so can you or can you not manifest a joint in your hand whenever you want?
edit: more serious note, do you think we live in some kind of matrix afterall?

Life is not something we are doing.
We don't live, we are life.

This understanding ends the matrix/simulation concern.

so we are life, but are we also live? or is life a movie that unfolds before our eyes?

There is just life, there is actually no we, you or I.

When I say you, what I am actually referring to is a unique, precious and inherently perfect tempo-spatial convergence of causes and conditions, or in other words, a process, that is indivisible from a much greater process: life/the universe itself.

The label "you" is an arbitrary distinction for conventional purposes, that does not have any inherent existence in ultimate reality. In fact, mistaking it for real is the fundamental misunderstanding (Avidya in Buddhism, or, as Jesus called it, the original sin) that is the cause of all your suffering.

GL OP

I've wished you terrible things before, which probably means you were owning me

You dont think this exit from poker to focus on meditation is just bull****ting yourself to only say that you were kind of lazy to put the work on?

Because anyway if you were mindtraining, or whatever its not like you do it 24/24.

You were lying around all the day?

Your story make no sense really.

Seems like mindfulness has upped the number of words you can use without saying anything.

goooood luck!

Then reread, plenty of very interesting things being mentioned

How do you self-optimise from this? Is it intuitive, or do you have a familiar structure that you reference each time you "train your mind"?

I responded to this earlier, Rapidesh posted a similar question.

Thanks Clanty, hope you are doing well.

Here's what I am currently focusing on:
- improving my life and the lives of others in conventional terms. For this, I am currently researching neuroscience, nutrition, exercise, and sleep. I am also working on expanding my understanding of conventional reality.
- mind training is also part of Self-Optimization since further increasing concentration power and deepening insight into true nature allows me to function better as a human being
- working with bad habits and character traits that are unskillful and replacing them with more skillful habits and traits

What you say is interesting and I am on a similar path with less intensity. Workout, meditation and reflection in spending time on my own and write stuff down each day. (Sounds random but I think I don't need to explain for you to understand that I know where you are coming from).

What i am wondering is, especially you following this non-philosophy philosophy, why you call it self optimization. This is maybe just a word, but words shape the way you think etc.
For me we are simply developing and sharpening skills. Maybe I am allergic, but I don't like the whole self-optimization-hype because it makes people anxious about themselves.

And to everybody saying he is lazy trying to train his mind: try to be without internet and poker for 7 days, only with yourself. I find that way way harder and more exhausting than just being able to focus on something so you don't have to face your 'dark side's or things you don't like about yourself. But maybe that's just me.

Book recommendation: laws of human nature. Thick book but I find a lot of things come together in it: social dynamics therefor psychology, how we shape the view on what we experience, what character types people have, how you can develop skills in general. And he mentions basically any book I have ever read as a source.

Good luck on your journey. Why have you started this pgc btw?

I lol'd hard

Hey there.

First of all, I want to point out that this is not about following a philosophy. This is a direct and ongoing lived experience that anyone can verify if they put the work in.

I understand the reasoning behind your aversion towards the usage of the word self, and find it valid. The way I relate to the label Self-Optimization is that it describes the process of the universe unfolding, which I aim to play my best part in; at least according to my conditioned understanding of what is going on. "Self" here refers to the universe in its entirety.

I do think that it can confuse people, but I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing either. In the beginning, motivation and driving force mainly come from self-interest. Self-development, self-improvement, self-optimization are all terms that are more likely for people to relate with, and as a consequence, put in effort into making beneficial habits a part of their daily life.

This ultimately also answers the question as to why I decided to open this PGC thread.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I will definitely read it once I get through all the other books that I plan on reading.

Best of luck to you too!

Well done OP.

nope still just meaningless combinations of words

hey dude i fairly rarely ever open up about this ever because i personally believe that this doesn't really matter whatsoever. but when i was 18 or so i had an awakening that never went away, and that deepened significantly over time as i figured out what had happened to me.

it sounds a lot like what you're chasing after, if you already hit it then that's cool, but at the same time it's funny because on one hand it's ****ing amazing, but on the other it almost feels like a curse. it makes you feel like you're not of this world anymore, and ironically this is how all humans should live but 99.999 percent of people never get "there" so you're basically going to be in isolation as you see people come and go through your life and you can basically see right through them..

another thing is that, at the end of the day, bottom line, enlightened or unenlightened, chop wood carry water, chop wood carry water.. you're still human. you never get away from it. if anything you might even feel things more deeply.. but you can never look back on this journey if that's what you're after for. i never asked for any of this, maybe i got lucky, who knows.

for a long time i was looking for guidance, and i found some sort of it from some guru figures, but i told them i no longer needed their service. reason being is that life will show you exactly what you need to see.

do we have control or don't we? i have no idea, i don't think about this or about anything anymore, i think really the end of this journey is autonomy.. it can really feel like that sometimes.

i still have my own mental issues and some "sticky" thoughts that i have to work through of identification, but this journey never ends. my "awakening" was just the beginning.

anyway, i would really recommend reading some of adyashanti's stuff, i've looked through a lot of "gurus" stuff and he isn't really a "guru" and i found him to be much more honest about life and this journey that people take on.

good luck out there bud!

edit: just one more thing.. once you start knocking and opening some doors you might find that you aren't what you thought you were, ie you might just become completely unmotivated to do what it is you're after for. i could give you some warning signs, etc, but you'll likely have to go through your own journey and figure it out for yourself in the end.

Hey man. Thanks for sharing.

It sounds like you happened to hit streamentry. I heard that can happen seemingly randomly for some people. Streamentry is the first awakening/glimpse/partial enlightenment. There are three more stages/unbindings. Enjoy the journey, let me know if you need help.

Adyashanti is great, I listened to him a lot, but also find his approach to laissez-fair for the later stages, where I suggest a more technical approach is more beneficial.

Good luck and keep me updated.


ps: the whole not of this world/confusion/isolation/alienation aspect will eventually get resolved in an ultimately satisfying way, so don't worry too much about it and keep going.

+1

in, gl!

A warm welcome back.




I noticed that even the infamous IKEA MARKUS feels quite bad to sit in after 1-2 hours.
I will decide between Herman Miller Aeron/Embody or sit/stand desk.
Might also get a bigger monitor. At the moment I have a 24.5", but since I've been mixing in more 1k and 2k tables I will probably upgrade to an Ultrawide. Any recommendations?

I've also been doing some research on artificial lighting and how harmful it is. Will probably do a mini-summary next week.

i've skimmed through text, many difficult words.
what is your view on using youtube videos and memes for internet communication?
i can tell you are very experienced. i meditate too (is calling it mind training supposed to be your try to be unique? everyone calls it meditation) maybe you can tell me, after half an hour of mindfull sitting i still keep losing my breath, what is up?

Can you be more precise?

I don't like using words that have many different connotations. Most people who "meditate" have no clue what they are doing and why they are doing it. Mind training is more concise.

Stay diligent. You don't go to the gym and expect to squat 200kg your first day. Get The Mind Illuminated if you're serious about making progress. Also, get the rest of your life in order.

imo proper use of videos and pictures can often communicate more content in a clearer, more understandable way. opposed to wall of difficult words. evolution.

see my thread for example of this type of communication.

i find this statemtn wrong. possibly ignorant, expressing your superiority over the common apprentice.

It depends on the goal, the content, the presentation, the audience.

Superior/inferior is a distinction I find no use for.
It's my opinion; this is yours.

Who much time do you train your mind a day ?