Vaishnavi

meanwhile India on twitter- web series are corrupting the youth of India also, "remove chinese app. Download chinese app cleanser NOW."

have you tried dates and organic jaggery by any means? also, maple syrup?

this worked. this ACTUALLY worked. it has been working for a real long time for me now. my nightmares are gone. and if there IS something negative or harmful, i AM actually able to stand up for myself. no more screaming or waking up half sweating half crying. @Matt8800 i cannot thank you enough. i owe you, big time. I had to post this here publicly so that everyone actually sees that this works. it really does. People of the forum and @Leo Gura, there's great truth in here.

@Matt8800 in a post of yours, you mentioned that love and beauty is very intimately tied to awakening. can you expand on that? i've heard about love but what's beauty here? what qualifies as beauty? is it purity? i mean, what is this beauty? (and love too?) also, is my question naive?

@modmyth do post; would love to hear <3

Alrighty. I have an old journal here but the context and why I started that one is, well, gone and something that I believe i've transcended on some level (though not completely). This journal is going to be an intimate little place for myself whereby I could express the person that I am through pictures, music, passages from my favourite books, artists that i have great respect for, anything that speaks to me, that has meaning to me (and might have some for you too!)

it's as if the media and a particular section of society has a set homeostasis of criticising the government regardless of what they do, choosing to see only one side of the picture, completely ignoring the context and want(ing) the country to run in black and white mediums. my friend shared an instagram post which condemned some of the recently passed bills of the Indian Government. The criticism of the post clearly ignores the bright side of the bills. I'm not a BJP fan but these bills have great value to them if seen from a bigger picture perspective. For instance, it was important to do away with Article 370 in India which was otherwise leading to separatist mindset and was fueling vandalism and militant activities at large in kashmir. Or the controversial Citizenship amendment bill has a good side to it too (Since it allows non muslim refugees from the 3 countries with Islam as the official religion so the muslims don't exactly need protection) A public post like this (which influences thousands) states that most criticism of the common man are outright redundant if seen objectively it serves no purpose. Nothing is actually achieved and the central gov does what it wants to anyway (say passing of the electoral bonds i earlier made a post on. the gov completely over rided the decisions of the RBI and EC, two giant independent bodies of the gov) It's partial, it's biased and sometimes it's not even accurate. Most of all, it completely misses the bigger picture and the challenges with the government. It misses context. This also raises the question of whether the common man should be allowed to vote at all since he can be so easily influenced. Socrates hated the idea of democracy to a good extent saying that the common man can be very easily influenced and lacks the needed knowledge to make conscious decisions.

You can blame me Try to shame me And still I'll care for you You can run around Even put me down Still I'll be there for you The world May think I'm foolish They can't see you Like I can Oh but anyone Who knows what love is Will understand

i did not tbh

Here are two videos that well summarises the Current Indian politics scenario- Maharashtra Election Scandal BJP even got into a huge embarrassment recently with the Maharashtra state elections. Long story short, it didn't stick to it's promise to Shiv sena (the other party it was in coalition with for Maharashtra's governance), teamed up with another party's major member to try to form a majority, used underhand tactics to have their guy elected as the CM but eventually the whole thing backfired on them. The guy resigned because the member they collaborated with was immediately abandoned by it's own party and BJP couldn't prove it's majority. Ended up making a big fool out of itself. That is not to say that congress or the current government in Maharashtra (the coalition b/w Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) is any better. They all have their hands in dirt.

If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is. -Charles Bukowski

And we laugh into the microphone and sing With our sunglasses on, to our favorite songs And we're laughing in the microphone and singing With our sunglasses on, to our favorite songs Nothing's gonna hurt you baby Nothing's gonna take you from my side

learning, curious, seeking

Electoral bonds- BJP’s way of laundering money (An extremely regressive scheme) BJP’s government introduces electoral bonds as a way to ensure “donations” to political parties in its 2017 finance budget. Think of these as promissory notes that can be bought by companies or individuals from banks which can then be “donated” to political parties to fund elections. You’re “showing your support this way” It does so in an unconstitutional fashion by introducing it as a “money bill”. Alright. But here is when the government has made it real dirty now. Up until now, the donors and their identities were available to public. Now, the donor will be completely anonymous AND the amount they’re donating will remain disclosed. Opens up the possibility of big giants like Facebook and google setting up a shell company in India whereby through anonymous banking channels they can easily funds elections (AS MUCH AS THEY WANT. There’s absolutely no cap to it) When persons who donate money are not philanthropists and are commercial profit-making entities, they donate only when there is a more-than-adequate rate of return. So, when a corporation donates money to a political party, there is obviously a quid pro quo, whether it is known or not. If voters do not know whose money a candidate is using to fund his or her election, they won’t know subsequently whether a decision made by the government is based on the interest of the constituents, in national interest, or in the interest of whoever donated the money. they're making the system all the more rigid and opaque. it's sickening. (image sources: https://www.adrindia.org/) ---------------- yup.

ties in so well-

(posting from my facebook post here; this is imp) I remember watching Black mirror a few days ago and this one particular episode called Nosedive freaked me out given how the dystopian setting of the episode was a kick in the crotch of Authenticity. Coming across the fact that it IS becoming a literal reality in one part of the world gives me chills. Overwhelmed is a small word. Take a moment to learn about China's attempt to move towards Digital dictatorship. They're planning a more "safe" and "stable" society by digitally monitoring their citizens, 24x7! Imagine every move of yours being tracked. What you eat, people you meet, choices you make in the supermarket, your thoughts, every detail of personal and professional life being scrutinised and at government's disposal. Big Brother much? But obviously that's not it. They'd assign you RATINGS! or what they call as "social credits" dictating your position in the social hierarchy which would directly govern your objective life, everything from whether you get access to a particular government job to people you're allowed to marry. The ratings and social credits will be THE NEW currency, the new face of Yuan (and won't be a surprise if it becomes the new dollar and the new rupee soon.) Wanna know what that would look and feel like? Check out Black mirror's Nosedive where this man is not allowed to move into his office because of his low ratings or this other person whose electricity is cut off because he's a 3.1 or the protagonist who would not get an emergency flight ticket because she has to be at least a 4.2 (and she's a 4.1) Oh and in case of China as of now, if the government thinks that a particular action/thought/word (say a different political ideology) is "offensive" your social rankings will be affected which will in turn affect all the other areas of your personal life (including how much you have to pay for the public loo) Read this- https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-18/china-social-credit-a-model-citizen-in-a-digital-dictatorship/10200278?pfmredir=sm&sf197878142=1&smid=Page%3A+ABC+Australia-Facebook_Organic&WT.tsrc=Facebook_Organic&fbclid=IwAR1NR1ZL2UhIp7Emr3N4ZkETR9Q7OXGmzOaJZ9rVeGiuOvRG0Of4b0S2R9A

thanks man!

It's not surprising, in fact exactly what I should hear. Growing up in a traditional and dogmatic family, I was always supposed to be the "nice girl", never expressing my intense emotions even by myself let alone with others. My whole identity has been about repressing rage, anger or any intense emotion and being a classic people pleaser. Can't even begin to explain how much of toxicity this has led to in EVERY area of my life. it's funny you mention this. I always have a literal physiological reaction everytime I see superheroes running towards a powerful enemy like they will rip them apart. Deep deep down, i'm scared for them for I see myself there, subconsciously telling myself that could never be me, that courage does not belong to me and i'll be dead. *sigh* I never developed a healthy self/identity, still learning which is why letting go of the fear is difficult. Thanks for bringing this to attention P.S. Your post on love and power is a real gem. It's kind of you to invest the time that you are overall here on the forum helping people out. It's inspiring.

Google's Artificial Intelligence, is intelligent! I just wrote an intimate mail to a friend talking about my struggles with inner work and Google's AI feels like a legit person prying on what i'm doing under the garb of "helping me" by auto suggesting the subject of the mail. What freaked me out was just how accurate the suggestion was! All of a sudden, I'm concerned with questions of privacy and my personal relation with technology, media and the internet. I'm not leaving the internet given the dependency, so, oh well...

Thank you for this. I suffer from nightmares and the most common theme is my death. Me being killed off by someone, being stabbed being shot it’s always me dying and helpless. I believe it's because in my waking life I strongly live with the unconscious assumption that somehow I won’t be able to protect myself if someone/something attacks me (which is also why I avoid physically challenging activities despite having a desire to try them). My question to you is then, a. How do I fight back the next time something like this happens in my dream? I’m usually not in control. I have had minor experience with lucid dreaming but usually I’m not in control. b. What does death (being killed off) in a dream signify? Cause it's a theme repeated almost every day? Mostly.

I wanted to start this thread; need more opinions on Gaia @electroBeam what conclusion did you come up with? came across this-

don't know if this is posted already but I like how language plays a role on a subconscious level for all of us, and how the language a man uses talks about him

I can relate. I had a major career crisis since I've always wanted to study arts but i took commerce in high school since science was something i was afraid of (given how it was taught to me) and arts is a taboo in my society (given the lack of jobs. India is heavy blue even now so humanities for the sake of humanities is a ludicrous thought). I was good at commerce but eventually realised I cannot spend my life being an accountant or doing taxes. Like yourself, I study holistically, connecting dots, reading multiple disciplines and resources.. probably why I never majored in my bachelors degree. I'm studying the basic arts with no honours because I want to study all subjects holistically to have a big picture understanding. The point, my career crisis led to poor choices and I don't have a degree from a regular college, i'm doing my bachelors from distance learning. So even I do not have a regular college degree. However, I do agree that degree has certain value to it. It's not entirely a waste. As much as I personally find the idea annoying, judging on the basis of college degree makes sense since it immediately puts up an image of who you are (even if it's very limited and maybe even misleading sometimes). Nonetheless, you need it at times (which is why I plan to complete my higher studies more consciously). However, I personally have benefitted a hell lot from being an autodidact. I love being one, it gives me my space and I can explore as much as I want. But, formal learning and skill building has it's own space, a need I feel, so yes, it's a bitter sweet symphony in that sense. For me personally, I will be going to a uni to pursue a course that I need but cannot learn on my own (social entrepreneurship- raising funds, community building, strategic management, all that stuff). The juicy important education, I do that on my own. So for me, finding that balance is the key. Going to the uni is one of those 'have to' things that you accept as a part of growing up. And it's not entirely bad tbh (once you know what you want out of it and believe that the experience can give you that). Look up Gabor maté. He went to medical college quite late in his life but did anyway because it was his dream. See if it's worth it for you though. I know maybe I complicated the subject for you but I believe it's a decision worth investing time in. Ask what you want from uni and if it can give you that, the why you want to go there and if it's worth it. You probably have already. If you believe that being w/o a degree is fine and the energy should be invested in say your startup because time's short, then I believe you should go ahead with it despite the fear of going broke/meeting survival needs. I mean how worse can it get? You'll sail through if you want to.. and it's always bitter sweet no matter what road you go down

and ensuring everyone's on the same page (in terms of understanding); gives better context its like the elephant in the room, everyone knows about it and yet they play otherwise. This is a very common narrative followed by most politicians and celebrities and is a necessary tool if you have to maintain a certain persona this is gold! it's almost awe inspiring, the amount of energy they invest in coming up with something like this (and honestly believing that they're doing good for the world)