UnbornTao

Does he like pets? What about adopting a dog for him? Maybe help him introduce new and interesting hobbies into his life in order to add variety to it. You could suggest cooking a meal together, learning to play the guitar, among many other activities, to open new avenues for communication and deal with this dilemma down the road. This could help guide him towards a more positive life direction, to start with. In a sense, it'd be adopting an indirect strategy rather than a direct one.

That's good, and also what would coming from a grounded experience look like? We certainly distinguish, albeit sloppily, a thought of an apple from our perception and feelings about it. Which is which? It's late, might elaborate tomorrow.

Stop avoiding pain A few consequences of avoiding pain: Numbness, decreased sensitivity and awareness Lack of profundity Childishness Growing shadow Weakness and fragility Loss of presence and vitality Addiction Reduced capacity for wisdom Therefore, embrace pain and contemplate it: What is it, fundamentally? What is the distinction "ouch!" in your experience? What function is it serving? Can you notice how you might be conceptually superimposing "stuff" onto the sensation? What is the relationship between what you do and the degree of pain that you go through? Does willingness to look into your suffering reduce its impact somehow? A few suggested practices for you to start looking into your experiences of discomfort and of pain: Cold showers Semen retention Fasting Intense meditation Exercise Stretching Doing nothing, alone in a room, for several hours or days Eliminating an addiction

Sounds about right. Always talking about beliefs... So annoying. On another note, there's also the influence of beliefs, in that they are not recognized as such and so are taken to be true in themselves. Some may be justified and valid, too.

Tell Peter to record the audiobook himself. Or else we'll keep suffering.

@Leo Gura Thanks Leo, appreciate it.

Something

To whom is it not convincing?

I was nitpicking. However, isn't a belief not an experience of what's true, but a thought about something? The truth is found in our conscious awareness or recognition of some dynamic, condition, event, subject, fact.

I mean, no belief can be true.

It's fine, relax and reconsider your career path. You can simply switch to a different path and let go of your old expectations. That, or transform the way you approach your study so that better results can be achieved.

@Javfly33 Notice that people go live in caves to get enlightened. Once that's done, they often come back to "ordinary" life, whatever that may be for them. Transcending something doesn't mean you stop engaging in it; you're just free to generate it or not. Gautama still ate, talked, gave lectures, socialized, etc. Jesus might have had intimate relationships, too. Enlightenment didn't mean their lives had to turn out a certain way. So remember not to exclude the laundry (mundane life) from being enlightened. What are relationships? What is communication? What is language? What is desire?

Why do you think "enlightenment" is separate from ordinary life? How you live is up to you.

Is that a true statement? How do you know it's everyone? Granted, politics is based on manipulation, but this is not the same as lying. Someone like Bernie Sanders, for example, seems to come from a place of sincere service and integrity, regardless of potential factual errors he might make, biases he holds, mistakes he makes, etc. Do you expect politicians to be Plato or Aristotle— idealized "honest" individuals? "Less of a liar" can also be seen as less deceived than the opponent, which is a move in the right direction, especially when the difference in degree is so staggering between them. The "truth" isn't a fantastical place or fixed destination, which you seem to think; it's just what is, at any level.

@Inliytened1 Trump is the epitome of pathological liar.

––Franklin Merrell-Wolff

––Issai Chozanshi

If a communication sounds familiar to you in the context of consciousness work, watch out! Consider that there might be something deeper to understand about the experience and consciousness than what your intellect makes of it, especially if it comes from an authentic source.

You're goddamn right!

Well that is right

You were supposed to say Heisenberg. Anyway

James Clear, Shane Parrish, Robert Greene. Vernon Howard deals more with spiritual self-help and seems to be new-agey, but he was straightforward and honest.

Good work!