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@CaptainBobbyOlsen The one that is the constant and persistent 'trap' if we are going to use this word to describe the phenomena of attachment which entraps within the experience of awakening is believing our perception is the 'truth'. As we are freed from the attachment of self perception so transcend to more unified perception of oneness quite often there is a revelatory experience of 'this is the true' reality. People will call it absolute truth, they will capitalize it as 'Truth' and they will dismiss everything else as false, an illusion and not real in favor of their mystical experience of awakening. They will shout from the metaphorical rooftops about how they have awakened to the universal truth that applies to everyone, not just their own experience, it's everyone;s truth... it is THE TRUTH! This is a 'trap' as you would call it. Every new and deeper awakening no matter who the awakener is seems to always be the most truest truth to ever be seen whether it's someone newly on the path or years into it like the venerable host of this forum believes they are seeing the absolute truth and their experience is pure in perception. It's DIRECT EXPERIENCE! How can it be wrong or an illusion? So be aware of this 'trap' if this is what we are to call it.

@Ulax I’m not so sure I’m that traumatized. For most of my adult life I’ve lived in almost complete solitude. It worked rather well, and my life was pretty good until one and a half years ago when I started studying. There I was surrounded by girls again for the first time since high school and my old strong desires were awakened to life. For other reasons I quit the studies and went back to solitude last year, but then I became very miserable. It wasn’t until summer, when I was on the verge of suicide, that I was finally able to bite the bullet and be proactive about this problem for the first time in my life. Until then I always hoped that I would find someone through work/studies or social circle. I really despised the idea of pickup and online dating. I do stage green activities too by the way.

A good spiritual/ non-duality teacher that comes to mind is Anna Brown: https://www.youtube.com/c/AnnaBrown I am fairly certain that there are more "awakened" or "enlightened" women in the world than men (because women tend to have a better connection to their emotions and inner life). But there are more well-known spiritual male teachers than females because to explain these complex experiences you have to spend a lot of time logically dissecting reality, or as Leo likes to call it, "deconstruct reality". This is a very tedious, purely logical pursuit that many "enlightened" women probably won't even bother with (because you cannot communicate the deepest awakenings anyway). This is also true to Anna Brown's teaching: She isn't trying to explain Enlightenment to your ego, she is trying to tickle your consciousness directly.

Hello amazing person, I am Kory , and here is my Day 1 of an official journey I mean to commit to. Welp, after a long time of messing around, here I am in a Salvation Army homeless shelter and now the quote that captures how I feel... "The Sleeping Giant has Awakened" I landed here last night. I have been living in my van for 8 months. I am 32, and my own self-sufficiency has been lacking. I've stayed back and forth with people and on my own, always moving between jobs, places, and people. I've always wanted to be a high level life-coach, but as I went down the rabbit hole to unreel the nature of life, I disassociated with most everything but my own addictions to gaming and staying high. I've definitely been stuck for many years more-or-less doing the same shit not going anywhere. But I have kinda riddled out the missing ingredients to the recipe for my own success, and it is certainly very exciting to be in a homeless shelter and letting go of the things holding me back... I was living in my van near relatives and just staying within a comfort-zone that was actually screwing me over. The week before, it was still entertaining suicide to some degree, but I just came to accept that I needed help and my identity was gonna have to be scrapped... So I deleted all my games , like "I have no idea how I am gonna spend my day if im not binging out, but we will see!" Well I had an incident that pissed me off enough and I had just enough resources to go, so I just said "Thats what I gotta do, go get a fresh start on my own, and cut all the things not getting me results, and it will just have to work out somehow" So I got a call back from the shelter the following morning after I relocated to a nearby metro, and met a cool person that I've been vibing with as I feel myself coming online more and more... Its like recalling the better versions of myself like its just who I am now. Its pretty cool at the shelter, (i mean there are "bad" people to be around more-often-than-not, but helpful good people as well) I am getting 2 free meals/day, shower, laundry, place to get mail, state health insurance , getting a waiting list for a house in 1-2 months , got a bed , and daily life-skills training (reminding me of like military bootcamp but the homeless lite-bootcamp version) , and signed up for mental health stuff... Definitely something I didn't expect, everybody makes homeless shelters sound horrible but Salvation Army is pretty legit and I got taken care of within an hour of getting here. Well... I just wanted to work on writing/journaling and this felt like Day 1 to my journey... Really been a quick turnaround with going from depression/anxiety/existential crisis/etc to feeling like I am picking up with my better-self like riding a bicycle again. I have not had anybody to talk to for a long time, so I cut my time-wasting addictions out and I'm formulating a strategy for my own success... Like asking questions: "What are daily habits I should work on"" What content do I want to study" "Which communities should I get involved in?" "What are the most important+urgent steps to be taking?" I know people mention Leo's Start Guide here, I am also downloading Optimize app by Brian Johnson, enrolled in free online philosophy courses , have some old personal development masterclasses to go back through, looking at some free self-development training workshops from these online ads, reading some books, going through more good youtube self-actualization (Joseph Rodriquez is a recent favorite discussing like Napolean Hill like subconscious inner-talk stuff, and Tom Bilyeu rocks too) I dont really know what my goal is , but I know my passion is teaching in the 'transcendence' category , and I want to get online making money... I've just always avoided trying to start my own Youtube / TikTok channel, but I am gaining confidence from being in this shelter and meeting this guy who has been showing me around giving me the newb-tour , and its just wild that I assume I would be incredible, but I'm also my own biggest critic , and I am beginning to see the more I push myself to express what I am about, the more positive feedback I get and more pace I pick up with it... So this day feels differerent, it seems the spiral has begun its upward climb, and I've been waiting for the day I would see myself getting momentum again, because I knew I would have nothing to look back to again... And now it begins... "Fly, Phoenix, Fly" Question : When a Phoenix rebirths, is it Day 1 for that Phoenix? Is that an accurate metaphor??? Lmao idk, what do you think? Glad to read any comments you wonderful people wanna respond with. Much love -Kory Added a couple snapshots of this Salvation Army place... i just want to provide information that this place is pretty chill, not as bad as I had thought! Legit got my bed right across from buddy I had met, and there is a pile of tobacco behind my shoulder like community sharing lol.

Sounds like apathy. When negative emotions get triggered, that intensity that gets awakened in the body often wakes us up temporary until the triggers goes away. Then our nervous system calms back down to it's original emotional state, and if that is apathy, you slip right into that previous unmotivated state. In apathy, it is difficult to feel motivated because you are disconnected from your body. You need to become conscious how you can put yourself in a certain direction where you will be forced to awaken the feelings in your body, which initially, will be negative, so you can move past apathy and as a result, you start to become curious again. And that will require you becoming your own container and not relying on feelings to take the necessary steps. Initially, you have to take action from your head if you are not motivated. Identify exactly what it is you want to feel, in what contexts, and gradually take the right steps through small consistent action on a daily basis. Eventually, you will get triggered when you confront the feelings underneath apathy, maybe feel more negative emotions which you can use as extra fuel added to your commitment. If you are taking the right steps you will eventually transmute apathy into inspiration and let go of those negative motivations. Just become really clear what it is you want to create and feel and then use commitment to take action without needing to be motivated emotionally. You have free will. Anyone can do that, even if they have apathy. You can just start to imagine things in your mind and play with your feeling in relationship to what you are imagining. Intuitively feel what your mind is imagining when you let loose, and just strive to create that environment and feeling experience in your own physical reality. A lack of motivation is never hindering you, nor is a negative emotional state. A negative motivation is super powerful. That exact problem is helping you ask this question and thus helping you create the reality you want. It is just your lack of clarity and commitment to the desires you have. Apathy goes away naturally as you put your body in tension. Tension is good for you. Step into tension that causes disappointment, anger, sadness, and now proactively create from it, instead of being reactive. There is nothing wrong with negative emotions as fuel because action always is caused by desire and this is essentially already a higher emotion. It then just depends on what you are channeling the desire into, meaning the strategy, actions, principles, practical processes and habits you are doing on a daily basis. They can either help you create more depth of feeling, more inspiration, or they keep you stuck.

Yup… hence why if everyone was awakened strict monogamy as the only valid thing there is doesn’t make as much sense, but collectively we are still too in the ego to see this. But even if mass awakening doesn’t happen anytime soon we can move towards more tolerance for alternative ways of being. Gay rights didn’t just happen because everyone was awakened. An orientation towards individuality already can move a lot towards tolerance.

The reason you feel this way is because you are biased against polygamy. As a result you have hindered your ability to learn and experience life. I once had a hard stance in favor of monogamy like you, then I learned that the key to knowledge is exploring all possibilities. So I did research and learned quite a few things. 1. Polygamy is the oldest form of marriage. Monogamy has not existed that long. 2. Most of the information surrounding polygamy has been controlled and to get to the TRUTH you have to search for it. Most of the negative narrative surrounding polygamy claims that only men were polygamous and they used women like sex objects. What they don't realize is this was not true in Ancient Africa where some communities were matriarchal where the women were in charge and BOTH men and women were polygamous and it worked and functioned in an orderly fashion. 3. Monogamy is more of a European cultural institution which means you have a Euro-centric bias and are ignoring other possibilities. Do you know the whole history of marriage? Do you know the pros and cons of each marriage style from arranged marriages to polygamy? Do you know what conditions birthed these systems? Because these systems don't come from no where, they are brought about by conditions on the ground. Notice you have a hard stance on something that you have MORE QUESTIONS than answers for. Here is an African perspective written by a FEMALE African about modern polygamy. https://msafropolitan.com/2013/09/polygamy-in-africa-sex.html The highest truth is found in God. God is our example. "God is not a respector of persons." So God does not show favoritism. True awakening is finding out that everyone is YOU, so if everyone is YOU, how is a monogamous relationship the highest expression of love? That's like me saying I'm in a one on one relationship with my hands and I should not CHEAT on them with my FEET. If you cannot understand what I just said? You have not truly awakened. I don't know what more someone has to say when they say that EVERYONE IS YOU, AND YOU ARE ME!! Right now I am just ARGUING WITH MYSELF!!! At this very moment!!! Its like me arguing with myself in my head over a belief I have. Until you awaken to this fact, you will continue to have HARD STANCES on things. Now I myself am susceptible to this, because I was very much like you in the past. Very logical, and opinionated, and moral. The greatest trap in life is MORALITY. If you study its use, and how it has been applied you will see the very nature of morality is CORRUPT. Because it is built entirely on selfishness. To understand the CORRUPTION in morality watch Leo's video on devilry. : You don't need morality to be loving. All you need is to recognize every living thing as a part of you!! No different than your hands, your feet, your head. Then take the next step and recognize them as not just a part BUT YOU!!! Understand that everyone is you but just different in degree. So if you love yourself you will NOT hurt yourself. Until you can truly understand that ALL OF REALITY is just YOU PUSHED OUT. All problems that exist in your reality YOU CREATE, and thus you can change by changing your beliefs....you will continue to reject God. Anyway I'm done. Really nothing more I can say on this topic.

@Someone here @Kksd74628 @Someone here I quote what you said in your post "I've awakened to absolute solipsism.": "Because I'm conscious that im God and all of reality is a figment of my mind .no different than a nightly dream. What more could you want out of life than to realize that YOU are actually fucking GOD?" For reference: https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/79034-ive-awakend-to-absolute-solipsism-ask-me-anything/?page=3 This is a statement that you yourself made. Please explain that statement. Did you lie? Or were you simply spitting out your beliefs? Did you awaken to the fact that you are God? Or didn't you?

I've experienced awakenings both before and after learning about enlightenment conceptually. In both cases, I didn't have any clue when it was happening. I didn't know it was God or no-self or anything like that, it was all just me. I was mostly lost in the experience and really only knew it was the same thing that people fuss about after someone told me that it is. Now I'm even remembering religious experiences when I was practicing hardcore Islam at 15 years old or something that I didn't notice until very recently that it was awakening. Words cannot really describe the experience, not because it's extraordinary per se, but mostly because the reference is not there to begin with, the context is just missing despite the pointers. So in my experience, experience is prior to thoughts, even though thoughts can hijack, color, and/or shape experience sometimes. An interesting thing happens after building a spiritual ego is that the experiences become, I don't know, but let's say polluted with ego. It's really not the same when you're trying to give labels to whatever you're experiencing, as opposed to being completely immersed within the experience. It's just not as potent, let's say. But probably there are pros and cons to each. I think in my case, it's because the traditional practices shift/build awareness gradually over the course of weeks and months, so the clear/sudden contrast that psychedelics create is missing, so it becomes hard to distinguish an awakened state from the ordinary state.

Been there too. You have awakened to the shallowness of gym rat life, good. But next you need to overcome that concept. Gym rat shit is probably something you're just used to, but that doesn't mean it has to be that. Gym can be about whatever you want it be. There are people there who have diverse and different motives but you can't see that cause you are used to look through only one lens. Crucial is to be clear about your motives. Why are you doing it specifically? If it's health, then you come up with a strong conclusion that you want to go to the gym because you want to remain healthy, and that should motivate you if you want it enough. By contemplating that, you might also find out a sneaky lurking motive, that has something to do with the old life and your old motives that you want to get rid of.

@Someone here Then explain me how you are awakened to being God like you said in the past, if you don't have any clue about how you made it.

That's absolutely correct. Your one of the only awakened beings on here besides me.

Well no one here has actually awakened from the dream, so you're not going to get anything but speculation in answers here.. The sassy attitude of spiritual egotism mixed with people's immediate undermining of self-delivered hypocrisy is hilarious... Let me tell you that at best people's contribution to the death concept is speculation while I say with adamant certainty that this is all a dream. Hilarious..

@Kksd74628 It sounds like you've mad pretty substantial breakthroughs. That's amazing to hear. It's difficult for me to understand where you're at on your path, but I can say that for the overwhelming majority of people who think they've really broken through to reality, have not. Truly breaking through means liberation from suffering. The truth is so good, so transcendent, so radical, that things such as a slow, painful death, or torture, are seen through. The mind and consciousness have become so integrated and awakened that even if these tragedies were to befall on the being in question, they wouldn't suffer at all. That's true enlightenment, that's the implications of how things really are. If you disagree with that claim, you and I are talking about two totally distinct kinds of awakening. How many of these neo advaita types could withstand cancer ravaging the body without fear or suffering, for example? Not many. The power in holding ourselves to such extreme conditions is that it forces a humility and an understanding of just how deep this path really goes. An easy way to stress test one's level of awakening is to go on meditation retreats and seriously face what you really are without the distractions, titillations, and addictions of life. Just as beautifully as seeing the perfection of this present moment is watching the wonder, beauty, and subtle grandiosity of the unfolding spiritual path. Seeing through the illusion of a separate self is truly just the beginning. Keep going would be my default feedback to anyone claiming to be awake.

The value of letting go An empty auditorium stage is a metaphor for a healthy mind. When you have an inner quiet, the stage is empty. You can look at the stage with witness consciousness and have your being. A mind cluttered with constant internal dialogue is a neurotic mind. Having a neurotic mind makes you a poor bastard. A quiet mind is peaceful and you have no problem with people but they often have a problem with you. The difference between you and them is that you can let go of things. A metaphor for this is having a clean atmosphere in the environment of your astral (energy} body. These quotes go well with what I've written, Participation of the Heart Center as Inquiry Deepens So as our inquiry deepens and becomes more powerful, it will require our ability to sense our experience to become subtler, deeper, and more penetrating. Not only do our physical senses need to become more vivid and intense, we need to bring in subtler senses as well. We need to sense our bodies and our inner sensations more deeply and clearly. We also need to open the heart center so we can feel our emotions and our feeling states more intimately and vividly. And we need to have greater clarity, spaciousness, and quietness in our mind to be able to perceive thoughts and their processes. Spacecruiser Inquiry, pg. 315 https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/heart-center Distinguishing Physical Sensation from Essential Substance The capacity to sense oneself must become so refined that the individual can discriminate between physical sensation and the sensation of essential substance. It is not enough that the mind be quiet. It is also necessary for the body to be sensitive. The mind can be quiet while the body is deadened. The body has to be awakened so that the center of sensing, the belly center, can be activated. The belly center, or what Gurdjieff called the physical center, is the center of sensing for all parts of the body. Its deepest function is the subtle sensing, the sensing of essential presence, that the Sufis call the organ for touch. Touch is, in a sense, the most intimate of the physical senses. The skin must be directly against an object to touch it. There is no intermediary medium, like sound for hearing or light for seeing. So this subtle capacity is a very intimate one. Accurately speaking, it is sensing essence by being essence. It is the most direct way of perception. This capacity of touch, connected with the belly center, is very intimately connected with the embodiment of essence. It is the body center; its mode of perception is embodiment. Here, perception as touch, and being, are the same act. So this capacity is the most important one. Essence with the Elixir of Enlightenment, pg. 130 Functioning of the Essential Self in the Belly Center Yes, usually the belly center has to do with embodiment, with the capacity to sense oneself. However, the belly center is also the will center. In a sense, the ultimate function of the will is to surrender to what happens, surrender to the now. And surrender to the now means not to hold on to something. The true function of the will is complete surrender to what’s happening without holding on. That is will. The essential self, like all essential aspects, can function in any of the subtle centers. When one is being the essential self its location is usually the heart center. However, when the essential self is functioning in relation to identifying or disidentifying from any content of experience, it becomes associated with the belly center. The essential self is more like a potential for experience, and it also manifests as a capacity for identification. One of the results of that capacity for identification is embodiment. Embodying something means you are identified with what’s happening. An essential state is present. You are embodying it if you are it. The true self has the capacity to identify with something you are experiencing, but it doesn’t have to. It has a choice; it has the freedom. Diamond Heart Book Three, pg. 79 https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/belly-center

I really don't think that gurus like Leo are saying that you are actually in some kind of simulated reality or virtual reality world like how they have portrayed it in The Matrix movie series or in any kind of sci-fi shows/movies. I hope you understand that because no one in their right mind would want anyone including yourself to commit suicide or hurt yourself in anything. Leo talk about this in his vid "The Dangers Of Misapplying Spiritual Teachings." Though I will say that what you are asking is a valid question and has been something that I've always thought about for a long time and I still haven't fully comprehend it to this day. However, think from what I understand about the idea of you being in a "dream" is that you're not actually in a dream, but you always start out with a low level of perceiving reality in your awakened state. However, the more you work on developing your level of consciousness and enlightenment then the greater your perception of true reality will become. Yet, if you are dead then you may not be in a "dream" anymore, but you also will not be able to perceive ANY reality AT ALL to ANY DEGREE, not even a shred of it. If you are in coma or in some state of unconsciousness then you really will be stuck in a literal perpetual dream state.

@Benton I'm curious, what leads you to believe that your friend's experience was a Kundalini awakening? According to the traditional teachings, and my own experience and observations, Kundalini is not easily awakened. As the word "Kundalini" has become prominent in spiritual language, everyone seems to be claiming it's awaking in themselves.

@WelcometoReality These are really excellent questions. From the perspective of Yoga, the awakening of Kundalini is a vital step in the process toward liberation. Kundalini is the creative force of Consciousness, and she has produced all aspects of your life. Once she awakens, the process begins to reverse, and instead of moving toward the creation, you return to the creator. This is only beneficial if you desire total union with God, or realization of Absolute truth...however you would like to frame it. Kundalini awakening will not benefit you in any material way, only spiritually. No. Many people believe that they have awakening Kundalini, when they have actually only experienced pranothanna, which is the awakening of the pranic force. This is a key event which can lead to the awakening of Kundalini with time and additional spiritual practice, but it is not the awakening of Kundalini itself. Alternatively, an awakening does arose Kundalini, but she quickly returns to her slumber. A great deal of purification is needed to fully awaken Kundalini and entice her to ascend. After Kundalini has awakened, then she must ascend upward through the Sushmna channel until she reaches the Sahasara chakra. This union is complete Self-Realization. All of this is the process viewed through a particular lens. Other models exist that would describe the process with different symbology. Unless you are commited to practice of Yoga, this map may not be that useful to you.

Kundalini is a popular, albeit misunderstood topic. For those interested, here is a chapter from "Kundalini Tantra" by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. It describes 10 methods for awakening Kundalini, including the use of herbs, which may be of special interest to the community here. Chapter 5 Methods of Awakening According to the tantras, kundalini can be awakened by various methods which can be practiced individually or in combination. However, the first method cannot be practiced, because it is awakening by birth. Of course, it is too late for most of us to take advantage of this particular method, but some of us may be instrumental in producing children who have awakened kundalinis. Awakening by birth By a favourable birth, if your parents were highly evolved, you can have an awakened kundalion. It is also possible to be born with an awakened sushumna, ida or pingala nadi. This means that from the time of birth your higher faculties will be operating either partially or fully. If a child comes with partial awakening, he is called a saint, and if he comes with full illumination, he is known as an incarnation, avatara or son of God. If one is born with an awakened kundalini, his experiences are very much under control. They take place in him right from the beginning in a natural way, so he never feels that something extraordinary is happening to him. A child with an awakened kundalini has clarity of vision, a high quality of thinking and a sublime philosophy. His attitude of life is somewhat unusual as he has total detachment. To him, his parents were only his means of creation, and therefore he is unable to accept the normal social relationship with them. Although he may live with them, he feels as if he were just a guest. Such a child exhibits a very matured behaviour and he does not react emotionally with anything in life. As he grows he becomes aware of his mission and purpose in life. Many of us may wish to give birth to a yogi or an enlightened child but it is not such a simple matter. Every marriage or union of parents cannot produce a yogi, even if the man and woman practice yoga morning and night. It is only under certain circumstances that a higher being can be produced. In order to usher a highly evolved soul into this world, one has first to transform one's gross desires into spiritual aspirations. It is very difficult to convince people of the west that a child can be born in an enlightened state, because they have the moral attitudes of a particular religion deeply ingrained in their minds and their faith. For them, the union between a man and a woman is sin. If you explain to them that a yogi can be produced as a result of the sexual union, they say, "No! How can a yogi be born out of sin?" It is possible that у new generation of supermen will be produced in this way. Through the practices of yoga you can transform the quality of your genes. If genes can produce artists, scientists, inventors and intellectual geniuses, then why not awakened kundalinis? You have to transform the quality of your sperm or ova by firstly transforming your whole consciousness. Neither drugs nor diet will transform your genes, but if you change your consciousness, you can then effect the elements of the body and ultimately change the quality of the sperm and ova. Then you will have children with awakened kundalinis. They will become the yogis and spiritual masters of the house who set things right for you. They will say, "Mummy, you are not the physical body." "Pара, drinking is no good." Those of you who enter married life should go into it keeping in mind that the purpose is not just pleasure, or to produce offspring, but to create a genius. All over the world, people who marry for progeny should try for higher quality children. Mantra The second method of awakening kundalini is through steady regular practice of mantra. This is a very powerful, smooth and risk-free method, but of course it is a sadhana which requires time and a lot of patience. First you need to get a suitable mantra from a guru who knows yoga and tantra, and who can guide you through your sadhana. When you practise the mantra incessantly, it develops in you the vision of a higher force and enables you to live amidst the sensualities of life with indifference to them. When you throw a pebble into a still lake, it produces circular ripples. In the same way, when you repeat a mantra over and over again, the sound force gathers momentum and creates vibrations in the ocean of the mind. When you repeat the mantra millions and billions of times, it permeates every part of your brain and purifies your whole physical, mental and emotional body. The mantra must be chanted loudly, softly, on the mental plane and on the psychic plane. By practising it at these four levels, kundalini awakens methodically and systematically. You can also use the mantra by repeating it mentally in coordination with the breath or you can sing it aloud in the form of kirtan. This creates a great potential in mooladhara and awakening takes place. Closely related to mantra yoga is the awakening through sound or music - nada yoga. Here the sounds are the bija mantras and the music consists of particular melodies corresponding to particular chakras. This is a most tender and absorbing way of awakening. Tapasya The third method of awakening is tapasya, which means the performance of austerities. Tapasya is a means of purification, a burning or setting on fire so that a process of elimination is created, not in the physical body, but in the mental and emotional bodies. Through this process the mind, the emotions and the whole personality are cleansed of all the dirt, complexes and patterns of behavior that cause pain and suffering. Tapasya is an act of purification. It should not be misunderstood to involve standing naked in cold water or snow, or observing foolish and meaningless austerities. When you want to eliminate a bad habit, the more you want to get rid of it, the more powerful it becomes. When you abandon it in the waking state, it appears in dreams, and when you stop those dreams, it expresses itself in your behavior or manifests in disease. This particular habit must be destroyed at its psychic root, not only at the conscious level. The samskara and vasana must be eliminated by some form of tapasya. Tapasya is a psychological or psycho-emotional process through which the aspirant tries to set in motion a process of metabolism that will eradicate the habits that create weakness and obstruct the awakening of willpower. 'I must do this but I can't.' Why does this difference between resolution and implementation arise in the mind of the aspirant? Why is it so great? It is due to a deficiency of will; and that weakness, that distance or barrier between resolution and execution can be removed through regular and repeated practice of tapasya. Then the willpower makes a decision once and the matter is finished. This strength of will is the fruit of tapasya. The psychology of austerity plays a very important part in the awakening of man's latent power. It is not well understood by modern man who has unfortunately accepted that man lives for 'the pleasure principle', as propounded by Freud and his disciples. The psychology of austerity is very sound and certainly not abnormal. When the senses are satisfied by the objective pleasures, by the comforts and luxuries, the brain and nervous system become weak and the consciousness and energy undergo a process of regression. It is in this situation that the method of austerity is one of the most powerful and sometimes explosive methods of awakening. Here the manifestations are tremendous and the aspirant has to face his lower instincts in the beginning. He confronts a lot of temptations and the assaults of the satanic and tamasic forces. All the evil or negative samskaras or karmas of many, many incarnations rise to the surface. Sometimes fear manifests very powerfully or attachment to the world comes with a great force. In some people, sexual fantasies haunt the mind for days together, while others become lean and thin, or even sick. At this juncture, siddhis can appear. One develops extrasensory perceptions, he can read the minds of others, he can suppress others by a thought, or his own thoughts materialize. In the beginning, black forces manifest and all these siddhis are negative or of a lower quality. Tapasya is a very, very powerful method of awakening which everybody cannot handle. Awakening through herbs The fourth method of awakening is through the use of specific herbs. In Sanskrit this is called aushadhi, and it should not be interpreted as meaning drugs like marijuana, LSD, etc. Aushadhi is the most powerful and rapid method of awakening but it is not for all and very few people know about it. There are herbs which can transform the nature of the body and its elements and bring about either partial or full awakening, but they should never be used without a guru or qualified guide. This is because certain herbs selectively awaken ida or pingala and others can suppress both these nadis and quickly lead one to the mental asylum. For this reason, aushadhi is a very risky and unreliable method. In the ancient vedic texts of India, there are references to a substance called soma. Soma was a juice extracted from a creeper which was picked on special days of the dark lunar fortnight. It was placed in an earthen pitcher and buried underground until the full moon. Then it was removed and the juice was extracted and taken. This induced visions, experiences and an awakening of higher consciousness. The Persians knew another drink, homa, which may have been the same as soma. In Brazil and some of the African countries, people used hallucinogenic mushrooms and in the Himalayan regions marijuana or hashish were taken with the thought that they might provide a shortcut in arousing spiritual awakening. From time to time, in different parts of the world, other things were also discovered and used, some being very mild in effect and others being very concentrated. With the help of the correct herbs, purified aspirants were able to visualize divine beings, holy rivers, mountains, sacred places, holy men and so on. When the effects of the herbs were more concentrated, they could separate the self from the body and travel astrally. Of course it was often illusory, but sometimes it was a real experience as well. People were able to enter a state of samadhi and awaken their kundalini. In this particular field of awakening, the sexual instinct was completely eliminated. Therefore, many aspirants preferred this method and have been trying to discover the appropriate herbs for many centuries. With aushadhi awakening the body becomes still and quiet, the metabolism slows and the temperature drops. As a result of this, the nerve reflexes function differently and in most cases the aushadhi awakening is a permanent one. However, the aushadhi method of awakening is no longer practiced because it was misused by the ordinary people who were neither prepared, competent nor qualified. As a result, knowledge of the herbs was withdrawn and today it is a closely guarded secret. Everyone is craving kundalini awakening, but few people have the discipline and mental, emotional, physical and nervious preparation required to avoid damage to the brain and tissues. So, although no one is teaching the aushadhi method of awakening today, its knowledge has been transmitted from generation to generation through the guru/disciple tradition. Perhaps some day, when the nature of man changes and we find better intellectual, physical and mental responses, the science may again be revealed. Raja yoga The fifth method of inducing awakening is through raja yoga and the development of an equipoised mind. This is the total merging of individual consciousness with superconsciousness. It occurs by a sequental process of concentration, meditation and communion; experience of union with the absolute or supreme. All the practices of raja yoga, preceded by hatha yoga, bring about very durable experiences, but they can lead to a state of complete depression, in which you do not feel like doing anything. The raja yoga method is very difficult for most people as it requires time, patience, discipline and perseverance. Concentration of mind is one of the most difficult things for modern man to achieve. It cannot be undertaken before the mind has been stabilized, the karmas deactivated and the emotions purified through karma and bhakti yogas. It is the nature of the mind to remain active all the time, and this constitutes a very real danger for the people of our time, because when we try to concentrate the mind we create a split. Therefore, most of us should only practice concentration up to a certain point. Following the awakening through raja yoga, changes take place in the aspirant. He may transcend hunger and all his addictions or habits. The sensualities of life are no longer appealing, hunger and the sexual urge diminish and detachment develops spontaneously. Raja yoga brings about a slow transformation of consciousness. Pranayama The sixth method of awakening kundalini is through pranayama. When a sufficiently prepared aspirant practises pranayama in a calm, cool and quiet environment, preferably at a high altitude, with a diet only sufficient to maintain life, the awakening of kundalini takes place like an explosition. In fact, the awakening is so rapid that kundalini ascends to sahasrara immediately. Pranayama is not only a breathing exercise or a means to increase prana in the body; it is a powerful method of creating yogic fire to heat the kundalini and awaken it. However, if it is practiced without sufficient preparation, this will not occur because the generated heat will not be directed to the proper centers. Therefore, jalandhara, uddiyana and moola bandhas are practiced to lock the prana in and force it up to the frontal brain. When pranayama is practised correctly, the mind is automatically conquered. However, the effects of pranayama are not that simple to manage. It creates extra heat in the body, it awakens some of the centers in the brain and it can hinder the production of sperm and testosterone. Pranayama may also lower the temperature of the inner body and even bring down the rate of respiration and alter the brain waves. Unless you have practised the shatkarmas first and purified the body to a degree, when these changes take place, you may not be able to handle them. There are two important ways of awakening kundalini - one is the direct method and the other is the indirect. Pranayama is the direct method. The experiences it brings about are explosive and results are attained very quickly. Expansion is rapid and the mind attains quick metamorphosis. However, this form of kundalini awakening is always accompanied by certain experiences, and for one who is not sufficiently prepared mentally, philosophically, physically and emotionally, these experiences can be terrifying. Therefore, although the path of pranayama is a jetset method, it is drastic and is considered to be a very difficult one that everybody cannot manage. Kriya yoga The seventh method of inducing awakening is kriya yoga. It is the most simple and practical way for modern day man as it does not require confrontation with the mind. Sattvic people may be able to awaken kundalini through raja yoga, but those who have a tumultuous, noisy, rajasic mind will not succeed this way. They will only develop more tensions, guilt and complexes, and may even become schizophrenic. For such people kriya yoga is by far the best and most effective system. When you practise kriya yoga, kundalini doesn't wake up with force, nor does it awaken like a satellite or as a vision or experience. It wakes up like a noble queen. Before getting up she will open her eyes, then close them again for a while. Then she'll open her eyes again, look here and there, turn to the right and left, then pull the sheet up over her head and doze. After some time she will again stretch her body and open her eyes, then doze for a while. Each time she stretches and looks around she says, 'Hmmm'. This is what happens in kriya yoga awakening. Sometimes you feel very grand and sometimes you don't feel quite right. Sometimes you pay too much attention to the things of life and sometimes you think everything is useless. Sometimes you eat extravagantly and sometimes you don't eat for days together. Sometimes you have sleepless nights and at other times you do nothing but sleep and sleep. All these signs of awakening and reversion, awakening and reversion keep coming every now and then. Kriya yoga does not create an explosive awakening. However, it can bring visions and other very mild and controllable experiences. Tantric initiation This eighth method of awakening kundalini through tantric initiation is a very secret topic. Only those people who have transcended passions, and who understand the two principles of nature, Shiva and Shakti, are entitled to this initiation. It is not meant for those who have urges lurking within them or for those who have a need for physical contact. With the guidance of a guru, this is the quickest possible way to awaken kundalini. There are no extraordinary experiences or feelings and there's no neurosis; everything seems quite normal, but at the same time, without your knowledge, awakening is taking place. Transformation takes place and your awareness expands, but you don't know it. In this particular system, awakening and arriving at sahasrara are the same event. It takes just three seconds. However, who is qualified for this path? Few people in this world have completely transcended the sexual urge and overcome their passions. Shaktipat The ninth method of awakening is performed by the guru. It is called shaktipat. The awakening is instant, but it is only a glimpse, not a permanent event. When the guru creates this awakening you experience samadhi. You can practise all forms of pranayama and all asanas, mudras and bandhas without having learned them or prepared for them. All the mantras are revealed to you and you know the scriptures from within. Changes take place in the physical body in an instant. The skin becomes very soft, the eyes glow and the body emits a particular aroma which is neither agreeable nor disagreeable. This shaktipat is conducted in the physical presence or from a distance. It can be transmitted by touch, by a handkerchief, a mala, a flower, a fruit or anything edible, depending on the system the guru has mastered. It can even be transmitted by letter, telegram or telephone. It is very difficult to say who is qualified for this awakening. You may have lived the life of a renunciate for fifty years, but still you may not get it. You may be just an ordinary person, living a non-spiritual life, eating all kinds of rubbish foods, but the guru may give you shaktipat. Your eligibility for shaktipat does not depend on your social or immediate conduct, but on the point of evolution you have reached. There is a point in evolution beyond which shaktipat becomes effective, but this evolution is not intellectual, emotional, social or religious. It is a spiritual evolution which has nothing to do with the way you live, eat, behave or think, because generally we do these things, not because of our evolvement, but according to the way we have been brought up and educated. Self-surrender We have discussed the nine established methods of awakening kundalini, but there is a tenth way - don't aspire for awakening. Let it happen if it happens: "I am not responsible for the awakening, nature is accomplishing everything. I accept what comes to me." This is known as the path of self-surrender, and in this path, if you have a strong enough belief that your kundalini will indeed awaken, twenty thousand years can pass in the twinkling of an eye and kundalini will awaken instantly. Effects of the different methods of awakening When the awakening of kundalini takes place, scientific observations have revealed different effects. Those who have awakened kundafini from birth do not register any emotional changes. They are like blocks of wood. Those who have awakened kundalini through pranayama have a great quantum of electrical charges in the spinal column and throughout the body, and momentarily they could manifest schizophrenically. Karma yoga and bhakti yoga are considered comparatively safe and mild methods of awakening, but the tantric methods are more scientific than the non-tantric methods, because in tantra there is no scope for suppression or dispersion of energy. In non-tantric methods there is antagonism - one mind wants it and the same mind is saying no. You suppress your thoughts, you want to enjoy, but at the same time you think "No, it is bad." I am not criticizing non-tantric methods. They are the mild methods which do not bring you any trouble. They are just like beer - you drink a little bit and nothing happens, drink four to ten glasses and not much will happen. But tantric methods are like LSD, you have a little and it takes you right out. If something is wrong, it is wrong; if something is right, it is right. If you want to read more, the book is available on Amazon: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01FAZ9PXW&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_FDS0YT6KECKJQ6SCHTNP

Is there a truth outside of consciousness? And is there a truth outside of knowledge? Because, according to me, there is a difference between knowledge and consciousness, and that is - knowledge is more fundamental or more essential. For there to be anything, something must have known of its possibility, or intuited it, or awakened to it, whatever... But nothing comes out of nothing, only knowledge can offer the potential of there being a something. This is what I find to be an impossibility: the absence of knowledge.

Very true, Fred Dodson's work has completely 180'd my life. He packs so much wisdom and nuance in his books, every reread always blows my mind again and gives deeper insight as I further down the path. But, if you listen to recent talks of his, he claims most of his books are 'too wordy' and he would condense them more if he rewrote them. But I love the little details haha. Have you ever read any Neville Goddard? His is mostly known as a law of attraction (assumption) teacher, but his later works also delve into awakening, and how it is every man's destiny to awaken into an 'awakened imagination'. Really gives a new perspective and interpretation of the Bible and Jesus. I've been finding his work super profound as of late.

He's like most people honestly. I would say that's sad but that would be my bias. It would be nice if he had an awakening but I do not forsee it. Again my bias. A "turquoise" awakened one is not better than an asleep "Orange" person. The issue with spiral dynamics is because of people's bias they view tbe higher stages as "better". But I agree if he used his own mind more or was more open he could have an awakening that would shatter his whole worldview. But what then to all that he has built? His ego is more comfortable with being what he is now.

Contemplating about posts I've been reading online about being God and imagining the Universe. I watched the solipsism video, and recently binging plenty of Leo's videos. Previously depressed, suicidal even; but, the solipsist video was quite ... thinking up a word - calming. Thankfully I'm more interested in the nature of God as of recent months, instead of hiding away from the world in fear. The solipsisim video, I enjoyed and hope to receive further videos likewise. I can combine this information with personal psychadelic experiences (far out ones, practically closing the book in denial I am it,) and quantum mechanics, for example. Understandable, on board. And I'm hallucinating Leo ... to which I imagine your teachings to be the most awakened teacher thus far; and in many respects has gone the furthest, to which I appreciate. Although, I want to know, possible to awaken to this sublime realization I'm imagining reality without drugs for the time being? Or will I require the drugs to make the needed profound and radical leap? If I accept that I am God, will I die? As God here and now, can I imagine receiving a perfect job position, or will this take time and energy? In terms of imagining, like do I need to be determinitic about this invisible god-quality (imagination), or passive and one with the flow of God's will? Should I avoid awakening in case I were to die and ruin this life-movie I'm living (die)? How do I move past denial, and recognize I'm denying? Currently incorperating this god-realization into everyday life, and perhaps there's far more layers to the onion. Which may be fasinating rather than work.

No. Objects are intelligence enabling visibility of that which is naturally invisible. Yes, what you've come to learn to be objects.. are an expression of a vibration. Like a tone in music yes, however, even music is but one expression of vibration. The possibility is rich in abundance, the only question here is availablity - making that which is possible.. available. This is what I refer to as work. Mankind is already in tune with the frequency of manifestation, his creative, generative, technological advances are the very proof of that. In deed, mankind is the only creature on this planet who is studying the laws of manifestation. The only question is.. immediacy. You see, there is no difference between manifesting a cup of tea out of pure void, and actually starting from scratch and discovering herbs for for tea, making the cup of tea out of clay, boiling the herbs and finally pouring the tea in your newly designed cup. In both of these scenarios is the miracle of manifestation, however, one is more immediate than the other. You getting the rose is one example of you, using the intelligence that is your four-limb body, to inform vibration in presenting you with a rose. It's still manifestation. It can be defined in whatever way the student is ready to understand it. Those who have awakened to it see that it requires no definition, or it speaks for itself. Frequency is the frequentness of a reality, in it's be-ing - being there/here. For instance, this world is more frequent than your dream world; the furniture around you is more frequent than the picture of a furniture in your head; the work that lasts long is more frequent than the work that has ceased to be. All these are instances of what frequency is. Make sense?

Why? So that it can make sense? ? But that's exactly what I'm saying, though. However, of course, when I say this, it will come across as the most meaningless statement one could make rather carelessly and dry. You say that there is a priori intuition of those things outside consciousness that we may define as (X), and that it is through the sensibility of space that we can learn of their presence and imagine their identities into reality thus rendering the (X) identifiable. This is how I've come to understand you thus far. Now, what I'm saying (from a mystical pov) is this: There - here - is only Knowledge. This knowledge is not the knowing of things (X) or information, no. This knowledge is nonduality complete - it is knowledge of the knowing of the knowing of the knowing for infinity, and never the knowing of a what or who or why and etc, no. Thus, knowledge is knowledge. It is nonduality, it is whole, and it is here, with us and within us, it is the absolute. To awaken to this requires no reasoning or induction of any kind, it merely requires a mere moment of silent observation. Is this not obvious enough? If I were to ask you, “How do you know that you exist?” won't the most honest and yet simplest response be, “I know, because I know.” ? Is this not the truth? You know that you exist because you know in the first place? See.. Knowledge is the first place; it is, in fact, the first and last; it is, in truth, the only place. Thus so, there is nothing outside of existence, for there is nothing outside of Knowledge. Then, from this Knowledge, arises that dormant serpent which you have constantly referred to as intuition, what the Indians call “Kundalini”, what my people call uMbilini, and what the religious scriptures call “Lucifer” which literally translates to 'The Lighter', or 'Light Bringer', for it is this very intuition that awakened Adam and Eve in their edenic, nondual, nature of consciousness. Intuition is secondary to Knowledge.