lilacwest

This! Yes I was just thinking today I need to narrow my focus as well. I believe I will achieve more completed projects that way and also help me learn to prioritize. Yes, thinking of one step at a time will also help me in particular, from getting too overwhelmed at first.

This is a very good question! I struggle with this as well. I think Leo has a video that touches on this topic but I forget what it is called. I also do want to say I'm very thankful to Leo and his videos, I was not a motivated person before, and now I want to be. For now, I am going to try develop some good habits and drop some bad ones. Like give myself time constraints and daily goals. I am hoping as I develop good habits, the resistance and desire to be lazy will be lesser.

I haven't been on any retreats - maybe someday - but I have been to an Abbey of monastics (mostly nuns) several times as it is local to me. This is their Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/sravastiabbey I mention them because if you go to their website and write them an email, they will answer you. They love to answer questions about meditation and also what it is to be a monastic. However, they are currently in silent retreat and won't be coming out of it until March, so they would not be able to answer a question right now. Your question is making me want to ask them what they have noticed and gained after silent and also long retreat (about 3 months).

Thanks everyone for all the great quotes. The "quote" feature isn't working right for me right now. I really like the Eckhart Tolle one in the original post & also the "Why Are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you do is for yourself --- and there isn't one." --- Wei Wu Wei

I think this is an excellent topic and I hope Leo makes a video. I've noticed with my current studying right now, that to be in a place of "not knowing" is important. Like not knowing whether my belief is actually correct, for one thing. (Reminds me of Leo's discussion in his recent video on "knowledge"). so it sounds like being in a place of not knowing would lead to less needing to defend a belief, and less needing to be "right" and I imagine one would be happier if not so attached to winning an argument or disagreement.

I had a 1 to 2 second enlightenment experience many years ago and I can identify with the desire to recreate the experience so bad. I asked a friend of mine that is a regular meditator, why didn't I just stay in that state? It was amazing and beyond anything I could have imagined. She said something like it takes practice, and habit, because we are already so used to the afflicted - "ego" state that we will just fall back into it, unless we make effort through meditation, and continue to connect with this enlightened state. So that was her opinion, it makes some sense to me. BTW in case you are interested I will tell you exactly the meditation I was trying when it happened. You sit and pretend you are an observer, behind your thoughts. You let your thoughts parade through you head, and you pretend you are just sitting and observing, and try not to judge them. So be the non-judging observer. Also personally I'm trying to let go of any attachment to new experiences, and let things come as they may.