Balancing Theory vs Practice

Theory vs Practice - The nuances of using theory and practice against one another to avoid the excesses of being one-sided.

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Disclaimer: Advice provided without warranty. This is NOT medical advice. By watching & applying this advice you agree to take 100% responsibility for all consequences.

[musingearth]

In Chinese we have an idiom 知行合一: Knowledge & Practice as one.

[michaelns]

NOTES:

Exessive pragmatism:
Shallow existence, materialistic, selfish, chasing after experiences.

Exessive theorizing (rationalism):
armchair philosophy, mental masturbation, arguing and debating, critisizing others, paralysis by analysis.

Theory informs practice and vice versa.

~15 abilities:
1. A. to theorize in abstract without concern for any pragmatic issue (value of theory)
(long term thinking) e.g. mathematics and science
2. A. to see practical consequences of your theorizing. (practice informs theory)
e.g. nihilism - if your theory makes you miserable, change it.
3. to be motivated to action by good theory.
People lack the ability to embody the theory, therefore they say that they are 'pragmatic'. You need to create an action plan from you theory.
4. to drop theorizing on a dime.
...and start to take actions on a dime. Lack of ability leads to paralysis by analysis.
Act your way out. Not theorize it. You can theorize and act in different directions, while you are not sure in theory.
5. to see big picture patterns that come about through your actions and your pratices.
and double-check your theories with practices.
6. to see when you are stuck in theory and in action.
7. to stop your mind entirely.
Pragmatic orientation is very conceptual and theoretical.
When you shut your mind, you get centered to just 'being'.
8. to read between the lines if your thinking.
Most people, when they are thinking, are not obesrving their thinking.
Thinking is not reality.
Reflect raionality and sceptisism on itself. "Is there a good evidence for why all of reality should obey my rationalism?'
Metathinking - thinking about thinking.
9.to move forward despite paradox, confusion and indecision.
You can neither theorize, nor act your way out of every problem. You need both. Dynamic balance.

How to:
the key is observation.
Be aware of these dynamics on your life.
Become observant of the limitations of both theory and practice.
And how you can use one to improve another.

You need to be very pragmatic in life and very philosofical and very idealistic and very realitic in life.

[danarnautu]

Leo, I swear that if your videos were 5 hours long, I would still watch them. Who am I kidding? If they were 20 hours long, I would still watch them. Can't get enough of it! Keep up the good work!

This is EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED! I was caught up theorizing for the past 2 weeks and that got me in a depressed mood.

Thank you, Leo!

[EnlightenedSchmuck]

Theory is when you know how stuff works but don't get it done.
Practice is when you get stuff done but don't know how it works.

I am a master of combining theory and practice: Nothing of what I do ever works and I have no freaking clue why.

[EpicBunty]

Bro this came at the perfect time! you have no idea how good it was to see the notification on my phone.
Was debating this with my dad only recently and he's not an armchair philosopher but he is also not fully practicing his spirituality! I understand that he's a busy guy unlike a freeloader like me but I also understood the need to go do my own thing now, which I truly believe and practice full time, to be living and breathing the Source! working on my mind and body with yoga, exercise and meditations! I finally have the time but just needed the energy and motivation (which is the tough part!!) If you see this, please help me understand where the energy and motivation to do all that you have done comes from!!

[islamhussein]

Thanks, bro! I'm from Egypt, have been watching you on a daily basis for a while now. Now i'm ready to leave my mom's couch and go out reclaiming my divine right to rock the world. Much love!

[SuperSymbiote]

"Balance" between taking smart action and learning from instructors is the number 1 biggest thing holding me back.

[CurrencyGod]

Have/had a really good friend who was my only friend who I would talk to about Leo's content a lot. And he was the only person I hung out with these days because I only want to surround myself with people who have the same goals as me. If no one has the goals as me, then I don't mind going solo. I got to a point where I'm very detached from having friends so having friends is not a huge priority for me. I thought he actually was applying all the theory from Leo's videos to his life because we would talk and he understood everything. But as we sat down more and more, it seemed like he either was falling off or I just was starting to know more about him. I was actually growing and becoming more aware of the ego, while he was just theorizing the whole time. He never told me any experiences that he was having in his life or anything. He would just talk about the ideas from Leo's videos. So as I became more aware of ego and how it works, I was extremely aware of his ego. He would justify a lot, cares what people think of him, still engages in unconscious behaviors, etc. Although I'm pretty detached from having friends, a part of me does wish that he would finally take this stuff seriously and apply it in his life and that we would continue to reach our goals on this journey. Because its definitely hard to find good friends who like to self-actualize. Is he reading this? I wouldn't know but I do hope so.

[EmKayMoon]

Just what I needed. What I struggled with was getting stuck in pragmatic mode and actions that don't work, but I didn't realize that I could get stuck in theorizing as well.

It will be hard for me to start taking action on all of my knowledges I accumulated but I will start small, and go for that balance of theory and practice.

Thank you Leo.

Sincerely,

Michael Moon

[Morphick]

Infinitely grateful for finding this resource. Only been on this path for a couple years and already there is massive change in my life. I can't even imagine what my life is going to look like in 10 years. Thank you for everything.

[randomyoko]

True, after hearing this I think that practice is another theory source. I had underestimated practice. No wonder people tell me I overthink and I have the sense of inferiority in not taking action. I should be willing to know in many ways not only in my head. Your msg might be somewhere else but that's what I learned from this video as I'm having a hard time being mindful and living in the present. Perfect content on perfect timing for me! Thank you!!!

[ahmedhawsawi]

most people don't know what you talking about, people are lost in life.
I will meet you in person coach Leo one day because when I talk to people they don't know or understand what I'm talking about but they just open their eyes and listen. Great video

[SillyDWilliams-VKNG]

Man this video resonates with me. I have definitely had trouble with the spiritual seeking thing. Really what I have realized is that spiritual seeking is a bad term. Really better terms would be "spiritual addiction" or "state chasing". There is clearly no control over how much you seek, but there can be a recognition that the route you are going about it is no different than any other addictive behavior. This happens when you feel frustrated any time you meditate because you aren't attaining whatever state you think you should be feeling. That frustration is the same attempt to exert control over what is uncontrollable as any other thing in life. A thought cannot control whats happening. When this is seen (as you stated) there can be a calm that follows, and the most amazing thing happens. Your thoughts begin to melt, and it can be accepted that you will never know what you are, because what thinks it is looking is occurring inside the subject that is actually looking. That is the energy that is the me thought. Another time that I have noticed it is present is right before a thought stream, and right after a decision. Before a thought stream, it is the feeling that "I am thinking". After a decision is made, the illusion is in the form of rationalizing the decision. There is a flood of mental stories that will immediately attempt to explain the decision. This process is where manipulation and the "me" thought lives. It wants a perfect story for the me thought as well as a different perfect story for all the other me thoughts of people around them that it thinks will will fit into other peoples model of reality. It is a model attempting to project onto another model. But the problem is that the thing creating the mental stories is not the decision maker. Really, in a big way, this is what generates the social mask that creates the illusion of individuality. Its pretty amazing to sit and watch it occurring.

For these reasons, I think people like Paul Hedderman have a message that can be really helpful if it isn't misinterpreted. You will never see what you are, because you are already it, but you can certainly see what you aren't. As you see that more and more, the more the illusion of control falls away. Then there is only whats happening, like has always been the case, and many other insights follow, simply by being mindful. So basically, stopping seeking doesn't necessarily mean complete reversion, it can mean not obsessively chasing a state or a concept which that you cant understand. We contain all states, and all concepts, so there is no need to be obsessive. Once you truly see that the basic assumption of self is a completely illusory control over what is happening, then the wall start to tumble down. You don't have control over how quickly that process occurs, because you have never had control, and you are the one that causes the suffering.

[kkulonja]

To summarize: "Be on this Earth, but don't be of this Earth." THANK YOU, Leo!

[f.abbas]

Hi Leo;
i'm not American
i'm from north Africa
i'm 45 years old;i have three littel lovely dauthers
i'm in finencial krash tweenty months now
i start this journey with you for just six months now by watching your videos "and just watching";
i meditat littel bit, i did joging three times a week befor i "met" you, i tray to make it daily
i'm stack for three week now;i can't find how to skip


this video is just in depth..
thanks lot

[Рибабета]

Leo, I just want to thank you I bought your life purpose course and it was perhaps the best thing I have ever but I still have not discovered my life purpose hundred percent but the course help me see stuff about my life I didn't know I was doing and that were really destructive in my every day life. If any of you are considering buying it I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you for what you're doing you are amazing I really hope you don't join the Darkside and start a cult 😂😂😂

[eddiedavisjr]

Thank you for this episode! One of my biggest struggles was balancing what I learn and love learning with application. I definitely feel like analysis paralysis has been an ongoing problem for me for many years and this helped me tackle realize some ways I can begin to address this imbalance!

[petarkasapinov]

As feedback: I really like that this was an unbiased view on theory and action, whereas many people constantly claim: "You should take action! Action is the thing that will get you results." Personally, I've been theorizing and watching videos in my life, but when I heard this unbiased view, I am able to trust it and accept the fact that I've been watch videos for too long. I know that talk is cheap, but for the sake of feedback, I will find a way for practical application of all of the things I've learned ASAP.

Also (as negative feedback), in the past I've found it difficult to be motivated to take action partly because I just took your word for it (just because you said so, and also the way you stress it). And when I believe something blindly, it's difficult to truly BELIEVE it and take it seriously (compared to autonomous learning and application).

Hope it was valuable.

[NizzyD]

"We talkin about practice." - Allen Iverson

[marcusbeuchert]

One of your best teachings, Leo! Really appreciate your work.