ajasatya

@egoless sadness. but this person experiences it so deeply and in such a pure and direct way that it fades away quickly. that's the real beauty of human feelings. soon enough he'll be immersed in his practice of presence.

@egoless because the so-called "enlightened person" has learned to accept it all and has found happiness. living has become a blessing.

@egoless i'm not offering you a path. it's actually impossible for you to accept someone else's path, even if you wanted to go through it. i simply said what i did. do you think you can become enlightened? that's just a belief. Truth is never coming to you nor is it leaving you. what we human beings really need is training. we have to learn how to deal with this incredibly powerful tool which we call mind, otherwise we feel run over. the day you will become enlightened will never come. you can just acquire fluency when dealing with the mind. you can achieve domain over your emotions and be a master of yourself. but trying to become something else is madness.

that's because you're still creating a mental model for whatever you are. you're still to find out what being completely free of mental self-image feels like. in practice, just watch your breath. don't think about what you are. that's why i talk about zen. it's because the practice of zen is enlightenment itself.

well, that's zen. no beliefs at all. just mindfulness practices all day long. zen is not a religion. zen is a method to train the mind to be present. what do you think zen monks do? pray to god? haha zen monks practice stillness and silence from morning to night. from bed to bed. a zen monastery is just a working facility for mindfulness practices.

@Shin very interesting. i tried it and failed really hard. and i bet you just failed too.

i completely understand you. you're somewhat like me. you know what i did? i quit my job and lived as a zen monk for a while. i was single and the option was available. so i chose the easiest option. i hope you can find your balance.

@egoless you gotta develop the wisdom to find your middle way. i am an academic. i work with computer science and i live in peace. why is that? because thinking is not wrong. thinking causes suffering when you cannot choose to shut it down. when i'm working, oh man, my focus ability is incredibly strong. and when i want to experience peace of mind, oh man, i'm able to silence reality. it's a matter of training. you have to train hard. live your life as you need to live but plan to go to mindfulness retreats. during work, the mind can go horse because the work might require horse power. but don't confuse yourself with the confusion. you're not the confusion. you're just doing work.

pray to the mystery of what you really are. pray to embrace the willpower to heal yourself. you don't need to pray with standard words. you just need to cultivate moments of profound sincerity. get in touch with your heart and study your own anguish. don't use labels given by others. find the root cause of your emotional pain and illuminate it with consciousness. it's not easy nor is it painless. but there's no other way and nobody can do it for you.

@Anton filling mankind up with wisdom and goodness is the highest purpose for any human being. one does it by filling himself up first as he fills himself up. don't think you're deluded. we all want to live in a world built with the highest potential. individualism and technology have already gotten too far. now it's time for our hearts. join us. you just need to find your way of doing so. Leo has worked for/with his speech on his youtube channel. i myself have other means: i practice and teach zen and yoga; i'm working towards embracing ayahuasca for the betterment of this planet; i and my future wife are building a family grounded on Truth; i use this forum as a way of letting my heart connect with people who live far away. Truth is not brainwashing. Truth is inspiring and liberating.

@TJ Reeves you're a wonderful human being. thank you for being exactly the way you are. you've been inspiring me since the first post of yours that i saw on this forum. the book you're writing is a true gem, a gift to mankind. i know it. your answer is aligned with what i wanted to say. i was going to talk a little about virtues, which is a closer word to me than core values because of my native language, which is brazilian portuguese.

@Afonso i remember back in the days when people talked about some prophecy which said that there would be digital gadgets that would go under the human skin and would contain data about us. like a tool for mass control. maybe that prophecy has already come true except for the fact that the gadget does not go under our skins but under our mind and fears? there's certainly a healthy way of dealing with technology. that's what we're trying to do here, for instance. what would be a healthy way of dealing with smart phones and such? it's your responsibility, as a software engineer, to answer questions like this. there are several people who are already trying to become free of the attachment to their cellphones. what do you have to say to them? what kind of app do you want to engineer to help mankind? what do apps like tinder, instagram and whatsapp contain that have been draining people's lives?

synchronized thoughts:

nah. it's kinda funny (and healthy) actually. as time goes by and i persist on my practice, people start to give in and enjoy doing it too. and there's even a smaller group of people who don't hug or make eye contact with anyone else but me. they say that being in my company is a big relief for them. that wouldn't have happened if i hadn't persisted through their resistances. i work towards encouraging them to practice it with others as well... not just me.

i implemented the habit of hugging and making deep eye contact with everyone i meet and talk with. men, women, younger, older. i don't care if it gets awkward. find centers of holistic practices near you. free your innocent child. Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3)

@Simon Håkansson are you addicted to breathing? what we really call "addiction" is a destructive habit.

yes, sorta. i mean bigger. grow bigger. meet thousands of people. be a great human being. you don't need to be known. you just need to listen to as many people as you can. be humble, be water. go through many different situations in your life. personally, i'm not into skydiving or hiking. i am an yogi.

how is your health now?

@OnceMore you want positive impacts on your life but you think too little of what those might be. that's your key problem. about religions and shamans, i was just enumerating examples. what i really meant was bringing something new and unusual to your life, even though i do find religions and shamans amazing. i myself am participating in a society where we plant ayahuasca plants (mariri and chakrona), then we harvest them, then we prepare them for brewing and then we brew ayahuasca. and then we drink the tea and go REALLY REALLY deep into the fabric of Reality, having amazing insights about relative truths and Absolute Truth. it's a tasty divine party. and you have you heart devoted to some girl, struggling very hard against your feelings. you're just lacking richer experiences for your life. why don't you do amazing things? how do you think amazing people exist? someday in the past they were just babies and couldn't even speak. and someday in the future they will turn into ashes. their bodies will become other bodies. the perfect cycle. perfect service for Truth: having an amazing life. yes, there's a woman in my life. she's the one who invited me to join this ayahuasca society. we take part in the ayahuasca ceremonies, we meditate, we practice yoga and we eat very healthily. how would my life be without her? still amazing, just like it was when i was single. i highly recommend this movie. pay attention to the depth of change caused by his life experiences. compare the character at two moments: the very beginning of the movie and the very end. oh, by the way, the ayahuasca society that i was talking about is present in england too. it's a brazilian religion. i just can't name it here. would you mind taking a solitary, slow and purposeless walk today?

@OnceMore you've got it right. you were close friends and now you're experiencing loneliness. it makes you fantasize shortcuts to get out of your sadness. solution? get out and expand your life. join new religions. dance with shamans. meet yoga practitioners. observe the resistance arising within you as you read my suggestions. how many excuses have you gathered? what's the source of your resistance?

what the fuck?!

oh wow, i could not grasp your meta joke in time haha. im feeling pretty tired. the ayahuasca ceremony was incredible last night. haven't slept much yet.

the blue cliff monastery was estabilished by the great master thich nhat hanh. there will be an open event this sunday. unfortunately, i live in brazil. but that's the kind of event that i wouldn't miss if it happened near me. here's the link for the event. an opportunity to work your ass off for real and step out of the mental masturbation.

@Shin mental masturbation is thinking about enlightenment and not having the attitude to step outside and open the chest to life. it's seeking so much that there's no time left to find anything. i've been there and i needed people to shake me up so i could get out of it. that's why i advise people to live up.

@Sheeba find the beauty within you. let your heart bloom.