Truth Addict

Hey @Leo Gura, it's cool that you will consider answering some of our questions on part 2. I've been thinking, does "why" questions apply to God? I know that ego needs a why (a purpose), and supposedly God does not need anything, so is the ego just a fake picture of God that "can need" and that's how God includes everything?

@AlphaAbundance @Shadowraix @iamnotahumanbeing guys, a human being is just a human being.

Guys who is Leo?

Of course, eventually. And that's the beauty of it. What I meant was that no one has a choice where to go in the first place. It goes in opposite directions, only to end up at the same point.

@bmcnicho One can't choose to die. It's not like choosing the most beneficial career for you, because your entire life is on the line here. For the ego, it's easy to analyse and make predictions for what's most beneficial. But here, it's very different. Self-actualization and self-transcendence are polar opposites, one constructs the ego and the other distructs it. And the ego will always choose self-actualization. It's usually the emotional urge to die that makes one go transcending.

As learned from Spiral Dynamics: Enlightenmet can happen at any stage, but it is more likely to happen in the higher stages. Jesus was young when he transcended. Also, "should" implies free will, which does not exist. So..

@pluto8 Bro, you don't get it. You're still operating under the materialist paradigm. Try, at least, to stop believing that the world is material, and take into account that it could be made out of Consciousness, which is not matter. In fact, matter is one form of Consciousness. How much difference does this make? Now, you're a step closer to understanding reality.

@SQAAD Not even anyone or anything else can ever explain It, only you can.

@Ethan_05 if you feel like you are being indoctrinated with ideas unconsciously, then that would only mean that you haven't been practising enough (quality or quantity). You can't (and definitely shouldn't) learn spirituality only through theory. What needs to happen is that you have to become more skeptical and mindful, so that you don't fall into the trap of ideology. An open-mind is not a blindly-believing-mind, a healthy open-mind holds assumptions and verify or deny them through the following process: 1) Research and information collecting. 2) Wholisic understanding of the theory and the requirements for practice, also risks and side effects. 3) Inspection, meditation, contemplation, inquiry, etc... All of these will increase your awareness. 4) Experiencing and looking for actual results. 5) Learning what works best for you, what and when and where and why and how to utilise your learning to get better results. _____ It's basically science being done by yourself on yourself. And you can't skip steps. I hope I didn't go off-track.

@Cortex because you are infinitely intelligent, whether you are conscious of that fact or not. Your body knows how to survive, it has inherited everything your ancestors had ever learned through their lifetime experience, it's all hard-wired in your DNA. Long story short: survival and infinite intelligence.

In this specific case: conscious mind = rational thinking. Your rational decisions are thoroughly affected by your emotions. Look to verify that in your direct experience. Why do you do anything at all? You'll always eventually land on emotions. Emotions are prior to logical thinking, logic cannot control or change emotions, but rather, emotions can affect your logical thinking and rational decisions, by creating biases, making excuses, manipulating logic, etc... It's actually very complex, because thoughts and (exclusively) negative emotions are entangled, I suppose that they're two sides of the same coin. You can't have a negative emotion without thoughts and imagination. While all you need to do in order to feel positive emotions like happiness and love is just let go of everything (including thought) and surrender. The reason Leo is saying that, is because a lot of people naively assume that they can control their emotions and behaviours by thinking their way out of them (rationalists), where in fact it's the other way around. Leo here was mainly speaking to a rational and logical audience. It's very important that you don't confuse the "conscious mind" here with "Consciousness".

@Ethan_05 +1 Leo always emphasises on balancing theory vs. practice, direct experience vs. concept, etc... What most people don't understand is how important and critical this point is. Whatever is claimed to be true remains an idea until you verify it, or debunk it by yourself. If people are confusing open-mindedness with blindly believing everything, it's obviously their fault. But also in everyone's defence: where's the problem? Why shutting people up whilst only you can fool yourself? And the answer to your question is: yes, of course. Keep drugs away from children.

@AlphaAbundance In Islam, Muslims fast for 30 days every year in a month called "Ramadan". The tradition goes like this: as the sun rises up you stop eating and drinking and having sex, until the sun comes down, then you can go back to normal. That cycle occurs every single day for a whole month. In my opinion, it's safer. Because intensive deprivation can probably initiate important health risks. And as @ajasatya was saying; there's a middle way. Try not to harm yourself through spirituality. Because that might backfire.

@EvilAngel The Devil (ego) gets angry. Angels feel sympathy. And God is watching.

@Aakash it's not that you've lost it. You've never had it in the first place. What you're referring to as knowledge is really just concepts and imagination. True knowledge is gained through experience, not thinking. 'Everything is one' is not a concept that you understand, it's an experience to be had. It's an experience so intimate, that you can't distinguish yourself from other.

@TKP Who is the one who has experienced both dual and non-dual experiences?

Could you please elaborate (on devotion)?

I don't know how much this equals in your country, but in mine, I could completely cut off work, and 3£ a day would be more than enough for me. This means nearly 9 years of practice.

@Fairy You are not enlightened. I can't imagine someone whose whole notion of reality flipped upside-down in a moment, and still be able to talk about it right away. You currently have an idea of enlightenment. Now, work towards actualizing it. When you're there, you won't be able to distinguish between you and other.

Interesting! Thanks.

@SQAAD Eat until you're completely full, you will become detached from food for a while. {(paradox)}. Same goes with the rest.

Ideally that would mean death.

@George Fil language itself is a lie, don't be too literal using it. So, no matter how hard you try to convey truth with words, you will not, ever. Use the words which advance your agenda no matter what, it's fine as long as you are conscious and sympathetic.

@Oskar-O Music is just a language. Just like the English language. For a cat, music means nothing. For a banana, music means nothing. For an infant, music means nothing. Musical taste is something you acquire by time. Just like any language. All the meanings are generated by you, the mind. Watch Leo's episode about meaning, value and purpose.

Guys who is Leo?