Stuck At A Fork In The Road Between Life Purpose And Enlightenment

[zunnyman]

Hey Guys, 

I just graduated college, and now FINALLY have time to work on myself fully. I might be a perfectionist, but I really like to use my time optimally to achieve the highest levels of happiness and fulfillment, and honestly I would spend my time in whatever way suits me the best. With that said, which one do you think would be the best use of my time right now. I'm 21, passionate about music, but also very passionate about self mastery and enlightenment. Right now I am considering working my way up to doing 3 hours a day in my life purpose, and 5 hours a day doing enlightenment over the years. I am very serious in both so I like this plan. Should I:

A) Focus all my energy in self mastery and enlightenment, as that gives true genuine authentic happiness. Then see what my authentic self really wants to do when I am enlightened. 

Vs.

B) Go for the exciting passionate life of music, Then enlightenment when my career and habits are stable. As a bonus, The money from this path can be used towards expensive 5-MEO retreats, etc.   

Vs. 

C) Do them both at the same time, which will prevent me from thinking in my head constantly "What if I had decided to do the other path instead?", get the best of both worlds, and possibly both having a multiplying effect on each other. I am worried however that the conflicting nature of life purpose and enlightenment would backfire on me, and it would be hard to get massive results in both paths. Is that true? 

I have read multiple threads, watched leos vids, and half the life purpose course, but I am still stuck here, on how I should divide my time throughout the week. 

@Leo Gura You mentioned at the end of your life purpose course in the FAQ section that you recommend doing either life purpose, or enlightenment at one time, and not to do that at the same time. Is there a reason for this? Is it an issue of focus? 

[JKG]

I am stuck with the same problem. I would love to master both life purpose and enlightenment at the same time, but I guess its more effective to do just one at a time. I chose life purpose, because I need to work my way up in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs first. Like Leo said: "you still have to pay the bills." And I firstly want to be able to pay the bills in a high consciousness way. But still I will work on enlightenment for 1 or 2 hours each day and do retreats once in a while.

So I would chose option A). But if you are able to go against the grain of society, chose B).

[Leo Gura]

It's one hell of a tricky dilemma.

In theory, the best course of action is always going straight for Absolute Truth. You'll be glad you did. But in practice, you won't understand this until you're basking in Absolute Truth.

This issue is THE ENTIRE challenge of spirituality and Truth. Hardly anyone can muster the vision to directly pursue it. Which mostly means, they never pursue it at all.

Notice how strongly you're being seduced by Maya, just like everyone else. Maya is overwhelmingly powerful. It will not let you see God until you are ready to slit your wrists.

[Huz]

Why don't you do both? I mean work on life purpose during the day, then during the evening focus on spirtual seeking. Allow yourself to attend retreats, and do psychedelics once a week. 

Also, it is possible to self inquire throughout the whole day, and apply mindfulness 24/7. So merge both practices, don't make LP and enlightenment work seperate. It's a lifestyle. Peter Ralston managed to do it. 

@Leo Gura what do you think of this?

[Space]

Unless you're super committed to going ALL OUT with enlightenment, then I'd say do both for now. You'll need to find the right balance. Experiment with it. 

[Leo Gura]

@Huz You could not begin to fathom how much contemplation Ralston has done. I would bet that most human beings are physiologically incapable of it.

Human beings are not all the same. You have to know what your limits are and strategize accordingly. Which is one of the reasons no one can decide such things for you. Only you can know what you're capable of.

Chasing after two rabbits, you might catch neither.

I find it very difficult to do both simultaneously. Both require lots of energy and attention.

[Seed]

Luckily enough you are so much younger than the majority of people who start these escapades, so you have time to do both!! Personally, I'd sort your life purpose first, then at least, that will be in place and less monkey mind to battle with when beginning intense meditation retreats and you won't have to worry about finances. You are only 21, enjoy and experiment in the game of life.. :-) I am 28 and feel like an old fart... But understand I am still on the younger side to be on board both these adventures, so I am happy with that. X 

Edited June 2, 2017 by Seed

[Huz]

Ahh ok, but I thought that Ralston was also pursuing martial arts when he was young. But you are right, each to their own.

Yeah then @zunnyman I would focus on one. Personally I find Maslow's model a good guide. I would focus on life purpose first, get financial stability, and continue with personal development. Then when you are more grounded and emotionally stable, go for enlightenment. Also, realise that you got a cheat code at hand: 5-MeO-DMT. So when you do years of personal development work, experiment with 5-MeO and see where that takes you, if you feel that is the right way of course.

But this is just the way I would probably do it. You could completely disagree.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Huz

[Nahm]

@zunnyman Time doesn't exist. This might help you to realize you're using a made up reason not to pursue everything you want in this life. 

 

[aurum]

I see no reason you cannot do both.

Yes, both require massive time and effort. But this black and white attitude of "I can either evolve spiritually OR pursue my physical life purpose" is just plain bullshit.

People are failing to think synergistically / Win Win. They're not seeing how life purpose can contribute to spiritual growth and spiritual growth can in turn contribute to life purpose.

Now, maybe your life purpose is to become a yogi living in the mountains who just contemplates all day. But maybe it isn't.

There's room for every type of person. And everyone is evolving in their own way.

You have to know you. You have to know what your role is. No one can decide that for you.

Every second of every day, no matter what you're doing, you're faced with choices. They're illusions, but these choices exist for you to learn and evolve.

Spiritual growth is not something you can just compartmentalize and say "oh, when I'm doing MEDITATION psychedelics, that's spiritual time. But when I'm doing all that boring "work stuff" or with my girlfriend, that has nothing to do with spirituality".

So it's really just another choice of what you want. Do you want to engage with life and society, or do you want to just say fuck it? It's up to you.

[el_duderino]

@zunnyman Same problem for me. Realize that nobody can answer this question for you. And don't try to think your way out of confusion. That's a huge trap. Listen to your heart, follow your intuition.

I'm going to take 7-10 days off, being alone, contemplating, strategizing, listening to muse...

Good luck boy   

[jse]

10 hours ago, Nahm said:

Time doesn't exist.

     Oh yeah?  Then explain this, wiseguy...
 

                       

 

[Timotheus]

 

[zunnyman]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

It definitely is a good idea to follow maslow's hierarchy as a map towards attaining enlightenment. Once the wholes in the swiss cheese are filled up, it will probably be a lot easier to transcend this ego. I guess more patience and slowing down is required for people like me who just want it all in the most time efficient manner. Not everyone is as hardcore as Peter Ralston.

I still don't see why both can't be done as a lot of people are doing it, but obviously the focus and attention has to be on one path, while the other path is gonna be a side hustle for some time. Maybe when one is handled, the focus can shift to the other path. 

[Lai]

[Abi]

take advantage of the fact that your life purpose is a creative work. why couldn't you integrate the two?

[Ayilton]

On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 5:41 PM, zunnyman said:

Hey Guys, 

I just graduated college, and now FINALLY have time to work on myself fully. I might be a perfectionist, but I really like to use my time optimally to achieve the highest levels of happiness and fulfillment, and honestly I would spend my time in whatever way suits me the best. With that said, which one do you think would be the best use of my time right now. I'm 21, passionate about music, but also very passionate about self mastery and enlightenment. Right now I am considering working my way up to doing 3 hours a day in my life purpose, and 5 hours a day doing enlightenment over the years. I am very serious in both so I like this plan. Should I:

A) Focus all my energy in self mastery and enlightenment, as that gives true genuine authentic happiness. Then see what my authentic self really wants to do when I am enlightened. 

Vs.

B) Go for the exciting passionate life of music, Then enlightenment when my career and habits are stable. As a bonus, The money from this path can be used towards expensive 5-MEO retreats, etc.   

Vs. 

C) Do them both at the same time, which will prevent me from thinking in my head constantly "What if I had decided to do the other path instead?", get the best of both worlds, and possibly both having a multiplying effect on each other. I am worried however that the conflicting nature of life purpose and enlightenment would backfire on me, and it would be hard to get massive results in both paths. Is that true? 

I have read multiple threads, watched leos vids, and half the life purpose course, but I am still stuck here, on how I should divide my time throughout the week. 

@Leo Gura You mentioned at the end of your life purpose course in the FAQ section that you recommend doing either life purpose, or enlightenment at one time, and not to do that at the same time. Is there a reason for this? Is it an issue of focus? 

I feel you bro, I am at the same point of my life. I was struggling so much I decided to stop and just focus on personal development....Its giving me amazing results ! You need built a bit of momentum first in personal development to actually pursue enlightenment  ! Good luck in the life purpose ...and the life purpose curse its good in theory ...In pratice its all struggle , its not so sweet persuing your life purpose sometimes I wish I didn't take the course ...It requires a lot of effort to self actualize

[NoSelfSelf]

I left college and for the past 3 years ive been  doing enlightment "work" and if i went to college i wouldnt grow as much as i grew...

[Source_Mystic]

Do both,  I say developing a daily habit/discipline of meditation  is very important. From my perspective focusing awareness will  help you in all other areas as well.

After that look at the specific areas you want to focus on and the time allotted and make a decisive plan based on your needs and wants. YOUR blueprint is for you to design no one else.

Good luck@zunnyman

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Source_Mystic