Joseph Maynor

I think this Forum can be a great support group for someone who wants get help and help themselves; I know it was for me.

I would honestly encourage participation on here, I've grown a lot on here. If this place were so bad, I wouldn't still be on here. But, if you're on here a lot and still not making progress, then we need to look at why that is. Help for each individual person needs to be tailored to that person. No, I think the Forum is good. Just like everything else you can have too much of a good thing, which can lead to a kind of backfiring effect. But all in all, I think it's good to have a support system here with multiple perspectives of caring people to offer solutions. I still kinda feel that Enlightenment is only part of the solution. There are a lot of aspects to personal development. But I will tell you this, Enlightenment Work should be making you less neurotic not more neurotic. If that's not happening, then we need to look at why that's the case.

I think your take on Enlightenment Work may have made your situation worse. You're at war war with your identity and that's only contributing to your problems. The way you're gonna know you're making progress on the Path is your neurosis should be dialing way down. This idea that your identity is the enemy is not correct and will only backfire on you. This is like a gay man becoming a Catholic priest to try to get rid of his gayness. No, the gayness is still there and now is dysfunctional because it isn't treated right by the holder of the trait. Ditto for your identity. You gotta learn to accept and love your identity, your Ego-Mind. If there's anything I can do to help, PM me. I'm happy to work with you on this.

I've been through phases where I thought I didn't need meditation. But I realize now that meditation is the best practice, the best daily practice for communion with being because it shrinks the Ego-Mind down. I've said that meditation and LSD both have the effect of shrinking the Ego-Mind down so that being and the practice of No Ego can be let in without so many blocks from the Ego. The problem with not meditating is you can get stuck in Ego much easier, and you probably won't even fully realize that. The Ego hides itself when there is no perspective on it from meditation or psychedelics or what have you. That's why it's important to meditate every day. It allows you to practice what I call No Ego, and to be sensitive to being.

The Devil is a concept in a religiously-inclined person's Mind that they cling to. I'm not a fan of using religious words when talking about Enlightenment. If you wanna be religious go for that -- go whole hog into that. I was religious myself for a spell, so I l know exactly what that is and means.

Because when you're satisfied you're not striving. Notice it's those who are not satisfied that are striving.

Why don't you write it? Write the best damn book on the subject.

Who is it that believes reality is a dream and desires not to give a f*ck about said dream? That's the Ego-Mind clinging in two ways there: one as a belief and the other as a desire.

Eliminate all obvious distractions when you meditate.

The Ego-Mind wants very much to locate the "one right" truth about reality.

I like the word being myself. But then I don't put any Metaphysical jibber-jabber constraints on being either. it's just being. It is what it is and it doesn't really benefit from linguistic description.

Not to say I'm enlightened, but what work I have done has brought my neuroticism down really low. I used to have really bad problems with neuroticism, stress, insecurity, over-compensating Ego, etc.

I think the concept of awakening can be deceptive. What you have is your own evolution on the Path.

Watch out for goal. Goal is for the Ego-Mind. Making a goal out of Enlightenment can lead one away from being not closer to it. I know this is hard to wrap your Mind around. But that ain't a coincidence because the Mind is an agent of Ego.

The unenlightened Ego-Mind is suffering. When you can start mediating Ego with No Ego or being, your life becomes very . . . "stable" is the right word, I don't even want to use the word "happy". Happy doesn't always apply, but stable does. Even if you're going through shit, you can still mediate Ego with No Ego and be, and realize that reality is not marching to your Ego-Mind's drum. No Ego or being is like a pressure-release value for the Ego-Mind.

I agree, but I probably would not say post-Enlightenment. Post-Enlightenment is another one of those dubious terms. That’s not to say it never applies, I’m sure there are applicable instances.

I would frame this differently as follows: If you have unconscious shadow issues operating, that can function like a block to your Path. Ditto for what I call "supershadow issues", which is where you don't even see your own Ego-Mind accurately let alone your own shadow issues.

I don't like the word "Evil". You guys and your religious tendencies oy! It's pretty obvious to me when people or business are not coming from a pure and genuine place.

Really? Why not be the model? You can already be the model of being you.

There's a lot of heart on this Forum if you care to look for it. I realize now that a lot of people on here are genuinely trying to help others which is something that I had a hard time fully seeing before. It's just that each personality type has a little different way of doing it. And when you're stuck in one personality type it's sometimes hard to appreciate another personality type's attempt to do what you're doing. Most of the regulars on here who have been on here for years now are genuinely trying to help others, it wasn't always easy for me to see that before because I saw so many other differences. But the heart is there. That's the least common denominator among many people on here. That's what we all have in common. We want to help others. I know its kinda embarrassing to say things this plainly and bluntly sometimes.

You can always reject any question or issue. This is something that unless you studied Philosophy or Rhetoric you probably don't fully understand. You can always question the question and even reject the question. Questions and issues only have merit if we give them merit. Why do you have to be anything in the first place? What is is not beholden to your ideas to be what it is.

My ideal life looks a lot like my life right now: Physically healthy, living in a beautiful place, financially secure, emotionally balanced, engaged with the world in a way that I find inspiring and worthwhile. Honestly, nothing money could buy would improve my life much. Nothing Philosophy could present my Ego-Mind with would improve my life much. I used to feel like I needed to do all these things to be happy, but now I realize it's the things that I no longer care to do that allow me to be happy. My life is happy right now. All I gotta do is keep doing what I'm doing -- keep living well and contributing back in my own chosen way. The last thing I want to do is get wrapped up in being a spiritual Ego, that would actually diminish my peace and my happiness. When I do make my own debut as a personal development teacher in a couple of years, I'm not gonna need the money or the fame. And I wanna keep it that way. It's those who aren't attached that give off the right vibe as a teacher. And that I can see from my standpoint now, and I just gotta make sure that my Ego-Mind doesn't poison that insight for me.

"Self-mastery". That's a hell of a word. I'm still waiting to find someone who has exhibited "self-mastery". Then maybe I will feel more comfortable using that term myself.

This is the first time I've seen anybody on here do this kind of work. Good job. I'm impressed!