Fact. Agreed… Great info.
@Tagore I utilized morning hours going through your diary (988 posts). Iam speecheless man. Totally. Thankyou for joining RC. I cannot say more. I lack words to describe what i felt.
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I have been shaken in a positive way by all the members of RC, if I never joined, I would have still been an idiot and a servant to the world of lust .
I would have never known Brahmacharya, Nofap, semen retention, anything that’s good .
I was a no-one in a nowhere land but from Nofap, came Brahmacharya, from it came meditation,and from it, desire to seek knowledge and from it, the curiosity to find new things, liberating ones which are not superficial and sense pleasures as they are of the Greatest temptations.
Self control is the Greatest manifestation of power
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Great to meet AgniDev Arya’s disciple 
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Check-in
Day 120 
4 Months of Freedom and Bliss!
But by my love and hope, I entreat you: do not reject the hero within your soul. Keep holy your highest hope - Nieztche
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Today’s learning: (May 6)
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.5.4–5
This is one of the most important concept of stoic philosophy. The way to live a great and fulfilling life propounded by the greatest emperor of Rome- Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus- a slave who, solely through his intellectual power and strength, became one of the greatest philosopher and teacher, Seneca- one among the greatest playwrights and political advisers of Rome, still rings true in the modern world, even though two millennials have passed since their death.
Everyday in our lives we try to control and change things that are not in our control. We run after girls wasting a lot of time when the fact remains that whether she likes us or not doesn’t lie in our control, we constantly contemplate about past failures and misdeeds, fucking up our present, we watch pmo and waste time on social media and internet thinking that these actions will provide real happiness and meaning
But what is happening when we are wasting time on these immovable objects?
We are wasting the time that could be spent on the things we can change!
Instead of running after an ego-centered, nihilistic woman we could invest all that time on ourselves to uplift our soul and life to the next level, we could spent the hours worrying about past deeds (because that cannot be changed, what could be changed is our attitude to what happened in the past and this is very important. We could either use a memory of past sexual abuse to victimise ourselves or it can also be used as fuel for growth) to working on our craft or music or writing or studying to become a successful and great man.
So the next time you are trying to control anything which is out of your control, ask yourself:
Isn’t this a totally worthless and stupid task to spent my most valuable time worrying about the past, trying to change this person, running after this woman?
Because my life is mortal. This world has been there for billions of years and it will remain this way for a trillion years too. All that really matters is what I really want in this life. Everything else is petty, time wastage
And take action based on the authentic answer that comes to your mind.
Remember how long you’ve been putting this off… At some point you have to recognise what world it is that you belong to; what power rules it and from what source you spring; that there is a limit to the time assigned to you and if you don’t use it to free yourself it’ll be gone and will never return.
- Marcus Aurelius
Peace 
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You are reading great deal of books.
I will also recommend you to read biography on Leonardo Da Vinci. Another historical legend. Far ahead from his time and his personal notes.
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Yes brother. I really want to read Da Vinci but I am confused about where to start. I have searched for some of his books but felt like indigestible at present. But surely I’ll go back. For the time being, as you said I’ll start with a biography. Thanks for the suggestion man; appreciate that.
Currently I am readiing this book bro. Thanks to @anon13059885 . He suggested this book in the forum. I suggest it to all of you; along with reading one chapter everyday, keep a journal as well and write what came to your mind and what is related to your life. As a result we can gain more self knowledge. Journaling was an important exercise of Stoics. Marcus Aurelius’s timeless classic Meditations was his journal entries. It is now read a like religious text; it is one of the very important works of stoic philosophy.
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Today’s Stoic Lesson: (May 7)
“What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly
educated—tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only
the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are
free.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.21–23a
Self knowledge in particular- is freedom. Everyone is distracted in this world now. As Emerson wrote, people are living a “life of quite desperation”. The masses just want to spent their time doing things that give instant pleasure, marry, create children, have more s, drink, enjoy and just die. Is that what our life is all about? I don’t want to walk among these masses. I’ll look within, I’ll switch off my phone, I’ll stay as close to my mind as I can, I’ll create my own destiny and will live the life of a genuine hero. A pleasurable life doesn’t exist. Only a meaningful life exists. Sense pleasure is equal to extreme pain. I’ll read great books. The greatest happiness of mine was reading, listening to old, meaningful songs, spending time in nature, writing (doing this made me experience eternal heaven) But look how much I have strayed now? 95% due to the distractions by phone. From now on I’ll be very careful in using phone. I’ll spend my time studying, reading, learning, gaining wisdom, writing. Because at the end these are the only things that really matters.
I, you and him will all die; we’ll all become dust and sand. In this wide universe which had been there for billions of years and will be there for a trillions more, this universe which contains millions of galaxies and millions of planets in each galaxies what are me and you? Not even mere dots or sands. Just some invisible nothings. So what matters at the end of the day?
Did I lived a meaningful life?
Did I lived my life in accordance with my values?
Did I achieved my purpose and made my contributions to this world?
Will I be satisfied if I die now?
Never. No one feels satisfied by spending time on phone and distractions, wasting time by talking with friends about silly and petty matters.
All that matters is my purpose, creating the skill required for it, living my life in accordance with values.
Everything else is as meaningless as dust and sand.
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The stoic philosophy has been indeed very beneficial on my NoFap journey, would highly recommended. I’ve also read this one recently:
Can be found on amazon or http://libgen.rs/
Good book indeed, helped me further understand some of the stoic concepts and also see how some practical exercises work.
Take care.
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Thanks brother.will surely check it out. I am planning to read meditations by Marcus Aurelius next. The thing with stoic philosophy is that it is very practical. It makes our mind free. The practices like Meditation on death, looking from above and focusing on things that we can control, letting go of unwanted attachments, desires and changing our attitude to things that happen in our life which is out of our control etc.
Even though a little conscious effort is needed in the beginning, it really calms our mind and makes us think straight. Above all, stoic philosophy have passed the test of time. The most famous CBT (Congnitive Behavioural Therapy) of modern psychology has its base on Stoic Philosophy. So this is something we can all use and adopt to help us move forward in this journey and life.
Thanks to you again bro @anon13059885 because you only introduced me into this.
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Indeed, the philosophy is timeless and its principles can be seen in many self development books or mindfulness techniques. I’m glad this also has helped you on your journey.
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I am ordering the daily stoic now, I was reading the miracle morning book before this almost completed it and I was looking for a new personal development book, also just today I came across a video by Prince Ea in which he said cognitive behavioral therapy is a must learn for everyone in their 20s, and now @Tagore has mentioned that this therapy is based on stoic philosophy so I think the universe is conspiring for me to read this book 
.
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THE BIG THREE (Stoic lesson 4)
“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment;
action for the common good in the present moment;
and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.6
i.e. Control your perceptions.
Direct your actions properly.
Willingly accept what’s outside your control.
Did you notice something peculiar in this quote of Marcus Aurelius. Yes, HE STRESSES A LOT ON THE PRESENT MOMENT.
Certainty of judgement or control of perception should be in the PRESENT MOMENT. Action for the common good and must be rightly directed in the PRESENT MOMENT. An attitude of gratitude for anything that comes your way in the PRESENT MOMENT.
So, presence of mind is the most important tool we have in living a good life. Every thing else comes after that; whatever you claim you have, they all will become irrelevant if you are not mindful and staying in the present. Our mind always have this habit of moving from past to future and vice-verce like a pendulum but real strength comes when the pendulum is fixed at the center, when your mind is calm and seeking joy from within itself.
Yeah, we all know, in this world of constant distractions, mindfulness is one of the hardest thing to achieve. But it is the only way; to squeeze every drop of the power of each neurons in our brain, to take our perception to a higher plane and to do miracles using the power of our subconscious mind mindfulness is a must!
So, from now on I’ll carefully look at everything I read, think, experience and learn. I’ll put it into my mind, calculate whether it is in alignment with my perception of truth. Then I’ll decide whether to take it or leave based on the answer I reach.
Self control is everything. Yes, as Aristotle pointed out, try to stay as close to the mean as possible. Don’t over indulge in sensual pleasure or don’t become an ascetic. You only have this one life; engage in things with a calm and clear mind with clarity and right perception. Don’t let anything in this world to take you away from living a meaningful, authentic and purposeful life. You are here for a reason; focus on eat; death is certain, remember the galaxies and millions of planets in it and LIVE YOUR LIFE. As Seneca said (just paraphrasing): 'It requires great strength, to stay away from sensual pleasures and the meaningless pursuits of the masses but it requires the greatest of strengths to indulge in it with moderation".
However we try or desire somethings are outside of our control. Covid-19 is eating the lives of millions around us, even some of our closed ones are leaving us, a girl that you love may not care about you, you may not be famous or filthy rich or the greatest looking boy in the neighborhood. But, reasonably, what is the use of focusing on those things which are out of your control. It’ll only waste our most important mental energy and time which is very limited!
So instead we can all mindfully focus on the things we can control, achieve and change. We can focus on our purpose in life and become a successful man, we can gain wisdom and sharpen our axe to win this battle of life, we can do charity or help people in need, we can spend time in nature or in having a meaningful conversation with an authentic friend. These are all thing 100% in our control. Lets focus on it.
Lets fortify our mind, body, life and spirit by directing our focus to the right direction, for the right cause and with right intensity.
Peace
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Yes bro, Stoic philosophy has very strong base and is very practical, especially helpful in this distracted and stressful world. In fact, it was created to survive any hard times in life. Look at Marcus Aurilius; he was the emperor of Rome for 9 years and everyday he had to face to stressful and nerve wrecking events. It was Stoic philosophy that helped him. Just like Buddhism, Taoism etc Stoic philosophy gaurantees real peace and clarity in perception. Please do read and think about it before accepting the concepts. It is helping me a lot.
This is also a great book, on the topic; two of the most famous book on amazon right now are this and Daily Stoic. There are hundreds of rereading and writings happening on it because stoic philosophy is very helpful in modern times and offcourse in gaining control over addictions too.
Bro @The_integrous_one , but if you want to really grasp the ideas of stoics we have to dig into the original writing of marcus Aurilius, Seneca and Epictetus. Their books Meditation, Letters of Seneca and Discourses are the most important ones, in my understanding.
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Ok bro I’ll look into them later on in life, Now a days I just manage around 15-20 minutes of reading self help books along with my routine and studies, so I’ll be sticking with the daily stoic for now 
. I have just started this daily reading habit about 2 months ago and I was able to finish just one 190 page book in 2 months .
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Agree with you. We can learn lot of things from stoic philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism. I find commonality between these three. These are timeless philosophies which will never get old.
I have already read the Meditation and Letters By Seneca but I feel I should read it multiple times. Because i forgot most of the stuffs.
Also Stoic philosophy helps us to develop the real character as a Man.
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100%
In fact, the perfection of a stoic is when he is able to stay calm and cool when any kind of destruction happens in life. ‘Indifference’ is the key word. But there is much more to it.
A lot to learn bro. I am also focusing on Epicureanism which was also famous in Greek at the time (3rd - 2nd century BC). this philosophy has a huge eastern shadow. Their basic idea is give up all the unnecessary baggage we carry in name of pleasure such as fame, lust, sense pleasure etc.
Live a simple life. A life of sense pleasures = life of pain.
A happy life is a life without pain, anxiety, fear etc
So choose a simple life by following the basic necessities of life. Give up everything else. I am moved by this philosophy of Epicurus.
You do read a lot too bro. Happy to find a man with similar interests. What is your age? You speak like a mature man. Keep going; you are born for greatness.
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May 10
Make my bed
Deep work (1 hour)
Yoga at 7:30 am:
Sookshma Vyayam, Soorya namaskar,
asanas: Sirshasana, sarvangasan, matyasana, siddhasan
Om Chanting
Pranayam- bhastrika, Kapalbanti, agnisar, shithali, anulom vilom, bhramri
Jalandhar bandh
Uddhiyana bandh
Meditation (15 mins)
Shavasan
Stoic lesson (5)
Journal
Cold shower
Vajrasana after lunch
Reading (Hatha Yoga Pradipika)
Pray in the evening + Gitanjali
No TV
No phone
No junk food
Evening Meditation (10 mins)
Plan for tomorrow
Sleep before 11
Wake up (6 am)
Mindful eating + Mitahara
Work: 5 hours. (Today you won bro @_TIGER . I was distracted and had slept in the afternoon. Lets see tomorrow!)
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