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I was laying on my bed and then I realized that there is no reality. It's nothing. My whole body began to shake and I felt very weird after. Fake? Real? What do you think?

My family made a raw vegetable based tabbouleh recipe that includes bulgur wheat. Is this any better than regular wheat, or is it all the same?

In your opinion, is marijuana of any use for spiritual development, or self help in general?

I found an excerpt from a yoga website on "Samadhi" (or spiritual enlightenment). "Samadhi is where the knower, knowledge and object of knowledge unite. The knower (i.e. the person practicing), knowledge (i.e. what is God) and the object of knowledge (i.e. God) become one. This means that one unites with the Divine consciousness. Those who attain Samadhi see a heavenly, radiant light, hear a heavenly sound and feel within themselves an infinite expanse. When Samadhi is attained, we are like a river that finally flows into the sea after a long and difficult journey. All obstacles are overcome and the river is, for all of time, united with the ocean. In the same way, a Yogi arrives at the end of the path and becomes one with the Supreme Consciousness. The Yogi's consciousness finds eternal quiet, peace and bliss - the Yogi is liberated. This experience cannot be conveyed in words, because: only one who has tasted milk, knows how milk tastes; only one who has felt pain, knows what is pain; only one who has loved, knows what is love; and so only one who has experienced Samadhi, knows what is Samadhi. In this state all duality is dissolved. There is neither day or night, neither darkness or light, no qualities or colour. Everything is one in the Supreme Self. This union of the individual soul with the Cosmic soul is the goal of Yoga."

Does anyone know if putting hair product in your hair is incessantly demanding your appearance to conform to something it isn't?

I smoked a lot of cannabis and experienced an intense high. I just sat there quietly when all of the sudden I realized the infinity of the universe. I can't put it into words, but it was a very real insight. Any thoughts? Bogus? Legit?

Why can't I make my pancakes with almond milk, organic eggs, and extra virgin olive oil if It contains wheat? ;(

Does anyone here practice feeling the inner body? I have been trying to practice directing my attention to it pretty much at all times. Any thoughts on this practice? I want to know if it is potent enough to transform one spiritually. Side note: I smoked a lot of marijuana and could feel the inner body very intensely. Any thoughts on that? Thx

And I mean EVERYTHING. If you believe that everything you do, experience, feel, etc will in turn benefit you NO MATTER WHAT, can anything hurt you?

@Leo Gura What about body types? Such as the three doshas in Ayurvedic medicine? It is believed that certain body types (such as vata/vata-pitta) are to eat well-cooked grains, as well as heavy fats and well-seasoned meals. It is theorized that people of a certain body type eating these types of food will balance out their inner "skinny dry-ness". Any thoughts?

Or are there still underlying assumptions never to be transcended? Or is reality just so epic that it merely trumps skepticism?

He was a popular health author and spiritual writer. I find his work fascinating and ringing with wisdom and highly useful advice His specialty is primarily Ayurveda , and many of his books are about eating and exercising (and even breathing) according to your dosha (or body type). Anyone else read his work or heard of him?

If I'm not mistaken, it's a practice of contemplating questions?

Typical hungry teen here I was wondering weather or not consuming large amounts of calories of food daily will harm me? The food I eat is extremely healthy. I exercise a lot, but I don't want heavy meals to be destroyng my health, any thoughts?

Will listening to and repeating affirmations build a huge ego and make enlightenment more difficult?

Think of all the pain, emotional suffering, and neorosis associated with maintaining an egoic self concept. Existing with an ego is hell! Quite literally. I am studying religions, and I now realize the "hell" they speak of is really the mental stream of thoughts that rape you of your consciousness. People are driven to suicide because they identify with their thoughts and take them seriously! So when I read books on spirituality and watch videos (such as the one's on Actualized.org) and am told that I don't exist in reality, I now think that THIS IS THE GREATEST NEWS EVER! All the unnecessary suffering is quite in vain, and it is this that motivates me to do spiritual work. Just needed to let go of that, I hope maybe this helped someone.

Is pursuing higher consciousness supposed to hurt? Is the immense emotional labor and pain a byproduct of growth? I want my ego to dissolve and my monkey mind to quiet. I am able to stop thinking and be present; the more I do this the greater my peace of mind becomes. However, after the peace subsides I feel worse than I have in years. I am also working on cutting out varying addictions. I read a quote somewhere that enlightenment is a very destructive and painful process. Is the pain a sign of "progress". Is this the ego attempting to defend itself from destruction?

Thanks everyone. I woke up this morning very pissed off and frustrated. I am considering these emotions a sign of growth.

I have become aware of the mental stream and just how crazy it is. I know it is all of the same thought "substance", including even my words here. It all feels so foreign to me. The fact that I am aware of my constant thinking makes me go mad, becauseit never stops. I want to get out of the cycle of thinking and be present, but an escape seems impossible. My body reacts in strange ways to this.

I have been reading about religions and spirituality across the globe, as well as works by Eckhart Tolle and other spiritual teachers. Much of this requires serious study, especially the former. My head hurts each and every time I finish reading for an extended time period, and also after memorization. Is there a reason this is happening? I currently understand it to be merely a byproduct of mental labor, but I could be wrong.

I know of the obvious benefits of reading such as learning, improved reading skill, etc. I'm just wondering whether or not there are additional benefits such as a sharper mind, or physical changes in the brain. People often say it "makes you smarter". I wonder weather there is any credibility to this. Are there lasting benefits to reading books? Thank you.

This question is mainly directed towards Leo, but I'd love to get some opinions from others on this too! Leo has stated that a lot of his work here is directed towards the rational-type mind. He also explains his purposes here through a scaffolding analogy. His videos are to function as scaffolding encompassing greater action. However, what happens if someone with a "less rational" mind attempts to apple the scaffolding to their life, yet can't work with is quite as easily (this would apply more towards the more abstract concepts he discusses). I'd like to ask him weather or not he would ever explain his message in a different style. Would Leo ever, for example, attempt to shoot a video about life enlightenment, but explain it is a different context (such as one for those who think more artistically or don't consider themselves cool-headed and logical in nature. Just some thoughts I had. If anyone else has any input please feel free to respond.

I am currently 16. I want to persue enlightenment. I am currently cutting out many distractions (videogames, porn, etc) and wish to "experience" the Truth. Is enlightenment in your teen years easier? Harder? Is it more likely to happen to a teen? Does the fact that you're younger and more impressionable contribute to a smoother "ride"?

I have been pursuing this work for some time now. Enlightenment is a topic that spellbinds me, and I have been adamant about practicing it. So when I ran into the pastor at my former Church (I used to be a Christian) I couldn't help but ask him about just that. I asked him about Jesus being enlightened. He basically said that Jesus was God's True son, and that we are all simply God's apex of creation. He went into how traditional Zen and Buddhist methods of consciousness work will lead you away from Jesus, therefore leaving you an empty atheist. I disagreed and stated that I am indeed not an atheist, nor have I ever been, and I loosely explained the "nothingness" and "ego-death" concepts to him. I stated that I do know there is a God, and that God is all of us reduced to the most certain and True form, nothingness. He disagreed with me. Nonetheless, I questioned him on weather Jesus was merely an enlightened man who shared his ideologies and thus (perhaps even unintentionally) sparked the Christian faith, and mentioned Ibn Battuta and The Buddha as other examples of people who kindled religions with their concepts. He basically said again that Jesus was God in the flesh, and these other guys may have had some high degree of spirituality, but didn't embody the Truth. If you are familiar with Western religion, this should ring a bell. I was simply wondering about people's tenets on the situation. I was deeply conversed with a man I have known for many years, and couldn't help but notice his hortatory towards his own faith (duh!). This bothered me, and I seek other opinions about the matter. Does anyone have any thoughts on religions? Perhaps this plays in part to default positions (me being raised Catholic/ other people brought up to believe a certain doctrine)?

I want to share my love with someone, but am stuck contemplating weather I should ask someone out directly, or wait for them to come to me. In the past, they have all flocked to me, but those were some toxic experiences. My question is this: Do guys usually ask girls out? Do girls approach guys often, if ever? Thank you