Problem I have with Leo's content.

[Max_V]

Lately, I feel a sort of stress and anxiety when I watch Actualized.org content. For me there is this sort of undertone that you need to become a certain type of person or acquire these spiritual trophies to become worthy as a human being. These past few months, I've been  deeply questioning what worth and goodness exactly is. It's left me quite confused. Are you a better person when you become more conscious and live a 'self-actualized life?' It seem to me that self-actualization is an ideal and in the process of working towards that ideal you suffer every time you seem to go the other way.

Maybe it's just that right now I am working through a lot of things that are making me project onto Leo's content, but this is the vibe I've been feeling recently.

What do you guys think about this?

 

[Pilgrim]

I don't know.. I think it's not about worthiness or anything. 

But I do believe that there is a joy that is hard to find anywhere else which consists of knowing who you are. That's at least how I see it, ideally your goal should not be to become "better", but to become more authentic and ultimately more you. Therefore you have to go through layer by layer and ask yourself what your true motives are. This way I would say, you are not becoming a better version of yourself but maybe a more pure version of yourself.  

[Strikr]

describe me the vibe with a music for osculting

 

[Eric Tarpall]

It's uncomfortable when someone has a different opinion than you. Especially when it's a teacher that you look up to. You just have to forgive that. 

[Sahil Pandit]

@Max_V What is the best way to spend your time? In the biggest picture possible? 

[Eric Tarpall]

6 minutes ago, Sahil Pandit said:

@Max_V What is the best way to spend your time? In the biggest picture possible? 

Do things that make you happy in the moment. & Do things that make you happy in the future. Both of these are important. 

[Sahil Pandit]

@Eric Tarpall Does happiness require filling the Void? 

Are we talking about conditional or unconditional happiness? 

[EternalForest]

I only feel this way when Leo says things like "If you're not doing this, what else are you gonna do? What?". But in a way, he has a point, since you could make an argument that this work is some of the most fulfilling you could pursue. But at the same time, there's also technically no objectively most fulfilling life path and life is ultimately what you make it

[Sahil Pandit]

5 minutes ago, Sahil Pandit said:

@Eric Tarpall Does happiness require filling the Void? 

Are we talking about conditional or unconditional happiness? 

The reason why i am asking this is because to me, it makes sense that the more you give up your "lower consciousness" habits and the more mindful you become, the less you "need" external stimuli to make you happy. Whether it's the newest video game, or the best tasting food, or buying yourself whatever. That's a very short term high that can be replaced for something like -- raising your consciousness and seeing the beauty of being alive, in and of itself! Easier said than done, but you get my point. 

[Eric Tarpall]

5 minutes ago, Sahil Pandit said:

Are we talking about conditional or unconditional happiness? 

Conditional happiness. It's true that you don't need anything to be happy. But you can't deny that food, vaginas and sunsets are amazing. You don't want to deprive yourself of that.

[Sahil Pandit]

@Eric Tarpall Lol true.

I do love myself some...

Sunsets 

[Strikr]

18 minutes ago, Sahil Pandit said:

@Eric Tarpall Lol true.

I do love myself some...

Sunsets 

Sometimes that's good to have still some greats mysterys in life 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Strikr

[Max_V]

I mean if you were to compare someone who does nothing their vs someone who achieves all the bells and wistles and trophies. Is there inherently someone more worthy of love and worthy of existing at all? 

Are you okay right now?

 

[Emerald]

1 hour ago, Max_V said:

Lately, I feel a sort of stress and anxiety when I watch Actualized.org content. For me there is this sort of undertone that you need to become a certain type of person or acquire these spiritual trophies to become worthy as a human being. These past few months, I've been  deeply questioning what worth and goodness exactly is. It's left me quite confused. Are you a better person when you become more conscious and live a 'self-actualized life?' It seem to me that self-actualization is an ideal and in the process of working towards that ideal you suffer every time you seem to go the other way.

Maybe it's just that right now I am working through a lot of things that are making me project onto Leo's content, but this is the vibe I've been feeling recently.

What do you guys think about this?

 

Reality is empty of value, worth, meaning, significance, purpose, or anything of that ilk. 

So, reality neither has value nor lacks value. It is not worthwhile nor worthless. It is neither meaningful or meaningless. etc.

These are just ideas and tools in the human mind for functioning in a society. But they have no existential reality to them. But because 99.9% of human endeavors require us to use these practical tools of value, worth, meaning significance, purpose, "the point", etc... it becomes very difficult for us to swallow the idea that reality and existence has none of these things.

So, it is because our human measuring sticks can't properly measure reality that there's a lot of anxiety, and is largely the impetus for existential crises. But it is only because we don't realize these ideas are just intellectual tools for practical functioning... as opposed to real existential qualifiers.

As for Leo, I'm 100% sure that he understands this intellectually. But I also get the impression that he has a tendency (emotionally speaking) to hold onto stories of worth and value and significance and the idea that you can add significance to yourself through cultivating particular virtues and strengths. But I'm sure that long ago he realized intellectually that this is not grounded in Truth. 

But I also think he's softened down quite a bit over the course of the past few years on this point. Maybe he's even rooted it out altogether, and keeps it in his videos because it gets through to certain types of people and to stay on brand to continue to help the demographic that his videos can help the most.

That's my personal impression. But I do think it can be a trap that I see a lot of people fall into who consume his content, where there's almost a competitive element to their idea of the path.

[Rilles]

Leo has said multiple times: Its okay to be a bum living in your moms basement eating cheetos and whining about politics, reality is perfect as it is... but is that what you want? Do you want to waste the precious gift of life by doing nothing? If so... thats okay! Life has a wide range of people and they are all beautiful, you dony judge a bird for not inventing a spaceship so why judge a bum for not doing anything with his life. 

[purerogue]

I have grown allot, it is true that some paths can bring more suffering then others and that switching them can bring you down, which is normal if you think about it, switching life perspectives is rather huge change for personality, but I have come to enjoy it to some degree it help not to fall in one delusion, I am exploring different paths and check what benefits each of them have on my life, logic is very useful tool if used right at right moments, 

sometimes you have to throw it out , but you can come back to it to sum up what you learned from your experience, maybe keep some notes, do what feel right for you, I am just exploring and I am not even sure where I will get with it, or where exactly I want to get, because it is really irrelevant anyway. 

[d0ornokey]

I think we are all worthy inherently regardless

It's important to realize your inherent worth 

Then do things you love, but not in an attempt to be good and worthy, but because you see value in them in some form. 

Yeah Leo never stressed this, and I fell into that trap. 

It's okay its overcomable. I'm currently doing unconditional self-love meditations everyday, and doing 20 mins of meditation but I have a ways to go.

Also I've been contemplating what is worth, trying to notice all the place where I feel like I'm trying to BE worthy, and noticing my desires and motivations. I think overtime with consciousness you'll eventually grow out of it, but it takes deliberate effort daily to clean up your motivations

Edited December 12, 2018 by d0ornokey

[Matt8800]

2 hours ago, Max_V said:

Lately, I feel a sort of stress and anxiety when I watch Actualized.org content. For me there is this sort of undertone that you need to become a certain type of person or acquire these spiritual trophies to become worthy as a human being. These past few months, I've been  deeply questioning what worth and goodness exactly is. It's left me quite confused. Are you a better person when you become more conscious and live a 'self-actualized life?' It seem to me that self-actualization is an ideal and in the process of working towards that ideal you suffer every time you seem to go the other way.

Maybe it's just that right now I am working through a lot of things that are making me project onto Leo's content, but this is the vibe I've been feeling recently.

What do you guys think about this?

 

Sounds like you are going through what some people refer to as the "dark night of the soul". It is not specific to Actualized.org. This is a known phenomenon in all the contemplative traditions.

Daniel Ingram's Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha does a great job of explaining this and what to do to get to the other side.

Remember, worth and goodness are subjective concepts. Put some serious thought into what these mean to you and live your life accordingly.

Suffering is the fuel for evolution. Evolution leads to transcending suffering.

Keep going. Its worth it. My life is radically better.

[Forestluv]

Happiness in the context of pleasure is a contracted form of happiness. It goes much more expansive/deeper 

[Emerald]

1 hour ago, Strikr said:

Emeral did you try, just fucking once,

 the method of " lesser is better " ?

I tend to share in whichever way I feel is going to give the most clarity to the person I'm talking to. So, I'll occasionally do a really short response, if I feel that it's more helpful. But for the most part, I think that being as colloquial, thorough, and nuanced as possible is going to help more people.

Do my long posts bother you?