 So, this is going to be a video essay about our perceptions, about demons, and how the world as we view it is not objective, and the battle that's going on between the way you want to perceive the world, or the way you would perceive it ideally, going after what you want to go after, whether it's love, success, happiness, etc. And also the various forces that are either real, as in demons, or part of a spiritual world, or they're just inner parts of you and your genes, we're not going to get into that, although we are going to talk about the various interpretations for that. So, this idea came about to me when I read a book called The End of Death by Nook Sanchez, who's a devout Christian who believes in the book called A Course in Miracles, which supposedly an angel came down and gave this Christian woman the word of Jesus. So, Nook Sanchez, the girl who wrote The End of Death, the way she interprets the book is, she says, all our sins are forgiven, all the supposed bad things have already happened, and you cannot believe in God and also believe in death, because God contradicts death and death contradicts God. You have to pick one or the other. So, the way she goes about it is she tells you to, instead of looking at, for example, poverty, and saying, okay, that's poverty, it's a bad thing, it needs to be solved, basically looking at it as the cause, you instead change your perception and instead of seeing, you realize that if you see something negative like poverty, it means that something in your perception is wrong, not the world. So, instead of trying to fix the world, fix your perception and then see what happens. So, in other words, love and then do whatever you want to do, but first love. I really love the book. It's a really, really good, cool idea and it does work quite amazingly. When you fully decide to try it out, you enter situations that are, with your partner in life, where you would normally react badly and instead of reacting to the situation, you say, okay, I'm feeling bad, I'm seeing bad things, that means something in my perception is wrong, and then you start realizing that there's this rift, it's not always, I see bad, therefore bad, it might be bad, but most of the time, it's in my vision. So, if I just don't look at it like a bad thing, the situation resolves itself. For example, let's say you're again with your partner and you're both arguing about something and you both look at a problem and say, this is a problem, this is not good, we need to solve this thing and you start arguing and really going at it and then if you just change your perception instead of like, okay, my partner has problems, he's wrong, blah, blah, blah, or she's wrong, just looking at your partner with love at that moment, okay, I'm not looking at him with love, therefore I'm wrong, therefore you look at him with love, you just hug him or just completely disregard the situation, the situation only see good things. The situation would most likely resolve itself, which is quite extraordinary when you actually think about it. Now, this thing has expanded, this idea in my awareness, to also a matter of thinking like, wait, not just, okay, view the world positively, everything is abundant, let's say I want to look at it practically, when you want to become happy, that means you change your perception into seeing happy things. So obviously, you need to change things in your life most of the time, so if you're in a really bad position, you can't just say, okay, I'm in a bad position, I'm going to be happy, therefore everything is going to be okay, but on the other hand, a lot of people change their lives and actually change their situation to a positive situation using that unhappiness, but then they create a new situation and now they're still unhappy. So it really begs the question, where does it come from? Like is it just the fact that you change your situation or is it just the fact that you decide to be happy regardless or is it both? Is it the fact that you decide to be happy and then the positive action comes out of it? So that's generally the way I see that it worked in my life is that when I adopted a positive mentality, for example, looking at my girlfriend, my partner and just viewing her with love, then usually the actions would also be good. So let's say there is a problem we need to deal with. First, I'll look at her with loving eyes and then when I don't see quote-unquote like a problem anymore or I just see her and how much I love her, then the positive action of solving the problem would come out of that and I get both things. You know, you get the cake and you eat it too, basically. And if you just focus on, okay, there's a problem, I'm not going to focus on my perceptions, you're in a big trouble because there's always going to be a problem. So even if you solve it, another problem will come up and it's just kind of a never-ending cycle. Let's say you want to become more successful in your life, you know, to achieve certain goals, to go further than you've ever gone. The negative thoughts are really going to kill you, like viewing problems and always having to deal with problems. It's going to kill you and it's not going to allow you to move forward. And the way I view it, and I'm sorry that this is not exactly organized, but bear with me, is there's two ways of looking at it. You can take the sort of mythological slash theological view, which I tend to gravitate towards actually, even as an atheist, which is that there are these demons that are whispering in your ear, very much like in the movies, where you would see a character and he has this good angel and also the bad angel on both sides and they're both whispering to him, telling him good things and bad things. And you would think to yourself, I'm really persuasive and I'm logical and I'm rational. I'm not going to fall into these kind of things, but you need to realize that the demon, whatever that is, it knows you. It truly knows you and it can immediately find proof to make you believe whatever it wants you to believe. So it's not just like, hey, you're not good enough. You suck. Don't try this because you're a whole horrible person anyway. You're never going to get love or success or happiness or health. It doesn't just say that it actually points at, see, he said that therefore it's true. This happened, therefore it's true. You look like this, therefore it's true. It always knows exactly what to point your perception to, what evidence to give you for you to believe it. And the thing is, from a theological point of view or a mythological point of view, you need to disregard what the devil says. It's just like in the movies or in the shows, you need to not believe your eyes. So when you go after success, you need to realize that the devil of failure is going to start talking into your ears. And I'm going to give you an evolutionary explanation to this too, so it's not just going to be spiritual. I can completely explain the same thing on a evolutionary scientific basis, but I choose to start with the mythological one because even though it's less scientifically accurate, obviously, it's more saleable. You can actually view it as an enemy because if I tell you that when you see sugar, you're trying to lose weight, and when you see sugar, if evolutionary, you're wired to get more sugar, and that's why you run it so bad, then the rational types might be okay. It might realize like, okay, this is evolutionary, this is an old impulse, it does not serve me, rationally explain it. But what happens when the emotions are being played? Again, you can explain it evolutionary. Freud says that based on Freudian theory, we're a multitude of many, many sub-personalities that each pulls you in their own direction. So when you're angry, you're one specific one-sided personality that pushes you one place. And when you're happy, there's another personality that's pushing this way. So it's not just emotions, also sexually. And basically, you're a fragment of many, many small personalities that are each pulling your strings. And then there's the meta, the ego, basically, the superego, which is the part of you that kind of sees everything happening and says, okay, who am I now? What is this now? What is this now? So this is basically the scientific perspective. But again, you don't want to eat the sugar. And I just tell you, look, it's scientific, evolutionary, you want to eat the sugar is just biology, that's all. But then again, the emotions come up. That's the thing. It's not just, oh, I really want it. It's also emotional. Something in you doesn't just crave it from a physical perspective. It's also emotionally, like, you know, you need this, you know, it's good for you. It's going to make you happy. You need this because you worked really hard today. You deserve it. And basically, it's almost like a demon that's talking into your ear. And by calling it as it is, by looking at it as a demon, again, even if you're also a fellow atheist, you can adopt this viewpoint because it just helps you. Now you can actually assail it, you can actually fight back. So you don't just look at it like, oh, it's just an evolutionary craving. You can actually look at it like something is trying to convince me right now to do something that I don't want to do. And it has access to my faculties. It has access to my perceptions. And it makes me see things that align it with its own objectives. And where does the demon of sugar lead you? It leads you towards obesity. It leads you towards eating more and more and more. That's why it's one of the seven sins in the seven circles of hell is gluttony. You know, eating way too much because you listen to that devil, that demon. Now you're stuck in hell, basically. And for me, it really, really attacked me actually in areas of my relationships because I have updated many, many girls. But the ones where I really fell in love with someone, I almost always got hurt really bad. And so my demons, when I get really in love with a girl, they tell me about how she's falling out of love with me, how she's falling out of attraction, why it's a good time to leave. And I will get every single piece of evidence every single time. And emotionally, I will be compelled to do it. And I know the exact same situation for people, again, with obesity or success. So let's say, again, you want to become more successful than you currently are. The moment you try it, that demon wakes up. And that demon tells you, don't do it. It's not a friendly voice is what I'm trying to say. Because that's what we've been taught. Oh, it's evolutionary. Evolutionarily, you should keep yourself safe. You know, we like our comfort zones. We don't want to stand too far off of them. But I don't think it's that simple. I think there is a certain malevolence, malevolence, sorry, that is trying to actively hurt you. And when you go after success, it will hurt your faculties. So you'll start seeing every reason why you should not do it. But it's not you. So you need to be brave and you need to have faith. And this is something that's deeply lacking. Since, as Nietzsche says, we kill the God. Since that time, there's no more mythological basis in our society. And so when you imagine yourself becoming more successful, you don't view it like going on a journey and fighting the demons and, you know, becoming stronger as a result. It's all objectify now and it's shit. So start viewing yourself as this hero, actually watch movies and read mythologically inspired books and movies like, you know, the Disney movies, the classic ones, not the new shit. And watch how the themes keep repeating and how unbelievably relevant they are to your life. When you go on that journey, on that success journey, that demon will start talking to you. And it's going to tell you that you should not do it. And that's again the scary thing. It's going to change your perception. So you're only going to see reasons not to do it. So if you're a person who only believes there are faculties who has no religious basis, no faith basis, no mythological basis, just if I see it, it's true. You know, I only believe what I see. You'll never get anywhere because every time you'll try to lose weight, you're only going to see reasons not to lose weight. And even if you do manage for a while, it's going to catch you in another way. So much of success in relationships and fitness and health and success, much of it is about going against what your eyes are telling you, what your mind is telling you, what you see, which is an act of faith and an act of courage. It's harder to have faith and courage when you have no mythological or faith basis. So you need to fight it. You need to really accept and test, by the way, experiment. Don't just believe it on blind faith, but try it out. So decide next time you decide to do something, don't just go for it and say, okay, this is what I'm going to do. Let's plan and attack. Take into account that it is very likely, especially if you aim high, that you're going to have to actually go against your perceptions, that at some point during the journey, you're going to have every reason to quit or to do something that's detrimental. Again, if you're in a relationship, your eyes will tell you that you should not be with this partner. He or she is not as pretty as you thought, not as smart, not as kind, not as loving, not as in love as you thought. If it's your journey towards health, that it's not worth it. That doesn't really matter. That you're not making progress. If it's success, you're not worth it. You just don't have it. It's too scary. It's too vague. And you need to look at things the way you would like to perceive them if they were actually going your way. How would you look at your boyfriend or girlfriend if things were going incredible? How would you look at them? What would your eyes tell you when you look at them? When you look at your partner and you see certain blemishes, certain flaws, that pimple, the beauty spot, a mole, an injury, scar, too big, too small thing, leg, boobs, dick. When you see something that's not right, and that makes you say, I'm not sure if I want to be with that person, or the person is not as perfect as I thought. If you have decided to be with that person already, you're not just trying it out and seeing what happens, but actually made a decision that you want to be with this person, then it's your problem. When you see an imperfection in them, you actually are wrong. There is no imperfection in them. The imperfection is in your eyes. Instead of seeing a problem with them, realize that there is a problem with the way that you look at them, because you're not seeing perfection. You need to clean your eyes. It's the same with the other journeys. When you look at your success journey and success, unless it's in sports, I guess, is mostly convincing other people why they should follow you, they should buy your product, basically those two, building a company and then selling something. You need to look at your idea like it's perfect. Not perfect in the sense that it's not, you know, there's nothing to improve, but perfect in the sense that you're in love with it. You need to be in love with the people you work with. You need to be in love with your actions. You need to be in love with your customers. You need to look at every potential customer as if they are already your customers. Love, basically. Just love them, love everything. Some would say that this is a naive perspective, that this is a stupid perspective, that it doesn't work, but not many of those who'll say it have ever tried it, if any. I dare you, in the next 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, a week, one week, one month, choose a timeframe. Now, after you chose a timeframe, choose specific things in your life that you would like to improve. I want to improve my health, I want to make more money, I want to be happier, whatever it is that matters to you, and commit for that specific timeframe to stop trying to solve problems in that area, but instead list out the problems that you see and ask yourself, can I look at those problems with the eyes of love and perfection? Can I look at my half-empty bank account and love and appreciate every dollar I have there, and then look at my job that sucks, that's a horrible job, and love every moment in that job, and love the people, and love the service, and love the customers, and love the time there, and only see love, and choose that if I do falter in Nazi love, Nazi perfection, not to try to solve the problem with that, so my boss yelled at me that he's not being nice, now I feel bad, and it's a problem that he needs to solve. Just for that time period, just for that one day, two days, a week, however much time you feel comfortable trying, instead of trying to solve the problem of your boss, who's a problem, decide to look at your own perception as the problem, and solve that. So instead of seeing him as the enemy, love him, try that for the specific timeframe, and look what happens. Look what happens when for the first time in your life you stop resisting problems in your life, and you start hugging them, basically, or even if this is the person, and this is you, and this is the problem, instead of trying to talk with the problem, you basically move it aside, there's no problem, and hug the person. And see what happens. See if the problem stays, and if it does stay, see if it still matters. I'm doing this video because I'm also finding my own demons, just like everybody, and I wanted to make it as a reminder that there's something beyond, that that there is a complete world that you see maybe 1% of, at this very moment, wherever you are, and it's all interpretation. So whatever the world looks to you right now, that's just the way it looks to you right now. Whatever problems you see, you don't have to actually face them if you change your perceptions. That does not mean repress them or deny them, but look at them with love, not as problems that need to be solved, and the best thing I can wish is that you do that, you see what happens, and I'll have one more person who now sees that the world is not just smoke and mirrors. Thanks for watching. I'll be uploading a lot more regularly, and if you're not subscribed yet, please subscribe. I'll see you soon.