Hello, friends! I've had a brief, 10 min talk attempting to introduce and motivate for consciousness work. (From my limited experience and depth of insight.) Hopefully somebody may find it useful: https://blog.jakubholy.net/2026/intro-consciousness-work/

... may sound weird and scary, yet I find it deeply empowering. This insight from the community meeting nr. 59 is one of my key takeaways from the program so far. Essentially everything I do is in the service of the self, satisfying its desires and avoiding any perceived risk and discomfort. It is like this crazy dictator whose every whim must be fulfilled. Realizing that the self doesn't actually matter all that much is then liberating. I can do staff that I want to do or that is necessary to accomplish a goal and not worry about the possible negative consequences for the self. F.ex. I can go and praise the colorful jacket of an unknown lady at the bus stop, even though I risk being seen as a weirdo and embarrassing myself or her. Who gets hurt when I encounter rejection, negative judgement, or some such? Just my self, and, as I've realized, it doesn't matter all that much. Similarly with its desires: I can satisfy them, but it is also perfectly fine to ignore them, if they are not in line with more important stuff. Again, the self is not an absolutistic ruler and I don't need to do everything it wants. So liberating! So empowering!

Hello, new to the community here and looking forward to getting started! Which book would you recommend reading first? Thanks!

Guided contemplation. Get present and focus on your experience. Breathe deeply into your center. Slow down your breath. Slow down your mind. Consider your day. Consider your encounters throughout the day. Notice how everything you do is about yourself. Even all the stuff you do for others always relates to yourself. Your friends, family, colleagues, strangers. Everything you do always relates to you somehow. You are always there. You are always full of yourself. Notice you are always full of yourself. Have no judgements. Just breathe deeply and slow down your mind. If you start getting into stories just slow down and just notice. Everything you do is for yourself. Notice this deeply. Now notice the events of your day. Notice your interactions with people. Have no judgements. Just bring up the events of your day, breathe deeply in your center and slow down your mind. Notice how people you encounter throughout your day are also so full of themselves, to greater and lesser degrees. Have no judgements. Just notice this. Notice the effects of their actions. Try to get them and their actions for themselves. Even if another person seems to do what they do for others, their actions always relate somehow to themselves. Again, have no judgement. Don’t get into stories of narratives. Just create a thought of another person and notice this. Notice we are always full of it. What are we full of? Don’t go into stories, don’t go into narratives. Don't try to figure it out. Just experientially get that we are all full of it. Maybe full of shit? Maybe not? literally and figuratively. Just experience that we are all just full of it. Ok, now breathe slowly and deeply into your center. Your metaphorical cup should be full. Full to the fucking brim. Notice how you are always full to the brim. Notice how we are always full to the brim. Don’t judge. Don’t go into stories or narratives... or do judge and get into stories and narratives. Think or don't think. I don’t care. Just breathe and notice we are all full of it. Our whole experience is full to the brim. Experience this completely.

A big thanks to @Jakub Holý for contributing to help us spread this work. We appreciate it and appreciate your work during the community sessions! @Dimitar Biserov @Viktor Balogh