jse

Leo's job. I second that - but this can be interpreted in at least two ways.

De-fi-ni-te-ly not Finance.

Indeed, there are safer ways...

"It's absolutely infinite... It's absolutely infinite... It's just... absolutely infinite!" - Some dude on the God pill "My God! It's... full of stars!" - Some dude on a far-out trip

I'll never forget the time I stuck a fork in a live 240v socket - my transformation & enlightenment was instantaneous.

pa·thos noun - a quality that evokes pity or sadness.

Words Don't Come Easy To Me

"Have you stopped beating your wife, yes or no?" This kind of question is generally a fallacy of false choice, which cannot be answered either way because the question itself is flawed. The question "Is there free will?" is also a false dichotomy. It is incorrect because it is based on the assumption that the illusory ego is real. Answering this question with an either "Yes" or "No" is also incorrect, and will just further confuse the already confused. "Mu" You're either with me, or you're against me on this. Oh, wait...

@Greatnestwithin, maybe Mark Twain can help you here...

It always cracks me up when I hear "I won't try drugs because I [don't want / can't / am afraid / etc] to lose control"...

I wouldn't be too concerned about free will... go for the expensive or pay-as-you-go will.

As many wise souls have so often said, there are no words that can possibly come close to describing the eternal infinite reality that is consciousness/awareness, at least not with our dualistic-based language and our dualistic understanding paradigm. That hasn't stopped me thinking for a while on a possible analogy to describe the Awareness that is All, in words that perhaps the ego could somehow grasp. What follows is my feeble attempt: Electricity It's completely invisible to us, yet its power is undeniable; It manifests in many ways, depending on the electrical machines that use its power source; A toaster's electrical power manifests as heat to toast bread; A computer's power manifests as processing. A toaster could never become "self-aware", but a CPU or network of CPUs may some day. But then again, there are ways to turn a CPU into a toaster (devolution). When electrical gizmos "die", the electrical source remains intact, ready to do its work through other machines. Just like Awareness, electricity can be directed to apparently different outlets, yet it has no discerning physical properties, no separation. So, the analogy here is that our bodies are the machines through which Awareness manifests itself in this apparent dualistic paradigm of ours. AMAZING ELECTRONIC FACT: If you scuffed your feet long enough without touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you have carpeting.

I stopped watching Leo's sage video at "Osho read 150,000 books". Let's do the math: Assuming Osho was a speed-reader and could read and absorb one complete book a day, 150k books would take 450 years to read. But let's say Osho was a particularly-gifted speed-reader, and could read 10 books a day - well, then that would only take 45 years of his 58yr lifespan, at about a book an hour of his waking life. And that's assuming he didn't take any time off to ride in one of his 96 Rolls Royces. My point is that by quoting (at least twice in the vid) a charlatan's claim to superior intellect, it taints the general message. And seeking anything, whether it be "enlightenment" of becoming a sage, well, that's just another ego trip.

Had a similar experience... in my case turned out to be an electrical power failure.

No way... There is no way in hell, that I could ever summon the necessary courage and heroism to go through this frightening and life-changing experience without an experienced sitter. Very much interested - please follow up! You are one brave psychonaut, and any posts/videos based on your most personal of experiences are very, very welcome indeed. *Thank you*

Leo, at 44:51 into your very informative "How To Use Psychedelics For Personal Development" video (posted on 7 Aug 16), you've said: "... And lastly what I'll tell you as a huge warning, as a huge warning and a huge tip, is do not mistake psychedelics as a shortcut for self-actualization, and do not mistake psychedelics as a shortcut to enlightenment. From everything I've researched, and all the people I've talked to, and I've talked to some very enlightened people about this issue - my understanding is that you will never reach enlightenment through psychedelics. Never. Never ever ever ever." Then 7 weeks later, at 2:12 of your eye-opening 5-MeO-DMT video, you say: "... 5-MeO can be used to have genuine enlightenment experiences, and also, not only to have these peak experiences and then coming back down to normal egoic existence, but to actually attain permanent enlightenment. I think that 5-MeO is capable of doing that." Leo, as this appears to be an 180-degree turn in your experiential understanding with regards to reaching enlightenment, how do you now view the teachings of the enlightened people that you've previously talked with and read about, who appear to contradict the conclusions from your recent life-changing experience? Is there a way to reconcile these two apparently opposite views on the journey to enlightenment?

As far as I know, Leo might be the only one here who has willingly put himself through death. I don't know about the rape though...

Given that there are no laws (now correctly called "theories", such as Quantum theory), and given that the probabilistic outcome of any possibility is absolutely real no matter how absurd it may appear, and perhaps given that reality is infinite to the power of infinite - then perhaps the question needs rephrasing. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

Anyone here a "Burner"? If so, please share your experiences with us here.

Thing is, in order to recognize true enlightenment, one would probably need to be already enlightened...

"Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas, 1914 - 1953

Spiritual enlightenment at a snail's pace...

I hadn't given that much thought, but I guess our names should reflect our life path. As soon as I can find a word or two to describe "he who stumbles along this rocky path named life", then I'll change my given name.

Absolutely agree, Leo. I would go further and say that the whole "war" against psychedelics is a crime against humanity.

Us guys? Cmon Leo, where is your sense of non-duality... Anyway, no abuse whatsoever intended on my part - I have the utmost respect and admiration for exceptional beings such as yourself, who not only put so much time and effort into a concentrated life of Self-Actualization, but are also willing to share their knowledge and experience so freely. Perhaps 5-MeO should not be considered a psychedelic, as it doesn't appear to be a substance that produces hallucinations or distortions of perception. As such, maybe 5-MeO should be in a new class of itself, something like PsyEgoMortis. And perhaps we should also have a clear distinction between experiencing enlightenment and becoming enlightened. Can repeated enlightenment experiences together with a life of self-inquiry, result in a permanent state of enlightenment? I for one can hardly wait for Leo's upcoming video interview.