Carl-Richard

Bernardo Kastrup has a word for it: dissociation.

Mindfulness and accepting emotions are both aspects of psychological flexibility, so yes that can be a part of it. It's just that if you accept something without changing your behavior, it becomes a form of spiritual bypassing (I used to do that a lot). Then again, you don't have to manually think about it or write it down to change your behavior, but it helps. I used to underestimate how powerful writing something down is. I do it for almost everything now and it has likewise changed almost everything. For example, about a year ago, I started writing down any and all insights about how I could improve my form when lifting at the gym (because I had been struggling with muscle imbalances for a while). I would consistently have about one insight per session which I would implement in the next session. This is what it looks like (most of it is in Norwegian lol): Now one year later, my body is completely changed and almost perfectly symmetrical, through nothing more than the power of insight and structured recording and implementation. For example if you're going bald, or you lost some of your limbs, or got a stroke which impacted your ability to speak; those things are likely not going to change, so merely accepting them or zooming out to the absolute perspective can be appropriate in order to deal with them. The problem is when it becomes compulsive and done as an unconscious defense mechanism rather than a conscious choice.

I would also add that beliefs don't necessarily need to have zero proof (but I would have to challenge your idea of proof). What you mean by proof in this case would be direct experience, but there are many other types of proof beyond that. For example, you can get convincted for a crime based on DNA tests, but the test doesn't "prove" (in your definition of the term) that you actually committed the crime. It only gives you a strong indication that you likely committed the crime (depending on the context), but yet we tend to call that proof (or evidence). That's just one example, but even the fact that you left the car in the garage is in a way proof that the car is in the garage (it's just maybe not a strong proof). So a belief doesn't need to have zero proof, but rather a belief can always be wrong.

I would also add that beliefs don't necessarily need to have zero proof (but I would have to challenge your idea of proof). What you mean by proof in this case would be direct experience, but there are many other types of proof beyond that. For example, you can get convincted for a crime based on DNA tests, but the test doesn't "prove" (in your definition of the term) that you actually committed the crime. It only gives you a strong indication that you likely committed the crime (depending on the context), but yet we tend to call that proof (or evidence). That's just one example, but even the fact that you left the car in the garage is in a way proof that the car is in the garage (it's just maybe not a strong proof). So a belief doesn't need to have zero proof, but rather a belief can always be wrong.

Then I would say no, you can't live without beliefs. If you leave your car in your garage every day and then one day you open the garage and find out it's stolen, you will act very surprised. The reaction is explained by you believing that the car was still in the garage. Had you instead believed that the car was stolen prior to opening the garage, your reaction would be very different. The belief is of course not always congruent with reality, but often it is, and it helps you to survive by reducing complexity and organizing your cognition. Also, you don't choose your beliefs. You can't help yourself but act surprised when you open the garage and find there is no car in there.

Give an example of a belief you have.

If you want to really lean hard on the caveat of "in subtle ways", isn't this the case for all of non-duality?

Pick some shrooms my dude. Create some adventure

Then don't link newspapers

Then don't link studies.

@thierry Are you ok?

I peaked in college when I did an impossible volleyball smash and everybody literally lost their minds. Sports feats when there is flow involved is one of the best things you can experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths

The desire for truth is suffering.

Excessive, cyclical and long-lasting anger is generally low consciousness. But if you happen to feel anger and you want to call yourself high consciousness, you should give it space. Consciousness is about giving things space; acceptance, not resistance. The thing about highly conscious people is just that anger rarely arises for them. When it does, it's usually very short-lasting, and it's expressed appropriately. Now, I'm not saying you should lash out at people based on every slight annoyance, but you should not pretend that you don't feel what you're feeling.

I have a bunch of bookmarks you can read if you're desperate

Then he would actually need to pay us I mean us moderators are not some hyper-geniuses that you should spend much of your time listening to. Most of us are 20-something year old know-nothings

So the sun can still exist even if you don't see it visually.

Self-deception is a consequence of being a limited being. Survival is just a process of keeping yourself limited. And because you're limited, you also have limited capabilities for survival. For example, your visual system works within a certain range of electromagnetic frequencies. Your ability to pay attention is literally about filtering out information and biasing your perception towards a specific goal. Your working memory is limited (you can only entertain a certain amount of information in your head at one time). The list goes on. Now, there is ultimately nothing "wrong" with this, but it is indeed self-deception.

He is describing, not demonizing.

It's not a book, but it's something:

Your eyes don't exist visually.

I haven't read it, but it sounds very interesting. Yes, psychological death is like undressing at a very deep level, and when you start putting the layers back on again, you become more aware of how each layer relates to each other (or you become aware of new layers you didn't know existed). This undressing process is inevitable, and most people do it only once, and they really want to avoid it altogether. That is what I think reincarnation is for most people: you don't want to do the undressing process, so you instead want to jump straight into a new set of clothes while still wearing the same clothes underneath. I'm saying that it even if it's the case that you'll be given new clothes, you still have to take off your old clothes before you put on new ones. You might remember your old clothes some time in the future, but that will just be a memory. I've heard about it, but I know nothing about it. I've heard about too many weird past life stories to not think there could be something there (but again, I just don't think it matters a lot). This one guy Jan Esmann says he remembers all his lives for the past 2000 years. He is a very interesting guy for other reasons too. I recommend his BATGAP interviews on YouTube if you want to feel like a true spiritual weirdo

I think it's because the extremes get more attention and it colors our judgement of the internet as a whole. The vast majority of stuff out there is probably pretty sane and normal.

There is a bookmark function where you can save the best post so you can access them later all in the same place. But more importantly, what are you looking to get out of the forum? Do you have some specific goal in mind? Because that alone will help you to make the decisions you think you need.