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@Princess Arabia To respond to your topic, emotions are just stimuli in our mind to instigate behavior. It's just that people also overlay a binary concept of good/bad over the top of them that may not really exist. Although, it isn't necessarily a clear cut binary people employ, there's often alot of gray or mixed areas where the same emotions have both positive and negative conceptions about it or are inverted depending on circumstances. Even many of the 'nonduality' crowd uses a binary to describe their experience, though it seems like a contradiction. This isn't to criticize them but it just shows how ingrained in the psyche it is to frame experience and stimuli in this way. I can admit as I cultivate well being and there are expression dynamics from that I recognize it's also a nod towards this same type of framing, though it is less moralistic than the good/bad or right/wrong implications can be.

@Reciprocality Interesting, the first thought that occurs to me is that the notion of nonduality comes into play. We could consider Einstein's Theories of Relativity and the nature of time, quantum physics' theories of Entanglement, Newton's theories of actions/reactions, and, of course, all of the philosophical notions of social connectedness. That's all I got. Maybe this could be an example of the separation: Existential fear is about something that does not exist, so in effect, it is something about nothing. Say whaaa'

They're usually not. 99% of self-proclaimed truth-seekers (even on this forum) are just larping. They don the aesthetic of "truth-seeker" simply for the existential comfort and security that this identity provides. Real truth-seeking is like drowning naked in the middle of the Atlantic ocean at night with unseen creatures of the dark lurking beneath you, and no humans, no land, no warmth, no light to grasp onto. And then willingly plunging deeper into that lonely, vulnerable, cold without any guarantee of ever coming back... only then is the REAL light revealed, but you can easily tell that none of these folks would dare go there. Their whole ""global awakening"" is a cute fiction on stilts to avoid the real abyss - and thus the real love and light eludes them. I would be HIGHLY suspicious of any youtube persona that claims to deliver spiritual insight - ESPECIALLY if they have any new age or Buddhist roots in their rhetoric/mannerisms. Dead givesaways of larpers: "vibration, frequency, reality-shifting, timelines, manifestation, 5D, numerology, astrology, law of attraction, law of assumption, no-self, nonduality, jhanas, nothingness, reincarnation, lifetimes, spirits, entities" and so much more. And who am I to cast such judgement upon these kind, sincere people who do genuine good work in the world? I'm just a guy who has glimpsed the Abyss: The total collapse of the Entire Universe - held together by a single, tender, Self-Aware thread of Infinite Intelligence, gawking at its own majesty and magnitude, not yet ready to cross to the other side. And every day I avoid this truth just as much as anybody else. You could say that the very fact that we are alive today on earth as humans is in every sense a temporary defiance of Truth - but Truth is so Absolute that it merges with this defiance, and thus here we are today in Absolute Reality - The most Perfect Gift that Consciousness could give itself, made of itself unto itself! And so, with all of this context and reference experience, it's patently clear to me when I see my fellow souls donning a spiritual costume to avoid the heat death of the universe (aka Truth). After all, I too do the same. They're me.

You guys don't pay attention to my sig. I'm above all that crap . None of you understands true liberation .when you reach this state you no longer engage in spiritual dick measuring contests about who's awake and whose a madlad. These sorts of questions do not even enter your mind . They don't make sense .they are utter foolishness. And you guys think you're awake and you engage in nonduality wars with each others about who's awake ? I just have to lmao .

Had a thought. That developed women, very attractive, healthy, etc. are not looking to settle for any man. They want a man who can be the full divine masculine? Are what girls looking for in relationships really just a divine nondual spiritual connection/emotionally stimulated at the end of the day? Like deep down? I know most attractive girls don’t give a fuck about nonduality, but it’s what they secretly want? I suppose there is a short term PUA/Masculine/attractive principles that get the girl, but the deepest success in relationships long term will come from the divine masculine spirituality? What are women really looking for?

1) It's quite advanced relative to how the average human thinks. It's not advanced relative to something like nonduality or Spiral Wizardry. 2) PM is not a practical worldview for normies. PM is for intellectuals, not regular people. PM does not help normal people survive.

It's made of mind/consciousness, which is nothing. A dream is made of nothing. But it's still something, because here it is. It's nonduality. Something and nothing are the same thing. It's nothing, experiencing something.

I think he wrote a blog post about how he has a different understanding of conscoiusness. I could be absolutely wrong about this, but i think he said that in Buddhism they experience nonduality by confronting the void as they go down (?) in consciousness and his method is more like becoming more and more conscious. As you can see, i cant really recall how he said it. He also talked about recently how human enlightenment is conformist. I hope im not misquoting him too bad or giving false meaning to what he said, it would be nice if he @Leo Gura answered this, im curious too. If it is about how he had many deep enlightenment experiences that goes beyond any spiritual teachings, i dont doubt him, but i would just like to say that there is no way to tell how far other masters went. It could be that they could not communicate it or did not see it reasonable to try. Leo took down his solipsism video too and as far as i know his most serious communication about his alien consciousness experience was a forum post.

He's just talking about nonduality. Nonduality and solipsism are two different things.

Non-duality is saying that everything is One and pantheism is saying that everything is God. Are both of them actually pointing to the same thing but just using different terminology?

If you haven't seen 'Midnight Mass' on Netflix I highly recommend it. Starts slow, but it all comes together masterfully. This is a conversation that happens at the end (spoilers obviously). For a show about fanatical Christianity, this powerful speech at the end is quite on-the-nose Nonduality. Just goes to show that Nonduality is truly becoming mainstream and part of the collective-consciousness. As the character is dying: ‘What do I think happens when we die? Speaking for myself...myself...myself. That's the problem, that's the whole problem with the whole thing, that word, “self”. That's not the word, that's not right. How did I forget that? I thought I'd despair or feel afraid, but I don't feel any of that. Because I'm too busy in this moment remembering. This body is mostly just empty space after all and solid matter, it's just energy vibrating very slowly. And there is no me. There never was. I'm no longer breathing and I remember. There is no point where any of that ends and I begin. I remember I am energy, not memory, not self. My name, my personality, my choices, all came after me. I was before them and I will be after. And everything else is pictures picked up along the way. Fleeting little dreamlets. And I am the lightning that jumps between. I am the energy. And I am returning, just by remembering. I am returning home. It's like a drop of water falling back into the ocean, of which it's always been a part. All things, everyone who's ever been, every plant, every animal, every atom, every star, every galaxy, all of it, that's what we're talking about when we say God. The One. The cosmos, and its infinite dreams. We are the cosmos dreaming of itself. It's simply a dream that I think is my life every time. But I'll forget this. I always do. I always forget my dreams. But now, in this moment, I remember. The instant I remember, I comprehend everything at once. There is no time, there is no death, life is a dream. It's a wish, again and again and again, and on into Eternity. And I am all of it. I am everything. I am all. I am that. I am you.'

I feel like this video does not get enough love and attention - It's by far the best nonduality video of Le's (for me). I've watched it 3 times now. Does anyone have any book recommendations on the topic of Aztec Nonduality?

That small audio doesn't reveal everything sadhguru thinks about this topic. There is a video where he very directly calls solipsism false and makes fun of it. I'm just stating facts. In that audio he is simply talking about nonduality. Nonduality and solipsism are not the same.

thanks guys mostly great answers I was wondering about nonduality/all is one and jesus teachings etc grew up non religious was listening to this recently probably will listen to some of these later

1. Only Leo can speak of Leo's view truthfully. 2. The subject of your question is consciousness, which will always be problematic to talk about. The logic what humans use to think and communicate is based on making distinctions. By saying that the apple is red, you imply its not blue or orange. You cannot apply logic to Infinity, because it has all the colors. Ultimately you will never be able to communicate Truth. Which does not mean that you cannot be skillful at pointing at it, or that all models of reality are equally accurate, but it will always be inherently flawed. This is just something you have to keep in mind. 3. Here is what ChatGPT said about eka-jiva-vada: At first glance the ideas are similar, but you could probably point out some differences in the communication of them, which will lead to meaningful differences of interpretation or not. An easy mistake is taking things literally. Here is an example. ChatGPT said: "Essentially, the entire universe and all other beings are perceived by this one jīva within its own consciousness." Whereas Leo would say consciousness IS all there is. See the difference? Is it meaningful or just difference in communication ? You can take something like the exceprt above and apply logic to it and you can dissect it infinitely and get lost doing it. Thats where Leo would say to take 5-MeO and see for yourself. 4. Leo's approach to solipsism is based on direct experience. Basically it says that you cant experience any other coinscousness other than yours. Which would be compatible with the idea of nonduality. But for me it seems like solipsism has more implications to it ? This is where my knowledge ends for now. So the main take here is you cant "understand" consciousness with logic. Logic is for pragmatic matters and communication.

@Snader Thanks for sharing your experience and insights. I appreciate the introspection and curiosity. No. Making decisions is hard for me since I'm constantly looking at pros / cons, partial truths, different possibilities, different perspectives etc. . . I'm a terrible manager. . . I think my colleagues can sense this and don't put me in positions where I'm a decision-making leader. . . I contribute in other ways. I'm actually quite satisfied with my career. I have a lot of autonomy and lots of space to create. . . A few thoughts on range and constraints: -- Being in a science department, there are standard courses like Cell Biology, that have a history of content. As well, teachers have an obligation to teach students knowledge and skills that will be on graduate exams, graduate / medical schools and practical things in those careers. For core courses, there is generally a body of accepted content - I have flexibility in how I teach that as well as sprinkling in things such as life skills, memory etc. . . I have a lot more space in my upper-level courses to go bigger-picture and integrate. Yet my forms of integration is beyond integrating different disciplines within academia. I love all that stuff, yet I also want to bring in more that isn't standard academia. For example, I've brought in meditation exercises into my classes. This raised some eyebrows in my department, yet I explained to them the importance of self awareness, social awareness and meta-cognition in the bigger-picture of learning. . . I also have an exercise using Zener cards to integrate concepts like: direct experience, intuition, energetics, unique abilites as well as science components, such as statistical analysis of the data we gather. I got some pushback at first, yet I framed it with buzzwords like "hands-on", "experiential learning", "engagement" to teach statistical tests. Then my collogues thought it was brilliant (since I didn't believe in the "whoo, whoo" stuff. . . I'd also like to add things like shamanic breathing and chanting - yet having had the guts to yet (as well, most students are receptive). . . Lastly, I feel the need to hold back on explorations of consciousness. I feel comfortable speaking about things like lucid dreaming and flow states of consciousness, yet I still need to speak about psychedelics from a relatively shallow level. I've done over 150 trips and my level of understanding of psychedelics and various conscious states is equal to, or higher, than my level of science understanding. I'm one of the few people with a high level of expertise in both psychedelic/conscious states as well as science. One of few people that could integrate direct experience, psychological dynamics, mysticism, creativity, nonduality, neuroscience, genetics, evolution, social science, energetics, critical thinking, empathy and on and on. I can do this to some extent, yet I have to hold back. -- I'm constrained with where students are at. . . In an environment like a spiritual retreat, nonduality lecture or concert - people go because they are interested, want to learn and want to participate. Yet in a classroom environment, most students don't fully want to be there. Many students have low attendance, show up late and are disengaged. The majority of Gen Z has an extremely short attention span and part of my job is being an entertainer to keep them engaged. And it's draining to constantly compete with their cell phones for attention. . . And it just takes a one "bad" student to create all sorts of problems, which can be an emotional drain. I spent months creating a First Year Seminar titled "SuperNormal" abilities. Unfortunately, one student was a sold narcissist that soured the energetics in the class and caused all sorts of problems. That one student ruined many aspects of the course. . . Lastly, many students do not have the capacity or interest in much of what I do. For example, not able / interested in things like introspection and mind expansion. Some students don't think abstractly and I have to constrain myself, such as my use of metaphors. -- With that said, there are a small percentage of students that really connect with me and I have a big impact on them. A few students have unique skills of metacognition, systems thinking etc and felt like they never fit it. I'm the first one that can see this and "speak their language". Stuff they thought was a disorder, yet I get excited and say "That's a thing!!! I've known people in Zen Centers that spent years trying to attain that". . . They take every one of my classes, come to my office to chat about things that are "out there" that they can't speak to anyone else about. . . A couple years ago, I started a group called "Transcend and Integrate". It's a select group by invitation only for students with certain abilities. We meet in a secluded location and have a free flow conversation about things not discussed or revealed with "normal" people. . . For about 1% of my students, I have a deep life-changing impact on them - such as discovering core aspects of their nature / ability. . . This is so rewarding to me, that it balances out a lot of headaches. -- When I started teaching, I wasn't aware of my "thing". If you know yours, I would be mindful of how that fits with the environment. For example, one of my core components is integration. I work at a liberal college that prides it's identity on "multidisciplinary". Yet it's at a very surface level. For example, "inter-disciplinary" to my colleagues and administrators are taking set of required courses in various disciplines. Yet psychology is in one building and just talks in a psychology box, Religious studies is another building and speaks within a religion box, Biology in another building, etc. . . That is a surface level of integration. It would be like having a guitar player in one building, a piano player in another building, a drummer in another building and calling it an integrated jazz band. . . Deeper integration is having all the instruments playing together to yield emergent properties. . . Zooming Out and being contracted in an area has value, yet so does Zooming Out and synthesizing. I'm the only one that is really good at this in my department, which is good and bad. On the good side, I'm "that guy" my colleagues come to for questions and help. I've helped them create new course materials and to look at things from different perspectives. I like contributing in that way. For sure. Here, I think Myers Briggs is useful. I'm on the extreme end of "introverted". As well, the "S" or "I" is also a big factor. "Sensing" is toward concrete thinking and what's actually present here and now. Things like construction work. . . "Intuitive" is toward internal abstraction and imagination of things that aren't physically present. Most people are "S". . . I'm on the extreme end of "I", which can make communication difficult. And also agree with being alone. . . During the covid isolation lockdowns, my extroverted friend struggled hardcore. Yet I loved it. I didn't have as many social obligations and I had more time to explore consciousness on my own without people thinking I was "anti-social".

Which video series of Leo's will give me a deeper understanding of nonduality? Would it be the 'Understanding duality' series? Also anyone got any good book recommendations for better understanding?

Any ideas? Was it because he was so stuck in his mind and so attached to theorizing? Or what? Surely he must've known about it, he has studied (whatever that meant to him) all kinds of spiritual traditions. But he said they didn't show him what he was looking for, until he found psychedelics. But why is it then that I can't even find a single talk where he speaks of nonduality? And trust me, I've listened to everything...? I know that he wasn't very interested in spirituality as such to begin with, but still - you can't tell me that in 30 years of doing high doses of psychedelics he never experienced oneness/nonduality. I remember in one of his talks he spoke of enlightenment as "an act of rational apprehension"... So yeah. Guess he didn't study spirituality very deeply. Side question for @Leo Gura how much influence did Terence McKenna have on your relationship with psychedelics?

It seeme like you've achieved a new level of awakening..a radical level of God realization that no human has ever achieved..and that none of those nonduality Buddhist rats have even dared to consider..you're sexy and you know it.

There’s a certain practicality of skepticism and surety in one’s own worldview to ever progress on the path really as these are all normal, sensate and transient bundles of sensations pointing to something more primary than sensations which is the nature of what the holon of human vs. god vs. nonexistence vs. not thinking about a moonwalking bear vs. you reading this right now… we’ll forget everything I just said. It’s all gone. The aspect of fresh present ness is now ruined by the CONTINUITY of it in a formless mind state. You are so much desire and aversion that the friction created by your most fundamental investigation creates an illusion harder than any truth that does or doesn’t last in time as a defined thing. Haha. Wtf.

My absolute favorites would be: https://m.youtube.com/@samvaknin/videos And https://m.youtube.com/@EmersonNonDuality/videos And here is a list of others: https://www.youtube.com/user/conscioustv/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/NewThinkingAllowed/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/RebelWisdom/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/scienceandnonduality/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/AubreyMarcusPod/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/SimulationSeries/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/CloserToTruthTV/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/timferriss/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/metaRising/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/SpiritualawakeningNetplus/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/AaronAbke/videos https://m.youtube.com/@AaronDoughty44/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/MindvalleyTalks/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/CosmicSkeptic/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/TomBilyeu/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/higherbalance/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/ThinkingAllowedTV/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/VishuddhaDas/videos https://m.youtube.com/@DrBrianKeating/videos https://m.youtube.com/@DrJamesCooke/videos https://m.youtube.com/@NextLevelSoul/videos https://m.youtube.com/@seancarroll/videos https://m.youtube.com/@SimplyAlwaysAwake/videos https://m.youtube.com/@yourmatetom/videos German channels with >50.000 viewers which talk about psychedelics+nonduality+mysticism who almost definitely would love to have a conversation/an interview with you (in english of course): https://m.youtube.com/@ManuelHaase https://www.youtube.com/c/FlowFinder/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/highermind/video

Ive gotten into Sri ramana maharshi and h9s teachings lately. nto I can quote the greates yogis and could explain it well with pretty words to others if I wanted to. Ive read the books. Blah blah it all does me no good really. How can reality not be a subject-object reality? I am thinking to much I know but I havent been able to think about anything else for a few days. What is my sense of self than? My sense of self doesnt fit in with this at all. And this sense of seld is undeniable even when deep in meditation... On the bright side, I am motivated to start a kriya yoga practice now which i have been procrastinating about for months.

I didn't understand your argument but I will respond anyways. Without contrast it is impossible to know anything. Left exists only in comparison to what is not left. Nonduality exists only in comparison to duality. Realization of oneness is impossible without twoness. But oneness and twoness are one in the end. And also two.

There is actually. Without duality, nonduality would be inconceivable. If blue was the only thing that exists, knowledge of blue would be impossible. God needs duality to know himself. Duality is fundamental to existence.

I just truly discovered this notion of "wholeness", "unity" or "oneness" from non-duality. This idea is very frightening for me.. because it collapses my experience of reality. Awareness is all that there is.. every other thing is a mind-created concept So, Non-Duality is awareness itself. There is no separation of ego/thought or object/subject. Precisely because experience is all it Is.. and experience IS consciousness. There is no experiential state if there is no awareness, therefore "being" is all there truly is. This is without having this "I" that is assumed to be doing the experiencing. For some this mystical ego-transcendence is beautiful, because of the divine nature of it(How this pure state of awareness feels). And also because it is the ultimate truth. It is the true nature of nature. Duality is the greatest enemy to non-duality (Obviously). But get this, in order to reach non-duality you MUST purge the duality of the mind. So, having a firmly dualistic mind will not comprehend this in any way. Because non-duality is experienced, it is not known by a rational explanation. For the explanation of it is dualistic in nature, because language is dualistic and always implies separation. People engage in meditation to reach this perceptual change of awareness. My biggest fear is knowing that everything I have experienced up until now has been an illusion. A product of the mind's intrinsic tendency to dualism. Everything seems false, nothing is real. Truth is just one. Up until now my philosophical "truths"(Or any thought of that matter) have been dualistic. So, I reach some sort of existential crisis or nihilistic crisis in nature. Not only that, but all of my dreams, hopes, my personal realizations are far from truth. Any meaning becomes meaningless. It is not worth living for something at it is just a concept, a construct of the mind that separates me and true reality. In a crude way, it is all fake. I can't even think without separation so it troubles me more. I think the most terrifying thing is looking out into space and realising that that for the most part.. is reality - this yawning near-void filled with things that would kill you. Here we are.. little fragile Flatlanders hugging the increasingly disordered surface of one planet.. with the yawning hungry cosmos poised to take us all back.