TimStr

@Leo Gura Wow, sounds like it has to be experienced, to grasp it. So, I assume, this is basically how stage turquoise thinking works. Does this kind of knowing then somehow get translated by your mind? Because, that was what I experienced on AL-LAD. Some sort of mystical truth is experienced and then translated into conceptual language by the mind. So mystical truth becomes conceptual insight, if the mind is able to grasp it. An I think, that‘s why it is important to learn the theory of non-duality. For the mind to become a better translation device and actually make "sense" of what is experienced, because otherwise, it just spits out nonsens all the time, while tripping. But in a sense by translation into conceptual language the mind actually makes nonsense out of the mystical experience, because the experience is much "truer", than its conceptualization.

@Maxx @see_on_see @Falk Like I said, I want shatter my believes by using the conspiracy theory to point out to myself, that there are different "truths" out there to believe in and that all of these are not actual Truth. Yep, you‘re definately right, but my idea was, to use the stories, to expose mainstream theories as being just stories, I started to believe in, as well. Breaking down my web of believes by exposing myself to counter-believes and grasping that both of them are just believes but not actual truth. Yep, that's my main concern as well. That they would just feed into my ego because it would use them to feel superior. However, I think, that I am quite aware of that.

@Lord Bwyra Great big post or yours, I really liked it. You just spoke from a place of pure fascination and awe. Being a musician myself, I got touched by this a lot! And I got motivated as well, so thanks man!

Yep, that's the approach, I have in mind. @Leo Gura Makes sense to get this one handeled first, since this is the ultimate conspiracy. In your videos about psychedelics you're talking a lot about the barriers of real vs. unreal and sanity vs. insanity breaking away. How does this manifest in your experience, while tripping? Like, what do you hear, see, feel... after you corssed that point?

Yeah, this also corresponds to the paradox of Doing vs. Being. The ultimate Do Nothing can become an effortless Doing. Also, the distinction between mind, body and self are a very clear way to put it.

I think of it this way: If you truly beliefe, that you are ok, you also accept your interiour motivation for growth and transformation. And then it's no about correcting mistakes but about being the continuous change that you already are. By being totally ok with yourself, you become a resistanceless outlet for the innate creativity of reality. Adyashanti is a great example for someone that has truly realized, being ok with himself. BUT for him, being ok not just a belief but an actual truth.

You would master self-acceptance and yet at the same time continue to work on functioning optimally in the world, because at some point became able to hold the paradox of acceptance vs. continuous improvement.

All of us surely would! But most of the time, stuff like this fails, because noone steps forward and takes leadership. Let's make it as simple as possible. We need to agree on two things: 1. A date: 3rd of october is coming up. Why not meet at Tag der deutschen Einheit? 2. A location: That's probably the most difficult part. I know, that there are a couple people from Baden-Württemberg, I've read, that there are some in Hamburg, Munich and Berlin. I guess, there would be some austrian and swiss people, too. So let's do it like this: Anyone who is free on 3rd of october and genuinely willing to commit to investing time and money into a 3-5h trip send me a PM with your location. I will try to figure out a city, that is fairly accessable to all of us. (I guess, we will end up with something like Kassel or Frankfurt, cities relatively centeral in germany.)

I consider emperor Nero a zen-devil, too. He and Marcus Aurelius shared the same teacher, Seneca. The latter two are to be considered two of the main figures in stoic philosophy. I am not sure if they practiced some form of non-dual inquiry, but guessing from the way, they lived their lifes, I think, that they were somewhat spiritually realized. At least regarding the detachment aspect of enlightenment. But all three of them lived out their stoa in a different way. Seneca was more the yogi kind of guy and others wanted to learn philosophy from him, Marcus Aurelius went full on life purpose, becoming a great conscientious but at the same time extremely modest emperor after Neros death, and Nero himself just went all nuts, burned Rome several times and ordered Seneca to commit suicide.

@Max_V Here are a few ways that work to inspire me (I am a musician): Explore, what other artists are doing. Just spend some time going to galleries, browsing the internet or watching a movie. Get some input. Face the blank canvas. Sometimes it's not actually lack of inspiration, that's holding you back, but resistance to the work of coming up with something. Set a timer for 2h or do and commit to spend that time to do nothing else but drawing. (That's basically what The war of art by Steven Pressfield is about.) Challange yourself to do something new. Maybe try not to create a character but something you have never drawn before. Meditation. Whenever I sit down to meditate my monkey mind sort of goes through a few phases. At some point it tries to distract me with creative ideas about whatever I thought about a lot, that week. It works great with the first tip. Hope that helps.

@Joseph Maynor How about smiling? Sounds like a valid way to me, to deal with the issue, you wrote in the title of the thread.

@Shiva I will relocate to Stuttgart this September, would be a pleasure to meet you!

Objective causality starts to break down if you break down your minds tendency to rationalize and conceptualize. If you say, that it must have rained at night, because the ground is wet, that seems true for you, because your mind is used to think that way. It's because the concept rain exists in your thinking. Try to imagine how your world would be if that wasn't the case. How would your world be without the concept of rain? How would it be with no concepts at all? The fact, that it might be hard to imagine shows you, that you're stuck in this way of thinking. Your stuck in your concept of reality and unable to see it for what it actually is. Now it may be useful to conceptualize to some degree in order to function in the ordinary world, but conceptualizing gets in the way of truth seeking.

@sleeperstakes Some clarification first: Pickup is essentially about making a girl want to have sex with you. Dating includes but is not limited to that. I find, that Radical Honesty (read Brad Blanton) is another great concept to be applied to dating. In your post, you're talking about relationships, though, which is a whole different story. Do not expect to be good at having healthy relationships, just because you are good at dating. For having a healthy relationship it's more about non manipulatory relating (read David Daida for that) and being detached (read Marcus Aurelius) than having dating skills. In fact, there are many pickup guys, that never have a successful relationship, because their pickup mindsets eventually get in the way, so it might even be counter productive for you. I think one of the biggest lies, humans keep telling to themselves, is that they're naturally good at something, they haven't done. I find this to be true especially for relationships. Expecting, that your first few relationships are going to fail, is a healthy sobering attitude because being close to another human being (besides your family) is a skill that has to be developed. So don't get upset about your failures. Take every new relationship as an opportunity to practice and learn.

@Ilya Firstly, you can't become absolute infinity because you already are it. But I guess, this answer won't satisfy you. Secondly, don't expect, that these kind of realizations have any particular order, they're all absolute, and thus the concept of no self and of absolute infinity are basically just different ways to concepualize the ultimate nature of reality, like two sides of the coin. I find that there's not really any hierarchy to them, it's more a matter of recognizing what you experience as one or the other. Personally, I have hints of infinity on various psychedelics but haven't had an experience that I qualify for true no self, yet. So my practical advice to you would be: do psychedelics

@WaterfallMachine Get into Shinzen Youngs work, he offers you a whole periodic table of mindfulness techniques. Nobody can tell you what will work for you, you have to figure it out for yourself. But I can recommend a few things, that worked for me. Fist thing, you could try is just basic mindfulness with labeling (see, hear, feel). The point of this is to create a continuous stream of concentration that you can shine on one event after another in your experience. This may help you with the general overwhelm. Another thing, you could try, is what Shinzen calls Focus on Flow. Instead of labeling specific events you focus your attention on the continuity of experience. You basically create one big conceptual object out of it, that you then concentrate on. For example, whenever I have to move through large crowds (at train stations, airports, etc.) I focus on the flow of the movement in my entire visual field. I try to see the movement of every person and also the movement of the space around me relative to me as I am walking. This allows me to navigate through crowded places very effectively and effortlessly and I enjoy it to feel kind of merging with the general movement of the scene before my eyes.

I can recommend anything by Alejandro Jodorowsky, especially The Holy Mountain. The best movie about enlightenment I've seen and one of the most grotesque, mind blowing, awe-inspiring and excruciating movies out there. Expect being blown away. Also I am a fan of Stanley Kubric (check 2001: A Space Odyssey, Eyes Wide Shut and Clockwork Orange), the Wachowskis (Matrix, Cloud Atlas), Charlie Kaufmann (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Anomalisa), Ken Russell (The Devils) and also Christipher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception, Prestige, Memento).

I have this: http://wallpaperswide.com/zen_monk-wallpapers.html

@Loreena You're life purpose is so beautiful indeed! And don't underestimate the impact you can have with it! You can literally save the planet with organic farming! Here's a movie to inspire you! If you really are into nautre and farming, this may bring you to tears: http://inhabitfilm.com/

@Henrik_Sahlen If you want to nurture healthy masculinity, read "The way of the superior man" by David Deida and translate every piece of it into reality. In my opinion, that book is the most accurate description of actualized masculinity out there. And it shows you, how to get there.

@hinawashi In my opinion, the most practical solution to pride is humor. If you are able to laugh about your own mistakes, flaws, your perfectionism and your work and success, you simply can not develope attachment to these things. The degree of which you can laugh about all these is the degree to which you are detached of them. Humor is an increadibly accurate litmus test for ego. (Yes, I think that humor is greatly related to enlightenment, especially the detachment aspect of it.) You can't possibly express your pride about something an wholeheartedly laugh about it at the same time. And you can't maintain the behavior of having to prove, that you're better then others if you laugh about yourself together with them. It works great, especially in social situations. I challenge you to crack three jokes every day about some things you are proud of and/or serious about for one week straight. Even if it may feel artificial at first, you will feel a difference!

@Visitor So how would you go about introspection to get some of there insights about yourself? Do you sit down and ask questions like: "What am I hiding from myself?" or "Why can't I let go of ...?"

I want to share this article with you. Partly just as food for thought partly to make you aware of the fact, that (from a dualistic pov) meditation and non duality work can have potentially dangerous side effects: http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/06/york_county_suicide_megan_vogt.html Leo did talk about some meditation side effects in his Dark Side of Meditation Video but I think, that there is a general lack of information about this topic. Feel free to share your own stories.

I definately felt some adverse effects after my first retreat and experiences with psychedelics. There was this lack of meaning in things, that were meaningful before, that left me with the feeling of desolation and lead to a general sense of unease and confusion, that took a couple of days to wear off and still comes back from time to time. For example, I was overwhelmed with socialisation and being confrontet with the collective low consciousness.

Lucid dreaming is the key word. It's basically about learning how to remain fully conscious, while your mind and body fall into a dream state. You can find lessons and books on the internet. It has become a fairly popular topic in the last two or three years.