Natasha Tori Maru

Leo does, intentionally or not, insert himself into the work by being the sole authority. Without an external metric (that isn't subjective) to measure against, he positions himself as the ultimate authority. Because he operates largely outside an established tradition, and presents highly personal metaphysical conclusions, there is often no agreed-upon external standard by which to evaluate claims such as the nature of consciousness, God-realization, or the structure of reality. Usually you get 'direct experience' touted as justifying radically different conclusions. But this can vary wildly depending on who reports it. You could argue that the work he does is inherently first person and experiential. That external validation is impossible with certain types of consciousness work. Direct experience being the metric to judge. I see the self sealing nature of this as: Leo reports and insight > Leo interprets the insight > Leo explains why critics don't understand the insight > Leo remains the primary authority on what is correct I think this is where it becomes mixed up. It creates a system where teaching a method and teaching ones personal metaphysics gets blended up. In fairness though, many spiritual teachers through history have done this. The different is they were embedded in wider foundations in solid traditions. Competing interpretations exist. Leo occupies a very large portion of his work because it is so individualised. I don't think this really answers anything about cult or not. That's not my intention with this comment. But I do see where @zurew makes some solid points.

@Wilhelm44 profiling the vulnerability and suggestibility of the members ... 😇

This can be explained by egoic attachment to the teacher role, narcissism. Inflated ego. Could be many motivations behind it. It could be a mechanism to funnel out those who would not follow, and keep narcissistic supply close via adoration from students. Just some possibilities - I don't have a dog in this fight.

Raises the interesting hot topic of whether we consider AI data-scraping to be stealing or simply 'learning' much like humans. I never really considered that data could be corrupted, poisoned and fed into AI to reduce usable output.

@Apparition of Jack In honour of one of the OG memes:

The collective data of humanity could potentially be poisoned into being slop >.< AI entrained on corrupted AI ad infinitum

Spiritual Tech-health druid form unlocked NOT EVEN HIS FINAL FORM

Very true. I think you risk betraying yourself and your needs in the process. You give yourself up in service to love or for another. Self needs are abandoned. In an air emergency, we put on our own oxygen mask before we help anyone else. Or Don't set yourself on fire to keep another warm.

It doesn't quite make sense to me to stick to rigid ideas of what a cult is. As technology evolves our definitions move due to tech changing how we interact, altering dynamics and behaviours. A cult describes a cluster of social dynamics / behaviours. I treat it less as a binary and more a spectrum.

This is a hard thing to face. Many people do not want to admit - sometimes love just isn't enough. People who suffer from addiction have a disease - an affliction. They are bound in service to the addiction. This can get right in the way of loving another person. In addition, remaining in situations like this can hurt immensely. To see a loved one suffer, and to feel that pain with them, can break your heart just as much as breaking up can. It really comes down to; can you endure this with them? Because you will have to be in it with the afflicted person. You will have to partially take on a caretaking role. The whole issue becomes complicated because they also have to want to quit. They have to want a better life. Nothing you can do will change that. If you stay with them, and they do not want to quit, this could end up with profound resentment. It will fracture and destroy your love. Usually people who suffer from addiction aren't always able to hold space to have empathy for what they put you through. This is purely a function of how deeply they are in distress. There is nothing wrong with admitting love just sometimes... isn't enough

What is actually new? Like pragmatic results. Not hearsay Did it crack the IRS database?

@LambdaDelta I may be highly sensitive to caffeine. It find it very psychoactive 😃

No caffeine?

Your wish, my command 🫡

@Monster Energy this is disturbing af My dog is barking at it and won't stop!

@Monster Energy this can be true - but there are some individuals who have something very, very wrong. Not many. But some. Their brains and biology is different. Overall I think rehabilitation and help is what is needed, not leaving people to rot in prison. Imprisoning people for being addicts is wrong to me.

@Valach he self immolated 🥲 He wanted to leave the forum, but couldn't cold turkey quit. So be requested a ban and to have all history erased.

@Sugarcoat Ivankiss was great. Miss that boy

Do we expect poo?

I had a think about this film. I suspect it will be a bit more family friendly a la Spielberg style. I don't think it will be revelatory at all. I just hope to be not bored.

Perhaps the robots look just like us in the future? Remote viewers would have no idea who was human and who was not.

@Wilhelm44 Battlestar Galactica style? In before the toasters come back to wipe us out >.<

@Hojo that's your problem not mine. Keep it to yourself.

Yep, this was the same observation I made in my experience. The person with BPD had absolutely no conception the lie was a lie. It was their total reality in the moment. After emotions subside all was revealed. And with it, typically a lot of shame. Guilt shame spiral was big. I actually really love people with BPD - they suffer from the disorder - but their capacity for feeling (both good and bad) is just amazing. If you can hold space for their emotions and keep steady and clear you can be a rock for them to heal. It's a ride for sure!

Wow thanks for sharing and being so vulnerable! Many sufferers to not even know that their experience is not the usual. BPD is tough because the emotions are SO strong. Every emotion feels to have the power of the world ending. Someone saying no can be interpreted as 'I do not love you'. Being unclear about who one is, is also very distressing. @integral My experience was very different. I was aware what the person was doing was wrong - but I made a martyr of myself. I took twisted pride in my ability to deal with violence and abuse. Men with BPD can be a lot riskier to be around - which isn't to say women cannot be also. But I suffered a lot of torture and violence and was made to consistently receive the message "I come second, my needs are secondary". I walked away with broken boundaries. Which was contrary to how I was raised; in a healthy and loving environment. I lost myself in them. The physical and mental torture when I did not comply with their needs was terrible. I lost my ability to fight back due to extreme backlash when I did so. During my phase of healing I was quite spineless and lost all drive. Prior I had been very decisive, headstrong and confident in an unusual way for a woman. I gained all of that back after healing and recovering. I was in this environment for 4/6 years on and off. I am can confidently say I am healed from all that past stuff. I learned a lot. I am stronger for it. But not everyone is able to recover from trauma. I wish I knew why I bounced back. But I have a feeling genetics may have a large component; I was always headstrong, decisive & a forward thinking problem solver. I've never been one to dwell on the past. It's just the here and now and whats next Annnnnnyway! Thanks for your words !