UnbornTao

Something lame that comes to mind is sweeping the house at 3:00 AM

Juicy topic here we go

Whether it works or not depends on the purpose for why it's taken up in the first place. Meditation is ultimately about healing and calming the mind down, not setting out to become conscious. Two different pursuits. The latter could better be called contemplation. Meditation can work relative to its purpose.

Trump is clearly a child and a liar. Far from being a wise and conscious option regardless of politics.

Terminator!

Not healthy. Instead, focus on increasing effectiveness. What are you doing? Why are you doing it? What results do you want to produce? What is the most effortless way to do it?

Just read about that. Let's see how it evolves in a few years. Remember that the headset is a first generation product with impressive technology. A 4K TV for each eye! That its battery life lasts 2 hours is understandable.

@Leo Gura By the way, Mac gaming just got a significant boost. Let's see how it turns out in the end, looks promising so far. "Proton" for macOS.

easy there.

@Danioover9000 It's OK. If the advice is not found to be wise, it's OK.

Similar to PC gaming? AAA titles and the like? I mean, Apple Arcade can be used with the device... as basic as that is.

$499 Apple Vision SE:

Microsoft, Google and Meta have been providing products in this industry for more than six years -- Google Glass, HoloLens, Meta Quest. But Apple's success may depend on how good their implementation is, which seems to be very promising and much better than any other product released thus far. It's also been rumored that Apple is already working on a cheaper model.

My current take is that dysfunctional behavior might be caused precisely because we want to avoid pain. That pleasure and pain are part of the same dynamic is often ignored by us, and yet we strive to somehow experience pleasure continuously while expecting pain to be minimal or even zero, as irrational as that is. We still live as if that were possible, but it's not, it's an ideal. About the presumed lack, I was speaking existentially. We don't experience ourselves as being complete. Perhaps one's true nature is already complete but in our ignorance of that fact, we set out to find "cures" for that dilemma. This may lead to an unconscious avoidance of pain which in turn helps generate addictive behavior. Why the pervasive need to distract oneself? "Humanity's problems stem from man's inability to be alone in a room." This deals with the psychological domain whereas I was coming from an existential consideration. What you say is of course reasonable. A child that lacks paternal love may try to seek it somewhere else. Personality and how the child chooses to respond to circumstances may play a role here. But nothing says that if your needs aren't met, you have to develop addictions. Circumstances could catalyze such behavior but what the person does, and how she responds, are key. What kind of compulsive, unconscious emotional mechanisms would be equivalent to, say, breathing, moving, etc? Why do some individuals move on from their traumas while others get stuck within them and need a long healing process? In the former case, maybe they don't allow their past history to dictate their future. Others may use their life history as a justification for not instantly getting over their traumas, remaining bound to them. This seems to be a possibility. (Not to undermine/downplay painful events and trauma, these are valid). Ultimately, childish people don't want to experience themselves as the source of their experience. Rather than being the victim of circumstances, owning yourself, your emotions and your experience makes for an empowering model of reality.

I have yet to look into this "lacking" sense but it seems to be present for pretty much everyone regardless of stage. Might be related to a fundamental not-knowing that we've mistakenly taken to be a malady. I don't consider myself to be a sage yet nor have I mastered stage orange, sorry. I may be able to throw some questions around that will hopefully facilitate our investigation here. If you want that, refer to the questions on my first reply.

I'd phrase the consideration as: Why do you (everyone) feel lacking, that sense that something is missing? Could be caused by existential assumptions about being an inner one with his private little world. Assuming things have consequences!

It might have failed as a business or source of income but is great at providing short-form insightful content.

One that I love and that immediately comes to mind is Intro to Serious Philosophy.

Have you watched I, Robot? Similar to that. The potential AI has for mischief. - "Hey Siri, clean my room." - "Clean it yourself, bi**h"

Right? It's also creepy.

@StarStruck @hyruga Intellectual understanding is just the first step. The key is experiencing the communication. That is what the work is all about. If you grasped the communication, you'd be a master by now. @Jacob Morres Mastery in terms of skill. I don't think that it can be applied to enlightenment work as the latter isn't a relative matter.

Addiction might be catalyzed by an unconscious avoidance of pain. We avoid pain and seek pleasure because we presume to be lacking. Experiencing oneself as already inherently complete resolves that dilemma. You assume to be broken in some way.

A presumed lack.

I like Susanne Cook-Greuter's 9 levels of ego development.

To the average guy, self-help may have a reputation of being a shallow, BS field filled with motivating content that isn't very effective after all -- "believe in yourself", "focus on what you want", etc. It's a broad term. Real and effective self-help exists but it isn't as accessible as the viral stuff. Call it something like personal empowerment and it could turn into a social media fad. Using the word empowerment may have positive connotations in people's eyes whereas self-help doesn't. And yet we might be talking about the same thing, just with different terms. The work is essentially the same whether it's called self-growth, empowerment, self-help, or self-actualization. It is working and moving towards actualizing one's potential, whatever that looks like in your case.