Truth Addict

@How to be wise I was the same. And I still live with my mother and father. Being unemployed and without real responsibilities and challenges almost equals a drug high. You probably wouldn't believe that, but I've been through that phase and I know how it works. I'm not saying that now I'm far from emotional mastery. In fact, I consider myself 90% master of my emotions. I'm just saying that circumstances affect how you feel and react, no matter how convincing it might seem to you right now. The remaining 10% is the hardest to achieve, and that's where the true test is. That's why it's called mastery, because almost nobody wants to spend energy on mastering this last 10%. Again, your case might be different, so all of this could be irrelevant for you.

@How to be wise Thanks for the replies. I was feeling the same as you described three months ago. I was unemployed and basically free all day all night. I have a job now, and I assure you, it's not the same. I mean, yes, all the mindfulness work, self-inquiry, meditation, and contemplation, etc... are great, and they help. But when shit hits the fan, that's where you truly test yourself. I'm talking about the practical life. It's easy to be emotionally detached when you're not really playing the game of survival. But it gets harder when your ego is at stake. I can only speak for myself and about my experiences though. I can't speak for you, your case might be different. I'm still struggling with emotions to this day, although I felt like I had mastered them during my unemployment phase. Bottom line is that you might want to consider what I said here just in case.

@How to be wise I understand what you said in your original post. The questions that come to mind though are: Have you really put your mastery into test? What are the emotional challenges that you consider yourself a master of? What is the level of mastery that you consider yourself to be at? Full mastery of all emotions? Some and some? I'm asking all of these questions because I wouldn't think of myself as a master of my emotions unless I am 100% sure. Of course, you don't necessarily have to answer any of them.

@Inder I prefer using the term imagination instead of ego. I think it's more direct. Do you not think imagination is helpful for survival? However, and since imagination is very flexible, it can get so "wrong" (meaning not identical to reality) and then create all sorts of illusions. Not only that, but also since imagination "seems" like reality, it can be confused for it, because better maps are more likely to be confused with the territory. Add on top of that that reality is non-linear and it doesn't have to obey any laws whatsoever, even the most fundamental physical and mathematical laws can change at any moment. The point is that nothing is guaranteed with imagination, we can only gamble. But the consequences can vary from physical death to living the dream. So, I think it's worth the bet. As for thoughts and suffering, thoughts are not "the biggest" cause of suffering. Be very careful here because it contains the clue to how to stop suffering. Suffering is not caused directly by the thoughts. Thoughts are a stairway either to heaven or to hell. The trick is that the stairway is one, but the one who's going up is different in each case. Suffering stems from not accepting reality as it is. Sometimes reality is mere thoughts, and you'd have to accept that in order not to suffer. The most important thing here is to develop more awareness of the present moment.

@How to be wise If you don't mind answering. How old are you? What is your daily schedule? What do you do for a living?

I agree on the part that Inliytened1 starts non-duality wars. I don't think he's a troll though. I think he's a nice guy who wants to share his wisdom with others. Umar_uk was emotionally troubled, and he used the forum to melt down. That's not what the forum is about. We're not psychiatrists, and he needed one.

@LiberatedMonkey Well, first of all, that is quite a feat, I couldn't stand sitting still for one hour. So, respect! Secondly, the body 'emits' certain amounts of energy all the time. The feeling of burn is your body giving out energy just as usual, only that time it was intense because you weren't spending it on any kind of activities, and it had to get out of 'you' in a certain way which in your case was a 'fire' sensation. If you want to get benefits from this practice, I suggest learning more about Yoga and Chakras. These practices teach you how to control your bodily energy and how to move it from one place to another, both inside and outside the body.

That's not true. At least not for me. When an ego is fully satisfied, it will only spread love and happiness.

@Scholar Are you actually directly conscious of what you just said? Because it seems like you aren't. It seems like you're logically convinced with what you said. Although it's fine but it's not like truth.

I would call it God's judgement and God's morality. A judgement with full acceptance and a morality with all love. Of course! THERE IS NO REASON! That's the catch. You think there should be a reason for things to be done? Well, guess what? There shouldn't. God is Good, that's what you're not seeing yet. And since the ego is God, the ego is Good too. And that's not an egoic justification. That's how it actually is. Everything is fine. All the evil is fine. That's how God sees his creations. The evil is just a part of the plan for the greater good, and clearly it's less than 1%. You forgot the other 99% of God that is pure Goodness even for the ego. You are the one who is judging evil without even knowing it, buddy.

@Scholar You're thinking backwards. No ego ever wants other egos to suffer, because; Others suffering means the possibility of one's suffering, since it shows how weak the individual is. Others suffering decreases the ability of one's joy, because when others suffer, they tend to spread suffering, and vice-versa when they are happy. Joy multiplies through abundance. When everyone is happy, their energy radiates and grows outside. Happiness is contagious. All of that is known and obvious to the ego, and it's all embedded and programmed deep in our psyches. However, we're in a phase of getting to know ourselves as egos, and it's confusing for everyone. That's the only true reason behind all of humanity problems. Ta-da!

@Scholar The ego is a genius design. It's good for all through good for the individual. Because individual is one, and one is all. The ego is always trying to get better and attain more, without it realising that it's doing a service for others as well and for reality in general. That's how reality creates actively. Creation happens through illusion, and Truth provides the energy.

@Scholar That's just insane! Why would anyone want to kill others? Wars do not start because people just want to kill others, but actually quite the opposite. Wars usually happen because people want to protect themselves and their loved ones. Nobody wants to kill others unless they are threatening to them or to their loved ones. If we're all one team, who is the winning team? Anyway, assuming that the leader is crazy and wants to kill people. Do you think that conscious followers will still follow a psychopath?

This is ironic because sometimes the desire to break free is the chains that hold us back from finding freedom.

@Hellspeed What's the point?

@AlphaAbundance If you're the thoughts, then how are you aware of them? You are looking to find the subject that is you. Are thoughts the subject or an object that is being noticed by the subject? Any answer you land on is an object observed by you. Who is this you?

Talk about good politics! Haha! ? I agree. Consciousness is the solution ?

@winterknight Thank you. No need for that, because I live in a third world country in the middle-east.

Whoa! I don't think that deserves a banning decision.

@Scholar It matters because we can't avoid politics. But we can become more and more conscious of our political views and values.

@winterknight Thank you! I don't know of any psychoanalysts in my area. But I have my brother and we're very open about ourselves to each other. It's helping both of us. We're going out tonight for a walk. Anything that you can suggest to me to talk about with him from your experiences with psychoanalysis? Thanks in advance.

@winterknight Is psychoanalysis the same as shadow work plus working it out with someone professional? If not, then could you please elaborate on the differences?

@Anton_Pierre Good luck! I hope it will be of great help to you on your journey. Actually, since it happened, then it was definitely necessary.

@Shaun If you study biology, you will see how reality functions. Things are always moving towards a better creation. Remember that from millions of sperms, only one was strong enough to face the obstacles on its way and come to life. Hard times make stronger people/better reality.

I assure you that I am having my own experience you are not alone.