Juan Cruz Giusto

Thanks guys!!! I realized I was just a little bitch It is just time until you get used to it. Just have to resist the first week or so.

Hey all! I'm currently meditating for 1 hour, 5 minute affirmations, 10 of visualizations, 15 of questioning limiting beliefs, cold showers in the morning and journaling in evening, plus reading a book a week. When I do all of this in my day plus gym 4 times a week and college with the homework, I feel I don't have enough time to relax and be with friends.. The question is: am I overwhelming my self or am I being a little bitch?

I guess the main lesson in this case is to keep practicing.. There is a saying that goes like this (I'm paraphrasing): "it is better not to start, but once you did, you better finish it". It is obviously better in a relative perspective to be enlightened.. You will have a better time and be happier (please don't confuse relative with absolute truths). I'm sorry for this woman anyways ?

Whasup guys! After Leo posted Suzanne Segal's description of enlightenment, it sounds like really bizarre and not joyful at all. Do you think this was due to a lack of a proper framework? A lack of a proper practice in which this stage can be transcended? This description of enlightenment is really on point but it lacks the bliss of being that many teachers preach. After doing some research, she had another insight about the nature of reality in which she realized that she was everything. The question really is: which is the difference between a master that talks about the joyful mess of being vs Suzanne's empty life. Let's make an interesting discussion ?

Hey guys! I've been doing self inquiry for the last months and in yesterday's video, Leo said to start practicing mindfulness.. My question is how do you guys balance both if you are meditating one hour per day.. Do you do one month one and then change? Or is self inquiry a mindfulness method?

Thanks! I just did a session of mindfulness and I'm starting to see the usefulness to improve my inquiry

Hey guys! If you've watched some Ken Wilber videos recently you will realize that he is in terrible shape. Hi wrote an essay about it and it's outstanding that with such an illness he is still full of love, passion and drive. A clear example of a enlightened and developed human being. I get goosebumps while I'm writing this since we should all strive for this. Hope you like it. http://www.kenwilber.com/Writings/PDF/hi_folks.pdf

Hey guys! I've been Mastering the Core Teaching of The Buddha by Daniel Ingram and I found really on point and practical. I found this interview in which he talks about two really important aspects of this work: 1- What is the difference between the egoic state and the enlightened state and which is better: It is really motivational to see how worth it is to achieve enlightenment for the human being! (min 19;55) 2- The 10,000 rule that he put on to achieve this permanent state. (min 30)

@Leo Gura it would be really cool if you upload your Me Sheet and Vision Board to see how you yourself are evolving and making sharper distinctions with your values, goals and so on.

This is, personally, the most foundational and inspiring video of all! Hope uou enjoy Leo's video and my summary of it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very few people have an accurate big picture understanding of life and reality. The secret for this is having the right epistemic foundation. Success in any endeavor is not a matter of knowing the trick, it is about the structure and how you approach the entire problem. When you seek understanding/truth, you need to be aware of the role of your own psychology in this process. Also, you need to realize the limits of reason and that there is stuff outside of it. Lessons from epistemology: · The first position that every human being is in when they come alive, is that we don’t know what’s true (you need to take this seriously!). This is the first starting point. You need to come from a place of humbleness since you don’t know what will be true or false. · Literally, anything is possible (you need to be open to every field, subject and study). You have to be open to every possibility and admit that you don’t know where the research can lead you. Everything is worth the investigation. · Self-deception is the number one enemy to developing big picture understanding. Be aware of your personal biases. You should only worry about your own personal biases. · Every position has hidden assumptions behind it. These assumptions define the position/perspective. You need to become aware of this assumptions and question them. If you get them wrong or aren’t clear about them, all your other reasonings are going to be on a rotten foundation. · All perspectives are partial. The biggest trap is to get caught up in a perspective. All perspectives are only partial truths. There are going to be other aspects that you ignore. One way to avoid this problem is to study many perspectives and to be impartial to the perspectives. You need to explore them all. · A model is not reality. Thinking about reality is not reality. While models can be useful, you cannot substitute them for reality itself. For example: Science is so good manipulating reality that we think that they’ve got reality figured out. · Your web of beliefs is like a representation of reality and it is under constrained. You have core beliefs/facts which are explained in different ways and perspectives. · Foundationalism (the idea that you can take some theory you have about reality and you can come up with a fundamental truth) is false. · Rationality is far too limited to use it as your only tool to explore/understand reality. Reality goes far beyond rationality since it is a subset of reality. · Paradox is good. When you encounter a paradox in your attempts to understand the world, you have to embrace it. Reality at its very core is paradoxical. Also, paradoxes are signs that you are trying to rationalize everything. · Direct experience is the truest thing you’ve got. · There is a huge spectrum of possible direct experiences. You need to constantly investigate and look for new experiences (change cities, cultures, try psychedelics, study history and experience life). · The practical level still matters. Don’t get lost into theory. The reason we are studying all of this stuff is so we can be more effective in our lives, happier, successful and move forward. If this investigation is not helping you do that, you are losing yourself in theory. In the short run you may be discovering some things that fucks you up a little bit but in the long run your life should be improving big time. · The best position to take is no position at all. You should not have nothing to defend. You should only care about what is true, whatever that might be. What you should care the most is understanding what life is and which is the best way to live it. · Seek understanding rather than truth. You should be interested in developing understanding (business, science, personal development, health, spiritual development, etc.). · Seek holism in whatever you are studying and investigating instead of focusing on some niche thing. YOUR GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF LIFE AND HOW YOU SHOULD BE LIVING YOUR LIFE. · Argumentation, debates and justifications are just tools of the ego and don’t serve truth-finding. Use the axioms below as principles! The big question is: Which is the best method for understanding reality? There are different approaches: 1. The default position (going with the flow): This is what will happen if you don’t do nothing in respect. This is the case for 99.9% of people on earth. You don’t question life very deeply since they believe they already know the big picture (which was obviously absorbed from mainstream culture). These people hardly understand anything (why they aren’t happy, successful, productive, why they are angry, people-pleasing, why there is a debate between science and religion, etc.). They think that happiness will come from relationships, money and then they will retire and live a really comfy life). 2. The academic approach: It is a narrow approach in which you choose a field and specialize in it. This approach is not going to be really useful if you want to develop a really great life. A great example is a scientist that is not fulfilled or happy. 3. Pick one spiritual tradition and stick to it in a very focused way: These people don’t realize that each tradition is a partial truth and it is based on specific assumptions. It is only a way a of looking at the world. Maybe it helps you reach enlightenment but even if it works, you will only develop a sectarian way of looking at the world. You will have a narrow and limited understanding of the world. 4. Strictly stick to your direct experience: You don’t read any books, study or listen to master because the only thing you know for sure is direct experience. The problem here that the number one danger is self-deception. When you lock yourself in a room for 10 years, you will get lost in the labyrinth of your own mind; you will end up tricking yourself. If you are only going to stick to your direct experience, you have to assume that you will be the most self-honest and motivated human being. You are assuming that you will discover all of reality by yourself only and without any help. 5. Studying lots of perspectives from lots of sources: Read all the books, watch all the videos, listen to all the gurus and then I’m going to have the biggest picture. The problem with this approach is that if you only do that and you don’t have the direct experiences, you will not get far; you will get caught up in the theories. Each of these methods by themselves won’t work. But there is a 6th approach (Leo’s approach). There isn’t a method to get the biggest picture. A lot of attention to details and a vigilant attitude is required if you want to successfully navigate this path. 6. You fully commit to understanding vs position taking. I’m going to be very mindful of how I debate and argue my position and every time I do that, I will stop. I’m going to be very mindful when defending any ideas of reality, myself, the world and so forth and when I do that, I will cut that off. Also, I’m going to see past the difference between the perspectives and get beyond the terminologies; I will go to the root of what these teachings are pointing at with the intent of experience it in my own life. I will not nitpick sources, assuming that the things that masters/gurus are teaching me are usually a partial truth. I’m going to put the burden on myself to understand all of these perspectives. I’m going to study from 100s of sources and combine them with my direct experience. I will create hypotheses and test them in my life. I will do this until I’m dead, I will not stand by any position. I will cross-reference from many different perspectives. I’m going to check all my conclusions with my intuition. You are going to find that Truth stands out after all this process. You use the theory to come up with a model, but then you go out and direct experience it! And also you are careful about the minor discrepancies, which you will follow up. a. You hold everything as provisional, you don’t have any favorites and you don’t cling to anything. b. You also have to be open to be very wrong. But at the same time you need to have a positive outlook. This positive outlook is that understanding is possible. That there is something larger that you can understand about reality and that will have practical value. You have to trust that it will be worth it in the end. c. Also, you don’t have to become loyal to anyone’s teaching. d. Also, reality can be absurd and counter-intuitive. e. Furthermore, don’t worry that much about lack of utility. But remember, you need to see the bigger picture and take into account the long term!!! Many of the things you will learn will get results in 10, 20 and 30 years! It might take you 5 years for the foundations to create results! f. Another element is emphasis on wisdom and growth vs theory. Utility is important because wisdom and growth needs to be occurring as you are going to this process. This process should be improving the quality of your life. g. Moreover, you will have to use meta-sources. You will study from people who studied form many perspectives. h. There is way more to reality than it meets the eye. The bigger picture will be much bigger than you imagined! Also, it is going to be an ever-evolving process. The value of developing this bigger picture is really tough to articulate. It is going to be delicious on an intellectual level; it is going to be very satisfying and fulfilling. And it is going to be very practical. You will live your life in this amazing way and people will look at you amazed! “We are like sailors who must rebuild their ship on the open sea, never able to dismantle it in dry-dock and to reconstruct it there out of the best materials. Where a beam is taken away a new one must at once be put there, and for this the rest of the ship is used as support. In this way, by using the old beams and driftwood the ship can be shaped entirely anew, but only by gradual reconstruction.” Otto Neurath This process of rearranging our web of beliefs is a constant process. You can never take your “ship” and go to the shore. There is no shore to go, there is no safe place. There is no assumption that you can rely on. The key here is to construct a healthy ship by standing on one plank to fix the other, so on and so forth. But you can never take for granted that everything in your ship is fixed because there is always a part that can destroy your whole ship. Your web of beliefs has to be in constant and perpetual construction. AND THIS REQUIRES EFFORT AND VIGILANCE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! The question is: Can you envision the value in this? Are you willing to commit to these principles and watch yourself as a hawk? Objections: - Wont doing this research lead to stuff like researching stupid things like UFOs? Yes, it will. That is the nature if research. You will not know what is worthwhile to investigate and what is not. - But, where do you draw the line? You don’t know where to draw the line. That is your position. You are going to have to go to some dead-ends but it will be worth it in the long-term. - Is there a risk believing everything? This risk is there no matter what. You might think that just by sticking with mainstream culture, it is safe. But it is not. The difference is that when you believe the stupid things that everyone believes in, you don’t feel as stupid. - Is what you are talking about relativism? No, you are not taking every perspective equally. You are going to decide which perspectives are truer. - Why bother with all this? Nobody knows the Truth! There will be a snowball effect as you do this work year over year. This effects will add up to create an amazing life that you would ever imagine. - Why not just pursue enlightenment and fuck all the rest? Until you become fully enlightened, you don’t know. Even if you become fully enlightened, you don’t know if there is any perspective you didn’t take into account. You don’t know if there is more practical stuff after enlightenment. You just don’t know. Moreover, enlightenment teaches you that everything you thought you knew about life was totally wrong!!! Don’t fall into the same trap again!

There is so much content you can get for free in the internet dude! Look for MindValley Insights, check out Seth Godin's books. Imo, social marketing is a nice add-on but it is not the core of marketing. Study the marketing principles first! And be intelligent, don't waste $1000 in that guy. I personally don't like him.

Wharup fellow actualizers! In class, a professor showed us a video that talks about a Buddhist tale/legend in which there is will be a warrior (enlightened one). This warrior will work and fight to bring a good change to the world with benevolence, goodness and persistence. Check it out! The book, if you want to read it is the following: https://www.amazon.com/Shambhala-Sacred-Warrior-Chogyam-Trungpa/dp/1590304519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484184238&sr=8-1&keywords=shambala+warrior It is like the Hero's Journey of the East!

https://www.actualized.org/blueprint/self-actualization

In a practical sense, enlightened people are more caring, not less. They are more loving, not less, They are more compassionate not less. Probably because the true nature of reality usually makes you a more loving being. Yes, in my direct experience a hungry child doesnt exist, nor my mom, nor Leo, nor my legs (because I dont see them right now). That doen't mean I'm a legless person and that doesn't mean that there is no hunger in the world. In my personal opinion, it is good to question this existential observations but we dont have to get hanged up on them. If you are really questioning stuff, just look how really enlightened masters live, behave and think.

@Just Do Nothing Thanks man! But they are Leo's words, I just made a summary of his weekly video.

This is probably going to help you!

Psychological and spiritual development, even though they can be complementary, function in two different levels.. Is what Wilber calls Waking Up (enlightenment) and Growing Up (personal development and specifically Graves Model).

@Leo Gura after enlightenment it doesn't matter if I write in caps lock or not because we don't exist anyways

Any recommendation @Leo Gura?

Hey guys! I did a post some weeks ago. @Leo Gura responded me and I thought about the questions and asked myself several more. I realized that my impact is very similar to Leo's. I pretty sure that my impact is to make people wiser. I strongly believe that people and society are not happy, fulfilled, with great careers because of a lack of the adequate knowledge. Poverty, climate change, bad relationships, suffering and so on are just a result of a lack of proper education, knowledge and adequate maps of reality. People need to be doing more personal development, spiritual development and studying just how to be human. So I'm clear about my impact but dont know how to phrase it. My first draft is: "Make people more conscious and developed" or "Make people wiser" or "Empower people by teaching them the adequate knowledge" I have to think more about it. I want people to feel inspired about life, that they feel empowered and make the best out of it. I want them to have the proper education so they can ace it in the world, and be happy, productive, fulfilled and with great relationships. Having careers that impact the world. I'm really inspired by Leo's work in this sense because I feel that we have a really similar vision for people. The difference is in our Zone of Genius and Mediums though. Regarding my zone of genius I have: Systemic/Big Picture Thinking and Leading Organizations. I'm good at seeing things in a meta perspective and thinking in a holistic way (I'm just 22 so I really don't know which is my Zone of Genius). I'm a good leader because I was the captain in many of my sport teams and I'm always the one who takes the lead when there are group situations. I have to be testing this. As a domain of mastery I have: Knowledge and Applications. I really need to rephrase it better but the gist of it is: I love to learn about development of a human being, society and humanity in general. I love Leo's videos, I love Spiral Dynamics, Ken Wilber, business, integral theories and so on. So based on the knowledge that I acquire, I ask myself how can I apply this new knowledge in a practical way so I can improve society's level of development. I would write personal development but is a more general knowledge that I'm interested in. Finally, my ideal medium is Organizations. I see myself being the President/CEO of a company that improves people's knowledge and help them develop (and by consequence, develop society). I don't see myself shooting videos that often like Leo does, but I see myself seeing the bigger picture in the organization, taking decisions so I can impact more and more people. Some of the companies that I love and aspire to build are: - Mindvalley - Actualized.org (but working with more people) - Isha Foundation - Optimize by Brian Johnson - Google - Team TreeHouse (i like the model they are using). I would love to be working with very intelligent people, and changing the world by making people more developed and with a better understanding of the world, themselves and society in general. So the draft of my life purpose is: "Lead in integral organization, which makes people more conscious and developed". So the question so far is: Am I heading in a good direction? How can I bring this all together? Should I have another purpose for the organization? Is there is something that is in plain sight that I'm not seeing? I need to start applying this into my life but I don't know how. Since I want to lead an organization should I: Start the business or work for a business that is industry related? How can I make my vision come true? I have such a big dream but I dont know how to start! Finally, if my domain of mastery is "Knowledge and Applications" I definitely have to read and think at least once an hour. But I need to have another mastery and that is people management and leadership. How can I practice this if I dont start a business? PD: Leo, if you are reading this, feel free to take any questions that are implicitly asked and use them for the Life Purpose FAQ. Thank you very much guys!

@Nic My pleasure

@Shin lol! When something really inspires me, my body just wants to write with cap lock, and the worst thing is that I cant do anything because there is no free will

@Swede Thank you very much! That is true. The only way to connect the dots is looking backwards, not forward. I just need to start

Keep your eye on the ball for 2017 with all the opportunities that it brings to you. Even though some insights are not practical, they are the most important. Childhood vows: Through your childhood (from birth till 25 years old), a lot of deep attitudes where cemented in your childhood and your teenage years and are wired in the brain. You yourself played a big role in shaping your own attitude and behavior (the vows that you made). There were moments in your life that were forks in the road (can be huge decisions or just minor situations). You formed an ideological core based on which fork in the road you chose. And now you have many ways in which you are ideological and you have certain values/principles which you uphold and you react against. AND YOU ARE PAYING THE COST OF IT STILL! It makes you inflexible. The vows are decisions you make to behave and be a certain way and have a certain attitude towards a certain thing. The problem comes because you become ideological about it and you want to stick to that vow. Vows create a black and white dichotomy that is not applicable in the real world. Examples: - A kid goes to school and gets humiliated. He might vow that from now on he will keep his mouth shut when with a lot of people. - Someone was cheated on in college. He vows that he will never be loyal to another woman. - You are in school and your teacher punish you for being messy in your desk or bag. You vow that you will be a good little boy. - There is a kid that is watching a movie (Star Wars). He vows that he will never be like Darth Vader because he was really evil and join the dark side. - You have an uncle that joins a religious cult. You vow that you will defend rationality and atheism. - You are a kid that starts a business. You contact a mentor and he rejects you. You vow to never reject anybody like this. - You are in a car and see a homeless guy. You vow that you will never become a homeless guy and must have a good job. - Your dad was someone with lots of status and reputation. You vow that you will be more successful than your dad. And you will do anything to acquire that (even evil things). A vow is a choice that you make about how you will act because the world is a certain way. All of them are subjective. Go back into the past and recall as well as you can the moments that shaped your life the most (sometimes it is the little stuff that shaped your character). Problem of having strong vows: - They are mechanical instead of conscious - They are inflexible - They are simplistic and black and white - It is founded upon very limited life experience - It creates a lot of emotional traumas You need to use consciousness instead of vows. You need to be flexible and not live in reaction. Which is the solution? AWARENESS AND UNDERSTADING. Assignment: Set aside 60 minutes with sheet of paper and recall every single decisive moment that occurred to you. Brainstorm them in chronological order (write a short sentence). Don’t mention what the vows were yet. Then use the worksheets! Even people that are teaching Enlightenment don’t know which is the full potential of the human being.

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” The pre-mortem technique is a process in which you analyze and study the different things that can go wrong when you start a project (personal stuff too!). How does it work? You select a specific project. Now, before you start the project, you imagine to yourself that your project has failed spectacularly. After visualizing that, you list every cause of failure that you can foresee (you have to be realistic). Include psychological and external causes of failure. After having the list, organize them by the level of risk. What you do now is to brainstorm specific solution for all the causes. YOU DO ALL OF THIS BEFORE YOU GET STARTED. Do it with all your goals! Most of your obstacles will be related to your psychology! Areas of Application - Business - Quitting your job - Your entire career - Your Life Purpose - Your next year - Losing weight - Your entire life - Enlightenment - Learn a new hobby - Relationships and Pick Up - Travelling abroad Spend 1 hour per project using the worksheet.