Should I stick to spirituality?

[RubenThaller2001]

Hello everybody,

Maybe you have read my last post on this forum. 
The post is now about 2 months old. That is now as long as I am engaged in the subject of spirituality. 

So I am an absolute newbie. 
I have no problem admitting that. 
I came across the videos on advanced spirituality by chance, because I learned a lot from leo and I wanted to hear his views on god. 
I of course knew nothing about it and was shocked at what he said. (Mainly solopsism)

Since the teachings from the videos I had seen from him before were always very practical, I (like many newbies) took his statements literally.

Of course, this led to a lot of confusion and disillusionment, which is why I wrote the post before. 
What happened next is fairly typical, I demonized leo, watched videos saying that leo is a psycho leading a cult etc.... 
I spent hours going through the forum looking at similar posts about god and solopsism. I noticed that there is a lot of disagreement and even aggression within this topic. It didn't feel like the topic was "positive", at least not yet for me.

I am just not sure if spirituality is for me. I have always tended to get caught up in things mentally and I could imagine that I am not "up to" spirituality.  
I am afraid of losing touch with reality and getting caught up in "mental stuff".

Of course, I am absolutely not enlightened and I have never taken psychodelics.
Nor do I have any idea what it is exactly.

I honestly do not know exactly what kind of answer I expect here.

What's happening is that I'm trying to fit the things I've read/heard/seen into my current understanding of everything, and I keep coming across inconsistencies that are driving me crazy.

However, I would like to know what you think about it. Is spirituality for everyone? 
Can one "practice" spirituality? For beginners, so to speak.
Are there any philosophers/teachers that I should read to get started with this topic?

How did you came into spirituality?

Or should I rather delete my account on this site and never stumble across advanced spirituality again?

Honestly, I'm just a 21 year old dude who watched videos from actualized to improve his life (which always worked great).  
But this time I feel kind of trapped and don't really know what to do.

Hopefully the post does not seem funny and I am happy about any serious feedback.
Thanks

[Yimpa]

5 minutes ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

What's happening is that I'm trying to fit the things I've read/heard/seen into my current understanding of everything, and I keep coming across inconsistencies that are driving me crazy.

Yes, that’s good observation. Spiritual progress is  linear; in an illusory sense. With that said, of course you’ll have some interesting experience now, only to have a completely different experience the next. Yet, even the changing appearances is imagined by no one other than you. 

[Moksha]

1 hour ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

I am just not sure if spirituality is for me. I have always tended to get caught up in things mentally and I could imagine that I am not "up to" spirituality.  
I am afraid of losing touch with reality and getting caught up in "mental stuff".

The purpose of spirituality is learning not to get caught up in things mentally, and to see reality truly. Meditation is a good first step.

There are a lot of people who lose themselves within their imagination, and mistake it for spirituality. Anything that ensnares you in the unreal is egoic, and only leads to suffering.

Look for teachings that help you master your thoughts, and take you deeper into directly realizing your absolute nature.

[WelcometoReality]

6 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

How did you came into spirituality?

Or should I rather delete my account on this site and never stumble across advanced spirituality again?

Honestly, I'm just a 21 year old dude who watched videos from actualized to improve his life (which always worked great).  
But this time I feel kind of trapped and don't really know what to do.

Hopefully the post does not seem funny and I am happy about any serious feedback.
Thanks

I came into spirituality for the truth which I always have been interested in. If you're interested in that aswell then go for it but it can be a hard journey to take. I suggest you read about the dark night of the soul and ask yourself if you're willing to go through it before you decide that spirituality is for you.

6 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

So I am an absolute newbie. 
I have no problem admitting that. 
I came across the videos on advanced spirituality by chance, because I learned a lot from leo and I wanted to hear his views on god. 
I of course knew nothing about it and was shocked at what he said. (Mainly solopsism)

Since the teachings from the videos I had seen from him before were always very practical, I (like many newbies) took his statements literally.

Of course, this led to a lot of confusion and disillusionment, which is why I wrote the post before. 
What happened next is fairly typical, I demonized leo, watched videos saying that leo is a psycho leading a cult etc.... 
I spent hours going through the forum looking at similar posts about god and solopsism. I noticed that there is a lot of disagreement and even aggression within this topic. It didn't feel like the topic was "positive", at least not yet for me.

You assumed what Leo said was true without having realized it yourself. And that's what we all do to some extent in the beginning. My advice though is to not assume anything is true. If you decide spirituality is for you then look for yourself. Everything is there in your own experience. If you start investigating it things will start to unravel.

[Princess Arabia]

@RubenThaller2001 we never stumble across anything in life by accident. There's a reason you're here. It's up to you to recognize this and take the inspired action so the Universe can experience itself through you. You may feel some resistance to this because the lower self doesn't understand that it's not in charge and the mind may come up with all sorts of rationality as to why you were led to this path. Listen to your gut, go with your intuition. Does it feel good. Does it intuitively resonate or are you being influenced by outside forces. I recommend you take it in slowly, try not to analyze or judge anything in the beginning, have an open mind and go with whatever feels more natural. The heart always knows. 

[Tanz]

If you feel there are area's in your life that are more important then you should focus on those things.  ie survival, making money, developing healthy relationships 

[Breakingthewall]

@RubenThaller2001

spirituality is getting out of the domain of the mind to realize and be the reality. the ego mind is very powerful and irretrievably absorbs us. you have to do a serious job to identify how far it goes and be able to detach yourself from it. Regarding solipsism, it is something very silly and toxic. Let's see, if what we want is to separate ourselves from the mind and get into the now, what is the point of substituting one mental construction for another, which is also psychotic? solipsism can help you wake up in the sense of making you see that there is nothing outside of you, you are reality, but you must not take it literally, as people do, who get stuck there

[Yimpa]

You won’t believe it, but spirituality is the worst thing that can happen to you. 

Thank God!

You’re welcome 

[Arthogaan]

I would recommend you to try different teachers. Each of them has their POV and different vibe. You can resonate with some more. They may be more loving and cheerful than Leo, less head-space more heart-space to balance things out.

[WeCome1]

@RubenThaller2001

If you are into "self-development", I assume that the fundamental reason why is because you want a FULL life - a life filled to the brim with joy, beauty, meaning, fulfillment and peace. The longer you are on this path, the more you will notice that "worldly" things don't provide profound and lasting fulfillment; yes, they fill you up temporary, but there's always a need for "more" which can never quite be satisfied. Sooner or later there comes a point when you realize that no "finite" external thing will bring you that fundamental satisfaction - only "an infinite thing" with all the positive attributes you could imagine fully maxed out is capable of doing that. That thing is what "spiritual folks" call God .

Spirituality is a sustained effort to 1) search for that thing and 2) prepare yourself physically and mentally to process it. Because, believe it or not, once you find it, the problem is not "will it, finally, fulfill me?" - it's "how much of this infinite fulfillment can I take?"

You have a very important advantage: because you are young and do not seem to have an immediate pressing need for ANSWERS(TM) (you are not "a seeker") - you are not in a rush. Which means you can pursue spirituality exactly as you (hopefully) do with your Life Purpose and finances - as a very long-term investment. The results of spiritual practice may not look particularly earth-shattering in the beginning, but they certainly tend to compound: over a couple of years of sustained reasonable effort, your baseline fulfillment and the idea of what's possible will be on another quantum level.

Do a bit of research, pick one of the major tried and true systems that is "complete" in a sense that it works with your body, nervous system, mental models as well as discipline and expansion of consciousness. Yoga is one example, but certainly not the only one. Don't fill your mind with too many "advanced spirituality" stories - if you "stick to the manual" and just practice for some time, your worldview will change and expand enough to accommodate those realizations - and they will come, because they are sort of always here, just waiting for you.

I myself did the exact opposite - had a pressing need for ANSWERS and just brute-forced my way to the Truth (TM) sacrificing pretty much all else in my life. Retrospectively, however, I can confidently say that a gradual path of "lots of harmony and love first - and answers a bit later in due course" is much more preferable, if you have the luxury of a choice.

Spirituality IS worth pursuing; it's the single best investment you can make - but not a get-rich-quick scheme. I hope it works out for you. 

[kylan11]

16 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

I spent hours going through the forum looking at similar posts about god and solopsism. I noticed that there is a lot of disagreement and even aggression within this topic. It didn't feel like the topic was "positive", at least not yet for me.

Totally agree. This seems to be a common phenomenon in virtually every online spirituality-focused community I've encountered. Don't let this discourage you, though. The main reason is simply Ego corruption. You see, when faced with "IT", our illusory individual identity quickly constructs new beliefs to grasp onto in an attempt to regain control. This is particularly common when awakening is abrupt and induced by a substance, rather than resulting from a "spontaneous" experience often precipitated by years of meditation practice. The majority of us in this space belong to the former category.

The problem is that these beliefs are corrupted and influenced by the person (Ego) forming them. The person isn't aware that these are memories and mental constructs and clings to them as if they were Truth itself. And since the identification is so strong, there tends to be disagreement and even aggression. Leo himself is guilty of this. But these are human affairs and have no impact on spirituality in its essence, which defies logic and human language, and is therefore impossible to articulate accurately.

16 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

How did you came into spirituality?

Randomly. A friend of mine brought mushrooms, I was curious to try them, and what happened later was definitely not what I had signed up for. It was so much more than just taking a drug. It changed my life. Saved it, in a sense.

I would genuinely recommend you try a psychedelic experience to see what the fuss is all about. Then you come back, tell us about it, and work to establish a spiritual practice that can elevate your baseline consciousness.

Please note, there's no obligation to use psychedelics. They are simply tools that have the power to provide an immediate glimpse into the vast potential within our consciousness.

[RubenThaller2001]

@WeCome1

 

Thanks for your reply

That really sounds like something worth striving for.

I still don't understand one thing... it still drives me crazy. The other people don't exist?

How is that to be understood? Do you go through everyday life as an enlightened person and think that all people here did not exist at all?

Is this a metaphor to make it clear to you that I am creating my reality? I probably can't understand this, but literally taken, it's of course hard to accept.

[Yimpa]

53 minutes ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

The other people don't exist?

They exist in your imagination. 

53 minutes ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

How is that to be understood? Do you go through everyday life as an enlightened person and think that all people here did not exist at all?

I tried that. It’s fun, until you realize even that game comes and goes 

53 minutes ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

I probably can't understand this, but literally taken, it's of course hard to accept.

You are under no obligation to take anything literally or accept anything just because it appears to be real. 

[Princess Arabia]

1 hour ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

@WeCome1

 

Thanks for your reply

That really sounds like something worth striving for.

I still don't understand one thing... it still drives me crazy. The other people don't exist?

How is that to be understood? Do you go through everyday life as an enlightened person and think that all people here did not exist at all?

Is this a metaphor to make it clear to you that I am creating my reality? I probably can't understand this, but literally taken, it's of course hard to accept.

Its not that you exists and I don't as humans. The Universe is holographic; and one holographic being cannot differentiate the difference between another holographic being. We are holograms of the one Source. No-thing and Everything exists simultaneously. You and I are Source (God) existing from a different perspective in God's mind. You are the one observing the body/mind. You are God and only God exists. You are the Universe pretending to be human. You get to experience a part of the Infinite, which is you. You are experiencing yourself as Source, so am I, but it's the one Source . The same thing looking through your eyes is the same thing looking through mine. You are me and I am you. The real eternal you, that is...not the egoic mind or the apparent separate self. There is no self, only God appearing as a self. Your imagination is God and you are imagining everything including yourself. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Princess Arabia

[Yimpa]

3 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

Is this a metaphor to make it clear to you that I am creating my reality? 

It is clear to me that you are creating our reality.

[RubenThaller2001]

Thanks for trying to give me an idea of it.

I think that one has to experience something like this in order to understand it, otherwise it only leads to disillusionment and distortion.

[Yimpa]

@RubenThaller2001 You don’t have to. You love to!

[WeCome1]

8 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

I still don't understand one thing... it still drives me crazy. The other people don't exist?

How is that to be understood? Do you go through everyday life as an enlightened person and think that all people here did not exist at all?

Here is a silly little example that gives you the feel of what kind of a change the "enlightened" mind experiences. Imagine that you are not 180 cm tall - but rather a 1000 meters tall; and all your surroundings are also scaled up proportionally; so you are now a "giant" in a "giant world". Try to really feel this for a minute. Do you see the nature of the "change" that took place? "Everything is exactly the same - but feels different"; it has been recontextualized. Well, it is sort of the same principle with the "enlightenment": it is realized that this "world" you see in front of you is not a "world" - but something RADICALLY different, grandiose and magical - it just happens to look like a "world" right now. Exactly THIS same thing - but something else entirely; the false framing of the raw data is dropped; a more appropriate framing is adopted later. "More appropriate" does not mean "true" - all of them are false, but some - less so.

So, no - enlightened people don't go around thinking "all those other people don't exist". Rather, they have stopped thinking "all those other people do exist". The whole thing is actually way, WAAAAYYYY beyond anything that could possibly be put into words; it's not that "there are no other people" - its much "worse" than that. For this reason, I'm of the opinion that trying to think about and understand metaphysical claims like "there are no others", "all is one is nothing is god is me" etc is pretty much a waste of time, and you are much better off spending this effort on thinking about how to practice spirituality properly, doing the techniques and learning to think straight. And then, once the WTF-moments start happening - you will have your own experience to ask questions about and to discuss. And then spiritual metaphysical models will come in handy.

Edited June 15, 2023 by WeCome1

[Breakingthewall]

9 hours ago, RubenThaller2001 said:

still don't understand one thing... it still drives me crazy. The other people don't exist?

Everything exist. 

Think about one thing: reality is limitless, it is infinite. do you understand the scope of this? infinite. implies that everything is infinite. a piece of shit on the ground is total infinity. and within it there are infinite infinities, abysses of infinity, infinite universes within each subatomic particle, and within them, infinite shits on the ground within which there are infinite multiverses. and all those infinities are one: you. the magnitude of what you are is aberrantly infinite. but, in the other hand, your pov is absolute. there is nothing outside of it. Outside don't exist. It's infinite. it's reality. you will never leave your pov because that is what you are, and you will always exist. paradoxical? not really. the mechanics of infinity is governed by laws that are not attached to the dimensions that we know. In short, the people you meet on the street are imagined by you, and at the same time real with their pov, that is your pov, in the same place, in the same moment, now. But you are blind to it, you only can see what you can see, for now. 

 

[Yimpa]

It’s like walking into a church and asking a priest if you should go to church every Sunday… 

Priest: “You don’t have to. We’re also open on Saturdays!”