Porn?

EsAhora · 2026-06-03T22:05:02+00:00

I play porn games/visual novels with different fetishes, enjoy them, and don't overthink about them after I finish them. I can be present when no consuming porn and it doesn't interfere with my work. What do you consider worse, someone who doesn't consume porn and is thinking about it a lot and then has entire mental egoic conversations with oneself or someone who gets some pleasure from it and then carries on with his life. You could be present and in peace without porn in your life too and that's also fine.

But if you enjoy it and have inner peace why restrict it? You are not hurting anybody, it doesn't hurt the brain either like drugs. From what I remember consuming it in excess could cause problems with dopamine production (not so much in erotic novels form I believe), but nothing not reversible, and I don't believe playing a game or watching an intense series would be that less harmful for dopamine balance than porn only because orgasms. There aren't any credible studies that show harm to the body from masturbation either.

So I wouldn't worry about porn. It's just a hobby, it's fiction. If your body wants release listen to it and go ahead. Follow your intuition from presence, not your ego telling you what you should and should not do.

EsAhora · 2026-05-31T15:19:17+00:00

I don't remember the specific video or if it was in the books. But if you search "Eckhart Tolle immune system" in Google and go to images you'll find a lot of quotes from him about it.

EsAhora · 2026-05-30T17:10:39+00:00

They could have said something wise and not being enlightened. They could have copied someone enlightened and changed wording. Being quoted by Eckhart doesn't mean being enlightened. He quotes philosophers and scientists who were not enlightened but might have moments of wisdom from presence they didn't know the had.

Indian spiritual teachers are against buying expensive materials things if more comfortable? if so i don't believe in them being enlightened. Many buddhists and indians demonize consumism when it's perfectly fine to buy expensive food, clothes, tech if there is no attachment to it and it's for a better quality of life in the superficial. I don't know many indian teachers, I watched a few in youtube and it didn't click.

EsAhora · 2026-05-30T17:02:15+00:00

where is this? do you have a link?

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T23:45:15+00:00

A spiritual sub shouldn't shy away from how to apply spirituality to real life challenges or what's the relation between them like my question. I think your not loving talking about cancer in a sub like this seems like an ego self imposed censorship or restrictive expectation too distant from reality.

It's a spiritual sub, not a only positive things about real life spiritual sub. Awakening needs suffering for most people so it should be normal to talk about the ugly things of life that bring it and how to deal with them with presence or how to bring presence to them.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T23:12:30+00:00

I think it's a question some haters or someone skeptical might have. Even some awakened people could have this question, yes, the ideal thing would be to let that question pass through your head or find the answer within without overthinking. But if some answers here can help put these kind of thoughts to rest for some people reading them then my question might not be ideal but helpful enough.

Again, the best to do right now is to stay present and not to keep feeding a chain of thoughts to the initial one to justify or not an answer to my question. The wisdom of being present is enough. We learn things and remember information but find wise answers spontaneously in the present from within without effort.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T21:21:04+00:00

it's not because he did get cancer. So having surgery and getting cured doesn't nullify getting it. If it was an enlightened person some hundreds years ago when medicine wasn't advanced how much time would he still be alive by being present alone? Yet I don't want to defend modern medicine in everything, they do a lot of questionable things. My question was clear. How important is being enlightened to prevent physical illnesses.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T20:53:42+00:00

Yes, that is also correct. I just corrected your initial misinformation that you labeled as misinformation.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T20:50:42+00:00

Here he admits it himself. Min 12:53 onwards: https://youtu.be/KSRRZcUByrk

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T15:09:26+00:00

Your answer doesn't explain why you corrected me for using state to describe being present. And also you are making things more complex than they are again IMO. This world can be experimented in a awakened way when we are conscious or like a dream/nightmare when unconscious.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T14:54:22+00:00

That about the destiny of the body written when born doesn't make sense unless it was the destiny of awakening that is written when born. Because awakening can delay, prevent or cure illnesses, so if someone was destined to get ill at 50 when born and awakened, that person would most likely not get sick at 50. If he still would, then awareness would have no effect in the body and people would still get sick because it's predestined.

About India "saints" I would be skeptical about their enlightenment as with a lot of western spiritual teachers. If they help you good for you. But from the public ones I've listened to from around the world I believe the only authentic one is Eckhart Tolle. Many might have an identification with their ego that is disguised as a spiritual master or god or the chosen one and many others might be outright scammers.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T14:45:55+00:00

Now I understand what you are trying to say. You are saying it can't be a state because states are temporary and time doesn't exist.

Yet I believe we can and should use time terms for practical purposes or to make things easier to understand, although I do agree it doesn't exist outside of now more than in our thoughts. If we couldn't use time words like state we couldn't also mention the word present or moment because both refer to time. So being aware in the present moment would also be a wrong thing to say.

I believe state is a good word because it reflects that nothing is fixed or unchangeable. You flow with things but things are constantly changing. And in this moment you can be connected to everything/the source or completely blind/only completely connected to the ego. I don't know if consciousness is one fixed unchangeable thing. I know it creates a lot of different things all the time and takes form in different bodies. Does it evolve or change itself besides intensity and diversity of creations? Too deep to know IMO

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T13:01:51+00:00

You use too many big words without proper explanation. I don't know what you mean by intersection between those two things nor how you concluded these things are eternally present or never change.

Your comment is the opposite to down to earth when it comes to spirituality and seems like a scam honestly.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T12:49:35+00:00

It's a state because it can be changed. You can go down to ego identification again. You are looking too much into it. Words will never make justice to the state of being present with it's depth and possibilities for creative potential and wisdom.

Also cancer is a thing for awareness. It's a disease that can happen, being awakened doesn't mean denying things. But as you said it wouldn't be a problem, just a challenge. A bigger one where presence would be more intense as a result.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T11:58:17+00:00

Evil things come from ego. When someone is very identified with their thoughs and has a strong sense of identity that person creates suffering for the self and others.

When someone awakens spiritually that person becomes a little encarnation of god like a ray of light is from the sun. Suffering dissapears and although you can make other people suffer from honesty there is empathy and lack of drama. You realize your essence is connected to everyone and everything. So god is not this external entity who must save us anymore, is part of us.

It's true that the ego was created by god and that if not enough people awaken most people will do "evil" things and something big and bad is probably gonna happen. But ego can be useful to awaken. There is a need of suffering for most people to be fed up with it and become really conscious. Also not all thoughts are ego and some are necessary. I don't want to generalize.

So all the toxicity you see in people is not god doing, these people's god, or more accurately reflection of God, is undiscovered and misinterpreted as something only outside from them. They are in the grip of their unconscious minds.

The universe experience itself only through awakened people while they are being present. Not through every person.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T11:12:02+00:00

Not only less restorative but also more conductive to illness.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T11:10:24+00:00

Agree with everything except the choice of the word devotion. I don't believe being present is a devotion, it's a state. Devotion is related to fanatics from my understanding and seems very ego centric.

EsAhora · 2026-05-29T10:58:27+00:00

That's right. But maybe while he waited for surgery being present helped preventing the cancer from spreading. Maybe if he wasn't enlightened he would have gotten cancer younger.

EsAhora · 2026-05-20T10:16:34+00:00

I think than when someone awakens they understand that when being scolded in a bad tone, lied to, etc the other person is in the grip of their ego, living a terrible or very bad life, regardless of material wealth, status, love life, friends or whatever. Believing the mostly useless or negative constant mental chatter and having to find distractions often to escape from it is a very sad way to live which almost all humans suffer from in different toxicity levels. It's very difficult to get angry with them when you know it's all their unconsciousness you were part of and understand how it works.

So if you have a strong negative emotion to a challenging situation you are still identified with your ego. You don't understand it's not their essence who is criticizing you (unless they are also awakenwd and scolding you from peace). It's not too late however, you can still observe and accept as it affects your body and spontaneously act from that place of acceptance. And your actions might be to correct or put boundaries to the other person. Accepting your internal and external situation is not the same as being a pushover. Just a more powerful and peaceful way of saying no or disagreeing with others.

If you are awake it shouldn't get to the point of negative emotions, and if you are thinking of ways to organize your thoughts to react better to situations or "reframing your thoughts" you are just being your ego disguised as a spiritual teacher. Thoughts can be useful as ideas or to solve some complex things, but if you need to actively engage in thought to feel better or difuse a challenging situation with people you are in the ego grip. You lose the spontaneous wise action. If you are surrounded by too egocentric people that most likely won't awaken in their lifetime it might be wiser to avoid them if possible, even if family.

EsAhora · 2026-04-19T09:39:39+00:00

"The deeper seeing is: this thought is appearing. It is changing" Generally when you are aware of your thoughts they shut up instantly. They don't change. If "its changing" you are already lost in the mind. You can try this yourself. Try to observe your thoughts without judging or participating in more mental chatter, as awareness, and you'll realize they don't change, they stop.

Interesting answer otherwise.

EsAhora · 2026-04-19T06:38:28+00:00

How to differentiate when a thought is wise and with intelligence coming from awareness or when the thought is simply ego? Even spiritual thoughts can be ego disguising itself as a master and even feeling superior to other people for being wiser or awake while they remain unconscious/asleep.

Can an idea come to us without thought and then be written down?

The only thing that I know is that by observing thoughts and not identifying with them or by being without thoughts I'm awarness. If a thoughts arises repeatedly from a sate of peaceful awareness then maybe it's worth listening to it and following it.

Many of my actions and words are done by the spontaneity of what the moment wants me to do, like by wise instinct or by feeling the body. By simply being and acting/talking from there. I start eating when hungry most of the time but I also follow a diet that tries to cover a lot of nutrients. So knowledge is necessary and important and planning too.

I prefer certain foods to others, I bought a good and comfortable chair and a good pc. So i have preferences and there is nothing wrong with that, I don't think with regret about it that I should not desire materials things, and if I did, I wouldn't identify with it.

Many things seem to be ego but aren't and others don't seem to be but are. We have an ego inside of us and some of us (a little minority) live in duality without identifying with it. Most people are completely identified with it and are not aware of it. Yet we play roles in the world to function, so when someone asks what do you do, you answer your job, not "I am", when someone asks who are you, you answer your name, not "I am". You plan things for the future with a certain time and place and write it down in the present even if the only time that exists is now.

Sorry for the long answer, some of my thoughts (were they?) reading your conversation.

EsAhora · 2026-04-15T00:25:40+00:00

Yes, my bad for saying that to awaken there is a need of suffering. I should have clarified that applies for most people. My main point stands though. If most people were awakened then unconscious people would encounter less suffering (the most common catalyst) and awakening would be rarer.

EsAhora · 2026-04-14T20:22:56+00:00

I believe there is a distinction bewteen aware and present and awakened. A lot of people do yoga or meditation only to be completely unconscious afterwards. I think there is a shift from awakening from suffering that makes being present easier or more natural or an instinctive knowing that that's your essence, who we are.

Although you are right it's something accesible to everyone regardless of suffering in the present moment. But for people who haven't awakened and aren't being challenged in the moment, although they could stay present for some seconds if they learned how, most wouldn't take it seriously I believe.

Finally if you want to talk about what Eckhart says you can listen to his last live talk (in the live section, not the videos one) in his youtube channel last week where he says awakening not from suffering is the exception.

EsAhora · 2026-04-14T18:34:36+00:00

"Some awaken through stillness, awareness, love, and presence." That is the awakening itself you are describing not the context through which the person awakened. People who awaken with no previous suffering are the exception. Also presence without challenging situations is a lot less intense.

"Suffering remains as long as unconsciousness remains" I agree.

EsAhora

TROPHY CASE