason. The "place" where that frustration occurs is where you've got to put your attention on, which is yourself.

It might be useful to realize that anger is based on hurt. Be more honest by allowing yourself to experience your hurt. Anger is a manipulation to do something with the hurt. I suggest you look into that.

Cringe seems to be used as an excuse or justification to pretend or withdraw according to what others hold as acceptable. It is a socially manipulative behavior pattern. What you do and say and how you do it is based on others's expectations. It's about avoiding being authentic and spontaneous because of what others might think of you. You fake your internal state in order to conform to the ~~socially acceptable~~ norm. Personally I don't care. I have no problem doing stuff on my own, even silly and stupid things sometimes. Additionally, there's some truth to the feeling. However, in my view, the word is overused.

Throwing yourself into your work, whatever it is, is the most effective way to master, be happy with, and love it. Immersion is also the best method of study and practice. Do it. Otherwise: Why would you take up a course of action?

Any life and career are enjoyable! Huge insight! It's a matter of YOU. You enjoy it. Thinking that it, whatever it is, can somehow "make" you happy is a fallacy. Get in touch with your ability to do so. Bring to mind when you were a child and massively enjoyed simple things. It's about mind mastery -- abstaining from perceiving reality in such a way that it causes misery for you. Instead, less is done. By not doing the negative emotion, an inherent, uncaused joy emerges.

Why is it easier to destroy than to create? Contemplate that. What forms of destruction do you continually engage in? Catch yourself doing that, specially in subtle ways (a hurtful remark, etc). Become aware of how you engage in this activity, if you in fact do. What do you want to create? Focus on the substance. Form is the medium through which your creation manifests into the objective world.