UnbornTao

I was well aware of that. But please, stop it with that excuse already. It's not even accurate. And engage with the argument, if you don't want people to think they're expected to believe you.

A religion is already an acknowledgment of failure. It asks for faith. And it is taken as the truth.

If you say so. I'd add that's not a function of seeing or smelling. We already make tons of assessments in this domain every day. What are they based on? The main criterion is: do they work for our purposes? We trust a trained surgeon, not a random person on the street (unless he's a surgeon), when it comes to surgery and medicine. Why? Then again, the issue here is that in spiritual or philosophical pursuits, this stance is all the more difficult to discern. "Who can say what's true? Everyone's got their truth." It can turn into an unsubstantial impartiality pretty rapidly. Basic rigor and common sense is desperately needed.

https://nutritionfacts.org/recipe/black-bean-stew-with-purple-sweet-potatoes/

I guess that's true. But humans aren't hyped enough.

To me, they're like a smarter, improved version of a search engine at the end of the day. I'm speaking from ignorance here, while acknowledging the potential amazing value this technology could have. But the hype is just too much. LLMs can't even get basic information right sometimes.

Will this tendency be a net positive for Microsoft and Windows in the long term? Remains to be seen! No.

Depends on what we're talking about and what we mean by trust. But yes, that's pretty much a given in survival land - the notion that our experience is already 'true' or accurate (despite philosophizing that it might not). And your perceptive organs are yours alone, if that's in the ballpark of what you meant by your second question. Are you asking whether I'm free from influence by the external world, or something along those lines? Unaltered and untampered? Good luck with that. They're designed for you. You are a bias, so to speak. If you want to claim that this basic mechanism takes away from unbiased observation or plain common sense, I'd say that's a false equivalence. It doesn't seem to occur to people to ask the most common-sense questions or maintain basic accountability. You should ask Leo whether he trusts his drug-induced states and the claims he can't back up with the proof he said he'd provide. But I think I get where you were coming from with the question - setting up traps, eh?

Can you clarify and elaborate on it? What does this relate to?

Cojones.

Definitely. I like to think of it as truly listening to them and genuinely making an effort to meet them where they are - even though we're likely to fail. But this is what the work is about. We also have to guard against the tendency to claim understanding too soon. It's easy to think we have listened when, in fact, we haven't yet experienced what they're saying - or not to the degree they are conveying it. As for your own insights, if they are real, I don't see a need to be brave with them. You just need to make sure they are real insights, and not merely a conclusion, a belief, a good idea, or something else. If they're real, they're real because that is what is so, and not because anyone - even you - claims that they are. It's a crucial difference in criteria that's easily missed.

One clear trap - in my view - that is adjacent to the 'I'm doing it my way' sentiment, although essential in principle, is being so self-deceived and ignorant as to think one has surpassed some of the masters. Your observational skills need development. In many ways that's a recipe for unconscious deception. It's you wanting to get your way under a spiritual umbrella. Objective feedback.

Getting there!

Or, just as an exercise, practice being happy now. Be happy. Try that.

Can you just feel tired and separate the tiredness from any other reaction you think might be called for to deal with it? You might ask yourself what role you have in all of this and how creative you can be. If you want purpose, make it up. Get clear on that and commit. Feeling lost is OK too. It happens relative to some desire you feel is being thwarted. So you can see that you have desires. As for appreciating what you have, well, appreciate stuff. Don't wait for circumstances to give you permission. Overall, my suggestion would be to separate and clarify what each thing in your post is, because it seems like there are several questions you're grappling with, not just one.

Fear not, fear not. Again, fuck them all (ultimately). At the same time, there's a difference between recognizing mastery in others, listening to them, and taking their words at face value. But no, not everyone is a charlatan. Most people in spirituality are, though. Invoking those figures is meant to encourage considering perspectives outside one's own mind and preferences. But you can see that not even Leo listens to these guys in certain respects. On the other hand, the easy and convenient stance to adopt is the "do-it-yourself" attitude, which can easily boost one's self-deception because you can avoid being confronted in any real way. It ends up being your mind interacting with your mind - a closed, self-referencing loop in which any reality can be created. I suspect I've actually been one of the few people here who has taken both stances seriously as far as the drugs go (as an example). But you don't see people's stances here as closed-minded because they're focused on claiming things and making stuff up. Removing beliefs isn't really the focus there, and it meets resistance. This is why grounding is useful and necessary, and why spiritual communities often completely overlook it. The focus is on being "open-minded." Meh. It has to be real, not just abstract, intellectual, imagined, or part of one's self-image. Neither is it the same as "appearing open-minded," when, in truth, one isn't genuinely operating from the principle.

So no video? I wonder why.

But don't ignore the points that were made. Where's the video? And were you on drugs? To me, it's clear that you tend to do the same. But I haven't made any grandiose claims for you to understand. Fantasy Awakening is going to be my thing from now on. You can still get it if you're open-minded enough.

That's essentially your default response to any confrontation. But you said you'd provide a video, didn't you? If you find that you can't, in fact, do what you promised, then it might be time to admit you were wrong. Isn't that part of your philosophy? To be clear, you can be closed while appearing open. I think this is a clear case of that. After all, what people might hear in these exchanges tends to be, 'Someone claims X,' and the one who says 'no' to that is seen as closed-minded. Maybe not. You can be open and still say no to nonsense. Insisting on BS is closed-mindedness.

Haha. Leave some Kool-Aid for the others.

Sure. Provide the recording you said you'd have of yourself turning into one. We'll be waiting. Or just stop insisting on the drugs so much and call a subjective state what it is. Call it a new flavor of awakening or something - but do it, if you care about what's true. If not, then don't sell crap to people. That's my suggestion.

@integral

@Leo Gura Have you had the chance to turn into an alien yet? I swear, people need to calm their cultish predisposition a bit as a general rule. Some of you can be quite impressionable and credulous behind the scenes despite what's said about 'Sovereignty of Mind' and all that nonsense. Don't just take Leo's words for it. And don't get confused when uppercase letters are added after 'Awakening.' Leo is smart and can be charismatic but I feel that the relationship a lot of people have here is just that of a subscriber or follower. Some basic scientific principles and rigor would do you good if you don't want to simply be a sycophant or acolyte - which I fear many are, even unconsciously. And Leo is certainly full of shit, too. I feel your automatic reactions tend to be believing him and being far too charitable - and again, in many cases, this obviously is still occurring despite what's claimed on the surface. Was this supposed to be a religion in the first place - or not?

Listen to both, but consider they're called masters for a reason. In any case, this is a waste of time. Have at it.