Consciousness Work V.s. Life Purpose (on The Distraction Video)

[Anakin]

The new Distraction video got me thinking: If i have to choose only ONE between consciousness work and life purpose, which should i choose?

i understand that they're not necessarily mutually exclusive (especially if my life purpose was related to consciousness), but i'm concerned that if i follow the path of life purpose, the risk is that i'll be distracted away from awakening.

Since the Distraction video clearly puts consciousness work at #1 priority, is the answer obvious, or is it still individualized? If awakening is indeed my #1 priority in life, should i drop my pursuit on life purpose to focus? Or how can i balance between both?

Thanks

Edited September 12, 2017 by Anakin

[jwkspeck]

It might be hard to focus on both at the same time.

Remember that you create your own priorities; even if Leo convinces you to prioritize consciousness, understand that it is you that ultimately decides what to value.

If you derive through contemplation and journaling that consciousness is more important that pursuing your purpose, then you have created your own meanings and values.

If you blindly follow the words and directions of Leo, you really aren't being conscious of your own circumstance.

Edited September 11, 2017 by jwkspeck

[Anakin]

2 hours ago, jwkspeck said:

It might be hard to focus on both at the same time.

Remember that you create your own priorities; even if Leo convinces you to prioritize consciousness, understand that it is you that ultimately decides what to value.

If you derive through contemplation and journaling that consciousness is more important that pursuing your purpose, then you have created your own meanings and values.

If you blindly follow the words and directions of Leo, you really aren't being conscious of your own circumstance.

 

@jwkspeck This is super insightful and helpful! Thank you!

i absolutely agree. And as I think more about it, I'd choose consciousness work without a doubt.

But i think i'm really just curious about the feasibility and a possible strategy for pursuing both goals (without being too greedy and unrealistic).

Edited September 11, 2017 by Anakin

[Leo Gura]

@Anakin Your life is long enough to do both. Shoot for both, although not necessarily at the same time.

If you are ready for serious self-inquiry, start doing it.

If not, work on your life purpose. That process will set the stage for eventually getting into self-inquiry.

It's individualized in the sense that you might be at a different stage in Maslow's Hierarchy, simply unable to motivate yourself to do serious consciousness work. Just don't make a limiting belief out of what I'm saying. See my vid about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs where this issue is discussed in some length.

[Anakin]

@Leo Gura Thank you! This is so comforting to hear

In that case, i see 2 pretty paths in front of me:

1. first pursue my life purpose for 10-15 years -> shift my focus to consciousness work and get enlightened in 5 years -> ...
2. shift into hardcore consciousness work mode and get enlightened in 5 years -> maybe getting into higher stages of enlightenment? > ...

If i follow (2), would i "miss out" on the richness of pursuing my life purpose? Or if i follow (1), would i realize later that i've "wasted" 10-15 years which i could have spent on pursing even higher stage of consciousness?

Obviously, i "understand" that both are "meaningless", so i'm mostly concerned with having more richness, fun, and fulfillment in my life.

Anyways, i know that i can't go wrong with either. So thank you, Leo 

 

EDIT:

6 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

See my vid about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs where this issue is discussed in some length.

@Leo Gura I watched the video and i see that (1) is what you've recommended. I think i'll start with that

Edited September 12, 2017 by Anakin

[mathieu]

51 minutes ago, Anakin said:

first pursue my life purpose for 10-15 years -> shift my focus to consciousness work and get enlightened in 5 years -> ..

this is great. i think this should be my priority too, insteadbof half-assing enlightenment. i have not been acing my life purpose yet and i used to forget it will take 10,000 hrs to the mastery level. 

[DoubleYou]

If your already on this forum, interested in consciousness work, I don't think it's possible to simply neglect it and go work on a life purpose instead.
It will find it's way into your life naturally because there's already an interest there. 

I personally wouldn't focus too much on having to make a choice between the too. Pursue your life purpose consciously. That way, you're open to whatever crosses your path. Planning ahead 15 years in advance doesn't mean a thing if Awareness decides to awaken spontaneously one day. You'll want to go with that then. Try to get in touch with your intuition. It knows what's best now. Follow that.

[Elisabeth]

14 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

If you are ready for serious self-inquiry, start doing it.

If not, work on your life purpose. That process will set the stage for eventually getting into self-inquiry.

Oh, thanks. This actually clears out a lot of doubt. I kind of rejected the last video, so now that you say that the path of following life purpose might actually get me there, I don't have to reject it. 

[Anakin]

1 hour ago, DoubleYou said:

Pursue your life purpose consciously. That way, you're open to whatever crosses your path. Planning ahead 15 years in advance doesn't mean a thing if Awareness decides to awaken spontaneously one day. You'll want to go with that then. Try to get in touch with your intuition. It knows what's best now. Follow that.

@DoubleYou This is inspiring to hear! Thank you!

[Joseph Maynor]

They go together.  You want your life purpose to be natural, to flow out of you.  But you also have to construct your life purpose and commit to it everyday.  Life purpose will flow out of the authentic you that you are discovering with your enlightenment work.  Listen to your intuition.  Try to find out what your top values are.  Try to go inside and listen to that intuitive voice inside of you that knows a lot about what you could do with this life.  Not everybody needs to become a monk.  You can be enlightened and be a normal person.  Leo is biased towards being a yogi, and that's fine, but realize that.  You are not Leo.  Don't try to copy him in all respects.  You need to find you and then do you.  Not all enlightened people need to sit in a cave and meditate all day.  You can be enlightened and run a business like me or Leo or anyone else.  You just gotta find yourself and hone your life around what you find.  You don't really know yourself well yet, that's your biggest problem.  Enlightenment helps you clear away some of the debris from getting clearer about who you are.  But don't get so addicted to enlightenment work that you ignore life purpose work and the more traditional self-help work.  There are three legs to the Personal Development stool -- (1) enlightenment work, (2) life purpose work, (3) traditional self-help work.  You gotta cultivate all three of these areas to get your life together and moving forward.  A sturdy foundation for your life rests on the cultivation of all three of these areas.

Videos on point to watch:

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Anakin]

2 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

They go together.  You want your life purpose to be natural, to flow out of you.  But you also have to construct your life purpose and commit to it everyday.  Life purpose will flow out of the authentic you that you are discovering with your enlightenment work.  Listen to your intuition.  Try to find out what your top values are.  Try to go inside and listen to that intuitive voice inside of you that knows a lot about what you could do with this life.  Not everybody needs to become a monk.  You can be enlightened and be a normal person.  Leo is biased towards being a yogi, and that's fine, but realize that.  You are not Leo.  Don't try to copy him in all respects.  You need to find you and then do you.  Not all enlightened people need to sit in a cave and meditate all day.  You can be enlightened and run a business like me or Leo or anyone else.  You just gotta find yourself and hone your life around what you find.  You don't really know yourself well yet, that's your biggest problem.  Enlightenment helps you clear away some of the debris from getting clearer about who you are.  But don't get so addicted to enlightenment work that you ignore life purpose work and the more traditional self-help work.  There are three legs to the Personal Development stool -- (1) enlightenment work, (2) life purpose work, (3) traditional self-help work.  You gotta cultivate all three of these to get your life together and moving forward.  A sturdy foundation rests on cultivation of all three of these areas.

 

@Joseph Maynor This is awesome! Thank you for sharing your perspectives!