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Thank you man! Couldn’t resist

Yeah it's possible the leaders are higher up than the community they are attracting or attempting to attract. That's awesome man. If you do go through with the documentary send me a DM, I'd love to see it.

That’s excellent, yes it definitely seems like we’ve been having similar thoughts. I haven’t been to any of these communities yet but it’s on my list. Planning on finishing my PhD doing research in this area. They’re definitely seem to be mostly Green but hey, Green is what we need now. Walk before you run and all that. Future Thinkers seems interesting, I’ve never heard of them. Seems a bit more Orange but still on the right track for sure. In what way will you be collaborating with them?

Thanks brother! Happy to be back.

What do you consider increasing your capacity to love then? This Tony Robbins video might help:

I have no idea if it's related to this guy, but everything does happen for a reason. There is intelligence and connection in all things.

Well that's your first problem. Leo is right, unless this girl is already into you I would not be swinging for the fences like that over text. At least call her over the phone. I consider texting only as a last resort if you cannot call / meet in person. Also, I would contemplate why you feel the need to convince her that you're a worthy catch. I know you didn't mean it but it likely to come off to her as qualifying and unattractive. Of course. It probably feels very abrupt and out of nowhere to her. More qualifying yourself. Digging your own hole. I would shake it off and search online for some basics on attraction and talking to girls. I can't say if it would have worked out with her but you did not do yourself any favors here. Keep ya head up, it's just a skill you need to practice.

Yes it has to continue gaining momentum. The more people awaken the more these communities will become realistic. Yes it's already starting to happen. I do believe money is going to play and increasingly smaller role in our lives, but realistically I do not see us as ready to collectively abandon it just yet. These transitions take time. Instead, money needs to evolve to it's next stage.

In my experience, your soul / higher self is relentless. It is not going to play small and give into our conditioning. It will keep calling you to merge with ever greater intensity. Not "wrong" in a moral or judgemental sense. But we could say "wrong" in the sense that you're not being who you really are. That's what the signal of "unhappiness" is. You can almost think of it like a giant neon sign saying "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY" from God. Unless of course, you want to be miserable and unaligned. Perhaps there's lessons for you to learn by doing that. But by the sound of it, you've pretty much have had enough and are looking to realign with your authentic self.

I appreciate your openness and curiosity. Yes I think about this all the time. It's challenging to do because I feel we are so enmeshed in modern society that we don't have any real examples or models. We are going to have to create it together one step at a time. However, I have found SOME examples that I feel strongly represent the new world. These places to me are like previews of what is to come, shining the light for the rest of us. The first is the intentional community Tamera out in Portugal: https://www.tamera.org/ Next is a community in Italy named Damanhur: http://www.damanhur.org/ I would do your research on either https://ecovillage.org/ or https://www.ic.org/ What a lot of these places have in common is a reestablishment of community and gift economy. Many of them are also spiritually grounded, like Tamera. Bio-mimicry technology and Over-Unity devices come to mind. Check out the work of Viktor Schauberger.

It’s seems still in the paradigm of viewing the earth as a collection of resources to manage. What the earth wasn’t a “resource” at all? What if it was alive, a spiritual being in of itself? This is how indigenous cultures traditionally saw the world. Everything was spirit. That being said, I recognize this is a large paradigm shift for most people. So perhaps we are not ready for that just yet. I don’t believe it has to be either or when it comes to technology. There absolutely is tech that is aligned with a higher consciousness way of life. The problem is that much of our technology today is built from lower consciousness and attempts at control. If we think technology is going to save us and we don’t need to turn inward, nothing will fundamentally change. We will keep manifesting the same problems in different forms. I’m still a fan of RBE. They understand the artificial scarcity of modern society and that we need to make a shift. I’m only questioning if the shift they are suggesting is deep enough.

Through all the work Leo and other spiritual teachers talk about. The "feeling loose" is a letting go of control, which is the main tool of the separate ego. When you believe you are separate, life becomes anxious and about survival, thus the need to control.

No we are not. What you're observing is unconsciousness. And certainly unconsciousness can happen (genocide, war) but that does not mean it's the truth about who we are.

@ROOBIO Tommy is one of the greatest, inspired so many other acoustic guitarists. Humbled by his passion and creativity.

Thank you! Happy to be back.

@ColeMC01 It's becoming more and more normal for people to date online. In fact, someone who is more conscious may not have the most thriving social life and may feel more comfortable online. So I wouldn't make any rigid judgements about it. You are the ceiling of your own success when it comes to dating, not your circumstances.

@Conscious life From an absolute perspective I would say God is on a never ending journey of self-awareness. From a more relative perspective, I would say to evolve, master love and realize your true divine nature. We may have different soul missions but in the end it's all the same.

@capriciousduck I don't know any books but I'm sure you can find plenty of blog posts just by googling around a little bit. Study up, but most importantly, breathe and relax.

I'd argue Ghandi was pointing to a profound spiritual truth. The separate ego-self cannot trust. It is in a war against "the others" for survival and wants to protect itself. It does not recognize the divine essence and intelligence in all things. But the sage knows who or what they are really looking at. The sage knows they are looking at themselves as love manifested. That is our essential nature. So really what Ghandi is saying is that he knows. He knows who that person really is. And when we can just truly see each other through those eyes, often that is enough to bring about healing.

I don't know much about RBE but it seems like they have correctly identified a lot of the collective challenges we are facing. My concern so far is that it is too tech-utopian, not acknowledging the reality of spirit.

Book Name Quiet by Susan Cain Rating Sit Down and Read One Line Summary Keep ya head up introverts The Setup Have you ever been told that you’re “too quiet”? How about that you need to “stop thinking so much” or “be more social”? I personally heard all of these at different points in my life. It was painful to think that for some reason, there was something wrong with me. Although I didn’t have trouble making friends and enjoyed the friends I had, I also didn’t seem to enjoy large scale socializing as much as some kids or even my own family members. Reading a good book, listening to music or many other solitude activities were often far more appealing. As I grew older, it became obvious that this was unacceptable. The quiet were simply second class citizens in a society that prized outgoingness and socialability. And so I pushed myself hard to expand the limits of my personality, often to great success. Yet still I had a feeling that there must be something wrong with me if I had to force myself to do this. That was before I took a Myers Brigg test, scored INTJ, and discovered that I was far from alone. In fact, there was an entire psychological field based around what I was called introversion. Introversion is a physiological and psychological trait that determines a person’s responsiveness to outside stimulation. People more introverted tend to prefer less stimulation and people at the opposite end, extraverts, tend to prefer more. This shows up in a variety of ways in people’s lives, but for introverts, one is in their tendency to be quiet. Quiet by Susan Cain is the introverts manifesto. A self-described introvert, Cain suffered from much of the same confusion I did growing up about her quiet personality. Many years older and many ways wiser, she wrote this book in order describe the power and benefits of introversion in a society that has chosen to glorify charm, social grace and snap decision making. What Quiet is not is a book about “who’s better?” between introverts and extraverts. Cain acknowledges that both personality types have their merit and that most people exhibit both introverted and extraverted qualities at times. Rather, this is about evening the playing field and letting introverts know that they’re not alone. Or maybe even more important, than there’s nothing wrong with them. Why it’s Awesome Even though the story I described above about my childhood is accurate, it’s not the full picture. One of the first things you discover in reading Quiet is that people can act in an extraordinary range of behaviors, and to put rigid rules on what an introvert and extravert should look like is a mistake. I was no different. I’ve felt the pull of introversion and extraversion my entire life. In college, I’d be at a fraternity party on Saturday night where it might seem like I live for socializing, hitting on girls and beer pong. And then on Sunday, you’d find me alone in my room reading something. Now I have a book blog where I write about books. Let’s just all agree that that’s about as nerdy and introverted as it gets. And yet, if I don’t get my time to socialize and express that wilder, extraverted side of myself, I’ll often go nuts. When I’m done with a night out with my friends, I feel like I often have MORE energy, which is a classic trait of extraversion. Introverts conversely feel the need to get away and “recharge” after extended socializing. So what is going on here? Is this whole introversion/extraversion thing a scham? Did I teach myself to act this way? Or am I just a walking contradiction? The truth is a mix. As Cain points out, there are introverted people who live highly social lives. They’ve managed to construct an extraverted, social persona in order to deal with the realities of the world. So much so that for many people, the line between acting and “being” would seem very blurred. It could be that this is what happened to me. But regardless, what definitely seems true is that I was at least born with a predisposition towards introversion, even if my personality has become far more complicated as I’ve gotten older. One of my favorite parts was when she describes her experience of going to Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within event. I’ve been to UPW, and Cain’s description is hilariously accurate. Extraverts everywhere, demanding high fives and cheery smiles. Tony, the king of extraverts himself, telling you to scream at the top of you lungs and “make your move!”. It’s an introvert’s nightmare at certain points. Don’t get me wrong though, UPW is amazing. Everyone should go. The point Cain is simply trying to make in her book is this: what does a society look like that has made Tony Robbins king? One that values extraversion over introversion. This is further seen in the response by foreign immigrants to the West. Cain interviews many students from Asia who go through immense culture shock when arriving to United States. They don’t understand why socializing and talking have such high value when in Asia, such talking is almost seen as disrespectful. Consider this quote from the Tao Te Ching: “Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know”. This is a complete 180 from Western culture, where we actually correlate knowing with talking. How many times have we’ve believed something just someone seemed to know what they’re talking about? “Confidence is the key” everyone says. Yet this same person in certain parts of Japan, China or Korea might be taken as a fool. One thing I’ve learned is that the more you learn, the less you realize you know. There’s a humbleness that often comes with knowledge, a realization that you’ve been wrong many times in the past and will continue to be wrong. So why do we assume that “confidence” automatically dictates knowledge? Some of the least knowledgeable people I know act with confidence. The reason for the culture differences between the East and West I believe actually boil down to their differing views on spirituality. For Asian countries with traditions like Zen and mediation, introversion is a far more desirable characteristic than extraversion because Enlightenment requires examining yourself. Ultimately in Enlightenment, all beliefs are shown to be false, even your beliefs about falseness. So why talk like you actually know anything? Cain also cites studies that show that introversion may be a main cause of the mind’s ability to focus. Extraverts crave lots of external stimulus and often like to spread their attention around, while introverts prefer to keep their attention in one spot. Related to this, she quotes Steve Wozniak’s famous advice to “work alone” if you’re a creative type and busts the myth of the productivity of “brainstorming”. I could keep giving examples from the point, but hopefully you’ve gotten the picture. If you’re an introvert, you actually have unfair advantages in many areas over extraverts. Use them well. But what about the other side of the argument? Clearly there is a reason extraversion has become so highly valued in our society. What should an introvert do when faced with a situation where he may have to act extraverted? I have a very unique perspective on this of my own, but let me explain Cain’s advice first. Cain argues that if you’re an introvert and your calling, your passion, requires you to be an extravert, then you will have to learn how to expand your personality at times. For instance, despite being terrified of public speaking initially, Cain has become an exceptional public speaker and is incredibly charming. However, stay true to your nature and be sure to structure plenty of opportunities for yourself to “recharge”. I like this advice for several reasons. One, is that Cain isn’t making excuses just because physiologically she may be an introvert. If you have something you love to do, but you rationalize not doing it because “I’m an introvert”, that’s fucking bullshit. You’ve now become a victim of something which was originally meant to help you and you’re just trying to protect your identity. At the same time, it’s realistic advice. Much like a body needs sleep, because introversion is physiological as wells as psychological, you’re going to need to recharge. And if you don’t, you will likely burn yourself out. Why Does It Suck I don’t believe Introversion and extraversion are as fixed as Cain argues. For instance, there’s a section where she talks about how introverts tend to “self-monitor”, i.e be self-conscious. But I know from my time doing game that self-monitoring is completely able to be pro-actively shut down by certain actions. Same thing with needing to recharge, feeling shy or any other qualities associated with introversion. In fact, I’ve found these qualities to be so flexible as to question whether or not it’s even worth placing people in introverted or extraverted categories. There are better models to view the universe through. The Wrap Up Amazing book for anyone. If you have tendency for introversion this book will give you some perspective on your gifts you may never considered before. And if you’re an extravert, this will give you a better perspective on some of your potential weaknesses, as well as how to handle introverts. Either way, you’ll get insight into our current culture that few people have been able to see. Probably because they wouldn’t take a second to stop talking and look.

@RoerAmit It sounds like you already know the pros of cons of each decision. Which direction are you leaning?

I get all that, but what I'm not seeing is how you're going to start a business when you're living in poverty. A business requires money.

Unfortunately it's just not that simple. Anyone who teaches personal development will tell you that you must control your influences. Just like a group of toxic friends can bring you down to their level, the same thing goes with this forum. Beliefs and energy are contagious. It's one thing to stomp out an opposing view because you're close minded or it conflicts with your agenda. It's another thing to realize that a certain perspective doesn't help and to distance yourself from it. I've thought about locking many threads for just this reason. When I see someone just spreading fear, complaining, conspiracy theories or other nonsense, my instinct is to stomp it out. Because I know it won't help people to be infected by that stuff. Still, I usually don't because I know it doesn't look good and that I need to be able to give people the freedom make their own mistakes. But it's always a gray area. For anyone who doesn't like how this forum is run, I would challenge you to actually try and run your own organization. There's a lot more challenges that go on behind the scenes than most people realize. And you'll have a lot more empathy for why things are done the way they are.

@Taavi What is your business?