Derek White

@Spiral_Wizardry_Fan Firstly, thanks for your reply, I appreciate it. Well, I don't quite agree. I think BJP is trying to spread its religion and not nationalism or patriotism, except in a religious way. Many of its members are stage red/blue in places like UP. It openly supports Godse, the guy who killed Gandhi, and disrespects icons people loved. IMO it is really stage red appealing to blue folk, cause blue means you have integrity, all their leaders openly lie and there is so much corruption. They have no ideology or set of values, they just want power, in truth. Just like Trump who has aspects of red is attractive to blue folk but with steroids. I think your assumption a bit over the top here. Plus the eco. is down because of these guys. I mean, there is no way of knowing this for sure. As far as I know he shouldn't have said that, so many smart people are protesting, he is using a straw-man. He is wrong and hypocritical many times. Lastly, Idk whether the above mentioned theory is true. It might just be that it's just a religious conservative backlash to secularism. It might be both, a backlash and a sort of unification. The congress DID do many things to help the poor and was a liberal secular party at least in demeanor. There is no way of confirming any of the caste unification thing, I was just guessing, I don't actually know. It might be the opposite cause BJP does support manusmriti and orthodox Hindu ideas. All I know is they're flirting with extremism, I don't want a genocide or riots.

@Apparition of Jack Yea, Sadhguru himself said he has influence in the government in a recent interview so maybe that's why he is not criticizing it. I mean, the current Prime Minister, Modi, went to inaugurate his Adiyogi statue. Sadhguru is in the education committee, provides guidance on agricultural issues and so much more we probably don't know. There is also this thing about a united Hindu identity. Before, the Hindus were divided among caste lines when it came to elections and parties did little to solve that. So now, since 2014 you have the current ruling party which has sort of united the Hindus. This is like a stage blue party uniting other stage blue parties (and maybe purple/red smaller parties) under a larger identity, 'Hindu', as opposed to caste identities. Idk how this is happening on the ground though. Basically I think India is going from caste -> religion. So in a twisted way the ruling party is 'uniting' Indians. Hopefully we can go religion -> nationality -> humanity fast, some people are lagging behind. But yea, you can't ignore the fascistic nature of BJP, I mean, all they had to do was write 'persecuted religions' or 'religious minorities' instead of mentioning a select few and all the drama would be avoided. It's also worrying cause this sets a precedence for future laws on religious ground and possibly laws that link citizenship to religion.

Isn't that why the Yang Gang supports him, cause he's not too progressive?

@Tiny Nietzsche You could, but you’ll suffer if something bad happens to them or when they change or leave you or when they treat you like a slave. I mean this is quite basic stuff.

Hey, so I was just thinking about which one of the three, seriousness, playfulness or involvement, is superior. Many spiritual teachers say “don’t be serious about life”, “life is play”, etc. But is this really true? I find to get anything done you need to be serious about what you’re doing. Isn’t seriousness involvement? Or are they different? Even when you’re playing a game, say chess, you have to take it seriously to enjoy it. The more seriously you take it the more fun there is. So maybe this goes full circle? I wanna know what you think.

@mandyjw You can just go in a cemetery? How does it work? You just go in? Don't the people say anything? What are the rules? I always wanted to visit one near where I live but don't how it works.

@Matt8800 When both my grandmothers were sick and dying a crow kept cooing outside our house in a very peculiar and distinct way. We could recognize it and after we got the news of their death (they died on separate dates) it stopped cooing, never to be seen again. It's as if it knew they were going to die and was telling us to go attend them. Now the local newspaper did say something like a crow had escaped an experimental lab and was found again, but still, was it the same crow? Why only start cooing just before someone is about to die? This happened on two separate occasions. My grandparents lived in a different country too. Do crows and other animals hold any special powers? Particularly crows in relation to death.

@2_spirit lol

I know Leo has advised not to apply the spiral on fictional characters, but this example is very accurate. In the Warhammer universe, from the famous board games and the total war franchise, this race of 'Ratmen' aka the Skaven represent stages purple and red society perfectly. @SoothedByRainPlease do check them out because I think this is very very accurate, especially the first video I linked. Society and psychology: Stage Red individuals:

This debate is so stupid. Prager claims the vacation is because of Christmas but it's really because of the winter. Obviously, secular people are going to use happy holidays. Literally nobody gets offended if you say Merry Christmas. It just goes to show how much of a snowflake Mr. Prager is, perfect example of stage blue purism.

You don't know? This is something you should know. Honestly, go read some history or contemplate for 5 min.

@Yog It’s not that he’s anti-commie, it’s that he is an angry emotional old man. Just look at him, he is so frustrated and moralistic; he is not a happy person. He is telling people how to live in such a confident way yet he has addiction problems and is miserable. Such a person should be humble.

@Nivsch No, it pretty simple. Just observe the thing and your response to it without judging it. Don't judge your anxiety. Differentiate between what you think it is and what it actually is. It’s no different than getting over a roller coaster fear. You don’t have to be enlightened to get over childhood abuse, so many people have done it. lol It’s a matter of getting out of your head.

It won’t go away. The memory of it is sitting there like a lump. For the anxiety to go you need to look at everything as new, fresh, and unrecognizable. Your whole being would have to become a question mark and only let memory interfere where it’s called for naturally.

@Surfingthewave It is truth. Having and maintaining a self image is survival 101. All concepts are false and dead. Self images are counterproductive. @Ero If you can’t handle the activity naturally you will try to stop it. Just know that you can do a lot with thought if you know how to do it. Happiness is not created by a positive self image or by turning thoughts on and off ?.

@Surfingthewave Happiness is not a concept.

@Raptorsin7 Maybe there are implicit thoughts? Maybe try to sit down with a pen and paper or without it and try to invoke 'negative thoughts' and see how you feel? Observe sadness. Just don't let the emotions that crop up to overwhelm you and make you suicidal. Go 'thought hunting' if you will and see which assumptions and thoughts are bugging you & observe them. This should lessen the effect of deep rooted emotions. No, thinking how great and awesome you are is not going to help you. This is so childish IMO. Here a cool video guide about anger but you can do it with any emotion:

@Raptorsin7 That's great but if it's for moments it's not effortless. Anyway, on to practical advice, maybe try slowing down the thought process. Do you mind sharing what thoughts bother you?

If you can be silent effortlessly, that would be great, if not then change thinking. Just remember that changing thinking is not the ultimate solution. You need a structural change not a content one.

You can definitely control thinking. I'm sure you do it all the time in a suppressible way, you're just not aware of it. You must deferential between concentration and observation/meditation. To really understand the question, because the answer is in the question, you must get in touch with observation/awareness, which is something beyond thinking. Beware not to get lost in thinking (content) but to observe the whole movement of thought (structure). I suggest you listen to David Bohm and J. Krishnamurti's lectures on thought and emotion, otherwise you can ask me (I think I have some control over thought). Also check my old post I made on silent mind some time back, it's in the bookmark section. If you derive happiness from thinking than yes, you are sad because of thought and emotion. These are tough questions to answer in a forum. IDK if you will read big replies... This distinction between 'negative' and 'positive' is also fake and made by thought... Just know that if you derive happiness from 'positive thinking' than you're not really happy, anyone can destroy your house of cards... Just seriously observe it, you are as close to your thoughts as you can get. You can also try meditations that makes your mind quite (sound meditation, chanting). Lastly, just beware that thoughtless state isn't the ultimate, like there is silence which is greater than the 'silence' of not thinking, but it is the step in the right direction and an asset.

Tact.

Kamma is different from karma. To simplify, karma= actions (reading, sleeping, etc.), samskara= the result of action (abilities, skills), kamma= pleasure (sex).

In regard to Indian schools using psychedelic, I remember seeing a video of sadhguru talking about a drink called “nine poisons” which can be used to enlighten you. There is also a video of him literally drinking cobra venom. I think he conceals and contradicts a lot. Psychedelics are common in India and are associated with Shiva.

In this video Sadhguru talks about how a well established mind (Kalpavriksha; Kalpa= imagination, Vriksha= mind) can manifest whatever it imagines. I think it's cool cause that's what @Leo Gura talks about all the time.

Here Jiddu Krishnamurti talks about what @Leo Gura talked about in his blog 'Ego-Collapse Awakening'. He talks about how choice less awareness (constant attention) is different from putting effort into observing yourself (concentrating). This also connects to flow directly. This should be very important for serious spiritual seekers. I think Jiddu is one of the best teachers, he goes directly to the point without wasting any time on irrelevant topics which the students can't relate to anyway. He talks about this in multiple places not just this video. Check his website it's a great resource: https://jkrishnamurti.org/