I recently became conscious that We, as human species with our inventions actually created a round planet! Freaking insane. Our general current experience is living on a flat surface with bumps and has been for countless millennia most likely since we grew feet and legs:) We also used to believe we are the center of the universe (pre-Copernicus? not sure) and now generally accept we are on a rock floating as part of the Milky Way galaxy amongst other galaxies. Something to contemplate regarding the world we are creating and want to create for ourselves. Happy contemplating and good luck with the insights!

Hi, I just wanted to maybe start a discussion on the dynamics of self inversion vs expansion, since this is something I've been working on for a while and I realized that this is the weekly assignment. Something I noticed right off the bat that stuck out to me as very significant is how it is described as "a focus on personal needs that leads to dissatisfaction." I'd like to share some personal experience as someone who has probably experienced a lot of this dynamic. It seems that for me personally, whenever I actively participate heavier into "self agenda" kind of stuff, I go into this self inversion place. Or when I'm in my head trying to figure something out or "fix something," or some such. Essentially it feels like I'm trying to do something for myself. Something "good for me." I have tended to confuse it with discipline in the past, since the mindset might seem like I'm working hard to get something for myself, but it almost seems like an obsession on self needs more than anything else upon questioning it. It we're going off of a definition "a focus on personal needs that leads to dissatisfaction," then that would mean I've got a lot of that going on. It would make sense why Brendan would tell me to come "out here" a lot during the spring retreat. It seems like my experience hovers around these "personal needs," which may inherently lead to deep self inversion. I have actually noticed that when I humble myself and live for something greater than myself my happiness goes way up. My experience is actually freed from having to serve these bullshit needs. And live for something greater than myself doesn't mean like I commit my life to feeding the poor of something. It almost just feels more in alignment in a more direct sense to something more fundamentally true or important. Anyway, don't mind my ramblings I just wanted to contribute

Why Don't You Create a Religion?

Getting up early in the morning is usually a struggle for me, and it’s been that way my whole life. It’s easy to think “Oh I just need more discipline,” or “ my vision or life purpose isn’t inspiring enough to get me out of bed,” or any one of a thousand stories. Today when my alarm rang (in a different room), I got up to turn it off with the usual nonsense going on in my head. “This sucks. I feel like shit. My body hurts. Too cold. Too hot. Not rested enough. Why does my head hurt? blah blah blah…” And then I had this moment of realization that I’m just making things 10 times worse by having these thoughts. I decided to just sit there, and feel the shit. Just feel my body. And just experience all the discomfort. And then all the sensations just became “matter of fact,” rather than a “matter of interpretation or thought” It’s almost like “the sky is blue” or “ the table is red.” “My arm is sore.” Anything beyond the sensation of sore were just overlays of thinking that were just adding suffering to a matter of fact. The thinking was just unnecessary. I could just experience the pain of being sore in my arm without adding suffering to it. Basically, the sensations became distinct from the complaining. I decided to just sit there for two hours, if necessary, just to purposely experience the soreness or discomforts of my body but without adding thought to it. Just experience the sensations of my body, through my body and what it feels, but without adding the activity of interpretation (and therefore ) complaining about it. I intend to make a practice out of this, wake up and allow myself feel icky for 2 hours, and be in my body. No other expectations.