How can I stay aware and enlightened in a busy culture and society

[freddyteisen]

When I’m alone I try to practice enlightenment and sometimes it really works especially with Leo’s guided inquiries Where I become very aware.

But it is so hard to stay enlightened in society, it is so hard not to play into my role in culture/society:

I have always believed I’m a boy from Denmark (now 21) who has an athletic body, likes to play tennis, do gymnastics, have a nice family of economists, lawyers and who are doing well.

I use Instagram and Facebook where I post pictures of friends, experiences and me.

I am high ranked in tennis in Denmark, I go to University and study IT and business

I want to look good outwardly. And ego-wise/“survival-wise” im doing good. But I really just think I pressure myself. How is it possible to surrender all this that I think is my identity? 

It’s so hard to not believe Im this young man, part of a family, Danish citizen.

But instead believe im actually not this body or face when I look in the mirror, I’m not part of a family, I’m just awareness.

It’s reAaaaaalllyy difficult to change that, and detach from all my stories of my life.

 

please help me, do I get happier the less I feed my ego with more “success” to my ego, and instead slow down and do less, and “erase” my ego more? 
Be less on social media, with friends, increasing ranking, but instead doing more guided awareness work with Leo’s videos?

Edited December 5, 2023 by freddyteisen

[Breakingthewall]

I would say that it is an advantageous situation, little trauma to deal with, but on the other hand, a lot of inertia that is very difficult to avoid. If you want to dive deep, it is a vital path. The exterior must be equal to the interior. Then imo, if you really want openness, you have to do psychedelics. and meditation for a long time each day, empty time, without reading or doing anything. looking inward, opening your being. You have to have a strong desire to see, to open, and this is often accompanied by an attitude towards life in which the exterior, work, relationships, are important but secondary things. the main one is one: reality, opening yourself up, going deeper into what you are.

[Dodo]

11 minutes ago, freddyteisen said:

When I’m alone I try to practice enlightenment and sometimes it really works especially with Leo’s guided inquiries Where I become very aware.

But it is so hard to stay enlightened in society, it is so hard not to play into my role in culture/society:

I have always believed I’m a boy from Denmark (now 21) who has an athletic body, likes to play tennis, do gymnastics, have a nice family of economists, lawyers and who are doing well.

I use Instagram and Facebook where I post pictures of friends, experiences and me.

I am high ranked in tennis in Denmark, I go to University and study IT and business

I want to look good outwardly. And ego-wise/“survival-wise” im doing good. But I really just think I pressure myself. How is it possible to surrender all this that I think is my identity? 

It’s so hard to not believe Im this young man, part of a family, Danish citizen.

But instead believe im actually not this body or face when I look in the mirror, I’m not part of a family, I’m just awareness.

It’s reAaaaaalllyy difficult to change that, and detach from all my stories of my life.

 

please help me, do I get happier the less I feed my ego with more “success” to my ego, and instead slow down and do less, and “erase” my ego more? 
Be less on social media, with friends, increasing ranking, but instead doing more guided awareness work with Leo’s videos?

Brother, you don't have to renounce your physical identity, just let the light of awareness shine through your unique vessel. You are both the lamp and the light that shines through. Its not two different things that need to be detatched, one of them needs the other and vice versa. 

Two sides of the same coin. Your body is nothing but awareness. As long as you are present and not overthinking, you're good to go in the modern world. 

[Javfly33]

Is a matter of identity. God needs to stop believing is a little human body or a human mind.

This won´t stop from God to keep using that body or mind/social persona. Is just that you will use it as you use your car or your bicycle. Knowing now you own it, but is not you.  

For that, an Infinite Awakening is needed. 

[Dodo]

1 minute ago, Javfly33 said:

Is a matter of identity. God needs to stop believing is a little human body or a human mind.

This won´t stop from God to keep using that body or mind/social persona. Is just that you will use it as you use your car or your bicycle. Knowing now you own it, but is not you.  

For that, an Infinite Awakening is needed. 

I disagree, i have no evidence that the body is anything other than awareness. When has your body ever been separate from awareness? They are the same thing. No infinite awakening needed, those are some mind games of impossible feats, when it couldnt be more simple.

[Basman]

It's true we live in a very busy and hectic society. But then again, human kind has always been kind of busy. I believe that having rituals through out the day can help us keep us more grounded and self-aware, that demarcate between work and not-work.

I meditate every morning as well as work to integrate other habits that might improve the quality of my mental space. I avoid getting worked up as much as possible through out the day. I find that being appreciative of the small things make the daily bustle more bearable and I'm less focused on myself.

[Breakingthewall]

Spirituality is something very mysterious, no one of us knows what we are talking about I would say. I would say that Leo has admitted that everything he has said about God is imaginary. I remember a statement of him: when you have the alien awakening you realize that the god that was shown to us was only because as humans we cannot bear to see more, but reality is infinitely complicated. For me that means: everything I said until now was not like that, or at least a lot

Edited December 5, 2023 by Breakingthewall

[Javfly33]

12 minutes ago, Dodo said:

I disagree, i have no evidence that the body is anything other than awareness. When has your body ever been separate from awareness? They are the same thing. No infinite awakening needed, those are some mind games of impossible feats, when it couldnt be more simple.

But I never said you are Awareness. 

[Dodo]

33 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

But I never said you are Awareness. 

Did you say God then? As if that loaded term is a better pointer? Lmao. "God need to stop believing he's a little human body or mind" .. Gosh darn! So in your mind God is big AF and human is puny little thing? What if God is the smallest thing? 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Dodo

[Breakingthewall]

1 hour ago, freddyteisen said:

I have always believed I’m a boy from Denmark (now 21) who has an athletic body, likes to play tennis, do gymnastics, have a nice family of economists, lawyers and who are doing well.

I use Instagram and Facebook where I post pictures of friends, experiences and me.

I am high ranked in tennis in Denmark, I go to University and study IT and business

People like you are usually not interested in spirituality. They are usually people with difficult lives, negativity, suffering. Maybe that means you have a genuine inclination toward mysticism.

[Dodo]

56 minutes ago, Breakingthewall said:

People like you are usually not interested in spirituality. They are usually people with difficult lives, negativity, suffering. Maybe that means you have a genuine inclination toward mysticism.

Dan Millman vibes, right?

@freddyteisen check out the book/movie the peaceful warrior. It's about a gymnast and spirituality 🤸‍♂️ 

 

Maybe you find answers you need in there.

Trailer: 

And here's the full movie: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y5w3_7j65Kc

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Dodo

[cetus]

@freddyteisen Stick with it and it will all integrate over time. You're young and off to a great start. Some may not discover what you have until their 30's 40's or even later. Cudos to you!

[Princess Arabia]

37 minutes ago, Dodo said:

Dan Millman vibes, right?

@freddyteisen check out the book/movie the peaceful warrior. It's about a gymnast and spirituality 🤸‍♂️ 

 

Maybe you find answers you need in there.

Trailer: 

And here's the full movie: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y5w3_7j65Kc

 

 

I opened up a Mega Thread for Spiritual movie trailers/documentaries. Can you post that movie trailer and the link over there please. It's in the Off-Topic/Entertainment section. Thanks. Would love to add that to the collection.

[Princess Arabia]

2 hours ago, Dodo said:

Brother, you don't have to renounce your physical identity, just let the light of awareness shine through your unique vessel. You are both the lamp and the light that shines through. Its not two different things that need to be detatched, one of them needs the other and vice versa. 

Two sides of the same coin. Your body is nothing but awareness. As long as you are present and not overthinking, you're good to go in the modern world. 

I like this advice and that's what I try to do. I can't even separate the two even if I tried. 

[ivankiss]

By being a cool outsider that comes in and out and does seemingly magical things. 

[gettoefl]

you are all that on the level of form and from all appearances it sounds like you have a most enviable human existence

you are spirit as well as form and this work is about balancing those because what is certain about form is one day you have it next you don't

thus it is good to explore your true nature not just enjoy your seeming nature

things like meditation, studying/researching spirituality, purification, contemplation, lifestyle discipline etc. are all helpful

basically it is about knowing who you are so you don't need to be a slave to what the world is telling you

it is doing what is best for you and not simply making the world happy

wishing you well, you seem a lovely man, and hope you will knuckle down to what we are all telling you

[An young being]

10 hours ago, freddyteisen said:

please help me, do I get happier the less I feed my ego with more “success” to my ego, and instead slow down and do less, and “erase” my ego more? 

Be less on social media, with friends, increasing ranking, but instead doing more guided awareness work with Leo’s videos?

You don't have to erase your ego, you just have to let your thoughts not intrude your experiences. Practicing mindfulness is the key, and you can integrate it into your everyday life, meaning you can be mindful all throughout the day. Don't make even that as a goal, instead practice mindfulness for a set time everyday, slowly increasing it every week. Habit is the key for mindfulness, don't try to be mindful the very next day all throughout the day, since time is on your side. Everyone advices to be mindful, but nobody creates that simple habit . ( Including me, I am eating while typing this, ha ha!). 

Combine mindfulness along with loving kindness and gratitude meditations, remember that trying to be selfless is as important as trying to know the truth. Both complement each other in weird ways. Enhance your definition of success and purpose with creating a positive effect towards society. It tremendously rewards you in terms of happiness. It can be either active or passive and needn't be something huge.  It's not about erasing your ego, it's about expanding it as much as possible, and being compassionate and grateful helps those goals.

Stop consuming all the intellectual content all over the internet that tells you that you don't exist, you are the only one who exist, you don't have any free will, you don't have any purpose,blah blah blah..., without the experience itself that lead to all these interpretations. Use them to increase your interest towards Spirituality rather than using them to come to conclusions. 

Before venturing into any deep meditative or psychedelic practices ( although I don't personally recommend psychedelics at this stage) and interpreting any spiritual experiences, make your mind as open as possible, which expands your ego even further. The more you expand your ego, the lighter and less sensitive it becomes, and the easier it becomes for you to handle the insights from the experience. Sitting alone and enquiring what beliefs and biases let to the words you spoke, the thoughts you created and the actions you have taken is one way of developing open mindedness. You should be open minded enough to realise that all the logical interpretations you and others make out of the spiritual experiences may not be the ultimate truth, for its your logical mind interpreting the so called truth in various ways. Just enjoy the insights and experiences in a way that doesn't negatively affect your every day experiences. Instead, allow them to enhance those experiences.

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by An young being

[inFlow]

@freddyteisen I dont wanna force you, but I would highly recommend you to practice yoga daily. Physical+Kriya. There is no way mental masturbation will stick with you in day-to-day things. But you will have to sacrifice something in order to do your sadhana, it takes a lot of time. up to 3~hours daily. But once you break through it's effortless non-duality. People always want a fast way to being awake, but I have to tell you there is nothing but hard work to this. Of course with time you will spend less and less time in yoga+kriya, but initially you will have to spend A LOT of time and effort.

The thing with yoga is that you need to align your inner energies and break blocks in your body. All of the karma and traumas are locked in your physical body and it's in the way for God to live through "you".

[Javfly33]

11 hours ago, Dodo said:

Did you say God then? As if that loaded term is a better pointer? Lmao. "God need to stop believing he's a little human body or mind" .. Gosh darn! So in your mind God is big AF and human is puny little thing? What if God is the smallest thing? 

I was being kinda of funny of course because in this forum they love the word God.

I wouldnt say God is small or Big, because those are physical qualities. I would say God is Nothing. But this Nothing exists, this Nothing can control and own a body and a mind.

When this Nothing is activated in a certain way, there is a certain intelligence that can consciously handle the body and mind. When is not that much activated, this inteligence is sleep and the body and mind goes into compulsive, repetitive mode, the same as an animal.

Thats why i said to the OP, is doesn't have anything to do with their social character. The social character can stay and you can enjoy the benefits it provides. As long as clearly you are that is just a costume you are wearing.

[Javfly33]

1 hour ago, inFlow said:

@freddyteisen I dont wanna force you, but I would highly recommend you to practice yoga daily. Physical+Kriya. There is no way mental masturbation will stick with you in day-to-day things. But you will have to sacrifice something in order to do your sadhana, it takes a lot of time. up to 3~hours daily. But once you break through it's effortless non-duality. People always want a fast way to being awake, but I have to tell you there is nothing but hard work to this. Of course with time you will spend less and less time in yoga+kriya, but initially you will have to spend A LOT of time and effort.

The thing with yoga is that you need to align your inner energies and break blocks in your body. All of the karma and traumas are locked in your physical body and it's in the way for God to live through "you".

3 hours of daily sadhana? Most people can not pull that off if you have a job in western society.

Also, It matters more the effectivity that the duration. Whats your daily sadhana look like? In curious