Apparition of Jack

History happens in stages and phases. For every two steps forward of progress and evolution, there's always one step back of regression and fear. This was and always will be the case; wisdom comes in knowing which step of the process you're in and knowing what to do to navigate your world to the other side.

Grah to-omlaan om-creiazay. Un-erelaan jux-omlaan creia-yu?

Here's Matthew Fox, someone I consider embodying a healthy yellow approach to the Christian theological perspective

I like Sadhguru's take on this topic. He says both theists and atheists make claims about things they don't know about. Once you investigate reality and know (rather than just believe or theorize about) the true essence of reality for yourself, then the question of "atheist vs theist?" becomes meaningless.

Who says sitting in a temple doing nothing but meditating all day isn't implementing visions and garnering respect?

The motherfucking AZTEC NON-DUALITY one was an absolute masterpiece! I don't know why, but something about the combination of the aweomse Aztec metaphysics and Leo's teaching method/spin on them really resonated deeply with me. It also helps that it came at a crucial point in my life, too.

I'm not sure real sure what this has to do with stage green. In all honesty, it kinda sounds like you just had your ego hurt and wanted to come here to vent.

I would bring back devotion and public displays of the sacred. Things like leaving offerings to deities, people praying / chanting / doing yoga in public, communal festivals honouring certain figures or ideas, and so on. In such a secular, post-religious world I don't know what this would effectively look like nor do I know how to get people on board with such a movement, but it's something my heart longs to see nonetheless. Our left-brained, rationalist urban environments could do with a healthy dose of spiritualification, if you ask me.

I can't answer any of these questions in depth, since I'm still figuring them out myself. One thing I've found that helps a lot is to have an attitude of courage and gutso, however. A lot of us are socialised (by the media, by our peers, by civilisation at large) to essentially be passive desperates always hoping for a magical "big break" (no matter whether that's the the perfect partner, the perfect job, sudden social acceptance, etc.) This isn't going to come, and if it does, its only because you manifested it yourself. You need to take risks, stand up for yourself and say provocative things if you're going to get anywhere or change anything in this life, especially in a society as corrupt and complex as our own. Of course, I'm not saying you need to be reckless and needlessly endanger yourself and others, and there's a time and place to keep things quiet too, but on the whole, developing character and gravitas by challenging yourself and others is something you should be aiming to achieve. People love someone who's sure of themselves and has the experience to back it up - even people who are opposed to your ideas will begrudgingly respect you if you demonstrate you have both a good heart and a good mind. Now of course, developing these things is a skill like any other, and starting out it will be quite hard, especially if you're just first waking up to the gravity of the predicament us modern people find ourselves in. Compassion exercises help well (metta meditation, for instance) as a way to ground your motivation and ideas in love for all (INCLUDING and ESPECIALLY love for yourself), and act as a safeguard against your own / other's egoic impulses. Finding the right people to challenge you and support you can go along way too. And finally, an attitude of carrying with you the heart of the warrior, being a champion of light and truth, someone willing to let go for the sake of others, can be an incredible narrative tool to give you the energy / inner security you need to say and do the things that need to be said and done at the times they need to be said and done. I hope all of this makes sense. Again, this is not advice to be foolhardy and self-destructive, but rather brave and pro-active. If you want to do anything truly great in this world, you will need allow yourself to be vulnerable and spontaneous when the times call for it.

Turquoise wisdom from an enlightened tortoise

You have turned money into a false idol and put all of your faith in it out of a misplaced impression it will help you rise above your survival-based fears. It will not, and in fact your faith in it as a false god will only enslave you to them. Only radical compassion, insight, open-mindedness and an ability and willingness to face the confusion, contorting, confronting truths about reality and society can do that.

That's the one! Thanks Leo

It was something along the same train of thought as a Leibniz's "monad", in the sense that it referred to the basic "substances" of reality, but unlike monads (which refer to "one-in-one") it instead meant "two-in-one" or "both two-and-one." I really forgot what the word was, but I think it was something like "hologad" or something sounding like that. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? EDIT: Pre-emptive thank you for any replies!

It honestly sounds like you're just salty that you're not part of this "mafia" that you speak of. "The lady doth protest too much" and all that.

Taxes are utterly necessary if you enjoy not being stabbed for whatever modicum of food you have in your house. Every single human lives within a collective (with ever-changing and complex needs,) and it is the responsibility of each individual to ensure that collective is healthy and functioning, less it fall into violence, hatred and anarchy. Taxes are one of the most straight-forward, efficient and responsible ways to reach that end. It's not taxes you should be afraid of, it's the people who tell you you don't need them.

I have sent you a PM since this conversation is getting too long for the public forum.

I guarantee you I have faced truths much darker than whatever you can throw at me. Try me.

I can handle whichever truth you throw at me.

They really don't want to know what? You need to be clearer here.

This is a rather incoherent chain of thought to be honest. What "other things" do people change to make up for their weakness?

So you're upset that people use desire as a reason to hold their views, then freely admit that you do exactly that? I'm confused.

Who says reality needs to be ordered and fair? Chaos is an intrinsic part of our existence, even modern physics corroborates this. It's ironic that you deride desire so much when your view of reality being entirely "ordered" and "fair" is just that, a desire.

"God" can mean countless different things. If we're not on the same page as to what we're arguing about, then this conversation will go nowhere.

@ColdFacts I have a question, what do you think is meant by the word "God?"

@ColdFacts So if I'm getting this right, you mean that it's through desire that the concept of humans (for God) or God (for humans) is created? Also I'm not sure where blaming comes into this Do you have any proof of this?