RickyFitts

@Ananta Oh yeah, another classic scene

@Preety_India Yeah, that sounds like a great suggestion - I'll give it a try, thanks again That makes a lot of sense to me!

@Preety_India You're a sweetheart, Preety, thank you - my real name's Daniel, by the way @Marcel So often how it goes, we have to reach rock bottom before things start to get better

@Preety_India Bless you, thanks @Marcel Really glad to hear it mate

Good stuff mate, you sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders - hope everything works out for you

Me personally? I don't, is the honest answer What you see 'out there' is a reflection of what's going on inside you, so anything that's unresolved within you - any anger, hatred, sorrow, despair, resentment, and whatever else weighs on your heart - is going to distort your perception. Conversely, when your heart is pure, the world will appear pure to you too. Just keep in mind that going to war with your inner demons only creates more inner conflict - you have to see the beauty in your own apparent ugliness (and we all have that, don't worry).

@Ananta Oh yeah, one of the best scenes in the film for sure! Oh man do I love Kevin Spacey in this film, he was born to play this role

@Marine A man after my own heart

@Marcel I remember a couple of years after I first started to awaken that I started to desire intimacy more and more, it was my heart's desire. And I got what I longed for, without even consciously looking for it - it just seemed to happen, certain people came into my life and I formed very strong, loving connections with them very quickly (things got very messy and painful thereafter, but that's another story - the phrase 'be careful what you wish for' comes to mind, but alas). The universe has a way of making these things happen sometimes, when the intent is there. I hope you find what you're looking for, my friend.

@catcat69123 Cheers bro, I'll give the guided meditation a go later Forgiveness is definitely a big part of it I reckon, I've found in my own experience that emotions like anger and resentment tend to harden the heart. Easier said than done, obviously, but I'm working on it! You're so right about the closed hearts - good luck opening yours too, man

Yes, exactly right. Having a glimpse of realisation can make it tougher, ironically, because you've had a taste of heaven and now that's all you want, naturally, you don't want to have to deal with all your unresolved pain and trauma. I think people only tend to do the hard yards of inner work when they've seen that's there's no way around it.

Cat's out of the bag!

@Marcel Ah mate sorry to hear that, I suffered with feelings of intense loneliness a few years back and it felt unbearable at times, I really felt like I couldn't bear to be on my own. After a while I started to inquire into what exactly was so terrible about being on my own, and the truth was that I just felt like I couldn't bear to be alone with all the heartache I was feeling, I basically just wanted someone to kiss it all better. From that point on, I resolved to sit in meditation with my pain and just allow myself to feel it, and the feelings of loneliness dissipated after a while - along with the desire for a relationship, funnily enough.

Never heard of the guy, but I find it hard not to like someone who writes a book with a title like 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k'

It'll always have a special place in my heart, because it awakened me to the mysterious beauty that underlies all of life when I was in my early twenties and feeling rather lost in life. It touched me profoundly

This needs to happen

The phrase 'no shit, Sherlock' does rather spring to mind

One spiritual teacher whose teachings I found tremendously useful when I was having a really hard time emotionally was Jon Bernie, his teachings tend to deal much more with our moment-to-moment felt experience: I've got both of his books, 'Ordinary Freedom' and 'The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is', and think both are excellent, and his podcasts have been archived here if his teachings interest you.

Oh wow, what an amazing pic

Speaking of instrumentals, you might like these two:

Ooh interesting, never heard of that but I'll have to give it a listen, thanks for the recommendation! The album that comes to mind for me is 'Kid A' by Radiohead, it was voted #1 stoner album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, and y'know what, having listened to it whilst high I can completely understand why Love you too, darl

That's my sense of it too, I can't pretend to know where she's coming from exactly but she does strike me as being authentic. I think she's wonderful, actually, even if what she says doesn't really mean anything to me right now. She does appear at times to be slightly mental, but that's just me projecting I should think. Thing about it is, it seems to me that the only people who'd understand what she's talking about are people who've had the same realisations that she's had, whilst to everyone else it isn't going to mean anything - so what's the point in even talking about it? Reminds me of a quote, not sure if I've got the wording exactly right but it goes something like this: 'To those who know, no explanation is needed; to those who don't know, no explanation is possible'.

@greatoldtrees That was a heck of a first post, packed full of wisdom - thank you so much for sharing

When I've examined my own addictive tendencies, I've seen pretty quickly that they're an attempt to avoid something, all right - namely, myself. I wouldn't have realised this, though, if I hadn't examined my behaviour more closely.

Don't worry about how it will - or might - come across, just have the courage to follow what your inner guidance is telling you to do. Don't allow your choices to be guided by emotions like guilt or fear. And never lose sight of the fact, darling Vzdoh, that your needs matter, too.