hundreth

Hey, completely understand where you're coming from. On one hand, it's a game and illusory. On the other hand, it has as much meaning as you give it. It's a game that continually evolves, and you are one of the creators. You can morph it into something else. You will find a purpose that has meaning for you. Until then, work your ass off. Put yourself in a position to succeed. This will give you the capabilities to move forward in whatever path captures your interest. Don't take it too seriously, but enjoy the game. Good luck!

Content still applies, IMO of course.

Good to hear you're feeling balanced. Sounds like you've shed some layers of unnecessary pain and suffering. That being said, it's good to keep perspective. You've studied, meditated, done psychedelics, and have generally followed Leo's direction. Now, you're on an internet forum detailing your 'Awakening' story, as if you've reached some permanent state of consciousness that makes this story significant and / or a point of reference. This, of course, isn't your first post of it's kind proclaiming you've reached some new heights. Outside looking in, it looks a lot like ego masturbation. You do all this 'work' and here is the payoff, writing this long detailed post on the internet with the cliche "I was once just like you..." - all while your teacher validates you in front of others. I'm sorry if that was a bit harsh, but I want you to know you're a 19 year old kid without much life experience and most of the issues you've dealt with up until this point have been fairly simplistic. You aren't there yet, inevitably life will smack you upside the head and make you re-think everything you think you know about how balanced and awakened you are. Be ready brother.

I believe they are enlightened. Then again, I think most of you are enlightened too. Most of us understand non duality. Most of us have felt / experienced it in some way, shape or form. We are all one, one is limitless, and dualism exists within that one. Boom, you are enlightened. Why are you all making such a big deal out of enlightenment? That is, unless you've redefined enlightenment as transcendence or full acceptance or something else that is grand which you are seeking. Ok, you're enlightened, you know you're God playing in his own playground called dualism. Now you're obsessed with learning how to detach yourself from the game while you're inside the game. It's worth realizing it's all just a game. It's worth being able to detach yourself sometimes to regain perspective and be more resilient. To recharge your energy. After that point, why don't you just play the game you're here to play? “If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope, he goes away and works on what he has seen.” ― Alan W. Watts I believe this applies to enlightenment as well.

Seeing a few posts already referencing this bunk Emoto BS. Just because something has "consciousness" in the title doesn't make it true. http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/a_grain_of_truth_recreating_dr._emotos_rice_experiment http://disinfo.com/2013/08/happy-water-crystals-debunked-as-pseudoscience/

Aren't you the guy who created a thread with a super long post filled with nonsense claiming to know all the answers and teach everyone here about enlightenment? God has a hell of a sense of humor.

Hm, I don't remember saying all of existence is simply chaos and survival, or that reality is a "blind mechanical thing." I guess you know best about what I believe though. That's all I'm saying. Account for the inherent bias our mind interprets experience with. Once again you're projecting on top of what I've written and arguing against points I've never made. Take it easy homie. I don't subscribe to a "blind, chaotic, mechanical, hostile reality." The purpose of my post was to highlight the limits of pure experience and empiricism. I acknowledge the limits of rational thought, but direct experience also has limitations. When I see the balance shift too far into the "rational thought is bad! experience is king!" I start to feel like it's time for me to offer my own perspective. It's a deep topic, and I think I'm going to create a thread dedicated to epistemology, materialism, empiricism, subjective idealism, transcendental idealism and how they relate to Eastern spiritual philosophies. I'm exploring these topics as part of my own journey and it's really interesting stuff. Hopefully we can continue this discussion there.

There is a good reason for it. Survival. Early survival depended on our ability to see patterns in randomness and to make snap judgments. Rational thought is slow and arduous. It's unable to provide our ancestors with the survival advantages that emotional and rapid cognitions do. As such, our brains have been programmed by evolution to make all kinds of rapid cognitions, that in this modern time, are simply prone to error. In other words, if you come in contact with a tiger in the wild you don't have time to rationally examine whether it's a threat or a friend. Your brain will find a pattern, wild animal = scary. Get away. Note: there is no problem with looking for patterns, as long as you aren't biased towards confirming those patterns. Patterns are not the problem. This bias is okay for survival purposes, but you don't want bias anywhere near the pursuit of truth.

Very interesting point! We often hear critiques of rationality alongside phrases like "Experience is KING" But really, the following is more apt: "Experience is the mind's BITCH" While experience itself is unlimited, it is always being interpreted and filtered through the mind. Consider each time you recall a memory, you rebuild it. There's a reason why eye witness testimony is considered one of the least reliable sources of truth. We are also subject to tons and tons of confirmation bias. Why do millions believe in simplistic newspaper astrology horoscopes? They will argue that they directly FEEL these horoscopes and astrological charts are correct. Confirmation bias can also kick in when meditating, or experiencing an altered state of consciousness brought on by an entheogen. Your mind is wired to look for patterns. If you expect to experience something, chances are you will "experience it." A healthy balance of critical thinking and open mindedness is key.

Mixing it up some more:

If you're in the mood for something more upbeat:

Love this

Exactly The holes I've seen in his words cannot be unseen. He's been tainted as a source of truth. I can still find value, but it's not of the same magnitude. I did appreciate a lot of it. It made me think about the teacher - student relationship in more depth. I'm not going to hang on every word he says though, it's not that serious. Anyways, I don't want to hijack this thread. Fun chat dude. Catch you again later!

Yes, and non truth represents lower states of consciousness. For example, it might feel good to believe we are the center of the universe and all heavenly bodies revolve around us. It's still a less conscious perspective.

Strawman. That's not what I'm saying. In this case, we are being critical of the material in and of itself. I've had no prior knowledge of Ra before reading this text. All my impressions of how valuable his words are come directly from the words themselves.

So I should blindly follow anything anyone tells me? When the conversation turns into: Why is truth more valuable than non truth? - it becomes apparent how confused some of you have become with all of this.

It is relevant to me. When an omniscient being like Ra shares insight about what I need to do to reach greater levels of consciousness, his credibility is going to factor into how strongly I follow his advice. If I believe Ra to be 100% truthful I'm going to do exactly as he says. Why wouldn't I?? If the story were absolutely true, it wouldn't matter to you?

Like I said, you can take something of value from the tale even if it's not true. There IS a big difference though. When something is true, it has the ability to bring you to realizations that you don't even want to arrive to. If you are a racist and believe that a certain group of people is the devil incarnate, spending time with them and having a direct experience of the truth will force you to change your perspective. Even when you didn't want to. That's why most of us are here, to experience truth. Truth and consciousness go hand in hand.

That post was in response to me, and I replied to him. Not in the mood to write the same post, it's already in this thread. Long story short, this thread attempts to conflate open mindedness with one's ability to integrate material. You can appreciate and take something of value from a story or allegorical tale without believing it's true or based in reality. To be dismissive is to dismiss the material. In other words, not read it. I would say those of us who have read the material have passed the open mindedness test. A response other than "this is the bomb diggitty shizznitttt!!!" doesn't make one close minded.

Being critical and dismissive are two very different things.

So you're saying there are good souls and bad souls? For the sake of argument, if that were true. Is it Hitler's fault that his soul is rotten? Does he have a choice in the matter? Whether he does or not, is hate the appropriate response? One could argue change is possible, and I imagine the opposite would help bring about that change. Unconditional love.

Whoa man, great questions. I often wonder many of the same things. It does seem odd that absolute infinity would have some kind of "bias" towards "love" or positive energy. So I'm not sure what the answer is there. If the answer is that love is an energy that allows phenomena, that's not really saying anything... that's just playing the semantics game and changing the definition of love. You could say that absolute infinity allows a certain amount of negative energy simply to highlight the good energy, to create a contrast as this dualist illusion - but there's more "love." I don't buy this though. Seems our western minds are still stuck on this anthropomorphic image of God with biases, etc. You often see movies and various media where "good always wins in the end." In the east, you see symbols like yin yang. There's an equal amount of light and dark. There's a balance. In the end, there's peace. I personally resonate with that more. Regarding purpose and improving the world, ultimately it's just an experience. There is no better or worse way to be. Just be true to yourself. Infinity allows for all possibilities. Really looking forward to other answers, and good luck on your journey.

Obviously, I'm being facetious. There is some truth there though. We are here in this illusory state having the human experience. There's very little which exemplifies the human experience more than Jersey Shore. Many people resonate with this content on a very emotional level. In some ways, we should be open minded to it. We too, must represent absolute stupidity to a being of Ra's omniscience. Not trying to be a dick @Leo Gura. Much love.

I have an open mindedness test for you all: If you find yourself wondering "Why would I waste 35 minutes of my life watching this?" - just remember, there must be a valuable lesson here for us. Otherwise, why would Ra waste his time talking to us?

Fair enough, although this would be less about open mindedness and more about integration. For example, I could experience personal growth from reading Harry Potter books if I'm tuned into the right lessons. I don't know @Leo Gura - it's possible you've read so much self-help material that this is what's left for you, scavenging for whatever scraps are left over in the form of allegorical tales. Given where I'm at, I feel like there's so much quality material out there. Being more selective over the material I ingest is in my best interest for personal growth. I personally know many New Age truth seekers who lack a filter around the information they perceive to be true. They ingest everything, and the result is an even further warped sense of reality from where they started. To me it seems like you've started out on this path as a rationalist minded skeptic. This is your nature. You've discovered the limitations and have adopted a viewpoint that is almost a form of self hatred. You're now rebounding very far into the opposite direction. I imagine you'll find your balance soon. I will admit I have been stuck in a "stage Orange" mindset for some time. Your videos have helped me open up and see the limitations there. I thank you for that. I've also had profound psychedelic experiences which have given me glimpses. At the same time, I will not fight my nature. My logical abilities are a gift, and undoubtably given to "me" for a reason to balance out this dualistic illusion. Not all of us are meant to run around believing fairy tales. Embrace your purpose.