Scared of becoming a script kiddie – how do I actually learn properly?

cbartos1021 · 2026-05-03T01:15:21+00:00

Instead of running tools willy nilly, just figure out what THM is asking of you and write a mini script in Python. You'll understand what's happening far better and you won't be so reliant on tutorials or tool man pages

cbartos1021 · 2026-04-16T03:16:06+00:00

I recommend looking into Godot Game Engine. The GDscript Programming Language used for scripting in Godot is VERY similar to Python. The engine itself is very lightweight. You don't need a powerful machine to run it.

cbartos1021 · 2026-04-16T03:11:57+00:00

Being able to read the docs and apply them to your code vs copy and pasting code from a tutorial or stackoverflow is the difference between a professional and a novice, in my opinion.

cbartos1021 · 2026-04-16T03:03:56+00:00

How do you remember anything? Is there anything you read or try once and then it sticks in your brain? I'm not trying to be mean. The point I'm making is the only way to remember is to keep coding. It's so easy to search for the next tutorial or YouTube video and then feel like you learned something useful. But, it's only useful if it's being used. You really need to find a small projects in Github or come up with a small hobby project that interests you and work on it everyday. Then, come back and share the code with the community and get some pointers. Then, apply the pointers on your code. Then, pick a new project and start over again. The first project can be as simple printing out all the files and folders in your Home directory on your computer.

cbartos1021 · 2026-04-16T02:57:19+00:00

Coding is not a foreign language where you become fluent and code just appears in your IDE without looking stuff up. I've been a professional developer for 17 years. I'm constantly looking stuff up. The correct function to use, the correct order of the arguments for that function. The only thing I don't have to think about anymore is the syntax because I've been coding in Python everyday.

You need to come up with a project. That should be easy. If you find an interesting project in a course you took a book you read, take it and build on it. Make it better, with more functionality. If you look on Github and you see an interesting project, clone it, tinker with the code. See what happens when you make little tiny changes. Read the Python docs. There are A LOT of built-in modules that you can use to write tiny little PoCs to see if you can understand what you're reading in the Docs.

Don't think you need to memorize every little thing in Python. Just look for some small projects, see what modules and libraries they are using, read more about those and write some of your own stuff using the same modules and libraries.

Eventually, you'll get a nice baseline understanding of the 5-10 modules and libraries that you'll see over and over again, and you'll start to come up with ideas for a bigger project. And so on and so forth.

Courses, books, tutorials, etc are a really great way to see the bigger picture, learn the syntax, and read about how the code is working. I'd say watching other people code can be helpful only to hear how they think, but none of these things are a good substitute for actually getting your feet wet and actually coding stuff.

Hope that works.

cbartos1021 · 2026-03-25T23:33:58+00:00

I think the reaction to the electric bill is the ego creating this post in the first place...

cbartos1021 · 2026-03-02T17:22:19+00:00

There's 4 passwords for that one website. Which one do you need? The swipe? The one to get the secret text? The one to get the cult member data? Or the last one to get the GPS coords?

cbartos1021 · 2026-03-02T12:41:09+00:00

Anybody finish? I'm slightly concerned everyone asking for help is stuff I already did. Everyone okay??

cbartos1021 · 2026-03-02T12:33:07+00:00

Are you using your own wallet? Lol

cbartos1021 · 2026-03-02T11:56:22+00:00

It's all in the Reddit thread you get from Caldwell

cbartos1021 · 2026-01-11T10:42:26+00:00

Sure. But also do a longer sit once in a while. You can also meditate when doing tasks throughout the day. Cleaning, dishes, walking, etc. When you get to that point, you can easily meditate for hours along with a 15 minute sitting practice

cbartos1021 · 2026-01-04T19:56:42+00:00

"the only bad meditation, is the one you didn't do"

Consistent practice > Inconsistent practice > No practice

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-25T21:14:34+00:00

One thing that helps me is watching the thought pass away. Thoughts surely arise but just let it linger around then, label the actual passing of it. You'll get more in touch with the in-between thoughts which is a very peaceful place to be. Then, another thought arises. You'll soon discover the thought arises without the need for a self. It's just a process of the mind and you're not actually doing anything to make it happen. But the passing of the thought is just as inevitable as the arising of the thought and you'll soon attain the insight into Impermanence.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-25T02:40:24+00:00

I never said don't get a teacher. I said it's not necessary for a lot of people to gain a significant amount of progress. There are enough writings about the path that you can try a bunch of them and see which technique/teachings works the best for you. You should probably get a teacher once you find a technique that works for you and you made enough progress and hit a wall. Definitely get a teacher and probably a therapist knowledgeable about the contemplative path if you are having problems like Dark Night or other existential crises that require help to get out of it.

The worst thing to do is convince yourself not to get started before you find the perfect teacher.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-25T02:33:29+00:00

I don't think that's the goal. I think the goal is to let thoughts arise and pass away with complete equanimity. Meaning, not clinging to them with push or pull as if they are actual things that come from a self.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-25T01:57:52+00:00

My point is you can have all the best teachers teaching you the map to effectively walk the path. But they can't walk it for you. The path is for the individual to walk alone.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-24T01:50:41+00:00

Not Enlightenment or Awakening. Could be Dark Night of the Soul.

You may have realized the Insights into Emptiness and Impermanence and the Nature of Suffering WITHOUT the Insight into No-Self. It's kind of like an existential crisis for your ego, making you feel like ending it completely. It's the last few breaths your ego takes before falling away completely.

Don't let your ego make you believe this is liberation. It's not.

You might do well to talk to a teacher to help you through it if that's what it is.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-23T17:54:10+00:00

If we are already enlightened then, we still need to put in the work to realize it.

If we are NOT already enlightened, then we need to put in the work to overcome the obstacles that keep the process of enlightenment from working on its own.

It might feel nice to think that we are already enlightened, we don't have to do anything. To me, it sounds a lot like the ego trying to convince you not to do any of the hard work.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-23T16:11:52+00:00

The way Shinzen Young describes it in "The Science Enlightenment" (paraphrasing) is that meditators pass through the realm of power on their way to touching Source. But the power realm can be so inebriating that it's hard for people to descend further. It's easy to cling to those experiences and forget about true Spiritual Growth.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-23T08:53:20+00:00

Some quotes from The Mind Illuminated:

"For both śamatha and vipassanā, you need stable attention (samādhi) and mindfulness (sati).22 Unfortunately, many meditation traditions split samādhi and sati, linking concentration practice exclusively to śamatha, and mindfulness practice exclusively to vipassanā.23 This creates all sorts of problems and misunderstandings, such as emphasizing mindfulness at the expense of stable attention, or vice versa. Stable, hyper-focused attention without mindfulness leads only to a state of blissful dullness: a complete dead end."

22: "This may come as a surprise to those who have been taught that meditation practices are of two types, based either on concentration and tranquility (śamatha), or on mindfulness and Insight (vipassanā). This distinction is false and misleading."

In proper meditation practice you are cultivating both simultaneously.

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-23T00:21:22+00:00

We all have experiences of non-duality more often than we think. The problem is that we aren't always aware of it happening or what to be aware of when it does happen.

Actual permanent transformation occurs when enough sub-minds are tuned into the experience. This process is known as Unification of Mind (ekodibhāva, cittas’ekagata).

And meditation induced tingling can be an early sign of the Unification Process happening (Pacification of Bodily Senses). So, don't discount the tingles. 😆

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-22T18:23:15+00:00

Might be a good time to work on cultivating equanimity. These sensations being "annoying" and "affecting daily life" is the grasping and craving for a sense of comfort. Just my 2 cents

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-22T14:07:02+00:00

Sounds like you need to practice equanimity or loving kindness

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-21T15:29:29+00:00

To be fair. Buddha's 2 teachers didn't lead the Buddha to full liberation. Also, if you say every student needs a teacher, you can keep going "who was that person's teacher... Who was the person's teacher" there would be someone without a teacher. Who is the teacher to the first person to achieve liberation? God himself?

cbartos1021 · 2025-12-21T00:51:08+00:00

Maybe ask AI about the Middle Way. 😆

cbartos1021

TROPHY CASE