@Monkey-man
Jed's writing is dramatic at times, but as Leo points out, they are indeed a work of love. I've talked with him personally, and he does have a compassionate air about him. I'm so glad I read his books before any other nonduality books, because they really cut the crap and get to the chase. 
However, don't take the drama too seriously, or else you risk zen devilry, which was the trap I fell into afterwards. I gave up meditation for awhile after reading his books, a mistake on my part. I became dogmatically anti-dogmatic, closing my mind down to all "New Age BS," which is precisely what I needed at the time. 
So, do take his work seriously, but maintain a holistic open mind. Enlightenment is a mastery process, not a neo-advaitan "there's nothing to do" farce.
 

An idea condenses into reality.

hi art people

 
 
 

Just watched Leo's latest video and it inspired me to take another road trip! Took one a few months ago and gained so many valuable insights that have helped me grown exponentially in such a short amount of time. Although next time I'll be focusing more on self-inquiry and meditation These are a few pictures from the trip.

This is the best thread!

I drew this a few days ago when the power went out. I was thinking about childhood v adulthood and fantasy v reality
 

It is definitely not a waste of time to learn science. It is only a waste if science is the only thing you ever learn.

ON TRUE CHARISMA
The best charisma is just to never lie and be light about it.  Charisma is having the balls to be real.  The reason why fakers have charisma is because they don't give a sh*t which gives them the illusion of genuineness.  The key to charisma is to give a shit and also be real -- but also be light about it, which shows that you're internally grounded.  You can not care and also be nice.  That's where you want to be.  Your niceness isn't based on Ego, it's based on Compassion.  It's based on realizing that you're all alone in existence.  

I visualized Leo facepalming at this thread so clearly, it made me believe I awoke some latent turquoise psychic powers 

I agree. Work on yourself first, and then your behaviors may teach others more than lectures. As an example, I have tried for a few years to get my wife to practice self-development techniques to reduce stress and become more open-minded, but these attempts were essentially lectures, and not very successful. Recently, she went with me to a meditation retreat, and she told me she did so because she saw the results of my own meditation practice. She had never meditated before, and I didn't ask her to go with me, she volunteered. Some of my relatives seem to be starting to see value in self-development too, but not because of anything I've said to them, rather from changes they can see in me as a result of it.
I think as we become more self-aware, we're able to understand and accept others more and more. This lets us help them without ego getting in the way. Not everyone can see their own ego (without practice), but most people can see other people's egos, and they will resist help that comes from ego rather than love and acceptance.

I really love her work. I know there's fishy stuff floating around her (her haters are also very hateful, whatever she did) but she does take the time to explain herself in that video. And even if, maybe, some of the stuff she said in the past was actually fake, or she behaved in a toxic way, but then she evolved and is leaving that behind. Is that not a reason to take what is good to take in her teachings?
The only thing that still makes me frown is her talks about her being an alien or something.
 

This video will be incriminating for the vast, vast majority of people, yet I still trust her because her other teachings are so good (well, it's been like one year or so that I've been subscribed to her channel, so I've only seen recent stuff I guess, but yeah)

I'm very, very open-minded. But of course this alien thing makes me think.
Oh well, worst case scenario, take what resonates and leave the rest I guess.

The pain-body wants to survive, just like every other entity in existence, and it can only survive if it gets you to unconsciously identify with it. It can then rise up, take you over, “become you,” and live through you. It needs to get its “food” through you. It will feed on any experience that resonates with its own kind of energy, anything that creates further pain in whatever form: anger, destructiveness, hatred, grief, emotional drama, violence, and even illness.
So the pain-body, when it has taken you over, will create a situation in your life that reflects back its own energy frequency for it to feed on. Pain can only feed on pain. Pain cannot feed on joy. It finds it quite indigestible. 
Once the pain-body has taken you over, you want more pain. You become a victim or a perpetrator. You want to inflict pain, or you want to suffer pain, or both. There isn’t really much difference between the two. You are not conscious of this, of course, and will vehemently claim that you do not want pain. But look closely and you will find that your thinking and behavior are designed to keep the pain going, for yourself and others. If you were truly conscious of it, the pattern would dissolve, for to want more pain is insanity, and nobody is consciously insane. 

The pain-body, which is the dark shadow cast by the ego, is actually afraid of the light of your consciousness. It is afraid of being found out. Its survival depends on your unconscious identification with it, as well as on your unconscious fear of facing the pain that lives in you. But if you don’t face it, if you don’t bring the light of your consciousness into the pain, you will be forced to relive it again and again. The pain-body may seem to you like a dangerous monster that you cannot bear to look at, but I assure you that it is an insubstantial phantom that cannot prevail against the power of your presence. 

Some spiritual teachings state that all pain is ultimately an illusion, and this is true. The question is: Is it true for you? A mere belief doesn’t make it true. Do you want to experience pain for the rest of your life and keep saying that it is an illusion? Does that free you from the pain? What we are concerned with here is how you can realize this truth — that is, make it real in your own experience. 

So the pain-body doesn’t want you to observe it directly and see it for what it is. The moment you observe it, feel its energy field within you, and take your attention into it, the identification is broken. A higher dimension of consciousness has come in. I call it presence. You are now the witness or the watcher of the pain-body. This means that it cannot use you anymore by pretending to be you, and it can no longer replenish itself through you. You have found your own innermost strength. You have accessed the power of Now
Source: New World Library 

Here is some clarity for you  
Feminine energy bonds when it receives, male energy bonds when it gives. 
In human relationships, it is for the male energy to go forth. So first lesson: if you ask someone out and she says NO, she is not ready, able or willing to receive. Move on. She would not care less if you ask other women out. 
I saw your other post about dating older women. Older women are more comfortable with their feminine side and that attracts you. Try!! The worst that could happen is.... ?!?!
Most women in our society don't have a clue about what it means to be feminine. They think that a shorter skirt or more make up would make them more so. False! Society has pushed women to be equal to men so they HAD TO take on a male role. So it is understandable that you dont wanna live with a dude. I am talking here SPECIFICALLY about romantic relationships. Not professional ones.
Just one point: be sure you like the girl you want to approach. Good feminine energy feels when it's just about fooling around. Also, you might want to wait for a sign that a woman likes you. Good feminine energy knows how to show that. 

Every teacher is full of guidance and of truths. That's why they are respected as teachers. 
 
If you can't personally respect a teacher, no big deal. Find a better match. We are incredibly diverse minds, to me most about that Teal shares makes some amount of sense, but whether or not its literal meaning is true I honestly don't care.
 
It isn't about having belief in things. It's about learning about existence, and how to live in that, for the sake of both ourselves and others. The Brothers Grimm and Asop both weaved tales to teach real principles. How is it any different for Teal or for Leo? Or for you or for me? False or not, it guides. Its truth and verifiability is irrelevant. What practical change you make in life - that's what matters!
 
When you stop trying to validate or invalidate belief, and instead apply meaningful action to the real world - IMO that is the enlightenment to strive for. To me Teal's extraworldly stuff is more meaningful than Leo's mind trips and becoming the infinite. He seems just as crazy to me as Teal!
- and honest I'm pretty crazy myself. It really doesn't matter - 
 
 
In one of Teal's videos she says how we each experience our own universe, our experience of the universe is so diverse we basically each have our own.
In one of Leo's videos, he says how ignoring a master's teachings becasue of this or that or the other thing is simply ignoring a master's teachings.
If things don't make sense to you, ignore it, put it aside, contemplate it, whatever. But if something does help guide you - for whatever reason - then you have found guidance. That is the real reason we follow a master. 
 
 
 
 

[11th Dec. 2016]
All I can say is; today was a great day. I haven't felt like this in years. I've changed the way I interact with people and it's resulted in me experiencing a lot more positive feelings. To go from emotional neglect to being happy again was bliss.
I did in fact do a little experiment to see how my mindset changed things. After spending most my morning with other people and feeling energised from treating myself level with others, I decided to switch my mindset temporarily back to feeling inferior and I started a conversation from that perspective. I noticed how this meant the other person ended up mocking me more and would disregard my personal space and ultimately be more disrespectful. I felt all my energy being drained and that enthusiasm I couldnt hold back before kinda just burnt out. It's interesting who the real energy drainers are. I did this experiment with a few people and some didn't change their behaviour and treated me ok while some saw it as a vulnerability they could predate on. Besides the energy drainers, I also found there were some that really clicked with me which didn't happe before. I held the longest and most exciting conversation with this one person where we were both really engaged and found it hard to bring it to a close - as we were having such a laugh. Honestly, I can say I no longer feel like a loser deep down and this has really shifted my confidence. I went to a wedding with the same mindset and received much more positive vibes.
Usually I'd be eating shit on a Sunday but I made myself some nice salads with French or Caesar dressing with a whole bunch of other healthy meals and I just can't help but relish how good it feels on a profound level. Like if I ate my lamb doner kebab or something sure it would taste great for those few moments of eating - but that pleasure is fleetIng. You get left feeling bloated, lazy and still feeling unsatisfied. Eat healthy 90% of the time, eat whatever the fuck you want for the 10%. Simple.
I've been watching the SAS: who dares wins series on channel 4 and it's making me realise a lot more strongly how you only realise who the real you is through hardships and challenges. I feel like I'm not challenging myself to the point of breaking (not literally) and it means I can't develop as much as I want. I need to take up challenges like swimming x laps of the pool or burn x calories at the gym or spend x hours focused on schoolwork. Mentally and physically I can push harder - I know I can.
Also, the apprentice is going great. I really liked the recent episode on creating and marketing a Gin. Or Giin should I say.
Habits:
Slept late but I woke up at 8:30 which is early on a Sunday. Its 1:14am as I write this so sleep time is definitely in the red.
Water was pretty good, I drank regularly but I didn't track it just kinda went with how it felt. I estimate about 2.5l or slightly more is how much I drank. Granted its less less than yesterday but my bottles broken so I had to make due with smaller bottles and glasses of water.
Exercise, I am going swimming tomorrow but actually I almost feel like going gym as well after watching SAS.
We'll see ?
Pre out. ?
 

I love the Arabic way of saying ‘hi’, which is As-salamu alaykum (السلام عليكم). It means ‘Peace Be Upon You’. I want to greet the readers of my blog with a loving ‘As-salamu alaykum’ today.
This is a personal post. Today is my birthday and I just finished writing an answer in Quora for the question “Are birthdays over-rated?”:
As an individual human being, you are one in 250 million; because you are a unique pattern created by the combination of nature and nurture, with one part of your ancestry coming from one sperm cell that won the race among 250 million sperm cells! Your birthday is the day when that one sperm cell and one egg became a fully developed baby to take its first breath! Don’t we have to joyfully celebrate this at least once a year?
The celebration doesn’t have to be grand though. Your birthday can be a day when you do things that you like so much, talk to people whom you love very much and look back at life to cherish past memories. A birthday can also be a day of thanksgiving to your beloved ones because they were with you all these years.
Your birthday is your personal new year! For me, a birthday makes more sense than a new year. As far as you are concerned, your birthday is the new year for you in this life. It is a milestone in your journey.
I don’t think birthdays are overrated. But they are probably celebrated in a cliched, and mechanical ways these days.
Today, September 26th, is my birthday…  . It is 1:43 AM as I am writing this answer. Today I am going to do everything that I love doing. One of them is writing answers on Quora.
…………………..
So, I am going to do things that I love to do today. I don’t want to make a video since my throat is not good; so I just thought of writing a casual post.
I have been recently making some pictures to share on social media; they are about peace, love and meditation. If you like them, please feel free to download and share. Here they are:

 

 











 

Chapter 3.
I wondered how long it would take before I slithered my way back into journaling. Two weeks. Not bad.
This was my first incarnation, at the birth of the forum:
That JJ guy had a few awakening experiences and immediately latched onto the spiritual ego like a baby on his mother's breast. He wanted to proselytize everyone around him to join "Group Consciousness," a coalition against all sleepwalkers. He preached from the bible of Neoadvita, using poetic Jed McKenn-an lines such as "There's nowhere to go," "Life is play," and "Stop seeking." Little did he realize, the group leader himself was an unconscious dimwit. Whoops! 
And then, the second incarnation:
After realizing that initial spiritual awakening was not a cure-all for chronically low self-esteem, that JJ guy almost killed himself through orthorexia, an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. He stopped running from the grief, the shame, and the anger of past hurts - and proceeded to fall apart. Back and forth, back and forth, he oscillated from immense love to immense hopelessness. He was standing at the edge of oblivion, looking down at the gaping hole, pondering about meaning and what to do next. But the Universe found many ways to save his life, whether through a yoga pose, a song, a book, or a few lovely forum members.
He thought he wanted to be a musician. But after being immersed in the field for a few years, the motivation waned. Idealistic blinders removed, he made one final effort to publish five songs. And that was that. I haven't picked up the guitar or sang in a few weeks. The musician in me is dead, and I'm currently in the grieving process.
Now, it's time to get real.
I've had some profound awakening experiences. I have agape moments - those moments where you are so grateful to be alive that it tears your heart to pieces. But I still commit spiritual procrastination every day. I know the path (i.e. real life), but I avoid walking it. Nonono, let's not sugar-coat this with, "There are no such thing as problems, because #nonduality! Just contemplate! DOI DOI!" Been there, done that. Definitely helps to have that perspective, but if I want to be somewhat human again (which I think is preferable to being a nondual drunk-on-emptiness camel), I think it's a good idea to be as honest as possible with myself and re-establish balance in my life. 
Issues:
Chronically low self-esteem. I spent most of my young adult life being bullied and sucking up to others. Now I subconsciously believe I'm unworthy. I also believe that I don't deserve to get what I want. Hence the spiritual ego, hence the desire for purity in mind, body, and spirit. Chronic social anxiety. I'm years behind in my social skills. I notice my subtle body contracts whenever I'm around people. I feel like I'm being judged all the time. Knee-jerk depression. It's 50% gone since I re-introduced meat back into the diet, but I still have some lows here and there. Being an INFJ and HSP, especially in a society that wants everything opposite to my personality. I judge myself harshly and beat myself up for not being like everyone else. ADHD. Again, tweaking the diet's helped a ton with this. Supporting myself financially. Uhhhh, what's a jorb? Body tensions. Improved a lot since starting hatha yoga, but still terrible posture, back pain, and psychosomatic issues. I don't know how to be a friend. No, seriously. I have acquaintances, but virtually no friends. I don't reach out to people, not even my brother. I don't know how. Sexual repression. Likely due to past heartbreaks and weird Freudian shit in childhood. Living in a town surrounded by old retirees as a twenty-something. Desires:
I want to feel comfortable in my own skin. I want to love myself as I am. I want to be comfortable around everyone. I want to be as open as possible. I want to serve others. I want to feel joy again. I want to find my place. I want to be able to commit to things and focus without abandoning ship at any sign of failure. I want to choose what I watch on Youtube instead of the other way around. In the meantime, I'd like to have an enjoyable day job that doesn't sap my energy, so I can support myself. I'd like to feel like I'm actually in my body and not feel like an alien. Having a friend scares me and feels too labor-intensive, but I think it would be nice to try. I'd like to try dating again at some point.  I want to live on my own again. I likely missed a couple things, but they'll appear later in this journal.
Now is the time to learn how to do this adult human thing, one small step at a time. Now is the time to go from point A to point B. Now is the time for a journey to elsewhere.
 

Be the change you wish to see in her.
And if she is aggressive towards anyone leave her. It’s her soul trying to tell you, “I can’t even love myself right now, let alone you, so please give me some space and come again later”.
People don’t like it when other people want them to change, and do things. It hurts when you feel depressed and then someone comes up to you and says, “By the way, you are living your life wrong”. Recognize healing takes time and space, when she sees you being a ray of sunshine in her life this will help and inspire her the most. And giving a genuine compliment regularly to her (start really small or she’ll notice) instead of “advice” is very healing, and benifits both of you so much.
Everything in this life is a blessing in disguise. Even she is here to help you by you being more kind in your response to suffering eventually leading both of you to a reality of deep peace.

I would consider this a red/blue hybrid issue. It's red because of the knee-jerk reaction of primal emotions. It's blue because of the "either / or" thinking. 
I was in a relationship with someone locked into this "either / or" thinking. She would tend to blame me and others for any problem in her life. When I pressed her to look at how she is contributing to the problem she would flip to the other extreme and shout "Well then, I guess it's all my fault. I'm a terrible person and a rotten girlfriend. You should just find someone new".
This made it impossible to work through conflict. It was either 100% my fault or 100% her fault. Over and over I tried to explain to her that we are both contributing to the problem. Perhaps 50% her and 50% me. I would tell her what I thought my part in the problem was and how I needed to grow and change to resolve the conflict. Then I asked her how she was contributing. She only had black and white thinking and was unable to think along these lines. She could not share the responsibility. She could only think in terms of how everything was EITHER my fault (and lock down) OR everything was her fault and she was a terrible person (and lock down).
Either / Or thinking is characteristic of Blue Stage. Thinking in terms of continuums and shades of grey is Orange level thinking. So I tried another approach. I accepted 95% of the responsibility for the conflict and asked her to take 5% responsibility. I would explain 10 ways my behavior contributed to the problem, how what I did contributed to the problem and what I needed to do to help resolve the conflict. I then asked her to name just ONE thing she did that contributed to the conflict. She was unable to. She could only think in terms of 100% my fault or 100% her fault. 
I've found that I can't communicate well with a person that is 100% blaming others or 100% self critical. Both extremes put up walls and prevent discussion. 
To me, the underlying issue is more at the Orange level. She needs to develop rational thinking. Either / Or thinking in the context you described is irrational. As a starting point, I would acknowledge that other people are contributing to the problem. Then, I would see if I could crack the door open and see if she is willing to take a small step and accept ANY responsibility. Even accepting a tiny bit of responsibility is a big deal. For someone limited to either / or thinking, going from taking 0% responsibility to taking 1% responsibility is the hardest and biggest step. Once they really accept 1% responsibility - you have broken the "either / or" mindset. She is now in the continuum of responsibility and you can work with her.
This either / or thinking doesn't just apply to personal responsibility and blaming others. For example, I know gun rights enthusiasts locked into either / or thinking. From their perspective the gun law issue comes down: EITHER all guns are legal OR all guns are illegal. It is an irrational position, yet most rational thinkers on the issue do not understand the other person is locked into Either / Or thinking.
Another approach for an either / or thinker is to push their 100% position and make it even more extreme. For example, one might tell ask them if military machine guns should be legal. One could ask them if hand grenades and rocket launchers should be legal. If it should be legal for children to use machine guns. If you can get the person to accept ANY gun law restriction - e.g. military machine guns should be illegal - you have knocked the person off of taking a 100% either / or position. Then, I get excited and say "Great! We agree that some weapons should be illegal!! We both agree a line should be drawn between the two extremes. We just disagree where that line should be drawn". Then it is possible to have a rational discussion. The entire tone of the conversation can change and the two people may discuss where the line should be drawn.