TheAlchemist

Yes. Having an identity that is spread through multiple focal points, each of them like a pair of glasses we wear temporarily, never fully identifying with one. Basically building a kaleidoscopic identity, but with some core values. That might be difficult to manage and may result in some hits to self-esteem/confidence but I believe it would be one way to avoid at least some of the problems. With taking distance from the community I think the community spirit might not be as strong, but ultimately it should probably be more sustainable and healthier. With the pokemon cards experience I think you discovered and illustrated nicely how the whole structure of corruption of the mind through money/power works.

Exactly. That's one aspect of how sects and cults form. And often questioning is even to an extent highly encouraged in those groups, BUT if the questioning is directed at the core ideas which unify the group then it is seen as a problem. And for good reason, a community always functions on some shared ideas and ideals which need to seen as unquestionable so that the group can continue to exist. Again and again new sects and cults will form, partly due to people like me who think they will be the one exception. But we need to realize that some of the problematic aspects of communities are core elements of community itself. Because of course, communities also have healthy forms and many real benefits for the participants so we shouldn't abandon them. Maybe the best we could do is have a community that has a strong shared belief system, but each member knows that fundamentally the belief is an illusion, but each member will pretend as if they believe in it fully. This way at least the questioning would not produce defensiveness, because it would not be seen as an attack on their identity, but just on an illusory idea/ideal/belief. They will of course pretend to defend it to keep the community alive. But then again maybe, eventually the line between acting like a believer and really being a believer will dissolve, the members identities will get attached to the belief/idea and ta-da we have a well-established cult yet again ready to take on the world

@Bazooka Jesus amazing pictures and what a joy to read that story about the mad honey hunters.. This is what travel is all about, inspiring to see you immersing yourself so courageously and openmindedly in these situations 👊

The reason spiritual communities fail is not because of all these complex reasons, it's because the people who question things are not kicked out fast enough. My community will be the one exception

If you don't have the psychological resources to quit right now and to face the underlying emotional pain, you can develop a healthier relationship with the weed. Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts and self-loathing, you can leverage the high to inspire you. Listen to music with a positive message, get in touch with your creativity, draw paint, sing, dance and do some yoga while high. Or work with your emotions and really deeply feel them, whatever they may be The suggestion is that it is not the substance itself that is the problem here necessarily, but more so ones relationship with the substance and to oneself. The underlying pain is what is fueling this habit, and you can either drop the habit and face the pain, or do your best to face the pain bit by bit to uncover the root cause. This way you might get to root of the pain and the need to use slowly drops away or becomes more balanced. The shame and self-loathing that reflect the pain are much more destructive to your spirit than almost any substance known to man. So, if you can't quit right now, start to build this healthier relationship with the plant and then you might discover something that you didn't expect. You can learn to relate to yourself in new ways, you can learn to work with your emotions and thoughts in new ways, but the most important is self-compassion and self-love for now, I believe. This is a great opportunity to build some solid groundwork of self-love, if you can love yourself now you will have a very good foundation for when life blesses you once again. You won't be run by fear of returning where you are now, since you already accepted and loved yourself here. And your ego wont get inflated at that point, since you learned the lesson of humility in the face of life. I believe you can learn to love yourself no matter where you are now. You can do it man!

Finally. This will certainly have effects on other European nations as well, I know here in the Nordics many who haven't thought about the situation much will be reconsidering their views, since Germany is generally quite respected here. Sweden is an especially interesting case, they are super progressive in so many ways but generally their views on drugs are highly conservative, at least as they are reflected in the laws. This will surely stir up some cognitive dissonance.

Alexei Navalnyi This guy returned to Russia even after being poisoned (by Putin most likely) for being too much of threat to the establishment. He died in prison, sticking by his principles to the very end

His legacy cannot be killed, this will inspire many to stand up against the tyranny of the kremlin.

What a fascinating forum we have here with Christian preachers, Buddhist fundamentalists, all sorts of schizophrenics and solipsists all in the same place talking about God. You won't see this in Sunday church 😂

@MellowEd If you really need to have a hell in the world as a way of being released from guilt/shame/sin etc. then maybe that will be granted to you. You can envision all those who wronged you and mocked God being tortured for eternity as punishment. Does that bring you a deep satisfaction? What makes you think God requires torture for justice to be served? Sounds like a very human idea.

Find the gold in the mud through inner alchemy. The state of meaninglessness is a unique state of consciousness just like a state of ecstatic union is. Many millions have visited that state, but not that many have found something truly valuable in the midst of that. It's a paradoxical thing. Failing fully or losing all hope is the last thing we want to do, but often spiritual gold is found where we least want to look. Lovingly embracing the beast inside while it is screaming is what slowly starts diluting and transmuting that which fuels the ego backlash. I sense that you already intuit this based on a few things you said in you post.

There is a potential problem with SD where it can feed into the (especially western) tendency to want to place humans on a hierarchy, which can be used to justify various forms of inequality and oppression/domination. I don't see this necessarily as an inherent quality of the model itself, but I see some real dangers in how it could be interpreted to feed into various ideologies. I think there is value in spiral dynamics and it shouldn't be demonized or dismissed outright, mostly the problems come when people start confusing the map for the territory. Even if someone says they are yellow/turquoise does not mean that they are in any way immune to this problem. I also wonder, what is truly gained with the spiral dynamics model that can't be achieved through a non-hierarchical model like the Scwartz model of basic values? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_basic_human_values Here is also a nuanced discussion on the potential shadow sides of stage theories like spiral dynamics: Ps. I am not anti-spiral dynamics, I just want to bring another perspective to this discussion, which I haven't seen much on this forum. The point is not to say that spiral dynamics is bad or should be dismissed, but to poke at the model from many perspectives to see if it truly is the best way towards what we see as valuable in understanding reality.

You started this post with a curious attitude and open questions. It turned into you preaching all the answers and implying others should "receive the message". It seems you already have answers to your questions that have convinced you and you are very confident in them. So, is there much room for discussion really?

Try increasing your fiber intake. Easiest way is to take psyllium husk with lots of water, might be also known as Metamucil for the 'muricans.

Please don't spread those shitty stereotypes and prejudice, there are real world effects on real people.

These communes would require some form of centralized power or ability to use force to keep bad actors in check. But of course, a egalitarian and pacifist community is extremely allergic to such things, and for good reason. I think careful experimentation is needed with that, maybe some novel way of managing power can be discovered that isn't just a bringing back of old systems. But of course, such experiments could be quite dangerous as we have seen with all the cults...

Excellent idea! I got started with Burundi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi Burundi_Bwacu_instrumental.mp3

It's the gen z style, more authentic or something.

I found this short segment from Sapolsky very enlightening. Testosterone, dopamine and oxytocin strongly affect human behavior, but we often over simplify their effects, and this results in skewed understanding of what "human nature" is, for example. I could have posted this in the society section, as it is super relevant for that as well. But as it is essentially about the human body, I decided to post it here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model)

Men are generally highly emotional and often less mature emotionally than women. Men being violent and killing each other in rage because they can't deal with their emotions is a story as old as man. Male based leadership also tends to result in hierarchies that ultimately feed status competition, inequality and violence. For a nuanced look at the structures of Patriarchy vs. Matriarchy, the limitations of both and their benefits, I highly recommend this video.

Is there a specific moment in this speech that you resonated with the most? I'm wondering if there's some specific part of the message that got you feeling hopeful and inspired or is it more so the general vibe and character you sense from the guy