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This is for anyone nearing rock bottom, coming from someone who has been there. Let's start with why you think that suicide is a valid option. If you are like me, you are just fed up with life. Nothing ever really makes sense, everything seems to be going wrong, and there seems to be no reason to keep living in this nightmare. Why on earth would "God" put us here just to suffer? There probably isn't even a God or anything else out there. How could there be one when the world seems so bleak and pointless? So you think, why not just end this life? Why not just take what others may consider to be the easy way out, even though it is actually the hardest decision you have ever faced in your life. Why not put an end to all this never-ending pain and suffering, why not take my poor heart out of its misery? Because you know deep down that won't end the pain and suffering, it will just create more. Maybe not for you, if you succeed in leaving this planet. And that’s a big if - but we will get back to that point. Let's start with the suffering that your voluntary end will bring to others. For me, it started with thinking about the puppy I had. If I were to finish the bottle of pills in my hand, who would care for him? How long would it take someone to even find me? Would he survive until then? My parents had enough going on, they wouldn't be able to take care of him. My parents…this would break my mother's heart…my siblings, they are too young to handle this…. So start by thinking about friends, family, pets, co-workers, teachers, therapists, your favorite barista, literally any being that may be impacted by your death. That should be enough to at least make you second-guess yourself. What if you think that there isn't a single person out there that will care if you are gone? What if you think that nobody would notice, or even that the world would be better off without you? What if you are all alone? Then you will be the one to suffer the most. You're telling me that you have made it this far all on your own? If so, that is amazing. It is amazing that you have managed to survive in this world without anyone having your back. It is amazing that you have been able to survive this long. This means that you are strong, even if you haven't realized your own strength. Your mind and body have been through so much just to get you to this point. And you are going to repay it by "putting it out of its misery"? If it was truly in misery and unable to carry on, your heart would have already stopped. The fact that your heart is still beating means that your body is still fighting for survival. It is your mind that has given up, it is your mind that you are trying to put out of its misery. You are tired of all the negative thoughts. Negative thoughts about the past, negative thoughts about the future. But realize that they are only thoughts. And the notion that suicide will end suffering is also just another thought. Do you know that for sure? Do you know that killing yourself will kill your soul, your entire being, and take away all of the suffering? Are you sure you won't be reincarnated, sent to hell, or something else? How do you know? You don't. Not if you are being honest with yourself. You just believe it will. Belief is a powerful thing. It is belief that got you in this predicament in the first place. Your belief that life isn't worth living, that things will not get better, and that suicide is the way to resolve your situation. It is all belief. To put it in a way that you don't want to hear: it is all in your head. Man, had someone told me it was all in my head, I would have had some unkind words to send their way. What do they mean it's all in my head? Do they think that I am just making up all of this very real pain and suffering? Yes. Because whether you like it or not, you are. Thoughts are a powerful thing, they shape our entire reality. Everything you've ever experienced has been registered as a thought. So when these thoughts tell you that your life sucks, it truly seems like it does. And no one will ever be able to convince you otherwise. No one can force you to change your mind. That is something that you must do yourself. So I am not here to change your mind, because I can't. All I can do is tell you how I changed mine, and perhaps encourage you to try doing the same. I started by coming to terms with the fact that all of the suffering in my life was caused by me. I took 100% responsibility for the choices that led me to this point in my life. No more blaming the boyfriend with the anger issues, I decided to date him in the first place. No more blaming the back-stabbing friends, I chose to associate with them in the first place. No more blaming the president for trying to deport me, I chose to stay in this country. No more blaming the guy that tried forcing himself on me, I agreed to go out with him. No more blaming my parents for not being loving enough, I chose to associate my self-worth with their praise and attention. No more blaming anything or anyone, because every bad situation I have been in has been co-created by me. Even though I am responsible for all of this, I don't blame myself. I'm only human, I'm bound to make mistakes. I must forgive myself and learn from my mistakes. It has taken years to forgive myself, mostly because I didn't realize how much I was still blaming myself for my attempt. It has been a secret I have carried for way too long. I'm done being ashamed about it. I may not have much control over what life throws my way, but I have full control over how I react. It has taken a while for me to regain control over my emotions, and I still struggle with them when things don't go as expected. But I am working on taming them. Not by whipping them into place, but by acknowledging them, forgiving them, and learning from them. I don't neglect my feelings or pretend that they aren’t there. Instead, I realize when they arise, and I ask myself why. Why I am upset, frustrated, sad, annoyed, etc.? I find what is stressing me out and making me reactive, then I evaluate if it is worth being upset over. It is usually not. So then I let it go. This notion of letting things go is what has truly saved me. If you'd like to know more about it, Buddhism does a great job of explaining it. I have no way of truly doing it justice, so I recommend finding books or YouTube videos on it, there are dozens out there. So I take a deep breath, fill my lungs and body with all the negative feelings, and then slowly breathe them all out. I let the negativity leave my body without judging it. I'm not upset at myself for being emotional, it's just part of who I am. I just redirect my emotions. I have chosen to stop thinking bad things about the future and to let the past go. Whether something happened 15 years ago or 15 minutes ago, it is in the past and I won't dwell on it. As far as the future goes, I am not psychic. Whenever I have planned for bad situations in my head, they never have occurred. Life is too unpredictable, I have no idea what tomorrow will hold. So why waste the present moment living in what has already passed, or on what will probably never happen? This is another thing Buddhism has greatly explained, the power of living in the present moment. Of being mindful of what is happening right now, giving this moment all of your attention. Don't live in the past, don't live in the future, live in the now. In addition to no more negative thinking, I have also chosen to focus on the good things. When someone asks me how my day was, I won’t complain even if it wasn't that great. Instead, I share with them something good. Maybe it was a pretty tree I saw this morning, a funny comment someone made, or just something that made me smile. Sounds cheesy and way too optimistic, but you have to fake it till you make it. Try talking positively about things, and eventually, you'll start thinking positively as well. Keep a journal where you write things that make your day a little better, and you'll start to notice those things more often. Chose to focus on the good things life has to offer. Especially the little things, like how the sun feels on your skin, or a nice breeze on a hot day. When something seemingly bad seems to happen, challenge yourself to see it as something good. Theorize about ways in which the situation isn't as bad as it seems. After all, whether a situation is good or bad is up to you. It is all relative, and who knows how it will play out. If you have read this far, that means there is still hope for you. It means you are looking for a sign not to follow through with your plan. Consider this to be that sign. I'll leave you with this: https://www.birchcove.co/insights/good-bad-who-knows You might think the future isn't great, but who knows? Stick around long enough to find out. Edit: in case you're curious about Buddhism, here is one of my favorite talks

My story: My spiritual journey began at the age of 20 when I had a 3 month episode of severe mental illness. Every moment was a struggle. I tried therapy and medication. In the brink of utter hopelessness I had a monumental epiphany which revealed the existence of the spiritual path, meditation, consciousness, and the hope for a better future. I spent the next 6 years on a spiritual mission. I became deeply engrossed in the spiritual process. Hours of meditation, solo retreats, psychedelics, classic personal development, etc. I was on a completely different plane of existence as everyone else and I was happy as ever. I was making rapid progress. I went to Costa Rica and met an enlightened shaman who told me I was one of 10,000 people who would awaken the world. Of course this fed my ego a bit but also gave me a sense of purpose to stay on the path. I never forgot the episode of mental illness I had that started this whole thing. I come from a family history of bipolar and clinical depression. I have no doubt that I have one these. But it seemed as though somehow I was funneling that vulnerability into massive spiritual progress. I would go through my mind and try to think of situations that could possibly trigger me back down and I couldn’t. I had multiple awakenings and deeply fulfilling experiences. I felt like I was living a blessed life. By the end of those 6 years I felt like I truly had detached from everything. But I was wrong. In the spring this year I received an offer for a dream job. Let me start off by saying that my career as an Engineer was never my passion. It has always been a means to an end. However, I learned to enjoy most aspects of it. I saw a job as a necessary minor evil that I had to work around just like everyone else. I was at peace with that. I got a rare offer for a stress free job with the DOT, one that would give me lots of flexibility, freedom, meeting new people, working from home, etc.. it was basically a stress free job that could allow me to focus more on other things and maintain a healthy balanced life. Concurrently, my current company was in the midst of placing me on a new project, another supposedly good opportunity. This one involved being able to work on my own. There was less flexibility and I couldn’t work from home, but I believed this would make me more disciplined. My intuition told me to go with the first opportunity even though I believed it might make me “lazy” or have less “spiritual progress.” I put in my 2 week and felt an excitement that put me on top of the world. I should have stuck with that intuition. But instead I quit the new job a week in and went back to my old job. I made a knee jerk reaction. I realized later that any new job, no matter how good it is, won’t be exactly how you imagine it to be, especially at first. I had made a mistake I couldn’t reverse. It took about two days before I became conscious of my mistake. It hit me like a ton of bricks and then a continuous descent down a cliff. I became flooded with a hellish state of dread and regret. For weeks I fought moment after moment to be present. I kept telling myself that there was a reason for this pain, that in order to fulfill my destiny of awakening the world, I needed to get through this. During those times I had beautiful awakening experiences. But mostly it was hell. When it was time to go back to my old job, I continued to stay as present as possible. Fortunately, they didn’t have much for me to do at first, so I sat in my car and continued the fight. When it was time to do tasks I still stayed present. But life happened. Eventually I got emotionally crushed because it was impossible for me to simultaneously handle all the negative emotions and life itself. I started taking an anti depressant called Zoloft. It went against all my spiritual beliefs, but at that point nothing mattered. The medication takes about 3 weeks to start working. In the meantime I continued to cycle between extreme low and high consciousness states. It all pinnacled in multiple near suicide attempts. When my parents saw the rope burn around my neck they called my psychiatrist who ordered me to go to the hospital. There’s a lot I could say about my 3 weeks in a mental hospital. I’ll start with the cons. I had to eat garbage food. Institutional food. Little to know greens. Just what you’d expect. I had little to no outdoor time. Fifteen minutes a day inside a cage. That’s all I got. Now here’s the pros. There’s a lot of camaraderie. Everyone there is struggling through something and it really helps to have that sense of constant social connection. It’s like being back in college. There’s also doctors and therapists who come around and ask how your doing, which is nourishing. All in all, I think there’s a lot we can do to improve our mental hospitals. I think we could save a lot of people who would otherwise be crushed. There were people there with high potential if they were only supported properly. While I was in there they put me on another medication. It was an anti psychotic called Olanzapine. This drug is very powerful. It essentially rid me of my overwhelming negative emotions. My mind finally had a sense of control. I’m very grateful for it because it has probably saved my life. It’s also very humbling to admit I need these drugs, but I’ve come to realize what they are: tools. Some people say anti depressants and anti psychotics are like taking insulin. The difference is you can’t consciously control your insulin levels, but you can learn to consciously control your mind. Except when you can’t. Because maybe your mind is running way out of control. That’s when these meds can be of great value. With the help of the meds and the social connection, I left the hospital in a better place. I’ve come to realize where I’m at right now. I know that I have a lot of inner work to do before I can even think about go off the meds, doing psychedelics, retreats, fasting, solitude, or any of the things that I used to be able to do. I’m gonna keep going because what else is there to do. I hope to one day look back and be grateful for this time in my life. I have since taken a step back from watching Leo’s content because it makes me sad. But hopefully one day I can get back there too. I believe there is a reason and an unfolding, to be revealed to those who never give up. Please feel free to post any thoughts or questions.

i mean honestly I dont blame you man, we play these games and to what end, you make up the rules but the apparent ego is powerless, and then we are supposed to enjoy it, i mean dont get me wrong there is a beautiful balance to life, but doesnt mean i have to/like/love all the terrible shit and the only way out is a psychedelic? or meditating for a bagillion hours? or a horrificly painful suicide, seems like im a shit designer.

Not bad, I see some of your points. I agree with Leo's personality being kind of rough around the edges and it has not improved. Even I have worked on my own personality over the years and don't see him doing this, in fact - I find it odd as I grow, I seem to soften up a bit, or at least am making the effort to because my awakenings have lead me to the conclusion that moving energy "up" is a worthwhile thing - for myself and others and so I feel more mindful about negativity. I think it will take one to two years to fully embody, but I have noticed my aggression, my need to be right, to argue has been going down as I move closer to what I consider to be my "death", I want to be emotionally decent before I go. When you look death in the face, you realize how unimportant some things are and what you miss out on - things like this. When I see Leo's arrogance, this tells me he has not really faced these things, as when you do - it softens you. You realize that you're not some "super special gift" to the world or that people need to be a certain way, or even that the world needs to be a certain way - but that everything unravels for a reason... I guess... even me writing then, the onus on me is to accept all of it completely... but I feel like I could get through somehow. Leo, sometimes your attitude is really off the mark, when it comes to empathy and understanding people and relating to them. Like, your image on your instagram of some woman's fluids on your jeans... just... why? You know? You tout yourself as a high quality guy but you're doing weird stuff like this, you sometimes treat your forum audience with what almost feels to be contempt at times. Another thing is that you have these awakenings, and these are things that I started off with - much of them, and have been holding onto in the face of being told they are wrong, only to see other people come to similar conclusions. Like... these people follow you and their mainstream spirituality like... mindlessly. A lot really do, and it is unsettling because then they take their ignorance and try to mold my own work into it and I can guarantee that a lot of people have not gone as deep in certain subsets of this than I have. And then you come out with some flippant new awakening and suddenly everyone is now "open" to this. It just makes me realize how you really have to hold on tightly to your internal compass with these things, because even so called truth seekers will try to corrupt it if they can. As far as mental illness goes - there is a lot of ablism on this forum. In spirituality in general, so I don't agree with your sentiments there. The fact is a lot of people have mental illness. If you don't have it you won't understand how linked the two are. Like peanut butter and jelly. I feel protective for people who struggle with their mental health, as someone who is afflicted as well, and I don't think someone should be removed just for being different. If it is clear that they struggle with something and are actively showing symptoms, reaching out to them could be of benefit but "culling" members based on something they have no control over isn't right. People with mental issues should be protected and loved. I also feel odd about Leo's newfound discovery of "insanity" because I don't think just one night in the trenches really can give you an accurate understanding of what it is like to not be neurotypical. I think - he just needs to take more care - perhaps of himself first... A good rule of thumb is that if you're doing your practice right - no matter which road you take, it should be leading you towards resolution, completion within yourself, acceptance, and Love - and these are things that should ideally be able to replicate in the real world. Not just talk about them, but make those active changes to the personality. My instincts tell me that something is not right. Something feels manic... or not fully digested. All over the place. I have a good eye for that stuff. He'll fluff it off, but I think that maybe humility might be his best bet. Be humble enough to reach out if you get stuck. Be humble enough to know that in the grand scheme of things, you're one in billions. I work with strong energies and learn a lot about the spiritual planes - authentically - and this is due to not allowing my ego to get in the way. I know my place, so to speak. I have a job to do, I am not some special person. It's just like being a plumber or an electrician. When you take this route into spirituality, this will keep you level. You can also get shut out of some very miraculous experiences if you are prideful. There are things within our reality that require selflessness to access, and if you get too hot headed, you'll just be removed from it completely. I would like to see him finally meet a genuine spirit from the other side. Not one that he turns into himself, but something with its own agency that comes to him with its brand of knowledge. He would see how little control a human has over things, and that it isn't him who is a teacher of the ages, but the shamans who get their information directly from these true teachers that have lucked out. A spirit, an entity, can really get into the psychology and soul of a human being - it knows just what to say, what to show you, when and where and why - and it will unravel for you in a way that is tailored to your unique psychology. A teacher - much less a human - can't do this. But most people are shut out from this as they are told such things don't even exist. Now that I have gotten a critique out of the way, I must say - I love Leo. I want him to be the best person that he can be and I don't write this with any ill will or malice or anything like that. It's just that if some of your high level awakenings are literally the very first thing that I encountered. If you get into paranormal things, into anything in such a way, you need to make sure you are as humble as you can be. If you are working with beings, they will move you away from arrogance and suicide and into love and self acceptance. If you're moving in the opposite direction, I would look into why this is happening. Maybe try reaching out to see if you can find yourself a spirit guide on the other side?

A Critique Of Actualized.org And Leo Gura The intention of this critique is to make people aware of some of Leo’s limitations. It might save people time and unnecessary suffering. It is not meant to invalidate or insult Actualized.org or Leo. I think Leo is a great teacher in many ways, this is just healthy criticism. Please take it lightly. Since Leo likes to criticize everyone else, I thought why not do it to him this time. It’s worth mentioning that I’ve personally never taken any psychedelics and I don’t consider myself some advanced spiritual person either. Some might consider this critique incomplete - which is fair. I have been watching Leo and other teachers for a long time. Nevertheless, I think it can still be helpful for people to read this. If anything, it can be an exercise in open-mindedness. It’s important to note that I will only be critiquing Leo on his more core and central teaching. So don’t expect much on minutia like his dating advice or politics. Although these thing can be important to some people, and you are free to level your own critiques on him, small or big, below this post, I personally won’t be focusing much on this. So sit back and let’s being… Freedom from understanding This one is a little confusing and long but the most important. Stick with me please. Basically, Leo takes psychedelics and shares his findings on YouTube. Why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because there are things he doesn’t explicitly tell you: What Leo does is pursuit of understanding. It is an endless process. There is no end to it. You can keep on accumulating new experiences and making your understanding better and better. Understanding is a limited process rooted in the ego-mind. So during his psychedelic trip he has an experience of God. We can say he is in a higher state of consciousness. Once it is over, he comes back to his normal state of consciousness. The experience is stored in the form of memory which gets interpreted and communicated by the ego-mind. The memory isn’t reliable because it can’t be stored. Understanding is a limited thing, whereas Truth is unlimited it can’t be bound to such things. So here’s what you need to know: Most people don’t need to do what Leo does. Leo is like a scientist. It’s his profession and passion to have new experiences and create new mental models. This pays his bills. Truth is beyond understanding. Truth is something living, it doesn’t come from a memory of a trip. Understanding (and experience) is only needed to answer a few basic questions, beyond it you don’t need it. Questions like, “Who am I?”, “What is thought?”, “What is the limitation of thought?” Basically to quiet the mind and satisfy your curiosity. To become free from this as well. The point of spirituality is freedom, but people get stuck in this cycle of accumulating experiences and gathering knowledge. They never become free from understanding itself. You have to use your understanding to get free from understanding. Getting more understanding will not change you. Your personality will remain the same. Your habits and patterns will remain the same. Your base level of consciousness will remain the same. You will remain an idiot. (If anything too many fixed ideas you got from your trips might make your ego swell and make it hard for you to look at life afresh.) You might regret wasting this time on understanding. It’s endless. It’s the same as exploring the physical world. You can keep exploring it deeper and deeper and arrive at new conclusions each time. Your time might be better spent on any number of things. It’s important to tell you that it will not get rid of suffering either, in case that’s why you are following Leo. It’s important to tell you this because people have attached unrealistic expectations about this. If you’re an average person with a job and a career, you don’t need to do this. In fact this might not even be spirituality for you, it’s like a weird game of documenting peak experiences. He might say he made this clear to people, but I say he doesn't explicitly tell you this. Most people don't need this and they don't know they don't need it, they are lost and Leo doesn't help them out. Lack of balance Leo likes to talk about balance, but how balanced is his spirituality? How balanced is his self-help? It is overly intellectual (as he himself admits). All he’s trying to do is get peak spiritual experiences. He has completely neglected raising his base level of consciousness. As far as you know he is not doing anything to raise it. He inspires others to do the same. Arrogance, ego and the forum If you had asked me about Leo’s ego a year ago, I would have ignored it as minutia, but now I increasingly feel it is becoming a problem. After an awakening his ego becomes inflated for several weeks. Every time he gets an awakening you can bet it will be like this. You know something other people don’t. So what? What’s the big deal? What’s there to be proud about? You don’t even know it after the trip. I don’t see the point of inflating your ego. Trap of solipsism “But it’s not ego, he’s trying to communicate solipsism. That’s why he says he is the best and the only one awakened.” No, no. If he was he wouldn’t say it like that. It would be a matter of fact statement. Anybody with some awareness can tell that what he is saying coming from ego. He thinks there’s no one he can learn from. There can be no characters in the dream more knowledgeable and aware as him. Yet he continues to be in the dream. He thinks he is the most advanced, not because of solipsism, he actually thinks that. (For anyone that thinks otherwise, you can simply use the search function and look what he said in the past.) (I'm not saying solipsism is not true.) It’s a one way conversation with him. There’s nothing you can say to him that will get through to him. There’s really no point talking to him anymore. It’s a misapplication of solipsism. “He’s just being authentic.” Being authentic doesn’t mean doing whatever comes to your mind. “I feel like murdering someone, so I will murder someone.” That’s not authentic. Again, I think it comes under a trap of solipsism. “The other teachers are not as good” He doesn’t know about other teachers’ methods. Leo doesn’t know about all these things, he has never learned from an actual Yogi, Tantric, or a Buddhist monk from the places these traditions originate from. He has never gone too deep into this. He’s not qualified to talk about it. He doesn’t know about devotion, about chakras, energy, and many other things. It might be because he has an autoimmune disorder which prevents him from exploring other methods fully. That’s why he likes psychedelics so much. They’re quick and easy. “Buddhism will never get you there.” Sadhguru said Buddhism is a long, drawn out process. He said Buddhist masters tell you it will take you 12 life times of sadhana to become enlightened. Buddhism in the east, the actual Buddhism, makes it clear. It doesn’t give you false expectations. "But re-incarnation and all that isn't real." Just like everything else. The walls in your house, your ego-mind, your body, and your psychedelics. How do you know it's not as real as radio waves? "But these teachers are genetic freaks! We can't be like them." So it just didn't occur to these genetic freaks that other people can never advance spiritually like them. These supposedly genetic freaks who are juggernauts of awareness, just didn't realize other people are not like them. It slipped their attention. Obviously if these people are so aware they know what they are doing and what others are capable of. I've seen videos and testimonies of people who go to these people. People's lives have changed for the better. Obviously not all the people who benefit make a YouTube channel and say exactly the same things Leo says. People are private. Being offensive and outrageous I am embarrassed to share that I watch actualized.org with anybody. With post titles like, brains don’t exists and pedophilia is love. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Leo has no regard for how others might perceive his loyal followers when he does things like this. It’s coming from ego. The way he’s going about saying it is dumb. You don’t need to do all this to make your point. It’s unappealing, that’s why people move away from you and he feels they are moving away because they don’t understand his point. “Look at this video of a murder taking place. This is love guys! Look at this! Why are you going away? Surely you’re not as awake as me! I’m the most awakened person on the planet!” Future I think in the future, it is possible, Leo will eventually develop occult powers with the use of psychedelics. And his ego will be even more inflated. It will become even more ugly. This is all a consequence of not neglecting his base level of consciousness. Forum The forum is not a great place. Partly because Leo himself sets the precedence on how to communicate here and he himself breaks his own rules and name calls people. Even when he’s not name calling you directly, that’s what he’s trying to do indirectly. He’s so snarky too. Other than that he’s doing some version of “everything is a dream”, “this is just a figment of your dream.” “It’s the internet” No. They look at Leo’s writing style and get inspired. The quality of the forum is quite low. Some members with mental illnesses should’ve been reached out and told to take care of themselves before posting again. There are posts which are quite low, like “why I hate men/women” or some other thing like that. Some members should’ve been kicked out a long time ago but Leo seemed to have a soft-corner for them. There are people who have shown no progress (or even regression) and have been on the forum for a long time. For e.g, take Nahm’s example. He should’ve been stopped a long time ago. I come on the forum occasionally and even I noticed he was misleading members on the forum whether he meant to do it or not. And I have seen long term members being lost and no one corrects them. This is important ‘cause there have been incidents of suicide and people ending up in mental hospitals among Leo’s audience. It’s not far fetched to call what he does irresponsible. Better self-help teachers In a sense you can’t even call what Leo does self help anymore. Over the years, he has become more interested in sharing his awakening from his trips than actually understanding his audience’s problems and solving them. 90% of the time he’s just describing his awakening and it’s not of much use because you cannot get to that point by just listening to him. Just do the psychedelics in the way Leo say, there’s no point listening to him except for entertainment. I think, there are better more balanced self-help teachers out there. Those who don’t focus on journalling and intellectualizing too much. Intellectualizing is the number one trap today, people just sit and home and try to think through their problems instead of taking action. So that’s why I think it’s a big limitation of Leo. There is Sandeep Maheshwari for example who has a good balance of self-help and spirituality. His content is not in English however. And for what we know Leo is not a very productive person either. His life might be worse than most people’s for what we knew (partially because of his autoimmune disease). I don’t he’s the ideal person to teach a balanced self-help. For e.g. take the difference between Sadhguru and Leo on concentration. Concentration is one of the most important things you need to become successful spiritually and materially. Leo has a video on concentration titled: Concentration vs Meditation - How To Develop Concentration. I’m sure everyone has seen it multiple times so I won’t talk about it. Now look at what Sadhguru says about concentration: he says don’t try to concentrate. Trying to concentrate is torture and you won’t be able to sustain it. Instead be involved in whatever you are doing and focus will naturally come. Not attached, not detached, but involved. Like you are involved while playing a sport. To meditate is to be involved. Involvement brings attention, and attention brings clarity. Personally this had changed my life. Here’s one article by him: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/article/key-to-staying-focused I think Sadhguru knows much more about attention, concentration, focus, alertness, and the overall mind than Leo. Other minutia If I were to say something else I would just say that Leo has a slight bias toward the “western” way of life and has wrong assumptions about people from other places. The lifestyle of the “west” isn’t all that great. They End I may edit this post later for spelling and grammatical errors, or if I want to add something to it.

Of course, it's just my impression. We could equally say that the act of committing suicide is precisely what you wanted to experience. And indeed, if you do, it's because you exist to do exactly that. In fact I think that in some circumstances, like terminal disease, it's a perfect way to go out, really brave and elegant

Four kinds of people (romantic relationships) PHONY Shady Sneaky Stingy PHONY - phony are people who just pretend to be nice. But they show their fakery later. You feel that fake vibe. They don't mean what they say. They never turn good on their promise. They are pretentious. They are selfish. They say sweet things and later turn their backs on you when you really need them..Disingenuous. Hypocrite. Backstabber Shady - shady in my opinion would be a guy who is dating an underage person. Like they are aware that they are exploiting someone's weaknesses. They know that they are obviously doing something that gives a fair advantage only to them. They are not innocent at all. For days I had been looking for a definition on this. Or an example of what I would think is shady behavior. Obviously this is phony too because the person is not being genuine in their intent or they could be genuine with their words and sincere in their actions yet their shadiness means this Genuineness is pointless. The intent no matter how pure is still meant to benefit one party alone. The intent is calculated and selfish. Other examples of shady people - they use and throw people. They have a history of breaking hearts. They have scammed someone financially. They hide their affairs from their partner. They have covered up their jail record. They have mistreated many people. They have mistreated someone with impunity. They have been ruthless. Their friendships are pure convenience. They have committed atrocities, let's say their past partner has committed suicide because of their cruelty to them. Etc. Shady people can be way worse than phony. A phony can cause temporary feelings of betrayal and disgust and mental anguish. A shady person can literally put your life into jeopardy if you are involved in their master plan without knowing what it is about. They can pretty much screw you up for your whole life. Sneaky - a sneaky is a person who chooses to do things behind your back mostly. For example they might have been gossiping about you with their friends without you knowing it. They might be spying on you secretly. They might be doing silly stuff behind your back or when you are not around just to get away with it. They could be lying to you over little things from time to time. This is not a very harmful behavior. It's simply dishonest but maybe without mal intent. Stingy - a person who spends too little time or money. A person who is not generous. Too calculated, cold. Not selfless. Not giving. Especially when they have a lot of money. They are always thinking what they got to lose. They never want to do anything that doesn't suffice them in some way in the future. They plan everything meticulously and eventually cut you off to meet their own needs. They might not be shady or sneaky. But they abruptly cut you off when they need to in order to fulfill their plan. They keep you on a razors edge. They are careful in how much they barter with you. They never have friends who they don't need. They will constantly judge you, constantly calculate or weigh your value in their life. And cut you the moment they find you unnecessary.

And if you choose suicide, then that's not a acceptable decision? Everything except suicide are okay experiences? Interesting.. There is no evidence that we have actively chosen this stuff. And no evidence for anything else in this thread.. You are just speculating.

suicide seems like a bad thing because you, as an existence, as the void that you are, aka god, have chosen to live this experience. with all its nuances, all its content. so, when things get ugly, even horrible, with maximum suffering, als, terminal cancer, whatever....you have chosen that. then, you, the avatar that you really are, should give your all, and endure your ordeal. you want to experience that. you want to be crucified. if you escape... I don't know if it's a punishment, but seems a disappointment.

I have not experienced such a thing. I don't know if people who get into spirituality in this way are really seeing the full scope of it all. I think you can get into that state, but that there are many different places, many different ways and that it's not quite as simple as just being "nobody" with no mind to suffer. I have what could be considered a terminal illness, and it is active right now, but if it clears up I will have more time, I'm just waiting to see if and when it does, and I've gone through this death process in a very real manner and had a lot of different experiences, all of which lend to the reality that consciousness records itself. You build on your experiences in order to Know how to create. And so you need the ingredients that encompass everything. As for Hell realms, I have experienced these in a certain light, but not to the degree of being so enmired in one that I felt stuck. There was always a way out through simply moving my energy upwards - and so when discussing these things, for people who are suicidal or who want to know I include the reality of these places - along with a simple step for getting out, which is just to move the energy "up". But I don't know enough about them to know if they are simply a mirror, if they are their own worlds, or what. I would need and am actively looking into more experiences with them to be able to come to some personal conclusion. I do know how to get out, though, and this is the step. "Right action" - or things that allow the energy to flow free and positively. I think there would be leeway with that, just like if you put a family pet down for an illness. I have had experiences of pets who passed away coming to me in dreams to say goodbye and they were not stuck in a bad space simply for being put down. One didn't know it had died and was confused until I explained what had happened. She stayed with me in my dreams for a few months before moving on. What I am speaking about is more like, suicide just from feeling as though you are in a bad spot - but that could change with some effort or psychological perspective shifts. I struggle with these thoughts as well, and have, in my opinion, gathered a lot of personal details on the nature of death in a very real manner, but just like with life, due to how we are all unique, I don't know how well they would translate to someone else who is their own individual person with a special path. If that makes sense. I also don't really hold onto my awakenings into these things as absolute truth, so they are open to change or to be expanded on or to be thrown away for a better paradigm. I feel when one goes into it with a loose attachment, that you get more. I don't think you are speaking from ego imo, I think you make sense. If someone is suffering and they want an out and they are going to die anyways, then I don't think that God is going to cut them off at the tail end of their life. I mean, they did learn their lessons. And it might be better to die on one's own terms in the sense of illness, as you are prepared and still functional enough, while an illness can rob you of all of that and take away from it. But let's say you are 16 and your parents divorced or you had a break up and kill yourself, this would be grounds to redo the process. Feel free to poke holes in my work, or whatever, I don't mind. If I don't know, then I don't know and sometimes having people point out certain flaws or weak areas is good because then I can look into it and see where I might need to grow in understanding. Hope this response helps! Of course, I'm glad to know you are not suicidal. Take your time, your soul will generally know when it is time to look death in the face. There will just be a knowledge in your heart that has a strong pull that will say, "Okay, it is time to look at this now." But generally, yeah, do everything when you feel is best for your personal journey. I must let you know, it can be a very good and loving experience, once you get past the fear portion - it is very quiet and calm and there is an illumination that permeates all things and a Love that is in everything. You will find that within this death is the paradoxical eternal life, pretty cool huh?

Suicide is discouraged because the process of growing your soul is meant to move you upwards and suicide is a downwards action that puts you back on the "soul train" so to speak. Your soul wants to learn lessons to grow because you are destined to become a conscious creator, and if you don't learn what you need to while in school, you will need to come back. Also, there can at times be negative forces in your life working against you that might cause you to want to harm yourself in such a way, that if they were seen into and removed that you would not do this to yourself. Suicide is also traumatizing to the soul. It can fragment you in a certain sense. Other than having to repeat your lessons, from what I have learned about this process and gleaned into, there are no bad consequences aside from the fact that you don't get all that you were promised and that you have to repeat it again, and you might be put into a life that doesn't have access to the knowledge that you have now. It could be a harder life. The thing is, what we are promised on the other side is amazing. We get to play forever, as the personality constructs that we are supposed to be, fully, completely whole and connected to the Light and to love, to our families, pets, friends, and lover. This life on Earth is the hardest one because we are forced to forget what we learn when we come here time and time again. It is only when you get to the end of your life, or after some very deliberate prying that you get access into all of this. If you do commit suicide, what will happen is that you will be very confused at first. Your soul will need time to heal and you will be given extra time to do this, to see your family, you will get to go over your entire life and see what you could have done differently. It won't be until after you have done it that you will know how wrong it was to do this and how easy the change would have been, just a switch in perception. Those who die by suicide are not sent to Hell or some place evil, unless you lived a life that was enmired in wrong action, this might be reflected back to you for a time. If this happens, the people who have NDE's that mention these frightening realms say that prayer and asking for forgiveness and mercy will bring the Light to you. The thing is - this is the kicker - death, just like in life is very personalized. Everyone gets something a bit different, but the anatomy is similar that humans have mapped it out to some degree. But your death is based on how you lived. If you want to know about death, look at it in the face. Research it. NDE's, terminal illness, murders, the decomposition process, the interpretation of different religions, memento mori, make a journal on it, in music, in art, it is everywhere. And finally, look your death in the face. Not as an interpretation, but actually sit with it in real time. You will die someday. What if that is tomorrow? Or now? What will you feel when you go through it? Go through that now with as much consciousness as you can. Death is actually a layer, you can peel right behind it in a very real way, and it will tell you what you need to know for your own unique circumstance. The keys to right action? Forgiveness, Love, Truth, Bravery, Sincerity. Follow these, while accepting your mortality and you can't go wrong.

I am not completely qualified to answer this because I have never been diagnosed with a terminal disease but I think I can share something that might be relevant. Also, this is purely personal and so may not generalize. There is this thing called passive suicidality, where you don't actually plan a suicide attempt but have thoughts along the lines of, “It's be so great if I that truck over there would hit me.” For me, every time I have something wrong with me and need to go to see the doctor, I sincerely hope that it's something fatal. If I have a stomach ache, I really hope that it's a cancer or that both of my kidneys have stopped working. If I have a headache, I really hope it's a brain tumor. When the results come in, I get really disappointed when it's something minor. So, if I get diagnosed with a terminal illness, I would be incredibly happy. Except I would really want to die without much suffering. So, in fact, it would make me more likely to do something about it since now it will be somewhat easier for my loved ones to deal with my death.

Who said God "should " be fair and just ? Maybe God is the biggest asshole you ever imagined and he punishes those who commit suicide with eternal suffering? I mean how would you know? You see,you gotta admit that you don't actually know crap about God,death, and the after life . Here's some reasons to NOT commit suicide: 1-One day, you will die anyway. What's the hurry, stay awhile. 2-Death is uncertain. You dont know whats on the other side. 3-life keeps changing. It is full of possiblities. 4- If you are a virgin : how can you end it , without even having sex.

If what comes after suicide is even more suffering and could be even worse, all the people in the world who commit suicide daily have to read this post in order not to commit it. It seems kind of unfair to me. I'm here enjoying the benefits of your wisdom, while they are there suffering and thinking they will get away from it by commiting suicide. Then they get an even worse life, while I, the lucky one, who read this and did not commit suicide, get a better afterlife. Doesn't make any sense. Spirits are either all the same or there is just one Spirit. At least God should be fair and just.

@Gabith, I believe that Galyna is right. Suicide doesn't end anything. Mind and body are two different aspects of the human experience. The mind spends a lot of energy on thought and emotional processes. The stronger the emotions, the more intrusive thoughts and the more power is used. Kundalini practice shows you this in black and white. Through the course of very demanding physical-breathing exercises and meditation in very uncomfortable and painful positions - you focus on your breathing. This allows you to observe the narrative of the mind, which finally screams, "you can't make it, fuck me, that's enough !!". The breath guides you through this scream and begins to distance you from it until it disappears somewhere beyond the horizon. Then these gigawatts of energy are at your disposal, and suddenly it turns out that the body you think you know is just going into some turbo speed. The expansion begins, which - this is the most interesting - you know well. Have a try. I recommend it with all my heart. Find only a truly committed teacher. And don't punish your body. It was not at fault, and turning it off will only make the fuss worse. Besides, it's a great vehicle—99.99% self-repairing, self-loading super suit. You need to know it well. You will see for yourself. Good luck!

@Gabith also please don't entertain thoughts of suicide. It always gets better. Trust me. All you need is patience brother.

Because suffering is the best teacher. You suffer for a reason, it is a wake up call. You won’t grow otherwise. Committing suicide is not an option. What will happen is that you will transit from one dream into another dream. Do you truly think you will die? ? It is all a dream. Consciousness is just dreaming.

@Galyna I don't understand why God would put in Hell or bad conditions people who commit suicide... if someone commit suicide, it's because he's in deep suffering so why would God punish him even more ??? It doesn't make sense

This guy has the whole serious about suicide and what follows it. Do not kill your body, your suffering won't end. Also study Bardo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, bardo (Classical Tibetan: བར་དོ་ Wylie: bar do) or antarābhava (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as zhōng yǒu and in Japanese as chū'u)[1] is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth. Man, I need to create a thread about it. So many people struggle with these thoughts.

Why is suicide discouraged in religions and in general in spirituality? Would there be bad consequences? What if we commit suicide by self-love because we are stuck in a situation of great suffering for example? Would it be okay ?

Yeah this is a crazy event. I kinda wanna build a cult too, without the mass suicide/murder part. Nothing quite so interesting happens these days.

"One of the myths of Jonestown was that it was a mass suicide, whereas, in fact, it was a mass murder."

Yes I agree with that. obviously other factors like self confidence come into play which I would say aren't as genetic however if the highly ambitious person has low self confidence, he'll either commit suicide or eventually become confident & once he does he will start killing it, that is my intuition because as an ambitious yet not always that effective person I know how fucking frustrating it is when you fail & you don't live up to your standards, when I don't work hard it feels like I'm constantly being strangled & burned on a hot stove, for a normal person it is a relief that they get to relax. When I went on "holiday" last time I did, the "friends" (Mediocre idiots) I was with just wanted to "relax", literally fucking drink alcohol on a beach & do absolutely nothing. Whereas I was constantly thinking about levelling up in a holiday way as a form of "relaxtion" for myself : I wanted to approach girls & work on my game constantly, not drink because it numbs me, I want to make connections to build networks, take photos to practice photography, build a mental map of the city in my brain & practice all the different routes for going round the city, I wanted to workout still & set a challenge with myself to approach the hottest models there walking near the beach. I wanted to practice foreign languages & learn culture & customs with the natives, I was even thinking abot strategically networking there to find people who could let me stay in the future = free or discounted travel. I'm not saying all this as if It's profound or genus it's pretty basic, my point is that's an example of a genetic pallet for amibition whereas I just couldn't, couldn't understand why these guys were happy to sit around & drink & do nothing all day, it didn't make sense to me even for like 5 minutes, with a hot girl I get it & u get nice sex but I mean on their own lol, & they were so happy to waste money on multiple resterautns & shit it didn't make sense to me, I realized that holiday that I'm a different person & I just can't interact with low T low ambition men, it's a horrible experience. I'm not the most effective nor am I that intelligent (although not sure how I even define intelligent) but I am certainly creative and ambitious, and I can only really attribute it to genetics. However I didn't always have access to / abilitiy to leverage either of those, BUT I dont say that means that I suddenly became that way from environment, no. It's I had both as latent potentials, but due to environment, low self esteem, diet, ect... my ambition was not I couldn't act on it, but that doesn't mean I never had it, I did have it, but I didn't understand myself enough & furthermore I was very miserable whereas obether kids would be happy & I didn't now why, part of it was due to not realizing that I just needed to fulfill my ambition. So in a sense environment blunts out the amibition, but it's still truly there under the surface. So yes environment has an affect & can block/dilute the amibition buty go it never truly goes away. So ambition + bad environemnt = recipe for distaster because truly amibitious guys never just stop being that way, they will turn to toxic or illegal methods to fulfill their amibitious yearnings, or they be stuck in mediocrity but will kill themselves because the incogruency & the pain is so strong & unbearable.

@something_else With 4 words, you can bed a girl. With 4 words you can repel a girl. Yeah, I don't understand how my advice to 'spend a long time coming up with a response' can have you translate it as 'write a long paragraph to the girl in text'. With 4 words you can kill a person. With 4 words you can save a person from suicide. Simple. But it takes effort to say those right things. If you write even those four words without thinking, you'll fail.

@MichaelJohn It’s still pretty fresh for you, so give it time. It’s also important to note that: It’s not up to you what others do with their lives. You have a right to live your best life, and you should to honour and be an example to everyone who questions whether life is worth living. Consider seeking council with a professional and reading books on: grief, shame, letting go, acceptance, self esteem, and books specifically for people who have lost loved ones to suicide. It’s very fresh for you. You are only responsible for you. Don’t carry something that wasn’t truly yours to carry. Whatever feelings you are feeling right now are totally okay. Feel them. Be kind, loving, compassionate and understanding with yourself.