UnbornTao

Looks promising: Naughty Dog’s PSS Visual Arts Collaboration @The Mystical Man Either that or a new Uncharted.

@ThePoint For me, being fully engaged in various activities for most of the day is key, focusing your attention on those, not on what you'd like to avoid. Where does your attention go to in your free time? Put it on something constructive. I've also noticed that caffeine, especially on sedentary days, doesn't seem to help at all. Generally, it makes me anxious and breathing gets shallow, short and fast, making me look for ways of releasing that pent up energy as a means of quick relief or gratification. Cold showers are worth a try.

Pretty good! Also slightly sinister, imo.

I've made the decision to practice semen retention for this month. I started yesterday. My progress will be posted here – simply the day and whether it was successful or not, maybe with additional comments that I find relevant. The main goal of this challenge for me is testing my integrity, making sure that I can trust my word. Done for successful day/week, relapsed for failed attempt. ––– First week - Done I need to work out intensely every day in order to cope with the increased energy. This practice is incredibly useful for implementing an exercise habit into your daily routine. Second Week - Done No major urges. It's been effortless up until now. My voice is deeper now. Again, it seems like my energy has increased since I started this challenge. It may in fact influence or cause that increase, or be a combination of other factors. Not sure. Third week - Done I'm more outgoing and sensitive to my body. That may be a combination of this challenge with occasional, short periods of fasting, and perhaps vitamin c supplementation. I'm a bit aggressive and irritable now unless I work out. My breathing seems to have improved, too. I've noticed that I'm more capable of confronting and dealing with negative emotions, whereas before I'd try to reach for my smartphone or turn on the TV. I'm surprised by how effortless the challenge is going. 22-30 - Done Almost completed. The last four days I've been rather hostile and irritable. The reason why I think that's the case is because I haven't exercised for a long time. Gasping is more common, as if the body is releasing pent up energy. Challenge completed. Benefits that are clear to me by doing semen retention are quite a few. In terms of body-being, I feel more present and grounded in my body and are more sensitive to it. Perhaps testosterone has something to do with it. In the domain of mind, clarity and confidence have increased, too. The impulse to exercise and move arise naturally. I'm now much more ruthless with myself and others, in a positive sense. The ability to be effective, direct, and straightforward have been improved considerably. In general, semen retention is worth undertaking at least a couple months per year in my opinion, especially if you haven't refrained from any form of sex for a long time. It's worth a shot. In a nutshell, being horny kicks ass. The simplest lessons entail the most work to learn.

Nice. I love authentic teachers like him. They're rare.

Aside from speculation, we don't want to admit the plain truth: nobody knows. As a self, we are alive, and we don't even know what life is. Perhaps grasping what life is reveals the nature of death as they're intrinsically the same dynamic or process. But I don't know.

Stop bringing cigarettes to your mouth, despite your motivation to the contrary. That's what it takes, fundamentally. Wishing is superficial; it isn't a serious commitment to act on it. Intent is what allows an action to happen. Intent arises with action. If you truly intend to quit, make it happen, no matter what excuses your mind makes up. Granted, the motivation will still be there but you can refrain from acting on it.

I tend to ignore or overlook seemingly simple communications from others, specially regarding spiritual work. I assume that I understand the subject matter because the expression is straightforward and easy to understand intellectually. But there are almost always deeper points and ramifications to grasp experientially. That basically means that I don't actually listen. Perhaps at times I don't intend to and just want to be entertained. Tricky stuff.

Stop doing it. Seriously. Be willing to go through the momentary withdrawal symptoms.

You basically kill people and "infected". Making friends is part of the storytelling, not a gameplay option/activity. Also checkout the Uncharted series if you want a similar game as TLOU without so much brutal killing.

@digitalkaine The happiness I'm speaking about is harder to come by. It's more like the bliss of one's nature. Consider Ramana Maharshi: after a powerful enlightenment, he'd blissfully sat for days on end while inspects bit his legs. He was living on a cave and barely ate and slept. That's extreme but it might also clarify where to look for this elusive satisfaction. Become conscious of who and what you are. Maybe bliss and your nature aren't separate. Who knows? Remember that being happy doesn't entail being complacent, lazy, poor, ascetic, self-indulgent, or stuck within circumstances -- it is independent of those. You can be happy and ambitious. Practice being happy even if you don't like your experience, regardless of what it is. This principle forces you to make a shift in your experience from being at the effect vs being in control of your disposition. Contemplate it.

@The Mystical Man No TLOU gifs, only Uncharted. Read the guidelines before posting.

Sounds like BS to me. Not every communication that comes from an enlightened person is or has to be true. In my estimation, he frequently shares a lot of woo-woo beliefs and opinions, which are mostly based on Indian doctrines.

Buddha at the gas pump, perhaps.

@The Mystical Man Just give us a new Jak & Daxter

Boredom, solitude and mindfulness might be useful.

A ton of what passes as communication is actually manipulation, both subtle and gross. One way to go about it is by contemplating the difference between the two: What's communication? What is its purpose? What makes it powerful, effective? How does it differ from manipulation? I think those are great questions to ponder on our own.

Lol, I was reading that segment a few weeks ago

@Ulax thanks, I wanted to ground the consideration a bit more on experience. Intellectually I got it. In any case, I also tried to clarify my previous post.

That's just weird. The rationale behind its validity is basically meant to be believed.

Red cabbage Red bell peppers Dark leafy greens Carrots More (red) onions Garlic Sea vegetables Cucumber Beet Watercress You can't go wrong with vegetables, nutritionally. In terms of taste, you can. Which ones do you like? Adding more herbs and spices won't hurt either. Coriander, oregano, paprika, turmeric, cilantro, parsley! I think coconut oil is controversial. I'd prioritize virgin olive oil instead. Also, dates are an excellent snack especially for sugar cravings. Decent source of fiber, and might increase energy levels.

@mr_engineer To anyone.

Is hunting witches right or wrong? Examples like that show how cultures create the parameters from which to decide whether something's considered right or wrong, based on cultural programming and premises. Questions like that are posed, and are always based on a given culture's presumptions. Come up with closed questions like that one that predispose an answer in favor of the questioner's assumptions. No action in itself can be right or wrong. An action is itself: moving the body a certain way, speaking, thinking. This predisposition or attitude may often be known as moral relativism. I see it more as simple honesty, which by the way doesn't justify unconscious acting, nor does it preclude the reality of intelligent behavior.