This thing you are doing here and the fact that you want to give people 15 minutes of life coaching. Why dont you make youtube videos instead of writing? It seems like a better match to me.

Heroshima,

If you’re being sincere and honest, you of course can tell he’s clearly heading towards the path of life coaching in the future. That doesn’t make any of his opinions more true or less true than if he wasn’t though. What are you worried about for other people’s sake?

Your perception of the world is a reflection of your state of consciousness. That's a quote by Echart Tolle or someone. I think it rings pretty true. You seem to be full of hate, and your experience of the world is the same. Why not try and change? Maybe try and capitalize words when you begin a sentence, that could get the ball rolling.

Another paraphrased quote from some spiritual guy, "The world is a dark and scary place when we believe we are separate from it."

what a surprise, another bitter and toxic person on 2+2!

He has some points though, ofc he was way overboard with his post and was really mean.

Op is putting very ****ty volume, playing very high, his attitude became very unprofessional after his "enlightenment". So far he hasn't put a decend sample and his winnings are strongly correlated with variance given how little volume he put so far. Ofc he ran good and is feeling fine, but with that work ethic I see him having a hard time getting out of a downswing after he gets one.

I don't believe anything of his meditation talk, it sounds more like he is confused, on drugs or has some kind of mental disease than what he is really saying. Someone with his winrate (which I suppose it's 2-3bb/100 at 500z) shouldn't be playing 20k hands/month full time, specially when he probably doesn't have a backup plan and poker is only getting tougher.

It's easy doing whatever you want and using your success to get a "free pass" on whatever crazy ideas you have, his meditation thing will keep getting respected by some people here as long as he keeps having success at the tables, but when he starts losing, then it could get really ugly and very fast.

I think everything started going off the rails when op was into crypto and he said he didn't see much value in grinding anymore for $100/h. Only someone delusional would say that, our brains want so bad to believe we're special that we will actually start believing a lot of non-sense after a small streak of success.

Nailed it. I’ve been following OP for some time now and would like to add to this. Disclaimer : I’m not a hater by any means.

In the past, and in the present day, OP has very openly claimed to beat mid - high stakes. However, he has never presented a graph of more than 80,000 hands, something I’ve found to be very odd from following other 2+2 threads. Something even more odd, is the fact that he has felt the need to post graphs with tiny samples that depict him winning. I feel this is very telling of one being diluted

“Certainly not optimal to see the world as he paints it “

I completely disagree with this line of thinking.

There’s both bad and good **** going in this world. Why waste your time focusing on the bad?
A quote that I like, from OP btw :
“ We're born on this earth, live our 80 years, and eventually well have to leave again.*
It becomes slightly absurd to take everything as serious as I sometimes do, when you realise that eventually all of this will be gone anyway. Why not just enjoy your stay in this beautiful world, have great experiences, discover and explore new places and live a wonderful life filled with good emotions instead of stress and sorrows? “

I have no interest in life coaching, nor do I give a **** about OP's poker success/lack of success or the poker community's obsession with crypto speculation.

All I'll say is that if you don't give meditation and mind transformation a serious chance, you're doing yourself a major disservice. Especially if your concern is seeing things as they really are.

Noone said the world is full of sunshine and happiness, this is just your misinterpretation. Beauty =/= happiness.

You claimed your post was not hateful but emotionless observation. Yet you began it with "you disgust me". Sounds like an emotionally charged comment to me. This topic is clearly triggering you. If you don't want to listen or try to understand someone else's viewpoint then just leave instead of blindly asserting your own position.

I like this.

motivating post - thanks for that one!

Also a good one - especially at the end, the stoic view

Im here overall on your side, so do not get my wrong.

I just want to say that I understand it that some of OP's posts do trigger people.
Even when this, what he sometimes writes is what he feels/believes and/or it is the "real" reality and truth, he should be aware that the very most of his readers are perceiving reality as it "happens" to us - just very ordinary and materialistic.
So although I appreciate OP's attempt to "spread the word" and motivate people to give meditation a serious shot, it seems to me that some of his posts lack total empathy to where most of his readers (who he wants to reach) are currently at.

I mean, even I have wondered about the quoted paragraph from his last post and he comes across more like someone on psychedelic drugs, than as a stable practitioner and it might even turn people off to seriously consider meditation because he seems at time totally out of space and not so much different to a mad person.
I just do not see that experienced practioners whose books Im reading (like Culadasa or Bante Henepola) do act the same way towards their readers.
In fact they all seem very humble and down to earth, just with a little more peace of mind (what we all want), so that you think to yourself that it would be cool to also become once like them within this context.
In regards to OP, Im not so sure although there are also good things, of course.
Im just wondering, because OP is smart and if not total empathy-less, he must recognize that the way of the end of his last post (for example) will trigger people (and imho very understandably so), so maybe there is a bigger plan/strategy behind the way of some of his posts xD

But yeah, suggesting (even when this might not have been his real massage) that Life is wonderful, triggers many people, because in fact there is lots of cool going on this planet, but also lots of horrible things, as well.
So, at least I am understanding that people might feel that OP is deluded (although he likely is not and his message is misunderstood or not understood at all) and get triggered....

This said, I still want to believe that meditation will improve within few years every one's life who really follows it disciplined - still to see for me myself

Two technical questions in regards to meditation - maybe some practicioners wanna help out with info:

1.) Is it somehow dangerous (long-term for nerves) when your feet fall "asleep" during your practice?

2.) I usually wear contactlenses, but not yet, when meditating because I do it right away in the morning after showering.
Is there somehow an issue in regards to meditating with glasses?
I am just asking because I have read once an article from a German monk who said that he advices against wearing glasses during your practice, but without giving any sort of explanation.
It seems thought that not wearing glasses or contacts, myy brain does associate it with "ah, we go sleep now" and might make me doze off more often during my practice.
This latter aspect is anyways one of my biggest challenges at the moment.
But more than a cold shower and coffee, directly before my practice, I cannot do anymore
I also get most of the time enough good sleep, but for some reason, I still doze off multiple times during my daily 30min practice - maybe it will improve one day

I get this point of view about not grinding being a waste of an opportunity if your hourly is high. But I spent a good couple of years doing that when I was pretty miserable. At the end of the day you have to ask why are any of us playing poker or pursuing any career? 'To be happy' is probably the end goal for most of us and we are going about it by trying to reach financial security, be able to afford more stuff etc. But what if you can short circuit that whole process and just be happy right now. Is that not more efficient?

Personally I like that PGC isn't a monoculture. I really enjoy the more poker focused threads like yours but also like stuff like this. Btw I was SUPER skeptical about meditation etc and only really gave it a shot because my friend who was a $5knl reg was into it. I was just after a productivity/winrate boost but it took me down a rabbit hole that has lead to me feeling a lot better from moment to moment. I did a retreat where I had an experience of joy that I think is something similar to what OP is getting at. Words don't map particularly well to these experiences but I would say they are worth pursuing, experiencing for yourself if there is something to it and then deciding your take on it.

Magistero,

1. I doubt anyone has studied this. I would guess it's just fine for your nerves. But who cares what I think.

2. Just wear the glasses if you want and see how it goes. If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him.

Sure that we shouldn't burnout ourselves to death, but OP's volume is just unbelievably low for a full time grinder. Just as an example, I'm a part time player, had a very low volume month which I'm really ashamed of (it's low even for my standards) and play 2 tables only. My volume last month was still higher than OP, it's insane, specially when it's OP's job and (I think) he has no other alternative if poker goes badly.

Some pros out there are putting 90k months, travelling, going out, going to the gym and living a happy life. Obv few people have the same energy/focus as Ammadnav haha. But I'm pretty sure OP could put at least 40k hands/month without losing much happiness EV. Imo that volume is more like an indication that OP has some mental leaks/lack of confidence/lack of work ethic rather than just "enjoying life". A lot of people work 40h/week and still have plenty of time to enjoy life. Playing 40h/month is just being lazy imo.

Op has to save as much as possible now (or build a good bankroll to play live) when online poker starts dying and get more time for himself when it's more convenient later, when his opportunity cost will be lower. Just as an example: yesterday 100z on stars had 90 players, it's very rare to see that on fridays, I think a lot of the bad regs are just leaving the player pool, there weren't many fish too and 50z was even worse than 100z, 200z had 60 people. It won't take long until the games are unplayable on these stakes, now imagine 500z which won't even run all day anymore and when it runs the pool is just hell on earth.

It's easy valuing highly your free time when you play poker for living, crush the games, run well, but one has to be responsible and get ready for the future, because if poker starts going badly, meditation won't put food on his table.

My 2c

I'm basically with Rapidesh, at the stakes OP 'plays', you think you're going to compete when everyone else is improving and practicing ever day and you're stood still?

Gotta have that drive if you wanna make bread in 2019.

think you guys may underestimate what being constantly in a good mindset can do to your game, studying aside

Obv that guy is a psycho, read message from him saying to someone he really like to manipulate people, he feel insane pleasure ect,....

How can you even consider that guy pro? Playing 60k hand a year, and spread his enlightenment bull**** to sell the classic guru life coaching. You can find everywhere on instagram guru guys.

Just be careful about that mad guy.

Not sure why OP is triggering people so much. I do agree with most people's poker related criticisms here, being that he should be putting in more hours to not only capitalize on his skill level but also stay ahead of the curve in highly competitive 2019 games. What he is experiencing and recommending though in terms of mindfulness I can confidently say are extremely valuable in every important area of our lives. I have been doing this stuff seriously for roughly 7 years now.

People will tend to naturally underrate the value of a meditation practice I find and write people like OP and myself off as likely nuts. This is honestly understandable from an outside perspective. It's really hard to put into words unless you experience it. If everyone could just experience the consciousness benefits of someone who puts in the work for 1 day I really think it would become mainstream knowledge of the value it brings to our lives. I think meditation for instance should just be looked at like going to the gym for your brain but with the bonus of unlocking exponential benefits without the use of drugs (like in body building) after a certain amount of work. I highly suggest people only start off with ~5-10m a day consistently and consider trying a meditation app such as Sam Harris's one which is getting great reviews. Consistency is the key.

In our current overly stimulated society and into the future I can only see the importance of this practice increasing in value to avoid a lot of the common dangers of how 2019 society is negatively effecting our thoughts and biology.

Down below is a link of one of my personal favorite guides and teachers. I recommend going through his other video content for topics that interest you as he brings a ton of free value. When it comes to meditation/mindfulness, I argue that it is an extremely practical method of optimizing the way we think, feel and experience. Emphasis on practical. I suggest putting all of your "spiritual" associations aside for now because this is often used an as excuse to discredit and dismiss the potential value within.

I hope that the people still convinced meditation is mostly nonsense to be ignored that you give it a chance in case your assessment is incorrect, given how significant the argued rewards are. If you start now, at minimum I argue it will save you endless hours of completely meaningless psychological suffering. Hope you enjoy the guide.

Great thread, subbed and GL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LscnZCzdak (youtube thing not working)

Hmm yeah can see both points of view. There are fair points re:volume and it’s feedback OP shouldn’t take lightly. He may well regret not making hay while the sun shines. I just feel like it’s always worth considering the ‘what are we trying to achieve through poker’ argument. If he’s genuinely found a way to be experiencing some sort of permanent euphoria then he’s already winning as far as I’m concerned. What else are we trying to achieve in life apart from spending more time in pleasurable mental states? But yeah I can accept that foregoing some current pleasure to build a longer runway for the future could still be the way to go.

FWIW in 2017 I was in an analogous situation to 500z now, but maybe even more extreme. Playing $1k and $2k hunl on the apps with good results and expected hourly in games that were certain to dry up. I was really miserable though so I quit decided to poker to sort my head out. In the time between then and now I did some stuff similar to OP. Now I’m back playing and my hourly is much lower than it was (I'm grinding 100nl at the moment). I actually really enjoy existing now though. Honestly I would not change my decision to quit and learn how to experience a more pleasant state of consciousness if you offered me 10 million dollars. Obviously an extreme example though and it's possible to balance both the grind and experiencing this stuff.

glad i gave this a chance. gonna sound like bs but this is by far the clearest that ive been able to think in a long time. thanks for sharing

Hey everyone,

glad to see the interest.

There's a lot to respond to and talk about, but I'll keep it brief this time.


I will @ certain topics instead of poster names.


@Everything is a reflection of your state of consciousness: true. The content of experience is only relevant to the extent of how you relate to it. Certain things trigger conditioned responses; the whole point of this is to recondition yourself from having to endure the autopilot-mode of our biological mammal evolution.
This itself is actually the essence of the Dharma and a much larger topic in itself that I'll expand on more in the future.

@OP's tone and life coaching assumptions: As you can imagine (and see ITT), really getting to people about these topics and penetrating their defense mechanisms around this topic is quite the challenge. Additionally, even though this is a poker forum, there are a variety of different characters (target audiences); what works for some of you, doesn't for others (often the contrary is the case). I am trying out different approaches, trial and error style. It's a learning experience for me. In hindsight, I can see how my last post had its shortcomings. However, it did give a genuine glimpse of how it can be like which I tried to show was possible (even though I should have been able to predict that most people would reject that by default). Contrary to some of the assumptions here, I am not trying to shill life-coaching. I actually decided to not make life-coaching a part of my career.

@Pokervolume critics: I understand that you measure success based on poker, and that makes sense as full-time poker professionals. However, understand that I am not a full-time poker professional, nor do I measure success based on poker. It is completely irrelevant to me. I also don't know where the assumptions about me not having a back-up plan are coming from. I've been spending my last month planning a career change and I'm very confident in succeeding beyond poker. Nonetheless, thanks for your concern.

@Pleasureful mental states: This is not a big topic, but just wanted to clarify here. It's not about attaining pleasureful mental states; ultimately it's about transcending beyond that, towards something even more sublime: equanimity. Then you can start living a life that is not dominated by urges and impulses of the pleasure-pain cycle and realize that all this time you confused true happiness and fun with pleasure, but really it's about love, compassion, and meaning.

@b0t: Please don't spread bull**** about me; I never said anything like that in my life.


Also, thanks for all the support guys, appreciate it.



Greetings,
CRAI

Alright i guess will need to show some screenshot about the god complex guy saying how much he likes to manipulate people, all you deserve is a good old slap :-)

What career change are you contemplating?

mental coach