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hello everyone Basically from childhood i was a quiet kid and and from around high school up until college didn't really speak much was kind of lost and really shy . i did not really socialise and only had a few close friends and was isolated and probably seen as a wierd by most people. i started to realize as i was growing up that i was insecure about the way i looked, the reason why i felt insecure was that i was not getting much attention from the opposite sex and was seeing the cool kids picking up girls and talking to them and there was me chatting to a few friends and not being outgoing. i wasnt really into education most of my childhood like from 7th to 11th grade i used to always give up and never really put the effort, i would get good grades sometimes but hardly ever and was quite average on an academic level. i dont want to go really deep into my childhood but i had really bad childhood and horrible memories that i try to forget but sometimes it does creep up in to my mind but i always just attempt to brush them off. when i got to university i thought of joining the gym to bulk up as i was a really skinny guy and needed to gain some weight as i felt like i needed to improve someway to strengthen my confident and appearance . then i have my family who are really controlling as i was growing up , i did not feel like i was treated well and mentally i was not in the right place at times.As i was growing up and did not get the love i deserved as a child and my parents would tell me to get good grades and i just wasn't putting in the effort as a kid and i wasnt a violent kid however i was actually a really good kid , ive always believed in being well behaved and helping people and staying positive but i was never really getting the help that was needed mainly because ive never really opened up to anyone . So i was going through a on and off depressive state most of my life then one day my way of thinking changed i started to forget because i started to socialise in university more and was just distracted by the life of meeting new people then suddenly one day i felt a new me ( i think i was enlightened or awakened) and felt like a new born baby, this was mainly because i was getting the attention and love random people would show me, it was truly a magical experience and ive never felt so powerful in my life i would literally get approached and people would look at me and be like wow youve changed'' you look so different and happy'' etc. so then 8 to 9 months later i hit depression again and it really took a big chunk out me like this time the depression was 10 times worse then ever before, i felt like ive been deprived of true happiness. this really effected my education and had to drop out due to this depression and i just really need to find a solution. i hope someone can give me some advice on finding my self again. i do apologize for any spelling mistakes and etc

Last week, I was just taking a walk outside and doing some self-inquiry. Suddenly, the feeling of me weakened considerably. My suffering and anxiety quickly dissipated, and the barrier between myself and the rest of reality has been blurred. I have my doubts since others who report this experience talk about completely merging with reality and knowing of this field of awareness. I, on the other hand, still have some identification with the ego, but at the same time feel like I am all of reality and feel the no-self. Also, the voice has quieted down more so than ever before, and my baseline level of happiness and peace of mind is greater than I can ever remember it. While there have been distinct moments where I have felt better, I can't recall this even-keeled, constant peace of mind, ever; it's like being a small child all over again, but maybe even better. Not only that, but people report quickly going back to the ego-self after their brief, amazing experience; I , rather, haven't reverted. Though I still have bad habits, anxieties, insecurities, etc. it is all much weaker, I can just let go of the automatic-negative-thoughts (ANTs) instead of ruminating, and that black-white boundary between me and everything else is distinctly weaker. The change seems subtle but significant, and it doesn't seem to subside at all--it always just is. Here's some of the differences in list form: - Suffering has gone down considerably. -Emotions are less distracting. - I can just let things go. - If the ego is hurting and I'm self-absorbed, I can shift focus to the higher self like zooming out of a picture, and see that I am everything. - I still have bad habits, but they don't feel nearly as rewarding to indulge, as guilt inducing afterwards, and their control is weakening. This seems not to be happening with just a specific behavior,but across the board. - My existential quandaries no longer trouble me. - Other people may still like other people, but they also feel like me, sort of. Also, when ever I hear/think of others' achievements, there is almost no jealously or self-shame-- they feel like my own. I also don't feel like any of that truly matters. -I don't feel a strong need for other people's validation, or even my own validation. - I don't feel like I need to search for something to be happy. - I find more authentic joy in my hobbies since my self-image is not related to them. - My work doesn't reflect who I am; it is simply a part of the infinite me. - Messing up doesn't make me feel bad about myself. I can just note that I want to modify a behavior and move on. - I don't feel better/worse/ or equal to others. I just am, and they just are. - I don't feel like there is good or evil, but I have no strong impulse to do things that are traditionally thought of as evil. I just feel more compassionate and loving not because it is meaningful or better-- it's just a reflection of my state of being. TL;DR: Everything is the same but better. PS: I just did a two hour Strong Determination Sitting today; I don't do those often and have only been doing them for about 30 minutes or so, so I didn't really work up to it at all. It was still difficult, but I didn't even feel resistance until after the first one hour. Only the last 30 minutes were hellish. Interestingly, I feel somewhat more identified with the ego- self after that intense sit, but I suspect that may just be temporary and a heighted awareness of the ego that was still "there". The intense physical sensations make awareness seem more localized in the body. Questions for you: What happened to me? Is this preliminary enlightenment? I didn't merge into reality completely, and this field of awareness/ emptiness is still alien to me, which makes me thing either that will happen in the later stages if this is awakening, or I am just experiencing something else entirely.

This is from a Buddhist perspective, so take it with that in mind, and discard it if it does not make sense: What he is describing is also the feeling I got after my experience. The content/peaceful feeling, and a big reduction in mind sticking to bad states and not accepting them. The contentment/wholeness is always present, even in time of high stress it is always accessible. However that is not the "end" of the path, but only the beginning in Theravada Buddhism. It is the start of the ariya path, which are people, (monks or laypeople) who have attained one of the four levels of awakening (stream-entry, once-returner, non-returner, arhant) . The 4th (Arhant) is a person who has torn out all Greed, Hatred, and delusion and other fetters by the root, and is than considered "fully" awakened, or "Fully Enlightened". The first step, which is what he seems to be talking about, is the state where you can see the ego entity as not "self" or not part of you. The illusion is spotted. You still know there is a lot of bad habits to break. But identifying the bad habits and changing them is made simpler because you are not attached to them as "this is who I am". He(or the video creator) is calling it enlightenment; personally, I think it's just the first step after you have realized that "you" were already enlightened from the start, but have forgotten due to having all the conditioning of society, parenting and nature layered on top of you from birth (and past existence). Enlightenment is not a destination, it is a realization of what you(and all of existence and nonexistence) have always been. Just my two bits.

I aim in life to be the lighthouse, to inspire and show an example of what is possible. I must work on making my own self more aware and awakened. I have had so many mid-life crisis already about what the hell I am doing in this reality and I am 19 years old,,, If someone talked at me about this stuff when I was asleep I would have believed that they were lying to me so It is very very powerful and inspirational to be awakened and show you're true authentic self... this video is great!! Helps so much to understand the fundamentals and for me to stop preaching and start showing an example...peace out!

Monika i was looking at the number of topics already on the forum, 13 pages i think, and looking at the titles of those topics tell a lot about forum members and where they are. Monika, solutions only work for those who first can hear the solution without their programing and false belief system shutting it down, most people hear according to what they believe, their belief limits their hearing, Most will not go against their belief system to implement change. Most already think they are more awake than they are. Just reading other peoples text will tell you where they are by the questions and remarks that they make. Once awakened the self realized not only know themselves but know all others as well. To a self realized being, the lives of others is an open book, seen at a glance. There is only a very small percentage of people who will ever take a real solution seriously doesn't matter that it is coming from a person who has walked the path ahead of them. There are so many newage theories and philosophies today there is nothing but mass confusion. I have been involved in two or three chat rooms on the internet for a number of years, talking about consciousness, personal growth, liberation from the insanity of the human condition and generally instead of taking you seriously, most who are running on programing and belief are just waiting to give you their opinion and instead of trying to understand the real solution that you are giving, they say well that is your belief or that is your opinion, they don't even realize that all they have is belief and opinion trying to talk to real life experience. The reality is that only a handful of the people in your lifetime will awaken to the reality of life and who and what they are, most of it will be rationalized, intellectualized, and many will actually believe they are awake, in reality they have no idea what awake means, have no idea of the transformation that happens to a person when they awaken and become self realized. Honestly most of it has become nothing more than a social forum with people expressing their opinions on things they know nothing about. I know this may sound harsh to you and many others but once awakened you can no longer accept the nonsense and you cannot help people by giving them more nonsense, and when you give reality you get accused of being to harsh or talking over the heads of other people. I am not trying to discourage you, go for your solution forum, and when you do observe everything, the questions asked, the answers given, look for living experience and not opinions and belief, observe the difference. The living experience of a human functioning as the fictitious identity that they have created, and the living experience of a human who has made the transition from the human being to the being of consciousness that we really are, are a world apart, but then they tell us there are many levels to all of this, that there are many paths, and journeys which never seem to have a real destination or expectation of arrival at a destination but leaves everyone with an excuse for where they are, and this is normal behavior in a world of human beings with fictitious identities. I realize that all things change moment by moment and that consciousness is in a process of evolution, I also know that when reality sets in the illusions and dreams dissolve and everything changes because you are no longer a human being but a being of consciousness that observes life and functions from that space of being. Having said all that, good luck with your proposal and your own personal growth.

Off course when one `s awakened there`s an enormous power realm behind all actions, call it God, Being or Consciousness. Actions out of enlightenment you can not compare with actions out of individual consciousness. They are of a different order. To give you an amazing example; In 1980 a young guy from India landed in Paris. A woman spotted him and asked him what his plans where. The young boy told her he came to Europe because people around the world needed him and he wanted just to help. She invited him to her home and he started to teach her. A few weeks later he has given teachings to dozens of people and was invited to the Netherlands. Two weeks later Germany followed. One year later he started an organisation devoted to teach people meditation. Today his organisation, known as The Art of Living, has given meditation-lessons for more than 350 million people in more than 150 countries. The boy himself, known as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, still lives in a small kutir in his Ashram and is a living example what it means to just give in life. Leo`s idea, to discover your existential nature first, is a big truth. It`s just that only a few are able to go all the way. And even when not enlightened, one can contribute to the world when one`s sincere and is having the right intentions.

I had no idea Russell Brand had such a high level of awareness until I saw this video. I wonder if he is very close to being enlightened or actually is enlightened. A lot of the things he says are the same exact things Leo has been sharing with us in his videos.

@Hardik jain I've been awakened. Not enlightened yet.

People are not flocking to or becoming enlightened in droves, there has never been but a few out of each generation that actually awakened and self realized. The number of people who will self realize in your lifetime will only be a handful. Most are not going to give up their programing, beliefs or identity. The few that are awakening and have a desire to grow and learn is not all that many. Most of them have no idea what self realization is, or what it isnt. In any public forum you have every kind of people, Those who want to grow and have a desire are looking for something they don't have, they need to be able to hear the reality of what real growth and self realization is about, without being watered down so everyone isnt offended. Any time you are confronted with programing, false belief and ego, you are going to get resistance. I am not trying to awaken the world, I speak to those who have begun to awaken, who have a desire for personal growth and have a real interest in self realization, and i will never withhold the reality of things to make those who are programed with a false belief system feel a little better. In this kind of work you have the right to choose who you listen to, if its over your head and you dont want to try and grasp it, simply ignore it and keep going the way you are going until it no longer works for you, but dont try to stifle the ones who are actually doing it. Only those who are ready for a thing are going to grasp it. some are going to be offended because reality has a way of hurting peoples ego. If there is something you dont like about a post or its too advanced for you, you are not required to respond or complain about it, simply leave it and go on, someone who is ready will pick it up and learn from it.

@Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj Hey! I was where you are, a Zen monastery was everything i wanted to go to. Let me tell you this from my humble point of view. Going to a Zen monastery won't give you a single bit of an advantage on your way. Yes, not a single bit. If this is what resonates though, go do it. Give all that you have to it. Go there and don't expect to come back. I had so many fantasies about a Zen monastery only to not face myself where i am at RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW. One thing to remember: In a Zen Monastery you are on your own as you are where you are now. There won't be anyone to help you. And expect facing excruciating doubts day in and day out. And one more thing: A realisation inside monastery walls is this everything you want? There are many "awakened" monks who try their luck in the "real world" and just fuck up. Bringing it to life in everyday regular normal life is the real deal. So i'd suggest you find a genuine teacher first. And don't get me wrong Zen is a beautiful way.

A real awakening is waking up from the person, seeing through it's illusion. So if the person is taking credit of the experience it will not last. Are there signs? Yes there is. An awakened person wants attention and respect for being enlightened. He can be a douche. Feel like he is better than others who hasn't "awakened". Someone who has truly realized what they are will never act this way. They will rather keep quiet.

@bernieboy20 Either your awakened, or you continue to live in the matrix of the mind. Your choice. Awakening is not something you do for others. Although they will most likely benefit in some way from your awakening. "If" you awaken, ask yourself again, "What exactly is a Weirdo?" You may find that the definition has changed drastically for you!

I dont know you're enlightened or awakened but I believe you are opening your mind so does your possibility. You was brave man. There's a quote from GameOfThrones that I found it very useful to fight fear and anxious. "Let me give you some advice bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you." -Tyrion Lannister

*I feel like I should put a trigger warning here. My intent is not to offend anyone. If you have been the victim of a sexual offense in the past, please consider carefully whether you want to read this.* I am not new to self-help, and am actually quite well-read (or I thought I was anyway). The truth is for many years I steered far away from anything that smelled of religion or spirituality, because as a young man I was a zealous overeager Jesus Freak. I was involved in a charasmatic church that held beliefs similar to those of the now infamous Westboro Baptist Church. In fact, in those days, if I had known about Westboro Baptist Church, I probably would have joined it. I was a very damaged young man. When I first joined the church, I was full of joy and happiness and I really felt like I was in touch with God. The forgiveness story of Jesus is powerful stuff for someone who feels they aren't good enough, and I never was, until I found Jesus. But slowly, the joyful message of a loving God became twisted as i listened to my youth pastor rave about the evils of premarital sex and lust, and how God despises that in a young man above all. And I bought it all. I felt God's eyes turning from me in shame every time I masturbated. I was truly psychotic with shame and guilt and confusion. And an opportunity arose in which I was watching three children of a friend of mine, and the children were "playing doctor" naked in the house, and it occurred to me that this was just play and it was okay to join them and I did, and then i was instantly crushed with shame. I never did anything like it again and I never will and if I could go back in time and change it, I would, but I can't, and the past doesn't exist anyway--except it does--what is the past? It's just story, right? Anyway, I confessed my crime, and I spent more years in prison than I should have because I continued to punish myself and sabotaged my chances for release. When I finally go out, I went to school and sabotaged myself, and got an amazing job and sabotaged myself, I went back to school and finished my degree. I started a business. I got married. I had a kid. I've sabotaged myself every time I got close to succeeding because I didn't think I deserved to succeed. I am 45 years old and own a small Internet business which is failing miserably for many reasons. But something is happening to me and I am breaking the cycle. It started when I discovered cannabis a few years ago, and was able to get some relief from my anxiety and agoraphobia, I began to go through a process of self-examination then. Then my father passed away and this January, my mother, and I went into a VERY dark place. I have been in a pitched battle for my soul since December. I don't know how else to put it. I was restless and anxious and searching and searching for answers, and I came here, and i felt like Leo was speaking directly to me. I had some health issues that were directly related to my stress, but I overcame them and now I am awake. It's my life. How can I be the part of the reality that is what i call me, or share my gifts with anyone if I am afraid people will hate and persecute me? But really it doesn't matter if they hate me, because I'm no one, I get that now, but my story is important. People should hear it, as a cautionary tale if nothing else. I don't need to tell it non-anonymously though, I think. It is not who I am anymore. It was 26 years ago. I need to find a job, but I am afraid people will do a background check and find out about my past. I have an accounting degree and a lot of business experience. I have been self-employed for the last 9 years and counting and know a little about online marketing and website building and wordpress and ecommerce and Kickstarter (I have had several successful Kickstarter campaigns). Without bragging, I may not know the cutting edge of business apps and technology, but I'm creative, insightful and I've been very successful at various times, but never able to continue the momentum because I was afraid if I got too big, people would find out about me somehow. Once I had money, people would try to blackmail me, I need a job or my wife is going to leave me. I'm going to exercise a little of a word I haven't thought about in a long time: faith. I'm posting this because I want to have faith that there is someone out there who is on the middle path, who could maybe use someone to team up with. Maybe you want to team up with my business or I could team up on your endeavor, or something, but I'd like to find someone else who is awake and actively pursuing enlightenment. Is it wrong of me to want to team up with another actualized person? I really need some help. I am experiencing brand new things. Like, this is seriously changing the way I live my life. I am almost sure it's just a trick or that I'm being duped, that it can be so easy to just live your life the way you want to and experience these thoughts and emotions as just another something that happens, like a headache, but you just feel it and let it go. There's nothing you can do about a headache other than taking a couple of pills and letting it pass. It doesn't do any good to get upset with the headache. It's the same way with these stupid emotions. It doesn't do anyone any good to get upset and ruffled by them. They are part of our experience. It doesn't do to blame our pasts for who we are. Our past is part of our story, but our story hasn't been written yet. This idea that I'm damaged because i suffered through all of this crap in my past is true, and it's true that there are an awful lot of people who would rather spit on me than accept me as a brother, but none of that matters. I can live my life in the moment and life is beautiful and I feel like I can actually FEEL my consciousness expanding, like my mind is swelling with new possibilities of new ways to experience life without letting my emotions control me. My wife and daughter think I have lost my mind but in a beautiful way. I have the best conversations with my daughter now. It was so hard for me to connect with her before, because I never really wanted a child. My wife really wanted a child, and I wanted my wife to be happy, but I was always filled with anxiety, not that I would ever do anything to hurt my child, but that someone would recognize me and think something awful of me. But that doesn't matter either now. In a way, the experience of having a child has forced me to confront these anxieties. I can't escape her. And i don't want to. She is amazing. She's super smart and she reads to me or I read to her every night and she's undoubtedly one of the best things in my life. I found myself editing and revising a lot of this after I wrote it as my ideas about what I am going through are kind of evolving. I can't really explain what is happening to me, but i don't want it to stop. I want to get better, and I don't want to just get better for a little while and fail again. I believe I can do that now, and I am very grateful for these videos. I also wouldn't mind a hand up if someone was interested in taking on an apprentice or partner or employee... I just want to be around people who are awake.

@Electron You will still be able to think about these things after enlightenment. Alot of the minds activities will go away but it will only be the me-thoughts. Your mind will be clearer and better used for what it was meant be used for. It will be easier to not cling on to a thought, being able to see different perspectives. Maybe not a physisist but Sam Harris is a scientist that has awakened.

@werlight Oh yea, On my question about "what happens after awakening?" I felt like I wanted to share this awareness with everyone I know. But I usually don't. Not everyone. It would be beautiful if everyone could experience this. There would no such word as enlightenment because everyone would be awakened.

@StonerLord I wish I could give you an answer. I don't meditate on a daily basis. @TwoDays It's just thought. If "I" had identified with the thoughts "I" would have stopped the sitting. "I" believed "I" had awakened but it was just an experience that "I" had grasped and identified with.

Video for penduling after being awakened (the true awakening, not the woowoo) Once you have awakened to the truth of who you are, there will be a bit of a penduling between person and REAL you. Use this video to get you to the center.

A self is just a label, a concept. No external factor can change that you don't exist. As for proving this is the case, I say just keep doing the enlightenment work. I'm not enlightened, but on good faith, I'll go ahead and say it will make sense when you are truly awakened. After all, nothing exists besides nothingness.

It's clear now. What happened a year ago was an experience that the "I" grasped and started to identify with. The awakened "me". I am the truth it thought. It just had a taste and it never got to see the truth. It was never awake 'cause it cannot.

Enlightenment is like an answer of a problem given to you, and you are told to figure it out only to realize that it can't be figured out, and that realization is enlightenment. When you first listened about enlightenment, your mind automatically made a concept out of it. Imagine every label, belief and concept to be like data that requires processing to exist in the first place, Furthermore, processing requires attention. Processing of the data, according to me is the identification. Thats what causes suffering. What we are required of, to be awakened is to somehow pull the attention from the processing. Pulling away the attention is the real tricky part. So how do you do that? You can't, because if you need to do something about it, you are going to end up processing the data, which is the thing that we are trying to run away from. So an action is to take place other than the processing of the data, and guess what, such an action isn't there, but still whatever happens ,in its essence is an action, a nil action so to speak, and what comes next I think is the awakening. (These are just insights from my own short awakening experiences) Notice that these are also words and labels being processed in your mind while you are reading them.

Like I've stated previously in a different topic on the same category; once awakened or enlightened, it does not mean you stop working at your job or stop paying bills. The only difference is you are aware of a truth that others who are not awakened or enlightened are not aware of. It doesn't give you superpowers, just a different conscious perspective. You still think and experience emotion, you just don't identify yourself with them.

Hello there, my awakened (hopefully) friends, I'm new here and this is my first post, funny how I've just stumbled upon this particular topic which has been my daily routine for a few weeks now. So let me share my 50 cents on this I started taking cold showers on 5th January 2016. It's actually been my tool/mechanism for staying on-track with NoFap challenge, which I actually accomplished pretty comfortably in the end. I know deeply that cold showers have helped me tremendously with this quest, but I could not have ever imagined how significantly it would change my (perception of my) own life. To be brutally honest (as Leo often says), I didn't think I would hold on to this habit for too long. I just wanted to accomplish NoFap and cold showers seemed to me like a beneficial tool. I started off during winter season with as-cold-as-technically-possible water, the first time I've actually tried I literally couldn't catch my breath, I felt tremendous pain everywhere, my brain was frozen and my shower time was less than a minute long. But I've never taken a warm/hot shower since then yet. Today it's exactly 52 days of strictly cold showers for me. The benefits for me are (in no specific order): Super strong immunity, no illness whatsoever. Willpower level 9000. Confidence level 5000 and still going higher every single day. Great skin, great hair. Refreshing thing in the morning and sleep-inducing in the evening. Sort of meditation technique for me. After a rough day it seems to put me in a balanced state of mind. Before a rough day it makes me feel like a superman. I can do anything & everything. It turns my body into a lean and fit shape, no workout required. For real. And these are just the ones I can think of right now. I also noticed that I turn myself into an action-taker, I am (almost strangely) calmly confident, happy, positive and level-headed. More loving & caring as well. It goes hand in hand with bunch of other stuff that I also do (namely being a vegan for a few months now), but still, cold showers are for me The Catalyst which hugely helps me GROW myself every single day. And it's free! I write this post for you right after a cold shower, I can now take freezing cold water for up to 15 minutes straight with a smile on my face. I can really enjoy my time in a cold shower now, it's just amazing what it does to you when you surrender and let go of being slightly uncomfortable. My balls are ice cold even now (30 minutes later) and I start to become really tired now, but that's allright, I've done a lot today. I'll just do some self-improving reading and then go straight to bed (around 10PM). I should also note that cold showers helped to get me on my feet at 5AM every single day, something I wasn't capable of doing in the past. Lastly, I can give you a few tips on how to start. First, go with ice-cold water right off the bat. Do not be a pussy. Better go with 30-60 seconds of ice-cold shower and enjoy your time doing something better instead. Second, start with feet, then add your genitalia and then go straight for the head and the rest of your body. Breath out as hard and long as you can, it seems to help with the pain. Third, keep in mind that it's just a water. Water can not hurt you in any way (unless you try to drown yourself, of course). After all, you are mostly made of water, so what's the big deal? The ego holds you back, your body holds you back and your habit of being stuck in your comfort-zone holds you back too. So just go and beat it, it's definitelly worth it. I am proof that it can literally change your life for the better. You'll never go back to warm showers again. Good luck, stay healthy, enjoy your days. Don't forget to smile! - TK

I would respond in a way in which the other would regret his decision to spit on me. By the way, who ever said that an Awakened or Enlightened person wouldn't assert them self?

Well you said: What you know is that people who are truly awakened don't necessarily talk to you. I agree totally with what you're saying. Don't believe any of that, explore it for yourself, see if it's true or not.