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I think you don't get it. I never said any of them (zen, buddhism, philosophy) is enlightenment. Actually you and I have the same view of enlightenement, I agree with your last sentence. It's just that you have an extreme aversion with all philosophical stuff. , I have never said academia is way to enlightenment, I have never said philosophy is about enligthenment, it's just that I am talking about buddhism and you are saying- philosophy academic is not connected to enlightenment. Just by talking about philosophy you believe that I think philosophy or academia or concepts leads to enligtenment, Look, whatever opinion you give about enlightenement, you say (it's this ___, no you don't get it, it's this ____), the buddhists have left no stone un turned. You are just a small topic within them. They have lived for 2500 years, so don't think you have got it all and what you say is the TRUTH and rest is false, it may seem like it but if you really consider that billions of people , who are just like you, who perhaps have lived through the path more dedicated then you, then your view , no matter how TRUTH it looks, is not the entire picture. Even Gautama Buddha is incomplete, just look at Leo and see how he has added to it. And here you are like you have it all, you have the entire answer and this it. Millions of people have had satori, samadhi. Billions (Over a course of thousands of years). There are masters who have reached God and have one outpouring, there are masters who have another outpouring. You are just saying that reject philosophy, do practice. Anything new to say? No. So just don't keep repeating. Just go away. What you say is just one outpouring of one of millions of enlightened masters, mainly the school of Zen. I am also a meditation practitioner. SO JUST DON'T KEEP REPEATING WILL YOU? (You don't get it you don't get it, okay move on) You just said- Philosphy is not enlightenment. Zen is not enlightenment. Buddhism is not enlightenment. Academic nitpicking of traditions is not enlightenment. Nonduality is about practice and waking up now indpendent of what silly tradition you’re part of or subscribe to at the end of the day. No tradition “has the truth”. I am quoting you here. it's all a small topic in buddhism. I GET IT. YES although you don't believe it. ( I know you may be shaking your head with a big smile saying no you don't get it) Your emphasis is in practice, rejection of philosophy, emphasis on silence, the void, rejection of all academic nitpicking. I GET IT, just don't keep correcting with more words. It's just that it is a small topic. again you will repeat the same thing- Philosphy is not enlightenment. Zen is not enlightenment. Buddhism is not enlightenment. Academic nitpicking of traditions is not enlightenment. Believe it or not but I AM a meditation practitioner, I have had my moments with the silence, I have experienced like my ego wasn't there, I wasn't there, it's in my consideration, I will take all psychedelics I get, and just because I talk about philosophy it's not like you have to put that quotation box and keep saying - you don't get it you don't get it, it's not this, it's that, while I am literally accepting every word you say. I HAVE experienced Silence. That is what keeps me interested in spirtuality in the first place. It's the peace of meditation, without it the philosophy is just meaningless words. Just move on, reply to some others. I don't think I need your advice. And by 'get it' I don't mean I am enlightenment, I mean I get where you are coming from.

Lol you still don’t get it. Philosphy is not enlightenment. Zen is not enlightenment. Buddhism is not enlightenment. Academic nitpicking of traditions is not enlightenment. Nonduality is about practice and waking up now indpendent of what silly tradition you’re part of or subscribe to at the end of the day. No tradition “has the truth”. If you’re don’t wake up, you’re just jerking off your mind at the end of the day and spinning your wheels and that game will never EVER end. If you’re not practicing you’re not going to awaken. I can pretty much guarantee you that. And if you don’t awaken, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re talking about an orange without having ever eaten an orange.

The founder of Israel and it's first prime minister was a Spiral Dynamic stage yellow thinker. I live in Israel and just recently finished personal biography research of this incredible man. As a student of spiral dynamic, I immediately noticed how developed he was on the spiral- especially by the end of his life... Here are some amazing facts about him: - Spoke 11 different languages (including ancient Greek in order to study philosophy from the source!) - He had a collection of over 27,000 books in his 2 houses! In his house in Tel Aviv, the entire second floor is a privet library with a bedroom! The library contains 22,000 books from all over the world! the diversity of the books is shocking: Greek and Roman philosophy in the original languages, History books of dozens of countries (including USA, UK, India, China, and many other countries in Africa, South America and Asia which he all studied), Books about all religions, Spirituality, Nonduality, meditation, yoga, psychology, brain science, astronomy, biology, medic, physic and much more... So how can you read so much as a prime minister? During the nights... - You can actually go to his house in Tel Aviv (today it's a museum) and witness the books and even read from them inside the museum (on his will he asked to give people read from the books in the future so the museum allows it for free) - His houses were very simple and modest and he valued the simple kind of lifestyle (look at the pictures) - After living in Tel Aviv for a few decades and after he declared the state of Israel and was the first prime minister, he went to live in the middle of the desert in a small "Kibuts" (a form of collective community settlement in Israel), growing his own food, having chickens and a cow in his house, reading and writing, doing yoga and meditating. - He traveled to Burma and India doing meditation retreats and practicing yoga. During his journey, he met with monks and enlightenment masters. - One of the most famous pictures of him is the "head standing" on the beach of Tel Aviv, Today there is a statue of him doing it (look at the pictures) - One of his best friends was Albert Einstein, they shared many ideas and Ben Gurion even asked Einstein to be the president of Israel! (In Israel, the president is mainly representative, and the prime minister is the one who actually runs the country). By the way, Einstein said no... - By the end of his life, he gave a British reporter an interview in English in his house in the desert (6 hours long) which turned into a 2 hours movie called "Epilog"- only when you hear him talk you can really understand what I'm talking about. Some quotes: "God? it's not the one in the bible, it's everywhere" "I don't believe in just a physical world there is much more magic than that in here" "Through yoga, man learns to control his body better - in his internal and external organs and in this way in his spirit as well" Ben Gurion was not enlightenment and during most of his life, he dealt with political issues and his main vision was to establish a state. In addition, he definitely had some spiral dynamic stage orange and green ideology, but he was also a true seeker who realized the fact that there is more to this reality than black and white thinking, especially by the end of his life just like Einstein and Maslow were. This post is just an introduction for you, If you want to know the full story go read his biography (the best one is of Michael Bar Zohar). In addition, watch the movie "Epilog".

All right so you do agree that defects in the brain changes your indvidual experience ( as you said- The cosmic mind has created a universe that appears to operate by certain laws, and among these is that brain states influence states of consciousness.) So we both agree that at least at the level of the body, your behavior changes if there is some defect in your nervous system, doesn't matter if you are enlightened or not, if you are a buddha or a christ or jesus if you have defect in your brain then you will show the subsequent symptoms and personality changes, this is no bullshit, this is medical physiology and if you happen to disagree you will be challenging modern medicine itself and if you demonstrate something otherwise then you will win the nobel prize, become world famous, it's that simple, you won't even need a youtube channel. So here we both agree. At the objective level, we both agree. Now comes the level of the subjective experience. Now here we may differ. You say that , leisions in the brain does not effect enlightenment. So what do you exactly mean by that? That is not clear. Basically you are saying that enlightenment stays even if you have a leision in your brain. But what does that mean. Let's say, the great Adi Shankaracharya, the greatest indian theologian responsible for wiping out Buddhism from India, gets a brain tumor. You and I both agree that at the body level he will be acting weirdly. But what do you think goes in that mind? ( You say that enlightenment stays) I don't know about you, but this is my understanding of enlightenment- the disidentification with your body, thoughts, minds, sensations, ego, and final result is pure awareness. So from my understanding of enlightenment, the enlightened Adi Shankaracharya's experience while he has brain tumor is he will have pure awareness in the background. He knows that the body is acting wierdly, but he knows that he is not the body or the mind, he is nothing but pure awareness, he feels himself identical to this awareness though he sees the body acting weirdly. Now what I am saying is that even that pure awareness has it's center in the brain. Of course this is assuming my version of enlightenment. So are you saying that enlightenment is other then dissolving into pure awareness and nonduality? If enlightenment means complete disidentification, complete disconnection with the imagery world , and subsequent flow of pure consciousness, then even this pure consciousness has it's root in the brain. All you need to do is read a book on neurology, or do a google search. Consciousness comes from brain stem. (Thinking, memory so and so it's all from cortex and other parts, but basic consciousness that is the characteristic of life, is brain stem. Even reptiles have it) It's clinical significance is, if there is a problem, there is irreversible loss consciousness. ( At least when looking at the body). That's how we know brain stem is responsible for consciousness. Now if you are saying that , if the enlightened individual has his brain stem damaged, he still remains enlightened because his flow of pure consciousness and disidentification with the body continues as if he is a ghost although his body is good as dead, then that is a subjective non-falsifiable assertion which cannot be proven or disproven. But at the level of the body, the center of consciousness is brain stem. The body loses consciousness and becomes dead stuff if brain stem is damaged. But if you are saying consciousness is still present, then that's subjective. Now if you are saying the retention of enlightenment happens in some other away, then again that's subjective, non-observable , and I have no idea what you are talking about.

@Nahm Mortality and fear are probably the biggest ones for me to explore. What about the merging of regular duality and the Ultimate Nonduality, is that not an even greater level of consciousness? I think Leo has talked about it like this in the past, but it has kind of faded away... @Serotoninluv Are you kidding? I was talking with Leo today about the demonstration of Love and I teased him, that he has become better at communicating, but Nahm is still the God of Love (someone else gave him this name long before me and I really liked it hahaha) and he said, that Nahm is a Carebear, after which I started thinking about the difference between what most people think by love (not the Absolute) - probably acceptance is the best word here, and what I mean by love - focus, attentiveness and how too much complimenting/accepting of the other can actually lead to strengthening ones ego. (if someone „loves you too much“ to which Leo replied LOL) Did he actually mean stage Teal super-master or the regular meaning of the word Carebear? Edit after Aakash answered: Who the hell is the Court, is that an inside joke that I am not getting? Sometimes I am just stupid... How was Nahm reiki'd into Infinity? (fuck fuck I am probably just stupid nevermind)

@Bryanbrax Keep practicing this, like you would anything else you want to develop. ?? It can lead to channeling, awakening, and nonduality. Takes a lot of practice. Ever considered taking Reiki classes? I bet you’d love it.

Hey, I have zero experience with psychedelics, or anything like that. But after learning lots of theory about nonduality and enlightenment, I want to have a little mystical experience using psychedelic substances. But I have no idea what to expect, or what am I suppose to start with. Is a microdose of LSD good for my purposes? And also, what is the ideal environment for the thing I am looking for? I suppose an empty room will do. And I suppose trip sitter is necessary too. What would you suggest?

God, reality, existence etc are also concepts. Stating the obvious doesn't help much. Look at what people point to with such concepts. Duality is as real as nonduality. Thats the mind fucky paradox. Nonduality includes duality. It is meant to point at the total, the sum of everything. Illusion and real are one in the same.

@Synchronicity Nice. And really great loa / nonduality video btw. Thanks! What’s the name of your channel so I can subscribe?

@Aakash Don’t worry, Leo’s aware that most people won’t want to accept Nonduality. It’s strong stuff and it’s not necessary for everyone to adopt it

Yes, this seems to happen. Don't worry about it. Go for nonduality.

**If you yourself haven’t actually surrendered to your own death, died and experienced God/Truth/Infinity, I request you not comment, as you’re in the same boat as me, all conceptional and non-experience based opinion.** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Leo, If everything in life is imaginary and I (God, whom I’ve yet to realize in actuality) am creating this eternal moment, then that should mean that everything I heard about death is false and just as illusionary as everything else. So if I am immortal and eternal, then my (the Identity Ego) death is as inconsequential as waking from a dream. But everything the Ego is about is survival, staying alive, so how do I commit to my death, when everything I am doesn’t want to die? Is it a leap of faith? You have to have the will to die, commit suicide, commit fully to the end of your existence, standing strong in the faith that enlightenment is on the other side of that committed choice? I was an Atheist all my life, up until I discovered Nonduality, so death being the end of existence is still deeply ingrained (all a story I created, I know), even if I now know that I cannot die, at least in theory via stories from other people. The key is I need to experience myself as Nonduality, to finally ‘know’ Truth/God/Infinity/Omnipotence. But to do that I need to fully commit to my death. Otherwise I’ll just fight death with everything I’ve got to fight it off, to stay alive at all costs (including my Awakening and liberation). Which is what happened last time I did 5-MeO. Now I’m trying it again, and want to not fight it to stay alive, but to fully surrender to experience Truth. But how can I if everything in my Identity is trying to stay alive? Catch 22 is it not? How does one commit and surrender to their death if everything they are does not want to die? How does one commit suicide (Ego death thru psychedelics like 5-MeO or DPT), if they desperately want to live? I know you and others say it’s not real death, that you’ll come back after, but I don’t know that for 100% sure. I mean from everything I’ve studied over that past 2 years tell me I will come back, but I won’t know for sure until I experience it for myself. Even if I was 95% sure, that 5% would prevent me from committing to surrender of my life to death. In Nonduality, everyone says the goal is to actually not come back. The goal IS my death. So again, how do I surrender to death, without just saying ‘you just do it”, how do I have the will to commit suicide (again, talking Identity Ego death, which is apparently the same thing as conceptual death)? I’m 44 and have spent decades doing every drug I could get my hands on. I’ve done LSD and mushrooms hundreds of times, I’ve done hash, Ketamine, Nitrous, 5-MeO-DIPT, Ayahuasca. I’ve even done 5-Meo a few times, to little affect. About half of these experiences lead to me having a panic attack, thinking I’m dying and trying to fight to not die. But these drug experiences were all to enhance my reality. And 5-Meo is about ending it. So all those past drug experiences are not relevant to this equation. Is surrendering to death on 5-MeO the same as surrendering to a drug? Letting the drug take you wherever it wants. Is this surrender the same as surrendering to death? I know conceptually that all those past experiences never really happened, as my past experiences are imaginary (apparently), but I won’t know that for sure, until I Awaken. But those hundreds of instances of panic attacks and fighting to not die, are real to me, as I’m an Ego, thinks his past is real. So you see the catch-22 / vicious circle? How do I trust, when the request is my very death and the end of my life? I don’t know if I have that much trust in me, to gamble with my life. So what advice is there to be able to choose that trust, to take that leap of faith, to chose to chose to end my life? How do I trust that if I kill myself, I’ll Awaken to Truth/Liberation/Enlightenment, and not just be ending my consciousness, potentially robbing myself of maybe another 40 years of a decent, it not flawed life? Now I’ve learned that the only way to Awakening/ Truth is to be in that same space of feeling like I’m dying, panicking again, but this time I have to choose to die, instead of trying to save myself. But how can I do that, willfully commit, surrender to my death? How can I choose to die, when I can’t, cause my very survival and life is all that matters to me? Could really use some advice on this.

@Shaun Yikes, I'm sorry to hear that you are having a tough time of it. At least we accomplished something here, though. We got to the heart of the issue. The most urgent issue for you is not that you can't seem to find the right woman The most urgent issue is not that you have sexual desires and that they cause you suffering The most urgent issue is that this nonduality stuff is depressing you! You took too much, too fast in your enthusiasm to be on the 'right' path. I would say keep a meditation habit and stop all the other stuff that's making you feel bad. There's no need for it. As Leo says, the nondual explanations he offers in his advanced video are not meant to be taken as gospel. They are all false, untrue, by definition, because they're putting the inexpressible into words. So all that 'reality is an illusion' bullshit is of no value to you until you have awakening experiences for yourself. And then you will see how false the words are, and how actually not depressing the truth is. I'm not speaking from experience. I've never awakened. That's why, however interesting, I don't look for meaning in this nondual stuff. It's not relevant to me (yet). My two cents: take a step back from the theories about reality that you read here. Almost no one knows what they're talking about, because if they did, they would know that it's inexpressible with words. You can ask actual enlightened people if you need answers. Maybe @winterknight wants to weigh in here? Be nice to your ego. You're stuck with it forever, it never goes away and you need it. Feed it wholesome things. Give it what it needs. Practice self love. Look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, honestly, and assess what parts you need to work on before you arrive at the level where this nondual stuff starts to even matter. Most importantly, re-learn to listen to your intuition! All this overthinking is probably clouding it. But you do have that soft, but determined voice somewhere inside you, that tells you what you really want, what your purpose is from moment to moment. It's a great way to live spiritually, because when you master the skill of hearing your intuition, you can start to gracefully play out the role that God intended for your particular ego, and it will feel great! Getting therapy is also a valid step in self-actualization, so do consider that, too, if you need something to ground you. I wish you strength on your path.

Sound advice, thank you. I'm definitely not after a 10/10 woman as I'm not a 10/10 guy. I will be taking action soon to get my head sorted out after taking in too much nonduality teachings from Leo and then I will try and get out a bit more.

No, you're not being an asshole, it's a valid perspective based on how it looks from the outside. I read into some of those threads and there is a guy there who didn't even bother with pickup and ended up in a happy relationship. All the stuff I have learned about nonduality over the past few months has damaged me probably beyond repair for the rest of my life. I don't have the creativity or drive any more for a life purpose. The best I can come up with is winning the lottery or installing/servicing electric vehicle charge points. I am going to get the proper help for these issues but I just keep getting haunted by the idea that reality is just an illusion of my making and i'm totally alone. That's the general consensus here anyway.

What do you think about the messages of nondual teachers like Tony Parsons, Jim Newman, and Paul Hedderman. (Youtube them if you have the time) Tony Parsons talks a lot about meaninglessness, and this intrigues me. Sometimes the notion of meaninglessness is like a sick feeling in the gut, other times it feels like a weight being lifted, but it always some kind of emotional rollercoaster when I listen to talks about nonduality, it is a bit shocking and I couldn't imagine having a mundane conversation about it at a bus stop or a park (although it would be lovely!) A course in miracles also speaks of meaninglessness, but from the perspective of the ego thought system. ACIM basically puts the metaphysics this way: the egoic thought system projects meaning and purpose (knowledge) onto the world and seeks security in that form of knowing, like miscreation 101, the original sin, missing the mark, making an innocent error. The course then subtly transitions to "God did not create a meaningless world." The paradox of duality is displayed in the two statements "Nothing I see means anything" and "God did not create a meaningless world." Maybe the perception of meaning is the error, and Tony asserting that the world is meaningless is just smacking the ego's hand and saying you've miscreated by attaching your own personal meaning to the universe. This personal universe is one in which I stake a flag in the ground and say "these concepts of meaning are my own, they are a testament to my knowledge and understanding, and they give me security in a world I truly know nothing about..." A universe beyond limitation could hold no meaning except by the whole. What believes it is a fragmented and limited part could only perceive a fragmented and limited concept or meaning of reality, since by its own limitations, its can only perceive a "slice" . Where is @Faceless when you need him, box with me man. What do you think @winterknight? Edit: While proofreading I noticed that the statement from the course "Nothing I see means anything" probably means physical sight in terms of perception. The statement "God didn't create a meaningless world" is a metaphysical statement. I think that is worth dwelling on.

Not necessarily. If Nonduality is true and all this is an illusion, and death is a story, then it's likely that once this particular version of existence has 'ended', then all of the illusion will end with it. As Leo has said, my family (as is everything and everyone) doesn't exist. They are all dream characters. Once I wake from this particular dream, they don't exist to morn.

There suddenly being no more me, and being God creator of everything, seems like a big deal. I honestly wish I didn't know anything about all of this, and someone just came up to me with 5-MeO and said "here try this". And then got to learn about Nonduality after the fact.

A) I don't know what you mean by that. You are painting with a broad brush here. People experience and realize different things. Nondual consciousness is not a state of ego, it is the absence of ego, and the realization that your true nature is nothing and everything, or infinite, or God. There are many people here who are unaware of many things. Just because they have some degree of realization does not mean they are aware of the deeper layers. Ego dissolution also has layers and degrees of depth to it. The ego is a complex and relentless structure. It takes a lot of deconstruction work to fully get beyond it. B) Do not start yet another nonduality debate.

Nice story bro, but Truth is everything and the only thing. Psychedelics can certainly take one there. Of course here and there are nowhere and one and the same. Truth is both temprary and eternal. It is all and nothing. There is nothing but states of consciousness and you are in a state right now, regardless of what it is. All states are part of the Truth. Whether it is formed or formless is irrelvant. These nonduality debates are getting really silly.

This is just false. Psychedelics are not merely "an experience", they can take you to the Absolute. Just because enlightenment may not require an experience shift does not entail that an experience shift cannot lead to an enlightenment. Psychedelics do not merely change one's experience, they radically elevate one's degree of consciousness -- which is the whole key to this work. Psychedelics put you into an instantaneous samadhi state. From this state one can contemplate and realize all sorts of things, including one's true nature or various facets of the Absolute. The reason you're making this mistake is that you're trying to understand psychedelics in terms of some traditional spiritual paradigm like Buddhism, Zen, or Vedanta, which tend to discount state changes -- but psychedelics are a totally different path so it is inappropriate to judge it from those other paradigms. Psychedelics can take you to levels of understanding and awakening which are simply impossible otherwise, or else possible but extremely rare and only for exceptionally gifted practitioners. It is correct that you will not be able to permanently lock in a psychedelic peak state 24/7. But that is an improper expectation to begin with. Psychedelics, when used properly, can absolutely take you to the highest, most Absolute Truth. Of course the real trick is integrating it and embodying, which requires a lot of additional work. Psychedelic insights and realizations square up perfectly with those of Buddhism, Zen, Vedanta, yoga, Christianity, Islam, and any other serious mystical tradition. Shunyata, Brahman, The Self, no-self, ego-death, Allah, God, nonduality, Shiva, Buddha, nirvana, rigpa, samadhi, Mu, Infinity, The Void, Nothingness, The Dharmakaya, the godhead, union, Absolute Consciousness, satchitanadna, Truth, Love, kundalini awakening, Nibbana, formlessness, etc. -- all of this and more you can realize on psychedelics.

Nothing can come from nothing. So nonduality teachers talking about nothing are deluded I suspect, or are big conmen/conwomen. Even to say no-thing is confusing, because what is a thing? They need to define what they mean by thing first. EDIT: I came to think that there is also a third possibility: that some spiritual teachers have to be somewhat vague or misleading or the powers of the global ego might attack them and take them down. There are huge ego interests in protecting profit, social control, established collective egos and so on.

There are many different styles and varieties of seekers coming from many different standpoints and schools. For example, you might find a community of seekers if you went to Tiruvannamalai in India (where the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi used to live) -- though you might also find a lot of other people. And clearly they will be seekers influenced by Maharshi's teachings. You will also find seekers in various Buddhist monasteries and retreats, Hindu ashrams, and so on. You'll find seekers at places like the Science and Nonduality conference, and also around any of the prominent Western spiritual teachers, though obviously those seekers will be influenced by and in the style of those teachings. Maybe you could consider watching some interviews on Buddha at the Gas Pump and see if anyone resonates? By watching what they say and what they do and how one feels about them and in their presence, one can get a sense over time of whether they 'get it' or not. Though in a sense it's limited, because the ultimate truth is that there are no enlightened people, there's just enlightenment.

Depends on what you call 'awakening'. If you mean a direct glimpse/realization into one's true nature, then any good nonduality teacher should be able to give you one within few minutes, given that the person is open minded and willing to follow that philosophical inquiry- either through a video or face to face conversation or through a book.. In that sense, dozens wake up like that in any nonduality retreats, Rupert's included. But if you mean firm establishment into that true identity, then no. No one can give you that. That's when the real game begins. You are not seeking anymore. You've found it. And now you are making it true in every situation all the time. And that requires conscious relinquishment of all the ideas associated to oneself and erasing one's habitual structures- and that happens simply due to inattention or non-engagement in those patterns as one only genuinely contemplates about one's real nature and sinking into that. In contrast to that, the peeps in 'progressive paths' are still seeking. One should be intelligent enough to see this distinction. But hell! even those who do find a glimpse in retreats forgets about it and starts another round of seeking some new fantastical thing once again lol. The perversion of the intellect. So it generally requires being in this circle for a while, have multiple 'awakenings' to finally wise up and see that one is not really coming or going or growing or diminishing- one is ever the same- that intuitive understanding slowly untangles one from the fantasties of new seeking and experiences- and instead encourages one to sink into Being

I dont recommend or discourage enlightenment. Its not a cutting edge diet plan. Those who are meant to get it, those with necessary dispassion and introspective samskaras(latent tendencies) as opposed to extroverted samskaras, will get it when the time is right. Enlightenment doesn't harvest a goodie nor does it solve the human problem. It simply dissolves that human and the whole 'chabang' that goes with it (as the inlightened nonduality warlord likes to use that word ?) But unfortunately most "spiritual teachers" wouldn't spill all the beans due to marketing issues. I mean who in the world would sign up for a teaching for suicide. Virtually none. Many would definitely romanticize about it, but not the real deal. I merely try not to spread misconception and maybe show a signpost here and there for those with doubts.