Joseph Maynor

Just because you give up Ego doesn't mean your life has to become like some kind of monk. You will still do lots of things after you become awakened. You just won't be striving after them for egoic reasons. You'll be much more grounded and calm with life. You won't be neurotic about things. You're not gonna fall off the face of the earth after awakening.

That's a hard question to answer. High quality information for me might not be high quality information for someone else on the path. That's because we all need different things at different times. At 40 years old, what is gonna advance me on the path is gonna be different than what was gonna advance me on the path 1 year ago, 5 years ago, etc. 1 year ago I was trying to figure out Enlightenment and didn't even know my Life Purpose yet. 5 years ago, I wasn't even really doing Personal Development explicitly. 10 years ago, I was very much more immature than I am now. 20 years ago, I was really still a kid, although I felt grown.

I don't think so. But it definitely changes your life. I don't have kids myself, but I can see how having kids would alter your purpose in life. Human beings will adapt to whatever situation they're in. Whatever situation you are in in life, you will find a homeostasis point. All having kids does is add a new factor into the equation, so to speak. It's not all about you anymore! You have a duty to someone else now. And that duty comes with love too, I don't want to make it sound too cold and rational. I see having kids as adding a complexity to your life. That's not good or bad per se. But it adds a gaggle of responsibility to one's life. I would also assume it has a lot of personal development cash value too. What a learning process it must be to raise children.

To me Jesus is the key prophet of the Christian faith. Due to the Trinity, he can also be thought of as more than a prophet such as the Holy Ghost or God. It depends on particular theological beliefs. What does Jesus mean to you -- that seems like the more relevant question?

Wisdom is taking caution that you aren't getting stuck in stupid paradigms. Being wise to this and cautious to it.

Start by reading the Gospels. John is my favorite.

It’s something that has to grow on you.

Wow. Nice recollection. I have elaborate dreams but only remember small parts when I wake up.

I’ve used affirmations off and on in the past but very rarely use them anymore. Unless I’m doing some programming, then they can be useful. I did a little bit of that for my life purpose. But I no longer believe in the subconscious mind, so that’s another issue.

Even oneness is a thought about reality. You gotta make the distinction between the map and the territory. Oneness is still a map — or thought about reality. What oneness is pointing to is the territory. So, there’s a big difference between what I call conceptual-truth and reality. Conceptual-truth is a thought about reality — or a thought story. Reality itself is not a thought story. That’s a major distinction to grasp.

You’ll learn about this best by just walking the path and having shifts yourself. The proof is in the pudding with enlightenment. Without the experiences, it’s easy to cast doubt on enlightenment. You gotta see for yourself.

I like reading multiple books at a time. I've been up to reading 10 books at a time. That was when I was younger and more hungry for knowledge. I'm still hungry for knowledge, but not that hungry!

Non-duality is simply the understanding and experience of reality as being different from conceptualizations about reality.

What are you expecting Enlightenment to be?

I posted a video in my Journal of Peterson discussing Jung and it quickly digressed into ideological BS, so I had to remove it. The intro was like a ruse to assert some kind of conservative talk radio BS. The intro about Jung was good. He had me fooled for about 2 seconds. Beware of false prophets! I agree with Leo on Peterson. I get a bad vibe. I have no problem with conservative arguments by the way, and it might be an insult to conservatives to call Peterson one. To me conservative talk radio is comedy anyway. The problem with it is people get swept up by the ideology and become closed off. But liberal radio functions the same too. My policy is to steer clear of all News and Infotainment. Are you guys and gals doing that? It’s great let me tell you! That’s the bad part of culture. Leo needs to do another video on the bad parts of culture. Not all culture is healthy or wholesome. And you have to control your informational intake actively — it doesn’t happen by default!

I agree about Peterson. I haven’t looked into Harris yet. I feel like Plato against the sophists here. I guess the payday is too tempting for these people. You would think love of truth would hold supreme, but not for everybody! Money is the great corrupter.

I don't think two people share the same definition of Ego. I say no, but I have my own definition of Ego. Ego is the false sense of identification, controlling, doing, or conceptual-knowing between unchanging Awareness and the changing Dream. In my sense, Ego is a total illusion. So, it cannot ever be good. Awakening just means becoming conscious of the illusion of Ego, and getting the actual shifts in consciousness that follow that change in belief.

Check out Gigi Young https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo_fdaL6nGtL3fjyP8NsNaw

Writing. I see myself as wanting to be more of a writer than a one on one coach per se. I realize that becoming a freelance writer is what I should transition my career to. Then, at least I'll be working in the right field.

Pretty good. Almost always at peace. Sometimes I get worried, but it's pretty mild.

Is that what your life purpose is? What's your tentative life purpose statement so far?

Doing one video a week is pretty light for Leo, eh? He does a good job on the videos, I'll give him that. And he also moderates on here. I have to work a friggin' full time job though, plus do all this spirituality sh*t on the side! That's a lot of work! It's alright, the pressure is causing me to grow. I have to be organized and have a great schedule.

I don't get paid to teach anybody. Not yet. I have to work a real job. I basically have a joint career.

Think of yourself as a self-sustaining system. What are the substances addicted to doing to keep that system stable? What would be missing without the substances addicted to? What kind of adjustment would have to be made to the system to adjust for the change? Brainstorm in this way a little bit. You'll start to come up with useful ideas.

Awesome. Cooking is one of the most philosophical arts. Especially Chinese cooking. It’s like applied Taoism. All ingredients must be brought to a harmony and balance — where each ingredient also stands proudly and discernibly on its own. When I went to China, the food there definitely embodied this kind of philosophy. Every ingredient must stand out but also blend into a perfect harmony with all other ingredients — like a perfect Confucian society.