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Originally Posted by CRAIBaby
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!
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.