lmfao

@Akuma I know its bad but ive started to struggle bothering listening to materialists talk about anything the same way I struggle bothering listening to religious people talk about anything. That said though, this particular talk seems interesting. He seems intelligent for an 87 year old lmao.

@CreamCat You seem quite interested in the area of psychopathy. Have you read what self proclaimed psychopaths say about themselves online in places like Quora? https://www.quora.com/topic/Psychopathy-and-Psychopaths It appears that psychopaths are born the way they are and that isnt their fault, but they are as far as one can be in wanting sympathy for that fact. Because from what I've read of what self proclaimed psychopaths say, their emotional dial is muted in sadness and anxiety in combination with being muted in empathy. I find this answer to the question "What is the definition of a psychopath" quite interesting. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-a-psychopath/answers/51259476 Im about to goi off on a tangent. In regards to monoamine oxidase A, I remember reading an article https://mad.science.blog/2018/07/12/serotonism/ which essentially stated that theres a hypothesis that groups of people which have faced oppression and subjugation (on a large enough scale to have an effect, im assuming) will select for genes which code for low MAO-A.

I've recently wondered whether theres a "reason" for why certain things are deemed pleasurable and why certain things are deemed painful. From meditation I've come to feel that things like negative emotions, muscle pain, thirst, are in of in themselves just sensations in the same way that warmth, tasty food and sex generate another set of sensations. There isnt anything inherently wrong about the raw sensation of fear, its just different from sexual gratification in the same way blue is just different from red; none of the colours are inherently superior. But despite this, my mind has a natural aversion to certain sensations which are deemed negative and ive come to notice only during meditation that this aversion happens at a level that is subconscious but I never notice this in my day to day life. I think long meditation sessions are the best way to see this. Maybe there is no reason for why we have an aversion to certain colours, and it is just the way it is. I'll read whatever thoughts you have on this. A really good short video on this topic: There's also Leo's video on strong negative emotions:

@now is forever Good question, politics probably does go deeper than that two dimensional compass.

@Outer Everything just is the way it is, nothing is done by you in creating this moment. Reality is always in a situation you did nothing to make or control.

@Ampresus Good

@Outer Just took it LET THE POLITICAL JIHAD ENSUE. I agree with you that libertarianism is just voluntary ism. Please don't purge my dualistic egotistical ass Leo, I'm sorry for posting political compass ?

@Outer I like libertarianism but I just feel that taking it to its extreme in implementation in society wouldn't succeed, I think Leo articulated it well. I personally think that voluntaryism is a nice ideal, but maybe government is a necessary evil. The ideal government probably has some conservativism there, liberalism here, a pinch of authoritarianism, a dash of libertarianism and etc. For a long time I have and still do resonate with libertarianism, but it just seems extremely unrealistic. To paraphrase something I heard from Stefan Molyneux "At the core of every law is a gun pointing at your head telling you to comply", and whilst that is an emotionally compelling reason to hate government, I think it's something to accept.

Enlightenment is paradoxical in a way because your desire for enlightenment is what causes you to not be enlightened, although that might be a crude way of phrasing it. The way I see it, it's the intention behind your effort to increase consciousness and mindfulness that matter. If you try to forcefully "raise" you awareness into accepting something negative in your experience, you'll fail. If your awareness has the intent of "fixing" or removing something, you'll fail. Rather your awareness should come from a "desire" to just pay attention to reality as it is. In order to stop thoughts "The first rule is: Don't try to! Because if you do you will be like someone trying to make rough waters smooth water with a flat iron"

@Ampresus Because I have not reached this potentially existing point where I need no further theory whatsoever for the rest of my life I cannot answer your question. But I'm not sure why you would be so focused on this question and why you are not solely focused on what you should be doing right now. Things change in life, planning ahead 40 years is pointless. Just wonder what you should be doing in a much smaller time frame in the future. Like as I am right now, I feel like I've done too much thinking and mental masturbation in my life that for now and for the foreseeable future I'm done with taking in non-duality theory. Theory helps to a degree but you MUST practice. I don't think I'm done with theory forever, but as of right now I am done with it because I can sense it is the right move for me. So if you're deciding whether to take in more theory or only just practice for the next few weeks/months/years, the answer should be clear to you deep down.

@saffron In a very pragmatic and simple outlook, the quote is pointing towards the fact that those who take action in the world are the ones who will prevail. "Evil" will prevail if "Good" is passive. Does it even need to be said that the quote is meaningless in the context of absolute truth.

I might be going about my daily business and become mindful of the fact that nothing is in my control (not a negative way). For all waking moments of your life you're a situation which you did nothing to create. In some sense existence is effortless because you never have and never will have to do anything. The problem I have is that whenever I try to maintain my awareness for long periods of time or I try to break bad habits I have I'm met with huge emotional resistance and I'm probably met with what you'd call ego backlash. Even if I get glimpses of non-duality there's still a massive under current of emotional shit which seems impossible to get rid of without an extreme amount of suffering. I feel like I can spend a few minutes in no mind voluntary, but it always dissappear for me. Besides mindfulness, what solutions exist for low emotional maturity?

Open the door, we need to have a little "talk"

@VioletFlame ooo la la good post. Pretty inspiring.

@Roch I wouldn't get too hung up on IQ. I've taken two IQ tests on the same day before and it honestly feels like a bit of bullshit tbh. They give you barely enough time to even look at a question, let alone properly take in the details. It honestly felt like a guessing game because of how time restricted it is. I didn't feel like I even had the chance to think because I was too busy just trying to rush through it all. Maybe I have an overactive DMN or am dumb, who knows. Like I walked out of the test just thinking that I didn't feel anything being tested because I had no time to think. Maybe that's how its supposed to be, idk. Even though in real life I'm terrible at English compared to maths (which is backed up by my academic performances), I did a good deal better on verbal sections than non-verbal reasoning sections which makes zero sense to me in the context of my real life experience. Other than that though I think @Serotoninluv 's advice is good. @OuterI like your simple no thoughts explanation of non-duality and mindfulness

@NoSelfSelf You're not wrong @ivory You right

@Quantum_fluctuations the way I see it, suffering isn't optional because nothing is optional. But once your awareness/consciousness is heightened and you become aware of the fact that nothing is optional then your suffering will dissappear. Being aware that nothing is optional is to become aware that you live in this uncaused present moment. You did nothing to create this present moment at all, it is just the way it is.

@Emanyalpsid Alan Watts said that in his view of the world which is "semi Hindu and semi Buddhist" he said that all the different parts of reality are expressions of one god. In whatever ways you choose to draw boundaries and distinctions in reality so as to allow the existence of objects/organisms/events, all of these things are simply god playing different roles in reality. It's like God is this actor playing different roles. Another level to this anology is that a a good actor gets lost in their role and forgets what their "true self" is like. In the same way, God is losing awareness of himself in playing these roles.

Within Spiral Dynamics, each stage has valuable lessons to learn from even after you've surpassed that stage. In the video linked above, Leo essentially states that a good way to understand what lessons you can take from each stage is to examine a historical and/or currently living figure who is a healthy embodiment of that stage. I'm finding this slightly difficult so I'll just share my thoughts. I finding it difficult to understand what role models can be used for beige, purple and red although I have some current speculations. The role models won't be healthy per see they'll just be visibly clear manifestations of their stage and you can see some very good qualities about them Beige is such basically ground zero and understanding what constitutes beige is so incredibly deep because it underlies everything above it. Beige basically just shows us what's at the very essence of all living organisms which are animals. "Understanding and integrating" doesn't really have to be done (it's already done) because beige is extremely qualitavely different from the other stages in how you conceptualise it. No role models are needed. Next is purple. Purple is basically just joining/forming a tribe in order to acquire more fundamental biological resources: food, sex, water, shelter and etc. Purple is still quite centered around beige in that your actions have very little other motive than acquisition of fundamental physical needs. But it is at this stage that psychological needs of bonding and connection start to be met. What is the lesson to be integrated here? That co-operation is extremely useful for getting shit done and also sometimes having a sense of belonging? That seems like a legit lesson although anybody who's above stage red would have most likely fully integrated purple. Maybe a purple role model could be a mother in a hunter gathering society who cares very deeply about her tribe/family? And now for red. People in red realise that they don't need to keep sacrificing for the clan to meet their needs, they can exercise their own will on the world and get whatever the fuck they want. A red person will act impulsively (it is the word impulsive that is key to understanding a difference between red and orange) to meet his needs irregardless of the severe pain and distress he may inflict upon others. I think a healthy lesson from red is that sometimes you just need to look out for yourself and ruthlessly act. It is in red that you can get people with enormously big egos but there are still aspects of a big ego which you can integrate. People with big egos understand that if they want shit to change in the world, they have to take action and use force sometimes. Maybe a callous hit man who'll feel no remorse when killing for money can be your "role model" in the sense that you can respect the fact that there is an aspect of this man which has guts and wants to manipulate the world around him. Maybe your role model for Red can just be anyone who feels little empathy and will actively hurt others on an impulse to get what they want? As morally repugnant as that sounds, there are still qualities about red (and purple mentioned previously) to be integrated. What lessons do you believe are to be integrated from purple and red? Do you agree with what I've said are the healthy aspects of these stages? Pushovers and wimps with low self esteem perhaps have a thing or two to learn from red. By integrating red, you can have a burning desire to achieve success. If Leo ever makes a video on assertiveness I think he'll mention stage red.

@Girzo Agreed. @Leo Gura As long as you understood the message I was trying to convey I'm content with the conversation.

@Girzo You can interpret what I said as trying to "school" you if you want, I was simply stating my view of things. If someone (e.g. Leo or Shinzen Young or a member of this forum) says that a certain insight won't be reached until you reach a particular non-dual state, my response isn't to say "Why are you trying to school me?" in a defensive manner. I state why I disagree with them and leave it at that. Your question just comes across as immature.

@Girzo As much as an unbelievable and utterly huge mindfuck it is I just believe flux is an illusion and you'll see it if you reach a deep non-dual state. You don't have to believe me from my posts, just do what you think is best.

I would highly recommend that people try modafinil/armodafinil before meditating. I took 150mg armodafinil today a few hours before meditating and after meditating my mind now feels extremely still. As far as side effects ago of armodafinil, the main side effect I have is a sense of pressure I have in my forehead area. Not so much do an aching sensation, just a slight sensation of tightness in my head. Taking a full pill of armodafinil doesn't feel overwhelming at all to me, although it did the first time so I recommend you start off with a small dosage cuz who knows how you'll react.

@purerogue Logic uses words and concepts. Words and concepts are a subset of the present moment happening that is reality. Words and thoughts are a part of reality in the same way that colors and sounds are a part of a reality. There is no more inherent truth value to a concept then there is to sound because both these things have the same origin, which is nothing/God. "you" neither created the thoughts or the sounds you experience.