Baller

Which culture? Western culture? I have little to add to what Carl Jung was suggesting 60 years ago and his disciple Jordan Peterson is doing now. Integrate your own shadow.

It's interesting that you brought this up, because I think I understand the essential difference (which of course, again, relates to Leo's narcissism.) Leo has actual pretensions of being a bringer of some ORIGINAL, CUTTING-EDGE knowledge that surpasses that of all previous or current spiritual teachers. This is a total narcissistic delusion, though. Anyone who takes psychedelics has to be wary of psychic inflation, but Leo is so self-unaware that he is incapable of seeing how any insights he has are being channeled and distorted through his ego. Astrology e.g. is just astrology. Aside from analyzing the symbolic meaning of some newly discovered body (like Eris in 2006 or so) it's a pretty set field. Even people who rediscover old systems are pretty nerdy. It's not a glamorous thing. Anyone can easily test what you have to say. Same for other things, like LoA or channeling. Even with channeling, you rarely see outrageous stuff being channeled, it's mostly plausible and inline with other sources.

I mean, many of Leo's followers are REALLY young and immature (and with modern education being what it is, not very informed or capable of critical thinking) in addition to being lazy. That's a perfect profile for a cult follower. So they are primed to believe any outrageous pseudo-philosophical nonsense he peddles.

Yeah, it's about as surprising as dogs barking or cats meowing. 😁

But Leo said "it's not in any dictionary." That Oxford English has been captured by crazy people is irrelevant. Its reputation stands until it doesn't. The word is in every other dictionary, Collins, Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, etc. So what to make of this? Either it's Leo being lazy (possible -- looked up Oxford English and extrapolated) or more likely it's gaslighting by Leo. Something very much inline with behavior of malignant narcissists.

The basic test for whether you've reached "total awakening" -- if such a thing is possible -- is, are you striving for more, some higher experience or state? If such a thing exists, then you would feel like you've "arrived" and don't need to "go" anywhere. Hypothetically you would have reached complete shadow integration -- in other words -- you would cease projecting fully. Your psychic healing would be complete. As far as leaving the body, I don't see why this is necessary. You could stay in your body and serve mankind. Leaving your body when you could be of help to others seems selfish.

Looks good. Yeah, being present to what comes up without going into your defenses is the key to healing. 👍

There is some utility in it, as in e.g. knowing your type and what your crutches and weaknesses are and the right direction for your development, but if you already have decent self-awareness it will only reaffirm what you already knew about yourself. As far as other people and personalities, it may be useful if you use it to be more compassionate and understanding, and stop expecting others to be something different than what they are.

Thanks! 😄

You have to give the second type of guy more encouragement (i.e. indicators of interest.)

Leo sends mixed messages constantly -- he is one huge performative contradiction. He basically bludgeons the naive and lazy into mental submission by abusing their innocence and trust. So I totally disagree with this idea that what a teacher says and not his actions are what matters -- words are cheap. I mean, unless one's idea of learning is getting so mentally messed up (like has happened with many people on the forum) that you learn a bitter lesson in thinking for yourself and doing your own research. So he is teaching many people a bitter lesson at best, and in some cases committing negligent homicide.

LOL. Yeah, Leo is a textbook example of what happens when someone with narcissistic personality disorder drops powerful psychedelics. All is God/God is All becomes I am God/All is Me.

👍

He's a total nerd. His idea of fun is something technical. I understand his mentality (supposedly he's an INTJ 5w6 like me.) Guys like that aren't about money per se, but all the cool toys money can buy (like space rockets.)

It really was surreal, in the sense that you question yourself "is it possible that they really can't see through that bullshit?" But that's what cults and quasi-cults are like. But really, I think we all know our flaws, we are just too weak sometimes.

"I'm being greedy" is just conditioning/limiting beliefs. It's not how much money you have, it's what you're doing with it. Most of Musk's billions is company stock and his companies are objectively important for humanity's future. He's not hoarding or rolling around in it on his bed nude.

There is nothing to understand or make sense of, in the way it seems you use those words, which is to conceptualize or create some mental map. Just be present, which means experience those senses of taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing fully without going into your head and thinking about them.

Yeah, you picked a bad example because actualized.org really is a toxic waste dump so you don't know whether the criticism is natural or a result of twisted groupthink formed around Leo's bizarro beliefs.

I would also add works by Carl Jung, such as "The Undiscovered Self."

Leo is just a bad guru, period. But a lot of responsibility also goes to his followers, who are lazy sheep who need to be spoonfed. There are a million books out there by venerated teachers that in aggregate can give a seeker direction and some perspective and discernment. But they are just mentally lazy people who don't want to read and instead passively get brainwashed and accept all kinds of mental frames and beliefs without questioning them. Leo throws everything and the kitchen sink at them before their heads are literally filled with shit.

I think you're asking the wrong question. The right question in your circumstance is "why do I keep winding up with these guys who cheat (when clearly not every woman has this same problem)?" So then, it's likely a pattern that you've fallen into and it can't be addressed on the surface, i.e. by getting some handy tips. Your unconscious has the upper hand when it comes to your choices, so any resolution of the problem has to be holistic and address root causes (emotional trauma, self-worth issues, inability to trust one's instincts, etc.) So this requires deep inner work.

Oh, it's very easy. Talk less, listen more. You can make almost anyone a friend if you listen.

Well, there have always been "trustafarians." This is an old archetype. I would differentiate here, because "spirituality" is fiscally undemanding, while the "spirituality lifestyle" is fiscally demanding. It costs one nothing to be mindful in all one's daily activities. One doesn't have to sit on a cushion 12 hours a day while getting checks from parents. And while you are right about e.g. the Indian society (especially of old, I assume) supporting a spiritual life, the West has the Internet which levels the playing field in this regard -- and even relatively poor people have smartphones. So the only thing required to practice spirituality is discernment about spiritual guidance.

OK, so I'm new here, and I've signed up to trash Leo and chew gum...and I'm all out of gum. 😉 But seriously, my own opinion, for what it's worth is that Leo isn't particularly enlightened at all, and I don't see why so many people believe otherwise. My criteria for a person being enlightened is not the ability to give hour-long lectures about spirituality and enlightenment but observable behavior. Does the person project like crazy? Does he have good self-awareness? Leo fails miserably in this department, which suggests a very stubborn ego and unwillingness to integrate his shadow. You are not enlightened just because you took a powerful psychedelic and are a sufficiently smart guy who can give pseudo-philosophical lectures. All that's needed for that is ...taking psychedelics and a certain IQ/verbal ability. Leo doesn't really understand the mechanics of his psychology. He uses psychedelic insights as a way to concoct theories to prop up his wounded ego, without much concern about the effect his reckless opining has on his followers. In other words, buyer beware. Leo is about Leo. He lacks empathy as is the case with narcissists. People need to stop being impressed by blah-blah and only look at the person's behavior and whether they actually understand themselves -- because if they don't, God help you. They will deflect blame onto others and be fairly irresponsible -- as is the case with Leo.