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Good questions. Enlightenment means having realized ones true eternal nature as Infinite Being/Infinite Reality itself. How does one call that? There is nothing to reference it against. No pointer fully describes it, since any pointer is containted within "it". Its You. Formless Infinite Eternal True You/Being. So one could describe it as raspberry, or not, credit to Ralston. From Artems homepage: What did you realize -- expressed in one sentence -- upon spiritual awakening? I don’t exist - I never have. My existence was a dream, a delusion. I am the totality of existence, which is fundamentally unknowable. Nothing can be said about what I am. That is true, because Infinite Being/Infinite Reality can not be described "positively" in any way, since that would already limit it, and that pointers appears within it. Madhyamaka. Yet, one can "dance" and guide linguistically with pointers as high as possible. To answer your question: I wouldn't write like he does, like hairless monkey as last stage. Or material/physical universe and so on. Put 10 people having realized their nature in one room, and they will all use different language. But he doesn't mean a material/physical universe external or separate from him. He means nondual. How one calls the "dreamstuff" or mere appearance of manifestation is not so important. And, after realizing fundamental Infinite Reality/True Being, it is a bit like: Dogen: Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters. The uuuuuuuuuuh, oooooooooooh, its all mere appearance and dream stuff happening in Infinite Being has worn off, become old. Its like: Yeah, its like that, so nothing special, and the "realizer" of that is also not special (because the "realizer"-arisings are also illusion). Taking that as special would tend to kill the awakened states, because of self-importance and stuff the like. So its mountains are again mountains. A hairless monkey appears in my Infinite Being, which can run perfectly fine on autopilot. No need to make an identity out of that and feel like being only that hairless monkey. Or that the hairless monkey is special. That really is fooling "one"-self. A special monkey in Infinite Being, being a special monkey. A nice seduction/ilusion. Concerning "Consciousness doesn't exist" - well, I wouldn't write it like that. Semantics. Self-Consciousness doesn't exist, but appears. Some appearances happen, and there is Awareness of it. That can't be denied. Nisgardatta made a differentiation between Consciousness (doesn't exist but appear), but Awareness does (he called that Parabrahman). In my view, that is all not the optimum usage of words/semantics. Infinite Reality with the potential of consciousness OF/Awareness IF appearances appear. And unaware of itself if nothing appears (cessation). In its Infinite state if truly nothing arises, "it" has the potential for sentience if form/appearance/movement arises, but "it" doesn't have to. Deep Sleep, Cessation, Nirvikalpa. And btw., differentiating that difference between consciousness OF and Infinite/Absolute potentially unaware of itself (Cessation, Deep Sleep, Nirvikalpa) is the deciding difference between Enlightenment and previous AWAKENINGS, um, Awakenings. It is the difference between the Absolute Reality being truly empty and formless, or "loaded" with consciousness OF (aka form/appearance/lenses/filters/...). Maybe that helps. Again, not my style, but I understand what he means and why he writes that. And then: We had enlightened Adi Da (who f***** up in many areas), we had enlightened Zen "Nazis" (Zen at War). Obviously, plenty of stuff on the relative level can still go wrong. And "coming out" as a teacher... well, not for the faint of hearted. Not everbody gets that done "in grace" like for example Francis Lucille, after been coached for 15 years after his Enlightenment (if I understood that correctly) and getting students refered to by his teacher Jean Klein, after being financially independend and not chasing anything anymore... then the teacher-gig is much more easier. Ken Wilber wrote one can remain a jerk and still be enlightened. That is the remaining personality. And that being/mindstream can still know its True Nature and what Infinite Reality is perfectly well. And can easily become a red flag for others because of claiming Enlightenment. I would look for compassion when searching a teacher, and liberation. And intelligence and clear speaking. And even then, that gentleman/lady can still go wrong drastically on the relative level. And still know his/her true nature... So not easy the whole thing... Concerning my dreams: I still dream and am have a dream character then. Which after waking up I delight in that, because - what a dream, delivered with dream character believing in it! I also have lucid dreams, and the dream sometimes changes to something more Astral-like when breaking the "story-line" of the lucid dream and for example intensely focusing on my hand, or the grass. It can get as real or more as physical reality. Sometimes I "jump" realms/areas then with the usual techniques. Very real and clear, and no background story. (Not the usual hazy dream with a story one "buys" without reflecting that it doesn't make sense. How did I get here, and where did I park my car.... ) Once met a recently deceased relative. Sometimes I pass from dream realms to infinite causal states (something like infinite darkness suffused with light, totally formless and infinite) to waking states/waking up, which is a fascinating continuity. Also "dying" in a dream and going through these infinite (causal in Wilber language) states, dream again, dying again and so on... An infinite playground. For me, what seasoned Astral Travelers like Jurgen Ziewe write makes sense based on my own limited experiences. And most important: Timless Eternal Infinite Reality, which can also appear as Deep Sleep, is right here, right now, eternally so. "Deep Sleep is right here". True Being. All these dream states, deep sleep, Astral anything, physical life and what not pass "before" or "in it" like a show, a movie. Like Dreams. Concerning his claims of dreams getting less/ceasing: I have run over several statements in the biographies of historical meditators/enlightened ones which align in that the dreams at night get less, and become more lucid and so on. Some never dream or even deep sleep (but remain lucid throughout), like Haari Aalto. Who did this from early years onwards, together with celestial perception, in his case from Karmic influence I believe. His declaring that Astral travels are dreams is technically correct, but everything so to say is a dream. But just because he doesn't experience Astral travels/OBEs doesn't mean that on a relative level these mechanisms don't exist. He just doesn't have them. Also, because of that, it seems he doesn't know how his karmic propensity bundle (stored in a higher dimensional soul) remains or continues. But he doesn't need to, knowing "he" is Infinite Reality is enough. Even a soul is a highly sophisticated illusion/dream-stuff/relative processes/cause effect. There are for sure areas in Infinite Consciousness that don't work or need "soul-mechanisms" and so on. But all of that is dreamt/experienced by One Infinite Reality. And realizing that beyond any possible doubt is the summum bonum. Besides that, there is only illusion of different flavours/mechanisms. So in the end, its all dreams. Some just incoherent dreams at night, then dreams like Astral realms (no background-story like in a dream, not hazy), and then normal eartly life (which is just a highly coherent dream with physical,chemical, biological, cultural/mental laws) and so on. But still a dream. All made out of appearances/dream stuff/suchness. Artem calls that material/physical,but its still just appearance/illusion. Maybe that helps. Selling Water by the River PS: Don't blame me in case Artem (or anybody else for that matter) decides to have a character-hangover, go womanizing, build a cult, take financial advantage or any of the other of the funny (or less than funny) stuff that tends to happen if there are "character-hangovers" and Ken Wilbers wake up, grow up, show up has not been fully implemented. Here is a nice list of stuff that can get f****** up and will get f****** up, also by enlightened ones: https://www.spiritual-integrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Association-for-Spiritual-Integrity-Code-of-Ethics-for-Organizations-May-23-2024.docx-1.pdf The other side: If every enlightened one would be a saint, I guess it would get boring at some point. So Spirit decided to add that little flavour and spice complexity for the journey back home... Calling "Caveat Emptor" while SELLING Water by the River

Fundamentalist religious people (shadow of stage blue) take end time prophecies that are myth as literal, and self fulfil them into existence to hasten whatever good they are promised from it (coming of a Messiah and the return of Jesus). Many problems come from taking myth that is fiction for a fact that is literal, not realising that the value of fiction is in its functionality, rather than its factuality. Fundamentalists view prophets as the spokespeople of God, rather than the spokesperson on God. As if prophets have a direct hotline to God and lecture us Gods message - when existence is a conversation not a lecture. Prophets are cosmic philosophers, not cosmic commanders. The movie series Dune actually shows quite well how fundamentalists belief in prophecy and prophets are used for political ends and power. That doesn’t deny there were prophets who awakened to certain degrees. It’s just important to remember that they were speaking to and from their own time. Treating them as eternal mouthpieces of God ignores the context, culture and limitations of their era. Forget the military-industrial complex; the power-prophecy-profits complex, which intertwines with religion, is far more dangerous. Daniel Schmachtenberger discusses the concept of “Moloch” as a metaphor for competitive systems that are destructive not due to a deliberate intent to destroy but because of incentives that drive us toward destruction. In the power-prophecy-profits complex, the prophecy element includes an intent to fulfill those prophecies that steer us towards WW3. ** Thanks for providing your life story above to get where you’re coming from.

@Princess Arabia Im one of the most Awakened persons on this site, and i completely understand it all. Brains do not exist. You are the absolute always. There are no brains. You're telling me that I don't understand what's being pointed to? You're obviously either really confused about what's being said, or just don't understand it. It's not for everyone, and most people on this site, about 98% have no fucking clue what's being said.

@Princess Arabia what it really means is you're not Awakened fully. Keep going!

Physical reality is imaginary. Pick up a small object, hold it in your hands, and try to notice that it is imaginary. Higher consciousness/awakened consciousness is required. Take psychedelic amd do the above exercise. Humans consider imagination to only be what happens inside your head. But that is 2nd order imagination. 1st order imagination is the physical world outside your head. The key is to realize that there is no boundary between inside your head and outside your head. So everything is just different orders of imagination. In a dream every part of it is imaginary. The whole dream world is imagination. And so is life. Again, the key is to realize there is no boundary between a dream and life.

Did I ever write that Awakened impersonal Nondual states are not beneficial (and necessary) for realizing True Infinite Being? I wrote that dozen of times. https://www.actualized.org/forum/search/?&q=Awakened&author=Water by the River

Like I said, if you want to really find out, do your own extensive research and reach out to whoever you need to reach out to. I just pointed out some quick snippets through my phone while on the go. I dont have skin in this game. I have already moved on from Rupert Spira due to Leo’s teachings. The cheating was just cherry on top. For me, if a bunch of people in the community, especially staff members and retreat participants reports such stuff, it is something to be taken seriously, instead of just dismissing it, because your guru is so ”conscious and awakened that there is no way he would do such thing”. It’s not like this is some new phenomenon. It’s more common than you think among spiritual and religious gurus. Of course it is.

@Osaid it's easier to say - it's just imaginary. Anything not directly experienced is imaginary. The wonderful thing about this is that imagination IS you. So you ARE the rat. You ARE the chimp. Right now! Lesser consciousness is a figment of current consciousness. But current Consciousness can also go much higher. It's not in an Infinite state right now..but if you've awakened you know it's possible. So why wouldn't lesser Consciousness be possible? Why wouldn't experiencing the level of consciousness of an ant not be possible despite being imaginary right now? Why can't imagination become actual? The truth is nothing is preventing it..so Leo is not wrong here if you think it through.

A scholar inquired, "But is this not the way of nature, Master? Do not all creatures struggle, one against another?" "Nature knows struggle," the Master agreed, "but not hate. The lion does not loathe the gazelle, nor does the oak begrudge the vine its light. It is only man who adds to the struggle the poison of hatred, the madness of greed. We have crafted weapons that could scorch the earth, yet we squabble like children over lines drawn in sand." A young girl, her eyes bright with unshed tears, asked, "Will there never be peace, Master?" And here the Master's face shone, as if lit from within. "Peace will come, little one. Not from treaties inked by the hands of deceivers, but from a great awakening. For even now, in the hearts of men and women in every land, a truth is dawning: that we are all branches of one tree, waves of one sea. The lies that divide us — of race, of creed, of border — are being seen for what they are: shadows cast by our own fears. “As this light spreads, the merchants of war will find their arsenals rusting and their rhetoric falling on deaf ears. The makers of hatred will speak to empty halls. For a people awakened cannot be turned against their own heart, their own flesh. This is why they fear truth above all else, why they darken the air with lies.”

Leo the Blackpiller. On a project called "Actualized". A drama in in five acts. Oh my. Act 1: Narrator: What in my view is genetics/Karma is being psychic, seeing Auras, subtle beings, OBEs, and all that stuff. That can't be trained by normies. One either has it or not. Buuuuut training to rest in nondual awakened states? No. Many had to train a lot to get there (called meditation). Sure, some woke up spontaneously. It is called True Being. Every being has it, or better IS it. There are proven ways to access and stabilize that. Meditation for example. Not for every Karma-variant "delivered", but for many achieveable if training in earnest. Yours truly for sure was not extraordinarily gifted and needed over 10 years to get anywhere near anything nondual. But was lucky using a meditation system that got pleasurable quite soon and enabled racking up the 1000s of hours of cutting off the "I/me/mine-bla-bla" sufficiently (many of that in daily life) to get anywhere near awakened nondual impersonal states. Act 2: Narrator: What can be heard in the last weeks from our respected host are frequent expression of suffering, and also being annoyed by being human. If that attitude is not a dissociation (sick form of non-growth/aborted transcendence) and not an differentiation & integration (healthy form of growth/transcendence in Wilber speech), I don't know what is. Wilber, The Religion of the Future. All ways how transcendence/growth can go wrong, and how one can get addicted to 7th haven realms, and how to avoid and correct these, laid on a platter. And now limiting believes and justifications why one can not practice letting go of the separate-self and shutting it off (aka meditation), because... rationalizations like genetics, prodigies, creativity and artistic and other stuff instead of boring meditation and annoying and what not. https://www.actualized.org/insights/profound-quotes-032 https://www.actualized.org/insights/werewolf-boy Leo Gura: "Exceptionally spiritually gifted people are born just like this werewolf boy. And no amount of spiritual practice will give you their abilities. But because all that happens on the inside, people do not see it. So they end up spending their lives trying to emulate someone who is a genetic freak, and of course they end up disappoint with their lack of results or unhappiness in life. Because a werewolf boy has to live differently than normies. And if you as a normie try to live like werewolf boy, you will not be happy because it is not the right fit. This is why above all else in this work you must be true to yourself, to your genetics. Your destiny is in your genetics. But you need to discover what that means, which is no trivial matter." Narrator: Got blackpilled? Got blackpilled! Act 3: Al Swearengen: "That's what life is one vile task after another. Don't get aggravated then the enemy has you by the short hairs." . WbtR: Sorry my friend. https://actualized.org/insights/profound-quotes-032 Narrator: Profound indeed. The Buddha not-en-vogue-long-dead-probably-never-historicaly-existing-gentleman called it dukha. Unsatisfying. A closet-Buddhist in the making? And so much happiness & compassion that there are even dreams of nondual crocodiles biting fellow expressions of his True Infinite Being. Ken Wilber: "Ken Wilber: The downside comes with people that only use psychedelics or drugs and I found that over the years they just become mean. It's somehow just kind of closes them down it's like you keep doing it and you keep doing it you keep doing it it doesn't quite cause the transformation. It can cause a peak experience but generally not a transformative experience and some people like David Deida will say that in order for altered changes of state to contribute to transformation a permanent transformation it has to be basically endogenous and not a exogenous it has to be has your own source People who do that (Psychedelics) the people that do use both (Meditation and Psychedelics) and use it as a sacrament i think an enormous bit out of it." Posted over a year ago: Act 4: Narrator: So, my proposal would be either to rebrand the thing as spiritual-blackpilled.org instead of actualized.org. Or, as alternative, at least not giving the poor folks consuming all of that uncritically limiting believes just because one highflyer got hung up in the seventh-heaventh-with-you-know-what-substances without a way of getting to that blissful estate sobre and in daily life. Leo, sorry for the rant. I wish you really the best, but that self-defeating blackpilling trend (probably generated by severly missing seaventh-heaventh-bliss - which I can understand), pushing it mostly on genetics and prodigy and what not (I would call that at least a bit "Karma" and not only genetics )... I have to testify against it, because for many that "could make it" that constitutes black-pilling & installing limitting believes. And even if a being does not reach Enlightenment in this life, the soul (relative manifestation, but still appearing/same "reality" as everthing else, lasting longer than one life) will carry the transcendence-propensity generated by simply witnessing the mindstream (aka meditation). Same with compassion. Act 5: WbtR: Actualized? Actualized! Selling the drama (5 acts) "Actualized! by the River & throwing the backpills back into the River where the came from" Music while lowering the curtain:

yes all awakened people live life on the razor's edge of death, blithely and blissfully so, tomorrow has absolutely no relevance whatsoever if it comes good if it doesn't great

*You don't have to be into some of these to go to them and meet great spiritual women. Ideally you're into it, and maybe once you attend, you'll get into it. I guess I'm saying don't let not being into something stop you from going. You'll have a great time regardless. Looks like there are 4 Burning Man regional events in your area. Highly recommended to meet awesome people. https://regionals.burningman.org/regionals/europe/uk/ EDM festivals are a great place to meet young beautiful lust-for-life woman. https://www.skiddle.com/news/all/The-Best-UK-Dance-and-EDM-Festivals/57200/ Spiritual gatherings: https://highvibeliving2020.medium.com/the-7-best-festivals-in-the-uk-that-you-probably-havent-heard-of-e31cfd58dff5 https://awakenedspirit.co.uk https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mystical-spiritual-holistic-wiccan-event-tickets-846266454747 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/zenfest-spiritual-mind-body-and-soul-event-tickets-902196713657 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mind-body-spirit-wellbeing-festival-2024-tickets-876599311137 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glastonburys-lions-gate-portal-of-remembrance-tickets-901943696877?aff=ebdssbdestsearch https://www.eventbrite.com/e/77-portal-mind-body-spirit-fayre-tickets-914733742247?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/awakened-spirit-festival-tickets-718438939207?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glastonbury-sacred-drum-circle-tickets-880829393427?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/witch-hazels-magickal-market-2024-tickets-767498557847?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1

@Water by the River It's interesting that you bring up Artem. I'll post below one of his main thesis on levels of enlightenment. Can you elaborate where your and his views are the same and where they differ? It's especially confusing that Artem claims that even consciousness/infinity are still levels of dreaming and not the final enlightenment, while you point to 'empty pure impersonal infinite consciousness' as the final abode in the process of enlightenment. From Artem's Quora post: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-levels-of-enlightenment/answer/Artem-Boytsov "There are no levels of enlightenment, but there are levels of dreaming, and every level has its own layer of bondage, which you progressively shed as you move towards the center: On the outer level of dreaming, you are a person in the body, looking outside of the body into the physical world and relating to other persons. You are a slave of society. On a deeper level of dreaming, you are a soul occupying the body and you relate to other souls on an energetic level. You are a slave of your emotional energy. On a deeper still level of dreaming, you are consciousness/God, a being of pure compassion and unconditional love, you are everything and everyone, the deepest form of love. You are a slave of love. On the deepest level of dreaming, you are Brahman, the totality of all existence, infinity beyond manifest, you are truly nothing, eternity, the deepest form of peace. You are a slave of death. When all dreaming ceases, you are just a hairless monkey walking on a ball of rock, eating, pooping, living and not imagining things that are not there. You are now free. Each level of the dream has its own amount of fun and beauty, and very few people go all the way, because each level is covered by its own layer of suffering. Embodiment of unconditional love is extremely fun and very rewarding. Being mentally dead while your body is alive is very peaceful, very restful, very blissful, that’s Buddhahood. When you’re dreaming on the outer layers, the inner layers are there, too, they’re just in your unconscious. As you go from the outer layers towards the center, the dreaming becomes more and more subtle, you become progressively more free. The last level, the Brahmanic level, is the most subtle. It’s almost no dreaming at all. Most people who are awake have awakened from one level of dreaming into a deeper level of dreaming. So their dreaming became a little bit more lucid. “It’s all a dream” as they say. Enlightenment is not awakening into your dream, it is awakening from your dream, entirely. It’s when all dreaming ceases and the mind doesn’t dream anymore."

Maybe it's all a cosmic joke. Maybe this "self" we're so proud of is just a brain fart, free will's a bedtime story, and we're all just meat puppets jerking to the tunes of our DNA. This mess isn't a plan or conspiracy, it's just the universe taking a massive, uncontrolled shit. Or we're like those first fish dragging their sorry asses onto land. New legs, can't walk without stumbling. Our brains too big for our skulls. We fall for every line of propaganda because we haven't figured out the cognitive wings evolution or God has given us. Perhaps one day, we'll shed the shadows from our egos, and trying to sell us war will be like trying to sell a bitcoin to the Amish. Or, maybe the universe is just one big eye, slowly opening. Life is its first blink, humans are its first blurry thoughts. Science is IT rubbing the sleep out, meditation is IT watching its own mind churn, and the internet? That's IT mapping its own nervous system on a neural net. All the chaos? Just the pain of cosmic puberty. The eye's just not awakened yet but we”ll get there.

250 Traps Of Life - The Psychology Of Traps https://youtu.be/v3TDLSwHugI?si=Xd7Pjk957VktEZJ5 "Wisdom is understanding that life is full of traps." Image 1 Concept of traps: Leo Gura introduces the concept of traps as a way to navigate life, emphasizing the importance of intelligence, wisdom, consciousness, intuition, and experience in avoiding them. Traps are not just mistakes but enticing situations that appear beneficial but end up costing greatly in the end. Psychological and intellectual traps: The real focus is on the psychological traps created by one’s mind and intellectual traps that deceive our sense of truth. Gura gives examples of traps like a mirage or a ton of feathers seeming lighter than a ton of gold, highlighting the trickery of the mind. Vulnerability to traps: Describing how children, animals, and the inexperienced are more susceptible to traps, Gura recounts a story of a girl who got trapped under sand at a beach and a method for trapping monkeys, illustrating how traps often exploit short-term thinking and lack of foresight. Image 2 Image 3 Fantasies and assumptions: He notes that traps can be wrapped up in fantasies that disconnect us from reality, often subverting assumptions we hold, which is a recurring theme in his work. Self-trapping and collective traps: A central message is how individuals trap themselves rather than being trapped by others, as well as the notion of collective traps within organizations, societies, and tribes. Types of traps in life domains: Leo Gura references various life domains that are ripe with traps, such as business, investing, relationships, education, science, philosophy, epistemology, spirituality, politics, health, martial arts, and more, each with its unique set of pitfalls. Meta trap of externalizing the enemy: One of the biggest meta traps is not realizing that often you are your own greatest enemy and the tendency to externalize the blame. Avoiding traps: Gura promises to provide a comprehensive list of over 250 traps he’s identified and principles for avoiding them in each life domain. Awareness as a trap-avoidance strategy: He suggests that the wisdom of recognizing common traps before entering new life domains can significantly reduce hardships. Book Idea Metaphor: He metaphorically speaks of bestselling book titles focused on “traps” in different domains, suggesting the universal relevance and practicality of this conceptual lens. Acknowledgment of personal growth: Mentioning his own work in compiling a list of traps, Gura makes it clear this is a personal passion which has evolved from his own life experiences and learning. He anticipates sharing deeper insights from this year-long research project in future discussions. Excessive media consumption: Overuse of television, video games, news, and particularly social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can drain countless hours that could be better spent building oneself and developing skills, which is especially detrimental to young people. Processed food consumption: The widespread trap of eating junk and processed foods leads to health issues and detracts from investing time in proper nutrition and self-care. Outsourcing critical personal functions: While delegating tasks can be beneficial, there are certain things, such as inner work and self-mastery, that should never be outsourced. For example, relying solely on therapists without personal growth efforts or entrusting your business's core marketing strategy to others can be limiting. Blind trust in authorities: It is a trap to trust doctors, scientists, experts, and gurus unquestioningly. People should research their medical conditions, understand prescriptions, and be aware of biases instead of expecting experts to have their best interests at heart. Misplaced trust in the guru model: There's potential danger in committing oneself blindly to a spiritual teacher, as it risks falling prey to corrupt gurus and cults, which may have severe negative consequences. Lack of diversification of information sources: Relying on a single source for news, politics, religion, or advice from a specific guru creates a trap of narrow-mindedness. It's crucial to seek out diverse perspectives to avoid misinformation and bias. Dangers of corrupt spiritual communities: Joining or starting a spiritual commune with an unrealistic view can progress into cult behaviour, leading to disaster due to immaturity, inexperience, and personal ego. Sexual relationship pitfalls: Engaging in sexual relationships with gurus, employees, or within professional dynamics can cause significant issues. Furthermore, navigating sexuality with carelessness or unreal expectations leads to emotional harm and other serious consequences. Falling for sexual and relationship traps: Pursuing sexual satisfaction through methods like pickup culture, chasing after uninterested partners, or not addressing one's sexual needs can lead to negative outcomes and hinder personal development. Social inexperience and ineptitude: The trap of lacking social skills due to overreliance on online interaction hinders real-life relationships and professional progress while treating others transactionally or with disrespect is damaging and unproductive. Authoritarian leadership style: Using control or manipulation in leadership within families, romantic relationships, business, or politics backfires, creating toxic environments and damaging trust. Subtle forms of torturing others: Engaging in subtle acts of cruelty, such as sending hurtful text messages to someone who has scorned you, can be a trap driven by bitterness or a sense of failure. This destructive behavior often stems from trauma and a bad mental state, providing a perverse joy but ultimately leading to nothing beneficial. Distraction with social games: Political games and social maneuvering at gatherings like house parties are traps that consume mental energy and time without long-term significance. Leo Gura contrasts the trivial nature of these dramas with a broader perspective that looks at human history and the universe, illustrating their inconsequence. Petty emotional drama: Becoming entangled in trivial human drama, especially those amplified by the media, is presented as a trap that drains attention and focus. Leo emphasizes the ephemeral nature and lack of import these situations have when viewed from a larger, temporal or spatial context. Parental traps in raising children: Pushing personal values onto children rather than guiding them toward self-actualization and independent thinking is identified as a major trap. Teaching children to understand different perspectives and epistemologies empowers them to make their own decisions and develop their spirituality or interests without the bias of parental imposition. Teaching effectively: Beginning teachers often fall into the trap of focusing on rote memorization rather than encouraging independent thought and insights. Facilitating a process that allows students to develop their own understanding is key to effective education and avoiding indoctrination with beliefs and ideologies. Political radicalization: Becoming politically radicalized, whether far-left, far-right, or anti-mainstream, confines one to tier one politics, which Leo describes as unconscious. He highlights that even if one's stance on an issue is correct, the process of radicalization is harmful, as it closes one off from broader, more conscious political discourse. Single-issue voting: This trap involves becoming politically active or voting based on a narrow focus on a single issue. Politicians may exploit this to gain votes, but Leo warns that holistic consideration of a leader's policies is necessary to make informed electoral decisions that serve the broader good beyond one specific area of interest. Integrity and authenticity: Cheating, lying, stealing, and tax evasion are traps that can bring short-term gain but long-term detriment. Building a life around one's physical appearance or selling one's body for money is fleeting and unsustainable. Instead, building a life on enduring qualities is crucial. Following passions and intuitions: Ignoring one's passions and intuitions can be a trap, but so is always trusting them without discernment. Leo recommends honing intuition over years of experience to distinguish between beneficial hunches and misleading instincts. Job fantasies: Fantasizing about a "dream job" without understanding the daily realities of such a career is a trap. Leo shares his personal experience as a YouTuber to debunk common misconceptions about such seemingly glamorous jobs. Criticism as a career: Engaging in constant criticism can poison one's mindset over time, leading to bitterness and closed-mindedness, which Leo refers to as the "Alex Jones effect." Narrow identity: Identifying solely with a particular religion, nationality, or race limits personal growth and life experiences. Leo urges for a broader identity that transcends these categories. Hatred based on group identification: Generalizing negative experiences with individuals to hatred for an entire gender, race, or group is a trap of overgeneralization and can lead to harmful ideologies such as anti-Semitism, as evidenced by public figures like Kanye West. Stereotyping based on limited experience: Mistakenly generalizing a few negative interactions with individuals from a group to the entire group, leading to harmful stereotypes. Dangers of partying and chemical dependence: Over-indulging in partying and substances like antidepressants, benzos, steroids, alcohol, or recreational drugs results in unhealthy escapism and addiction. Impacts of social media on self-image: Young men influenced by "alpha" fitness influencers may resort to steroids to emulate unrealistic body standards, highlighting social media's role in distorting self-perception. Driving under the influence: Driving while intoxicated or using substances like alcohol, weed, or cocaine poses serious safety risks and legal consequences. Misuse of psychedelics: Using psychedelics without proper research or in inappropriate settings can lead to negative experiences and misunderstandings of their effects on different individuals. The allure of financial credit and debt: Falling into debt through loans, credit cards, and student loans without considering the long-term financial burden and its implications for future freedom and opportunities. Traps in romantic relationships: Confusing infatuation with love, overlooking red flags, staying in toxic dynamics, and relying on a relationship for personal completion can lead to emotional suffering and lack of personal growth. Dangers of committing crimes: Engaging in criminal behavior can lead to a false sense of security until legal repercussions catch up and potentially ruin one's life. Violence as a self-destructive response: Using violence to handle situations can escalate to further violence, criminal charges, and lifelong regret. Idealizing spiritual gurus and enlightenment: Placing unrealistic expectations on spiritual teachers or seeing enlightenment as a panacea for all of life's challenges creates disappointment and neglects personal responsibility for growth. The balance between spirituality and active life: Prioritizing spirituality too early in life can lead to a lack of engagement with important life experiences like relationships, career, and socializing, affecting overall fulfillment. Live life fully when young: Leo advises using your youth for enjoyment, like partying and building a business, as health and energy decline with age. This strategy helps avoid regrets about missed experiences later in life. Limitations of singular teachings: Relying on one set of teachings is insufficient for understanding life. A diverse range of insights is necessary. Awakening is not binary: The idea that you're either awakened or not is a misconception. Consciousness and awakening are gradual and varied processes. Need for contemplation: Making yourself too busy is a trap. Adequate downtime is essential for integration and reflection on life experiences. Pitfalls of online arguing: Engaging in debates, especially on social platforms, doesn't contribute to deep understanding but can become a distracting trap. Financial autonomy and thrift: Depending on others for wealth is unrealistic, and extreme frugality can lead to missed opportunities and regrets, as exemplified by Gura's personal anecdote. Knowing vs. pretending: Admitting ignorance is beneficial. Pretending to know more than one actually does out of ego is a trap. Misjudging perspectives: Strawmanning and demonizing unfamiliar viewpoints can hinder understanding and communication. Excess defense in criticism: Overreacting to criticism can exacerbate issues rather than address the criticism constructively. Confusing success with virtue: Equating popularity or wealth with truth, happiness, or righteousness is misleading, particularly in the context of influencer culture. Skepticism of miracle cures: Desperation can lead to belief in untested New Age or miracle cures, which might be harmful. Personal responsibility vs. divine reliance: Expecting a deity to resolve personal problems is a trap; one should take responsibility for their own affairs. Consequences of unethical behavior: Actions such as lying, cheating, and exploitation carry psychological and moral costs even if one isn't caught legally. Dangers of arrogance and false humility: Arrogance can blind one to learning opportunities, and false humility can undermine genuine understanding. Testing New Age claims: Critical examination of New Age or paranormal claims is necessary to separate reality from wishful thinking. Reality of love: Understanding that love is not always pleasant but a complex and serious endeavor is important. Discerning wisdom sharing: Sharing wisdom without discernment or pushing one's beliefs on others who may not be receptive is a trap. Awareness of apocalyptic thinking: Being cautious of apocalyptic predictions, which often do not come to fruition, can prevent unnecessary stress and poor decisions. Focused endeavors: Starting too many projects dilutes focus and effectiveness. Concentration on a few pursuits is advantageous. Practicality in spirituality: Acknowledging that life isn't just an intangible dream and taking practical actions like steady employment is essential. Commitment in meditation practice: Serious and technique-driven meditation practice is crucial for real benefit, unlike casual practices. Work for promise of profits: Engaging in work based solely on future profit-sharing promises can be risky and often leads to dissatisfaction. Contractual agreements: Always obtain a concrete contract to ensure payment for your work; avoid relying on empty promises of future compensation. Overpromising: Making promises you can't fulfill, as exemplified by Elon Musk, can damage credibility. It's better to avoid making promises to limit potential pitfalls and maintain integrity. Authenticity vs. Fakeness: Being fake to gain advantages, whether in relationships or other endeavors, is not worth the potential harm to one's integrity or reputation. Due diligence: The trap of not verifying sources or information out of laziness can lead to poor decisions and regrettable outcomes. Materialism: Believing that acquiring luxury items and adhering to popular brands will bring happiness is a trap—ownership often comes with hidden costs and maintenance burdens. Following trends: Mistaking popularity for quality can be misleading, whether with books, spiritual teachers, or business advice. Health and finances: Neglecting routine health exams and putting all your financial resources in one place can be risky and detrimental. Dealing with friends and family: Engaging in business or loaning money to close ones can strain or ruin relationships, particularly if the business faces challenges. Legal concerns: Act responsibly when interacting with law enforcement; resisting arrest or fleeing can lead to severe legal consequences. Exotic pets: Owning unconventional pets can be burdensome and is often underestimated in terms of the care and maintenance they require. Audience capture: Content creators must be wary of becoming too focused on clicks, likes, and views, as it may lead to a loss of authenticity and personal misery. Charisma deception: Charismatic individuals, whether politicians or romantic interests, can be alluring, but their charm could be a facade disguising ulterior motives. Misplaced value in credentials: Overvaluing titles and studying for grades rather than understanding can backfire in the long term, potentially leading to superficial knowledge. Communication pitfalls: Engaging in violent communication and making assumptions can result in miscommunication and conflict. Work-life imbalance: Working excessively, particularly without enjoyment, is a trap that can compromise one's well-being. High-risk investments: Chasing high ROI opportunities, attempting to time the market, or falling for investment fads can lead to significant financial losses. Personal disclosure: Oversharing on social media may lead to regret, as once information is public, it's irreversible and can affect privacy. Seeking fame and love online: Using social media as a means of achieving fame or love is often an illusion and can be a trap that sacrifices genuine connections and personal contentment. Traps in personal relationships and business: Seeking love from celebrities and idolizing them can lead to unhealthy parasocial relationships. Believing in unrealistic guarantees, such as 100% uptime from web hosting services, is a sign to steer clear of certain business dealings. The self-improvement treadmill: Engaging in self-actualization non-stop can become just another rat race, failing to bring true fulfillment. Profit maximization downfall: Brands that focus excessively on sequel releases for profit can diminish quality and cut corners, leading to subpar offerings. Legal and law enforcement entrapments: Legal contracts can hide nefarious clauses and NDAs, while law enforcement practices like entrapment can mislead individuals into self-incrimination. Collective societal traps: Societal reactions like the backlash to terrorism can create further issues rather than solving them. Tragedy of the commons scenarios, such as public spaces deteriorating due to lack of individual responsibility, demonstrate collective shortfalls. Selfish voting and lobbying: Voting and lobbying with only personal gain in mind lead to a corrupt and dysfunctional government, diverting focus from collective well-being. Overreliance on technology: Believing technology can solve deep-rooted human and social issues is misplaced; technology cannot fix problems such as immaturity or lack of spiritual connection. Imposing development stages: Attempting to force democracy or other higher-stage developments onto societies that aren't ready can backfire. Societal traps: Issues like political polarization, the danger of constant growth narratives, metrics fixation in education, and nostalgia can hinder societal progress. Psychological and epistemological traps: Rosy retrospection, confirmation bias, denial, grounding happiness in others, postmodernism, avoiding truth, and misinterpreting gender subjectivity can obstruct personal understanding and growth. Limiting beliefs and judgment: Beliefs in personal limitations can become self-fulfilling prophecies, while dismissing experience reports as hallucinations limits understanding of diverse realities. Judging, repressing problems and passive-aggressive behavior degrade interpersonal relationships. Judgment as a trap: Leo Gura identifies judgement of reality and others as a significant trap that stems from our egos and is difficult to overcome. Morality's pitfalls: The field of morality is described as a trap, with future content planned to explore this. Feelings of moral righteousness, moral crusading, and demonizing or virtue signaling are highlighted as specific moral traps. Self-perception delusion: Realizing one is not inherently good but has done evil acts is discussed as an epiphany Gura experienced, challenging the common self-perception of being a 'good person'. Messiah complex: The notion that one must save the world, underpinned by a belief that only they can prevent an apocalypse, is addressed as a delusion and a psychological trap. Philosophical and ideological traps: Gura points out the limitations of engaging in armchair philosophy, taking centrist views on controversies, and assuming personal perspectives as universal truths. Ideology, particularly stubbornness and close-mindedness, is also mentioned as a trap that prevents genuine insight. Empathy and understanding limitations: Both excessive empathy, particularly in progressive contexts, and assuming others share one's own experiences and capabilities, are described as traps that can lead to misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations. Avoiding traps with strategies: Gura advises expecting traps in new domains, avoiding desperation, long-term thinking, clarity of values, distinguishing real value from fake allure, and seeking advice from experienced individuals. Contemplation and periodic review of traps, as well as employing the premortem technique to anticipate and prevent failures, serve as means to steer clear of traps. Learning from traps: Emphasizing that falling into traps is acceptable provided one learns from them, Gura differentiates between catastrophic traps, which must be avoided, and less significant ones that can offer learning opportunities. Seeking expert advice on avoiding traps is also recommended for gaining valuable foresight. Pitfalls of worshiping gurus: Blindly following gurus can lead to falling into traps such as adopting ideologies without critical thinking, thus succumbing to groupthink. Value of experience: Immense experience is vital for avoiding traps; severe inexperience is considered the root of many traps because we start life completely ignorant and only learn through mistakes. Failing constructively: It's important to fail often and quickly, but failure should not be catastrophic or crippling, as some failures can have irreversible consequences, like losing a limb. Categorizing risks: When assessing potential traps, especially new ones, distinguish between those that are catastrophic and those that are less critical, so as to prioritize caution correctly. Literature and truth: Reading extensively, including biographies, history, business books, and other genres, provides a foundation to understand human mistakes and avoid similar traps. Facing truth and seeking diverse perspectives: Actively seeking the truth and getting diverse viewpoints on various matters, like spirituality, business, and relationships, can prevent one from falling into traps. Context awareness and cognitive development: Developing context awareness and reaching the 'construct aware' stage of cognitive development assists in recognizing abstract and existential traps. Sustainability principle: Engagement in sustainable practices, whether in business or relationships, leads to satisfaction and avoids the trap of unsustainable, short-term solutions. Strategic positioning: Avoid desperation by maintaining strategic life positioning to prevent being lured into compromising situations that can lead to traps. Understanding of personal vulnerabilities: Realizing that traps often reflect our own desires and fears, a personalized approach to recognizing traps one might be susceptible to is crucial. Awareness of mental traps ('meta traps'): Recognizing 'meta traps' such as thinking you're immune to certain traps or denying you're in one can be key to avoiding a cycle of mistakes. Psychological growth from traps: Traps should be seen as opportunities for learning; exercises for reflection can help reframe experiences as beneficial despite their seeming negativity. Balance and pitfalls: Success in any domain requires finding the right balance between two extremes. Examples include not being too cheap or wasteful, balancing hard work with relaxation to avoid workaholism or procrastination, and finding a middle ground between blind faith in religion and dismissing all spirituality. Admissions of fallibility: Leo Gura acknowledges that he is not immune to falling into traps, stating that his knowledge of traps comes from personal experiences and contemplation. He reserves the right to make mistakes and fall into traps in the future as a natural part of life. Awareness of traps as value: He emphasizes the practicality of awareness over ideology, stating that his content's primary function is to identify various traps, which he has done for the past 10 years, though it has only recently been made explicit. AI as a contemplation aid: Gura has started using AI (Claude 3) to enhance his talks by challenging his thinking. He fed his extensive outline to the AI, asking it to scrutinize and improve his work by playing Devil's Advocate and highlighting potential flaws. Image 4 Flaws identified by AI: Risk of oversimplification: Not all situations can be categorized as traps. Excessive cynicism: Overmistrust and paranoia can create unhealthy skepticism. Blame and shame: It's important to be compassionate toward others who fall into traps. Rigidity and dogmatism: Using the "traps lens" inflexibly leads to a narrow viewpoint. Context-dependent traps: A trap in one situation may be an opportunity in another. Gifts in traps: AI suggested acknowledging the positive outcomes of navigating traps. Reframing traps: Viewing falling into traps as a learning experience rather than a failure. Systemic factors: The need to consider wider societal factors beyond individual agency. Flexibility in thinking: The reminder to hold frameworks lightly and embrace alternative views. Potential AI reliance: Gura foresees possible traps with AI use, like becoming reliant on AI for content creation or overvaluing its efficiency over contemplative effort. The irony of sources: Gura cautions that even the highest sources of information, including Actualized.org and any revered authority, can become traps if relied upon without critical thinking. Personal growth and future plans: Implicit in the conclusion is Gura's hint at personal struggles and growth he experienced during a year-long break from content creation. He plans to share deeper insights and new material gained from this period in the future, integrating subtle changes in his approach to content. The ultimate trap: Gura leaves with the parting idea that the self is the ultimate trap, suggesting that ego and self-identification are overarching pitfalls in the journey towards enlightenment and personal development. Colloportus

Any statement can be interpreted as an assumption. But could there be a real recognition underlying the communication that validates such view? Say someone "gets it" and then claims something like "Consciousness is all", if that were consistent with their breakthrough. First, you don't have to believe in it. You can try listening to it and the "experience" may get across to you, that is, you grasp your nature (this would be like a transmission in zen). The key is the consciousness itself, not anything else that comes after it such as the expression. It must be validated through personal "experience." Hence the role of self-inquiry. One challenge is that we may not understand what "direct" means. Do you hold it as possible--becoming conscious of the thing itself without intermediary, absolutely, prior to experience, mind and perception, beyond a doubt? The terms kensho and satori can give the mind something new to ponder. If you don't think it as possible, then this awakening business is a mere fantasy to you. And relatively, why close oneself off? We may be able to understand directly the nature of things beyond assumption. We just shouldn't conflate our failure to do so with concluding that it is impossible. This is where the principle of openness comes in. Why is Gautama known as the awakened one? Leaving legend aside, he exemplifies the possibility of "complete enlightenment", whatever that is. Can we understand everything there is, as the Buddha presumably did? I'd say yes. If a human could do it, then it means that it is possible. There, an incoherent mess.

Correlation doesn't mean causation. But strange conincidence, hm? That the awakened nondual states don't happen anymore when taking psychedelics, because they are already the case?

https://dmtquest.org/endohuasca-magic/ Stable access to awakened nondual states? And certain bodily correlates of that, like above? The main effects of psychedelics like Nonduality, Infinite Being, mere groundless appearance, eternal Infinite Being and other minor things (like end of grasping/resistance and so on) in the palm of ones hand, always available? But how the f*** could that even matter?

Awakening is a radical and often sudden change in how you experience the world on a moment-to-moment level. The type of awakening which is probably most referenced is awakening to Oneness or non-duality, which coincides with the loss of self-referential thinking and experience of self in space and time, reflected in the deactivation of the Default Mode Network (DMN). Spiritual transformation is when the awakening creates a lasting but incomplete change where some parts of yourself will never be the same. Your first awakening tends to coincide with a spiritual transformation. For non-duality spiritual transformations, this coincides with a lasting relative deactivation of the DMN. Enlightenment is when the awakened state becomes your new baseline, i.e. what you operate from most of the time (~90% of the time). After many awakenings in different ways and contexts, the tower topples over and flips. And for non-duality enlightenment, this coincides with a lasting and more significant deactivation of the DMN. Your enlightened state might refine over time in subtle ways, maybe filling in the remaining 10% and for non-duality enlightenment maybe eliminating self-referential thinking altogether, or through more embodied manifestations (in the case of non-duality: purifying egoic responses/behavioral patterns, contractions, "defilements"). I used awakening to non-duality to illustrate each term, but you can substitute it with any type of awakening; awakening to God, Love, even intellectual awakenings; but of course, the terms are less commonly used in this way. An example of an intellectually focused (or moral) spiritual transformation I had was the transition from a hedonistic to a eudaimonic value system.

"physical presence of someone who's seriously skilled and awakened" I am surprised noone has not done a retreat, expo,etc for this group. I feel like this forum has some of those people.

ok, here my Olaf-version-take: "The delusion is that there are humans who are unenlightened. " There appear Olafs who have appearances of thinking/believing they are separate Olafs, so one could say there are unenlightened Olafs. But since there is only the Infinite Ocean freezing to an imagined Olaf, watching its own substance while doing so in a nondual way, actually there is no (unenlightened) Olaf. It just appears to be so. Actually, there are just some perspectives of Infinite Being ("humans" or Olafs) that have I-thougt/I-feeling-arisings (which makes them believe to be a human/Olaf) in their perspective/mindstream, while forgetting in real-time ("in-space") all other perspectives appearing in their Infinite Being. While being also these perspectives at the same time. Indras Infinite Net of Olaf-perspectives. And then one could have Olafs observing or contemplating all of that. But since there are no actual Olafs, but only the Infinite Ocean, there is in reality no Olaf observing unenlightened Olafs. Only the Infinite Ocean having fooling-itself-thought-feelings-arisings appearing in its Infinite Being. So its basically appearing Olafs talking to themselves, while there is only one Infinite Being, splicing itself up in infinite perspectives. The Infinite Ocean modulating itself as "freezing Olaf-appearances" and wondering what it really is. And what those other Olafs are. And for an Olaf to verify that for itself beyond any doubt, an Olaf normally need considerable time in nondual impersonal awakened states. Selling Olaf-ISM by the River

i am no longer addicted to habits, i am awakened to heaven mindless habits make a person dead see the world through innocence and then all around is heaven you're not heavy you're my brother as the Hollies reminded us children are at the ignorance stage not innocence although this is better than most

Imagine... We are on a forum called Actualized. We agree that there is something like Infinite Being. Absolute Reality. Which can be realized in Awakened Nondual States. Which (as a lucky coincidence) are also supposed the reduce suffering dramatically. At least according to the testament of thousands of people over the millenia. And more or less the only way to generate stable nondual awakened states in daily life is meditation. Or cutting off the internal bla-bla that most of the time talks me/mine. And this me/mine is by definition a part, a broken fractal of Infinite Being. Contemplation will never cause the awakened nondual states that are necessary for the realization of Infinite Being. At least for all non-prodigies. Contemplation is a necessary and good starting point. And it comes in every tradition I am aware of before serious meditation starts. It is ok if one doesn't have the discipline or Karma to seriously engage in this path. Or engage it later. But belittling meditation and/or those who actually seriously engage in it... oh well. Brings great Karma for sure. Something to think about? How did this kind of contemplation work so far in creating serious nondual awakened states? And no, small you is not everything. That is just new cloths for the conceptual identity of a separate-self. Why is it that every single meditation tradition does something like neti-neti to get rid of false identity (and any identity at all btw., since Infinite Being has no Identity)? Well, I guess you are young. Life automatically brings along some crocodiles that bite sufficiently enough to challenge any assumption that contemplation alone is enough. The smart way is to start meditating before the crocodiles show up. Because... ... there are crocodiles in the River, that will always bite every single being, sooner or later.

I do my best to always check myself to make sure I'm not like this. It takes genuine humility to not lose yourself. Realize how tiny and insignificant you are and how LITTLE you really know. Being awakened isn't any better than being asleep. Being asleep is natural. Awakening is painful..the truth is painful and can be alienating and I see lots of people who are aslee.. living happier lives than me and fitting in society better than me..so being awakened doesn't mean shit in terms of living a superior life. It feels like there is a thin blurry line that separates being '"truly awakened"' and being delusional and pretentious. I don't know it myself... I don't know if being "awakened"' is just a self-help and self-empowering kind of word that leads to the trapping of oneself into a lost forest. Something certainly feels real..but it is being shrouded by a kind of cunning falseness. Not sure if anyone will understand what I mean..but looking forward to your thoughts.

My Wife is Jamaican, born there and was there for the first 20+yrs of here life, but she came here to Canada for a better life in her words, but we vacationed in Montego Bay a Year or so ago, fist time there for me, it was very nice and beautiful, I met her family out in the country, they accepted me and it was great fun and a learning experience for me.. My Wife is all about Jamaica, listens to Jamaican podcasts and videos, but wants to live here because she says it offers her more opportunities, but there are struggles here too even though we are in a so called Wealthy Country, we just have a higher standard or quality of living, more established survival systems, but everyone here wants to go to Jamaica, lol, its so nice there, and its like a paradise really, we went to Duns River and Blue Hole, and I saw the country from both sides of Montego Bay area, its just the social systems are not in place. I luv Bob Marley, watched lots of docu's on him when I met my Wife, and recently saw the "One Love" movie, he was highly Awakened, but its crazy how he changed things in the world and in his own country in many ways.. All the world has huge problems, just different problems depending on the region, everyday I hear about the problems in Toronto on the radio, its nuts the politics of it all and its not really a hard fix if we decide to work together and see each other as we see ourselves, this would fix many problems in the world...but I'm looking forward to going back to Jamaica again one day:)