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This. The word yoga has meant so many different things for so many different people at different times that it really doesn't have much of a meaning anymore. This is the end goal with all word meanings, really, they have the meaning you give them. Some people say true yoga is simply meditation, nonduality, realizing your true nature, etc. Others refer to a spiritual but also physical practice that unites mind and body. Others refer to the different branches practices within the of exercise/stretching meaning of yoga.

I write fiction stories. All my stories are teaching Nonduality through fun fictional stories, in ever genera. I believe most people would not be interested in hearing lectures on Nonduality, as it is threatening to their core beliefs. But, if you are subtle about it, sharing the teaching here and there throughout an engaging fun story, then it's more palatable to your average person. To give an example, Star Wars introduced Spirituality to a large portion of the world, hidden in a fun Sci-Fi Adventure film. The Force is Oneness.

Of course I understand the movies. I think you misunderstand what I was saying. Not that that interpretation is what I think the movies are actually about, but a fun possibility of a direction to go in for the end of the series. To use the Matrix as an analogy for true Nonduality, that consciousness is all that exists, and this bubble of reality is all that there is. Anywho, just having fun playing with conceptual ideas.

You don’t have a twisted perception of yourself, as if there is a correct perception of yourself - you have no possibility of perception of yourself, or, of ever perceiving yourself. You already are yourself! ? Check and see! Notice how ridiculous it is if I say ‘you are not you’. Lol. You are not some ‘thing’ you could perceive. There is not a perceiver and a perceived, just as there is not a you and a universe. These are only thoughts, beliefs, the activity of a mind which is only apparent. This is often referred to as ‘the materialist paradigm’, or, ‘asleep’ in the apparent duality of the finite (this or that) mind. Basically, just beliefs. You are not some ‘thing’ you could learn. Just as there is not a perceiver and a perceived (nonduality, not two), there is not a knower and a known. That - the activity of thought - is what keeps that veil or facade going. Via daily meditation this thought activity settles, rests, fizzles out. Without that smokescreen of thought activity there is the clarity of Oneness (*not-two). These are beliefs…… ……‘through humans’, ‘we are embedded’, ‘the universe gets bored’, ‘human lives’, ‘mundane lives’, ‘the universe is big’, ‘the universe is powerful’, ‘the universe is running something’, ‘we humans aren’t the best’, ‘existence isn’t the best’, ‘time’, ‘the universe is wasting’, ‘resources are limited’, ‘this isn’t heaven’, ‘other species care’, ‘nature’, ‘should and or shouldn’t’, ‘the universe develops a them’, ‘dumb exists’, ‘there are some (which joke at)’, ‘there are levels’, ‘I could be something I’m not’……. Don’t add another belief… “my perception of myself needs fixing”. Inspect beliefs to let them go, effortlessly. Notice how every time you do, it feels good. This is because you are what the beliefs are made of. Unthinkable sheer M’F’ing Goodness. The thought activity ‘says’ there is good & bad, correct & twisted, etc, etc, etc, etc…. and this goes on and on via the belief in “a perceiver perceiving a perceived”. The thought activity implies the separation, but there is no actual separation, or simply, you are not “a separate self”… awareness is just believing the thoughts that it is separate. “What”…. is already…. A self referential thought. (But you can not think, yourself. Because again, you are already yourself.) ‘Catch’, as in notice, that activity of thoughts & beliefs, and bring it to peaceful mind, to rest, at… “what”. (Before that whole story of beliefs).

Framing as a 3 step process… step 1 is beliefs coming to the surface. Step 2 is recognizing a belief is just a belief, a repeated thought. Step 3 is letting it go because it isn’t true, it’s a belief, a repeated thought. What’s focused on (or not) is actually a thought, a belief. Not something that is true. There’s no suggestion here of ‘focusing on what you do not know’, but rather recognizing what’s already being focused on (the thought / belief) isn’t actually known. It’s a belief, that that is known & true, but it’s not known or true, it’s believed. That creates an only apparent in thought (a belief) separation. “The ‘knower & the known’.” But the knower is already the known. Not two. (Nonduality). There is, absolutely literally no one who actually knows, anything. The ‘substance’ of reality, consciousness, is literally Not Knowingness. Consciousness is infinite. There is no “other thing” which could possibly actually be known. There is the apparent and often believed thought that something is known about consciousness, but there is no separate or finite entity which knows it. Which actually exists, or knows anything whatsoever. That is thought attachment. Ignorance / bamboozlement. When not knowing seems to experience people knowing this or that, the actuality of that experience is not knowing believing it’s a person, and that as that person it “knows stuff about infinity, or consciousness”. “It” doesn’t. That is thought attachment. “A materialist”, if you will. Has pride & arrogance in this place gone completely unnoticed? Employ the ‘3 step process’.

I was thinking second and third was shit even I have watched all 3 movies twice in my life. Maybe you will not love this movies after Ken Wilber's commentary, but you will understand the movie in general if you little bit heard about nonduality. If you care to understand the movie I suggest watching all 3 with Ken Wilber's commentary. It is impossible to understand this trilogy from the first movie. It is not good versus evil as it seems in the first movie for example

I mean it’s sad because so many people are sick and mentally sick and are open to trying these things, but it’s so hard to get access. Meanwhile, all the things that toxify your body are readily available and marketed as solutions. it seems like the only way for society to evolve and not be so sick is for inspiration tools like this. I know this is Leo parroting, but this is felt to my core. even though I’m not healthy, at least I have inspirational moments to look back on to keep the progress up. I can’t imagine how fucking hopeless people feel. Nothing more than toxic material existence. perhaps I’m going to go to legalizing effort communities because just talking about nonduality and psychedelics is not enough for me. We need political action, hardcore.

But same goes for experiencing "being human", so long as you insist on time. So long as you insist on this kind of temporal eternity. Your question implies a difference between being "one" and being "infinite", that's why it makes no sense to you yet. Unite the two as/in nonduality and you have your answer; The "many" imply the "one" and vice versa. You can't be either infinite or one, you can only be one as infinity.

Before I started this nonduality stuff I was really into the multiverse thing (in a kinda scientific way). And I still think that the multiverse probably exists.

I think the symbol represents nonduality perfectly. The contrast of black and white shows that there can only be form with formless (no teardrop shape would be seen if the entire circle was white). The two sides represent formless and form, and their inseperable union. It's a perfect symbol.

I don't know what Reality is. But sometimes I get a realization and a feeling that whatever the Truth about Reality is, it's mind-boggling. And it feels nice that at least something is certain about Reality. Even if the materialists are right and everything is just inanimate matter and when you die you will be gone forever, then that would be mind-boggling and crazy. If nonduality is true then that would be mind-boggling. If christianity or whatever religion is true then that would be mind-boggling. If everything is nothing and a dream, then that would be mind-boggling. If our perceived reality is a computer simulation then that would be mind-boggling. Etc. etc. But of course some smartasses will say: "Reality isn't mind-boggling or whatever, it's just your interpretation of it, or projection on it." My response to that is that I have the ability to understand and appreciate things and I'm going to fucking use that ability. And that I have that ability is another mind-boggling thing. (I often also think about how fascinating it is that I belong to the most intelligent species on earth and the most intelligent known species in the universe. What are the odds that I got born as a human and not something less intelligent.) "Those who don't wonder about the contingency of their existence, of the contingency of the world's existence, are mentally deficient." - Arthur Schopenhauer "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein

My user name says it all. I was born in '65, the last year for Baby Boomers. And I'm late to the party as usual. I've heard Leo say understanding a lot of these concepts could take years or decades, but I don't think I have decades. I’m 56 with health problems. I have changed a lot over the years, so maybe it counts. Had a major life change (quit a good state job due to fallout from Jan. 6. Escaped with conscience intact, but now what? Still unemployed in a pandemic and recession. Luckily my wife is holding us down, but I need a purpose or at least a job. Took mushrooms to help with depression. They helped and even spurred a lot of creativity. I was starting a blog and a YouTube channel. But I was on the wrong track with both. The last trip blew me out of the water. It was stronger than the others and really beautiful. But now I'm kind of adrift. It actually left me LESS motivated than the previous ones. I thought, I really don't know anything after all, do I? I have to take some things seriously that I used to scoff at. I was an atheist who used to be a Baptist. I thought I had that one nailed down, but now I'm not sure. Maybe it was all in my head, but I could swear I communicated with something that loved me. If it was God it wasn’t Yahweh, but it didn’t feel like I was talking to myself. I interpreted it as the earth. But I'm not sure. One thing I am sure of now is that the ego is not me. I was able to let it sleep and give in and it was a blessing. I had a lot of insights. A lot of it was about processing grief. For myself -- not afraid of death now -- for mankind and for nature. I decided I need to know more about what is true. I figured a path would turn up, but so far it hasn't. I've talked to some psychonauts and new agers. Not sure how much to accept. Some of their claims are hard to swallow. I'm willing to entertain a lot of new ideas, but I have to keep some skepticism. I don't trust people that easily any more - least of all me. Discovered Leo's videos at just the right moment. The one about how reality is a mass hallucination hooked me. I'm also fascinated by spiral dynamics. I've watched quite a bit of his content and a lot of it has been eye opening. There was a time when I would have dismissed it out of hand. There are some concepts, like absolute truth, being God, nonduality, etc., that I don't know if I can buy, but maybe I just don't get it. Benefit of the doubt. I'm a creative person, but I never really found my niche - or rather I thought I did, but it's now all but extinct. I was a reporter and editor for small town newspapers for 20 years. I thought it was my purpose in life. I loved it until I didn't. I was lucky to escape without becoming homeless. Did I waste my life or is there something I’m still supposed to do that only I can do? I want to move forward and find some kind of outlet, but I feel stuck. I was inspired after the big shroom trip. We were in that little window before Delta showed up. I did a few meetups, tried to make some friends, get a circle going, but it kind of fizzled and now here I am again, stuck inside and dealing with health issues. Sciatica and high blood pressure being the main ones. I'd love to trip again and see if I can get some guidance that way, but till I get the BP under control that's out. Not sure where I’m going with this, just figured this is a group of people I can talk to about things everyone else thinks are crazy. Maybe y'all can help me figure myself out.

@Gianna Oneness is not quite the same as not-two, or nonduality. And yet it’s also the same. It’s (possibly) spiritual ego, or, a new identity based on experience as compared to the previous identity based on bodymind & thoughts (past, etc). And also it’s not. Sometimes too it’s just spiritual shorthand or laymen’s terms. And yet also it’s not. And then there’s believing you’re God.

@The0Self I'm currently in the "what-did-I-get-myself into" stage and "what the hell is going on" I'm fluctuating between 3rd and 4th jhana. Yesterday I witnessed that I'm like gone and come back after a fraction of a second regularly while reading. I would love to read your nonduality take on that i love reading your posts. Jim Newman smuggling.

@Endangered-EGO Unfortunately, when it comes to the West, you're right. In the East though, teaching nonduality goes back thousands of years. I see a spiritual tsunami coming for the West, with an overall trend toward greater Consciousness. That said, like most paradigm shifts, there is a struggle between chaos and order before society finally grows. The West has been pretty chaotic the past few years People like Eckhart Tolle and Alan Watts have migrated Eastern wisdom to the West, in a language that many people understand and embrace. My hope is that the overall upward trend will continue. Tolle believes it will, but time will tell.

@Moksha In school children aren't told about mental health, I think there's a long way to go until nonduality is taught at school. Deconstructing evolution haha. @Kundalini Cataclysm It's devastating right? Reading that book opened me up to what wanted to show itself within me, up to the point that I got sick from it because I fought it. Trust the process. It wants to happen, allow all of the dukkha nanas and your reaction to show up. You'll go through every stage of what Daniel I gram describes. Faith/trust is needed for the last step. But you have it.

Have you ever realized that it's literally just another game like watching TV or playing PS4 or popping Ecstasy or taking benzos? Duality is not escapable... Like Hotel California. Except we never got to decide when we checked in IMO. If you "escape", say you die or go into a coma. Well then what? What about the people who mourn at your funeral? There is experience still and hence the appearance of duality because nonduality cannot be experienced directly (due to no subject/object relation). It's a thing the mind-self goes after for the same object-oriented reasons it does anything. Which usually for this path either means someone has a serious intellectual curiosity or wants to escape suffering. Which are mind-self pursuits... You're here forever... When we judge if a person is enlightened we are making a judgement of their mind-self's alignment with the true self. If we took away everything Buddha about the literal Buddha, and everything Hitler away from Hitler, what is left is literally undivided and identical and equally infinitely enlightened at all times. Lol...

This email showed up today I went ahead and registered. It’s free,,,, Dear David, The experience of nondual awareness can give us the sense that we are one with everything. Settling into this awareness, our familiar conceptual boundaries around self, other, and world dissolve into an unbounded unity. Since this often ushers in positive states, like peacefulness or belonging, many people strive for nondual experiences in their spiritual practice, and many spiritual teachers try to elicit them. Modern nondual teachings owe much to the Indian tradition of nonduality known as Advaita Vedanta, and this Saturday at 10am Pacific, A. H. Almaas, the founder of the Diamond Approach, will be offering a free lecture about some of the most widely known Vedantic teachings of our time, situating them in their Indian origins. He is aiming to help those interested in this tradition understand what the classical Vedantic teaching requires from students—something not often emphasized by Western teachers of nonduality. Register for 'Advaita Vedanta: Western Expressions' The lecture will last approximately 75 minutes, and will be followed by a question and comment period. This lecture is the fourth in a six-part series Almaas is giving this year, in which he is delving into some often-overlooked nuances in the works of some of the world’s highly regarded spiritual teachers and traditions. Read more about the full 2021 A.H. Almaas Lecture Series here and join us for his upcoming talk on Advaita Vedanta. I clicked on the link given which the contained the following - The Ridhwan Foundation, the home of the Diamond Approach teaching, is pleased to be offering the 2021 A. H. Almaas Lecture Series for free thanks to the generosity of a donor. All are welcome to attend at no charge.* We look forward to seeing you at the lecture! The Ridhwan Foundation P.S. After Saturday's lecture, we will be sharing a recording and handout with everyone who has registered. Even if you can’t attend live, registering will ensure you receive access to these resources. Advaita Vedanta: Western Expressions Date/Time: September 18, 10am-12:00pm Pacific Find your local time The first texts of Advaita Vedanta, a nondual teaching of Hinduism, date to 500 CE. Through the ages, it has remained a powerful force in India. The great 20th-century teacher Ramana Maharshi employed Vedantic methods of inquiry into the nature of the self. His spiritual path centered on the question, “Who am I?” Many streams of Advaita Vedanta came to the west from India. The teachings of Ramakrishna were brought to the west by Vivekananda. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought another lineage of both Vedanta and Advaita Vedanta westward. Some nondual teachers in the west trace their teachings back to Atmananda and his direct path. This transplanting of Indian spirituality onto new soil has led some people to wonder if something has been lost, or misconstrued, along the way. In this lecture, Almaas will explore some of the most widely known Vedantic teachings of our times and situate them within their Indian origins, to help those interested in the rich tradition of Advaita Vedanta to understand what the classical teaching requires from students—something that is not often emphasized by Western teachers of nonduality. The lecture will last approximately 75 minutes followed by a question and comment period. For those who may be interested this link should work which I just gathered from the Diamond Approach website. https://online.diamondapproach.org/a-h-almaas-lecture-series-or-ahls-wi21/

Ever since I became interested in nonduality, the nature of time and memory has become a central topic for me. I’ve watched a decent amount of Rupert Spira’s videos about time and space, and he makes some interesting points about how we never actually experience time. He often asks questioners to “step out of the now and visit the past”. He doesn’t mean think about the past — he means literally go there. But it’s obvious that this is impossible. The only thing we have of “the past” are memories, but memories are only known insofar as they are experienced now. Rupert has a fascinating chapter about time and space in his book The Nature of Consciousness. The chapter’s title is The Memory of Our Eternity and it’s Chapter 16. I’m not going to rehash all of what he says in that chapter here, but in a nutshell he states that consciousness exists eternally here and now, and that time and space are essentially activities of the one infinite, eternal consciousness that has no dimensions. I’ve had some pretty intense experiences where I felt like consciousness was beyond time and space both high/tripping and sober, which seem to corroborate Rupert’s model of consciousness, time and space. I’m having a hard time grappling with the issue of memories in relation to this understanding, because if time and space do not actually correspond to our experience, then our memories seem like they don’t actually point to real events. What are your thoughts on this topic?

Solipsism is no more true than any other perspective. I understand the desire to help. But you would help them much more by using that desire to actualize yourself. Actualized people are awesome! If you've ever met one, they're kind, patient, empathetic, intelligent and loving people. Simply being around an actualized person is therapeutic. So if your desire is to help people, actualize yourself and you will help by simply being yourself. Solipsism is a story. See your hands? Now tell me more about how you're the only consciousness in existence. Now look at your hands again. You've only told yourself another story. Even if it was 'true', the thought of solipsism/nonduality is even more transient than your hands. Really consider that. Free yourself of this belief. It only distracts you from actuality.

@Leo Gura is right I think actually, about Curt being the best kind of interviewer. Reason being because it's people like Curt who are running our world today: politically, monetarily, technologically; VERY smart people who think about the world in VERY physical and numerical terms. And this is good, outside of the fact that they often miss the metaphysical / spiritual / infinite perspective, which in turn can lead to lapses in morality. (Evil genius types who love science but don't understand oneness / nonduality / infinity / etcetera)

@Leo Gura You could podcast with enlightened folk about stuff other than nonduality though Enlightened folk are the best to converse about general daily life stuff with because they're often easy-going and won't judge you for minor differences. Sometimes the best media for people isn't always the complex lectures but instead just two intelligent kind-hearted people having a general conversation. As a listener since 2014, It's cool seeing you verbally interact with other people after watching your monologues for so long. Have you considered opening a Discord server or something like that? Where your community can communicate verbally?

Read these two songs (or listen) in the "context" of nonduality. It's pretty much guaranteed (though who would know?) that it's not the intended context, but it works perfectly as songs from me (I) to what is (or even the human-being, or God), longing after what is (you; he) and union (we) with what is. "My Happy Ending" -- Avril Lavigne So much for my happy ending Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Let's talk this over It's not like we're dead Was it something I did? Was it something you said? Don't leave me hanging In a city so dead Held up so high on such a breakable thread (breakable thread) You were all the things I thought I knew And I thought we could be You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted) We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it (we lost it) And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away All this time you were pretending So much for my happy ending Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh So much for my happy ending Oh, oh, oh, oh You've got your dumb friends I know what they say (know what they say) They tell you I'm difficult But so are they (but so are they) But they don't know me Do they even know you? (even know you) All the things you hide from me All the shit that you do (all the shit that you do) You were all the things I thought I knew And I thought we could be You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted) We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it (we lost it) And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away All this time you were pretending So much for my happy ending It's nice to know that you were there Thanks for acting like you cared And making me feel like I was the only one It's nice to know we had it all Thanks for watching as I fall And letting me know we were done He was everything, everything that I wanted We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it And all of the memories, so close to me just fade away All this time you were pretending So much for my happy ending You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted) We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away All this time you were pretending So much for my happy ending ______________________________________________ "Keep Holding On" -- Avril Lavigne You're not alone Together we stand I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand When it gets cold And it feels like the end There's no place to go You know I won't give in No I won't give in Keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through Just stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you There's nothing you could say Nothing you could do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through So far away I wish you were here Before it's too late, this could all disappear Before the doors close And it comes to an end With you by my side I will fight and defend I'll fight and defend Yeah, yeah Keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through Just stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you There's nothing you could say Nothing you could do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through Hear me when I say, when I say I believe Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah La da da da La da da da La da da da da da da da da Keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through Just stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you There's nothing you could say Nothing you could do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through Keep holding on Keep holding on There's nothing you could say Nothing you could do There's no other way when it comes to the truth So keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

@Leo Gura You're using a conflation to dodge what I'm saying. Yes, it's true that the present moment is itself "directly true" in our experience. But you cannot make ontological claims about the nature of that experience based on conceptual understanding from past experiences in which you remember having an understanding of such a thing. Your memory of those experiences is happening NOW, and as such is purely conceptual NOW. To make claims about the ineffable absolute with concepts is nonsense, which is why you simply can't say "it's all imagination." You can't get around this problem--if it is not your direct experience right now (and I mean the actual knowing of the ineffable), then anything you say about it is mental masturbation. If you think you "know", you're fooling yourself. Enlightenment MUST be your moment-to-moment experience, or you simply aren't there because your mind is still fabricating all kinds of delusion right at the level of basic perception. One concept you love to use but don't really question is this idea of "levels of consciousness". You are being loose with your definition and using that looseness to justify things that you shouldn't. Basic consciousness should properly mean "a moment of knowing" of some sensation or thought. That's it. You use it interchangeably with "depth of nuance / understanding of context," which is useful for things like Spiral Dynamics but frankly a totally different meaning. You're using this second meaning when you say "infinite consciousness," which is actually kind of funny because you're actually getting off on the idea of something infinitely conceptual. This is a trap. It's the VR simulation of the real enlightenment (which is an illustrative analogy, not a duality). This is really the whole problem with your work: it is inescapably based on concepts alone. And the real understanding of what enlightenment IS (and what Reality IS) is therefore lost. Also, be really careful with how you use the duality defense. Again, there's a difference between ultimately saying "all dualities collapse" and using that line to eliminate distinctions that expose your errors. Dualities exist AND don't exist. At an absolute level, of course, we're all enlightened because there's no difference between enlightenment and non-enlightenment. At the relative level of your mind, however, you are not "awakened" because somebody told you about nonduality (which is, in a sense, no different than remembering it from an experience because both are concepts). The reason meditation is different is because it is about unraveling the identity which leads to fabricating distinctions where no distinctions actually exist--and this affects your present experience. As the illusion is deconstructed, perception stops being clouded and you eventually see what is actually Right Here, Right Now. As long as any shred of ego/separation exists in your mind-body, you won't have access to this. I'm sorry man, but you need to do this work if you ever want to actually understand that which is nonconceptual in an ultimate way. There's a reason ALL the masters tell you psychedelics are "not it", and it's not just ego or lack of sufficient usage.

I watched maybe about 40 hours about Enlightenment Theorie. A lot from Leo but also from different sources. My thought process was that this is enough to not fall into traps when doing self inquiry for enlightenment and anything extra doesn’t give you much because theorie is always false anyway so why should I waste my time with extra theorie when the actual insights can only come from direct experience so from exercises. But then in a recent video Leo said that any spiritual seeker should read at least 16 books about nonduality. So what now ? Is this really necessary ? If it’s needed I would do it but self inquiry sucks and the Theorie also isn’t that interesting to me so when I could leave this out I would have more time and motivation for self inquiry.