UnbornTao

It seems you've believed your way into a disempowering state. Stop taking that crap seriously -- this the solution. Nowhere is there a realization of anything; it is but a conclusion you've adopted and convinced yourself of. Consciousness is freeing and leads to greater openness and bliss, so take this into account.

Thanks!

No sourcing. That drug is extremely dangerous; stay away from it.

Why would you imagine what the experience of other animals is like as an attempt to invalidate the investigation in the first place without having even looked into yours? An insight is an apprehension of an objective, "true" fact or reality, as with the Archimedes example. You can speculate and be skeptic all you want -- you still likely experience something that you call "thought" and "feeling." What's required is looking into them. If you don't consider that it is possible to find out what things are, then there's no reason to investigate or contemplate, and we're stuck not knowing what anything is. But notice that you still experience having thoughts and feelings and live with them as realities, taking your experience of them at face value.

Because you live as having thoughts and feelings. What are those? An insight can be trusted.

You can, and contemplation is needed. Hence the questioning.

What are you doing in your meditation sessions?

Can you notice others' intent before they act?

What is feeling? Is a thought sourcing feeling?

Most likely nobody knows, and speculating won't change that a bit, even though adopting some comforting notion may relieve us of this anxiety. Beyond that, you can contemplate what life is, but becoming conscious of that requires serious work and commitment. An answer is irrelevant. I might as well respond with "banana", and ultimately that would be equally useful to you than an elaborate and convincing answer. It would leave you with a rumor, an idea, at best a possibility; believing it wouldn't change the condition. You can use it to more powerfully investigate what life is.

Health and supplements subforum. Lately I've been adding a pinch of it to a daily espresso.

Red Dead Redemption 2.

What do you see, notice, pay attention to? What do you think enables you to do that?

No drugs needed. How about not over thinking in the first place? It is something you do, so learn to see "where" you are doing that and stop it. Meditation and exercise can help.

What happens in your experience whenever such an event takes place? What would you say affords you that ability? Also, what is energy?

Come on, there's no shortage of things to be fascinated by in life. You had to pick those. How about videogames? A sport? Psychology? Egg poaching? Or what about a more general --open-- study of the human condition? Art also pushes humans to extremes, but generally in a positive way, for example.

@Majed You sound unhinged. Be more open to others' perspectives here.

@Majed I think it would be better to leave one's personal feelings aside when investigating anything.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Beat me to it.

That must be painful, sorry for your loss. It's a good reminder to be mindful of our time, both in relation to ourselves and others.

Nice. I'm going to copy that into my journal.

You can stop the fantasy and story of "self-deception" and begin to be honest about your experience by acknowledging what is present and what it truly is. It’s not an ideal or a philosophy. Consider the simple reality of telling the truth about basic things, and proceed from there. Distinguishing between what is experienced and what is conceptual is a good starting point. It provides a direction for progress.