Leo's Practical Guide To Enlightenment

[Seed]

So tell me Leo.. Why all the detailed videos on the physical and phycological differences between men and women... And how we must understand these differences in order to co exist... When all is just an illusion anyway ? Bodies don't exist... Brains don't exist... Therefore men and women don't exist? But in your video you speak for an hour about all these supposed 'facts' of the two sexes. Sexes which form bodies and brains. If they arnt real, why create a video about them? 

It's a contradiction surely? 

[Leo Gura]

@whiterabbit You're just not deep enough yet. Still clinging to materiality, still hypnotized by the illusion. Like a heroin addict hoping to score another hit.

@Scholar The True Self is not an identification of the mind. It's beyond the mind entirely. You're confusing enlightenment itself with the experiential after-effects. You can't really put the Truth into words. But you can live it because you are it.

@Seed You are conflating relative truth with absolute truth, and different levels of understanding and functioning. Every dream has its own ruleset. That's what defines a dream. The absolute contains all dreams and all rulesets. Given that you are stuck in this dream, its helpful to learn how to navigate it successfully. You don't want to step in front of a bus, even if you know it's an illusion. The bus illusion will still kill the physical self illusion. There are rules to the Matrix. The absolute is about realizing what the Matrix actually is, not about manipulating the Matrix.

There is no contradiction at all. Men and women have different psychologies and physiologies. And at the same time you are not a man or a woman at all. But that does not mean there are no practical differences between how men and women interact.

[whiterabbit]

@Leo Gura So what are you proposing exactly as an alternative? To score another hit of psychedelic every once in a while to spend some extra time in the multiverse.... just to come back to this dream? I do not mention meditation because you can sit your ass off as much as you want, without going on a psychedelic trip. Interesting that at the same time you say to Seed 'you're stuck here' and that jumping in front of a car isn't so smart given the rules of the dreams. So... since you're in the dream when your girlfriend flies to visit you or you see your family, what do you do, you love them and make the most of your time although impermanent or you tell them 'get out of here, you holograms... I got work to do to get out of here and into the multiverse. You mean nothing'..?

[Leo Gura]

@whiterabbit Being conscious of Maya makes you appreciate it MORE, not less. You can enjoy Maya responsibly.

You are always in the multiverse. You don't need to score psychedelics to be there. You're already there! You just have to realize it. There is nowhere to go but where you are.

[PG13]

@Leo Gura What retreats, workshops, ashrams, etc. have you attended that you would recommend?  I've attended several of Peter Ralston's workshops and enjoyed them very much.  I'm looking for other opportunities to guide my journey toward the Truth.  Thanks.

[Afonso]

@Leo Gura So, I want to keep sharing my progress so far.

Your video on Concentration vs. Meditation really helped me a lot to steady my mind and now I can keep it very, very, very still during Meditation and Self-Inquiry. It gives me a huge emotional stability and equanimity. This helps to face emotional resistance and turmoil in every-day life and also when I'm doing this kind of consciousness work.

So I'm doing Meditation, Self-Inquiry and Concentration daily.

I feel very motivated doing Self-Inquiry now. I'm reading lots of books, including your book-list. I am experiencing interesting phenomena.

1) I feel huge pressures in my head. Headaches/pressure, whatever the name for the pain is. The pressure increases when meditating/concentrating/self-inquiring. It hurts.

2) I dropped all the intellectual stuff because I'm at a point where I no longer identify with thoughts, so it's pointless. Also, I don't feel the need to ask the question "Who am I?", although I occasionally do it, because I can easily "tune in" to the intention. Please let me know if this is wrong or if you don't understand.

3) I notice a lot of memories bubbling up and A LOT of energy coursing through my body, specially with Self-Inquiry.

4) My mind has become very very still, or at least a lot more calm in contrast to my experience previous to the concentration habit.

I also like to ask myself "Who am I?" outside the cushion. It's hard for me to do this kind of work "as just a hobby/side project", so I tend to constantly think about it throughout the day.

What advice do you have for me? Are the things I'm experiencing common or relatable? The pain in my head has been bothering me a lot. It was present when I did Meditation, but now with Concentration and Self-Inquiry it's much heavier. It permeates the eyes, jaw, teeth, the sides, front and back of the head and also from within the head.

Thanks 

Edited May 1, 2017 by Afonso

[Leo Gura]

@Afonso Sounds like you're doing good. Just keep at it. Everything that arises is part of your path, just accept it and keep going.

Try to keep your face and body very relaxed as you do all this.

Other kinds of exercises could help alleviate energetic build-ups, like yelling, babbling, jumping, stretching, dancing, etc. You might want to experiment with that.

[Afonso]

@Leo Gura I hope you get enlightened while still keeping your Youtube Channel active. Hah, that would be pretty sweet.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Afonso

[Russell Parr]

@Leo Gura, are you enlightened?

edit: I guess I'll add that I am not necessarily questioning Leo's credentials; I'm just curious what he would say if someone were to ask him. Of course, coming from me makes the situation a bit different since I have been speaking authoritatively about enlightenment.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Russell Parr

[ZX_man]

On 12/19/2016 at 5:30 PM, Leo Gura said:

Understand that enlightenment happens always only in the NOW. Never in the future. You can be enlightened RIGHT THIS SECOND! You don't need to wait 3 years. Always intend to become enlightened right now!

Eckhart Tolle

[Leo Gura]

@Russell Parr No

[Russell Parr]

John,

8 hours ago, John Flores said:

The approach of "I am not enlightned" is the proper approach for everyone who is not CONSTANTLY fully aware that he/she is bringing everything into existence with a story-like construct from moment to moment. To realize that you are not the character in the story, but the billions of characters that you constantly come across, is scary (for the ego). It takes a gradual process and journey to realize that this is you and that it is okay to accept your own perfection. 

This is mostly good stuff, but then,

8 hours ago, John Flores said:

The angels are astounded at us and say "wow he/she is so humble, they don't even realize their own magnificence". This is  because through the descension of the worlds or higher dimensional realities (or "sephiroth" in Kabbala) your soul is folded in on itself to create a thicker version of the perfection from higher realms. On Earth our good deeds reverberate astounding levels of positive energy within every good thought we have, which cannot be fathomed from our Earthly existence which does not usually experience the divine bliss of higher dimensional reality of divine love. This paradigm is changing  though.

In other words, enlightenment is realizing your Godly perfection that the angels are constantly basking in just by following  you around. This state of being invovles a journey that we all will experience. 

This is too fantastical for me. I'm not sure how literal you are being here.

[Russell Parr]

@Leo Gura FWIW, I think you're right there.

[Key Elements]

 

[Shin]

"If I am in control, why can't I stop my heart beating ?"

 

LOOK AT YOUR HEARTH BEAT AND YOUR BELLY MOVING ALL BY THEMSELVES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by Shin

[Afonso]

@Leo Gura

I'm curious.

If you're enlightened, then anything that happens to the ego is not relevant. Why did your enlightened friend refuse a higher dosage after puking? After all, all that puking must haven't caused any suffering, if he indeed does not identify with his ego, right?

Edited May 19, 2017 by Afonso

[Shin]

@Afonso You don't identify with it, but the emotions are still there, so technically he could still be a pussy.
It's not because you don't identify with a certain emotions/thoughts that it doesn't scare you, you just know it's not you talking to yourself.
It doesn't really change anything to your life (practically I mean), if you were a pussy, you'll still be a pussy, that's something you'll have to work on enlightened or not.

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Shin

[Leo Gura]

6 hours ago, Afonso said:

@Leo Gura

I'm curious.

If you're enlightened, then anything that happens to the ego is not relevant. Why did your enlightened friend refuse a higher dosage after puking? After all, all that puking must haven't caused any suffering, if he indeed does not identify with his ego, right?

Your notions of enlightenment are WAY too idealized. That's not how it works in the real world. You do not become the Terminator, asking for more and more pain.

You can disidentify with ego all you want, but the pain and discomfort may still be there. You may be in horrible pain. But deep down you'll just know it's not what you are. That doesn't make the pain disappear.

And when the body is having a violent reaction, that's not up to you. That's the body doing its thing. Just because you're enlightened doesn't mean that when you get food poisoning, you go back for a second poisoned meal. That would be plain stupid.

There are also many degrees of enlightenment. He was not some kind of hardcore Zen Master who sleeps on a bed of nails.

I would expect a powerful chemical like 5-MeO to freak out the most hardcore of people. It's like a shotgun blast in the face.

[Guest username]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

There are also many degrees of enlightenment. He was not some kind of hardcore Zen Master who sleeps on a bed of nails.

I would expect a powerful chemical like 5-MeO to freak out the most hardcore of people. It's like a shotgun blast in the face.

Do you think it's possible to become enlightened enough to be unaffected by a breakthrough dose of 5-MeO, that is, can you be so enlightened  that you are at that level of consciousness permanently?

[Leo Gura]

@username You are confusing enlightenment with experiences and behavioral changes.

It's like asking, "If I know that 1+1=2, will that make me immune to a rattlesnake bite?"