TJ Reeves

@Ray Thanks for the info on Berserk. Addressing your original post, I love film, but my dream is not to be a film director. My dream is to develop a seamless form of brain-machine interface technology. I am always available to talk, I'm very dedicated to personal development, and I have the type of personality you're looking for. Just DM me through the forum's chat function. For more information about my plans, check out this post I had made a few months ago. I'm past studying for the MCAT now, however and am focused on studying new topics related to my life purpose.

Sometimes a move is the right thing to do. There may be opportunities available to you in a new city that you couldn't get otherwise. For example, I moved to Los Angeles from Baltimore because I knew it would be one of the best places to find the latest in technology. That decision has seriously paid off. Just a few weeks ago, I went to the world's largest virtual reality convention, met a ton of great people, and found out about some great new developments in VR. While there, I also found out about the world's largest neurosurgery convention, which would happen the week after the VR convention. At the second convention I found someone who gave me an opportunity to shadow. A situation like this would probably never have been the case back in Baltimore, no matter how much spiritual work I did on my own. The point is that there is nothing inherently wrong with moving. Sometimes there are purely external matters that must be taken care of during your own hero's journey. The real question I would ask is whether the problems you face are internal or external. Moving to escape from internal matters is pointless. But some things require external work during your journey. Also, moving is likely to give you a wider breadth of experience.

Its worth it to check out Nelson Mandela's life. He's a prime example of prison self-actualization... although I wouldn't recommend that method lol http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/prison/

@Ray where did you find that video? that was unbelievably well put! Are the ideas from that show usually so well thought out?

Has anyone else noticed how Leo has become a little bit more human and opened up more over the past 6 months or so? First there's the insights blog, then there's the kitchen videos, and now we have the meditation retreat + solo meditation series. And even if you look at the videos where he stands and lectures, he seems to admit a few more flaws than before. Perhaps this is all a projection of mine, but he's no longer as seemingly untouchable as when he put out things like the "why I'm a dick and won't change" or "how to get shit done" videos. That said, the video quality is as good, if not better than ever. I know how hard it can be to open up sometimes, so I commend him for experimenting more during his demonstrations. Also, I personally like it because it helps demonstrate that one becomes more, not less, vulnerable as one develops. The new style also grounds theory into practical reality more.

Hey, I woke up with a few insights in my head. This is my current understanding of what reality seems to be. In simple term's, I'd describe it as God's Videogame. One thing I forgot to write down but that's a huge plus to this model is that it addresses existential meanings in one's life. The key is that just like how video games don't have an inherent meaning other than to be experienced, life does not have to have a regular 'meaning' in order to still be meaningful and worth living. Nihilists (like I once was) forget that they don't ask for the 'meaning' of a racing video game, one simply plays because its enjoyable to experience the highs and lows.

Awesome! I actually totally agree with you. Please let me know what you think of this further elaboration of the model: I see a sort of paradox where the problem is itself that there are no problems and that we simply don't recognize that fact. Even then, this is not a problem! I would further put it as if level one - the original Maslow's Hierarchy - is getting oneself to clear past all the external things that might get in the way of enjoying life. At the entrance of level 2, one realizes that there weren't any external problems the entire time. One would then do internal work to loosen the attachment to the illusion of the existence of problems, in reverse order of the Hierarchy. And while it is true that there are no actual problems, it may be difficult for one to actually take that fact to heart. It would also get increasingly difficult to do release oneself from each step as one moves up level 2. At the beginning step of level 2, for example, releasing attachment to self-actualization after one has spent years to hone one's crafts and reach the pinnacle of a subjects is difficult. But it may be even more difficult to do the final steps and release oneself from attachment to the physiological needs like food and sex and to release oneself from the illusion that death is real. In this way, there may still be no problems but now one goes through a process of recognizing the illusory nature of problems as if it were a problem to solve until one simply accepts it. And the only reason to do it all is because, hey, why not?

1 - After going deeper into this work, I do wonder about life post enlightenment. Perhaps looking at what a sage might do in every day circumstances. Or perhaps how to better take the deep insights one has during psychedelic trips and integrate them into regular life 2 - getting good sleep. I find that one of the biggest determinants of my daily success is sleep. What nighttime habits do you keep? What do you do, for example, when you've meditated so much that you then have difficulty falling asleep? 3) how and why to be more vulnerable, especially for men. Included topics are how to have deeper conversations and express emotions in a more healthy manner with males. I've personally found increasing my level of vulnerability is the #1 thing I can do to advance myself at the moment. I'd love to know any tips or insights you may have.

@onacloudynight On the one hand, yes on your journey you will have to face things alone. For example, at some point you will have to face your own demons without anyone's help(... Especially if you decide to do strong psychedelics.) Also, a big aspect of growing up is figuring out things without too much of other's advice. That said, do not bullshit yourself into thinking you do not 'need' people and that you are too smart or too developed to have friends. You do need people. You are not that smart. You are not that developed. A lot of people on this thread seem to have completely disregarded who we are and where we've come from... 99.9999% of the time, if you are human, you need friends in some form or another. Humans are social creatures. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527715/ We got to where we are because of our ability to interact with others in a group. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/jonathan-haidt-the-moral-matrix-breaking-out-of-our-righteous-minds/ Social-Isolation causes brain damage. http://solitarywatch.com/2016/05/11/isolation-devastates-the-brain-the-neuroscience-of-solitary-confinement/ Quality relationships are the number one predictor of health, wealth, happiness, and success: Even the buddha recommended you get some friends: http://www.shift.is/2013/11/four-types-friends-according-buddha/ The life of the hermit is after you've finished the Hero's Journey and after you've reached enlightenment and after you've done legendary shit. Until then, sorry kid, you're going to need people to help you along the way - and those people are called friends and mentors. If we take identical twins and make them both live their life, achieve the same things, learn the same wisdom, and help the world just as much as each other, but one has friends show up to his funeral but the other doesn't, do you really think the one without friends is the enlightened wiser one? Not at all. But TJ... Almost every conversation I have with someone ends up being repetitive and superficial. I get it that making friends is difficult. I also get it that a lot of people can be vapid or shallow... Hell, I live in Los Angeles, where some people almost couldn't be shallower! But the thought that 'I don't need friends' and that other's are 'too low consciousness for me to talk to' or that 'there's really no one to talk to' is just the ego babbling on. For example, you could go to a meet up group or a book club or a meditation circle. And if those don't exist, than a real badass would just start those mini-communities and have friends come! Pro-tip: If you find that your conversations are shallow, thats a reflection on you. Take fucking responsibility for it. Make it a point to ask deeper questions. Become a more active listener. For example, I have made it a point to STOP asking the question "how are you" because it always leads to the same boring response. Instead, I ask people to tell me what three good things have happened to them in the past week. Or I'll ask them what their favorite thing in the world is. Or if I really want to get to know them, I ask them to summarize their whole life in under 3 minutes (this exercise actually leads to hours of conversation!) I promise that if you are of higher consciousness then you'll find that you attract more friends than you reject. In fact, the more I learn about myself and the more I develop my consciousness, the easier it is for me to relate to others -- be it a homeless man, the grocery store-bagger, a dude at the gym, someone I'm attracted to, or one of the surgeons I work with. I'll end my rant with a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger, someone who any of us would be lucky to do even 1/4 of the things he did (look him up!): "I am not a self-made man. Every time I give a speech at a business conference, or speak to college students, or do a Reddit AMA, someone says it... 'Governor/Governator/Arnold/Arnie/Schwarzie/Schnitzel (depending on where I am), as a self-made man, what’s your blueprint for success?' They’re always shocked when I thank them for the compliment but say, “I am not a self-made man. I got a lot of help."

You and your thoughts are those kittens... The same love and kindness you would show to those kittens must be applied to yourself as you grow, fail, and grow more... So stop getting mad if you don't get things lined up perfectly.

Thanks @Juan Cruz Giusto -- I always look forward to your helpful summaries!

I saw this video when it first came out... Even if it is true, the mind can very easily use it as a way to bullshit oneself into feeling superior for not having friends and not working on social skills. Similarly, it must be noted that 'regular' intelligence is not nearly as predictive of success as emotional intelligence and one's ability to work with a social network.

ENTP -- who's become much more introverted after following actualized.org and doing spiritual work on my own.

Honestly, the most transformative things tend to be the most painful, difficult things. All of the advice, tips, videos, spirituality, etc. mean nothing when not directly applied to solving problems. Sometimes solving a problem requires changing a behavior and putting in work in the physical world; sometimes solving a problem means shifting my attention to what was always there. But when I look at my life, it's consistently been the hardest, scariest, frustration-inducing, (and sometimes most depressing) moments that have made me a better person (And I know I still have much more to go through!) So if you're waiting for a transformative change either a) take that challenge that scares you the most or b) just wait because a challenge will fall into your lap... The only question is whether you want to choose your challenges or have them thrust on to you.

@AprilA has great notes. I have only one tiny thing to add: Get immediate feed back on whatever it is you're doing. The faster, the better. For example, I'm studying for the Medical Schools admissions exam and the best way to study is to do practice problems. These problems are difficult to master and none of them are solely based on previous knowledge, so its not enough for me to enter a flow state based off of knowledge/mastery alone. The practice sets come in packages of about 120 problems and I have a few options for how to tackle these packages: - I could do all the problems at once, and then check my answers. - I could do about half of the problems, and then check my answers - Or I could do each problem and then immediately check my answers afterwards. After a few months of experimentation, it definitely works best to go one by one, checking each answer. Doing that, time seems to fly by, even if I'm working on a subject that's difficult for me. This lines up with what Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi's original notes on flow states and it goes for anything, really. If you were learning how to play song sections on a guitar, I would recommend you play each verse, record that verse, and listen to the feedback for how you did ASAP. Immediate Feedback is also why video games can suck you in so easily. TL;DR: The faster the feedback, the higher the chance for flow.

The above advice is pretty good, but as a former NCAA football and lacrosse player (proof: http://www.hopkinssports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tj_reeves_809061.html), here's something that will make or break you when it comes to training: FOLLOW A PRESCRIBED ROUTINE AND TRACK YOUR RESULTS. So many people do not do this it is unbelievable. They go to the gym and "wing it"... that is, they do whatever workouts come up in their mind instead of following a set plan for their physical growth. At the same time, most people don't track their results, so they totally miss out on the fact that they are plateauing in some areas and making gains in others. Whatever you do as a beginner, please find a professional program and just stick to it, whether its for long distance running, weightlifting, bodyweight, or swimming. One that I personally did and highly recommend is be found here for free:

I mean, you can see any user's 'reputation' by just looking at their profile box in the side of any posts. I have noticed that some of the profiles with higher reputations do actually tend to give better pointers or links to interesting ideas. I usually just click on their profiles and check out the links they give as 'leads' for my own research. One must be always be wary of the keyboard warrior, but if you commit to doing your own research you'll be fine. Two featured articles i would recommend though are:

Leo sets his time up in chunks of deep work, so the forum gets put to the back burner every once in a while. If he hasn't signed on for a while, I bet its for a good reason. For example, he's been working on a creativity course lately. If he were to become severely injured or dead, one of his support team members would notify us as such. Leo doesn't run the entirety of the site only on his own. Finally, he just posted something in the insights blog today. He seems to enjoy using that more instead of the forum because it allows his ideas to get separated from the distraction of the ensuing comments. Overall, I wouldn't worry too much. Definitely check out some of the featured posts from some of the more experienced members while you wait for another leo post... I've found that some of those posts can be as good as or even better than what Leo might say.

You do have to build some sort of infrastructure for your life if you want to pursue enlightenment. That is simply how the world works. Even if you gave up on working and literally pursued enlightenment 100% of the time, you would still need to do a form of work in finding people to support such a journey by giving you shelter or food. You can figure out what's valuable to you internally, what your strengths are, and how you can apply those strengths in a new way to help people. From there you can still study spirituality. Additionally, a big aspect of the path is the fact that you're still expected to hold career responsibilities... the path of enlightenment is called the middle way because it's not about totally giving up everything nor being sucked into a consumer/status/money-based society. Even if you did achieve enlightenment, you would still go back to work. There's a saying that goes, "before enlightenment, clean the dishes, sweep the floors. After enlightenment, clean the dishes, sweep the floors." You give up the regular world for a little bit to find truth and come back to the regular world but this time appreciating it for what it truly is, something that you could have done from the very beginning anyway. Lastly, is it not possible that your career may inform your path to enlightenment and vice-versa? examples include a) Leo b) writers who investigate the spiritual traditions of the world by trying them c) Peter Ralston, who's career as a martial artist and teacher also allows him to meditate, reflect on spiritual ideas, and has let him unravel the truths of enlightenment. Overall, be careful of setting up a false-dichotomy... But if you're working like an 80-hour a week job you hate wherein you market cigarettes and harm the world, I would recommend reevaluating your shit.

The other person worth reading is Miyamoto Musashi Here's a quick description of his accomplishments: His book, The Book of 5 Rings was written near the end of his life after totally dominating the path of the samurai. Reading that book gives you great insight into the ways of the warrior. The most important thing is to investigate Truth thoroughly by going out and actually doing stuff instead of theorizing or judging. A really fun yet faithful-to-the-original version of the book of 5 rings is found here in comic book form: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Graphic-Novel/dp/1611800129

Carlos Castaneda has a few wonderful books on the ways of the spiritual warrior. This website will give you some of the best quotes: http://alignment2012.com/warrior.html some of my selected favorites from the above link: "I am already given to the power that rules my fate. And I cling to nothing, so I will have nothing to defend. I have no thoughts, so I will see. I fear nothing, so I will remember myself." "Warriors have an ulterior purpose for their acts which has nothing to do with personal gain. The average man acts only if there is a chance for profit. Warriors act not for profit, but for the spirit." "Impeccability begins with a single act that has to be deliberate, precise and sustained. If that act is repeated long enough, one acquires a sense of unbending intent which can be applied to anything else. If that is accomplished the road is clear. One thing will lead to another until the warrior realizes his full potential." "A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive." "A warrior must focus his attention on the link between himself and his death. Without remorse or sadness or worrying, he must focus his attention on the fact that he does not have time and let his acts flow accordingly. He must let each of his acts be his last battle on earth. Only under those conditions will his acts have their rightful power. Otherwise they will be, for as long as he lives, the acts of a fool."

@Lorcan I have an amazing memory from the Skyrim theme song... It involves this hiking trail behind my apartment. You can see the whole city of Los Angeles from the top, but you have to go up a pretty steep path. I have a strong fear of heights, it was my first time on the mountain, and I was tripping on LSD. As I climbed, I began freaking out because it felt like the entire mountain was breathing while I took each step. The LSD also amplified my fear of heights, so I came close to having a complete shut down. Then my iPod switched to the Skyrim song and I had the most epic feeling of badass motivation Ive ever had in my life. I had this realization that I was the dovahkiin and that it was my destiny to conquer my fears. I reached the peak at the exact moment in the song where you hear wind chimes and horns and got a glimpse of the entire city of Los Angeles for the first time. It felt like a pure orgasm of accomplishment... I began to cry of joy and love and happiness for myself, the city, and just everything. .. Anyway, it was a great trip and I think of it anytime i hear the song now.

If you don't know who Childish Gambino/Donald Glover is, you need to. In my opinion, he is currently this generation's most prolific and dominant poly-creative. No one in this generation comes close to the dominance he's had in so many different creative areas. Here are some area's you may have seen his talents: - TV acting, most notably with the award winning show Community (which he starred in). - Movie acting, most recently appearing as the scientist to save Mark Wahlberg in The Martian. He will also star as Lando Calrissian in a new Starwars movie to be released soon. - Screenwriting, as the chief editor and story writer for the hit shows 30 Rock and Atlanta. - Stand up comedy, with his own 1 hour special on Comedy Central called Wierdo. - Hip-Hop, with two wonderful rap albums and a vicious free styling ability. - and most recently, with an RnB album that debuted at #1, called Awaken, My Love, where he COMPLETELY changed styles. Seeing his creative process may help you see how important it is to carve time out to think and create. I found a neat article that describes his creative process. Notice how much space he allows for himself to dive into his intuition and intense focus. Also, notice how his interest in different subjects informs is creativity instead of taking away from it... some people get too focused on one subject without taking in outside ideas for inspiration: "Like many other artists, Gambino is most creative when he’s at home. He says he has an empty room in his house where he lets all of his creativity and imagination run wild. It’s full of his music, equipment, spray paint and white walls to use as his canvas. “I wake up every morning and I start grabbing things — spray-painting the walls, recording, writing,” said Gambino. “They’re all connected for me. It’s all about trying to get to the bottom of what being a human is.” Childish Gambino admitted that although he may seem to be living a double life—acting under his birth name and rapping under a stage name—that there is no dividing line for him. He said, “I don’t separate things, all my ideas bleed into each other.” He also explained that his multitasking career was inspired by surrealist painter Salvador Dali. “I wrote a postcard to myself that said, ‘Never forget Dali.’ He would paint, do sculpture, ­architecture, film, photography.” Which would explain why Gambino doesn’t feel the need to ever box himself into one specific title or field." The question is: How much time and intense focus have you devoted to your creativity? Or do you just feel 'too tired' to make things?

I listen to this song when working out. I love the lyrics. This song helps me get through tough times during deep work and deliberate practice This last song made me cry because of its pure beauty. Its a version of Flim by Aphex Twin but slowed down to 66% speed the way he originally intended it to be played. It reminds me of all of the happy moments I've had with people I love but that I'll probably never see again or have again. Its this mixture of pure peace and bliss and just the smallest hint of mourning.

Back when I was in college I was a pretty militant atheist. I didn't say that god was provably non-existent, but I certainly fought with people about their need to give up all beliefs. I would enter debates and talks with people about religion like all the time. Then my girlfriend at the time showed me three short stories called The Egg, The Last Question, and The Last Answer. Reading them shook me to the core and awakened something deep in me. It was the first time I had cried reading anything. She had only seen them as neat science fiction. But to me, it was different. Something inside of me knew that these stories pointed towards the truth, despite my inability to fully explain it. From then on, I understood what it was like to begin taking spiritual texts seriously. Over time, my feelings towards religions shifted toward pure open-mindedness and empathy. I wanted to share these stories with you to inspire you and give you food for thought. They only take at most 20 minutes each to finish, but their messages are quite profound. The first one to check out is called The Egg by Andy Weir. It helped me begin to understand reincarnation and karma. You can find it here: http://highexistence.com/images/view/the-egg-by-andy-weir/ The second one is called The Last Question by Isaac Asimov. It informs my current life purpose and what's worth it to focus on technologically. I'm pretty sure this story inspires Elon Musk and all of his companies, too: http://multivax.com/last_question.html The third one is called The Last Answer. It is also written by Isaac Asimov. It helps me understand a bit of the nature of growing the quality of my consciousness. I think it goes well with The Egg. Leo posted in the insights blog about how time and reality goes in a circle. Perhaps this is a way of what that would look like: http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/ After years of contemplative, psychedelic, and academic research into enlightenment, I think these stories do a great job of at least inspiring one toward capital T Truth. They echo many of the main ideas of ancient traditions around the world, except modernized and thus easier to understand. So read em and post here what you think!!!