Ajax

@Saarah In this life you will always have emotions, thoughts and a body. When you identify with those things you become the effect of them... That is where consciousness comes in. The idea is not to suppress thinking but to observe them. You don't really have "control" of them anyway. Thoughts are important to understand and to differentiate and evaluate, emotions are to procure pleasure and avoid pain, the body is meant to cause movement. They all have their place in your existence observation just helps you know what that is.

@Andre cuz one day you won't be able to...

@Mal Thank you very much for your post. I wanted to take a week to think about it. It is fantastic information and I especially appreciate how it helps explain why people react differently. I know an apology isn't necessary but would like to apologize anyway, if I came across antagonistic or combative. My father died that day I was having a little difficulty integrating your understanding in my thought processes so it may have appeared that I was belligerent but the fact is, I simply didn't understand. 1. What is shadow exactly? I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the concept. 2. What do you mean by the end of the antagonistic play of opposites? Does that mean the results produced from playing all of the sides of the field?

@dboyle I had sex with a prostitute at age 14 as it was kind of a tradition in my family... probably our situations don't match because I was just a child and you are of legal drinking age. It kinda screwed me up a little and everyone who I know who did it, didn't like it very much. So I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. Of course, it is your life so it is not my place to say whether you should or not do so. If you are worried about how you will do.. just learn foreplay techniques such as touching and oral. I can't tell you how many times women have told me how many bad male sexual partners they have had. However if you can get a girl off several times, you will create a better experience for her than most men even if you only did last 30 seconds (although there are literally hundreds of techniques that teach you how to last longer.) In short, focus on her pleasure and you will do just fine...

@Mal Thank you, Mal for that post and it ties in so nicely with the beginning of this thread. It was very helpful, I appreciate your feedback. Jax

@Mal I think you ought to give me the benefit of the doubt. I did state that I wanted to bring this topic back on course. However, if you choose not to believe me I guess we will leave it at that. Take care. Jax

I see that thread has gone off-course, since I contributed to it... I would like to attempt to steer it back. I do always try to see my blind spots, after all that is what moralizing is... blind spots. If there is something that I am continually doing wrong, I would certainly like to know about it. I got into shambles? How? What do you mean? What is the lesson? You say to transcend and include... that is what I wish to do.

@Mal Hmm, I certainly apologize if I offended you. There really is no debate here, I am just curious and ask for details. If you do not wish to engage on further discourse on the matter it is sufficient to simply say so, instead of of judging it as "mind games" and "energy leeching". Of course, I do get your desire to no longer continue this conversation so I will not discuss the matter further, my intention is simply to point out your misperception concerning me and my intention. Take care, Jax

I had a stressful day and maybe I shouldn't have jumped in this dog-fight. Might have bitten off more than I could chew. Regardless, I just came back from a long walk and have a much clearer head. I don't really believe that, virtually everyone has moral issues and if you are judging with any degree of prejudice, you are having blind moral issues. As of the context of what you were saying... I wasn't disputing that I was looking at your debate with Charlie and trying to "untie the knot". 1. Your parents, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends, teachers, siblings, ect... mind-fuck and undermine you... what makes Charlie different... he represents black marks on a screen... Just about everyone you talk to often claims to be a "guru" at one thing or another... why does this bother you? 2. It is the perfect platform even if it was "Blue" mentality like you said, it is still an opportunity to co-exist and share perspectives... There is some truth behind tradition and dogmatism and the wise will prospect for it.. The test of strength is being able to balance conflicting realities. The whole reason I got into this discussion was because I thought that you missed the point that he was trying to make. This quote, strengthens that viewpoint. His point was simple enough as I understand it... It is not violating the "moralizing" principle to openly acknowledge the horrors or the crimes committed. That is it in one sentence... So is everything I say... I understand moralizing it is just another way of saying "facing without reacting" or "not resisting". These are old but invaluable enlightenment concepts. I saw your reality I just jumped in the middle or your "fight" with Charlie as for what is going under my nose... well like I said I am more than happy to receive your viewpoint on what is going on... I like to know what is going on under my nose, that is where I eat!

@Mal You are right, I don't know exactly what you are trying to do... I don't want to prevent you from it and you are right I don't fully see your reality. That is why I was debating responding right now because I wanted to take the time to understand it. Would you clarify it to me in more detail for me? Spoonfeed and baby it for me as I do want to see your perspective, step-by-step.

I do see what you are saying and I do agree with you. It is a danger to start moralizing the "moralizing"... And yes, you are right that is what he seems to have been doing. I am sure he feels compassion for the woman/child who was hurt... and yes he should have been more mindful of making it clear that he does not approve of such actions and that they are harmful and barbaric to society. And yes, it was not the time or place to discuss the issue of neutrality with her so in that way he contributed to the outburst... however, I see what he was trying to do and it wasn't necessarily wrong what he did because he was practicing a very powerful self development concept, however at the same time you are right because she did have every right to get upset. I think what most of us students are trying to do is to handle the problem of criminality. This issue affects everyone, hell my human identity kicks in around strange children because I am afraid of being labeled a pedophile just because I am a man. Because of criminality people have difficulty trusting and even loving their neighbor. That is why us students want to solve the problem... and to many of the students, think that de-moralizing is one of the first steps. As, they try to understand the criminal mentality they understand that the criminality is in great part due to the victim mentality... therefore punishment does not seem to be a viable option because it makes them feel further victimized and possible more dangerous... but the problem we still don't quite know how to solve the issue so we moralize it by avoiding moralizing. @Mal You are right on many points but you are also moralizing... moralizing is being prejudicial. Being prejudicial means "anything adverse to something without sufficient knowledge." As an observer I can tell you are not fully understanding his viewpoint so you do not have sufficient knowledge.

Realize that this issue affects everyone not just those uninitiated to personal development. I would like to invite you to review the following thread, and a certain member who decided to"attack" "me". You see, even if you say a moral neutral statement, people will get upset that you did not condemn it and even assume that you are the "enemy" or support it... it's dualistic thinking which inhibits even the sages. So really you should be ready to expect such a response from any controversial topic that you discuss. It is what SHOULD happen lol!

@ChimpBrain Let's say for clarity's sake, that ethics means "applying the best possible solution given the circumstance." With this concept in mind, what will make us be unethical or have a lower level of ethics? Well, it is having a lower level of consciousness due to prejudice. If our thought processes are biased due to value judgements or emotions, we will not process the situation fully and therefore not make the "best possible solution". We perceive the situation through the lens of morality or social conditioning and so we do not see the situation as IS. Therefore, the potential to make poor decisions is high. Let's look at the issue of criminality... When we moralize a criminals actions, we start to punish them in order to hurt them for hurting others. However, if you loved your child and he did wrong... wouldn't you do everything humanly possible to help him in whatever way you could? When you punish someone... unless they have a high level of consciousness... you are creating a victim. By definition a victim is someone who does not take responsibility for their actions... So now you have a criminal who was probably already a "victim" who now is further victimized by society and is now judged and labeled/identified as a "bad guy" which further ostracizes him from society.... And then people wonder why he doesn't have compassion? However with "Transcendent morality" you love the criminal as much as you would your own kid. Therefore, you discipline him with love you may be harsh but you love him at the same time, accepting him and not judging him showing him how to take care of himself and how to care about others. Teaching him to actualized, how to survive without taking advantage of others. The rape scenario mentioned in this thread is an irrelevant point. A compassionate person is a responsible person, they would not idly stand by and allow others to be injured. That has nothing to do with Transcendent morality. If you saw your own kid beating up your other kid, obviously you would stop them and then try to prevent it from happening again...

Paradox isn't it? You are moralizing compassion and love. Do you know the difference between punishment and discipline? Disciple is intended to help and punishment is intended to cause pain. You can discipline others with love and kindness with force. As I said it is paradox. I think the reason that people struggle with paradoxes is because they don't have the mental flexibility to see how one idea connects with another, because they are thinking, not seeing/perceiving. I have said it before and I will say it again. Looking is a more intelligent act than thinking.

Try this: Step on broken glass to prove to yourself that you can tolerate pain. (don't actually do that I am just making a point) As long as you even hold the idea of "cheating" you are going to feel pain, cope or lower your consciousness to handle it. Cheating is a negative concept which is a value judgement. Your trust issues are a result of a lower consciousness, it is a personal journey to grow and and directly torturing your ego is not the way to go in my opinion. Listen to the other 3 that gave you advice. Textbook victim mentality. I would recommend listening to Leo's victim videos part 1 and 2.

What do YOU want? I imagine you don't even know which is why you are struggling. If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always gotten. Don't undo your mindsets, change it toward something else, creating a new reality.

@Falk Leo discussed this previously: I forgot about this one, I came about it by chance on my mp3 player. One thing about these polymaths is that they generally choose creative endeavors for mastery, in that way they can incorporate their interests in their work. I too do dream to be more of a universal genius which is why my mastery target is in writing. It is general enough to incorporate my wide array of interests and I can gain enough experience with it to have an easier transition into more specialized fields of writing if I so chose. The problem as you noted is both time and funds. Most of those "renaissance" men also were either from wealthy families or had wealthy patrons. Therefore, they had nearly all the time they wanted to be studious without the inconvenience of having a "normal job" or having to work. That is why one of your first goals should be discovering a way to generate some sort of income so that you can advance your intellectual pursuits. Fortunately, I was able to solve this problem by creating passive income. I was lucky in that I had family with business/economic backgrounds so I was much more educated in investing and in the art of wise spending. Also, I relocated to my hometown where the cost of spending is impressively low, so I can support myself on the cheap and I can use my funds and time for actualization. Just like Leo said, to get where you want to go... you are going to need an extraordinary amount of time and work into self-education. So the first thing you must do is ensuring you have the time and the work ethic.

I never heard of the man before you mentioned him. Fortunately, he has published books that you can get for less than $20.00. It seems like many of the courses require purchasing the book anyway. Therefore if you are interested in him, I would advise you to get one of those books first before you make up your mind. I just bought one of his books online and am considering purchasing one of his ecourses if I like his book.

There is nothing wrong with having a wide variety of interest, however, they are talking about career-wise. As population increases, competition becomes increasingly fierce. Therefore the person who produces the most valuable products and services are the ones that will be best rewarded. This can only be achieved with mastery. Unfortunately mastery takes so much time and effort to obtain so the more you focus on it, the easier it will be to master. I think that is one reason Leo discussed Lifestyle minimalism.So you can have more free-time to think and creative and spiritual endeavors. However, one should still work consistently to master a skill for a career.

My thoughts exactly. That's why I only go after single ladies. I want a woman who can handle being single, it shows a strong, independent woman...which is something that I admire. She is strong enough to leave if things are not going well in a relationship and is compassionate enough to leave a man with as little hurt as possible. She has such a high level of decency that she will not be double-dealing with you. These are qualities of higher consciousness. High consciousness can and does override instinct. Furthermore, a "Disney" romance or "The One" doesn't exist things get real and the things get tough after a couple of years. It happens to everyone, stormy weather is bound to happen. Our love and relationships are tested in times of trouble and one who is willing to betray their love and partner when life throws challenges is NOT someone who I want by my side. Of course every case and person is different, but as I said in my first post it is something to think about and be aware of. As Cuzzo said, being flighty is instinctual and so the chances are greater that you will get hurt if such instinct is strong in a woman you are courting.

I am not a dater... Carry on with your hot sex, may it make you happy.

I have no prejudice toward such a person, it IS the way of modern humanity. However, betraying a loved one is NOT an ethical solution... the end never justifies the means. If she was really being true to herself, she would leave with out treachery. I may stand alone, but there are women who understand this. I just have high standards. They are out there, though I admit... one may have better luck finding UFO's!

@appleaurorae He is getting into the really advanced stuff now. If you are not ready to hear it... don't worry about it. One day you will. Just do this slowly and gradually. For example, take 20-30 minutes to enjoy your supper. There used to be this thing called "table conversation" where people would just sit and talk and relate sometime for hours at a time. Then they would retire to the den sit by the fire and talk some more. In the south there is an activity called "porch sitting" and it was an open invitation to just sit and visit with your neighbors. In this way the "home" extended past your home into your neighborhood. Unless you have personally experienced this, you wouldn't know what this is like. Here is an example of slowing down in my youth and how it increases productivity. I was often by myself and my parents didn't allow tv in the house. So I had a ball and a basket ball hoop. Since I was by myself and didn't have some sort of contest to play, I slowed down and wasn't trying to make as many basketball shots as possible. Rather I simply focused on practicing on my technique to make the basket. So I might have made one shot a minute, Yet, every shot was slow, deliberate and modified an increasingly evolving technique. I got to the point where I made the shot almost every time. In time my speed increased considerably as my technique improved. And when I played kids at school, I outshot every one there. I didn't have the greatest ball handling skills but boy could I sink those three-pointers. When you say "magick" do you mean "prestidigitation" as in magic tricks. If so, I have a bit of knowledge in that field. The tricks really are simple and repetitive. Most of them rely on slight of hand. Today's magician are woefully deficient in the finer points of slight of hand. They may fool the audience, but they don't fool me. The great magicians of old would spend hours upon hours and days upon days on just a few polished acts. Then they would work on their patter and presence to pad the time between acts. This would also take, days, weeks, months to perfect as well as they were intended to build anticipation. Therefore, much of their "magic" resulted from their "act" not their trick. This was done by working hard but slow. You were perplexed about the working hard-working slow paradox. Why? All too often working slow is hard work. Don't believe me? Try dedicating a few days a week to meditating 5 or more hours a day... Try working 6 hours on one or two magic acts a day. Now, that's HARD WORK. Not physically perhaps but mentally it certainly is. Try this, instead of running one day. Just take a long walk through nature for 2 or three hours. Or go on a hiking trip and instead of just trying to get somewhere... Stop and smell the roses... Watch the murmuring of the wind through the pines, the cool gentle breeze on your skin, the joyful melody of song-birds. The wide variety of colors in the sky and on the ground and in the life. The veins and pattern on the leaves... have you taken the time to see and experience any of these things. You say you got places to go and things to see. But have you truly looked and experienced these things you are in such a hurry to visit? Could it be that you were in such a hurry to get to the next thing that you missed out on so much beauty for you to see?

The essence of what you are is a creator. Therefore, you have to honestly ask yourself, what is it that you want to create? It should be something with long lasting value and can allow you to express yourself and contribute to society. What is your vision for your life? What do you see yourself doing after 40-50 years. If those activities contribute to your vision, add it... if not, subtract it. If you don't have a vision/direction to go... then you already know your next step work on that. Sorry I didn't provide you specific answers, however, it is your life and your creation... no one should paint on your canvass that you are painting. In short, it is your creation.. your choice.

I started personal development at age 12 to augment my martial arts. I studied many of the eastern works such as Art of War, Book of 5 Rings, Hagakure, Tao Te Ching, Tao of Jeet Kune Do, etc... It was around this time I started practicing mediation dabbling with performance-visualizations which greatly advanced my skills in martial arts and tournaments. I started to drift away from this in my early/ mid-twenties and into cognitive enhancement(increasing IQ). Throughout the rest of my twenties, I deeply studied western philosophers and scholars such as Will Durant, John Dewey, Voltaire and Plato, just to name a few. About 2 years ago, during a youtube-surfing binge... I discovered Leo by accident. Incidentally, he was talking about the matrix and looked a little to much like cypher so I almost turned him off Anyway, I started to follow his more spiritual videos and it turned me into a new direction. Last month, I parted from my wife and went back to my hometown. Since I only have free time(I have passive income), I purchased Leo’s course and completed it within 5 days and discovered my life’s purpose. This opened up a flood of wisdom and insight...15+ years of theory building started to come together and I have had consistent enlightenment experiences since. I don’t know if I could say I am enlightened but those concepts are effortless for me to grasp. I also have total mastery of my emotions and even though it has been a month of separation from my wife of over 10 years... I have not experienced depression or any other emotion but peace about the whole matter since that experience. So to answer your question, directly... I don’t know. It no longer is a journey for me but a way of being that is how it appears now. I imagine that it will take me less than 5 years to get to enlightenment, if I continue on the same path that I am on. Right now I am in the process of getting through the books that Leo recommended. I don’t do sitting meditations anymore. I do, however, practice “awareness” meditations like early morning or on clear starry nights I go out and just expand my awareness as much as possible noticing and being aware as much as I can. I also do the same things with a long walks where I just "be and perceive"... This has helped me more than more traditional practices like sitting or breathing or inquiring.