Carl-Richard

Nah. They just can't focus very long on one thing.

It's possible, with some consciousness, to choose what your mind does on a very fundamental level (and to a significant extent), and if your goal is to "design your mind", it's useful to know how (and also what is healthy vs. unhealthy, in my view). For example, you can choose which thoughts or feelings to dwell on and which not to dwell on; technically to repress or allow what is arising. Now, if you're going to do this in practice, balance is important, and finding that balance can be not so simple, but actually doing the thing itself is simply a matter of intention. Again, balance is important, because you don't want to close your mind entirely, or conversely be crippled by information. You want to be open to the information that the mind gives you (through thought, intuition, feeling or the senses), because that is how you interact with and ground yourself in the things in the "real world" (they are your sensors for survival). But you also want to be discriminatory with what information you choose to put your attention and whether it's in alignment with your own goals and values (the world that you create). In order to find that balance, you indeed need to become clear on what your goals and values actually are, which in itself is part of designing your mind. For this, I strongly recommend crystallizing them in text format by writing them in as clear and detailed terms as possible. Personally, I've been at both extremes of the spectrum (of allowing and repressing), and both could've been avoided if I had crystallized my goals and values and had kept balance in mind (in fact, balance itself is now one of my core values). You might question the term "repression" and whether it can actually be a good thing. Repression and allowing is a fundamental mechanism of how the mind functions from moment to moment, and it's always running in the background unconsciously. All I'm saying it's possible to take conscious control of this mechanism to a certain extent. And on that topic, I believe it's the generally the unconscious forms of this mechanism that end up being problematic. Unconscious repression is what you often see in men. They're very quick to disallow any thought or emotion that doesn't seem to fit with their values or goals, which in severe cases can lead to a type of emotional stuntedness, stubbornness or closedmindedness, even a lack of creativity. Conversely, unconscious allowing is what you see more often in women. They're more prone to worry and anxiety, self-doubt and self-criticism; generally entertaining the things that enter one’s mind. As long as you approach your own mind consciously, structure your goals and values, and have balance in mind, you'll be less likely to suffer from the unconscious versions of repression and allowing. Another point is that your mind is very responsive to rather subtle intentions. One example is Andrew Tate's "depression doesn't exist" which people like to make fun of. You can actually choose to embody this intention and it will have very specific (and even quite visceral) effects on your mind. One time, I formed the intention "your feelings are not real", and it lead me into a kind of dissociated, emotionless state where I felt immense freedom to do exactly what I want, but the thought of the potential unforeseen consequences of being in such a state ironically filled me with terror ("what if I'm missing out on crucial information?"). This is also ironically when I decided to form the opposite intention of intensely entertaining all my feelings, which is how I started escalating down to the other extreme, and I became a bit oversensitive and emotionally unstable. As you can see, what I was missing was balance. I've also been on the extreme end of repression one other time, and it was back when I had just gotten into spirituality and had gotten the idea that all thoughts are bad and that I should strive for a thoughtless state, and to me, that meant to repress all my thoughts. It turned me into a kind of rock-like person. I became unable to have "trains of thought", and I would rather frequently not know what to say in conversations. So going to this extreme is probably not very good either, unless you want to be a rock. As a side note, if you want to achieve a thoughtless state in a more healthy way: simply meditate one to two times a day, and when you don't meditate, just be a normal human being. Your thoughts will reduce naturally (primarily «task-irrelevant thoughts»), and you'll not just continue to be a lively person but become even more lively.

He sounds exactly like Leo in this 😆

We all need help on the path sometimes.

A religious social club. It's intelligent to not dismiss fundamental aspects of life as trivial

He is a "practising Anglican", meaning he goes to church and that's probably about it. He emphasizes the communal aspect of religious practice.

Rupert Sheldrake, although he is also "more" than that.

One underrated advice for productivity is to know the signs of fatigue and do strategic breaks when feeling fatigued. Your body naturally works in cycles, and you obviously become progressively more tired the more you work. It's easy to be extremely stubborn and work all the time uninterrupted until you can't think a straight thought, but that might actually hinder productivity in the long run, just like doing too many half-assed reps after failure at the gym gives you exactly that: half-assed reps. Of course, this has to come after seeing how much you could possibly ever work and then work yourself backwards from there (all according to your goals, of course). And if you're feeling a burning sense of passion and you don't feel like you need a break, then don't let a rigid routine stop you either; again, it has to be strategic.

By the way, you should also do it with your values, although I see that done more frequently (and they're generally more easily to pin down as they are hyper-generalized concepts). Just writing them down in a place where you know where they are is good and consult them if you're ever unsure about something.

I used to think I was very driven by a rather specific purpose, but I didn't have it written down in solid and explicit terms. It existed mostly as an idea in my mind and as a feeling. But then, I ran into some difficulties which tested my commitment to my purpose, and because I hadn't made it completely explicit, I noticed my mind having difficulties tracking whether I was heading in the right direction. Then, I started trying to figure out why I was feeling so confused, thinking a lot about what my purpose really is, writing a lot about it and explicating clearly what it is and how I will pursue it. And now, I landed on something which I believe is more meaningful and more in line with my values than I had initially conceived and felt. Even more importantly, by having explicated it in this way and having created conditions for how parts of it will change depending circumstances and how it will certainly not change, I have solidified it so much more, to the extent where my resolve and my drive is seemingly stronger than ever before. Explicating and solidifying your purpose in this way I think is one of the most important things you can do for maintaining a strong sense of meaning and purpose, which will feed and nourish your mind as it traverses the rocky path of self-discovery.

I've observed in somebody I know who lost somebody close to them when they were little that they're extremely "death-like" in their behavior, in the sense that they're hyper-masculine, judging, reducing, conclusion-oriented (Shiva the destroyer). For example, they're really quick at throwing things away, like fresh leftover food. They're blunt and often rude, especially to service workers who are slow and generally not up to their standards. They're constantly in a rush, rash in their movements, often hurt themselves from not being careful. They're unable to sit still and relax without doing anything, and they're not very interested in abstract things. Maybe facing death in this way can make you hyper-masculine. You can see this more generally when growing up and starting to interact with the world, where time and resources are limited and you have to choose which actions to take. For example, I started writing this in-between my sets at the gym, which is very challenging because I'm timing my breaks and they're very short. I used to not time my breaks, but I started to do it to save time and focus more on my studies. I feel I write the best immediately after getting an idea, and I get a lot of joy out if it, and I used to do it all the time at the gym, but now it's often too exhausting, so I tend to sacrifice it for my other goals. Is it worth it? Life fundamentally requires death to some extent, but you must not forget to actually live. It's hard to hold on to authentic self-expression when faced with the world, but it's absolutely crucial that you do so. It's the very life force, the Shakti, that brings you forward, that gives you inspiration, intelligence and joy. It's at the core of who you truly are and your evolutionary imperative. I personally see that I have some areas where I could bring back some life. Generally, we need less dead people in the world, more people who are driven by the energy from the bottom of their being, by divine inspiration. Your biggest gift to the world is yourself, and only you know who you are.

Could you not lose weight and maintain a healthy microbiome by eating a lot of whole foods and veggies without cutting out meat?

"It's thick".

I think you should consider doing it. This is a really good oppurtunity for you. Don't worry about "filling your mind with dogma". You're already doing that with university (and everything else). You'll run into dogma anywhere you go.

Yes, partially, but mainly because I simply didn't want it. I tried very hard to make it go away; constantly, every moment of my life, until it became habitual and subconscious. If I had wanted it (or rather accepted it), it would probably have been a very different story. Also, to say I "stopped meditating" is funny, because when I "stopped meditating", I couldn't stop meditating. The moment I let go of feeling the need to meditate, it became my default state. I had to actively fight it to stop meditating. It's radical in its own radical way. I've been in states of supreme ego dissolution with psychedelics, like to the point where my memory blacks out, and they're absolutely amazing. But there is something completely unique about when it happens completely by itself, seemingly without any external trigger or intention, and it just sucks you in and you can't escape without begging for your life.

Not as a life form on Earth that breathes.

It gradually stopped over the years, although it still happens from time to time. It's an interesting parallell with this topic though, because after running into "psychological death", I became extremely driven to do things in the world, to choose some things over others. You become the environment. There is no distinction.

I think thinking you're God could apply here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandiose_delusions But I think if you explained to the psychologist that you subscribe to notions like pantheism or panentheism (which means that the psychologist is also God and that everybody is God), then you probably won't get a diagnosis. If you on the other hand tell them that you're God and they have a hard time understanding how that is possible, then you're more likely to be labeled with a delusional disorder.

There are many ways to react to trauma, but becoming aware of morality in this way is known to make you "grow up" quite quickly. Bernardo Kastrup experienced the same thing (his dad died when he was 12) and describes this. Maybe it's more the case when you're already quite masculine, but I think there is a general effect as well. When you're young, you're naive about the world, and you're more fine with how things are. You're less discerning, and you sort of let things happen. When somebody dies, you're not fine with how things are. You start to discern good things from bad things, and you feel compelled to make good things happen. In other words, you choose the good things over the bad things, and you let the bad things die. The feminine is about letting all things grow, giving things their space to exist, to be all-inclusive and welcoming. The masculine says "no, you're not welcome here; only this is allowed to exist". Physical death is one big "no" (and the masculine says "no" to it, wanting to kill it 😆).

While I say that, I think JP is mostly the shit. There is a lot of depth to his personal development stuff (and psychological and religious stuff). Just because something seems simple on the surface, doesn't mean it's not deep. Just because something is foundational, doesn't mean it's not important. A huge trap is to neglect the foundational by mistaking it as not important. That is why sayings like "make your bed" or "walk with your shoulders upright" can be worth hammering in, certainly in a culture that regularly trivializes the foundational.

The West is spiritually dead and any glimmer of meaning in the darkness is celebrated as the new God.

How would you describe how you play the game?

Do you feel that you have developed an in-game strategy over time, and do you think it played into breaking through that initial tough spot?

Do Langan's CTMU.