Nonduality ruined my Life Purpose.

[Shiva99]

I've done the Life Purpose Course in the past, and at the end it was pretty clear that career wise i wanted to help people with psychological problems. I was planning on becoming a Psychologist/Psychotherapist, and i would have gone to uni to get my masters degree. I planned out all the action steps towards reaching this goal, and my life started to have a lot of meaning again. I became very action oriented, and everything was set to this goal. This was until Nonduality realy started to get a grip on me, and basically ruined this dream of mine. 

Right now i don't feel like i want to pursue it anymore, as i see that fundamentally al psychological problems mostly stem from ego and believing in your "own" thoughts. I feel like i would be cheating on people if i would show them a lot of empathy for their "problems", taking them serious, as they would only make them worse in the end, and not be a permanent solution. Also receiving money and making a living out of this this would feel kinda weird. I think for this to work right now, i would have to put on a huge mask and fake it. It just feels wrong.

I'm not sure what to do anymore with this. My life lacks drive and mission right now, and i'm totally clueless again on what to do with life. I hate it. The only small interest i had was Psychology and now i don't really care about anything anymore. It's still there, but it's not nearly as big as wat it used to be. 

It's even hard for me to get a dayjob because of this, as a 9-5 would totally have been in service of my Life Purpose to earn and saveup money. Now a dayjob would just be in service of feeding myself and getting by, and that's not as exciting to me at all.

Where do i go from here?

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Shiva99

[Preety_India]

@Shiva99 I feel sorry for you mate. 

But look, you can rewind and drop it. I don't allow this duality and non duality shit to impact my life. Like be smart. Spirituality is fine, but keep it out of your life purpose. And whatever you hear, it's never the ultimate truth, take it with a grain of salt and not let it delude or trap you. See even spirituality can become a trap if you go overboard, take all the good parts, if you see any part is messing with your life purpose or self actualization, immediately remove it or erase it from memory, spirituality is not just concepts and blabbering, but also action and real time love, by helping people with their psychological problems, you're practicing real spirituality, you're not doing what hypocritical people do all the time, simply convincing themselves that they are attaining greatness by discovering secrets of the universe, just be yourself, don't lose who you are in all this spirituality, I'd encourage you to pursue your psychology career again, do whatever it takes, set up clinic and start your practice, your life purpose is excellent, and at the same time it's spirituality in action, being stuck in concepts is dogma, set yourself free and pursue your life purpose whole heartedly you'll eventually forget what you learned and your brain will rewire so don't worry about it. 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Preety_India

[Leo Gura]

First of all, yeah, nonduality tends to upend one's plans and one's life. That's the point.

But also....

50 minutes ago, Shiva99 said:

i see that fundamentally al psychological problems mostly stem from ego and believing in your "own" thoughts. I feel like i would be cheating on people if i would show them a lot of empathy for their "problems", taking them serious, as they would only make them worse in the end, and not be a permanent solution. Also receiving money and making a living out of this this would feel kinda weird. I think for this to work right now, i would have to put on a huge mask and fake it. It just feels wrong.

You fundamentally misunderstand how nonduality connects with psychology.

Psychological problems are not fake. They are real and people suffer enormously from them. 99% of people are not ready for awakening or nonduality. Most people need years of remedial psychological work in order to bring them up to a functional level where nonduality might become a possibility for them. People need to be gradually guided up to nonduality. You can serve this important function.

Also, psychological problems and nonduality are not mutually exclusive. I know enlightened people who might still go and see a therapist. Enlightenment does not eliminate all of one's psychological problems. Much growth and work remains post-enlightenment. You are cheating yourself if you aren't empathetic towards people's psychological difficulties. Because that's Love.

Also, empathy for people's "problems" is an important part of enlightenment as it opens you up to Love. There is nothing fake about helping people at whatever level they are at.

There is a huge opportunity to combine nonduality & psychotherapy. Most therapists lack a deep existential foundation, which awakening would give you. You could become an extremely effective therapist, guiding people from the psychological into the mystical. Or you could focus your practice to cater to clients who are pursuing spirituality/nonduality. Making you an exceptional guru with a deep understanding of psychological issues that hold people back from awakening.

For most people the biggest obstacle to awakening is sorting through all of their psychological baggage, fear, insecurity, anger, and trauma.

Quote

"If you cannot weep with a person who is crying, there is no kensho." -- Yamada Koun

And more broadly speaking, the field of psychotherapy needs to be extended and integrated with nonduality for truly effective treatment. You can be a leader in this emerging trend.

Stop pitting life purpose against awakening. If anything, awakening should deepen your commitment to a life purpose. Just upgrade your LP. Make it big enough to align with awakening.

[Preety_India]

4 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Also, empathy for people's "problems" is an important part of enlightenment as it opens you up to Love. There is nothing fake about helping people at whatever level they are at.

Yea exactly mate @Shiva99, follow that. Spirituality is here forever eternally waiting. But don't let your life purpose be lost. Engage in it fully, it's the best way you serve your spiritual goals.

. I mean it's ok you follow non duality. But don't get too engrossed in language. Also think of action. 

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Preety_India

[Shiva99]

@Leo Gura @Preety_India Thanks both of you for answering my question so quickly. They make a lot of sense. I'm definitely going to contemplate on this. I see that i might have become stuck in dogma and deluded myself.   

[Preety_India]

 

@Shiva99  you're welcome mate. Goodluck on your journey. I'm 100 % sure you'll do great.  You have nothing to worry. 

 

 

[Skin-encapsulatedego]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Most people need years of remedial psychological work in order to bring them up to a functional level where nonduality might become a possibility for them. People need to be gradually guided up to nonduality. You can serve this important function.

Also, psychological problems and nonduality are not mutually exclusive. I know enlightened people who might still go and see a therapist. Enlightenment does not eliminate all of one's psychological problems. Much growth and work remains post-enlightenment. You are cheating yourself if you aren't empathetic towards people's psychological difficulties. Because that's Love.

Also, empathy for people's "problems" is an important part of enlightenment as it opens you up to Love. There is nothing fake about helping people at whatever level they are at.

There is a huge opportunity to combine nonduality & psychotherapy. Most therapists lack a deep existential foundation, which awakening would give you. You could become an extremely effective therapist, guiding people from the psychological into the mystical. Or you could focus your practice to cater to clients who are pursuing spirituality/nonduality. Making you an exceptional guru with a deep understanding of psychological issues that hold people back from awakening.

For most people the biggest obstacle to awakening is sorting through all of their psychological baggage, fear, insecurity, anger, and trauma.

Quote

@Leo Gura spitting fire.  This is essentially my plan for LP. 

[mandyjw]

@Shiva99 Have you looked into Carl Jung's work? Nonduality, psychology and even the mystical blend together beautifully. 

[mandyjw]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

And more broadly speaking, the field of psychotherapy needs to be extended and integrated with nonduality for truly effective treatment. You can be a leader in this emerging trend.

Yes! In my opinion the way we treat mental disorders now is going to be looked back at in the future the same way doctors delivering babies without washing their hands is now. 

[Loving Radiance]

@Shiva99 For me the inspiration for exploring psychotherapy & psychology was to help people through understanding them deeply and empathetically. Being very familiar with identity/ego has helped me a lot in understanding. This knowledge can be resourceful in therapy.

[LfcCharlie4]

@Leo Gura You stole the show on this one, there’s literally nothing to add to this thread lol, @Shiva99 essentially follow what Leo said, therapy and Non-Duality are not mutually exclusive. 
 

Btw who are you listening to that made you think this way? If it’s those bloody Neo Advaitans.....

but seriously Rupert explains it will, and how therapy is necessary for many! 
 

https://youtu.be/u9CaC_ukRGE

[Shiva99]

20 hours ago, mandyjw said:

@Shiva99 Have you looked into Carl Jung's work? Nonduality, psychology and even the mystical blend together beautifully. 

Barely scratched the surface of Jung. Definitely gonna get back into him. Thanks for reminding me.

[Shiva99]

15 hours ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

Btw who are you listening to that made you think this way? If it’s those bloody Neo Advaitans.....

but seriously Rupert explains it will, and how therapy is necessary for many! 
 

https://youtu.be/u9CaC_ukRGE

I think it's more of a misunderstanding from my part. Although the guy i'm following lacks empathy (immo), he's not that bad with his teachings. I'm not gonna share his name, it's not necessary.

Also thanks for the video, i like it. Rupert Spira is someone who i should listen more to. He's always on point. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Shiva99