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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.

Intro: I have been watching Leo´s most profound videos that he has on his channel for at least 4 months daily and in best case scenario I have watched more than one long video per day. I would say I logically understand this whole concept based also on information from Sadhguru, Alan Watts and Mooji. I have been meditating at least 1 hour a day for that period of time and some days I have done 4 hours switching between different binaural beats, chakra opening meditation music, guided meditations about no self and lot of more. I have tried different kind of breathworks like Wim Hof method and Shamanic breathing by Leo Gura. I have tried Mooji's way of watching the watcher and I have logically found that what most people call "I" is empty thing and some call it no self and others Real self. Also I have cleaned dairy, wheat and sugar desserts (soda, candies etc.) from my diet and that have helped make my body more "airy" and "weightless". I have been talking these concepts with my friends and we have had lot of deep conversations. Also I just started to go meditate in group one time a week with experienced yoga teacher. Main question: By reading "Intro" it feels like I am happily into Spiritual work which I am, but the thing is that it feels like it would be time to level up this whole game somehow. I feel like I have tried all these basic things and I haven't got anything "actual mystical experience like no self" from it. I would be open to psychedelics, but it haven't been possibility for me sadly. So I feel stuck, because as I speak these concepts with my friends I feel like I shouldn't talk these concepts unless I have something actual so I wouldn't become only logical thinker of it which kind of takes this whole spirituality as a belief from others teachers. How I can get through that barrier so I can start have actual things for myself? Answers I am not searching: "you have to be patient" -> I understand that I have been doing that whole thing minimal time, but also keep in mind that I have been my whole "life" ultimately philosophical to the point my friends get mad at me for being weird. Also I have been arguing political topics long time so I would say that I have pretty solid mind capacity to understand and work things that I am interested. Also I have lot of "drive" and motivation so I won't stop things until I have completed them so patient is not my problem here. "you have to enjoy journey, because that's all this is about" -> Yeah I understand that and I am having lot of fun doing these meditation practices and watching Leo's videos. Also I enjoy "life" as it is and I love helping other people with their problems so that's not the case either. And actually I wait whole "actual mystical experience of any kind" only so I can be more authentic and loving to help people. "you have no control of it and things happen when they are meant to" -> Yeah... like fishing is about waiting till fish comes, but by your knowledge of where to fish and experience of knowing what thing to use helps make process of getting fish infinitely easier I would say. If you patiently read whole topic till this sentence you are most likely to understand that I don't search for easy non-brainer answer that anyone who thinks for 1 sec understands Things I am searching instead: New practices for no self and other mystical experiences like God awakening etc. Youtube channels especially for meditation, nonduality and spirituality. Profound meditation tips Sharing similar situations Friendships to share insights with Any good answer that is not non-brainer Lastly: I know that there are lot of people having exact same feeling that I have and that's also one reason I made this whole topic. If you are moderator or anyone with any authority I would tamely ask you to consider to lift this topic, because I would say that it would be extremely important and useful for lot of users in this forum. Thanks in advance already <3 My own quote for beautiful "souls" like "you" - "Trust the Universe and peace arrives. Fear tomorrow and your ego will keep suffering throughout its existence."

@Leo Gura You've done a remarkable job of twisting nonduality into a belief structure for yourself that you can't see. You have done psychedelics, which led to "awakenings" or whatever you want to call it, and then returned to your "normal" asleep state. From the asleep state, you have remembered those awakenings by turning them into concepts. You have then taken those concepts and applied them to your metaphysical belief system, without acknowledging that they are concepts (and thus have convinced yourself they aren't beliefs either, which of course is a belief too). In doing so, you've literally created with your finite mind the tautology that is so indefensible, and (not) coincidentally a very nice ground for your ego to hold on to. You've created the most sophisticated hole to live inside of, and are very cozy there. Unfortunately, it's not Truth.

Because he doesn't actually talk about enlightenment. Because he's not enlightened. Consciousness is not a theory or a model. Campbell has some great ideas, but it's not the highest teaching and all the astral stuff is quite distracting from pure nonduality.

@Being Frank Yang Dude, you're not saying anything new. This is nonduality/awakening 101. God is all possible states. Cessation is not at all necessary to realize this. And it doesn't contradict Love or God or Infinity in any way. You keep making these arbitrary distinctions when all distinctions are imaginary. There is no such thing as non-consciousness, non-being, nor death. These are all imaginary.

These are some spirituality related content that I like to consume. I wouldn't say that it's super deep and heavy regarding things like transcendence and nonduality. A lot of these sources are centered around self love, emotional awareness, healing, and law of attraction. In other words, it's a very much a stage green form of spirituality. But it's still incredibly important when it comes to sorting out your regular human shit. I would even characterize that as foundational even if you feel like you developed passed some of their content. They just have good vibes and they make me feel more in alignment lol. https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristinaLopes : This source mainly focuses on healing, spiritual awakenings, re-evaluating your life, and understanding your emotions through chakras. I found this channel really helpful in figureing out wtf was going on when I didn't know where I was at in my spiritual path. https://www.youtube.com/c/LeeorAlexandra https://www.youtube.com/c/IsabelPalacios : These two sources focuses on self love, law of attraction, manifestation, and being in touch with your feminine energy. I also just love their personalities and the positivity and love they exude. They have good vibes lol. https://www.youtube.com/c/RowenaTsai : This channel does mainly life style content centered around self care and productivity. I would say that out of all the sources I listed so far, this is the most stage orange but it's a very healthy and integrated form of stage orange. While this isn't really a spirituality source, I did get a lot of growth from this channel. https://www.youtube.com/c/AllThingsKoze/videos : Her main channel is more of a life style channel but as for self development and spirituality goes, I like this channel more. I'd characterize her content as self reflections over basic life experiences/ events with a touch of spirituality. Definitely felt more self aware and seen on my journey after finding her channel.

If your ideal is that stereotypical macho man, spirituality rob you of that because it will make you more feminine. Naturally it must since nonduality is about integrating all sides and the stereotypical macho man image is not well-integrated and egotistical. The solution is embrace and integrate the feminine side. Then just be natural.

For me it was like i had successfully lied to myself that i needed to get into a special state of mind which i projected onto people who were talking about nonduality. I was looking for something which i can recognize as "this is it" or "freedom from me", before i can continue enjoying life. I was looking for something i thought i once knew but had lost. This isn't everything yet -> this isn't everything yet -> this isn't everything yet -> maybe this is already everything -> why would anyone talk about this?

Fair enough. But “me” refers to the one who knows any objective truth at all, and there aren’t any objective truths, so what is the me? It is in fact an illusion, but as you indicated, it IS an illusion — that IS is its only substance. But since it is an illusion, and illusion means having no reality, there ultimately is no illusion. Only perhaps the false claims that there is some thing/one separate, or that something is needed, or that what is happening could be different from what is happening. Believing that something is going to happen, when there’s only what’s happening. Listening to nonduality is a waste of time in most cases. The dream goes on until it comes to an end, all choicelessly done but not by any one/thing separate, and then it’s recognized there was no dream. The most misleading statement would be to say there’s nothing to do — that’s only the case since there is no one. So if there seems to be someone, there will be the appearance of doing things. So the seeker might as well be honest about that and not fall into the trap of giving up seeking. The search does not end, the seeker does. Thinking about what has happened is what is happening after what has happened — but there is no “after what has happened,” nor has something happened. There’s no before or after separate from now. There is no separation from what is happening. The whole message boils down to this: what is happening never becomes something other than what is happening

I think the heart of the issue is not precisely in the information itself, but probably in how you're drawing the distinctions between subjective and objective attraction. I needn't to tell you that we can play with these constructs all day long, deconstruct and rebuild them however we want. Just like sand, we can make anything out of it. The truth of nonduality is important for this understanding. It seems that you have a strong identification in your mind with this distinction you've created between subjective and objective in regards to attraction. And you don't seem to be willing to let go of it or at least show a little bit of flexibility in how you're using it. You seem to think that there's an actual physical thing called "subjective attraction" in contrast to another actual physical thing called "objective attraction". And you seem to have a desire to idolize the subjective element and put it on a pedestal, or as something beyond the reach of men, possibly to make yourself feel special or protected, or maybe because it's just something you picked up from somewhere as a dogma. That is my speculation based on how you seem to be in favor of the "subjective" attraction nonsense. But the truth is that none of that is true, except in your mind. You can dream up any concepts you want and identify with either sides of any duality. It doesn't change the fact that all dualities are made up concepts. I know you're big on the Masculine vs. Feminine duality, but ultimately, it's still a duality, and there's no real difference between masculinity and femininity except in our minds. Ultimately, the Masculine and Feminine are inseparable, and it's delusional to think otherwise. And I don't mean to dismiss the obvious polarities or the observable differences or their importance in our lives as humans. All I'm saying is that things are not set in stone, and they can be as flexible as you want them to be. For example, being is generally considered a feminine quality. But can the masculine not be? Does the masculine exclude being? As well, doing is usually associated with the masculine. But is the feminine dead or paralyzed? Is the feminine opposed to movement or doing? See, it's just a matter of how you choose to draw the distinctions and where you choose to draw them. Anyway, I don't know if you've ever heard of this concept before, but there's something known as "pre-selection", which means that a man is a lot more likely to be attractive to new women he meets if he's already established as attractive by some women, or even only one (of course the more the better). It is a well established fact that a pre-selected man is a lot more attractive than an ordinary one. This just shows how little role the subjective element plays in female attraction. It's mostly unconscious herd mentality; a man who is attractive to other women is usually attractive to the woman who's currently making judgement. When a woman is judging a man's worth, she's not just judging him purely by herself, but by all the other women she knows. It's a form of confirmation bias and appealing to authority, both of which are logical fallacies caused by following the opinions of others instead of oneself. In other words, the subjective element is marginalized in this case in favor of the "objective". And that is enough proof for my case, because we can't eliminate other women or their opinions. A woman does not make a scientific study into whether this man is worth her. She mostly uses her emotions, and her emotions are mostly driven by the bigger collective first, and then by her social circle. I would say ubringing has nearly nothing to do with this at all, because in early childhood we don't pick up very nuanced desires or distinctions, mostly very general and broad ones. But I can play your mental game, too. I can say that because ultimately it's always the woman who has the final say in the matter, that means it's her subjective decision, she doesn't judge by already made up criteria. But you'd probably laugh at me for saying that. Just remember that concepts are flexible and nonduality can flip anything upside down. Truly, I can use your language to make the exact opposite case out of the same arguments. By the same logic above, I can say that men also are mainly driven by subjective attraction. After all, isn't the man deciding, whether consciously or subconsciously, whether a certain woman is attractive or not? The metrics used to assess attractiveness are irrelevant in both cases. Because are they subjective or objective? Or both? Or neither? There are various ways we could deconstruct the mind. But that should be enough.

These could be conceived of as valuable: The body is liberated from the tyranny of the me. The me is liberated from the need to defend what doesn't belong to it -- the body always seeks safety, but it's not your (someone's) body. Existential questions no longer perturb the innate peace of being. But pointing out there's no me is an inefficient method for awakening, and indeed not intended as a method. It has its place, but from the perspective of the message of no me, listening to the message is equally as useless as anything else. If you are seeking peace and happiness, you might as well enjoy it; meditate, etc. The only reason to listen to the nonduality message would be entertainment and fun. And when it's just constantly pointed out when people aren't even asking for it, it's probably a useless activity -- for the benefit of the one delivering the message.

I never was hard-core religious. My family are Hindus and I used to pray to God when I was a little kid up until 20s when I discovered atheism and nonduality etc. If God is not separate from me.. Then to whom should I pray? Religious people pray to God under the assumption that God is separated from them. Believing in a higher power that can take care of you helps you avoid existential despair and it actually gives you sense of satisfaction. As some studies show that religious people tend to be more happy than atheists. But if I am God.. I can't pray to myself. Then how do I substitute prayer and get the relief associated with the practice?

Things are as they appear for you in your current state of consciousness. As long as you appear to yourself as a separate entity, that is whats real to you. It is an illusion from the ultimate perspective yes, but its foolish to neglect the illusion while still appearing to be stuck in it yourself as an ego. Some people (like in this thread) embrace nonduality intellectually and then threat everything that isnt the ultimate as irrelevant, even if they obviously are stuck in illusion themselves still, if they werent they wouldnt write like that in the first place. It becomes an ego thing.

Manifestations Ok so I have a really freaky story about manifesting and I'm basically a believer at this point. When it came to my dorm, I found out the day before I supposed to move in that my housing application got cancelled. A couple months prior, I have been in a consistent mood where I felt as if nothing was going to get better and that I'm going to be stuck with my parents for the rest of my life. I was acting as if which is a manifestation technique. By acting as if or by acting under assumption, it's like you're basically sending out subconscious signals of whatever you're acting like is going to happen and then you end up manifesting that very thing. So as I was panicking with not very many options, I decided that I'm going to try out this last minute manifestation technique. Basically I wrote a letter to the universe basically saying "hey sorry about emitting negative energy, can you fix this for me? I know you can do this because you have moved mountains for me in the past and I have faith and trust in you." I also did this thing called scripting where you get into the zone and write out exactly how you want a situation to go in a very detail oriented way because that's also a manifestation technique. I wrote this once I released the negative emotions I was feeling when I got the news. I let myself feel and didn't bypass it. Once I was done with that, I wrote out the letter and it came from a feeling of acceptance, peace, and confidence. I was still pretty anxious about the whole thing. But I do think that being anxious while still having the faith that everything will turn out ok is possible. I didn't tell my parents about anything. Still acting as if, I quit my part time job, got packed up, and every time I caught myself feeling anxious I told myself that I was excited because my manifestations always come true. And whatever I scripted actually did come true. Just to be sure I also added a bunch of details that were along the lines of things that would be nice but things that I'm not attached to. It was kind of like bonus points. I have this habit where I try to aim high because even if I don't reach that ideal goal, I still get pretty far. So in this bonus round I scripted that I was going to get a discount for my dorm and that I'm going to be good friends with my roommate. BOTH OF THOSE THINGS CAME TRUE With the roommate thing, I was fully prepared from the start that I was probably going to room with some random stranger. Yes, my roommate was random but when I moved in, I found out that it was actually someone I had a class with 2 years ago. We were both excited about that and we basically skipped over the whole awkward phase of getting to know your roommate since we were acquaintances before. And I'm sure at this rate we'll be pretty good friends tbh. I feel like we're already pretty good friends because of how comfortable we are around each other when it comes to opening up and communicating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I also did this thing about a month ago where I wrote out all of the things I want to happen in my life along with a bunch of affirmations. Like I said in previous posts, I've been getting more into astrology. And I found out about this thing that is apparently really astrologically significant when it comes to manifesting. It's something along the lines of if you try to do a manifestation ritual on these following days, it's guaranteed success. Honestly, I don't know how much of that is true but I'm just having fun with it. I think that's why a lot of my manifestations work. I believe in it and I know ways that it makes sense in a non woo woo kind of way but at the same time I don't take it super seriously and I enjoy the process and that makes me detached from the outcome (because giving out negative/desperate energy comes from a place of lack and that blocks your manifestations) . Prior to the experience with housing above, like I said, I believed in the law of attraction and manifestation but it wasn't in this magical woo woo way. I kind of saw manifestation as this long term thing where you need to take your time releasing blockages and working through your limiting beliefs and that your manifestations come slowly after a lot of hard work. And don't get me wrong, that is the case in a lot of situations. But also, thinking that manifestation is always this time consuming, emotionally laborious thing can be a limiting belief on it's own as well. Manifestation can be easy if you want it to be and in the housing situation, I really wanted manifestation to be easy and instantaneous. And so I released that limiting belief in that situation. I think another reason why I had this limiting belief around manifestation was because I didn't fully believe in it. I believed in it enough to make things happen but there was a block that was still there in the form of doubting things like spirituality, woo woo things, and intuition. Like I believed that manifestation only worked in certain situations and as a result, it only worked in certain situations for me. But anyways, now I'm choosing to see as the universe as my personal wish granting factory because I guess if you want to bring nonduality into this, I created everything and I am a part of everything. And as a result, I'm manifesting everything all the time.

I had a huge breakthrough a few months back and realized our essential nature. I deeply felt and realized we are a contraction of the universe. That we are infinite, that we are love, that we are one. This understanding is far beyond intellectual understanding. However, now I am becoming familiar with New Age ideas (chakras, astral projection, demons, etc.). What do I make of all of this? The awakening experience I had while realizing our true nature shattered me completely to where now my mind is open to all possibilities. But these new age ideas are confusing and seem to contradict nonduality. I'm coming from a background in philosophy, epistemology, and psychology. What is the connection between Truth and these New Age ideas?

Eh.. Well, they have just programmed it with classic nonduality teachings. That sounds like a copy/paste from the classic nonduality teaching.

@SriSriJustinBieber There it is. Wow. That's exactly what was confusing me– being individualized before birth. Like he says, this seemingly contradicts oneness/nonduality. Seemingly. Lol. Thank you so much.

https://rupertspira.com/non-duality/blog/poetry-prose/hsin-hsin-ming-poem-alternative-rendition Rupert Spira made a beautiful translation of an Ancient Buddhist Poem from China "Hsin Hsin Ming." A very elegant and lucid description of nonduality. Rupert Spira's Rendition: "To be at peace and content is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When likes and dislikes are not present, everything becomes clear and simple. Make the smallest distinction, however, and you will be exiled from the realm of eternal happiness which is your home. If you wish to be happy and at peace, then hold no opinions for or against anyone or anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is a conditioned habit of the mind. It is a recipe for unhappiness. When we allow the appearance of things to veil their reality, our innate peace and happiness is disturbed to no avail. Our essential being is perfect, like boundless space, which is complete in itself with nothing lacking. It is our rejection of what is present or our seeking of what is not present that determines whether or not we feel the peace and happiness that are our very nature. Do not lose yourself in experience but do not turn away from any experience. Be free from all experience but completely open to all experience, and your innate happiness will shine forth. Do not think that the activity of the mind is a problem or that the cessation of its activity is necessary. To attempt to stop the mind’s activity is itself the mind’s activity. Neither lose yourself in the mind’s activity nor engage in the effort to still it, but simply be knowingly the witnessing presence of awareness, and your innate happiness will emerge from the background of experience. Your true nature of pure awareness transcends all experience and yet is immanent within all experience. To assert or deny either aspect is, therefore, to miss the nature of reality. It is not possible to think of reality or to express it in words. To know the nature of reality it is necessary to know the nature of one’s own being, which lies behind all thinking and talking. We invest our happiness in changing things only because we have forgotten or ignored our being. If we want lasting peace and happiness it is only necessary to return to one’s being. Do not search for happiness; only cease allowing the thought, ‘I don’t want what is present; I want what is not present’ to run your life. The slightest like and dislike with respect to experience veils our innate happiness. Do not reject appearances in favour of awareness, for it is infinite awareness itself that shines in and as all appearances. When we stand knowingly as the presence of awareness, nothing can disturb us, and when a person or thing no longer disturbs us, we no longer see them as separate from us or as a source of happiness or suffering. When we no longer divide our experience into good and bad, right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, the personal self vanishes, for it is created and maintained only by resisting, holding or seeking. In the absence of a separate subject of experience, the separate object or other dissolves and their shared being is revealed as the experience of love or beauty. An object only seems such from the perspective of a separate subject of experience, and a separate subject of experience can only seem to exist in relation to an object. As such, both the subject and the object are, in reality, a single, infinite and indivisible whole. Knowing this, we make no judgements, and neither prejudice nor opinion obscures our vision. To be established in peace and happiness is neither easy nor difficult: it is simply to know and feel oneself as the presence of awareness, with which all experience is known, in which all experience appears and, ultimately, out of which all experience is made. For one whose life is determined by resistance, holding and seeking, everything they do simply compounds their unhappiness. The more effort they make, the farther they are from happiness. Ultimately, even the desire for enlightenment is the desire for something other than what is, and is, as such, the very activity of suffering itself. If, on the other hand, we simply abide knowingly as the presence of awareness, there will be neither resistance nor seeking and we will live free, undisturbed and fulfilled. When our thoughts and feelings are governed by resistance, holding and seeking, we no longer see things as they are. We make distinctions and judgements only because we overlook the unity of being that underlies all people and things, and as a result become upset and exhausted. Nothing of value comes from it. For one who is established in their true nature and, as a result, allows things to be as they are, the goal of life has already been fulfilled. Such a person seeks nothing, holds on to nothing and resists nothing and is, therefore, at peace and content. For one who is lost in their thoughts and feelings, life is a constant battle of resistance, holding and seeking, and thus they are rarely at peace. Everyone’s essential being is the same. It is only when our essential being is qualified by experience that distinctions between people arise and thus conflict begins. To seek our being with the mind is a mistake, for our being lies at the source of the mind; it can never be found as an object of the mind. Activity and inactivity, like and dislike, good and bad, right and wrong, gain and loss all come from ignoring or overlooking the underlying unity of being, from which all people and things derive their temporary name and form. If we do not allow appearances to veil their reality, our innate peace and happiness will pervade all experience. If we do not resist what is present and seek what is not present, experience will lose its capacity to veil its reality. One who remains established in and as the presence of awareness will not lose their self in the content of experience, and as a result, peace and happiness will prevail. Such a one will not separate their self from any experience, and as such, love and beauty will shine in their experience. It is our likes and dislikes which confer independent existence on people and things, and as a result our shared being is overlooked. To understand this is to be free from experience even in the midst of experience itself. In this condition, preferences simply no longer arise. The peace that is the nature of our being is equally present in both activity and inactivity, and therefore it has no preference for either. In the absence of any distinction between activity and inactivity, we cannot even call it peace. Thus, it cannot be defined by words or restrained by any law. One who is in touch with the peace of their essential being no longer negotiates experience from the vantage point of a separate self. Such a one is free. Our essential being is like empty space: nothing leaves a trace on it, nor does it hold on to anything. For one who is established in their true nature, thoughts and feelings add nothing to their self nor remove anything from it, and thus they begin to quieten down. Everything simply is as it is. In reality there is no separate subject or object of experience; there is no self and no other. This absence of otherness is love itself, from which nothing is separate and nothing excluded. The recognition of one’s true nature is independent of the content of experience. In this recognition, the relative value of things in time and space, whilst remaining, is outshone. At every moment, experience is always a single, infinite and indivisible whole, for all such definitions would refer to parts of the whole. Wherever we look it is all a manifestation of the same impersonal, infinite, intimate reality, which admits no boundaries, distinctions or differences. This reality cannot be debated by the finite mind. It assumes the names and forms of ten thousand things, without ever being, becoming or knowing anything other than itself. To understand and feel this is to live a life of peace and joy. It is the origin, the path and the goal of the non-dual understanding. It cannot be spoken of and yet all words speak of it. There is no path to it because it is that alone which is always and already present. Turn towards that and it will take you into itself." Thanks for reading ❤

@cervid Realizing nonduality is not about an experience. Having the experience of Oneness or Self is not enlightenment/awakening. It is about the insight/revelation that shatters the illusion of "me"...and the "me" can never be believed again. However, once you have an experience, it is easier to recreate or have a similar experience...but that is not the point of awakening. Awakening is not making a passing experience permanent in some way (which is impossible).

@Someone here You're dogmatizing nonduality. It's not MORE guidelines it's the falling away of them, the freedom of them. You can still have your cake and eat it too, you can still have your Big Sky Daddy and... that doesn't sound right, never mind. (Although, for the Christians, that is what Jesus meant when he spoke about communion.) There are sources of guidance all around, but you have to receive them. I have experienced absolutely bizarre forms of guidance since understanding and feeling into this stuff. I've had things that have made me feel so seen, so watched over and so loved, I can't describe it. But when I go to attribute a single separate source of this, it falls apart.

@mandyjw let's say you are going through extremely difficult times. It's so tough that you can't just do it on your own. You need a higher power to guide you.what are you going to do? To whom are you going to pray? Nonduality doesn't accept a separate sky daddy who can hear and answer your prayers. Because god is the universe bla bla

I'm not buying that at all. That's just a convenient way to keep your wishful thinking belief alive. It's like when the alien believers say: "We don't see the best videos of aliens because the government keeps those amazing videos in a secret super vault somewhere." Or "We can't see the aliens because they have amazing invisibility technology". Etc. There's many convenient things you can believe in to keep the fantasy alive. And I'm not even mentioning the stuff which conspiracy theorists believe in.. And of course the same mechanism also works in beliefs about nonduality stuff etc.

This is well said and aligns with my experience and understanding of it. But of course, Stage Yellow people are still humans and get triggered, annoyed and have blinds spots like everyone else. Especially if one is "cognitively" at Yellow but not integrated in other aspects like morality, interpersonal skills, spirituality, etc. Another factor that SD does not encapsulate is level of consciousness as it relates to nonduality. Someone can be Stage Blue and also the most loving, peaceful, accepting person you'll ever meet (far more than the average Yellow person) if they've done a lot of mediation work and are embodying a certain level of consciousness.

I wrote this in a book I'm writing. “So the church is Baptist. Pentecostals believe in speaking in tongues, but people in my parent’s church think this is foolish at best and like opening the door and offering a plate of cheese and crackers to demons at worst. They even seem to judge Pentecostals worse than they do…” she glanced up at him momentarily, “atheists. It doesn’t matter what you do, the harder you try to make yourself like them, the more they only notice the differences.” Tears welled in her eyes. It continues to dawn on me time and time again that I am not free of religion. I see the same patterns play out with nonduality, and enlightenment, whatever labels you want to put it on the woke, open-minded. It's relative. Ah. Relative. This is why we hate our relatives. The people the most like us, somehow make the differences sharply contrasted. Relative. It's within me. That's the real realization. Nothing pisses me off worse than a teacher who teaches this stuff, who knows this stuff, but who does it not quite the way I would. It seems like the worst, most devilish sin. Just throw the door open and invite them demon relatives in. That is the entire theme of the book. The House with no Door. Yeah, I know. Are you laughing? I'm laughing. We're always laughing. Who knew demons were such fun? OH! This is why there are all those people who love animals and hate people. People are too close to home. When the whole place is your home, nothing can ever be too close to home. Someone should tell all those animal lovers that they aren't human, so they don't need to stop resisting being human by idolizing animals. "Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human."" Gospel of Thomas

Who abides in what is not ultimate? Buddhism is about nonduality. But they make not fetish out of "higher levels of consciousness".