Dealing with Criticism of Actualized

[twoosees]

Hey there to the community at large. I am an avid subscriber to Actualized since High School, age 15/16. I am 23 now.

having started with practical advice on Leo's channel, I became rather intrigued when he came with advanced teachings such as enlightenment. As we all know many people face cognitive dissonance( the feeling of conflicting ideas and approaches to learning and understanding reality) when it comes to such topics, and may others that he shares like Psychedelics. I have wrestled with some of my own at times, especially when it comes to conforming in a society such as mine, South African.

Yesterday I came across the Youtuber D'Angelo Wallace. a young person just like myself, criticizing the channel to be a cult of sorts. He makes a few rounds through trolling 'controversial people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxI61rB2N5g&t=282s

I talked about this with my brother, 17 going to 18, and he judged it on the basis of Leo advocating drugs for enlightenment, 5 meo DMT, which is so out of the context of the big picture understanding of the teachings. He listened to the sound bites and ran with what this Youtuber gave him. But I digress. It sort of hurt me to see that he is sinking into that line of propaganda, and also not being able to be open-minded about the nature of psychedelics. I understand that he might be coming from a limited perspective.

I go on like this to say it triggers a sense of not belonging, it started with my parents some years ago, and it feels like my brother is in that line of thinking this type of information coming from him is not acceptable. My identity feels defensive and harmed because I believe his work has helped me and also having verified direct experiences for myself 

How have the rest of you dealt with the experience of people not being open to Actualized? especially with close people?

[NoSelfSelf]

Accepted that they have no interest in this simple as that trying to force it on them is useless

[twoosees]

@NoSelfSelf Yeah. It is not easy and fairly sad that others are missing out on valuable work like this

Edited March 2, 2021 by twoosees

[Leo Gura]

The more advanced a teaching is, the less people will be open to it. It must be this way otherwise everyone would have already completed the work and there would be no work left to do.

The work turns out to be nothing other than opening the mind. That is the work.

[Thought Art]

The more you watch D'angelos video the more you see how much pain he is in, how much black and white thinking he ascribes too, how little research he has done, how self biased he is.

Awakened people need not worry about the opinions of unawakened people.

Though, yeah its hard.

Don't give your authority to anyone. The universe is your teacher. 

And, maybe keep some things to yourself for now. Not everyone needs to know how smart you or leo is.

People are going to be wary of Actualized.org being a cult and rightfully should be. Our minds are valuable and people want to make sure they are protecting themselves and their family. Leo talks about a lot of deep subjects which are very sensitive and it is a great responsibility. The goal is to open your mind, so remember to read many sources, contemplate, do the practices and open your mind as much as you can.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Thought Art

[RendHeaven]

Dangelo is a kid lol, I think he's my age (21 or close to it).

When he criticizes Leo, it's like a little puppy barking at a grizzly bear.

You and I observing this, why should we get upset?

Let's laugh at the humor of the moment. Perhaps even pity the puppy for its ignorance, but out of genuine care for the puppy (not self defense).

[Carl-Richard]

That is how drama youtubers survive. They're not incentivized to properly investigate what they're covering, because the majority of their audience is completely ignorant, and any person who tries to call them out gets drowned in the noise. Survival and ignorance is two sides of the same coin.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Carl-Richard

[Loving Radiance]

@twoosees

Once my older brother overheard a snippet of one of the videos in 2018, perhaps it was the radical implications of oneness. Needless to say that he said it was dangerous It is one thing to hear an idea and it is another thing to attach to it.

What I found is to have compassion for where they come from.

What is also good is to be aware what somebody can & can't understand (there are different ways of understanding & I found contemplation via journaling to be the approach to develop these other ways) and then after consideration to introduce Leo's material with guidance because his work is very easy to misunderstand. I suggested to some who are already viewing the world from a detached-involved systemic perspective to check out spiral dynamics. Leo is not for everyone. I even consider that people are more ready for SD than Leo because SD is not so threatening for the identity structure.

At first when I exposed myself to his material I was denying anything too far out there. Then it shifted to "I don't have experienced this, so everything said by him is a map for now".

You have no obligation to introduce your loved ones or anyone to Leo's work. However, if you feel someone - regardless how close you are - is ready to look behind the curtain, you can for sure introduce some topics to them. The tricky thing is to know when someone is ready.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Loving Radiance

[Megan Alecia]

@RendHeaven I'm seventeen, but I'm quite sure that my critical thinking ability is just as sharp as people I meet online. Be careful with disparaging people's opinions based solely on the criteria of their age. 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Megan Alecia

[Dryas]

D’angelos considered a really good drama commentator and he really might be, but his video on Actualized is so so bad.

I think if you wanna show something is a cult you need to first properly define it. What this guy basically did was equate any spiritual teaching with cult.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Dryas

[RendHeaven]

2 hours ago, Megan Alecia said:

@RendHeaven I'm seventeen, but I'm quite sure that my critical thinking ability is just as sharp as people I meet online. Be careful with disparaging people's opinions based solely on the criteria of their age. 

haha. you have no idea by what bounds and leaps you will have grown in 5, 10, or even 20 years. don't think for a second that you know yourself at only 17.

It's not a matter of critical thinking. It's a matter of experience and being humbled by life.

[Megan Alecia]

@RendHeaven no sir, experience and critical thinking do in fact go hand in hand. just look at 60 million adults who cast their votes to your former president. 

[RendHeaven]

1 hour ago, Megan Alecia said:

@RendHeaven no sir, experience and critical thinking do in fact go hand in hand. just look at 60 million adults who cast their votes to your former president. 

You got me there 

I should've been more clear:

With age, you're more likely to be "humbled by life," i.e. experienced. That is, experienced relative to your younger self.

Simply being old, as you've rightly pointed out, is no indicator of intelligence or wisdom, but I still do think it's a fair generalization that younger people tend to be less inexperienced, and hence less wise (to their future counterparts).

Even the moronic grandpa supporting trump has necessarily been through more and hence has a (marginally) wider realm of judgement relative to his 20 year old self.

D'angelo's particular inexperience is certainly tied to his age. I don't see him acting this way in 15 years from now.

As for you, I think it's great that you consider yourself sharp for your age. Please don't think I'm saying your age is a mental handicap. It's not. I'm just noticing that in 5, 10, or 20 years you will be whatever you are now x5, x10, x20, or even xinfinity. The same goes for me.

Edited March 3, 2021 by RendHeaven

[Roy]

I have a simple thought experiment for everyone here, if you never watched any Actualized.Org videos or their content before and randomly came across D'Angelo Wallace's video - What would you think of it? You'd probably laugh and go along with the criticisms of everyone else if you're honest.

The key point to appreciate is not everyone is going to get the context of what is being said, they will just judge it on face value. Nor will they probably even take the time to learn the context, what would you do if someone asked you to watch 10-100 videos prior to something else so they could "understand" it. You'd say "fuck you that's a waste of my time".

Not everyone is on the same journey @twoosees. Don't distract yourself from the nature of the work by trying to convert people or bring them on the same path. Everyone is exactly where they need to be.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Roy

[soos_mite_ah]

I watched D'Angelo Wallace's video on Leo. I watch D'Angelo's content every now and then and found his content entertaining. 

I think his video is a good representation of how any normal person who hasn't really looked into Leo's channel will view Actualized.org. I remember having these same exact thoughts when I first discovered Actualized.org. 

If you are the average person and then you encounter a series of videos on how this guy claims to be god, how you are god, and how you need to take this illegal and potentially dangerous substance to realize that, I think it is healthy to be skeptical of that. I went in to this mindset of skepticism but I still continued watching Leo's videos because I found them interesting and useful. I still take things with a grain of salt and I try to rely more on direct experience and additional sources before jumping to conclusions. 

But you have to understand, most people don't know about nonduality. Once you start learning about nonduality as a concept, even if it is only on theoretical terms instead of direct experience, Leo's videos make more sense. It becomes less about some crazy bald guy who claims to be the bearded man in the sky who you should worship and do everything he says and more nuanced because your understanding of god changes. Also, most people who do psychedelics don't do it with the intent of actualizing or for spiritual reasons. So I can see why someone would be concerned with people becoming addicted to it recreationally. 

I will admit that I did feel a little triggered when I saw D'Angelo make that video. But I think it's because I really like Actualized.org and as a result part of me identifies with it. Consequently, when someone critiques it, a little bit of defensiveness can get stirred up. For the most part I thought it was kind of funny to watch someone who doesn't have much exposure to spirituality freak out over this. I just brushed it off afterwards tbh. It's not that serious. I'm not saying D'Angelo is right or that I agree with him but I understand where he is coming from and why he would be freaked out. 

 

Also, don't try to convert people or change their opinions. There is already a perception of this place being a cult and pushing people to think a certain way will further cement the idea of this being a cult in their minds more IMO.

Edited March 3, 2021 by soos_mite_ah

[Nahm]

 

On 3/2/2021 at 1:53 AM, twoosees said:

How have the rest of you dealt with the experience of people not being open to Actualized? especially with close people?

It isn’t something that needs dealing with. You’re just believing it is. See why this is so, by letting that content (your original post) go from focus, as it’s served it’s purpose, and go to, feel & express the emotion. Via expression, more clarity and good feeling arises within, and what and where you do want to point that focus is readily, intuitively, seen. 

Or don’t.

What you think about and focus on isn’t really my business.  

There are no words I could say which could speak more intimately to you than the very suffering you are creating, by what & how you are focusing on. 

[SuicidalBug]

I understand your pain perfectly. It might not help you, but what always reassures me a bit is the thought that everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be at that exact moment. Think of the video he made as an experience that moved all kinds of people in all kinds of different ways.

Everything is alright, everything is always peace. Much love!

Edited March 4, 2021 by SuicidalBug

[ZenSwift]

On 3/1/2021 at 11:53 PM, twoosees said:

How have the rest of you dealt with the experience of people not being open to Actualized? especially with close people?

I used to have these issue quite a bit and struggled with it a lot. Not just with Leo but with other teachers as well. And videos like this are extremely frustrating and pathetic. I honestly even considered making videos in counteraction to people like this pointing out their ignorance and stupidity. But unfortunately, from my direct experience, if someone is set on their ideas, such an approach almost never would work in opening their mind to thinking otherwise. PLUS, doing that would be focusing on the lesser jihad and not the greater jihad. See: "Understanding Islam - What Most People Misunderstand" https://youtu.be/Fe3iqJ6hTGA

(On my journey, I have had to leave entire tribes of people because they were too ignorant and close minded, and as a result they were toxic as fuck and even made fun of me for it. As you self actualize further, expect to alienate pretty much 99% of the people that you've been around your whole life. You can still have a connection with them, but you'll never be able to talk about deep metaphysical truths because it's just way outside of their scope of understanding. The self actualization path is a lonely one, but you do find new, higher consciousness people along your journey, but in the end this game is a solo one.)

You realize that playing games of "who's in the right" is nonsense. It helped me a lot by digging through old threads where Leo addressed it and was completely unphased by it because he saw it for the distraction it was. And that's pretty much what it is, a distraction from you doing the personal work. If you get emotionally upset about this, that's an amazing opportunity to turn inward, feel inward, and contemplate about what the hell is going on. 

 

The bottom line is, as you become more conscious, you'll realize that they are simply ignorant of what they're talking about. If they knew about actualized.org with as much depth as you knew, they wouldn't make such videos and criticisms. When you really step in their shoes and really realize that their actions are just a function of their ignorance, you'll be able to empathize with them and understand them from where they're at. That empathy will set you free. The more conscious you become, the less this nonsense bothers you.

 

Simply put, if they truly knew what they were talking about, they would not be saying what they are saying.

[ZenSwift]

On 3/2/2021 at 5:34 PM, Roy said:

Everyone is exactly where they need to be.

I really love this. 

[John Paul]

If you've grown and "verified direct experiences" yourself you can feel good about that without other's approval. The only person you should worry about controlling if you're going to worry about that is yourself, so why not use your energy to imagine a scenario where you love your family for whatever bullshit they buy into and at the same time value your own knowledge, experiences and, community while not letting anyone talk down to you. I'm guessing you feel alone because you have opened your mind and you feel like your loved ones haven't.. maybe you should also consider how many things your parents have experienced that you haven't, many of them they will probably never even tell you. You could also imagine being at ease with millions buying into propaganda, hating you because they are perceiving you as a member of a group or community etc. and you being unscathed by this. 

I could also be wrong about many, many things. Ask God or whatever; ask the silence