BlueOak

Great news! 1) You've developed body awareness. 2) Your created identity is receiving some space to breathe. If you don't want to feel empty, meditate on something. Meditate to feel full, on a feeling or sensations, the wind or the warmth of the sun :D. Go into the sensation you are feeling somewhere etc. Like if you feel full across your forehead/temple, move into that. How you might ask, meditate on it. The questions are primers. Getting the mind to quiet long enough for you to notice. Like a good yoga routine, refreshing exercise or calming music.

The easiest thing to say is nobody knows. That is the good part of creative anarchy. The bad part is, that nobody knows. You never know what to expect, and often will get extremes drawing attention. Eye-catching material. Which isolates a lot of people from commenting.

I do however look forward to the next evolution, which nurtures individuality AND society at the same time.

It's part of a necessary back and forth to society, and the world. When in proper balance for the people it governs it's extremely helpful. If you try to put a lot of liberals inside a nationalist country they will live in misery and you will have nothing but social unrest for example, extend that to any ideology. For me the great benefits are creativity, individual development, and freedom to choose a career or make life choices. It's a great richness of experience for the individual and a society that helps you bring out your own talents and individuality. Creativity helps the development of new ideas, and technologies, so general progress for the country is increased. This is one reason why those in the west are at a higher state of technological development, because ideas and concepts have been allowed to not only flourish but are financed by investment. It's not the only reason but it is a big one. For me the great drawbacks are, focusing on the individual at the expense of the collective. This doesn't mean denying them what I just said above, it means the collective needs to be developed in tandem with the individual, not at the expense of either. Collective culture and identity also need to be nurtured. The environmental damage is obvious from an individualist culture and always needs to be corrected. Individualist cultures also still have one voice being too great, though these voices are obviously much more numerous, you often get a voice speaking on a subject and receiving widespread attention when they have little experience in it. It also has a habit of still breeding narcissists, but then nationalists or anything that promotes a figurehead do exactly the same.

Vice as usual come out with a good piece. The main point to make is the trouble in Syria isn't done yet, not by a long shot, nor is Afghanistan or by extension the surrounding countries like Iraq or Pakistan. A few things come to mind. This particular regrowth of Isis may be happening to destabilized Russian influence in these regions, and that's why its not being stopped. Alternatively it may be that Syria is destabilized enough, it'll be a ground for this regardless of what anyone else does. Third point is, as the US influence in the region is removed, the Russian influence is also going to end up collapsing, for it to become a natural islamic state anyway. To be obviously specific the Russians prefer Autocrats, the Americans democrats, but what might come out of this region in the next generations is neither.

For me if your interest is here, study modern day shamanism, and learn the effects of every single plant on earth. Its practical, you can use the knowledge in a modern career, a personal hobby capacity, or for mystical uses should you go down that path. Nature also balances you out naturally, so you avoid a lot of the pitfalls of coming from a more egoic or selfish place may present you. It also can be something you do in nature or from the comfort of a warm room and benefit those around you. Like mastering anything it can bring you to a similar point all people mastering a trade, craft, or discipline reach. All is self, interpreted however they interpret that. I think until you've fully hit stage yellow in its entirety, and you don't display the stage green emotional outbursts or resistance to others perspectives that I still have time to time. Then all magik or ritual is going to do is point you at yourself, especially the bits you hate the most and give all the attention to in hopes that one day you'll integrate it. Ritual is incredibly powerful. Ritual can be a yoga routine in the morning. It can be practice. It can be study. It can be alignment or awakening. It can be dreamwalking into other realities by setting routines before you sleep. It can cultivating a spiritual practice and gift whatever that is. Third eye, inner ear, speaking with spirits. All is your mind, so anything here now, or that once existed can be perceived in another form.

American and Russian arsenals are about even. Seeing's as many are short range tactical nukes on the Russian side. Its irrelevant though as both sides could wipe out life on earth many times over. This is hyberbole or an exaggeration of the actual combined reality we are currently living in. Russia will not intimidate others to dealing with them again. Especially as its EUROPE I don't know how many times I have to shout this, that Russia has harmed the most. There is no win-win scenario here. This is lose - lose. You are lying to yourself if you think many people in Europe will accept dealing with Russia even 5 or 10 years from now. It will be deeply unpopular for their governments. Though businesses will not care (Orange), there will be sanctions in place to make it very costly which they will care about. We all create our own version of reality to live in, so I understand how I can look at your position and you mine and think it fantasy. But what you perhaps can't see is how much people hate Russia especially in Europe and somewhat in America, that won't go away because the dead ukrainians and their now obliterated towns and villages will continue to not be there. It'll take a generation or two for that to go away. Europe and Russia are done for the foreseeable future.

The amount of civilian deaths will be in the 10's of thousands before the end, there are more than 5,000 dead in Mariupol alone. People still don't understand entire towns and villages no longer exist.

We can hope I fondly remember those days.

I want to argue against that but its difficult as I hate it too. Its not the words. Its not these words i'm typing to you now that's a problem, or the expression of them, its how they are easily weaponized for use against people, institutions, individuals, laws etc But, there's always a but. If this goes away where does the discontent surface? It will and by suppression it manifests in less healthy ways.

I think also 'the other' you speak of is not a bad thing in western culture. Other in collective societies is demonized by being separate. In western individualist societies everyone is 'the other', being the other or your own person, your own man, culture, city etc, is seen as a bonus to individualists.

Not true for me. As a teenager and into my 20's I was very interested in creative writing ,all through my adulthood I focused or drew inspiration from the region. Growing up I remember things like salahuddin portrayed in the Kingdom of Heaven Film as wise, strong, merciful and tempered. That particular film portrayed the christians in the complete opposite light (almost). Or Morgan freeman in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, by far the best character in that film. Another one I remember, though the character had to go through adjustment to his surroundings and inside himself, he ended up the star of the show. Here is a list of some good examples: https://mvslim.com/10-blockbusters-feature-positive-muslim-characters/ I think in more recent years what you say is more true but certainly not pre Iraq. I grew up with these sorts of Arab stereotypes. Not always accurate of course because this is fantasy, but as a kid this sort of heroic fantasy image of a wise or brave warrior was given to us.

We are entering a cultural stagnation and new dark age let me explain. As someone who gets every other post deleted on youtube still, lost a year of posts for a few remarks I made, and is completely banned from places like the CNN channel. He's not just up against a mountain its half the world, literally half an authoritarian world, perhaps more than that. As they gain more influence over the global mind this is the reality we have. I've seen most of the content on social dynamics or political content I would care to watch completely banned from the public view. Almost every character or interesting personality is either replaced in searches by bland milk toast content or deleted entirely. Its like that all over the net. The authoritarian boot is not just on the neck of free speech its completely crushed it. The only places you could now get independent content is now on the deep web (not the dark web) the vast majority of web content you will never see in a search engine but is still legal, just not shown to you. Which of course means you end up on some very out of the way locations, and forms part of the reason people feel this distrust toward institutions, having a bleaker outlook on life than ever. Also by forcing all the non mainstream content off platforms and search engines, it means we end up following characters or ideologies we'd never before consider just to have a new voice or perspective to listen to. So yeah. I think the future is very bleak indeed when it comes to personal expression, creativity generally, culture or advancement. We are in for a cultural stagnation which precedes any new dark age. *I should probably argue we are in a cultural stagnation right now. You only have to look at how much everything is reused in art or media to see it.

If you want the honest truth there is a bias in the spiritual community against America, and Europe. I have noticed in more than 1 speaker I used to think neutral or universal, now taking a more aggressive stance towards Europe and America. I used to be able to see them as uplifting consciousness globally rather than a personal bias. I no longer see people like that speaking. Perhaps they are embracing their national or cultural identity more. I used to hate that but its natural, its who they are and what they want. Their personal goal as opposed to teaching others a universal one. I could name names but that gets posts deleted so we'll leave the sentiment in the open like that. I do feel some of those spiritual teachers are leading us down a path to a much larger conflict in the future, else I wouldn't feel twisted by this I had that feeling over ten years ago and i've spoken about it before with emotion, or logic. I see all these changes stemmed from the Rise of Authoritarianism and what that will continue to mean to our lives in the future. I didn't see that at the time but I do now. *I will edit this a bit and say people like Mooji exclusively speak of centering and peace but people like that are now rarer than anything on earth, even among those referring to themselves as 'ascended masters'.

So I had some limited success but not much. Obviously conflict, outcome and understanding have a place, but as with anything they can become too often sort after. As I type this another way to speak of it is division. Conflict is division. Expecting Outcome is division from reality. Understanding can be division when it comes at the expense of experiencing life. I can almost fold outcome and understanding into one. Expectancy. It's not quite true but its close. All these things can come from a healthy place but they can also get in the way of yourself/life. Spiritual experience for example will be diminished if you seek understanding of how it happened as opposed to the message or experience itself. Its the same with many things in life, how as opposed to why. Spiritual experiences for me used to feel like free fall, because I had a shadow of powerlessness. Now my powerlessness is worn on my sleeve and doesn't manifest unconsciously. Conflict and division though is still in the manifestation of my spiritual experience. That's why I reached a state of consciousness that was more settled than when I started on the forum, to have an emotional peak and blow out. Its why I eat to feel love then feel conflicted with my need to lose weight. I am still exercising but I always put myself in a battle, between the weightloss and the gym work. If something isn't a battle or competition i'm not even sure I know how to live in it. I mostly just coexist passively or remain apart from whatever is going on. Probably remnants of my abusive upbringing, but conflict is in everything and everyone at the moment and so it makes it hard to ignore. I feel more at home in the tension of conflict or the isolation of covid because how the world currently feels is normal to me.

I am surprised people are surprised at the massacres but then I am also reminded that not everyone follows the war as closely as I do. Russia has been executing civilians for a month. That's what those incinerator trucks were for. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM-eRxEc_TutiPIbOS1YYbw/videos Again I point you to these best source of raw footage. Forget his predictions though he gets many right because he has access to this footage. Its more of use to follow where events are happening when they happen.

If that was the actual quote. It is yet more Russian propaganda that Ukraine doesn't exist so it can't have personal agency in the matter. As if 44 million people suddenly had no voice of their own.

My Addictions: Conflict. Outcome. Understanding. Therapies: Conflict: Detox from violence, in games, movies and media. Outcome: Try a lot more things with no outcome in mind. 1 new thing a day. | Don't seek outcome in conversations or interactions. Understanding: Stop asking why on everything. Stop trying to find a greater truth to all things, except that is a rat in a maze forever hunting the cheese and just experience life. Personal Life/Body Goals: Mind: Keep Meditating in the morning. Whatever comes up is fine. Find positive channels that I used to fill my mind with. Energy: Start Energetic work again, continue yoga. I have forgotten all the old teachers and programs I used in the past. I trust they will come to me again, the one I most want to remember is where energy is circled in the centers through the body. Body: Ran today for the first time in two months. Still getting back into weights, third week next week after a two month break. Finances: Sold something off to make way for a new course in ? Will decide when it comes in, and look for inspiration. Dream: Start instructing the Dream Body again on goals while sleeping Emotions: I'm Practicing Gratitude again and feeling/being a different way. I am unsure whether I need to neutralise emotions as before, as that leads to bubbles or detachment but perhaps some limited emotional control will be useful again. In certain situations. House: Keep working on the Garden, getting out in nature again. Family: Not sure. I'm never sure. I'll tackle it as it comes as always. Spiritual: Set spiritual goals again. Third Eye Work again. Spiritual ear work again. Lucid dream training again. That's what I have tonight as I sleep. It was a better day. I had that emotional outburst toward conflict, and apologize to anyone it effected, wherever they are and wherever I met them. My addiction to conflict is my biggest roadblock right now. So I put my hands together and stay in gratitude for a few minutes for all of us. Thank you.

Its stalled until I can heal my addiction to conflict, outcome, and understanding. I just wanted to show you what was possible without even leaving where you are sitting right now. *Hugs are the answer yes. Starting at Gratitude to Joy to Love.

Once you've experienced divine love or pure ecstasy you will never have that question. Its a white light reality that radiates. I was only there 5 minutes and it lasted 2 days afterwards as a cloud around my vision. No drugs, just me. If you ever get there, act as if you are hugging it, I felt that state slipping and inside myself I moved as if I were going to hug that feeling and it stuck around longer. From my limited interpretation, there is no tier, I never thought of things as stacked atop the other. Maybe bodies inside bodies, or auras, or shells, or fields, or eggs, or wombs whatever works for you. Things blur together in that state of consciousness. Will there be other things to experience after that, absolutely. Is there anything i'd like more than to sit in divine love again, no. I'd give up every experience from now to eternity to be there. Which is what I am told you are outside of the dream. To get there. I had to detox the body/mind, energetically, mentally, emotionally over 6 months, then you'll practice being in a loving state toward everything. This post you see. That bird in your window. That noise you hear in your car. That policeman that pulls you over for a flat tire. The angry person that is upset. The tree. The food. A war. Weather. Warmth. Cold. Everything. Especially yourself. You will change many things around you and interactions you have. I had conflict bring me down to earth. I didn't love the person that brought it to me. It hurt a lot. *I didn't know that all was mind, I had a an 'all is one' spiritual practice so maybe it would be different this time. All the best *Of course 'you' don't go anywhere. There is no distance.

Also please reflect that if you can help people get into joyful states then that is a huge gift to give, never forget that. Its massive, it ripples across that person's entire life and everything they are going to experience. If you can do dream yoga while sleeping. Maybe its time to help people while sleeping too? When asked and you feel like it. Maybe work on a skill you've been wanting to learn (though i've never consciously done this, unconsciously I do it all the time seeing if I can exist in that state) I don't want to expand too much. But only do that for others when asked/accepted or sought out. And only in joyful states. Everything is a creation of your mind. All the best.

If you are a joyful person that is nice. Its a good place to start from and go back to. Like starting in a field on a sunny day, as opposed to a highway with oncoming traffic. Joy is a very spiritual tool, its one of the big three. Gratitude, Joy and Love. If you can put yourself in these states well... I don't want to bias it more than that for you. But practice them toward yourself/others - same thing. You've probably seen some of the benefits already and perhaps are not even aware of it. Energetic activations bring things to you quicker. Spiritual activations make things clearer or more evident. Again I don't want to bias it more than that, because it leaves room for anything. Gratitude. For this thread I needed it today its been tough. All the best.

@Razard86 I don't know if it matters but thank you that was much better put than I would have done. Gratitude.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Russia 16 Wars since the 90's. 3 of them ending in old soviet times. If we were to extend it to proxy wars we'd have a list as long or longer than the US. Scroll to modern here to see the updates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proxy_wars If we were to extend the list of countries they've armed, it'd be a very long list. They armed, trained and supported governments in Iraq and Libya for example both before and after their wars with the US. Many US wars involved Russian influence directly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya–Russia_relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq–Russia_relations In fact I want to edit this to say reading the proxy war list there are a ridiculous amount of smaller countries, not just the big ones, I never knew supplied arms overseas.

Russia is a brutal barbaric country and should be treated as such. We are weak in the west, afraid of conflict, afraid of coming out of our comfortable lives to face the reality of what we and they do. We make war. They make war. That is what happens. Western countries hide behind a veneer of respectability while we do our killing. Russia do it brazenly and in the open. Russia is rubbling 80 something villages, towns and cities. Its set a country on fire. The weak denials here of the reality are as bad as west, denying the reality of what Russia is or they have done. Its trying to imitate the west, badly. They are both dangerous opponents, neither can be trusted to be peaceful. People denying the reality of what they see cannot accept reality. We must distance ourselves from this old construct of wars between powers and the current systems of government wherever it is possible. Azov were a neo nazi brigade of 900 men and women, armed by the west, they had been expanded into the national guard and so had an influx of non nazi members, their leader stepped down to try and run for office instead. He got 2% of the vote. Russia has killed tens of thousands, levelled cities, town, villages. Gunned families down, shelled civilians for weeks and lied about to their own people. Trying to make out they are the victim. Almost brought us to nuclear war. I want nothing to do with their current way of thinking, and I will continually make the case that they are someone we should stay as far away from as possible. So I choose the division again most of you want and have constantly asked for. There is no coming together when this is going on, only to accept the barbarity as part of us. But I will make the same case, as I always have, every time the west does it. We as a world are primitive in our ways. We war and we kill, we blame the other side. We imagine we are right, so we can do these things to the perceived other.