Forestluv

@gilded_honour Why would someone place Truth higher than security and comfort?

Hmmm. I question whether the appearance of such a thought would strip someone of their awakened credentials. . .

Indeed. And many people avoid it. I've found there are times I must put Truth above security and comfort to continue on.

@Dean Walker This sounds like a transitional stage in which immature spirituality is maturing. IME, I can't return to earlier stages - even if I tried.

@lmfao Letting go of delusions that gave my self security and comfort has been one of the challenges for my self.

The persona appears and disappears - similar to dreams, football games, clouds and bird chirps. The identification with the persona dissolves. It's just some character - like a movie character. IME, the persona comes in handy when interacting with other personas. For example, sometimes a coworker will ask me "What is your opinion on this matter?". My mind-body may sit in a daze for a bit and then it kicks in. . . "Oh yes, I need to play a character to interact with their character. And my character needs to form an 'opinion'". . . Another time, I was sharing stories with a coworker of childhood micro traumas. There was no persona identified with the story - it was like stories of movie characters. She started crying and I remembered that a persona identifies with stories and tries to avoid uncomfortable feelings. I was then able to ask her persona if it would like to change the topic. . . It can be awkward at times.

Heeeeeey . . . I wouldn't put you on a red eye with a layover. Direct flight during the day. I have plenty of miles with SW that I like to gift for special occasions. And I could pick you up at the airport. I travel a lot. It's all part of the adventure.

There are direct flights from Vegas -> Detroit on Southwest. I can get a RT ticket for about $100 worth of miles. I'd gift it to you if there is interest in the Detroit area.

@Shadowraix Sounds good. . . They would also have an infinite number of qualities between ugly and beautiful. Before the interpretation, there just is. A mind can add on whatever. . .

@Superfluo Nice work! You are All In! ♥️??

@Pilgrim Set up boundaries and be mindful of energy vampires. If you leave an encounter with energy depleted - it's most likely an energy vampire. Encounters with a balanced sharing of energy won't leave an empath depleted and exhausted.

@kieranperez I know plenty of experienced folks that set intentions with psychedelics. It was a major theme in the Ayahuasca retreat I did. Setting an intention is thought to provide grounding for a trip to return to. Like a theme. For me, the work in general I've done the weeks prior set an unofficial "intention". For example, if I've been spending a lot of time contemplating nothingness, I may be brought to nothingness during the trip. If I were to set an official intention, I would make it humble and genuine such as a request "to be shown my inner blocks to deeper states of being".

Yes!

Think about it. . . transcending everything into the absolute, means transcending *everything*. Embodying concepts/emotions like love, peace, compassion, serenity, joy etc. is great stuff - but it's not everything. If one stays within that secure/comfort zone, they haven't transcended it all - including terror, anxiety, panic, anger, insecurity, insanity etc. In the deeper levels, the distinctions dissolve. Terror is Love. Love is Terror. Very few spiritual teachers speak of this - it is very unpalatable to the self. It freaks the self out. The self will avoid it at any cost. Imagine a spiritual retreat that advertises: "On this retreat, you will gain direct experience with insecurity, insanity and terror so intense that you will die". It's not a good business model. I have no idea where teachers such as sadhguru, mooji, osho etc. are with this. They obviously tone down their rhetoric to connect to an audience seeking relief from their self. If I had a direct conversation with them, I would know within minutes. It is totally obvious when someone has ventured into this zone. The few teachers willing to discuss it often end up with arrows in their back. . . The Truth is both beautiful and brutal to the self.

You are light years ahead of where I was at your age as well as 99% of people your age. . . Nice work.

If you dig deep enough down the rabbit hole, you will come to a point where you must surrender *all* control. You will not know what lies behind the door. To come to know absolute unconditional love, you must be willing to come to know absolute terror. You will not have the option to choose. Very very few seekers will continue past this point. To become everything, one must become everything - including love and terror. If one only embraces the feel good side of spirituality, they will not come to know deeper levels.

High level Orange thinkers can be *extremely* intelligent (based on logical and reasoning intelligence). Richard Dawkins has a very high level of rational intelligence - yet a low level of tier2 post-rational intelligence. In a way, awakening is now. We are always zero steps from enlightenment. Paradoxically, awakening is also a process. I wouldn't be so concerned about how to color specific beliefs. Perhaps ask "What does reality want to express through me?". Get curious about the discovery and direct experience. Not to meet needs. Not to improve oneself. Not to be happy. Rather, to learn and experience the magnificence of life.

Ruh-roh. . . You can progress deeper while holding this belief, yet you will reach a point where you will need to let go of it to continue progressing deeper. There will come a time when you will need to place Truth higher than security and comfort to continue. . .

Rather than trying to figure out where you are, perhaps you could focus on becoming more conscious with a variety of methods. Trust you intuition to follow what resonates with you. Perhaps months from now you will look back and realize "Holy smokes! Looks like I'm centered in Yellow now!". As well, perhaps listen to yellow- and turquoise-level teachings. There are lots of turquoise teachers that teach to green-centered audiences.

@VictorB02 This seems like a very common issue while deepening one's consciousness. I went through a similar process with religion and science. When I evolved beyond religion, how should I tell my family? How could I still relate to them? When I evolved beyond science / rational thinking, how should I tell my colleagues? How could I still relate to them? For me, I didn't make a big deal of it. I was very mindful to not get on a soapbox or challenge them on their beliefs.

@Pure Imagination I never been attracted to capitalism, material things, nice clothes, looking good, titles, recognition etc. I never experienced any of those forms. For me, my Orange anchor was rational thinking. A couple Orange key terms you used are "productive" and "accomplish". There is a major energy shift from tier1 to tier2 in this area. Yet, you could be using the terms in a different context than typical for a tier1 mindset. It sounds like you have entered tier2 and are maturing. What helped me mature was listening to nondual speakers and exploring post-rational tier2 areas such as hyper-empathy and hyper-intuition. As well, meta views, integration of concepts and the dissolution of distinctions is mind blowing What instrument(s) do you play?

@Bluebird For me, the psychedelic experience is as real as the sober experience. It seems odd to me how people often have an "intention" heading into a trip. Their sober self wants to extract something from the "altered" psychedelic reality. Yet, this assumes the sober mindset is the "normal" one worth developing. The reciprocal question is "what aspects of my delusional sober mindset can be integrated into the normal psychedelic mindset"? This lessened my seeking energy to "make sense" of psychedelic experiences. It's like asking how I can integrate lessons from the movie "Crash" into the movie "Forrest Gump". It's fun stuff, yet not really the point of it all. The point is. . . the sober mindset is delusional. It's a dream. There is no need to try and make the dream seem more real. It will always be a dream regardless of how much one tries to fortify a foundation of realness.

@Mircan I would be aware of self improvement methods and self dissolution methods. It sounds like you are more attracted to self improvement. The forum is a mixture of both.

I would be mindful that SD is just one model - it can be a useful tool. Yet, I would not put all my eggs into the SD basket. I would complement SD with a few spiritual teachers outside of SD that resonates with you. In tier1, people can be a mixture of tier1 stages. Like a painting that has blue, orange and green colors. I like to think of it as being "centered" in one stage. As well, someone could be centered in stage green intellectually and stage orange emotionally. Rather than trying to evolve to reach a "higher" stage. I would be mindful of which stage characteristics I resonate with. As well, which patterns exist that no longer resonates? Which are conditioned patterns? For example, one of my patterns was logical / rational thinking. I took this to the end of the line and it no longer became satisfying or fulfilling. I noticed that I was a walking analytical brain and it was interfering with my ability to form human connections. My relationships lacked emotional depth and intimacy. I started craving that. Yet, it was still difficult to let go of logical patterns. That part of me wanted evidence to show that all this "whoo whoo" stuff green and above is true. . . One of the difficulties from evolving from tier1 to tier2 is that there are few tier2 teachers. One of the biggest traps of tier1 is attachment to personal needs. There is strong identification with a sense of self in tier1. In tier2 there is an awareness that the whole personality is just a conditioned construct - built over a lifetime of programming. This realization process can be uncomfortable and unpalatable to the self. Think about it. . . the Gig Is Up for the self. It will no longer be the main act. It just appears and disappears like dreams, bird chirps and thunder. That's a tough sell to a self. Yet, the liberation from the illusory self is indescribable. In tier1 - the self is the main act - even in stage Green. The energy of seeking is to meet personal needs. The view of life is through this lens. Everything and everyone is perceived through a lens of personal needs. That is "how will this situation or person affect me and my personal needs?". In tier2 there is an energetic shift from self seeking to meet needs, security and comfort to an energy that seeks being the human experience, truth. That is attracted to the magnificence of life. Much of this is nonverbal and post-rational. Through direct experience, there is a "knowing".

For sure. I would just add ". . . seeking security in the illusory static content of thought" for clarity. This goes for all thought. Including ideas that seem spiritual, profound or insightful. Including everything written in this thread. Including everything that has ever been written or expressed about enlightenment. Believing any of it is a limitation trap. Even very high spiritual masters get caught in this trap to an extent. There are spiritual masters that believe in spiritual ideas and concepts.