Strategic Thinking After Reading Book Of Not Knowing

[Dan94]

A brief intro:

23 years old. I have been following Leo for 18 months, which means I've been meditating for 18 months. As for now I do a lot of sittings of strong determination lasting between 90-120 minutes. I have completed one vipassana course and I'm currently working through his Life purpose course. 

Not until recently I've bothered checking out his videos on enlightenment. But ever since I read Peter Ralston's book "The book of not knowing" (And afterwards watched all Leos content) I have been convinced of the massive, massive importance of this pursuit. I realized that I share the same "Dramas of self-images" Leo talks about in a video of his - and how this has been a theme throughout all of my adolescence and still is to this day. It really makes a lot of sense to me that the only thing that will bring true fulfillment is the death of the ego. I have also found that peace of mind and Truth is in my top 3 values from Leo's Life purpose course.

However.. I wonder how I should balance the pursuit of enlightenment, meditation and my life purpose; I want to pursue enlightenment first and then focus on my life purpose. To be honest, as of now, I completely don't care about my life purpose if I can truly attain peace of mind and fulfillment through enlightenment. I have always, always thought that the obtaining of my life purpose would truly fulfill me but as Leo stresses, it never will - and I have quite strong faith in that claim.

Can you wise guys give me some tips on how I could spent my time in a strategic manner to combine these two pursuits? I know that a guy like Leo does tons of inquiry and enlightenment work besides Actualized.org - I just wonder how he strategizes and prioritizes his time.

Let me know if this is way too vague for you. I'm confused these days.

Daniel

Edited October 26, 2017 by Dan94

[cetus]

@Dan94 Everything works hand in hand so I say go with a well balanced diet of discipline, meditation, self inquiry, fitness, healthy food, study, life purpose, skill set, ect..

[Dan94]

29 minutes ago, cetus56 said:

@Dan94 Everything works hand in hand so I say go with a well balanced diet of discipline, meditation, self inquiry, fitness, healthy food, study, life purpose, skill set, ect..

I see what you mean, it just sounds so nice in theory but in practise I find it to be different. Hmm. I also think a concern of mine is equally the infamous 10000 hour rule and how it applies to my field in which my life purpose lies (music). Many musicians swear to the 8-10 hour practise days. And I don't think I will be able to do it while doing a lot of inquiry and meditation as well as studying. And even this concern kind of proves my unwillingness to completely detach from my life purpose in order to attain enlightenment - I guess........... 

I want to think long term, do you have more concrete suggestions. Sorry if being pushy. 

Daniel

[TJ Reeves]

I too,  grew confused about the relationship between Life Purpose and Enlightenment work, but here's a nice summary of what I've realized.

To begin, lets look at three propositions:

• Enlightenment work represents development of one's inner life (INNER development), not observable by anyone other than one on the inside -- its working on how you feel about the work and how you look at the world.
• Life purpose work represents development of one's outer life (OUTER development), observable by anyone 'on the outside' (Yes, I get that 'there is no outside,' but bear with me here. I use this term in the regular everyday sense - the way that you can't see my experience of the color red but you can see me practicing kickboxing). Anyway life purpose work is about the tangible stuff I take from the world and the tangible stuff I give to the world (art, science, words, videos, volunteering, etc.)
• Both Enlightenment Work (INNER development) and Life Purpose Work (OUTER development) have elements of Purification (Taking Away stuff) and Increasing Complexity/Power (Adding stuff).

No part of is completely detached from any other part. Life is about all of these aspects of development. You cannot have one without the other, although they are separate focuses or views. It is like talking about North, South, East and West. I cannot have North without South or East without West. But looking Eastward gives me not much information about West and looking northward doesn't give me information about south.

Then again, at the highest levels, all four views come together when you go to the highest levels, the way that if i went east all the way, it would connect with west on a globe and if i went far enough north, i would begin to go south. So if I wanted to have the greatest levels of Outer development, I would have to have had the greatest levels of inner development. If I want to give more to the world, i have to stop taking away so much from the world. If I'm the type of person with true awakening then I am the time person who doesn't take in the things that I know I don't want. 

So, what we have is a grid of four quadrants of getting your shit together. 

1. Waking Up - Inner Enlightenment work by taking away attachment to untruth
2. Growing Up - Inner Enlightenment work by adding mental complexity/the ability to take on multiple perspectives
3. Cleaning Up - Outer Life Purpose work by taking away attachment to addictions
4. Showing Up - Outer Life Purpose work by adding techniques of mastery so that we express our highest values

Each of these quadrants has its own line of development through transcending and including previous levels.

These quadrants are all connected, yet they develop independently. 

Which is to say the following:

• A highly developed human would go as far as possible in all four quadrants of personal development.
  • they would feel awakened, look awakened, act awakened, and talk awakened
• But just because you're good at one level of development, doesn't 100% mean you're good at all of them.
  • for evidence, look at anyone in Tim Ferris's Podcast 
• There is increasing levels correlation between all four quadrants as one develops to the highest level in any one quadrant
  • that is, to really show up in life like a Leonardo Da Vinci or Bruce lee, you have to have gotten your shit together 
• We often might only pay attention to people who are really good at any one level, thinking that that is the way to live, but often it is only a focus on one quadrant

Again, The problem is that people only spend time focused on one quadrant and one quadrant only, thinking that that is the be-all end all. This is why so much of self-help might conflict. 

More over, our society only looks at the quadrant of Showing Up as a form of success. As mentioned before, since it does correlate at higher levels, Showing success is a small form of evidence of overall development, but its not the whole picture.

Do not create a duality between life purpose and enlightenment. They are one, not two, as are all things - hence non-duality.

Also,

Do not create a duality between purifying your life through non-action and adding more to your life through action.

Moreover, I cannot tell you, no one can tell you @Dan94  what life might look like when all four quadrants are developed to their highest level FOR YOU. This is part of why the tao that can be spoken is not the true tao. Leonardo Da Vinci is nothing like Bruce Lee is nothing like Joe Rogan is nothing Like Peter Ralston other than that they all hang out in Being Cognition (and technically they are all the same awareness!). It is in this sense that we all follow our own path. 

Furthermore, all of this is mental justification for chilling the fuck out and hanging out in Being Cognition while observing stuff.

Being cognition is the sense that the world is perfect as is and that everything is seen as an end-itself or a subject for-itself instead of an object for an end goal. The common repose of being cognition is that you could die in that moment and that it would be the perfect ending to your movie. We have all felt this way at some point in our lives, and it always feels like everything in our lives lead to that moment at that moment. 

When you feel like you have woken up, grown up, cleaned up, and showed up sufficiently you will allow yourself to hang out in being cognition. Other wise, you will probably trick yourself into going back to deficiency cognition, where the world is basically a rat-race hell.

So it is that:

Enlightenment work is life purpose work viewed form the outside. Taking away subtle addictions is the other side of adding mental/physical power. And that all of this is just so that you can allow yourself to step into Being Cognition - but from the very beginning you could simply hang out in being cognition and that is itself all that's necessary to do all four. 

The systemic strategy, then is to allow yourself to go into Being Cognition (by developing curiosity after dropping Knowing) and through your own curiosity develop yourself on any of the quadrants as your intuition pulls you from a sense of wanting to know and wanting to get better (PLAYing) not needing to know and not needing to get better (SEEKing). This is Not Knowing In Action. 

If you're wondering what it looks like to allow yourself to access being cognition and develop yourself in all four quadrants look no further than Bruce Lee, Leonardo Da Vinci, Plato, Wim Hof, Peter Ralston, and Joe Rogan. Those guys have their inner life developed and their outer life developed as well, all while allowing themselves to hang out in Being Cognition all the time.

Simply Work Diligently, Patiently, Persistently, and Playfully to Realize the Truth - that there's nothing more than simply working Diligently, Patiently, Persistently, and Playfully to Realize the Truth - that there's nothing more than.... 

Love,

TJ 

P.S. people wonder what Spiral Dynamics Coral Level looks like, it is everything I described above. Coral = all four quadrants of getting your shit together combine and you allow yourself to hang out in being cognition 24/7 (although being cognition is available from the get go) @Leo Gura let me know what you think of this proposition.

Edited October 25, 2017 by TJ Reeves

[Nahm]

@Dan94 merely one opinion....

foundation first! 

24/7 focus on breathe

enough sleep every night

healthy eating

daily exercise

early morning meditation

(2nd daily) afternoon or after work meditation

no "drugs" or alchohol

this takes as long as it takes   

then

 

make a vision board of anything u want

Only then, when ready, bring psychadelics in.  start small. be smart about it. 

no matter what occurs, keep the foundation / practices going everyday. this is extremely hard when everything is going great.   

Edited October 25, 2017 by Nahm

[Leo Gura]

@Dan94 Just keep in mind, Peter Ralston's life purpose was to become a world-class martial artist. And he did that! One of the best in the world. Trained for many years. Alongside enlightenment.

I once asked Ralston how he managed to navigate this conflict. He looked at me funny and said, "What conflict???"

So both can be done, and the conflict is really just in your mind.

Notice that many enlightened people are also masterful at many other things in life, and have thriving careers. The motivation, commitment, discipline, flexibility, passion, long-term planning, and striving towards excellence which is required to reach the deepest levels of enlightenment are exactly the same qualities required for mastery of any other field of life.

[egoless]

23 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Dan94 Just keep in mind, Peter Ralston's life purpose was to become a world-class martial artist. And he did that! One of the best in the world. Trained for many years. Alongside enlightenment.

I once asked Ralston how he managed to navigate this conflict. He looked at me funny and said, "What conflict???"

So both can be done, and the conflict is really just in your mind.

Notice that many enlightened people are also masterful at many other things in life, and have thriving careers. The motivation, commitment, discipline, flexibility, passion, long-term planning, and striving towards excellence which is required to reach the deepest levels of enlightenment are exactly the same qualities required for mastery of any other field of life.

but main question here is what is the perfect balance? What is the most effective succession? First you do Enlightenment and then life purpose or vise versa? Or you do both the same time but in what kind of balance - 50/50?...

[Dan94]

@TJ Reeves Well said, thank you. Don't interpret my short answer as lazy or arrogant, I just agree. Thanks.

@Nahm Thanks, that's not my primary concern but basics can never be revisited too often I guess.

@Leo Gura This:

15 minutes ago, egoless said:

but main question here is what is the perfect balance? What is the most effective succession? First you do Enlightenment and then life purpose or vise versa? Or you do both the same time but in what kind of balance - 50/50?...

It may seem a bit like navel-gazing but I'm genuinely curious of your opinion. And right, Ralston is that. What a mother fucker. I'm just constantly bombarded with "PRACTISE THIS MUCH" from teachers and musicians in general that if I'm currently not making that hundred percent commitment, it seems like, you know.. whatever, go start bowling instead.. But I want to be enlightened first. Can you make some distinctions and elaborate a bit on the conflict that totally bypasses Ralston. Thank you so fucking much, I have spent so much time watching your videos and doing your exercises. Daniel.

[cetus]

3 hours ago, Dan94 said:

Many musicians swear to the 8-10 hour practise days. And I don't think I will be able to do it while doing a lot of inquiry and meditation

@Dan94 That didn't stop Sting

[Dan94]

@cetus56

Sorry, I'm just not sure if I find this particularly helpful or guiding. Is sting enlightened???????????????????

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, egoless said:

but main question here is what is the perfect balance? What is the most effective succession? First you do Enlightenment and then life purpose or vise versa? Or you do both the same time but in what kind of balance - 50/50?...

That's YOUR job to discover. That's why you're alive!

There is no static balance here, it's a dynamic balance, and it will all depend on your particular situation.

See video: The Role Of Balance In Personal Development

It's like you're asking: "Tell me how to balance on a unicycle. Should I lean left or right?"

[Dan94]

Thanks @Leo Gura, I will. 

[Nahm]

@Dan94 i find if i am solid and consistent on those things, what I want happens, and is quite enjoyable. The process always aligns me and gives me the clarity, and the questions disappear. Again, just opinion, but I get sucked into sorting the content, and often blow past the work at the root, on me. 

Edited October 26, 2017 by Nahm

[smd]

I have the Book of Not Knowing sitting on my table & it scares the shit out of me to read it.  It's daunting at hell!!   Looks like a thousand pages...All I can think is: holy shit, when am I going to read this??

That's a cool photo of Sting on meditation.  Man that looks uncomfortable too.  I don't think I can get my legs in that position...lol. Man.  He really went hardcore with that position.  My legs would probably cramp up.

[Leo Gura]

@smd You only really get something out of it after the 3rd or 4th reading

[Preetom]

@Dan94

Man you gotta follow @Nahm's solid advice, If you are really serious about your life purpose (Being a successful musician) and care about producing quality content until the death of your body. 

From my experience, I can say that there is no shortcut in the long run. I remember practicing guitar blindly for 6 years and making huge momentum. Then all of that crashed and burned in 1 year due to a series of addictions, health issues and depression. Discipline for discipline's sake is the legit way to master your craft and sustain that over a long timeline. In case of your life purpose especially in some very technical field like being a performing musician, there is really no other alternative than solid discipline and practice routine. Cause you know how skipping just a single day of practice disturbs your form.

And about enlightenment, I think being a disciplined musician itself is a solid path towards that higher consciousness. I'm sure you know many virtuoso musicians (In many genres), who have practically surrendered their whole life to their practice and craft. After some good years, they are not really looking for anything particular. Their solid discipline carry their flow state. That goalless, dedicated practice itself consumes their ego, pride over time. Some of these people are extremely grounded and you can almost feel their aura (the way you feel in front of a guru)

After a while, practicing those scale runs, chords and songs get mechanical anyway. Start practicing 24/7 awareness on breathing while you practice to keep it fresh and conscious. NEVER let your daily practice become mechanical even if you are doing it for 50 years. Cause it WILL come back to bite your ass. When you are mechanically doing stuff, all sorts of things go on in your mind (mostly unconsciously) which inevitably depletes your mental and physical energy that leads to low conscious behaviors. Every single day counts!

How about this for a strategy?

1) 8 hours of solid, conscious music practice (after a while this will become your meditation session). Start block time practicing in 30 min/1 hour chunks instead of planning and grabbing all 8 hours by the balls at the same time (It will seriously demotivate you to practice that day) lol.

2) 1 hour meditation. 1 hour breathing techniques + exercise/yoga. 1 hour PD stuff (visualization, affirmation, journaling, reading)

then you got 5 hours still left in day to rest, maintain relationships, do other stuff, enjoy nature, studying more etc. (24/7 mindfulness goes on  ) even if you sleep 8 hours. Make a routine that suits you most at your particular life situation.

Then maybe take 2 vacations every year for psychedelic/solo retreats. Consider trying this out. I think you can discipline yourself easier as you already got solid meditation practice going on.

I know it may sound like a very tough and mechanical lifestyle, but remember a musician's life can be either a very fulfilling one or a very miserable one depending on how you build it. Yeah it will consume all of your personal agendas and low consciousness cycle. Yeah It will consume your whole life. But wouldn't a hardcore lifestyle solely towards full enlightenment and understanding do the same thing? 

Finally, I will attach this link of me playing guitar at almost my peak performance level. Not to brag but to verify that I'm not just throwing 2nd hand knowledge at you. A musician got a HUGE road in front of him. Gotta figure a lot of stuff out and it's very easy to get lost somewhere. That's why staying conscious and strategic in everyday life is the key. All the best!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQs9_M8gc5U

 

 

[Dan94]

@Preetom

Thanks Preetom, appreciate your advice a lot. After doing a lot (at least to me, haha) of meditation and being more mindful in general, I have definitely found my self doing a lot of mechanical practise in the past and even to this day. And even better: a lot of low (un)conscious behavior too. I am easily drained these days and I think you are very, very spot on with the mindset towards practise. Consciously articulating that my prime goal for the day was to get through the practise as quickly as possible is a mindset truly doomed to failure. I like your schedule outline but I know for now I will ease my self into it, it will be too much for me. Homeostasis will kick in.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Dan94

[Nahm]

@Preetom @Dan94 ?? I went Brian WIlson for years in a room with my guitar and caprice 24. So my advice is from the value of hindsight. Literally forgot my first name in madness and depression. Now, I play and sing and am legit not there / zoned / bliss. Hope it helps. Remember to stop and love right now. Always. 

[Dan94]

@Nahm You went Brian Wilson due to unbalance/ over practise? And sad to hear that. Brian Wilson had a really tough time I know.. And I guess that is my major "concern". Being so emerged in stuff I ultimately know will not bring me towards what I really really value the most, wasting my time. As @Leo Gura points out in of his FAQ videos: any amount of years you fail to pursuit enlightenment will essentially be spent pursuing egoic goals and thus to a waste of time. Is this a too black and white interpretation? 

[Nahm]

@Dan94 Angry dad. I didn’t know it was contagious. I played through bleeding fingers. I found myself in the space between the notes. Got so  callus, I couldn’t feel a thing. Didn’t care. Seeked, seeked, seeked. Lost and found my mind a dozen times. I bled all over everything.

The peace is in silence. In Nothing. 

It’s in you and you alone.

So, the practices.