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I've experienced mixed results. I did NoFap for about 2 months and had so much energy and focus it was unbelievable. It was definitely not placebo. My chronic fatigue was completely gone. Anyway, I decided to fap again because it was too much. Then I went back onto NoFap and didn't see any where near the same results. Definitely no need to fap every day. Once a week may be acceptable. Once a month is more ideal I reckon.

@Harikrishnan Lynda is pretty good but you're not gonna know it all after just one course, even if its 10 hours long. Take a variety of courses that fall under the broader field of digital marketing (social media, SEO, analytics, different types of marketing, etc). Take longer courses in areas that you feel will be applicable to what you intend to do with these skills. Take notes, and aim to really understand whats being taught. I'm pretty sure the course have reviews and ratings, so look at them to help you choose which one to take. Most of the information is gonna be fairly similar throughout all the digital marketing courses though. It's pretty straight forward stuff. This should then be balanced with actual practise and implementation of whats learnt. The main lessons will come from actually doing digital marketing, using google analytics, doing social media etc.

@CreamCat This is not how siddhis or magik work. It's nothing like what you see in a Hollywood movie. You also don't actually need to have had a deep enlightenment or many decades of work to access the siddhis/powers. Some people have them naturally. Like this guy: https://www.personalpowermeditation.com/category/topics/meditation/magick-the-powers/

@Leo Gura Sounds great! I'd love to see this type of content. You haven't done much on politics, and for good reason. But I think some high quality discussions are needed. Particularly for me being in the UK, as our politics has gone to complete shit. I don't know how to think about it all. The country is completely divided because of Brexit. It makes me sad. It's so hard to find high level political discussion. The Daily Evolver does quite a good job for US politics, but the discussions are still a bit surface level. Here's a good channel for info about Brexit if you or anyone else is interested.

I feel for your situation. Do not loose hope. Even posting on here and asking for help is a great first start! Do not worry about not knowing what life is about. Basically no one does! There's nothing wrong with that. Just let that idea go - seriously. My advice would be to start working on getting your basis needs secured and in place. Shelter, food/water, and health. This is your top priority. One thing at a time. Go through your life methodically. Leave spirituality or any other personal development type stuff for now. Identify what is the most important thing to be focusing on right now. Is it getting a job so you have money and can afford to rent a place of your own? If so, start journaling, planning, thinking about how you can execute that. If it is health you want to resolve, look to solutions to help with that. As a fellow Englishman you have access to free healthcare. You can sign up to a GP anywhere in the UK, i'm pretty sure. You might also want to look at slowly improving your diet, and/or slowly incorporating some exercise/yoga. Regarding your anxiety, this is a tricky and complex issue. Of course there is the option of medication. Not ideal, but it may be a good solution for you at the moment, whilst you're getting your life back on track. Pushing through the anxiety and forcing yourself into difficult situations is also a potential solution that often works, particularly with social anxiety. You can do it man.

@kieranperez Sweet!

@kieranperez One of the books Leo just added with his booklist update is really really good for this (TCM by OC)

@Shaun One or two of the Kriya books on Leo's list break down Kriya into a small list of the most effective set of techniques. Would definitely recommend. Saved me loads of time that I would have spent doing less effective beginner techniques.

Hell yes to the trilogy series at the top of your new additions! They really are amazing books. So enjoyable, fun and easy to read. Maybe my favourite spiritual books, and highly recommended! Also I just want to say that the audio reviews are really helpful and enjoyable to listen to. They add so much value to the booklist as a whole.

@Esoteric Interesting, thanks for the response.

Does anyone else get a really 'heady' feeling after they've done Kriya? I've had a sort of pressure-type feeling in my head for ages. I wanna know if anyone else has experienced anything similar? I went to my doctor and he said it was something to do with being long-sighted and working on screens etc all day.

@7thLetter I've been unemployed for more than a year now and I have run into similar problems at times. Some things i've found helpful: 1) have something you're working towards. Create a long term vision, plan or goal and work towards it every day. You need to have a good reason to get up in the morning and to not waste the day. It was only after I became really really clear on my LP that I started to put in the hours every day. Before that I was so undisciplined and lazy. 2) Have some sort of routine. Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day, have a good morning routine, meditate around the same time every day, eat at similar times of the day, etc. 3) Write down a list of things to accomplish for the day. Prioritise 1 or 2 things and spend a good couple hours doing them, with focused, intentional effort. 4) Lastly, as you said, its just discipline. You don't have to be super strict on yourself though. Remember to enjoy your time off work. I'm sure it'll turn out to be a good thing in a long run.

@ttom An impressive start. That amount of meditation is not easy to maintain. Link to your channel?

I know what my purpose is (being an illustrator) and i’m actively working on it every day. I have a pretty good idea of what I need to achieve, and what skills I need to develop in order to make it a reality. It’s something i’ve always known and wanted, but it was only around 8 months ago that I actually realised how it could be done and that I can personally do it. So i’m on track with that. However, whilst working on my purpose I’ve got to survive and pay rent when i move out from my dads place. But I don’t have a job, and i’ve been trying to get a job for a good 9-10 months with little to no progress. I’ve had a few interviews, but no offers - obviously. Most applications are sent off into oblivion to never be seen or heard from again. What the fuck do I do? I gotta move out of my parents place (at my age this should not be the case) but I need a job. But I can’t get a job. I’ve got a 1st class degree, but we all know that barely means anything at all. Right now i’m just applying for jobs that I find on job boards online. But it seems hopeless. I’m reluctant to apply for a low skilled job, because this could be a long term thing depending on how long it will take for me to actualise my LP, and I want to do something that is atleast vaguely enjoyable. Does anyone have any alternatives to simply just applying for jobs online and hoping to get something? Anyone else going through similar situation?Any advice would be much appreciated.

@IVONNE Of course its not too late. You're in your prime! 25 is probably the perfect age to go and do an undergrad in my opinion. I'm 26 and I wish I could go back and do my uni studies again at this age. When your 18/19 you're so young, naive and inexperienced. 25/26 is a great age because you're more mature and probably more hardworking. But you're also young enough to still be able to fit in with the other students. Even if you were 30 or 40, mature students are usually the best students. Older students are more focused and have a clearer picture of where they're heading and why they're doing the course. Professors/lecturers love older students. I guess just make sure that it's what you really want to do. Don't waste the opportunity. You only get a student loan for one course.

@Ashleyy Sounds like you have some natural inclinations for lucid dreaming, astral projection type stuff. Probably worth exploring

@see_on_see Awesome, I did not know about those sites. Thanks a bunch

I just stumbled across this amazing new art competition that has just been announced. If i'm honest it brought a tear to my eye. The prize is £10,000 but really the brief title is what made me super excited to share this, and I hope other members of the forum will enter and then maybe we could all meet at the exhibition! How cool would that be! Anyway, the brief is to produce a piece of work in response to the statement 'GOD IS...'. Here's a link to the website: http://chaiyaartawards.co.uk/competition. The competition end date isn't until October 18th and the final exhibition isn't until next year! So there's plenty of time to enter if you live in the UK (must be UK resident). So i'm definitely going to enter. I'm thinking of doing a large scale painting or illustration of some sort, but I haven't thought of any interesting ideas yet. Maybe i'll do a painting on 5-MeO! Imagine that. Maybe not. But I feel I must verify what God is for myself before attempting this. I'd be fascinated to see other people's interpretations of the brief.

@Peo Well i'm from the UK, but you can become financially independent in basically any country. The only thing stopping you is your own mind. @Elisabeth Indeed I can, although I am only just starting to implement them. So it may be worth asking me in 3-6 months time to see if they are actually effective and/or get me a job. Essentially it involves 2 approaches which I wasn't doing before. 1) Networking through LinkedIn. Connecting with people who are doing the jobs I want, and/or in the same industry. And connecting with people who may then be able to introduce me to other people. I'm still have various questions regarding this, which i'll be clearing up in the coming week or two. 2) Get as specific as possible about what job you want, tailoring your CV to exactly those positions, and then contact recruitment companies which are specifically aimed at those particular jobs, or your particular industry. Apparently, applying for jobs through job boards, which has been my main strategy up until now, is near pointless, particularly if you're CV is shit, which it was in my case. It's like throwing a snowball into a fiery hell. You might get a hit, but very unlikely. So many hours wasted. Thats not to say that job boards don't work. They can. Someone is gonna get the job of course.

@Leo Gura Thanks so much for the advice, really appreciate it. Since writing this post i've actually started working with a career coach. Turns out the strategy i've been using for the past 9 months (not to mention the mistakes on my CV) has been completely wrong and basically a total waste of time and effort. Frustrating to say the least. Building some more marketable skills is definitely an option I am looking into. Considering taking some short online courses. And looking for employment outside of London (to reduce expenses) is definitely the ideal situation. Whether I can get a decent job doing what i'm interested in outside of London is questionable, but still worth the effort of course. I think the most likely strategy will be to get a lower job within the art industry. That way I can potentially have the opportunity to further build my skills within the job, as well as network with people in the industry and get to understand the industry from the inside. My coach gave me some new and much more effective strategies for doing that. So i'm feeling optimistic! @Hello from Russia Very interesting! Thanks. I haven't considered web design stuff. Definitely something i'll keep in mind and look into.

@Elisabeth Thanks for the response In fact i'm actually doing what you suggest in the first bullet point. I'm talking to a career coach who has a lot of experience in HR.

Unconditional love includes the necessary killing of animals. Otherwise it would not be unconditional.

@Buba Generally the perception of vibrations only comes after a lot of practise. It also requires very high levels of focus and concentration. Your average meditator won't experience the vibratory nature of reality in a few sits. As far as I understand, the advice is not to go looking for vibrations, particularly if you're just starting out. Just focus on increasing your focus and concentration. They are not necessarily indicative of good meditation either, not are they necessary to see some good growth from insight practise. But when you start getting super concentrated and focused, things do start to vibrate, flutter, arise and pass, move, etc. Read Daniel Ingram's stuff if you want to learn more about these topics.

@LoveandPurpose Are you a guy or girl? If you're a guy, start NoFap. Since i've been doing it I haven't once needed to nap throughout the day. Before, fatigue was always an issue for me.

@moon777light It's interesting, I am hopeless when it comes to concentration practises, I can't concentrate on my breath to save my life. But when it comes to self-inquiry i'm just naturally able to get hyper focused. I find occasionally repeating your focus question helps enormously. In your mind, or verbally. Don't just ask Who or What Am I? once at the beginning and then thats it. But don't repeat the question every second, obviously. The more concentrated you get the less you need to verbalise the process. With regards to focusing on awareness, you are correct in saying that there is nothing to concentrate on. By consciously being aware, you are simultaneously being aware of being aware. You be aware of being aware by being aware - but consciously! Recognise that you are conscious and aware, and stay there wondering who or what is aware. Atleast that's my take on it, might be complete nonsense lol. If you're interested in reading more about the meditation of awareness watching awareness, check out this helpful article: https://albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/chapter07.htm