Search the Community

In order to find out for yourself, there first has to be the faith that absolute knowledge is possible. Faith in the practices. Faith (really, trust) of this sort eventually transcends itself. And the culmination of absolute knowledge is not a dualistic knowing. Any ideas about nonduality are false. Only the direct lived-reality will do, and it's the absence of doubt or belief -- i.e. faith. I can tell which faith you're talking about, and I agree with you, but that's not the faith I'm talking about.

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that I feel a dozen times better than ever. I dont know what it is that guides, it's essentially just choosing thoughts that feel good to me. I dont have to focus on bad feeling thoughts. And this is what guides me through everyday with a goddamn smile. With that understanding I can totally be with whatever comes. Seeing that there are not two is absolutely liberating. Because it is just the most verifiable "thing" in direct experience. Srsly this is the song Im jamming all day long at the moment. Just fits perfectly (of course it doesnt imply nonduality directly)? https://youtu.be/jUjDcqdvCrk?t=1m01s

I'm happy because I actually follow Nonduality as my contextualization of reality. There is nothing else but this, and this is perfect.

Media Consumption Analysis: Self Development Channels Earlier in 2021 I decided to take a break from self help content and I think it has paid off a lot. I developed a healthier relationship with self help, was able to branch out more in my interests, and not get into this cycle of constantly fixing things about myself. I think it also helped me develop relationships with people because I feel like often times when you get so caught up in self help, there is a part that can sometimes consciously or subconsciously develop that is like *I'm so developed, I'm more developed than most of the people here, it's lonely at the top* or that is like *look at all of the unconscious masses, they are so superficial.* And yes, while it is true that odds are you are more aware than some people and that there are indeed superficial people out there, there are also plenty of people who are interested in growing as people and having good conversations about what is going on in their lives even if they aren't immersed in self help or spirituality. And sometimes, you need to just give yourself some distance from the self help/ spirituality content and let yourself just be a person. A lot of Ana Psychology's content coincides with her research and studies as a psychology doctoral candidate. I really appreciate how she breaks down multiple studies and adds nuance to common presumptions especially in things like dating so there aren't a bunch of hard and fast rules and so that the audience goes out to handle each situation as it's own rather than applying wide sweeping generalizations. I feel like I don't have to expand on HealthyGamerGG's content but yeah I really enjoy Dr. K's content. I found that Dani Foxx's content was crucial for me to get out of the spiritual ego I built for myself and heal/grow in a more sustainable pace. As for Actualized.org and Teal Swan, I have to admit that during this year I didn't delve into their content like I usually do. I did this intentionally because I needed to develop a healthier relationship with self development. I think this space helped me realize how the channels were and weren't serving me. I find myself in a gap in the content, especially when it comes to Leo's content, because it's like conceptually and from a self development point of view, I find myself already have integrated (I'm using the term integrated pretty loosely here to mean I have a good grasp on the theory and can apply it to a certain extent) a lot of the things he and Teal Swan talks about and much of it feels repetitive. That's not so say that Leo's content or Teal Swan's is repetitive rather it's to say that a lot of the concepts do overlap on one another and intersect other topics. But then there is this gap that forms where there is a large chunk of the content that feels repetitive and like I've already integrated it while there is a sizeable chunk of the content that I don't find myself anywhere near ready to integrate. This mainly has to do with Leo but personally, I'm not ready for a lot of the lessons on nonduality and psychedelics and I don't think I'm in a healthy enough place to implement those teachings in a healthy way instead of misinterpreting them. Like I've been saying, it's important to pace yourself on this journey.

Computer & banana are thoughts which appear and are believed quickly, and it seems like there are separate things, and thus it seems like you are a separate thing which was born and will die. Thought activity (and therein believing thoughts) slows down meditatively. Analogously, there are no computers and bananas in a dream. There is nothing ‘in’ a dream. One can not think enough to see reality as it is, as it is the activity of thinking which veils. The thoughts are dream too. Nonduality has no meaning in the sense the word doesn’t label or define anything, only points to what “it” is not.

@Tim R put it really well. As a scientist myself, let me tell you some words of caution: Doing actual science is extremely difficult, boring, repetitive, highly statistical and has for the most part nothing to do with the grandiose ideas you put forwards in your post. In fact, any reasearch faculty around the world will laugh at you if you come forward with such propositions. Can you do it without them? Propably not. Even if you could come up with the necessary financial support, your ideas just wont be taken seriously at all. So, either you are going to play after their rules, or you are not going to play at all. Also, what exactly do you want to work on? Science is an extremely broad term - like sports. Also, do you realize that futuristic science/conciousness science already exists? Psi-reaserach has experiments which are methodically immaculate, highly statistically signicant, repeatable ad infinitum - and are still, mostly ignored by the mainstream. Thats the behemoth you are up against. If you really, really want to double down on this (which is a great life purpose by the way) - then you just WONT get around recieving a degree from a decent university in that chosen field. By the way, with degree I mean that your name has to be followed by the suffix "PhD". Without that, no chance. I also wanted to change the medical field after realizing nonduality a couple of years ago. Let me tell you that it took a lot of sweat and blood to get where I am now and it will cost even more to actually change stuff. After years of doing slave-like work, starting in university, I slowly start be taken seriously by peers and financial supporters. I am nowhere near at enough reputition where I could put out ideas and concepts that really could change the medical system for the better. In fact any "woo" I put out now will come back to bite my ass in my later years. Still, the fight is worth it and lets see where it goes!

It can definitely happen. You know how in nonduality meetings, when someone asks how they can get enlightened, the speaker will say: "You'll have to go elsewhere for that." ? Well, in a sense, they're actually not kidding... Though, of course, at the culmination of the process, it will invariably be obvious that there was no process. Some ways to avoid bypassing are 1. self inquiry (and/or viewing yourself as already being fully surrendered to activity) and most importantly, 2. the art of determining exactly what it is that you authentically desire. That's sort of the whole game, in my view.

The self/other or internal/external duality is unfortunately much more than just thought. This is precisely why you can say you already felt to have this intellectual understanding yet had not had the deeper realization of it. Someone can feed themselves thoughts or have them arise spontaneously from having consumed certain spiritual content about the self/other or internal/external divide being illusory, but the thoughts alone actually do very little. What is more fundamental is how perception is occurring in relation to the sensations which are present. Thoughts are in many ways sensations which are more tapped into the mind’s ability to affect meta-shifts in the sensory field though, so they are still very helpful for making useful changes to perception. Almost in all cases, there will be a basis of related intellectual understanding before directly experienced perceptual shifts one might call insight occur. What is most important though is to actually feel the shift in perception which aligns with the intellectual understanding. This is why psychedelics, meditation, and other techniques are so effective at producing insight as they are altering perception and in turn changing the very nature of the sensations which are accessible in one’s experience. When it comes to being sure of one’s own insights, it’s helpful to always remain open to new perspectives and focus on high quality sources of information to temper one’s personal insights. If you know something for 100% certain, this is usually more of a flaw than a sign of a solid understanding IMO as even some of the most time-tested and plausible perspectives around nonduality do not at all deserve 100% certainty. There’s no need to drive yourself crazy over needing to constantly reassess things. Why not fall in love with the exploration process rather than clinging to certainty? Certainty is almost always a clear sign of a bit too much or at times way too much bias.

Really got into Leo in 2020, did the thing where I basically took everything he said with faith (unconsciously) cause it felt like he was the only one who got me lol. Fast forward a few years, digging deeper into nonduality, some subtle awakening experiences here and there, very active mind trying to conceptualize and model everything out into a way that makes sense. Feel like ive been hitting a wall, everything ive ever assumed and taken on about this thing seems to be utter unknown bullshit that I dont really get. I feel like im at a stage now where my models and ideas cannot get me any further and im just bypassing important aspects of my life. Ive been cracking into philosophy and metaphysics much more and I find it hard to hold all of that aswell as a direct groundless grounding in the absolute unknowability of this thing. Bit of a mind addiction, dont want to put the learning and taking on of things down. Can talk up a whole storm about consciousness is this, the mind is that blah blah, but it all just feels like a distraction from the real thing and im insecure. My mind will have a tendency to get frustrated looking for answers and just default back to materialism even though every ounce of my being knows its gotta be BS. Any tips for breaking out of materialism for good? Really getting this directly without needing to continuously hold it all so tightly? Im tired

@WokeBloke There are words, and there is the silence that follows after words. You are that which comes after words that is nonduality, the word "nonduality" being used here is not a word, it is a description of something that can't be described @Mason Riggle &@Vincent S , and everyone else on this forum, including me, and you everyone out of this forum, including your neighbor and a dog walking on the street. The phone you own, the objects that can't see, the bed that you sleep on, and the floor that we walk on, is all nonduality. We human beings label them with words to make sense of things, function, and most importantly, play the game of pretending that it is not all one. But "human beings", is also a label that we have put on ourselves, so we can make sense of the thing that we "think" we are. That is the power of mind, but mind is just a little bitch when it comes to nonduality ?

@Preety_India ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I would sign everything you said. I had a very powerful awakening 7 years ago, it kept going effortlessly for half a year, during and after that I was trying to force nonduality as the only way to view and live life. It did not solve my human issues one bit and I suffered terribly. Only after a year of forcing something that was not natural I quit, finally found a very sensitive psychotherapist with whom I was able to learn over the years how to actually address trauma (and that it was repressed trauma that was the source of my place in life, also suicidal back then). Awakening did not help me on that front. Only now after many years of sensitive human work do I feel safe going back to feeling my true nature as for so long I had it very strongly associated with rejecting the human. The human emotion, the human pain, the rejection, the joy, the sadness, the surprise, ... Now I know they are my deepest friends. I am not to heal them. They heal me. Also, If you don't feel safe in your life, don't use psychedelics. Don't let yourself be swayed by the childish notion that if you're not willing to take them, you're not doing the best you can (yes, Leo can often make it sound that way, please accept that he is not developed equally in every way, he has deep insight into many things and a tendency of saying very unskillful things confidently). It's not worth it, you're much more likely to suffer than to learn something deep. I've made this mistake too many times in my life. Please, I know you are doing your best. You are doing just fine. Please, acknowledge how much you are really asking of yourself, to instantly reorganize billions of neural networks, which served a purpose, their state is not a cosmic mistake, nor do they need to be all untangled instantly. Take your time and rest. It's okay. It's safe. ❤️

Most Christian monks see themselves as just tools or servants of God, probably monks/nuns in other religions are the same. They give up ego, identity, personal desires, but most still aren't enlightened or aware of nonduality. If you can completely give up separation then by definition you'd be in a non-dual state. But easier said than done, you can't just do it intellectually.

Let's be careful with how we state things like that...I think it is important that we do not connect these incidents with the forum or Leo's teachings (not saying you did, just making a statement). People are always constantly reminded to seek out professional help for those states when they are most vulnerable to their own doing. There are trained facilitators of help for people with the most critical conditions. This is not a place where suicidal depression will be healed quickly. Perhaps what Waveintheocean needed was short term pharmacological intervention followed by less aggressive medical support before even considering psychedelic and nonduality. It aches my heart to know that this has happened and I wish he has given the emergency services more chance. There are times when that is the best solution to be able to function again in society. We will never know what happened and what didn't but I just wanted to mention this.

Because it fits so good with nonduality teachings ( You are god taking different forms)

Like @Bazooka Jesus pointed out, we seem to get lost and wrapped up in ideas about ourselves existing in time, nonduality is the mind sort of catching up with the logical understanding of what it directly knows are true. I'd suggest reading The Power of Now and seeing if it resonates. It's a great place to start but also isn't nonduality. Have you ever experienced the future outside of a thought about it? How about the past? So all there is is now. It can seem on the surface like a dumb realization but the ramifications of living it totally changes eveeeerything.

I see a lot of this “all is one” nondualism around these days, like it’s trendy, and I’m puzzled by it. My question is very simple: what's the upshot of nondualism? How does believing that "all is one" change anything about your reality? Monotheists tell us that eternity in heaven/hell are consequences of belief/non-belief in God; what are some consequences of belief/disbelief in “all is one”? I.e., how is this anything other than mental masturbation? (Note that I’m not trying to start a “nonduality war”; I’m genuinely curious and don’t have a position on the matter.)

Oh nice this went straight to nonduality! Love it

Nonduality is not about happiness or peace. Nonduality is about Truth. The truth shall set you free, but it wont make you happy. Happiness and peace are emotions experienced by the self. self, happiness and peace only exist within duality. After happiness comes sadness, then happiness comes again. After peace comes war, then peace comes again. The best thing to do is to minimize your suffering, such that any future disturbances to your inner peace are mere scuffles, rather than full blown wars. I recommend studying the 4 nobles truths, eightfold path, and the 3 characteristics of Buddhism in addition to Non-Dualism to help bridge the gap.

@DavyTee Because it's not the concept behind nonduality that can make you at peace. The concept behind nonduality isn't nonduality - or should I rather say, it is nonduality, but you're confusing the concept for nonduality instead of seeing that nonduality is also the concept. What you think nonduality to be, is not nonduality, is what I'm trying to say. Or maybe you just think that. You think that in order to understand nonduality, there's some missing piece you still have to "get". No. Get rid! of the damn puzzle pieces. And when there's no puzzle left, nonduality will be plain. It doesn't!!

This guy is rapidly becoming my favorite spiritual teacher at this moment, precisely because he's not a teacher. He's not using that overly-present long-pause monotone nonduality-teacher voice. He's not sitting in half lotus pose, cloaked in robes, telling anecdotes in front of a crowd and subtly making them feel silly for their human weaknesses. No. He's just very matter-of-fact, telling it how it is. He's been to heaven. He's been to hell. This is why we're here guys. What else you wanna know?? No act is being put on. He's not appealing to any audience, he's not even really trying to convince anyone of anything. He just knows because he's telling this from his own memory. So refreshing.

I am quite new to spirituality and I honestly don't have much experience on spirituality and meditation.. to give a personal account of what brought me to this place, for the past two years I was struck by an existential crisis as my stage orange / green dominant worldview broke down as I was pursuing personal development. then, I was drawn into new-agey side of personal development and started seeing the subjective nature of reality. with exposure stage green self dev stuff like manifestation , I wondered whether the hard science that I devotedly believed in was actually true? I used to condemn all sorta stuff like energy healing, spiritual stuff and religion as nonsense years ago! but, with directly experiencing various synchronicities and seeing how reality shifts as I change perspective took a massive blow on my materialist paradigm. after vying for answers from reading all the scientific research I consumed, I came to conclusion that there was more than what we perceived to be. that consciousness at least plays some role in reality after reading and applying the works of Maxwell Maltz, Joseph Murphy and many other philosophers. then I began heavily studying about various perspectives. I started learning Buddhism, Christianity , comparative religion ,history . I was seeing how different lives were across the globe ,time and how all this seems to be like a matrix. I was literally groundless and it came to a point where I was LOST! simultaneously, my work life became a mess that I was confused wondering what to do with my life? is life even meaningful? I gave up on my relationships. I was soo hungry for a worldview that I even thought of converting into Christianity and say that it was the ultimate truth. yet, as I tried to reconcile all the aspects of reality upon their teachings and models, they all seemed to fail leading me to depression. as my worldview was collapsed, I started getting intrusive thoughts in my mind . I had thoughts of the most horrible things I could think of like murdering my parents and driving over the pedestrians while driving. I thought of suicide as I did not wish to harm anyone . I was scared whenever I saw sharp objects like knives... I informed my parents and visited a shrink who said I was having depression, anxiety with OCD type intrusive thoughts. I was prescribed anti-depressants . my thoughts became coherent after several weeks of medication. therapist still recommended me to continue medication for another six months after recovery since I was feeling utterly nihilistic. I moved back to my parents and have been dependent on them since then. I quitted my work and decided to get my mind back and the sense of reality. this was when I found actualized.org and nonduality. as I found nonduality as the only way to reconcile and stand my questioning process, I was beginning to accept it as plausible to be the case. .so I spent majority of the day drawing parallels between concepts and questioning them . I had a ton of time for thinking as I was living like a parasite off my parents again. next, I started heavily researching into spirituality and listen to a ton of various teachers of various traditions to make sense of the shit ! I started reading books of Ekchart Tolle and other spiritual teachers for answers. this existential crisis made me to question every damn thing I thought I knew about reality. Everything is useless and meaningless in the grand scheme of things ! TLDR- but, here's my problem, as I began to see that what I call as self itself as an illusion and seeing how ego plays this game, I was beginning to lose myself. I mean, I no longer feel like a person anymore! I don't feel any fear whatsoever! I don't know if something is wrong with me ? I don't see any meaning! I feel super detached from myself to the point I don't care whether I live or not!? I don't feel any desire whatsoever! I used to be one of the most ambitious arrogant guys who had stupendous desires to be the best! now after all, I have no feelings of desire when I see the things I used to cling to! I almost feel like an emotionless zombie as I don't feel the urges of fear , anger, desire resentment ,jealousy. I feel a certain sense of peace though. IS THIS WHAT THEY CALL' BEING ' STATE? also please note that only techniques I used were long hours of contemplation and questioning. my questions are IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME? IS THIS NORMAL TO NOT FEEL LIKE A SELF AND TO BE DETACHED FROM MYSELF ? IS MY EMOTIONAL NUMBNESS and LACK OF DESIRE A PROBLEM? what are your advice and what should I do? # thanks in advance!❤?

Existence is synonymous with infinity. Dualistic words, which point to nonduality. There is no nonexistence, like there is no fear. But that is a pointing, and as such is instantly contextualized. The why though, when that is explored, there is actuality. (Also a word which can only point) ‘There’ is only linguistic. You’ve never been there. You’ll never be there. You = here, and as there isn’t a there, there can be no here. Same for past, future and now. But thought makes it seem so.

What is a tulpa, is it it's own being/soul/entity or is it a part of you/ your personality structure - in the sense... do you create it like a parent creates a child and then let it loose, or does it create itself?... or is it a spirit all unto itself that was at some point alive - or is it a completely different entity? I love this kind of stuff and I find it so fascinating. I work with two beings - Kali Ma, who is a goddess and an archetype, and "the Wolf" who is an archetype and a machine elf. He doesn't have a name and prefers to go by 'Wolf' and we have a long history - it would take away from your thread to write about what he is and I am much more interested in your tulpa - I have not gone through this thread yet so if you could give me a quick synopsis, that would be so cool. I love that other people here like you have these experiences as well, it normalizes them and brings something interesting to the otherwise sometimes stale normal nonduality nomenclature. These are my two guides: Kali and Wolf:

Yes, but you're being a bit of an idealist here. You're pretending that you aren't the prodigal son. If you are lifting weights and start to feel actual pain, like sharp pain, you know to stop lifting or decrease the weights. The difference between discomfort (it hurts so good) of pushing ones muscles and pain is one that someone has to tune in and feel and be present to tell. But it is a vast, vast difference between the two. Likewise I can feel "negative" emotions and have that kind of discomfort, or I can continue thinking and have that pain, that suffering. The pain is a calling to stop what you're doing. What you are doing, is thinking and interpreting. If you are used to finding all understanding and solutions and resolution in the realm of thought you will never "hear" that signal. You will be hell bent on continuing your feat. You will push through it as if it is simply discomfort and you will do damage. If you are not lifting weights at all, no need to care. if you aren't thinking at all, then no need for thoughts of notice of recognition. Of course it's a thought, in your direct experience, it's not gonna be like I say it is. It's still hookers and blow, or whatever it was that prodigal sons did in their day. When you are out there in thought and you start to feel and come home, there will often be thoughts of recognition because it's the recognition that you desire to go home and then you move there. Our desire is to feel good. The way home is to feel. We are already good. We didn't need to go out to prove it and find ourselves out "there". We already have a loving home. An insight is a thought of recognition. Insights and epiphanies FEEL amazing because they are aligned with awareness aligned with direct recognition. Then months later when you try to elicit the feeling from your insight from thinking the same thought, it's not going to happen. Because thought is the only thing that can make others, time and separation seem to be real. The direct feeling of it is the profoundly helpful tie to home. Why? Because feeling is always direct. It is now. If I stab myself in the arm, it's gonna hurt. Absolutely we can deny this, but that's numb. Numb is the best term for stupid anyone ever came up with. It's most direct. You know how diabetics have to be super careful of their feet because they can't feel them? You wouldn't want to be without that deeper intelligence, prior to your own thoughts. I can think against myself, I can create a self that awareness is aware of and say THAT has awareness. Then I can believe that THAT needs to suffer in order to secure peace and happiness by going out "there". It's self harm. There is no truth absolutely, Truth doesn't need to confirm itself to itself. How can it confirm itself? One way. Conform itself. By thinking it IS a form, separate from itself. Are there two of you, one that can confirm yourself to the other? Feeling is already guiding you. Why cause it's always HOME. It always knows right where home is. Again, if you're looking for understanding through thought, it's ultimately not gonna satisfy. Hookers and blow. As I said, even insight and epiphany is marked and known by a feeling of understanding. There is no logical understanding without feeling, feeling even marks it. Peace/love/happiness is a lack of thoughts trying to achieve and force into place. It is the direct acceptance of all. The father always accepts the son home. The son is free to squander his birthright of peace/love/happiness, all just to come home to another f-ing party. The father is always there waiting. ? Could we also say insanity is lifting those weights, hell bent on a future goal, hell bent on avoiding pain through suffering pain, numb to the damage we do to ourselves and others? Thought says it's dualistic, in that direct seeing, it never becomes separate. There's nothing I can do to make myself not dual. I'm already that. Duality is the indirect "how" of creation. Color is created by absorbing and rejecting different wavelengths. We have light and dark (absence of light). In the awareness OF creation, it is not dualistic. You are the light. There is no light, really, just Awareness, that's the light. Nonduality, does not exclude duality. Everything awareness is aware of is just its own light. Only ever now. When we hurt and do damage is when we say, "I am a color." "I am a color, not the light that makes color possible, and so YOU are a color I don't like or am afraid of." "I am the genetic code my expression is filtered through. I am intelligent, therefore I am numb to anything that does not fit in with want I think. I cut myself off from the flow of light ever now, the real brilliance, so I can think of myself as only what it shines upon, separate from it. Because you're Brilliant intelligence itself only ever now, your being, is only EVER that light, when you think thoughts that say you are anything lesser than or other than that feeling (now) says, "nah dude."

Meditation is relaxing and is not rigorous, and doing so each morning is choosing to put how you feel before what you think. ?? No “nonduality teacher” can be a supplement for meditation. This is aversion. When one gets tired enough of the ups & downs, one meditates each morning. This slows the thought activity, which is the “ups & downs”, the suffering. No thought about meditation is actually about meditation. It’s always a belief / projection or ‘pointing’.