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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.