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I witnessed something really important: I literally observed my mind generating suffering. a slight feeling of emptiness came up - after weeks of joy, love and bliss. the contrast was huge. the resistance too. I felt tensing up, not wanting to loose all the positivity I've 'gained' in the last months. it felt like a small death. slipping back into old patterns, old pain. there my mind played right into it: thoughts came up, fantasies of victimhood, suffering, loss, loneliness.. it created a whole cycle: thoughts deepened the painful emotions, which in turn stimulated new destructive thoughts, which again intensified the suffering. it was so painful, but also sweet in a strange way. I felt something in me grasping onto it. my ego? identifying with familiar patterns? I suddenly thought: whoa, wait. is this me? does this actually belong to me? am I really this suffering? as soon as I thought that, I felt it becoming less intense. I gained distance, as if observing it from afar or through a veil of fog. I instinctively knew what the answer was: to love the one who is in pain. and I genuinely want to love that one. I don't want to judge and beat myself up for suffering and for getting caught in old toxic patterns again. I really want to love myself. unconditionally and every single aspect of myself. if I only knew how..

Sorry. I did not mean to make it sound like "you're not so wise yet". Simply that the factors that lead me to Buddhism, and whatever factors lead you to your path differ. I was simply trying to point out what the differentiating factor might be. I am not enlightened in either sense of the word, yours or mine. But I have seen enough to have an idea of where the two paths might lead. I seek not happiness nor understanding. I know suffering in my heart, and if there is a way to put it to an end, then that is what is worth pouring my efforts into. I don't even mean to say that I'm depressed and I'm looking for happiness. Nah, I've tasted pure cosmic bliss and heaven. If I wanted to pursue cosmic union or non-dual "perfection of everything", I could have chosen to do so. But heaven doesn't wash out the taste of knowing that suffering exists. When you climb the throne of God and look down upon the cosmos and say "This is perfection", and the denizens of hell look up from their torment and find no saviour... well, then the search for a way out begins; a totally individual journey, although it is nice to have compassionate beings to help guide the way. I have noticed the hole, that's what this whole post is about. The hole is explicit and intentional, not an accidental "oops we forgot to talk extensively about the nature of reality, our bad!". It is pragmatic. Focus only on what is absolutely necessary to end suffering. You need not wonder about the nature of the burning house you are in. Just find the exit, and walk out.

Yup, triggered. This guy probably thinks Viktor E. Frankl is insane too. After all, the guy experienced moments of bliss at Auschwitz while he knew everyone he loved had been killed.

The mind is normally silent. I guess what you could call mood fluctuates around contentment, peace, happiness, joy, bliss, etc. There are moments when there is a feeling of more or less bliss, but I don't demand that there is always bliss. When I am most down (so to speak), there is contentment...which is not considered very low by most standards. Normally, I am just happy and at peace. I do not judge when I feel bliss as a better moment than when I don't feel bliss. Bliss or not blissful...doesn't matter. Just content and at peace either way.

@Mikael89 You are a all-powerful creative being, and always will be. You have the same potential as anyone you admire or look at AND greater. See that in yourself. You judge yourself lots beloved when you are more deserving and worthy of that. You are greater than the best vision of yourself you could imagine. Remember the times when you felt freedom, power, confidence and courage in your life. Remember the times too when you felt peace or bliss. What thoughts would such a person have about themselves? People underestimate the power of being forgiving and accepting to yourself, warts and all, for all of your flaws. You are worthy of every compliment you receive, for every smile you get from a stranger, and for every act of kindness done onto you. And in all of that you still deserve more love, not less. PS: lots of the things you post here are so amazing. Thank you for taking your time to do that, it's really appreciated. Also Mikael, you don't have to change anything about yourself. You are perfect just the way you are. We are on this Earth for a small amount of time, so we may as well celebrate, relax, and just have a good time in whatever way that looks like. You have so many more years to live, and you will look back and have a giggle ?

@Barry J Simply bring your awareness down to your Heart area in meditation, and keep returning this place whenever you get pulled into a thought. Focus on the Love that arises there, and if you can't feel it, still keep your attention there, and trust it will happen. Even if God appears keep focusing on the Love I also use like using simple intuitive affirmations throughout the day, they are also very effective for opening the Heart. In this practice, bring your awareness down into your Heart (it might help to feel the space of consciousness around and within you too to get grounded), and allow yourself to speak words of Love to your Heart, like a mini love-letter to your soul. Statements such as, "I am beautiful, and all of reality is beautiful", "I am Love, All is Love", "Everything is peaceful, I feel this peace all around me", "I am bliss, happiness, oneness and love right here and right now". Don't think about what the next word is, just speak while feeling your Heart.

@Recursoinominado yeah it really melts away the self, and the self is compiled with limiting non-sense. Thus, bliss and "higher self"

I started meditating since July 11th 2018 first month 20 minutes a day, second month 25 minutes a day, and about two weeks ago I started doing 25 minutes in the morning and 25 minutes before I go to bed. Then I bought Leo's book list and have recently finished reading Mastery by George Leonard. Now I'm working my way through the second book on the list which is Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. Hoooolly shit, just these two books alone + Leo's recent video technique on sending consciousness to where your body tension is located then sending a signal to relax it has made a noticeable change in my behavior/thoughts. The most prominent theme I've noticed since all of this self-actualizing work is a CONSTANT battle of 'self's' going at it. I answer a question in class correctly and the higher self get's validated, I get it wrong then the lower self gets validated. Get rejected by a girl or accepted by a girl, same thing, two different self's battling it out. I can literally see/feel it happening. Now, I've finally learned to drop all of this completely, to stop identifying with the good OR the bad and the effects are just pure bliss. I literally don't care what people think of me and I'm much much more grounded in who I am. I can't imagine reading all of the books on the book list and being able to apply all of the techniques. LOL. It's like being a low level in a game, then when you get to a high level the capacity of your abilities are 'god-like.' This is only from a few months of working on self-actualization too! Wow..I'm mind-fucked right now

Hypnogogic jerks are also known as sleep starts or hypnic jerks. They’re strong, sudden, and brief contractions of the body that occur just as you’re falling asleep. If you’ve ever been drifting off to sleep but suddenly wake with a jolt and a jerk of the body, you’ve experienced a hypnogogic jerk. I didn't know this Hypnic Jerk term prior to thinking about making this thread. Did a google search of what happened to me and this is what I got. I have experienced this before too, not just when meditating, but during school/class when boring and I am day-dreaming or falling asleep. So just today, during my meditation sit with eyes closed I guess I was getting sleepy and ready to fall asleep when this happened. Now each time this has happened to me, it's been the same experience. A very short+quick moment of blackness followed by that jolt which wakes/jerks you up. The time it takes is almost in an instant, almost like any deep-sleep state where no-matter if you slept for 5 mins or 5 hours, it feels the same - timeless. I was thinking that as I am trying to get the no-self experience during meditation, this happens... maybe it is at this point where I am about to get a glimpse but am unable to stay "conscious" through that process? One of the things, which is remarkably notable in that almost non-existent tiny moment of blackness is the deep relaxation/bliss which is felt. I would describe that brief relaxed moment as those mini sleeps we all get when we snooze our alarms. they pass by as if it took 0 seconds but they are so good. I could snooze all day on my day off just to enjoy those mini wake-ups and sleeps. so yeah, could this be just me dozing off to sleep and getting this state or could me wanting to get a no-self experience by clearing my mind have something to do with this... but as I am new to this, I am unable to sustain the experience?

I think it's a good thing to be skeptical of ideas but when I watch Leo's videos it opens my mind to different possibilities. I may not agree with these ideas or possibilities but it makes me question and look deeper into things. Even when it comes to enlightenment I thought that was just some nonsense belief but Leo clarified by calling it complete skepticism of everything. Although, when Leo talks about becoming God or experiencing bliss it seems like BS and one of those too good to be true things. But maybe that's just to get the ego engaged with inquiries and meditation to then become the "true self" or "no self". Although, when Leo talks about psychic ability supernatural phenomena and I see how this has been debunked time and time again I think he's just wrong. I guess if it's a real thing i'll believe it when I see it or if it looks like it has been verified by science. I don't really think it would be that hard to verify some of these things either if they are true.

right intention I know there is nothing. no reason, no purpose, no meaning. I've experienced that nothingness. the ego uses the mind to construct all of that. why? it's about survival. to keep going. to get up in the morning. motivation, goals, validation. to reassure I am, I exist, I matter. I matter in this world, I matter in other people's perceptions. it's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to judge that anymore. the k.ey is the light of awareness. I see that it's all a projection of my mind. but why not embracing it? I don't want to get rid of 'my' ego. I want to integrate it. I want to embrace it with love. the mind is a poor master, but a good servant. I create my own meaning, I've always done so. I can do it in a mindful, conscious manner. why am I doing all of this? why am I living at all? what's the purpose? what is my purpose in life? my mother says I'm egoistic, self-absorbed. that hurt me. am I? why do I spend so much time meditating, doing yoga, reading/studying, practicing mindfulness? my goals have changed over the last year.. what I am aiming for now is something completely different. I couldn't have ever imagined. I want to become empty. so empty, to be filled with the only thing there is: divine love. I'd like to become selfless, a mere vessel of love and compassion. all of that to serve; I want to heal and help others like I did with myself. I've managed to drag my poor soul out of self hatred and victim mentality. I would like to share all the bliss and love and empathy I've experienced since then. am I tricking myself there? is that ego searching for validation, a sense of importance? I don't know at this point. I hope not. it doesn't feel like that. my desire to share and to reach out feels genuine and deep. and if not, maybe it will become along my journey. to change the world one must change herself. I shouldn't feel guilty for spending so much time on myself and my inner journey. Matt is right, sometimes awareness can become quite toxic. when it's tinged with judgement. the answer? love. I want to deepen my self love <3

@Barry J lol the moment i let go of spiral dynamics and enlightenment i was in constant bliss and mystical experience once again!

Good one. There is a body consciousness and a Supreme consciousness. When you are experiencing body consciousness yiur desires and mind control you. Outside of it, nothing exists. Sin means to miss the mark. There is nothing like good and evil, only being on the path or away from the path. Jesus says that you can either serve the body or serve the mind depending where your consciousness is placed. You are sinning when you act upon the desires of the mind. (edited) When Awakening begins, you start to tap into the Self that awakens to itself. ENLIGHTEMENT IS LIBERATIONI SAMADHI - NIRVIKALPA - KNOWTYSELF The moment you think l am aware, that's athought, not Awareness. When you have become Awareness - and there is no more 'you' being aware (which is a thought) -then you are no longer here in the body. You have entered into states of SAMADHl in which your Awareness is somewhere else and in those somewhere else's lies realms and realms of realms of Equally Vali reality to this reality. It's a Realm Of Awareness where all i is ONE. In that Oneness, you feel as if you are one with every flower, with every tree with every stone and with every human being. The essence is pure at the basis of all. After a while you can sense the soil of your plants, you will feel the Volume of Space between you and the wall, you will be more sensory. ll D 20% 1:31 AM Space between you and the wall, you will be more sensory. When you reach that point, we can say that - you are INFINITE. You are on 'no man's land'. It will become extremely difficult to stay because you are experiencing INFINITE but you are still in a world of FINITE. You are not really going 'up, nor 'down'. You are never overly excited and never overly sad. The thoughts of sorrow and happiness no longer exist. You are 'steady', no-thing and every-thing at once- more like a 'wave. Here, Joy is not constant, therefore it will make less and less sense to stay. There will be no point. You will have to make Conscious Choice to "cling" to (or hold focus upon if you wish) something that belongs to the body in order to stay in the body. Your life is slowly becoming being the Fragrance of the flower, rather than the flower itself. STELL [Ram Dass, Sadhguru, Daniel Schmidt: Inner Worlds Outer Worlds] ll D 20% 1:31 AM Conscious Choice to "cling" to (or hold focus upon if you wish) something that belongs to the body in order to stay in the body. Your life is slowly becoming being the Fragrance of the flower, rather than the flower itself. STELL [Ram Dass, Sadhguru, Daniel Schmidt: Inner Worlds Outer Worlds] "We are not born into the world. We are born into something that we make into the world." - Michael Talbot, Mysticism and the New Physics "Death may take man out of the world but only wisdom can take the world out of the man. - Manly P. Hall "A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities. -J.R.R. Tolkin "Absolutely everything is happening in your mind, which means that your mind is not in your body. Your body is in your mind"- COurse in miracles n "Absolutely everything is happening in your mind, which means that your mind is not in your body. Your body is in your mind."- COurse in miracles Outstanding work, my compliments. xx.. 2 _______________________________ Chakras 1 Root physical needs basic, basic health Sacral desires and passions 3 Solar plexus productivity and work and energy 4 Heart emotions and spirit, ego, self identity, self esteem, prams or life force, identification with the self image, liberation, detachment, oneness consciousness, morality, duality of existence and body consciousness, universe or oneness consciousness and body consciousness, detachment for spiritual relief 5 Throat words and language and media, influence, senses Third eye ~ gut instincts, intuition, feeling, perception, study, research, knowledge, insight work, shadow work. Differentiation between cognitive and reptilian brain. Transcending of the mind. Transcending to suppress senses and avoid getting fooled and have realistic understanding of environment 7 Crown thoughts and consciousness work intentions, attention, focus, awareness, intelligence, wit, sharpness, karma actions. Chakra healing means balancing these various points in life because they govern life. It's close replica of the Maslow hierarchy of needs Based on the object, system, observer concept. Chakra traps Sleeping without schedule, allowing bad thoughts, Paradigm consciousness - the consciousness associated with your current body, self identification, ego and current condition. It's more or less fixed and is very susceptible to the changes in the environment and very fickle, at the mercy of the conditions. It's only blissful as long conditions are constant and pleasant. Fluid consciousness. This is moldable with the use of your cognition and imagination powers. You can feel happy or sad depending on how you feed your mind and control your responses. The one thing that holds you back from experiencing the fullest extent of this consciousness is the paradigm and body consciousness. Body consciousness is nothing but body identification. When both paradigm and body identification are strong, they inhibit the stretching of the fluid consciousness to the extreme level or fullest extent. It's like a wall or a bottle that separates. Oneness consciousness is universal consciousness or consciousness of one creation. As move along the chakra and evolve spiritually, we move from the lower red consciousness towards the upper blue Consciousness. Our consciousness is a mix of red, orange, yellow and green, blue. Even the blue Consciousness has shades. This is the field of the fluid consciousness. In the beginning we experience lighter shades of blue and specs of dark blue scattered throughout. This is because we only experience glimpses of the God consciousness or great bliss. There is nothing eternal about it. The consciousness itself is eternal but You only experience it for as long as you allow it and remain in that state. Once you come back, you are again in the yellowed parts or just the lighter shades of blue with the usual specs. The further end of this blue spectrum is the dense deep blue which represents God consciousness. Again. In your human form you will only experience glimpses of this, the effect will be more or less permanent, or at least long lasting and you will feel better but this is not an eternal experience or a life long permanent one, it's only as long as you get to feel it. So embrace and cherish it while you experience it. Omega consciousness spectral. Moving from red towards blue. From red towards blue as you work on your chakras, consciousness and consciousness precursor complex elements. This is moving from the fluid consciousness towards the deeper end of it, closer to God consciousness. It's more than enough if you are towards the middle of the spectrum with the slightly deeper shades. You already experience bliss and mental stability and peace here. Further exploration towards the deepest end might lead to dissociation from reality and discomfort when you return back to your yellow blue zone. Paradigm consciousness can also be improved but the effect is conditional and dependent on the external conditions and therefore fluctuating. It can be improved by improving outer conditions of existence. It does create happiness, not deep bliss, just everyday feeling of euphoria and happiness, the kind that you get when you win a video game, it's temporary and fragile, it's what society usually defines as happiness derived from material pleasures of money, wealth, success, pleasures, entertainment, excitement, romance, beauty, achievement, attention, adulation. Most people only strive to achieve this and usually get dejected and give up spiritual pursuits assuming that life is only limited to reality and material /physical world. They forget to explore further. Those who experience this happiness feel this is adequate leading to dissatisfaction when things don't work out anymore the way they once did. They get blinded and everything appears to be a blur as long as they are enjoying things. For others who have a deeper perception, they break out of the social conditioning and feel inadequate despite having everything that defines success, these people then look for different spiritual paths to fill the void and seek bliss. The void is because of not experiencing blue consciousness. Those who experience it no longer feel the void and are fulfilled. Most people are just unaware of the void because they fill up their time and attention with other distractions and pleasures. Throughout your journey towards a fluid consciousness and deep bliss, the universal laws remain the same, so even if someone thought to manipulate the world through evil doings, they are just pushing themselves further away from the divine truth and towards the red consciousness, they are only causing damage to themselves. They will find it even more difficult to seek peace and more struggle to reach the blue zones. It's in the red consciousness that karma meets. So they have to face consequences of their own misdeeds and problems. Those in the blue zones are enjoying fruits of their hard labor and those in the red are getting ready to face the effects of their bad karma. Karma exists everywhere because it only represents cause and effect, work and fruit. But it's strongest in the red zones because the conflict between action and consequence is highest there. It's like the energy of a stable ocean is lower than the energy of a destructivr hurricane. There's a lot of energy in the red zone, hence red like fire[since fire is like a concentration of energy], this is the energy of chaos and conflict and destruction. In the blue, the energy is stable and passive and steady, not frenzied or violent. So if someone thought they are being smart by manipulating the world, they are only deceiving themselves and living in delusion. Therefore they are foolish. There's nothing to come from evil actions other than chaos and misery and turbulent flow of energy. There will be so much dysfunction that it will be impossible to bring a stable state. Such people are just doing more harm not only to others but more to themselves. They will never experience peace or lasting happiness. They will suffer in the dungeons of their own hell they created. They are creating a prison planet trapped in the envelope of their wicked desires and harmful passions. They are creating a huge wound that will need much inner work to heal. They are not necessarily evil but their actions are harmful. Body is the shelter for the consciousness. Body identification ends at death. Satan, lucifer, devil, demon are all metaphors. There is no devil and there is no evil, only good and destructive. Body consciousness is the hell and the ego component is the devil. Consciousness precursor complex elements are associated with different chakra and their associated energies. Thought - crown ( mental energy ) Word - throat Chakra (energy of chant or sound ) Emotion - heart or spirit (spiritual and emotional energy, the highest ) what the heart feels. Intention - third eye (mental energy ) Attention - third eye (mental energy ) Visualization - crown and third eye (mental energy ) Quality - lower Chakra or solar plexus (physical energy ) action - crown Chakra (physical energy ) Desire and passion - sacral chakra. [spiritual energy] Body consciousness arises from the reptilian brain and God consciousness or fluid consciousness arises from the cognitive[human brain] and spiritual brain. The spiritual brain is the spirit or the heart. Spirit is merely energy. Heart is the director of this energy. It's like spirit is like a negative film and the heart is the image on it. How the heart feels will determine the image and the strength of this image. If the feeling is strong, this image is sharper otherwise faded. The physical nature of things or reality or the physical dimension is limited in its problem, resources and solutions. It's good and bad at the same time. If the physical was infinite then we would have been immortal, in that case it also means eternal suffering and if the physical dimension was infinite it means that our suffering will have no boundary. We would suffer terrible hell and it can go to any length, it can manifest in horror, because now there is no end to what can happen to the body during such suffering. Because the physical dimension is limited, our physical suffering is also limited. The worst that can happen is death. Therfore we need not worry. The suffering will or can never be greater than death. Also if someone is prep evil like a evil dictator he cacnot go on doing evil things forever because someday he is going to die. So the physical limitations do not provide a ground for evil to reign eternal. There is no permanent physical hell which is good news. The bad news is that it's like a double edged sword. So even the solutions are limited. The happiness is limited. You eat a cake and you feel happy but you start craving again. Also if there is suffering like a disease you may not have a cure for it. This is because the physical world has boundaries and there are things for which there is just no solution at all other than acceptance and endurance. But still even the acceptance and endurance is only till death. But the spiritual world is infinite.. There anything can happen. You can dream, imagine absolutely anything and nobody can stop you. It's a virtual world where anything is possible and every disease has a cure and every desire has a place.. This again is like a double edged sword. Because it gives you the freedom to limitless imagination and thought and desire. You can create a heaven in your thoughts but you can also create a hell if that's what you chose. And these desires can then start bugging you. When these desires are not fulfilled in real life, they can create massive conflict. However the good news is that even though you felt tortured and in pain because of your condition, you can choose to not feel the pain or at least reduce the severity of a feeling by imagining good things and taking your mind off the bad things and choosing to focus only on the good. You can choose to feel miserable about being by bullied someone or feel good and imagine something nice and forget or ignore what that person said. The possibilities are limitless of what can be created in the mind. In order to experience the fluid consciousness, you do not have to give up paradigm consciousness [just have to control it enough] or you do not have to give up desires of the physical world or pleasures of the senses. You don't have to be free of your physical dimension. You don't have to forget body identification. Although desires to some extent are manipulations of the mind or mind tricks, they are essential for life to move on. Like the desire for romance is essential for procreation. So not all desires are worthless or redundant. But some desires are just not important enough and they are an undue source of misery. It's a misunderstanding to think that somehow in order to experience spiritual bliss you have to give up material pursuits and desires and be devoid of desires. This is ridiculous. Because it means you have to lead a very bland life, a very mundane existence. Most religions both in the east and the west focus on giving up everything for spiritual pursuits. Excessive suppression of desires is not healthy, can lead to perversions, depression, isolation from the social world and tendency to do things in a secretive manner that is behind closed doors. It is also very encouraging of hypocrisy. In fact it's very difficult to control desires and may lead to intense frustration and conflict. Such a things appears unnatural. There seems to be a stigma of sin associated with desires in most religions. This is unnecessary. Also this causes more people to not take religion and spirituality seriously because they don't find it feasible or practice to avoid all desires. It may not be healthy or normal. It's a age old paradigm that has been passed down through generations without dissent or question. It appears totally ridiculous to completely avoid desires. How are desires harmful. Desires are harmful only when they cause harm to the self or others. Or when they totally control the mind so much that it leads to obsession and addiction. But otherwise having a harmless desire and fulfilling it is completely normal and healthy too. We are given desires by nature, not to forget that, hence its natural to feel the way we feel.. It's unnatural only when it goes overboard. People without desires may get depressed. This may not be healthy, also such person might become uninteresting, morose, robotic and devoid of feeling. You can always follow the path of consciousness even while you have your desires without the desires creating any conflict on your spiritual path If the desire is creating conflict and obsession and or addiction and interrupting the spiritual work on consciousness and it might be necessary to either get rid of such desire or control it so it doesn't control you. In such a case, where you feel like only your desires are running your world, and tricking and controlling your mind then this is when and where you need to get rid of desires and body identification so that you can freely focus on your spiritual dimension and do consciousness work and break the glass bottle to experience the fluid consciousness. This is where your paradigm consciousness is causing some trouble to your overall growth and it's time to drop it for a while to take a dip in the consciousness ocean. This never means that you have to cpmplety give up paradigm consciousness. It only means learning how to manage and balance and control it.

How much does it shit in the woods? I think its a really good question, one as a 20 year spiritual practitioner have found myself blindly thinking suffering goes on more then it maybe does. I can see how this has formed a perhaps false idea of reality, and served as a reason to feel as though I have a solution to all this suffering (not to say the spiritual life and lessons can uplift or benefit humanity). Its also weighed on my heart in a belief that reality is a lot worse then maybe it actually. I mean if we are to take into account any use of happiness surveys that ask how much a person feels content for what ever reasons that feel they are content, or summarize how they feel during a question of if they are happy, who is to say thats not happy? From what I've read it seems like people stat being relatively happy/content 50-70%. Interesting though that this is across 100 or so countries (a really interesting side fact is all countries when asked what do they think is the average level of happiness of the general population, they answer 30-50% lower then reported). Its really easy to think everyone deep down is really just a mess and suffering, and perhaps it is this way, but the percentage of people that have psychological issues (anxiety, depression of all levels, bi-polar, suicide statistics, etc) It's maybe 20% of the population. Sure maybe people are "self" medicating via drugs, alcohol, and food, and what ever craving we can think of, but perhaps some of this is a projection onto a generalized whole from a spiritual slant. I mean I believe a lot of the people who get into spirituality and the ones that awakened to something greater, had a lot going on, perhaps more then the average joe, their experience of humanity may not be a actual reflection of the human condition. Im no expert, but if I had to guess the general okayness/not suffering/kinda content of the general population is 40-50%, 20-30% pretty happy (even if its not for reasons of self knowing, bliss, god recognition) and then a gradual gradation going down into the into unhappy/suffering levels. Still lots to improve, its just not what I think the people who are really suffering and seeking spirituality generally think. Again I'm talking about general feelings of ones life, not if there isn't impactful emotional moments or tragedies, I think these are more common and most people face stuff that is regarded as hardship, but I'm not sure if that makes "most" people not like their life

They will only know themselves as a thought and emotions. Thoughts change, emotions change; they suffer, they are happy. There is a difference between happiness and bliss too. They only reach a shallow level of happiness. But life can still be fulfilling to a certain degree, especially if you are doing things you are passionate about. But you can’t make even a small comparison when you haven’t experienced your true nature. Strive for that, and see for yourself. And hang out with these happy people you talk of too, see their lives behind closed doors. Everyone in high school thought I was happy, and had everything I ever wanted. Intelligent, a great leader, with almost the whole school loving me. Yet I was deeply suffering on the inside, and not even my family knew about it until a few years later. That’s how good we are at wearing masks ? It’s better to live naked.

It depends on the substance and the intent I strongly believe that everyone should try at some point under guidance or with mature intent Also be wary of chasing the bliss

You have gained lots of awareness of your body, it’s quite the experience losing yourself to its beauty, and grace. There is lots of things I do too like body scans before bed, feeling food digest, the weight of my feet on the Earth, even simple Asanas. But through out all of this I always stay aware of the Love in my Heart, because I know that this brings the energy of your Soul/God/Bliss into everything you do. That is the most important aspect of all of this, where are living life from? You can be aware of your body, but as long as you are lost in a imaginary story in your head, you will suffer. So keep it simple, stay in the heart, and feel what you have been searching for, and if you can’t feel the Unconditonal Love trust it will come From that place you can be aware of you body on a much deeper level. The Heart has made me sensitive to my chakras, and slight movements in the muscles. It relaxes all of the subconscious tension we hold naturally, and effortlessly; and even increases the vibratory frequency of our cells. So for for the deepest body awareness, to feel a sense of oneness with the body, and then every form that arises make sure to have Heart awareness. But once you find the infinite Bliss that resides in there would you then desire to be aware of your body, or to bask more in that Bliss with your awareness? Namaste ?And great topic!

Breath in, breath out. Do this for ~30 minutes a day to feel better about your pathetic life and maybe one day you will attain some sort of mystical state where you will have permanent joy and bliss! You may even get an altered state of consciousness and access private secret knowledge! Woo! This is what modern day spirituality is about, a total hack. Tyler's quote ; " In a catastrophic emergency you're taking giant panic breaths , suddenly you become euphoric , docile , you accept your fate. Calm as Hindu cows! How to break free? Unplug from this ''spiritual'' crap, go outside and do whatever the fuck you want to do! Stop being so sterile and respectable and '' clean '' , this is all BS. You're a dirty ape that requires daily showering & feeding itself just to keep itself alive. You can't force spirituality by meditating, I've meet kids who are more spiritual than Zen masters who practiced the most advanced techniques out there. All those techniques keep you chained, break free! If Leo is authentic then he should read this with an open-mind and see that he's just deceiving himself.

I've decided I want to start fresh onto a new journal since things have become very different for me - and my perspective has changed dramatically. Upon waking this morning I immediately felt 'bad' feelings in my body and I knew it was due to the thoughts of uncertainty and worry I still inevitably possessed. I closed my eyes with the intention to turn these negative thoughts into positive ones and to then feel better. It felt as though I was learning to ride a bike. At first, I'd only catch a few glimpses of good/peace and then finally, the good/peace grounded itself, stayed and I felt much better. That was the first time I was able to intentionally do that and in that way. Normally I would have to resort to other people or to positive audios or videos, resort to chasing pleasure to get a moment of feeling better or I would have to write down each limiting/negative belief and do the 7 step process to change it which still then didn't work nearly as well as this. It felt very empowering to be able to do that by myself and in that way. It was as if I knew and intentionally decided the way I wanted to think and feel. It's more productive, useful and being down and negative is just the opposite. I don't want to go into what has been happening with me the past few months whatever you want to call it "Dark night of the soul", "Transitioning from stage Orange to stage Green" or "Ego-backlash", it doesn't matter anymore and engaging in thinking of what it was, why etc is no longer my focus. I'm looking ahead now and with new lenses. I clearly see the situation I am in and the things that need to be handled and I'm good with that. First I must find a job and as soon as possible. It's all about being able to pay for my shelter and food. It's not that challenging as I have a lot of opportunities. I just need to be sure I can make money on time. It's certain I can make money but the deadlines are what I need to be mindful of. Resourcefulness comes into play here. Perhaps I need to be creative. This is all just short term. I feel a great sense of relief that I no longer have chains weighing myself down about climbing ladders, status, winning and accomplishment. Over these past months I had a brick hit me in the face basically and these things no longer interested me and so I have not been doing them well and therefore the money is not coming in. I ended up letting go of a lot of opportunities these past few months. I see these endeavours for what it is now and that gives me a great sense of relief. Like I said I have a lot of opportunities to make money still but these opportunities are not easy. It's business development and marketing and so I don't think I want to continue doing these things long term. Not because it's not easy, I'm very talented and there is a reason I get these opportunities, I've earned them through the years and through reputation, the thing is my soul, my mind and values no longer allow it. I will find something laid back and easy and fun but until then I must accept the situation I put myself in...or my Orange self has put myself in. Right now I have 4 social media accounts/companies to do work for, still have that fine dining restaurant for group parties and the other opportunities, I let go of. I told my partner for my startuplv.org project that I am moving the launch date from Oct 1 to Nov 1st due to personal circumstances and he said he understands. So that is off my back for at least a little while. It's still something I want to complete, it has a good cause. The most important thing to me is my life purpose project which I've only just mapped out. Right now with my circumstances, my immediate priority, however, is making money to cover shelter and food and making it sustainable, easy and not something that sucks the life, energy and creativity out of me. I know that everything will fall into place as it should. I know I am on the right track. That shift in mindset and priorities, what had set me into that deep depression has actually been a great blessing. I can see it now. I'm excited to see what is next and I am now keeping my eyes on the true prize. The rat race, societal norms and opinions that are not useful to me are no longer important to me. I feel a sense of freedom and a lightheartedness to me. I'm excited for what is next. I can't wait to feel a sense of passion when I wake up every morning, love, bliss, fulfilment and excitement.

Last night i experience psychedelic with avalokitesvara mantra(aum mani padme hum) for the first time, i felt my 7 chakra activate and line up and immediat my consciousness switch into something else,i was in pure bliss for 30minute

Nice post. Yes, love suffering. Create some loving story in your mind that makes suffering seem like the biggest gift you have ever been given. Such as if you get cancer, you can say then, "Thank you Universe for taking everything away from me, even my strong attachment this body I express myself in, so that I have the opportunity to know who I am, I look forward to more suffering, do not hold back for I want to become one with God in this life in a state of eternal bliss." Everything is neutral, so we can project onto it a loving definition, and this definition will open our Hearts wide open. And then all we can do from there is surrender to the Heart in totality, but first we must awaken it by loving whatever arises the best we can. Because everything in this reality is inside the mind of God, and since God is perfect, that means everything that is, was and will be is perfect, and that you are perfect. Use effort to see through the same perspective of God, love whatever He gives to you a tiny bit more each time. You are the son of God. Feel it, have faith in this. Your Heart fills with Love.

sometimes they take both after. take care, but for me it worked a lot like this. but not for everyone, I ve seen many friend fall for both. ( I do not drink alcohol seriously 1 year after starting weed ) But I NEVER did alcohol at home alone ( or just a beer ) I do not drink any alcohol besides, even at event. ( It has been 3 years without being "drunk" but I was high for sure haha ) I love weed, it's already enough to calm down ( with music it's bliss ). Choose your tool, not every tool. Alcohol don't sound like a wise choice at all. Focus on all the bad feeling after alcohol, best way to hate it.

This isn't an anti-enlightenment thread. It's a sincere inquiry. Later on in the conversation we came to the cessation of suffering, and then a level deeper about whether there's an ultimate bliss state or not. Not sure how that's being anti-enlightenment.

There is different side of the truth that you can discover. The one that appears the most common is self-realization, which looks like a lucid dream (but ofc different), so you can be extremely sad or in physical pain, but it's not really a problem cause you don't identify as those emotions/body sensations. If you had a lucid dream where you constantly get killed, you kinda intuit how it could be (a little bit). Then you have enlightenment or god realization where you have a ridiculous amount of bliss and love because you realize everything that you experience is you. There is other stages prior to self realization, and there are other after god realization. It would be nice if Leo make an episode on the non dual map, cause it can be pretty hard to find on the internet. I found one someday, but I didn't save it ?

This seems to be the best explanation I could come up with too. The cessation of suffering, as much as you can. The question for me is, does Enlightenment simply center you or does it swing you completely to the opposite side of suffering? It seems to be more of a calm, centered energy. Though we like to believe there is an extreme bliss state awaiting for us on the other side. I'm not saying this isn't the case, but I'm afraid it could be a trap. Could holding out for this bliss state be the attachment which keeps us suffering?