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Discuss the November 2022 Philosophy Book of the Month, In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.

To post in this forum, you must buy and read the book. After buying the book, please upload a screenshot of your receipt or proof or purchase via OnlineBookClub. Once the moderators approve your purchase at OnlineBookClub, you will then also automatically be given access to post in this forum.
#452410
If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Shirley Labzentis,

Thank you for your questions! :)
Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 1st, 2023, 2:57 pm Hi Scott,
Have you ever met someone and without them speaking at all, you get a bad vibe off of them, and you immediately do not like this person.
Yes, I have.

Nonetheless, it's important to remember that unconditional love is unconditional. It doesn't require a person or thing or situation to smell good or be likable.

I have "Just Love Everything" tattooed on my arm.

A crucial element of my teachings is learning how to notice and observe without judging or resenting or hating. In other words, you can notice the is-ness of something without adding the misery-inducing illusion of should-ness to it. Both me and a stinky shoulder may see a literal pile of stinky dog poo and both think, "There is some stinky poop there." Noticing it is not necessarily what differentiates us (Although, shoulders often use shoulding as a way to distract themselves from the is-ness of what is, as a form of denial, so if anyone is not noticing/observing what's actually there then it's the reality-unaccepting shoulder, not the accepter.). But what ultimately necessarily distinguishes the shoulder from me (and other accepters) is that the shoulder then adds--presumably with some degree of resentment, hate, unforgiveness, or moralizing judgmentalism--shoulds: "That dog poop shouldn't be there!" or "Things shouldn't smell like that!" or "Dog poop shouldn't exist!" or "Nothing should stink!" or "All food should be tasty!" or "Pain shouldn't exist!" or "I should be comfortable all the time!" or "Discomfort not only exists but it's evil and objectively bad and timeless reality as a whole is not perfect because of it! If this world was created by a Creator God, he did a bad job! He could have done better by leaving out the discomfort and smelly things!"

For me, being around some human beings is like being around a big steamy pile of dog poop. Given the choice, I tend to choose to keep my distance. In no way is that at all incompatible with my teachings in my book, including those about unconditional love and forgiveness, and of seeing the beautiful harmonious perfection of reality as an unchanging timeless eternal whole.

On a more serious note, my book includes the specific example of the case in which one can unconditionally love a rabid dog but still make the choice to put the dog down.

Hate, resentment, and unforgiveness is really just something you do (or don't do) to yourself in your present. You are really the only one who gets hurt by it, at least directly, and thus it generally has little to nothing to do with your outward behavior. Externally, almost anything a hater can do a lover can do, and vice versa. It's just about whether you have loving happy inner peace while you do it or not.


Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 1st, 2023, 2:57 pm This has happened to me in my life several times. I try not to judge these people, as I don't know them, but I can't shake this feeling.
To that, I have two comments:

First, I reiterate what I already wrote above: A crucial element of my teachings is learning how to notice and observe without judging or resenting or hating. It seems like you might be creating a false dichotomy for yourself in which you falsely feel like you have to choose between either (1) refusing to admit/notice something versus (2) hating/resenting it. Ironically, the exact opposite is the case: Acceptance is more linked to noticing and observing, while self-deceiving dishonest denial is more linked to unacceptance in form of unforgiveness, resentment, hate, and judgemental moralizing (e.g. "that should shouldn't be the way it unchangably is!")

Second, I strongly recommend you avoid using any of the six misery-inducing words such as the word 'try' which you have used above.

Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 1st, 2023, 2:57 pm It might not happen right away or months later, but something will always come out about this person that is not great. Is it intuition? Is this person emitting evil vibes? I don't know. What do you think?
With each person that it happens, the specifics of that one case are likely different from others. Maybe one time it happened with one person it was a helpful intuition that you would reap many practical benefits from listening to. Maybe in your dealings another person it was an irrational paranoia.

Regardless, I would strongly advise you to research subjects such as (1) Confirmation Bias and (2) the Pygmalion Effect. Similarly, I suggest you read my topic, We see what we want to see, meaning what we choose to see.
Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 1st, 2023, 2:57 pm Can I unconditionally love this person?
Yes, of course. Hence the word 'unconditional'. :)
Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 1st, 2023, 2:57 pm I can't no matter how hard I try, I can't brush off this ill feeling that I get whenever I come in contact with this person or persons.
Then don't try.

I never try.

And I never have any unmet expectations.

I do what I want, and only what I want, without any trying, and I have consistent free-spirited inner peace (a.k.a. true happiness) day in and day out while I do it.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott


Just love everything.
Just love everything.
just-love-everything.jpg (226.9 KiB) Viewed 25142 times


---
In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#452476
If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.



Sushan wrote: November 28th, 2023, 6:04 am I currently reside in a country where, unfortunately, the economy has suffered significantly due to political corruption. Despite holding a prestigious position, I find the living conditions to be relatively poor. I was fortunate to receive an education at no cost, which I deeply appreciate. Given these circumstances, I am contemplating whether it would be more appropriate to continue serving my country or to consider relocating. Could you please provide some guidance or insights on this matter?
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: November 30th, 2023, 1:45 pm Can you explain in a bit more detail what you mean by the word 'serving' in your question above?

I suspect that word, and what you mean by it precisely, is a key word in your question and will become a significant factor in how I choose to answer.
Sushan wrote: December 3rd, 2023, 12:06 pm
My country provides both free education and free health. I got my education for free and became a doctor. Now I am a part of that free health (although I am given a salary for my job). So I believe that I am serving back to my country and my people, and paying back for what my country gave me. That is what I meant by the word 'serving'.

Hi, Sushan,

Thank you for your reply!

I understand now, and this is a really great question.

When generalized a little bit, I think this question and topic is something that many people, and perhaps most people, can strongly relate in one way or another. It's the topics of serving, sacrifice, and feeling implicitly indebted to people as if you owe them something or have a duty to help them even if that was never explicitly agreed.

What you are describing, in part, is what I often think of as "karmic debts" by which I mean debts that are either (1) non-financial and/or (2) not explicit. An example of latter could be if a friend buys me dinner one night at a fancy restaurant; I may feel like I owe him a dinner, or something of a similar financial value. Another example could be if a friend gives me $100 cash as a birthday gift; I might feel like I owe him $100, even though it was a gift not a loan.

Ironically, I find most people tend to be more concerned and eager to repay those non-financial and/or implicit debts than they are about repaying explicit financial debts, such as missing a credit card payment or paying their mortgage late or letting a car loan go unpaid until the car gets repossessed. But I suspect the reason for that, which is very rational, is that explicit financial debts usually have pre-agreed in-writing terms for late fees and such. So the person (rightly) doesn't really feel like they are breaking a promise or taking advantage. In fact, usually we (somewhat rightly) look at as the opposite: If someone can't (or refused to) pay their credit card debt, home mortgage, or student loans, we often think of the lender as the predator and the one not paying their debt as the victim, if any one is a predator or victim.

Dishonestly manipulative people can take advantage of this. Consider the example of a deadbeat friend or family member who is staying rent-free in your house. They might cleverly be purposefully vague on the terms of that arrangement and not at all want to sign some kind of official lease agreement, even if the terms are very favorable to them.

Many people contemplating divorce are in a very similar situation to you. They may feel like they owe their spouse something, namely to stay in the marriage and keep serving/repaying the spouse for whatever that spouse has done for them, or even as part of literal explicit promises made at the time of marriage.

Many people who aren't married but are in a different kind of romantic relationship or platonic friendship can experience basically the same thing, minus the legalities of marriage and divorce. A very common example is when it comes to a beloved friend or family member who has succumb to drug addiction or alcoholism or such. It's not unusual for such a person to come knocking on one's door asking for cash with some wild story about what the cash will be used for that allegedly isn't drugs, alcohol, gambling, or whatever the addiction is. Among other urges pushing the would-be enabler to enable the addict at the door, one urge may be the urge to 'repay' or 'serve' the addict in return for long past things the addict did for them, perhaps before the addict became an addict.

Kids who have abusive parents struggle very much in this regard as well.

In yet another example, consider those who--out of loyalty or sense of non-financial debt to people and a company that served them previously--stay in a seemingly toxic workplace at a job they seem to hate.

The answer to this kind of seeming dilemma is effectively the same as the answer I gave to another earlier question by someone else about the topic of overthinking, which also applies to all potential addictions, temptations, and matters of potential abuse or any kind of seeming overdoing of something. And that advice was as follows:

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: November 29th, 2023, 5:45 pm It is not about how much you do the thing, whatever it is, but rather why you do it, and whether you are a happy free-spirit exercising self-discipline and enjoying inner peace while you do it or a spiritual slave or oppressor who is abusing, especially in the sense of abusing yourself.


Read Full Post

There are chapters in my book specifically about what I call karmic debts, overcommitment/overpromising, and doing less better, all of which will be relevant and helpful to you in regard to your question.

However, I suspect the most relevant teaching from my book in this case for you is this one:

true-love-is-being-happy-to-sacrifice.jpg
true-love-is-being-happy-to-sacrifice.jpg (126 KiB) Viewed 24968 times


For some, the alleged beloved is a spouse they could divorce or serve, a parent, a drug-addicted child, a poor homeless person you pass on the street, an orphan child you've never met before who is begging for handouts, the taxpaying population of a country whose government paid for your education, or anyone or anything. For many, it's simply the older version of themselves, where loving sacrifice could be exercising on a treadmill today or depositing money into a long-term savings account. Whoever the beloved is, both the above advice and the following elaboration hold true:


By all means, if it makes you happy, in the sense of the true deep spiritual happiness that is free-spirited inner peace, then for your beloved choose to face extreme discomfort, take on extreme financial expense, and endure terrible bodily injuries or even choose death.

By all means, if it makes you happy, in the sense of the true deep spiritual happiness that is free-spirited inner peace, then for your beloved choose to sacrifice comfort, money, sensual pleasures, bodily safety, and even your life itself.

But never sacrifice your happiness,

And never sacrifice yours spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline).

Sacrifice because it makes you happy.

Lovingly sacrifice all you want, because loving sacrifice is one of the most spiritually joyful and beautiful manifestations of spiritual freedom and invincible inner peace.

But the second you notice it seems to be stealing your inner peace or infringing on your true happiness or free-spiritedness, then notice it is therefore absolutely not a loving sacrifice.

And then my advice is don't do it in that case.

In many ways, it's extremely simple:

Do it (whatever it is) if it makes you happy, truly happy in the sense of free-spirited inner peace, in the moment you are doing it.

Don't do it otherwise.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott



In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program, both for the free option and the paid option.
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#452508
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: December 31st, 2023, 3:27 pm If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.



Sushan wrote: November 28th, 2023, 6:04 am I currently reside in a country where, unfortunately, the economy has suffered significantly due to political corruption. Despite holding a prestigious position, I find the living conditions to be relatively poor. I was fortunate to receive an education at no cost, which I deeply appreciate. Given these circumstances, I am contemplating whether it would be more appropriate to continue serving my country or to consider relocating. Could you please provide some guidance or insights on this matter?
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: November 30th, 2023, 1:45 pm Can you explain in a bit more detail what you mean by the word 'serving' in your question above?

I suspect that word, and what you mean by it precisely, is a key word in your question and will become a significant factor in how I choose to answer.
Sushan wrote: December 3rd, 2023, 12:06 pm
My country provides both free education and free health. I got my education for free and became a doctor. Now I am a part of that free health (although I am given a salary for my job). So I believe that I am serving back to my country and my people, and paying back for what my country gave me. That is what I meant by the word 'serving'.

Hi, Sushan,

Thank you for your reply!

I understand now, and this is a really great question.

When generalized a little bit, I think this question and topic is something that many people, and perhaps most people, can strongly relate in one way or another. It's the topics of serving, sacrifice, and feeling implicitly indebted to people as if you owe them something or have a duty to help them even if that was never explicitly agreed.

What you are describing, in part, is what I often think of as "karmic debts" by which I mean debts that are either (1) non-financial and/or (2) not explicit. An example of latter could be if a friend buys me dinner one night at a fancy restaurant; I may feel like I owe him a dinner, or something of a similar financial value. Another example could be if a friend gives me $100 cash as a birthday gift; I might feel like I owe him $100, even though it was a gift not a loan.

Ironically, I find most people tend to be more concerned and eager to repay those non-financial and/or implicit debts than they are about repaying explicit financial debts, such as missing a credit card payment or paying their mortgage late or letting a car loan go unpaid until the car gets repossessed. But I suspect the reason for that, which is very rational, is that explicit financial debts usually have pre-agreed in-writing terms for late fees and such. So the person (rightly) doesn't really feel like they are breaking a promise or taking advantage. In fact, usually we (somewhat rightly) look at as the opposite: If someone can't (or refused to) pay their credit card debt, home mortgage, or student loans, we often think of the lender as the predator and the one not paying their debt as the victim, if any one is a predator or victim.

Dishonestly manipulative people can take advantage of this. Consider the example of a deadbeat friend or family member who is staying rent-free in your house. They might cleverly be purposefully vague on the terms of that arrangement and not at all want to sign some kind of official lease agreement, even if the terms are very favorable to them.

Many people contemplating divorce are in a very similar situation to you. They may feel like they owe their spouse something, namely to stay in the marriage and keep serving/repaying the spouse for whatever that spouse has done for them, or even as part of literal explicit promises made at the time of marriage.

Many people who aren't married but are in a different kind of romantic relationship or platonic friendship can experience basically the same thing, minus the legalities of marriage and divorce. A very common example is when it comes to a beloved friend or family member who has succumb to drug addiction or alcoholism or such. It's not unusual for such a person to come knocking on one's door asking for cash with some wild story about what the cash will be used for that allegedly isn't drugs, alcohol, gambling, or whatever the addiction is. Among other urges pushing the would-be enabler to enable the addict at the door, one urge may be the urge to 'repay' or 'serve' the addict in return for long past things the addict did for them, perhaps before the addict became an addict.

Kids who have abusive parents struggle very much in this regard as well.

In yet another example, consider those who--out of loyalty or sense of non-financial debt to people and a company that served them previously--stay in a seemingly toxic workplace at a job they seem to hate.

The answer to this kind of seeming dilemma is effectively the same as the answer I gave to another earlier question by someone else about the topic of overthinking, which also applies to all potential addictions, temptations, and matters of potential abuse or any kind of seeming overdoing of something. And that advice was as follows:

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: November 29th, 2023, 5:45 pm It is not about how much you do the thing, whatever it is, but rather why you do it, and whether you are a happy free-spirit exercising self-discipline and enjoying inner peace while you do it or a spiritual slave or oppressor who is abusing, especially in the sense of abusing yourself.


Read Full Post

There are chapters in my book specifically about what I call karmic debts, overcommitment/overpromising, and doing less better, all of which will be relevant and helpful to you in regard to your question.

However, I suspect the most relevant teaching from my book in this case for you is this one:


true-love-is-being-happy-to-sacrifice.jpg



For some, the alleged beloved is a spouse they could divorce or serve, a parent, a drug-addicted child, a poor homeless person you pass on the street, an orphan child you've never met before who is begging for handouts, the taxpaying population of a country whose government paid for your education, or anyone or anything. For many, it's simply the older version of themselves, where loving sacrifice could be exercising on a treadmill today or depositing money into a long-term savings account. Whoever the beloved is, both the above advice and the following elaboration hold true:


By all means, if it makes you happy, in the sense of the true deep spiritual happiness that is free-spirited inner peace, then for your beloved choose to face extreme discomfort, take on extreme financial expense, and endure terrible bodily injuries or even choose death.

By all means, if it makes you happy, in the sense of the true deep spiritual happiness that is free-spirited inner peace, then for your beloved choose to sacrifice comfort, money, sensual pleasures, bodily safety, and even your life itself.

But never sacrifice your happiness,

And never sacrifice yours spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline).

Sacrifice because it makes you happy.

Lovingly sacrifice all you want, because loving sacrifice is one of the most spiritually joyful and beautiful manifestations of spiritual freedom and invincible inner peace.

But the second you notice it seems to be stealing your inner peace or infringing on your true happiness or free-spiritedness, then notice it is therefore absolutely not a loving sacrifice.

And then my advice is don't do it in that case.

In many ways, it's extremely simple:

Do it (whatever it is) if it makes you happy, truly happy in the sense of free-spirited inner peace, in the moment you are doing it.

Don't do it otherwise.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott



In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program, both for the free option and the paid option.
Thank you very much for the insight. ☺️
#452581
If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.

Shirley Labzentis wrote: December 3rd, 2023, 6:36 pm Hi Scott,
I know that you must have spent countless hours in OnlineBookClub at the start, but I am curious as to how many hours you devote to it now. How deep into it do you get? Are you constantly checking and overseeing every post and problem, or are you letting your excellent staff handle everything and they come to you if they can't handle something?
Hi, Shirley Labzentis,

Thank you for your questions!

I certainly don't and humanly can't check or read every single post. Anyone who is that unwilling to delegate or that much of a micromanager would never even reach 1% of the level of success I have in business and finance because they will be stuck at having only 24 hours per day and thereby hit a glass ceiling of their own creation that I would have hit 10+ years ago if I was like that.

To eliminate that would-be self-created glass ceiling and achieve exponential growth, it is absolutely crucial delegate like crazy and understand and implement the power of exponential scaling.

We have thousands of new members join OnlineBookClub every day. Hundreds of of new book reviews are posted each day, and thousands of new form post. Likewise, I pay an team hourly customer support staff to work 24/7 just to keep up with the emails we get and messages via the contact form. It would take more than 24 hours per day to monitor just one of these things, let alone all of them.

There's a deep spiritual dimension to this concept as well: When you learn how to delegate like a boss, you can apply that concept to life in general and not only accomplish so much more with an incredible sense of self-empowerment, but it's intrinsically linked to a sense of godly oneness with the universe. There is revealed this sometimes counter-intuitive and seemingly contradictory truth of the unity and sameness between what you do and what you don't do. You start to see a sameness between the concept of (1) going with the flow / accepting the things you don't control versus (2) delegating while being one with or taking ownership of these things that are happening. This is why breath work is so linked to meditation and mindfulness practices. Breathing is one of those things that you delegate throughout most of the day.

A simpler way to look at what I am saying in the preceding paragraph is as follows: You can take the same techniques (e.g. delegating like crazy) that lead to great accomplishment in business and great financial success in business to your life in general to achieve other things in other contexts, from reaching non-financial goals in the gym to achieving other incredible accomplishments and empowerment in matters that are not financial and perhaps not even numerically quantifiable (e.g. being a great parent who runs a great household/family).

I like to think of business and money as just a tiny example of a broader way of life and outlook.

I still usually work about 50+ hours per week, but I split it roughly evenly between OnlineBookClub and various side projects such as this mentoring program I'm doing right now which in pert entail reading these Q&As and answering them.

That's also why I want to partner with many mentees to start entirely new businesses: So I have more work to do. I love working. :)


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott


Eisenhower-Matrix-Diagram.png
Eisenhower-Matrix-Diagram.png (17.17 KiB) Viewed 24587 times



In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program, both for the free option and the paid option.
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#452613
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: November 1st, 2022, 5:09 pm For those who don't know, I am Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.

Post any questions you have for me as a reply to this topic, and I will do my best answer.

It can be a question about anything. It can be about me, about the book, or about anything else! :D




ask-me-anything.jpg

What motivated you to start OBC
#452698
If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.

Risper Ouma Lisa Anyango wrote: December 4th, 2023, 3:10 am If you could distill life into one lesson, what would it be, and how would applying it change your daily experiences?
Hi, Risper Ouma Lisa Anyango,

Thank you for your question!

To help me interpret your question, I looked up "distill" in the dictionary, and this seemed to me to be the most result: "extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of".

So the question for me is then: "If I could extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of life into one lesson, what would it be?"

I think Alan Watts may have answered that question the best in my opinion. He said, "The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves."

Another relevant quote by Alan Watts is this one I posted on Twitter (a.k.a. X).

One way of re-wording that might be to interpret Alan Watts as saying the meaning of life, or lesson/teaching to follow, is to be more present in your unique present, in a deeply accepting, grateful, and free-spirited way such that you have invincible inner peace (a.k.a. true happiness or even nirvana) making sure that you absolutely do not at all see happiness (a.k.a. inner peace) as something that only exists in the future as a potentiality bought through hopeful suffering in the present. This comes in part from realizing that (1) time isn't real, that (2) objective simultaneity doesn't exist, but that yet (3) presence(s), namely conscious presence(s), do exist, in one sense in the plural of infinite conscious presences (plural) scattered throughout all of spacetime including all of what you might otherwise relativistically and subjectively see as the distant past or the distant future. However, in another sense, as my book teaches, all of these conscious presences are really one. It's like a singular omnipresent cross-eyed presence. Not omnipresent across all of space, because neither space nor time are fundamentally real, but rather omnipresent across all of spacetime.

It's analogous to a single human brain with multiple personality disorder, or like a single human brain having a sleeping dream at night with a dinner party full of guests having really interesting conversations or arguments and debates, but the single human brain is the whole 4D universe of timeless spaceless spacetime, including all what you see as the distant past and far future. When you have a sleeping dream at night with big dinner party and look across the big table at someone else who seems so far away, how far away is that other end of the table really? If all exists in a singular mind, how big is that mind? In one way it's infinitely big and spacious and subdividable, but in another way the furthest distance you can imagine is effectively nothing because separation and distance are dreamy illusions. This also is connected concept of the Two Yous: One of the two yous is one of infinite conscious subjects scattered throughout objectively timeless spaceless spacetime. In the sense of the other one of the two yous, there are no others and rather all others are just other yous, or more of you; it's all the same one being/consciousness/thing wearing all those different outfits, such as 40-year-old Scott (one of our infinite outfits), and 20-year-old Scott (a different one of our infinite outfits), and Scott's 13-year-old son Tristen (yet another of our infinite outfits). We are one, but we have infinite outfits.

For more on that concept of the logically undeniable oneness of all conscious being(s), please read the following topic of mine:

The lion & the antelope share a spirit. Even your worst enemy is but a friend—you yourself in fact—in playful disguise.


The second question for me is how would applying the above lesson change my experiences and/or someone's daily experiences.

I think it gives me, and would give anyone who applies it by following the teachings of my book, invincible free-spirited inner peace (a.k.a. consistent true happiness). Ironically, realizing that you don't need money, wealth, or material or external success to be happy tends to lead one to great external success, be that in terms of money, sports, fitness, fame, or whatever it is for them. Whatever goal you might be running towards, you tend to run much further when you are happy and in the long run you tend to utterly beat any unhappy competition. Because they are unhappy when they are running, they tend to say "this sucks" and stop. Because they are always chasing greener grass in the delusion that happiness exists only as potential in the future not the repent, and depends on reaching greener grass in the future, rather than being more acceptingly and lovingly present in one's present, the unhappy person tends to just run in circles and ultimately get nowhere. They just keep going from side to side, always chasing the greener grass on the other side, in any endless unhappy cycle.






With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott


the-meaning-of-life.jpg
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---
In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#452718
Thank you, Sir, for addressing and exploring the real issues of life. It was very replenishing to learn about your deeply spiritual experiences and thoughts. I found my expression in your words 'the meaning of life is just to be alive and yet, everybody panics as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.' Also, I appreciate that you elaborated on 'we all are one, but have different outfits.' Ecstatic!
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April 2025

Escape to Paradise and Beyond (Tentative)

Escape to Paradise and Beyond (Tentative)
by Maitreya Dasa
March 2025

They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself

They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself
by Monica Omorodion Swaida
February 2025

The Riddle of Alchemy

The Riddle of Alchemy
by Paul Kiritsis
January 2025

2024 Philosophy Books of the Month

Connecting the Dots: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science

Connecting the Dots: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science
by Lia Russ
December 2024

The Advent of Time: A Solution to the Problem of Evil...

The Advent of Time: A Solution to the Problem of Evil...
by Indignus Servus
November 2024

Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age

Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age
by Elliott B. Martin, Jr.
October 2024

Zen and the Art of Writing

Zen and the Art of Writing
by Ray Hodgson
September 2024

How is God Involved in Evolution?

How is God Involved in Evolution?
by Joe P. Provenzano, Ron D. Morgan, and Dan R. Provenzano
August 2024

Launchpad Republic: America's Entrepreneurial Edge and Why It Matters

Launchpad Republic: America's Entrepreneurial Edge and Why It Matters
by Howard Wolk
July 2024

Quest: Finding Freddie: Reflections from the Other Side

Quest: Finding Freddie: Reflections from the Other Side
by Thomas Richard Spradlin
June 2024

Neither Safe Nor Effective

Neither Safe Nor Effective
by Dr. Colleen Huber
May 2024

Now or Never

Now or Never
by Mary Wasche
April 2024

Meditations

Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius
March 2024

Beyond the Golden Door: Seeing the American Dream Through an Immigrant's Eyes

Beyond the Golden Door: Seeing the American Dream Through an Immigrant's Eyes
by Ali Master
February 2024

The In-Between: Life in the Micro

The In-Between: Life in the Micro
by Christian Espinosa
January 2024

2023 Philosophy Books of the Month

Entanglement - Quantum and Otherwise

Entanglement - Quantum and Otherwise
by John K Danenbarger
January 2023

Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul

Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023

Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness

Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023

The Unfakeable Code®

The Unfakeable Code®
by Tony Jeton Selimi
April 2023

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
by Alan Watts
May 2023

Killing Abel

Killing Abel
by Michael Tieman
June 2023

Reconfigurement: Reconfiguring Your Life at Any Stage and Planning Ahead

Reconfigurement: Reconfiguring Your Life at Any Stage and Planning Ahead
by E. Alan Fleischauer
July 2023

First Survivor: The Impossible Childhood Cancer Breakthrough

First Survivor: The Impossible Childhood Cancer Breakthrough
by Mark Unger
August 2023

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational
by Dan Ariely
September 2023

Artwords

Artwords
by Beatriz M. Robles
November 2023

Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope

Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope
by Dr. Randy Ross
December 2023

2022 Philosophy Books of the Month

Emotional Intelligence At Work

Emotional Intelligence At Work
by Richard M Contino & Penelope J Holt
January 2022

Free Will, Do You Have It?

Free Will, Do You Have It?
by Albertus Kral
February 2022

My Enemy in Vietnam

My Enemy in Vietnam
by Billy Springer
March 2022

2X2 on the Ark

2X2 on the Ark
by Mary J Giuffra, PhD
April 2022

The Maestro Monologue

The Maestro Monologue
by Rob White
May 2022

What Makes America Great

What Makes America Great
by Bob Dowell
June 2022

The Truth Is Beyond Belief!

The Truth Is Beyond Belief!
by Jerry Durr
July 2022

Living in Color

Living in Color
by Mike Murphy
August 2022 (tentative)

The Not So Great American Novel

The Not So Great American Novel
by James E Doucette
September 2022

Mary Jane Whiteley Coggeshall, Hicksite Quaker, Iowa/National Suffragette And Her Speeches

Mary Jane Whiteley Coggeshall, Hicksite Quaker, Iowa/National Suffragette And Her Speeches
by John N. (Jake) Ferris
October 2022

In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
November 2022

The Smartest Person in the Room: The Root Cause and New Solution for Cybersecurity

The Smartest Person in the Room
by Christian Espinosa
December 2022

2021 Philosophy Books of the Month

The Biblical Clock: The Untold Secrets Linking the Universe and Humanity with God's Plan

The Biblical Clock
by Daniel Friedmann
March 2021

Wilderness Cry: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach to Understanding God and the Universe

Wilderness Cry
by Dr. Hilary L Hunt M.D.
April 2021

Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute: Tools To Spark Your Dream And Ignite Your Follow-Through

Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute
by Jeff Meyer
May 2021

Surviving the Business of Healthcare: Knowledge is Power

Surviving the Business of Healthcare
by Barbara Galutia Regis M.S. PA-C
June 2021

Winning the War on Cancer: The Epic Journey Towards a Natural Cure

Winning the War on Cancer
by Sylvie Beljanski
July 2021

Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream

Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream
by Dr Frank L Douglas
August 2021

If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Outta Your Buts

If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Outta Your Buts
by Mark L. Wdowiak
September 2021

The Preppers Medical Handbook

The Preppers Medical Handbook
by Dr. William W Forgey M.D.
October 2021

Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide

Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress
by Dr. Gustavo Kinrys, MD
November 2021

Dream For Peace: An Ambassador Memoir

Dream For Peace
by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah
December 2021


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