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After watching Leo's Hero video, I've noticed the underlying relationships between the hero's journey and nonduality. In this case, Palpatine is like the ego-driven culture that tries to oppress Truth and punishes those who will not turn to the darkside/ be seduced by Maya.

I want to go a tiny bit offtopic because this is very interesting. Nonduality is pretty logical. When the subject is isolated from objects, it disappears. Boom ego death

I created this topic just to share my amazement to how much growth is actually possible. I was looking at some videos of me just 2 years ago, and I realized that no aspect, and I literally mean NO ASPECT of my past self is present anymore. I did not recognize who I was looking at in those videos. Everything changed radically since I took Self-Actualization seriously. Everything from my body, the way I talk, to my confidence, insecurities, doubts, abilities, limiting beliefs, neurosis changed in a good way and it feels like I upgraded myself 10x in just 2 years since I've gone out of highschool. So many new habits, changes in perspective and patterns everywhere that I did not see before with my mind's eye. Uncertainty continues to increase, and I am starting to relate to what Socrates said: ”All that I know is that I know nothing.” So many things that beg to be mastered. To think that these were only 2 years, and that I have at least 60 to go (please don't get into nonduality here, you know I'm talking only about human existence) is exciting and scary at the same time. I wonder if these shifts will continue to happen as often as they did until now or if there will be a slowdown (in the case that I will put in the same amount of work that I did until now). Now I see that the majority of people die without experiencing even 0.1% of what life has to offer and that is pretty sad. Feel free to share your own experiences!

so between numerous role models I follow, including "our" Leo Gura and also (I recommending) Tai Lopez, there is often a message of - study. Reading, research. Certainly I'm intending to pick up a habit of this in the future, of digging into philosophy and psychology and history and physics, however that is not a now-concern... I have other focal imperatives for the nearer future. So I'm not pushing for that study habit just yet. But, I wonder, wouldn't the types of literature and discourse that Leo often criticizes as low-level consiousness, not be necessarily bad? I'm trying to go through my (so to speak:) "spiritual" work through a pragmatic approach of in-the-action mindfulness, rather than one of solemn meditation - I have been in my life spending "too much" time reflecting or daydreaming or gaming, and instead not-doing, so one of my main current priorities is to focus on being pragmatic whenever I have the capacity to be focused and with healthy pose of body (my body atrophy and subsequent weakness from my 3 years of depression), and when my body and/or my mind is not up to that task, I'm more often than not making sure to rest in some way, even to the point that I allow my mind to return into "sleep". this leaves no room for meditation or for direct study. So my idea is - I could be reading fantasy books, watching non-documentary movies. It really is OK. For two reasons - as I move forward in my mindfulness work, I cannot just suddenly be mindful all the time - so neurotically criticizing my consumption of so-called low-consciousness content is silly! just watch it/read it, no big deal. But Also, the thing that I'm very aware of - which Leo and most other role models too, either are unaware of or neglect to emphasize or even mention - is the reality that all experiences in life are just as meaningful in inspiration, worth, good, etc. - as anything else. Well, we sort of do talk about this - but the more precise nature I'm referring to is how: Even a child with no experience, we learn from; Even an addict with full-scale neurosis, we learn from; And even from the addictive medias - we learn from them too. So in this way - when working on mindfulness - consumption of "low consciousness media" has a twofold direct usefulness in our pursuit of transcending our low level of awareness - The first being that it is a good way to practice being mindful of our addictive nature - just because we have these addiction sensations and drive doesn't mean we must avoid that activity, altho being mindful of the self is possible in such moments certainly hard - in that it gives us practice of allowing our awareness to falter and yet still return; and when we can keep ongoing consciousness more powerfully, we can increase that strength. The second being - that with mindful attention to the movie etc for the focus of finding inspiration, with enough practice (and I have a whole life's worth for this specific skill) we will actually discover that literally all things inspire our growth of ideas. Of course, in that, I bank on the strategy that being the monkeys we are is in fact the authentic "self" that we are - tho we can transcend that self with increased awareness, despite the infinity and the nothingness and the nonduality that existences is, in contrast to that absolute existence our "local" existence remains to factually be one of sensation and duality. We may be struck by delusion, but to deny that delusion blindly would in fact be denying the nonduality itself! disclaimer - this has been a discussion of thought from my current perspective. I do not claim any of it to be true or useful for you, and certainly none of it is True being. but these ideas are true and useful for me any thoughts, responses, reflections, piggybacking, all encouraged thanks for reading.

Can You Still Serve Yourself And Be One With Everything At The Same Time? @electroBeam, when you were a child...you would play imaginary games with imaginary characters...didn't you? When I was very young, I was (at that time) the only child and my parents were building a house...way out in the county. I spent many days...months in fact...playing by myself alone. I would create fantasies...cowboys one day...sailors the next...whatever seemed fun. Now, I was all of what was going on...there was only me...I even controlled what the imaginary characters did...and yet I could still serve myself in my part of the adventure. Sometimes the "bad" guys won a battle...but the war raged on. This is what made it fun. Now if children can figure this out this much...why not an adult who has realized his or her true nature? "In order to serve the body/mind, you need to think dualistically, and that is just laughable in the state of being one." - not laughable...realizing there is no other does not mean you can't recognize the illusion that is still is apparent and not be able to think about it. A mirage doesn't disappear just because you realize it is a mirage...you only realize it is not what it appears to be (water) even though you still see it. Dualistic thinking is still very possible. "So can you serve the body/mind and be in competition with other people, while being your true self?" Sure...why not? Imaginary cowboys and indians when you/I were playing alone as a child. There can be a competition and yet know it is all a play of imagination. The issue here seems to be you are trying to reconcile "being one with everything" and "being a separate self"...but who you really are (i.e. nonduality) is not "being one with everything" nor "being a separate self" nor both nor neither. This will not make sense to the mind.

Don't introduce them to spiritual enlightenment/nonduality. Society / family wants ambitious people who are useful and who can feed their egos. Unless your way of life becomes a message , their is no point in introducing them verbally. Dropping your knowledge , ego is very arduous, needs patience.

Hello, I sometimes have the wish to tell my close family-members like my old parents about enlightenment. The problem is they are very close minded and not open to anything as far as I know but they are highly intellectual and philosophical. I know you can question, if it is meaningful at all to talk about enlightenment, but this is another topic. For me it is interesting in the first place to see how they react and of course I would be happy if they at least think about enlightenment seriously for some seconds. Now here comes my question: Do you know how I can introduce them at best to spiritual enlightenment/nonduality? Have some of you showed your friends/family members about enlightenment and how did they react?

@Echoes , I have an analogy to try to put your comparison in perspective. Awakening (and nonduality) is about realizing you are dreaming, while metaphysical knowledge is about learning how to play well within the dream (although you may not realize you are dreaming). That is also the difference between enlightenment and spiritual powers...one who is enlightened may not have spiritual powers (and even if they do, may have no interest in them)...and on the other hand you have one who has spiritual powers and can do amazing things but still a trapped by the illusion (and suffering). Awakening does not bring knowledge of metaphysical mechanism or laws. Knowledge of metaphysical mechanisms or laws does not bring awakening. One is seeing through the illusion...the other is getting good at manipulating the illusion.

Hey! I was wondering. There are these more grounded guys like Rupert Spira, Francis Lucille, Peter Ralston, Paul Hedderman etc. who basically point to realizations that one can awaken to on his own. And then there are people like Abraham Hicks, Bashar, Teal Swan who claim to have metaphysical knowledge (like Law of Attraction, Reincarnation mechanisms, Aliens, Densities of reality, etc.) My question: Is it possible to also awaken to and realize for oneself those metaphysical mechanisms or laws? Or will it forever be something that we either belief or disbelief in? One possibility might be to try things like Law of Attraction and see if it works. But that wouldn't prove the Law itself would it? It could also be coincedence etc.

Way back, at the beginning of my spiritual search and studies...I joined a weekly meditation group. They were also interested in healing and so they got into past life regression. I explored many of my own (in relation to current blocks). Outside of regressions, I have had memories of past lives come to me as well. One experience in particular I will share. A friend from the meditation group introduced me to an old friend of his. This friend took an instant dislike to me and was actively mean to me whenever he had the chance. I thought the reaction was too strong to be something of this life, and I suspected a past life connection. The topic of past lives did come up, and this friend did not believe in it or that he has ever lived before. So I knew I could not work in any way with him directly. That night I decided to delve into past lives between us that might result in this instant hatred. I found two. I knew we are all connected on "higher levels" and so I decided to reach out to him on a higher level. I saw him before me in my mind's eye and I explained that i figured out the problem between us. I said I did not remember, but know I do and I was totally at fault. I asked his forgiveness and he seemed to nod. A year later, I met this friend of my friend again and his attitude was totally neutral. Eventually, he warmed up. Years later, as good friends, we were talking about how we met and he said he could never figure out why he disliked me so much when we met. He also said, he couldn't figure out why it was different the next time we met. I have had many experiences of past lives (that I remembered or had to look into to remember) that had effects and when I worked on it, the situation changed. So I would have to say, from my own experience - past lives exist and reincarnation exists. Nonduality does not exclude the happening of reincarnation, but I would say it just means there are dreams within dreams. I haven't had anything to do with past lives though in over a decade. Yeah, it happens...but it is just another trap and distraction. Now is more important.

hey guys, I've been researching lucid dreaming for about 2 weeks now and it seems to be a very interesting topic. (and I also had one short lucid dream ) but I haven't found much about the correlation between lucid dreaming and nonduality/spiritual growth. can lucid dreaming be used in order to grow spiritually (spiritual purification) ? does lucid dreaming bring me closer to awakening? is it worth it to put a huge investment of time and energy in working on lucid dreaming when my "real" aim is truth/enlightenment? or should I rather put more time in self-inquiry/meditation/mindfulness/etc... has anybody experience with this? or thoughts on combining spiritual purification and lucid dreaming?

I know I told you I totally agree with the neti-neti method and self enquiry (or maybe I didn't tell you). But this does not mean that everything is not you. Every single thing one by one is not you, but Everything together? Why do you not believe about the end point of non-duality if you follow nonduality teachers? Not that you have to believe, but we're having a forum conversation, so I don't want to circlejerk around

@Prabhaker I agree with you, but there are some things that just science cannot talk about, but maths (the only true science) can : Those are 0 and infinity. We can map, on the level of mind what happens with enlightenment - I'm only speculating, but I see no real fault to doubt my reasoning: My goal is to represent the entire enlightenment journey with mathematical formula that will prove even to the thickest mind/Ego that it should forego a journey to find their true nature. When one trully becomes aware they are just awareness, this is when you reach being 0, from appearantly being something between 0 and infinity. Now that you truly are 0, you have no other choice, but to float on top of everything, just like you've always done and even be aware of infinity, because you are THAT light. Since you are 0, you not only merge with it, you are it, because there is nothing else. There is only the numbers 1,2,3,4…. Only they are supposedly real, but with enlightenment we see that only 0 and infinity are real and the numbers 1,2,3… are illusions, caused by the reality of 0 and infinity, they are the play of life, the finite numbers. 0 AND infinity(God)? But that's two! Infinity + 0 = Infinity = 100% = 1 whole = Non Duality = You, because ISNESS. If you are more than 0, you cannot merge with everything, become everything, reach samadhi and BE GOD - God is not nothing, God is Everything. The experience of Ego is also part of God, part of Everything and I can see how as long as I take myself to be a thing, I will only be apparent PART of everything and will be impossible for me to merge with it. It's a finite number. What do you think? I just love maths, next is experience, but you must agree, there needs to be something that will be helpful to ultra logical people to begin their journey and reach what @zazed claims to have "reached". I do aknowledge that you can be the truth but are not saying the truth intellectually perfectly, which is understandable, because the truth cannot be expressed in words and also the real @zazed is not typing here, he is just observing his Ego type just like me and everyone else, because we all are 0 already, we just don't know it yet, well I don't, many of you have probably already reached this state of knowing called Enlightenment. I'm a 0 that has merged into an Ego, because maybe I think of it as my everything, but I am aware of other things as well and know for a fact my Ego is not everything, it is not God My attempt is to do it with maths, which is far stronger than words. I also aknowledge that this is not experiential truth, but an intellectual truth is also something that I hold valuable and, again, I want to stress that people with ultra logical minds need to be nudged towards the experiential truth through logic. They won't listen to something else. If we want true Enlightenment and the end of suffering for All human beings, not just for ourselves, we need to think of new things and not only be selfish and think about ourselves! This is counter spiritual TLDR: You are nothing (awareness, 0), God is everything(infinity) - Awareness merges with God automatically, we have NonDuality, the only reality. You merge with God and from this standpoint you've always been that, you were just taking yourself to be a number between 0 and infinity for the lols?

Ikr, every nonduality teacher ever: there's noone there, no free will, stop seeking, there's nothing to seek Matt: fuck it just love hahaha

@Socrates If you find your life purpose, that will serve as the backbone for much of your education guidance. But also nonduality, etc is sure to come in handy no matter where you go. Just following your curiosity and bliss is also a good way to go. Study what you LOVE. Yes, more great books coming.

In the Law of one there is an explanation that makes a lot of sense. Good vs. evil = Entities oriented in service to others vs. Entities oriented in service to self. From the point of view of nonduality, the one, they are both eqauly important expressions of infinity and neither of them is prefered. However! Service to others is a more efficient way of approaching existence. Why? Because when you are service to self oriented, all other entities are seen just as mere extension of yourself. This is in a sense narcissistic view of enlightenment, which isn't wrong per se, it is just a different approach, one that lacks empathy and love isn't bursting from you into space, but it is oriented towards you and only you, not hesitating to use others in order to get your desires met. On the other hand, service to others oriented entities are having the advantage of cooperation and mirroring. They see themselves in others, not from a point of view o a narcissist, but as a mirror, and can consciously act as a mirror to others, bringing more balance, more well-being, more love and more compassion, inherently working towards creating a civilisation of very warm loving beautiful goodness. The conflict of good vs. evil is really just a game that both agree on playing, they are both part of the same consciousness, just exploring different approaches of exploring and expressing infinity. The tricky part comes in where the service-to-others oriented ones "fight" against evil. They can never "fight" against them in the manner of hate or inferiority, or anger, because whenever they approach the interaction with anything BUT love, understanding and compassion they polarize themselves to the other side of the spectrum which is SERVICE TO SELF. So in that sense, service to self would win. There is good and evil. Both are equally valid, both are beautiful, both are miraculous phenomena in existence. The question is... Are you strong enough not to fall prey to the temptations of the darkside Young Padawan?! <3

Also, labeling a person as a zen devil is a duality. It just is. A label is a concept that is inherently not acceptance. It is a function of the story of me. Think about it like this. In nonduality, if there is any disagreement, both parties are wrong. That is an implication of unity. Any disagreement or resistance is a red flag for the separate self. But also, they aren't wrong because right and wrong are non-existent. We just are as we are. There is no other way that it could be. There is no awareness, no I, no seeking, nothing other than being. Reality is being. The illusion is assuming that it is not being how it is.

Hmmm, it seems to me that the most important pieces of the course are about cultivating a deep inner listening , such that one can adjust to the experience of nonduality easily and at will. It is as much, if not more about cultivating awareness and using various tools until you find the one that suits you the best. Without breaking my word, i can say that it is a collection of very highly effective techniques from all over the place and times...from ancient to modern....nothing strange or unheard of in different circles, they are very reputable techniques. It has been heavily researched and well thought out. There is plenty of data and numbers for those who need it, but that is where we are going away from, yes? For if thinking and analyzing where the path to oneness then we would be there, yes? The real question is, do u want it and are you willing to do the work to get there? It isnt easy, but it is completely possible. Best thing i have ever done for myself and the world, hands down.

Mind doesnt need to know anything, what You need to do is sense the presence of nothingness with Your (Nothingness') Awareness, which is the same as awareness becoming aware of itself. That's tricky, at least for me, but my practise is clearer now with this understanding (ok maybe its good for the mind to know something hehe :D). So Nothingness becomes aware of nothingness, but this is the realm of nonduality, so to answer your question awareness, nothingness, God, presence all are one no-thing that is you, consciousness, absolute infinity. It's tricky (impossible for the mind to become aware of true nothingness) so thats why disidentification with mind/Ego is needed, so you can increase the faculty needed to sense that nothingness - that faculty is awareness! Only awareness can sense awareness (nothigness); only infinity is big enough to hold within its sight infinity; Only nothingness is small enough to see nothingness; Only you can discover your true self! I am not enlightened, but this is my understanding so far.

Tim Freke, a nondual account, gives us a well grounding talk about science, philosophy, love, mystery, nonduality, and much deeper.

Oregon Eclipse happening August, which I'll be attending. The Organization NonDuality and Science will be attending which I'm excited the most for. Been to Burning Man a couple times and it seems nowadays diluted with everyone on happy drugs. Slowly becoming mainstream and I feel is losing it's original essence. Tribal Gathering is great. 18 day festival in Panama where dozens of different indigenous tribes get to come and share their culture and also their plant medicine. Ayahuasca, iboga, mescaline, etc

@Laisa Sweet! From LA. You guys have the best dark forest psy! I've noticed an increase of dark in LA recently. I'm not sure if you know but the organization Science and Nonduality will be a part of this event. Their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/scienceandnonduality Are you much into the Psytrance culture?

You are not going to enter nonduality until you deeply realize that duality produces suffering by design. Sounds like you're being shown this important lesson, but are sort of discounting its importance. The trap would be to sink back down into your old materialistic paradigm. The challenge of course is facing the truth head-on, without deflecting it. Chasing material objects will never satisfy you. This would be true even if you never started on the path to enlightenment. At least you know what to do about it if you are serious about ending suffering. Otherwise, suffer away and enjoy it. BTW, nonduality does not preclude success, money, sex, or relationships.

Nonduality Wars not allowed here but.. IMO psychedelics are like pouring salt in a snail, the EGO screaaaams, some people don't like it, and some other kind of like it

yea, I wish i had more time to read that stuff. In my free time I'm reading Eckhardt Tolle's awakening book, then I'll probably read Siddhartha again, but right this second I'm reading my Criminal Law textbook, then ill be reading my property book until about midnight. Haha. There's always somehow time to read stuff more interesting things though. Also I'm reading a great book called Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei. Its an incredible book about nonduality.