DanoDMano

I love this forum because it allows us all to give our opinions and thoughts on what I feel are the most important questions we can ever ask ourselves and of others. And perhaps all our answers could be right and then again, all could be wrong. It all depends on what the true meaning of life is. Like the theory that time, past, present and future is all predetermined and that ultimately the choices we make don't matter because what happens in our own reality was meant to happen. If you've decided to do nothing with your life, well... that wasn't really your decision, it was already set in stone even before you think it was your idea. Whoa... mind blower. Here's another, what if you went through your whole life wondering what your life purpose was, and then one day your walking down the street and see a child standing on the street and a bus is barrelling down and at the last moment you push that child out of the way, saving the child but killing yourself. Then that child grows up to change the world in some grand way? Perhaps that one moment in time was your entire reason for your existence and yet you spent your whole life agonizing over why your here. See what I mean? My thinking is this. Why not just wake up each morning and first and foremost appreciate that fact that your still here. Second, find anything that brings some joy and contentment in your life. If you plan your life correctly working and making money can become secondary. The basics of life are food and shelter. Are you going to eat steak and lobster everyday or grow a garden and enjoy tuna salad? Are you going to live with your parents or buy a luxury condo in the big city? My point is, work and doing something you don't want to do for a third of your life isn't necessary if you don't buy into this dogma culture we call capitalism and the American dream. When you take away the pressures of money and inevitably indebtedness you take away their power. Your then in a much better position to decide your own destiny. To me that's the trick. So what is our life's purpose. To find happiness and to be content with the things that come our way. Positive people attract positive results. Once you have this I think our purpose can then find us.

Here's another story about how karma can bite you right in the ass. Though I'd learned a lesson the biggest one was about my own naivety. I had a friend that had stolen some valuables from one of his relatives and asked me to go to Toronto with him to cash them in at a pawn shop. I was informed that we'd hop on a bus, get a hotel room and party like it was 1999. I was 17 at the time, had never been to the big city, so immediately agreed. We each purchased a one way ticket and headed out excited as two teenage girls on prom night. When we cashed in the stash we'd gotten three times more the value than what we thought we'd get so our excitement was through the roof. Two teen boys with a pocket full of money and no one to tell us what to do. We were living the dream. We got an expensive room at a high end hotel on the main drag where all the action was. Our first stop was the biggest mall in the country where we'd buy some nice clothes (I bought an expensive leather jacket, it was January and -20 outside) for what we figured would be the night of a lifetime. We were standing by a railing having a smoke (you could smoke inside in those days) when a guy our age came up to us and asked for a light. We struck up a conversation with him, when he stated that he could easily get us into some clubs to drink and pick up girls, we could hardly believe our luck. We proceeded to drink and party all night. We paid and he paid, this guy definitely wasn't a freeloader as far as we were concerned. We bar hopped until closing time and as we stumbled outside at around 2 am our new friend gave us his phone number and an address of a party he knew of for the next day. It was snowing like crazy and as cold as a witches tit. The guy finally informed us that he had an hour long trip to get home. My friend and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement that we should invite him over to stay with us in our room and do more drinking. We could then just head out in the morning and attend this party we were now invited to. You probably have guessed by now the outcome. Waking up hung over the next day and hardly remembering anything that had happened, we looked around to discover that everything except the clothes we'd passed out in were gone. Our wallets and the money, my new ill gotten jacket and even our shoes had disappeared. Lucky for me I still had a pair on my feet when I passed out, but my friend had not and his were gone. We were left with nothing but the clothes on our back. and not a nickel to our name. We tried calling the number he gave us, fake. We tried the party address he gave us, fake. Even his name was fake. We hung out at the mall where we'd first met him. Yeah right, we couldn't even call the police. The only thing the hotel provided us with were a couple of coats and one pair of shoes from the lost and found. It took us twelve hours hitch hiking before we finally made it back. So again, what comes around goes around. Some lessons in life need to be learnt the hard way, and this was definitely one of them. But then again, I suppose it could have turned out a lot worse. Just a little side note: My friend got caught by his relatives and had to work part time after school for months to pay them back.

I personally think that we can worry too much about things in our life. I've come to realize that there is a natural order of how things should happen. It's not that you just then sit back and wait for them to happen, but you don't rush into them either where you end up making rash decisions. It's funny how it works. An idea, action or goal just pops into your head. Where did this thing come from? The majority of the time it's you ego trying to convince you that something is right or wrong. If you act immediately you may just find out the opposite is true and then it's too late to turn back. I like to think that my consciousness and intuition are one and same. So the ego plants the seed, but it's your intuition that will decide whether to nurture that seed and help it grow into something positive for your life. Then during growth your ego jumps back in and tries to convince you that it's good or bad which again can be completely opposite. But it's you intuition (consciousness) that provides the truth. That this seed when fully grown will bear fruit or become a thorn in your side. So my moral of the story? Patients my man. Think your actions through. Ask yourself continuously where are these actions, goals coming from? Ask yourself what part of you will benefit more, your spirit or your ego? When you discover the answer decide from there. Sometimes the ego can use a stroke or two so that's not bad, just realize that is exactly what your doing. Stroking your ego, also increases it's power. Don't worry so much, it will cloud your judgement. Believe in the laws of attraction. This means staying positive even if there's negatives in your life. The more positive you become, the more positive that happens around you. It's a fact. Worry is a negative emotion so naturally you'll attract the same. Hope this helps. Good luck in your journey brother.

Amulya first off you have to know that every soul on this planet makes mistakes. All of us. It's what we learn from these mistakes that really tells ourselves who we are. Stop beating yourself up. Stop feeling guilty for your actions. Instead ask yourself why it happened? You may find an answer and you may not, but the truth is there. Every mistake (if that is truly what it was) we make is just a piece of who we become. Anyone who uses a mistake against you without allowing for forgiveness doesn't then love you for who you are. That is possession not affection. Men tend to allow their egos to take control of there emotions in situations like these, and therefore can never look at their own actions, which may be part of the reason the mistake was made in the first place. If it was a mistake. You may think so now but not in the future for it may be exactly what needed to happen in order for your own personal growth and journey. Only your heart knows what you need to do. No advice from anyone (including your family) can tell you what's right. Only you know that. Follow your intuition on how to proceed. More times than not it's the best judge. Sometimes the most painful direction is still the right one, you just need the strength and determination to follow through with it. All things happen for a reason, trust me in this, I know. You may not understand it in the here and now, but you will someday. First and foremost, stop feeling guilty about making a mistake, we all do, your no different. Just learn from it and carry on. Good luck in your journey.

This kind. I'm a bit spacey.

T1r1on wow brother your way ahead in your journey, keep it up. I was so much like you growing up and I think I turned out ok. It sounds like we had the same kind of upbringing, so I can relate. I too am an artist, so to speak and I've been doing a journal pretty well everyday for 35 years. I find writing my thoughts onto paper really help bring things to fruition so keep it up. Good luck in the journey and keep your thoughts positive. All things seem to work themselves out when you do. The laws of attraction work.

pressed saved twice. Patients Dano patients.

OceanJjb just know that you are not alone in this journey. We all experience these times of uncertainty, sadness and confusion. I think our number one reason for these emotions are our feelings of lack of purpose. We ask ourselves, Why am here and what can I do to find meaning in my life? Without purpose it seems as if life is meaningless, especially for those of us that just seem to be drifting through time. Discover your purpose OceanJjb. Reflect on your life, do the things you find enjoyable and let time play itself out. My philosophy is all things (good and bad) happen for reasons we do not know at the time, and what might seem to be a negative experience now will turn into a blessing in the future. Believe in the Law of Attraction, (Leo has a video) and it just might change your life. Good luck.

I haven't smoked in a very long time but when I did it was every day for years. When I quit I couldn't sleep for two weeks. I had to fight with myself continuously to not get that bag. I couldn't even hang with those that smoked. I still can't. I have to avoid that circle at all costs because the minute I do one toke leads to two, one joint leads to two, one gram leads to two, you get the picture. If you must get high I have some advice. Use the 4:20 rule. To me 4:20 is not a date it is a time. Don't wake and bake, be productive with your day and don't smoke until 4:20 pm or after. Now of course this depends on your routine but use this theory as a guideline. If you do quit though you will see life in a different light, that I guarantee, just as so many others have mentioned here.

Once I thought of myself as "saved" I began being more conscientious of the people around me and those I'd let into my "circle". My friends were very like minded and also went to church on a regular basis. I remember my life as content and peaceful. I played hockey and I seemed to have success in everything I did. I felt blessed and content with everything in my life. Then my life shattered when inevitably my mother and father who were so different in every way decided to split. My mother who had no interest in sex and my dad who couldn't get enough of it. My mom who was an intellectual and my dad who, well... let's just say his favorite reading material was Andy Capp from the funny papers. He drank and partied while my mom probably had a glass of wine every new years eve. It was a surprise to everyone except me and my brother and sister that they lasted 14 years. That's about the time I turned. I guess I lost my faith in anything good and went a bit berserk. I moved out of the small town I'd known all my life with my father and basically had to start my life over. No more church, no more friends, no more supervision. I learned all things negative. Drinking, drugs, sex, skipping out of school, theft, destruction. During all this my heart knew everything I was doing was wrong and every time my conscience rose up I'm sure it was my ego that stomped it into the ground and silenced any appeal for sanity. By the time I turned 18 I'd attended 5 different high schools. Every time I'd made any friends we'd move and I'd have to start all over again. My ego had so much control over my life that when any feelings of guilt arose from my actions they would always be justified with my victim mentality. I also had no problem using others (so called friends) for my own gain. I've lost count on how many girl friends of friends I'd have an affair with and not think twice. I was a scum bag and either didn't care or justified every evil deed with an egotistical excuse. Two months after finishing school (I graduated from grade 12, but it took five years) my father was moving into his girlfriends house and let me take over his place, furniture and all. I got my first credit card with a $5,000 limit so I went and blew the whole amount on an awesome audio system, clothes, and a bunch of other expensive stuff to make me look cool to my friends and of course women. To share expenses I let a casual friend move in. My first real job was outside of the city and closer to my mothers house so on occasion I'd just stay there to be closer for the next day. Then there was a week where I didn't go home until the weekend and when I final got there I walked into an apartment that had been cleaned out. There was not one piece of furniture and not one piece of clothing in the closets. It was completely empty. I called the police. The roommate said he'd simply moved out, the landlord said he'd walked into an empty apartment. Each blamed the other. The police could find no proof from either so there was nothing they could do. This was my first lesson on what I call karma. What goes around comes around. For the first time in a long time my ego had nothing to say.

Good luck in your journey Ann. Keep us informed in your progress and how your doing in letting go of things that perhaps are unattainable or even negative influences on finding "yourself".

Southwestern Ontario - Canada

Perhaps we do when we find enlightenment.

I agree whole heartedly with you Progress. I grew up in that era and it's true. Many, many songs from the 60's, 70's and maybe early / mid 80's had lyrics and rhythm with a spiritual feel to them. Maybe that's why I was so entrenched in these bands without even realizing it. Back then this was main-stream stuff. You could turn on your radio or throw on an album and lose yourself. Learning these songs word for word was easy for me, even natural. I'd like to add some bands to that list; Styx, Boston, Kansas, Rush and Bowie come to mind off the top of my head. Where did that go? What happened? Was it because of the era? Was it because of the peace and love phenomenon? Was it the innocents of the time? I don't know but it seems to me that what we hear nowadays is nothing but popcorn love songs and wanna get in your pants crap. Maybe I'm just getting too old to appreciate the current trends in music but it's not the same as the old days. Lyrics in fact seem to be secondary now to catchy beats and rhythms that you can dance too. Not to mention that appearance and stage presents are now more important than talent and hard work. Get noticed, become viral, and your then considered a great artist. Do you think in todays society a guy like Joe Cocker could have ever made it. I don't think so.

I suppose you have a point owl and it is true that perhaps too many of us paint the canvass in just simple black and white and a much too broad brush, but I just can't help but contemplate what this world may be like today if we were to eliminate these ideas of various religions (individual beliefs), and man made currency from our reality and replaced them with basic moral ideals, true integrity, and equality for all life, human and otherwise. How different might this world be if it were true? We all have different ideas and they all should be respected as ones own truth even though they may not be agreed upon.

Ok before I go to bed I thought I'd add my two cents to this question (great one by the way). This is just one theory that has crossed my mind through the years and perhaps might seem logical to some and absurd to others. If you believe in other dimensions you might be like minded. Imagine that there are senses beyond the seven we have in our reality. What if there are others that we are completely unaware of in this present state of mind. The death we know is simply of our seven senses and birth of our eighth, ninth, tenth and so on. Death is just the expansion of our consciousness and higher levels of sensibility.

Unfortunately Espanha I don't have the answers for you. I just don't know enough about you, your life, your situation or any other parts of your life to give you a knowledgeable answer. Love / obsession is a very powerful and illogical emotion that can't really be given a logical answer. The real answer is in yourself. You ultimately know what you need to do and you'll only find the true answer there within yourself. Sometimes the right thing to do is also the most painful and this to is something your ego will refuse to acknowledge. You have to try and look past that to find your answer. Good luck brother and I hope you find contentment and peace with your outcome.

Man I've been so busy reading our posts and making a comment here and there that it seems I'm neglecting my own journal entry. So here goes. Just in case I get a few readers I feel the need to give a bit of background about myself. I'm 50 years old and live in the awesome country of Canada. (2nd happiest country on earth by the way). I can't remember who's first but I'm quite sure it's one of those European countries (and I wouldn't doubt it in the least if it was Amsterdam). Anyway, I grew up with a very religious Baptist mother and an uneducated, nonreligious, hillbilly father. My parents couldn't have been any more different from each other. My parents were married because of me and the barrel of my grandfathers shotgun. My mom was a school teacher, my dad was a produce manager. Every Sunday my mother would take me and my siblings to church while my father continued to perfect his golf swing. I rarely missed a Sunday. In fact most of my social activities revolved around the church. Even summers consisted of daily Baptist themed camp. It was simply a way of life for me. Yet my dad would have nothing to do with it. Oh he tried going every once in awhile to appease my mother and the in-lawsbut it just wasn't in him. But I knew he was a very spiritual man. He believed in a higher power, just not a religious one. I had the benefit of seeing more than one side of this thing we call spirituality. Here's a little story of learning right and wrong at an early age. I grew up in a very small town. Everyone knew everyone else. I was seven years old when my mother and I walked into my Grandmothers (an extremely Baptist woman) hardware store for my first time. While my mother was paying for something at the counter I looked up to see the most amazing things I'd ever seen. Towering over me was the grandest display of uncut keys I'd ever set my eyes on. Every shape and size. Brass keys, silver keys, round keys, square keys, house keys, car keys, (you get the picture). Anyway, I just had to have one so I put one in my pocket. When I showed it to my mom when we got home she was furious. We then stormed back to the store where I then had to admit my wrong doing to my Grandmother and give back that beautiful key. For my punishment I was given a broom and made to sweep the floors and tell each new customer that walked through the door about my evil deeds. I've never been able to look at those key displays the same way again. Well, I was twelve and at my annual Baptist summer camp when I guess you'd say I was "saved". I remember this like it was yesterday. Something happened to me that day, I know it. At that point I knew my life was changed forever. I found something, or something found me. At the time I thought it was Jesus, now I know it was something even greater. It wasn't enlightenment or perhaps it was, I can't say because I've never felt it again, but it changed my young life. For a brief moment I was life and I could never question right and wrong ever again. I knew what it was, yet I would battle with my ego about this truth for my entire life. Well that's all for now. Stay tuned I have so much more to share.

Wow brother you are definitely motivated for growth. Just a word of advice. Don't overwhelm yourself with accomplishments. Your 19 and your list seems long term. I suggest you pick 1, 2 or maybe 3 from that list and work hard to accomplish those goals first. Our egos can become very discouraged and give up on you if it doesn't get results in the short term. You'll feel much better once you've finished one before moving on to another. Good luck in your journey. Be content and find yourself.

I'm going to just suspect that your a young man. As you grow both mentally and spiritually (if that is truly what your seeking) you will come to realize that these feelings you have are simply your ego playing tricks on you. If you can't have her then your ego is telling you no one should have her. But here's the truth, you do have her. Just not in the way your ego wants. Do you think you love her? If your mind is telling you yes then you just might be lying to yourself (we do this all the time). If you truly loved her you would only wish for her happiness (with or without you in her life). If you know she's happy then why would your own feelings be of suffering and jealousy of that happiness? That's not love, that's control. Do you bring her happiness? You probably do because she stays in your presence. Is that not enough? I'm sure your ego wants intimacy and physical attraction from this girl that your not getting. It's just your ego talking brother. It wants it now. Ego has no patients. Find patients and maybe (just maybe) she will come to see your growth and maturity in the future and realize what she has. Let her experience life and what it has to offer and be there with her to experience it. From my own experience I can truly tell you that all things happen for reason, which you will come to know yourself in time. If rush things and try to make things happen before their natural order you end up screwing things up. Discover your instinct, your intuition this is your true self trying to give you answers. Have patients, and if you truly like this girl be happy for her successes and comfort her when she fails. It's the best way to keep her in your life if that is truly what you want.

Hi Hoel, I'd like to add some of my own insight to your thoughts about our mirror. I find it humorous how we all see our reflection and immediately place our own egotistical judgements about what we see. Our society has placed such high regard into our outer appearance that it has become far more important than anything else we may have to offer. Each morning when we wake up we immediately view ourselves with sustain and our ego tells us, I can't go out like this, I can't let them see me like this. I need to shave or I need to apply my makeup. I need a haircut. I need to lose weight. I need to tone my body. Some of us can't even look at ourselves without our ego telling us we're ugly and undesirable. How disillusioned is that? How shallow of a world do we live in that we are all judged based on this outer shell? A false image that in the real scheme of things means little if nothing at all. Think about the confidence we'd all have if we didn't know what we looked like compared to others. Think about what this world would be like if we didn't place judgements on others because of this meaningless outer vessel we call the body. Only mind and spirit. Without sight, that is exactly what we'd do. Problem is, it'd be tough to get around. So much for stop signs.

Keyblade, I was thinking that myself. If our children were taught early in life about truth, about ego and about ourselves, then the dogma would have no impact on their future. I'm sure that as we all get older it becomes harder and harder to find ourselves. Suppose we could look at this way. For every year we lose ourselves, it takes a year to find ourselves. For every hour it takes an hour. Like Leo has said, the journey is a long one. So the sooner you begin asking the questions, the sooner you find the answers. Leo, you know it didn't even occur to me that perhaps when you find enlightenment that you would no longer become concerned with our planetary situation. If I understand correctly, your saying that once you become aware of all things, your understanding of life and true consciousness, you then know that it doesn't matter. That the greatness of ourselves, of our life force, is so much higher and more powerful than our current realm. For those of us dedicated enough to discover this no longer have to worry or be concerned with what our limited senses tell us is shit.

The reason why I had to ask this question is because a friend and I, who is very like minded as myself, started asking this question to ourselves. What can we do? How can we help our species live fuller, richer lives not only today but for our future generations as well? Here's some of our answers, some being more practical than others however. We thought about advertising a group event of like minded individuals where we'd get together once a week and read books, watch videos (Leo of course), have discussions, meditate, support each others journey, etc.. Then share this with others and hopefully grow with new 'members'. Word of mouth as they say. A small step, but a step all the same. We thought about how important our village is in todays society. Back in the day, way before the net, television and even radio, people didn't know what was going on outside their village and didn't care either. If there was harmony in the village, then that's what you felt, peace and harmony. You had no clue if there was conflict outside the village until it came knocking on your door. Somehow we need to get back to that. Teaching each other and our children about truth without outside influence telling us otherwise and how life should be lived. Beliefs other than our own. We thought about having to completely start over. From scratch so to speak. Something drastic would have to happen for anything to change. Nuclear war, plague, financial collapse, electrical breakdown and the like. All the things that would just put the world into complete chaos. How many people would have to lose their lives in order to change our dogma thinking and try something different? We guessed that with a severely reduced population it'd be much easier for change in a better direction. We thought about the interstellar thing as well. What if highly evolved beings introduced us to a better way. Introduced us all to 'truth'. Would we be willing to listen then? Would our egos then allow us to change for the better? Or would the powers that be shoot them down before they messed up the works? Just another thought, throwing it out there to see what sticks. That's why I ask the question. Too deep? Impossible to answer? Well that's why I ask. What do you think?

Greetings fellow searcher of truth. I don't want to be stroking your ego further, but dude, you seem to have it all together. Take it slow, life is a marathon for most of us not a sprint. Your so far ahead of the journey just enjoy what's ahead and stop to smell the flowers. Learn from the mistakes your bound to make and eventually they'll become few and far between. Trust your instincts and you'll do fine. Your writing abilities are exceptional (a rarity these days) keep it up and never give up looking for your purpose. You'll know when you find it. Peace brother.