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You have more work to do. There is nobody to claim consciousness. Consciousness is sovereign, and you are speaking as a human being. "You" as javfly did not make a single thing. If you think your mind is real and everyone else is a figment of your mind, you're delusional, not awakened. Consciousness is impersonal—it created you as well as everything else. One wave does not make the entire ocean around it.

From what I understand, and I can be wrong... Leo's videos are wide and sprawling and cover a full 'spectrum' of personal development advice. With the internet today there is no reason as far as I can tell that a creative individual can't make a lot of money and free themselves from wage slavery by creating a lot of value in a field they are passionate about. I know many people who are doing this. For example my ex girlfriend does Kundalini and reiki work with people and she makes at least 6 figures if not 7. Be mindful of the distinctions you make. The higher spiritual values can be embodied by anyone. Hmm, for example if you look at the Susan C's ego developmental models you see that the ego goes through phases of maturity. The lower stages such as the achiever stages are really important I think. I don't think spirituality and massive success are at odds with each other. In fact, we need highly integrous and awakened leaders who are in business in all sectors.

@Giulio Bevilacqua I had pretty mild symptoms, the bliss was way better than any of the mild symptoms. Just don't drink too much coffeine or nicotine or anything that excites the nervous system. If you are on no-fap, you can try to release some energy. If you have physical symptoms, then go to a doctor. Kryias are not only a symptom from Kundalini, but also a sign of nervous system disease, so you should get that checked out. Relax, it will pass and enjoy the ride. I recommend the "Awakened kundalini support group" on facebook. They are truly gifted in telling you the right things you need to hear.

I viewed many videos on consciousness. But how can anyone tell if they’ve awakened? I had an episode of what I thought was an “ah ha” moment, but actually I was sent to a psych ward for 2 weeks for bipolar psychosis back in March. Everything felt connected. Literally everything I perceived was connected to my inner train of thinking. I can’t really explain it. But at the time I thought I had an awakening. My family thought I was acting out of character and took me to the hospital. It took a week of meds in the ward to go back to my original way of thinking. Was it just information overload?

Awakened or not is thought activity, and awakening is not a product or a result of thought activity. If ever in question that is not ‘it’. Letting go of any questioning of it, can only be of it.

I assume your question is: "How can I know that (e.g.) a spiritual teacher is awakened?" I think, especially at the very beginning of your journey it's pure intuition and a good bullshit detector. Unfortunately the bullshit detector of many people will not work properly as it is blinded by the ego. Either they are paranoid "This person is after me and my money he/she, cannot be awakened". Or it's too trusting "This person is sooo fantastic he/she promises to materialize all my wishes in x amount of time". So at the end of the day my recommendation is to grow with the teachers you are following and always verify for yourself what they are communicating. Always assume (not in a paranoid way) that they could be completely wrong. I think it was the Buddha himself who told his disciples to not believe a word. Are you sure you haven't had an awakening when your parents told you, you acted out of character? From the "normal" mind's point of view awakening is, well, literally losing your mind.

Keep in mind that my videos are about a lot more than awakening. There are insights my videos could provide even to an awakened person. There are many insights besides strict awakening.

@fopylo by experiencing it myself. There's also a little bit more to it. I think I was 30 days nofap when my K awakened. Also no sex in case you aren't abstinent, not sure about that though. Meditate with one pointedness of mind, wait for the stinging in your spine to come up, and then place your focus on it. It'll explode. @The0Self I have experienced piti, but it wasn't as intense as kundalini. A few years ago I was able to enter the first jhana for a few minutes every day. Kundalini is definitely forst jhana on steroids. However I didn't have a crown opening. What happens during the crown opening?

How does an awakened being experience decision making ? By appearing to.

Thanks for the replies, to everyone. Well, I get what you are saying. The Self is the one who awakens inside the dream, and not the imaginary people (my ego is included of course). But what I mean is that an awakened "person" is capable of showing that they are realized. I was just wondering if other people, EVEN THOUGH they are conceptual and not actual, can show this sign of realization once you realize the True Self. I guess it's still a game of duality that my mind is playing. Nonetheless, I found it possible.

@Etherial Cat What I can point you towards is doing consciousness work that leads to realizing the fact that you've never been born. Only after realizing that you will be able to get it. What's gonna happen after you get awakened to this = realizing that Reality is conscious of you and it's happening in the same Awareness as the very 'thing' that's being aware of it. That's when you will see 'others' exactly as they are. Which is Consciousness taking different forms and interacting with You/itself. You're teaching yourself the way to yourself.

If reality is infinity and and we all are God, does that mean there are an infinite amount of Gods? (Before you get solipsistic on me and say there is only one God and I am him, if i was to burn you in gasoline it would be clear that there is a soul/consciousness that will feel that pain, You. Of course I imagine that to be. But it is undeniable that your consciousness is also conscious of the fact that the guy burning is conscious. If your more sure that you are God and the only thing that has ever existed over the fact that 'other' human beings aren't also conscious and aware in the same way you then your deluded and not awakened. Which one is more self evident from your perspective? As Leo said, consciousness can be conscious of itself to infinite degrees. If there are infinite amount of Gods, does that contradict the idea of one God? If Everything is infinity there must be infinite amount of Gods? But in one of Leos videos he said infinity is equal to zero. By that notion God will be Zero, not one. If anything infinity is equal to one. One is whole and infinity is whole. For instance 0.9 is not whole or complete if reality is one? The collapse between self and other creates one complete entity. Which is one thing. If there has only ever been one thing that was God, the idea of infinity can cant be be? This is complicated and language is of course limited when talking about infinity... I look forward to reading the way your consciousness interprets this...

As i got a glimpse of the effortless state of action (wu wei/spontaniety) i'm stuck in a horror loop since months now. If let go of control or just relax my body, it wants me to constantly whirl along my axis. The fact in it's self is not a problem. The point is that i can not do anything else, i feel that evrything i do i so focerced and in contrast within myself. When i decide to go for a walk or simply swimming the pull of whirling is comes in and creates conflict against my will power. I decided to let the movement express, and it was quite relaxing because it was releasing a lot of tensions. As i start to let go, the spinning becomes more more violent and fast till the point where i can not hold the speed so i have to stop. But it does not leave. I made some research and found Spontenous Qi Gong as a teqnique to express emotional tensions. Many says that this is a very dangerous state when you can not control anymore the need for the action. If you let express totally the movement after some time another comes in and another and another till you are dead or 70 years old. Obviously i can stop them, but it feels like repessing the need to go to the toilet. I can not continue in this state anymore. All that i do is distracting myself with food and excessive sleep. Waking up in the morning is like hell As my kundalini awakened 5 months ago, i'm working with a energy teacher. He always tells me that i'm control of my self and i am the creator of my life, but at this point it looks so stupid hearing this things, if i control the movement i inevitably supress it with ego. So i decided to take a kundalini yoga class with him just to see if the energy that is stuck can move foward. This post is just more to express my self, i know that nothing can help me anymore, also if a asked for some help from you. I do not know if i can come out of this shit.

In case anyone is wondering, this is a reference to the "seven factors of awakening". You should study these factors and make sure they are present and at balance in your life if you want to be awakened.

@Leo Gura So it does not matter how awake you are, you'll end up going back to sleep eventually? And this cycle will repeat forever? A while ago you said this: When Ramana Maharshi got cancer his followers tried to get doctors to come look at him to heal him. His response was something along the lines of: "Who cares? It's just a body." When you are that awake you literally don't give a fuck about anything. No condition of life is better than any other. An fully awakened person cannot die. He is conscious forever, regardless of what happens to his body. So losing the body makes no difference. -- How can he be conscious forever if God is eternally playing this game of dreaming and waking up?

@Etherial Cat It's not as simple as it sounds... There are various things to consider here that might explain why that desire can turn into action: This desire for variety is rarely talked about during the initial phases of a relationship. The woman usually assumes that the man will be loyal only to her without actually addressing his true authentic desires. The woman does not even want to admit that possibility to herself, let alone encouraging her partner to confess about it. What if polyamory was his true authentic desire? Does that mean the end of a potentially good relationship? Even worse, what if it he wasn't aware of his desire but she awakened him to it? Doesn't that sub-communicate a submission of some kind on her part? The man assumes that he will not need another woman next to the one he's committing to. He doesn't know himself fully yet. The average male is not conscious enough to know himself fully. Therefore, the desire for variety will manifest later after fulfilling the more basic desire for sex. Thanks to feminism, the norm nowadays is to have only one partner. This makes the discussion suggested above more awkward and less likely to happen. Even if that discussion takes place, the man won't likely be able to tell the truth (assuming he knows himself fully), because that'll hurt his chances with the current woman, and therefore take him from monogamy down to "no gamy" There are probably more points to consider, but that should be a good start for a discussion.

You as God become God - full stop. It is usually a series of glimpses followed by full on awakenings...Becoming conscious that you are God is the death of the idea or illusion that you are a human. That was just an idea and you as the ego are an idea being imagined by you - God or Infinity. So what dies or falls away is the idea that you were this character you currently believe you are. The Absolute cannot die. Now you will remain in human form until all attachments to this world are truly dropped. So the Awakened One is one who has awakened from the dream and has fallen back asleep but is now lucid. Yet they are still attached to this dream.

I’ve copied and pasted below some interesting comments from Osho regarding the Science of Idiotism. Osho on Gurdjieff's Science of Idiotism Gurdjieff certainly forced people to drink, but only the people who were against alcohol. He used to make toasts every night for all the kinds of idiots in the world. He had twenty-one categories of idiots. I don′t know to which category you would belong, but you must belong to some category. Unless you are awakened you are bound to belong to some category or other. An idiot is a person who is trying to find joy where joy does not exist at all, who is trying to search for something which he has never lost in the first place. The enlightened person is one who has looked into his being before searching for anything anywhere else. It is better to look in your own house. He has looked in and has found it there. Now his search has disappeared. The person who is interested in alcohol must be living in misery, in a kind of suffering. That′s why he wants somehow to forget it all. Alcohol is nothing but a chemical strategy to forget your miseries, anxieties, your problems, to forget yourself. My whole effort here is to help you to remember yourself - and you want to forget yourself. By forgetting yourself you will be creating more and more hell for yourself and for others. Remember, rather, remember yourself. My methods are different from George Gurdjieff′s. I am not in favor of any alcoholic beverages. I am not in favor of any psychedelic drugs either, because they all create illusory worlds for you and they all are distractions. They make you more and more oblivious of your own being, unaware of your own self. My work is based in awareness. The word ′awareness′ is the golden key here, the master key. You have to learn to be more aware. Howsoever painful it is in the beginning, be more aware, because it is by becoming more aware that one day you will become part of the celebration of the whole. Aes Dhammo Sanantano - this is the eternal inexhaustible law. taken from https://www.satrakshita.com/osho_on_the_science_of_idiotism.htm More here about the Science of Idiotism from the same website - https://www.satrakshita.com/the_science_of_idiotism.htm There are several discrepancies among those who are brave or foolish enough to offer ideas or facts about the Science of Idiotism. I’m still of the opinion that Bruno Martin’s book - The Realized Idiot - offers the most complete view of any one work.

@Girzo For some reason i never got into Tool until recently and oh shit now i understand the hype Thanks for the raccomandation i'm gonna check them out, even though only instrumental music usally what i listen to (but i might dig it!). Anyway, if you like my previous pick, then i can raccomand: Black metal too has some awakened folks but i don't know if you dig it And if you explore the more experimental(wierder too) side of metal you can finde stuff like this:

My dear friends, I thank you for inviting me into your consciousness. Action. Action is the heart of the sacred steps on The Path. Perhaps, arguably, even the most important step. It is such an important step that it is sometimes even called The Law of Action because there is a universal truth tied up with action. So let me begin by telling you about that. The law of action is as follows: What you do to Life, will be done to you by Life. Perhaps you have heard this expressed slightly differently? Perhaps you have heard it said: What you do to others, will be done to you also. I’m sure you must have heard this because the law of action is so pervasively true that it has found its way into every single religion and major philosophical system in the world today. It has been called The Golden Rule, as well. And, The Law of Karma. Most of those that believe in karma, actually misunderstand it. They seem to believe there is some kind of universal vengeance system. As if there is some deity that carries out punishment to the wicked. As if a life of hardship and torment is burdened upon you by some cruel being in retribution for past sins. Well, beloved friends, allow me to tell you there is no such thing. I will explain karma as I understand it in a future article. Back to Action. The first component in action is the thing that you are doing. The energy or INTENT behind your action is what fuels your action. If you genuinely desire to do a kind act for another being and then you go out and do something then it is kindness that you are enacting. It is kindness that you are putting out into the world. It doesn’t matter is the actual action is making a sandwich for a hungry stranger or if it is offering a friend a compassionate ear. What you are doing, then, is kindness. So that is the first component. The action carries out into the world around you the energy of the intention that is behind it. And just as with kindness, an underhanded, sneaky uncaring intention can be carried out into the world by, for example, trying to enrich yourself at the expense of your neighbor. And I use this word, neighbor, in the spiritual sense. Those that are around you. Your neighbor is other people; it is also the planet, it’s also the animals, the plants, the oceans, the air and so forth. Which brings me to the second component of the law of action. You might think you are being kind to this person right here to whom you are offering a sandwich. And it is true, you are. But when you act, you act upon the whole of life. A loving action done to any part of life, affects all of life. Because, All is One, remember. And the reverse is true. A negative, destructive action perpetrated upon any part of life, affects all of life. So, think about what your intention is, before you act. You are impacting the Oneness, not just the person, the neighbor, upon whom you are acting. Then there is the third component. This is, perhaps, the very least understood component. It is often not even mentioned when this law is discussed. It is the fact that your action is an ENERGY that is sent out into Life. It is like a signal that you are broadcasting. And then life takes that signal up and then reverberates it back to you. But it doesn’t simply return it to you. It multiplies your signal with Divine Will before it hands it back to you. Life is not just the sum of the parts: the people, animals, plants and things you see around you. Life is consciousness. And consciousness organizes itself. It has its own intention and will. Which is another way of say that behind everything you see around you, there is a divine spirit moving. That things are as they are because this divine spirit wills it thus. From one perspective there are many, many gods all co creating this reality. From another perspective all of these gods, of course, are One and these demi-gods together are part of the one great being - The One Great Spirit. Be aware that life will not simply reflect your choices back to you like a dumb machine. Or like a lifeless mirror. No. The actions that express intentions that are in alignment with universal will, will be massively empowered by that universal will. A small action that aligns with universal will, will be multiplied and amplified and will yield a great result. My friends, begin with acceptance. Then, choose your intention very, very carefully. Be still. Listen to your heart. Align with the divine will within. And only then, when you have a great choice that you can really align yourself with, only then it is recommended for you to begin empower it with action. Now, there is a fourth component to the law of action. It is time. In the absolute sense, of course, there is only THIS moment, The Eternal Moment of NOW. But, relatively, do you know what time is? Science has no definition for it. I will tell you what it is. It is the pause that occurs between cause and effect. I am saying that the energy that you have put out will take some time to come back to you. And this, right here, is why you have probably not noticed the law of action. If there was no gap at all, it would be as obvious to you as opening a faucet or switching on a light. You do not doubt that the action of opening a faucet causes water to flow, do you? You do not doubt that the action of turning on a switch on the wall causes a light bulb in the ceiling to glow, do you? There is not confusion or doubt because it is immediate. But think for a moment: how would it be if you opened a tap right now and nothing happened. Then, you turned on a switch and also nothing happened. Then you did twenty other such things before, in a week’s time the water suddenly began to flow. Perhaps, you had opened and closed the tap three times already before it began to flow. And then, after another week or two the light bulb inexplicably began to glow. And to confuse matters further, between now and then a number of doors had opened and shut, you motor vehicle had started up, the lawn mower did a lap around your garden and your neighbor’s dog bit you. You would have to be a great deal more observant than the average human being is, to notice the causation between the first tap opening and the water flowing. There would, perhaps be some spiritual precept about taps and water that you may or may not even conceive of. And to further complicate matters: do you know that time is not the same for everyone? Yes, certainly, everyone has the same number of seconds in a day. This is true. But that is the illusory external reality that you are co creating. That is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about the gap between the causes that you personally instigate in life and the effects that come back to you, into your awareness. You see, the higher your consciousness, the shorter the gap between cause and effect for you. Eventually the gap is so short that it is nearly immediate. Then you are very close to mastery. Because your will is then, nearly instantly done. The vast majority of all those upon planet earth at this time are not at this level. At their level of awareness, you can enact a choice today that can come back to you in your next lifetime. Or the one after that. Or the one after that! When you have utterly and completely forgotten that you instigated that action - THAT'S when it returns to you! This is not a mistake. Neither is it a cruelty. This very effect, this very large gap between cause and effect is the only way you can forget your own true creator nature and reside, lifetime after lifetime in deep forgetting here in duality. It is the only way you can believe yourself to be a victim. It is the only way you can think fear to be a real and valid response to life. It is the only way you can co create disastrous and painful outcomes for yourself. And beloved friends, I know many of you simply will not be able to hear this from me, but I tell you it is true: you actually WANTED to be here to experience this. You wanted this deepest level of forgetting because it is only from this place of utter forgetting that you can create yourself anew. That you can rise, triumphant and magnificent, into a whole new creation of self. Which is what happens to the awakened, ascended souls that arise from duality. When you are ready to return, you will return transformed! You will return with vastly more than that which you departed with. It is a journey that every single returnee reports to be very challenging but WORTH IT over and over again. And when it is time, you WILL return. But what I wish you to understand is that the process of raising your consciousness IS the process of shortening the gap between your causative action and the effect of that action returning to you. And as this gap shortens, so you become a more and more powerful creator being. In great part this is because there is less chaos in your actions between the cause and the effect. Let me explain it like this. If you open and close the faucet ten times before the water flows, its flow might be very weak when it arrives in two weeks’ time. Because of all the opening and closing. Because of all the confusion in intention: do you want it open or do you want it closed? You have not clearly and firmly offered life only one intent strengthened with one action. You have offered many intentions and many actions. Much chaos. By contrast, if you firmly open the faucet today and do nothing else, the water will gush from the tap when it arrives perhaps, tomorrow, quite strongly. As you raise your consciousness, so you reduce the gap. As you reduce the gap, so you empower the effect. As you reduce the gap and empower the effect, so you become far more powerfully aware that you are creating your reality. As you become conscious of your creator nature so you become more mindful of your creations. As you become more mindful of yours creations, so you create in a more orderly, purposeful way. And as you do this, so you align yourself ever more with divine will. As you align yourself with divine will, so you raise your consciousness. As you raise your consciousness, so you reduce the gap between cause and effect. Do you see? A cycle begins! And that cycle leads you to be spiraling up into ever higher levels of consciousness, creating ever more powerfully. Beloved friends, the law of action is the engine room of the sacred steps. It is what drives creation in this reality. Yes. It is true, you can act without moving a muscle or saying a word. You can act in meditation. Or in imagination. This is possible. But do you know how to do this? There is perhaps a handful of people alive on the earth today who REALLY know how to do this. People who have spent vast energy and attention training their minds. Such beings can act upon the world while sitting still. Are you one of these beings? No? Then act using your hands, your body, your vocal chords, you pen, your computer keyboard. Act with action. And this brings me to the final point of our conversation on the law of action: Now that you understand the importance of action now you might ask, “Yes, but what then should I do?” The answer is to go back to your intention. What is the change that you wish to see in your world? You will recall when I spoke to you about intention. I said setting your intention is like putting a pin in the map. It is like saying “I am going there”. Well, your actions are akin to getting up and talking a step in that direction. So check with your intention that you have set. Now ask yourself, “What one thing can I do right now that takes me in the direction of the fulfillment of my intention?” People often feel overwhelmed at this point. “How can I do something that takes me to my desired outcome?” they ask. Perhaps you are desperately ill and your intention is wellness. Or perhaps you are swamped in debt and your intention is abundance. Or perhaps you are all alone and your intention is to find companionship. Whatever the case is. At this point, perhaps it feels as if you are a thousand miles from your desired outcome. Perhaps you cannot imagine how you could in a hundred lifetimes get to your desired goal. Well, that is perfectly okay. Only take one single step in that direction right now. Remind yourself of your intention. Repeat it to yourself until you feel it. Then check: what you can do right now towards that end? And please, let’s not lie to ourselves here. If your intention is great physical well being, you cannot say “I am going to eat a fudge sundae for my health”. You know what leads to good health and what detracts from it. Do something that is directly about the manifestation of your intention. One small step in the right direction. Perhaps you choose to research good and healthy eating habits. And then perhaps you choose to make something good and healthy to eat. There. You have taken a small step. You are on the path. So, be clear about what you are doing. Keep choosing actions that take you forwards, towards your desired outcome. Now, equally importantly, you must also cease taking steps in the opposite direction. It doesn’t help to take a step forward and to promptly turn around and run three steps backwards. This is not rocket science. If you cannot think of a single thing that you could possible do to move yourself in the right direction then the first thing for you to do is to set some time aside to meditate, to listen to your heart. If that doesn’t work, find a trusted person whose input you would value. Talk things over with them. In any case, find something constructive, positive and specific that you can do that takes you towards your desired goal. Then do it. It is good if you can do something like this regularly. If it works out that you can do something like this daily then that is good. Do this repetitively. Get into the habit of taking positive actions and you will find yourself walking towards your desired outcome step by step. Do this and you will be enacting the law of action. You will be bringing the desired outcome towards yourself. Stay the course and you WILL see it happening. A journey of a thousand miles will foreshorten as universal will assists you and gives you wings. You will find yourself actually walking the energetic equivalent of, perhaps, a hundred miles if you act constantly. And if you act powerfully and purposefully and you raise your consciousness you will walk perhaps a handful of miles only and you will find yourself magically arriving at your destination. Friends, when the universe contrives to bring your desires to you, you may truly expect the miraculous. It IS possible to empower it further. And these further empowerments, that further reducing of the gap in order to create instantaneously, that is what constitutes the remaining sacred steps along The Path. I look forward to sharing these with you. Until then, I wish for you that you love what you do and that you do what you love. Greg M.

The freedom from the cycle of birth and death can be interpreted this way. If you become awakened and you become God in your direct experience, you as infinite love/God cannot be dead/alive. Thus you are free from the cycle of birth and death and have the choice to stay in non-existence for eternity, or until you, as God, want to experience existence again.

Im writing this to get a deeper understanding of what "other" humans really are. Precisely how awakened people say they are imagining me, even though there is just one source of imagination. But let me explain. I became fully conscious of how im imagining my body, other humans, plants, animals and basically the whole universe in order to discover my true self again via creative doing/being. That means that there is just one infinite consciousness, who imagines all that through my direct experience. So right now in that moment im the only existing consciousness in the entire universe imagining you guys interacting with me. But what happens if we sit site by site and take some powerful psychedelic to experience infinite consciousness again? Who imagines who? Obviously its me imagining you, but you can tell me how you imagined me. Thats so paradoxical and twisted. Its the dog chasing its tail and i dont know what part of the dog is the truth.

30 min meditation today as well. Just sitting. Well, maybe that is exactly what I'm doing these days. Suddenly my interest returned to 'Just sitting.' My practice has always been informed by Just sitting, but I tend to do a little bit more vipassana/investigation. But now I'm surrendering into just sitting. It is much more Zen, and a little bit less Theravada. In Just Sitting one is supposed to already exemplify the awakened state of mind. It has a bit of "fake it 'til you make it" in it. You are just sitting there. Nothing left to do, except just being. Beingness is its own reward. Beingness is meaning enough on its own. Nothing to add, or substract. Reality is as it is. Always here. Forever, always present.

358. Understanding Islam "Half of disbelief in Allah in the world is caused by people who make religion look ugly due to their bad conduct and ignorance." Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali The core of what Islam is is lost on 99.9% of people and lots of energy is wasted on the science and religion debate. We're not taught about this in school in West. Factors: Xenophobia, fear of foreigners, tribalist mentality going on in the West and Middle-East. Root: Not understanding the roots of religion and mysticism. Islam = submission in Arabic language. The total surrender of one's ego, sense of identity to Truth, Reality, or God. Other synonyms: obedience, peace, purity -> which follow submission of your ego to God. It's self-transcendence, the same as is the goal and objective of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Yoga, Zen, etc. Simply framed in the style of the middle-east, from their cultural point of view, based on their values, traditions, and history. Muslim = one who submits to God. Many Westerners don't understand that Islam is not a separate religion from Christianity or Judaism. Islam recognizes Christian and Jewish prophets like Jesus, Moses, David, Abraham, etc. It also recognizes the validity of Christian and Jewish sacred texts like the Torah and others, it builds on top of them. Islam is like the third incarnation of Judeo-Christianity. Judaism -> with Jesus comes the Christian incarnation -> with Muhammad, around 600 AD, the third. The additional extra little twist that Islam adds on top of the Judeo-Christian philosophy is that Muhammad was the final or the last prophet. Just like most religious traditions they try to get a monopoly over the Truth, which is completely antithetical to the Truth. There will never be such a thing as "the last prophet", everyone can become enlightened right now and be a prophet. There are hundreds of prophets alive that you can go speak to and visit and at the very least they're as equally spiritually enlightened as Muhammad was. Many Westerners also miss that Allah is just another name for the Christian God. There's a lot we can learn from studying the history of Islam, its origin story, the biography of Muhammad, and the developments of the tradition. We're not taught well about it in the West which is where the xenophobic reaction against it is coming from. There's something to gleaned from almost every mystical tradition and every religion if you know how to see the truth and ignore the corruption and minutiae. Corruption is a problem that runs rampant throughout every facet of human life. Not just in all the religious traditions, but even in science and academia. Jihad = struggle Not the struggle to kill your enemies, fight over oppression or evil. The struggle with yourself, your own ego, and the evil inside of you. Lesser jihad = external struggle, fighting enemies abroad, the infidels and enemies of Allah Greater jihad = spiritual inner journey to self-realization Inner and outer, lesser and greater are dualities which ultimately collapse and break down. Really there's only one Jihad, the struggle with the self. You fighting enemies out there somewhere is you really just fighting with yourself because there's nothing but Allah. Allah can be ignorant or Allah can be awake and stop fighting with himself. But when Allah is ignorant and stuck inside of Maya or illusion then he thinks that there's separation and boundaries, us-versus-them and believers as well as disbelievers who need to be punished and fought for threatening the believers. Fully awakened Allah is not frightened by anything and his faith is unshakable. It's not faith anymore but being/direct consciousness. Allah is Allah, you can't shake Allah when you realize that you are Allah. It's all about overcoming your own inner self-deceptions to ultimately transcend the ego and to realize the Self, the infinite Self, which is what Allah is. And this is self-actualization, Jihad is nothing other than what Actualized.org is about, the essence of every single spiritual path and self-help, personal development, and self-actualization. Actualized.org is a modern version of Jihad, framed in a culture and in a way that is suited to the 21st century, materialistic, rationalist, secular, Western mind. What else is Jihad? Zen, neo-Advaita, Vedanta, Yoga, self-help are all Jihad and Jed McKenna's work is an especially potent form of Jihad. The other spiritual traditions tend to emphasize the Jihad component less, trying to trick the ego into doing spiritual work. The ego will only understand what it really means to die after it's dead. The more you emphasize Jihad the smaller your spiritual audience will shrink and the less you emphasize Jihad the more people will be attracted to you because they want to have a spiritualized ego. The devil turns everything backward and inside-out so when you hear jihad in the news or in the mainstream culture you hear it as the exact opposite of what's being described here. Jihad is selfishness and people engaging in violence, warfare, hatred, condemnation of other groups, judging others, and waging jihad against them. The Mechanics Of Evil: https://youtu.be/rVcxIamwO5g The devil works through illusion and self-deception and so he takes the most Truth, the most potent forms of spirituality, and corrupts them inside out which is exactly what happens with Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and all the other isms out there. The greatest threat to the devil is the Truth so he has to take control over any mechanisms which might reveal the Truth too directly. When a spiritual teaching is too direct it gets corrupted and the more mainstream it gets it becomes the enemy of its own success. Allah = God = Absolute Infinity Not God as a bearded man in the clouds, but God as direct experience. What science calls reality is what Islam calls Allah. What the atheist calls the Big Bang, objective physical reality, is what the Muslim calls Allah. But the atheist and scientist aren't conscious of the full significance of what the word reality really is. (Absolute Infinity) In Islam there's "the 99 names of Allah," which are titles given to Allah describing the various properties and characteristics of Allah: The Beneficent/ All-Compassionate/ Most Gracious/ The Most Merciful/ Ever-Merciful/ Merciful/ Most Clement The King/ Lord/ Sovereign/ Dominion/ Master [also means "the God/ Lord, the One and Only", "Possessor of Supreme Power or Authority"] The Holy/ All-Holy/ All-Pure/ Sacred/ All-Sacred The Giver of Peace/ Peace/ All-Calm/ Ever-Tranquil The Granter of Security/ the Giver/ Faith/ Supreme Believer (of Belief)/ Giver of Belief/ All-Assurer The Controller/ Absolute Authority Over All/ Guardian Over All/ Absolute Master/ Eternal Dominating The Exalted in Might and Power/ Exalted/ Powerful/ Almighty/ Mighty The Omnipotent/ Supreme Power/ Possessor of Having All Power/ Strong The Possessor of Greatness/ Supreme/ Justly Proud The Creator/ Creator of the Universe/ Maker/ True Originator/ Absolute Author The Initiator/ Evolver/ Eternal Spirit Worshipped By All, Have Absolute Power Over All Matters, Nature and Events The Fashioner/ Shaper/ Designer/ Artist The Repeatedly Forgiving/ Absolute Forgiver/ Pardoner/ Condoner [He Who is Ready to Pardon and Forgive] The Subduer/ Overcomer/ Conqueror/ Absolute Vanquisher [Possessor of Who Subdues Evil and Oppression] The Absolute Bestower/ Giver/ Grantor/ Great Donor The Provider/ Sustainer/ Bestower of Sustenance/ All-Provider The Opener/ Opener of the Gates of Profits/ Reliever/ The Victory Giver The Knowing/ All-Knower/ Omniscient/ All-Knowledgeable/ Possessor of Knowing Much of Ever Thing/ All-Knowing The Restrainer/ Withholder/ Straightener/ Absolute Seizer The Extender/ Expander/ Generous Provider The Abaser/ Humiliator/ Downgrader [Possessor of Giving Comfort, Free from Pain Anxiety or Troubles] The Exalter/ Upgrader [of Ranks] The Giver of Honor/ Bestower of Honor/ Empowerer The Giver of Dishonor/ the Giver of Disgrace The Hearing/ All-Hearing/ Hearer of Invocation The All-Seeing/ All-Seer/ Ever-Clairvoyant/ Clear-Sighted/ Clear-Seeing The Judge/ Arbitrator/ Arbiter/ All-Decree/ Possessor of Authority of Decisions and Judgment The Just/ Authorized and Straightforward Judge of Dealing Justly The Gentle/ Benignant/ Subtly Kind/ All-Subtle The All-Aware/ Well-Acquainted/ Ever-Adept The Forbearing/ Indulgent/ Oft Forbearing/ All-Enduring The Most Great/ Ever-Magnificent/ Most Supreme/ Exalted/ Absolute Dignified The Ever-Forgiving/ Oft-Forgiving The Grateful/ Appreciative/ Multiplier of Rewards The Sublime/ Ever-Exalted/ Supreme/ Most High/ Most Lofty The Great/ Ever-Great/ Grand/ Most Great/ Greatly Abundant of Extent, Capacity and Importance The Preserver/ Ever-Preserving/ All-Watching/ Protector/ Guardian/ Oft-Conservator The Nourisher/ Feeder The Bringer of Judgment/ Ever-Reckoner [the One Who Takes Account of All Matters] The Majestic/ Exalted/ Oft-Important/ Splendid The Noble/ Bountiful/ Generous/ Precious/ Honored/ Benefactor The Watchful/ Observer/ Ever-Watchful/ Watcher The Responsive/ Answerer/ Supreme Answerer/ Accepter of Invocation The Vast/ All-Embracing/ Omnipresent/ Boundless/ All-Encompassing The Wise/ Ever-Wise/ Endowed with Sound Judgment The Affectionate/ Ever-Affectionate/ Loving One/ Loving/ the Lover/ the One Who Tenders and Warm Hearts The All-Glorious/ Majestic/ Ever-Illustrious [Oft-Brilliant in Dignity, Achievements or Actions] The Resurrector/ Awakener/ Arouser/ Dispatcher The Witness/ Testifier/ Ever-Witnessing The Truth/ Reality/ the Only One Certainly Sound and Genuine in Truth The Trustee, The Dependable, The Advocate The Strong The Firm, The Steadfast The Friend, Helper The All Praiseworthy The Accounter, The Numberer of All The Originator, The Producer, The Initiator The Restorer, The Reinstater Who Brings Back All The Giver of Life The Bringer of Death The Living The Subsisting, The Independent The Perceiver, The Finder, The Unfailing The Illustrious, The Magnificent, The Glorious The Unique, The Single The One, The Indivisible The Eternal, The Absolute, The Self-Sufficient The All-Powerful, He Who is able to do Everything The Determiner, The Dominant The Expediter, He Who Brings Forward The Delayer, He Who Puts Far Away The First, The Beginning-less The Last, The Endless The Manifest, The Evident, The Outer The Hidden, The Unmanifest, The Inner The Patron, The Protecting Friend, The Friendly Lord The Supremely Exalted, The Most High The Good, The Beneficent The Ever-Returning, Ever-Relenting The Avenger The Pardoner, The Effacer, The Forgiver The Kind, The Pitying The Owner of all Sovereignty The Owner, Lord of Majesty and Honour The Equitable, The Requiter The Gatherer, The Unifier The Rich, The Independent The Enricher, The Emancipator The Preventer, The Withholder, The Shielder, The Defender The Distressor, The Harmer, The Afflictor The Propitious, The Benefactor, The Source of Good The Light The Guide, The Way The Originator, The Incomparable, The Unattainable, The Beautiful The Immutable, The Infinite, The Everlasting The Heir, The Inheritor of All The Guide to the Right Path The Timeless, The Patient These are the properties of reality when you have direct consciousness of what reality is as a whole. Not just some fragment in the way that science for example studies it or the way that atheists understand it. When you directly experience your true nature as Allah you'll understand that all of these properties perfectly describe Allah. We're going into such detail is because we don't want to lose the core that's containing some deep truth besides all the corruption around it. In the West, we often just get to see the corruption and therefore can't understand why people aren't just giving it up. Now of course that truth is equally there in many other traditions through many other forms. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Yoga, Zen, Shamanism, psychedelics, contemplation, meditation, etc. Islam is certainly not the best way, not the only way. The 72 virgins: The Arabian prophets who experienced Allah came up with this metaphor because it was very appropriate for the culture, time and context. This metaphor of the 72 virgins is perfect for the context in which Allah was developed, in 600 AD Arabia. After you experience Allah directly for yourself you'll see this metaphor for the magnificence of Allah as very accurate. The mistake people make when thinking about religion, spiritual and mystical religions is they take them out of the historical and cultural context. We assume that just because the world is globalized we all understand each other globally. But we don't even understand 1% of the cultures existing today let alone the historical evolution of them. No depictions of Allah: The map is not the territory! The mind gets hooked on images and icons and then starts to worship those. Allah is not any particular image, icon, or form. Allah is the Formless, Nothingness, Infinity is Nothingness. So to maintain the purity of the teaching you don't want to corrupt the teaching by putting pictures of Allah everywhere, because people will start to worship that rather than seeing Allah as what's here right now. All the art that has been done around Christianity has actually done a great disservice to it. All symbols are not the Absolute. Islam does have geometric patterns as art and this is one way to depict Allah without anthropomorphizing Allah the way that Christians do. These fractal patterns align very well with what's seen on psychedelics. Forgetfulness: Praying five times a day. We fall back asleep so easily, the human mind falls back asleep into complacency and into materialism. You have to keep being mindful because you'll go from mindfulness to mindlessness. It's so that you don't get so wrapped up in your day doing practical and materialistic stuff the way that most Westerners do. Interrupting your day five times to focus on the more subtle and spiritual aspects of life. Reflecting on: death, the suffering of humanity, the pursuit of materialistic pleasures, true happiness. Muhammad: The prophet who channeled the Quran from a higher source. Was he enlightened? There are various degrees and facets of enlightenment so it's a question of degree. It seems like he had an understanding of the Absolute from direct experience since. He meditated by himself in a cave according to his origin story and it seems like he had mystical experiences throughout his whole life. He composed the Quran for around 30 years after his initial awakening. Supposed to have communicator channeled the angel Gabriel. It's illuminating to learn about the historical facts we know about Muhammad's origin story. Eye-opening to see the context and culture he was dealing with at the time. Don't get lost in the minutia of debating about little details about Islam. Go to the big picture, otherwise, you'll get lost in the minutia. Most of the Westerners who like to debate and criticize Islam do so without ever having a direct experience of Allah. (Bill Maher, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, etc) This doesn't invalidate all of their criticisms and some of them are totally valid. But corruption is not a problem exclusive to Islam it exists all around the world, especially in the U.S. government. It's a problem of ego, dogma, and fundamentalism. Why is Islam so corrupt and archaic? Every spiritual teaching has to be suited to the era, the culture, the geography from which it came about. This one is suited to 600 AD Arabia. If Islam was invented today it would look like Actualized.org and conversely if Actualized.org was invented in 600 AD Arabia for that era, culture, and geography it would look something like Islam. The problem is people cling to spiritual tradition and try to maintain and apply it to today. Society has evolved and these spiritual traditions also need to evolve. Spirituality is about the present moment, the Truth. The obstacles preventing you from connecting you to the Truth that exists today in 21st century America for example are very different. (Porn, YouTube, video games) The mind being ideological and not letting the tradition evolve as they need to is also present in Christianity, Judaism and even in science and atheism. They cling to their dogmas and paradigms just as much. 600 AD Arabia was very traditional, conservative, tribal, and combative, lacking a unifying element. Islam brought peace and stability to a region that otherwise was slitting each other's throats over family feud's going back hundreds of years. It taught that there's something larger that's connecting all of these tribes together. That was a huge technological innovation at the time! Today we think of technology as computers, the internet, and smartphones, but some of the biggest innovations in technology weren't machines but social, cultural, spiritual, and religious innovations. Now when you bring that technology into today without adjusting it and too literal and Orthodox about it you're going to bring that culture and the problems of 600 AD Arabia into today's world. The mind has a big problem with evolution because the whole point of the ego is to prevent evolution. The more you want to maintain your Orthodoxies the more it backfires. What's wiser is to understand the heart and core of it and throw away the dogma. The selfish mind is materialistic and wants to find authority figures that it can latch on to in order to get a sense of reality and stability. But to awaken is to realize that there is no stability at all and that Allah is infinitely groundless, with no beginning or end to it, and that there's no foundation to anything and therefore you're completely liberated. The devil has co-opted the teaching precisely so that it leads you in the exact opposite direction of awakening. That's why you see so much hypocrisy within religion. Not because the religion is false, but precisely because it's so true and the techniques are so powerful that they need to be corrupted. Is this a defense of Islamic fundamentalism? No, this is about developing a higher understanding. Understanding that all religions, traditions, and even secular foundations and organizations basically have one common goal. With that understanding, you soften with compassion and stop playing tribal and ideological games to snipe at the other side. West and the Middle East are both trying to realize truth but in different ways. Isn't Islam dangerous? Consider that actually the greatest danger to the world is the opposite, materialism. Rampant secularism, rationalism, corporate greed, nuclear war, global warming, artificial intelligence which are all fueled by those. We have record numbers of depressed people, suicidal people, PTSD, relationship and marriage problems, etc. All this is coming from materialism and a lack of self-actualization. This seems to only be getting worse because Western society is becoming more and more materialistic. In a sense, the Islamic radicals have a reason to be concerned. They fear this same thing taking over their region, village, city or country. Let alone all the ways in which the Western powers metal in Middle Eastern affairs, geopolitics or manipulating of elections, etc. Our superficial solutions and knee-jerk reactions to go bomb somebody, to attack or criticize somebody, could actually be backfiring on us and contributing to the problem. First, you need to understand at a very deep level why fundamentalism exists in the first place. It's a condition of the egoic mind. Materialist egoic minds are fundamentalist. We have a lot of fundamentalism here in the West it just takes a different style. The most prevalent form of it in the West is capitalism. The solution is to start to see that it's the ego-mind that's responsible and to start to see that it's all happening within yourself. You're not separate from it and are contributing to the problem. You as the American or European taxpayer. The ideas and opinions you hold, how you understand yourself and the world is all contributing. This corrupting force is within you, you are the source of the corruption, you are the source of the evil. And that is not going to stop no matter what you do externally until you take care of your ego which is what Islam is trying to get you to do. A lot of Western secular, rational, scientifically minded people think that they're immune to the problem of fundamentalism which makes them all the more susceptible. Because they're thinking fundamentally that they're immune and not fundamentalists. Regardless of content, the whole point of fundamentalism is denying that you're a fundamentalist. The West is committing the very same problem that the Middle East is committing, waging a lesser jihad. The U.S. is waging a lesser jihad against the jihadis in the Middle East and the jihadis in the Middle East are waging a lesser jihad against Western powers creating a family feud. The solution is to go meta and see the commonalities in the same way that Muhammad introduced Islam in 600 AD Arabia to elevate them to seeing commonality where before there was infighting and tribalism. The same thing now needs to happen between Islam in the Middle East and the West. All external fighting is really just a distraction from the greater jihad of turning inwards. The lesser jihads are precisely because these people do not engage in the greater jihad. The devil is inside of you, you are the devil, wake up to that and take control of the real problem. Homework recommendation: "Teaching Company" lecture series called "Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad". 40-hour long lecture series covering these four religious leaders. Start and focus on Muhammad first. It has 10 videos on his origin story and how he founded Islam and the trials and tribulations he had to go through.

I think he does but feels if you are awakened with meditation alone you are one of the few spiritually gifted. I was one of those and I agree with him there but it is my intuition. But it's not as black and white as that...i feel there are a lot of factors involved...genetics, but also life experience and level of suffering, which should lead to one becoming more conscious and thus less selfish as they realize selfishness is what causes suffering.