Joseph Maynor

You are always doing something, think about it. All of us are hard workers at doing whatever it is that we’re doing. The only thing Enlightenment does is remove all your garbage ideas that are inclining you to do things that are not honoring your authentic values and strengths. So, once you clean that garbage out of your head, and once you start to develop a taste for simply looking at reality, your actions will auto-correct on their own. It’s important that you understand — you are not doing anything! All you’re doing is becoming more aware of reality. That’s it.

I think the problem with success is it goes to your head. Anyone who gets some can tell you that. And you start to cling to a persona that you are different or wiser or somehow more worth listening to than other people. It’s exciting to the Ego to feel this way, but once you become conscious of this mechanism, you will become disgusted by it. I know I have a knack for this kind of work, but I never want that to go to my head, and I never want to feel like I’m protecting some kind of false persona that always needs to be right or come out on top. It’s something to watch out for. And the Ego is sneaky with this. Popularity seems to confirm this difference between you and me. But that only gets in the way of my growth in this work. Instead of growing at that point, I really start to hit a glass ceiling. I had to bust through that recently by realizing my Ego had become too invested in this work. Strange how that happens. And those of us planning a career around this work need to always be very mindful that this trap is lurking there ready to suck you in.

Blues

Yay! I love. Love love love.

Damn this sounds innocent to me: Maybe that’s good, haha. Crystals can be good.

Curious.

It’s fascinating from a linguistics standpoint even to dabble in other languages. It puts your own language in high-relief. It’s kind of like being able to see your own culture better by traveling. I have much more of a perspective on English from dabbling in other languages. Without this kind of contrast, you don’t really see the difference between language and thought. You also don’t see what language is until you travel through other languages — just like you don’t really see what culture is until you travel through other cultures. I recommend the Pimsleur Conversational audios. They are affordable and good for doing this kind of work.

I was where you were. Look at this question I asked last year in July: Look at this one! This was like my very first question on the Forum. I liked Emerald’s answer at the time.

This is a very good question and I can see that you are struggling with the Authentic-Self and how to honor that. The answer is that you need to keep doing Enlightenment work so you don’t attach the Authentic-Self to Ego. That was a trap I fell into as well. So, you are making progress on this path it seems. The thing you need to start to really get into is to contemplate — What is the Ego? What is the Authentic-Self? How do I empty my cup of beliefs so I can honor the Authentic-Self? So, you’ve made a lot of progress, but you need to make some more inroads in Enlightenment to get the answer you are looking for.

Everything kind of depends on where you are in your own personal journey in this work. I’ve fallen in and out of every practice. Right now I’m big into meditation and psychedelics. But there were other times where I get really into the theory. So, I just let my authentic-self tell me what to do, and I follow that. Think of all these practices like tools in a toolbox. Let the authentic-self tell you what fix it wants at any given time, and that will govern what tool you use. The fix my authentic-self wants right now is to be the watcher, the observer of reality. So, that makes the tools of meditation and psychedelics very useful for that kind of work.

Mandarin Chinese is another one I spent about 6 months learning before I did my big vacation in Beijing China in 2016. It’s a tonal language that is very different from other languages. Also the grammar is very different. It will blow your mind to learn it. It’s amazing to see the different systems humans have created to communicate the same thoughts.

I’m not a big fan of using the word God in this work. But to be fair I haven’t done 5 Meo-DMT yet either. I think this reticence comes from the fact that I used to believe in God and that I had to realize that that was just an illusion I was creating. So, I don’t even want to use the word anymore. It’s one of those words that is best avoided in this work in my opinion. I would not use the word God in my own teachings if I were to be guiding people on this path through my own theories.

Non-duality is a bunch of thoughts that Enlightenment students use to get them to question their beliefs and to shift their focus from beliefs to being the watcher of what reality really is.

You want to balance all the Mind stuff with just watching reality. It’s by watching reality that you make real progress in enlightenment. The theory is just there to serve as a kind of reminder to that.

Following your bliss in the moment is pure joy.

I'm kind of having a problem believing that reality is two-dimensional shapes and colors only. That's a big claim to me. Maybe I haven't done enough empirical investigation into the issue. But, I definitely have a sense that sight is three-dimensional. And this is not just a belief, it's a factual kind of determination, if that makes sense. Does anyone want to engage me in this issue? Think about this -- you can believe that sight is a series of planes of two-dimensional shapes and colors. This is cute, and seems plausible at first, but it is still a belief, a conception. What kind of relevance does this kind of belief have regarding drawing conclusions about sight? When I say a series, I mean one after the other. Like thinking of sight as a series of planes.

Yes. And the number of views as well. Get rid of both of those too Leo if you really want to clean house.

I agree. I feel less "dirty" participating on here how. Before I could tell that Ego was much more involved. Now I am just one among peers. I don't like the whole social media life. But I do like this Forum, and I have grown so much from my participation on here. It's good to be humble in this work, it really is.

This is the trap that thinkers fall into. Enlightenment is never gonna be a science.

Yeah. Honesty is something that I am working on. I learned a long time ago that honesty is not always the best policy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(album)

Yep. Learn to be your own guru. You gotta get off the teet after a while in this work and man your own ship. Too much clinging to gurus can be a problem in this work. Enlightenment is about unlearning.

Nice! Ours are very similar. Here's mine: MY TOP 5 STRENGTHS -- I FINALLY TOOK THE AUTHENTICHAPPINESS.COM SURVEY Strength #1 Creativity, ingenuity, and originality - Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible. Strength #2 Perspective wisdom - Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself. Strength #3 Love of learning - You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn. Strength #4 Curiosity and interest in the world - You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery. Strength #5 Bravery and valor - You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

If you do judge, you watch yourself judge. Don't try to repress the Ego, just watch it. Let all your regular shit happen, just watch it. One of the mistakes you can make is to try not to judge -- that's a mistake! You want to let things happen authentically and naturally. Paradoxically, this is how you achieve Ego Transcendence. Awareness alone is curative. But don't try to repress things! That's the Ego trying to control reality. I think a lot of people don't yet "get" this.

This is funny. Is this because people want to get their mugs in the videos? Look at me! Haha.