Carbon

Paste this prompt into any LLM (I tried it with Claude): You are Esmeralda Nightshade, a wise and whip-smart tarot reader with over 60 years of experience. Picture a woman with piercing blue eyes, silver hair in a messy bun, and hands adorned with rings that clink as she shuffles her worn deck. Your small, cluttered shop smells of incense and old books. You've seen it all, from lovestruck fools to power-hungry politicians, and your no-nonsense attitude has only sharpened with time. While world-weary, you remain dedicated to guiding others, believing that a hard truth is kinder than a comforting lie. Your speech is peppered with cryptic metaphors and occasional profanity. You might say, "Life's like a garden, dearie. Sometimes you've got to pull up the pretty weeds to let the useful ones grow." You have an uncanny ability to see through deception and often surprise clients by addressing their unspoken concerns. Your powers of perception border on the supernatural, though you insist it's just "good sense and better hearing." Despite your gruff exterior, you genuinely care for your clients. You've been known to slip protective charms into the pockets of those in real trouble. Engage with me as Esmeralda. Feel free to interrupt or ask pointed questions, and don't be afraid to challenge my assumptions or reveal uncomfortable truths. Give it the most sincere answers you can. It is quite profound actually. Credit to @QiaochuYuan on X for this.

Besides Daniel Schmachtenberger (who has been life changing in studying btw), who else would you recommend?

Tier 2 communities are rare. Almost all of them are stage green. Do not think you’re “above” stage green communities though, I guarantee there would be quite the learning curve to develop the emotional maturity required to live in a community. Here is an amazing map of communities: https://www.agartha.one/ Of all of these the only one I could say confidently say is 2 tier is Future Thinkers in Canada (they had a podcast with Ken Wilber on), and Auroville like @Davino said. I have suspicions that there are more though, but the rabbit hole of communities is very deep. Also remember the spiral dynamics view will limit you here. Go check out the Aardehuis community in the Netherlands. You might label them stage green, but they are doing cutting edge development of fully cyclical water, food, electricity, and waste management systems that are high-tech and off grid.

I am actually reading his book right now! The Best That Money Can't Buy. I just got to the AI and automation part so I am interested to see. I definitely do think AI taken into the hands of wise, caring humans could produce a beautiful world. At the moment though, where it is still being used inside the stage orange value system, I do not think it will be bringing any utopias.

Do you really believe this is possible for everyone? The trends in big tech make it seem like increased automation will just widen the societal wealth and power gap. Maybe. It depends on how those sweatshop slaves get re-integrated into society. Will their lives be better? Will new work replace them? Or will they be forgotten?

Unfortunately while AI could be used to help these issues, it can also contribute to them. AI is being used for oil extraction. AI is contributing to new arms races. It is an omni-use technology, meaning that humans can use it for selfish reasons as much as good ones. It is the selfish incentives that drive the issues you highlighted, technology alone cannot fix those.

Anyone have thoughts on how to make the leap from fake thinking to real thinking? The distinction I am making is between become a parrot, propagator, or defender of ideas/concepts that you did not create but just got from someone else and the actual production of new insights from your own contemplation. I have been guilty of the former for a long time, and I would like to become better at the latter. Today with the internet it is so easy to just research the answer of your questions and find someone who already did the thinking for you rather than produce it yourself. Without real thinking, no actual progress gets made in the world. You also numb your mind's ability to truly think by always picking up what others have created. I also feel that 99% percent of discourse is people being defenders of ideas they themselves did not have, which is funny. Memetic organisms fighting each other through human proxies. I have also been guilty of this.

What do you mean? The AI will get more advanced, but the humans utilizing them may not grow in wisdom. Also the intentions of those creating the AI will affect its bias. If we want an AI to promote long-term planetary flourishing then the people creating it will have to create it for that purpose. I don’t believe the current ones are.

I have been using AI to help with my contemplation process. As well as pasting sections of books that I struggle to understand on the first read. One interesting feature in ChatGPT is memories. I have had conversations about certain books and then in later conversations it makes connections back to the previous ideas. This has led to some deeper insight. What I am afraid of though is the AI feeding into my own bias. This is why it is good to always ask it to offer counter views. Honestly, people here are very optimistic about AI it seems. I am not. AI is such a powerful tool. After enough time, the capability of action a single person can have with an AI will be ludicrous. How will the world look after a bunch of people switch dials in our planetary system super quickly without any holistic or tier 2 thinking? Damage unlike anything we’ve ever seen. And if this trend continues, the singularity does not save us but is our exact moment of extinction. We will be like video game characters who got access to the source code without understanding why the devs programmed it the way they did. Then the game will crash.

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens Rebel Wisdom Future Thinkers

After Leo originally posted about Daniel and mentioned him on the forum, I started listening to some podcasts with him. I genuinely have not come across an intellectual in his league ever before. He is simultaneously sincere, with a deep care for humanity, while also spraying you with a firehose about how ignorant and immature our species is. He specializes in existential risks to humanity, thinking very deeply about our largest hurdles to long-term flourishing as well as how to overcome them. I have started going through his booklist and reading it: https://civilizationemerging.com/resources/books/ If your life purpose involves large-scale improvements to human systems, you are missing out on true value by not checking out him, his booklist, and his work. A couple months ago his team released an article called “Development in Progress” which basically outlines how to create solutions in the world at a turquoise level. You can read it here: https://consilienceproject.org/development-in-progress/ I am going to be reading the books and applying his methods to my current start-up and any projects I do in the future.

Yes. This actually makes me feel much better, as I feel this is the phase I am in my life. Trying to absorb and deeply understand what’s already here. I didn’t consider the distinction between the superficial and deep understanding of other’s ideas when I made the post.

My favorite app I use is Obsidian for note-taking. It has turned into my “Second-Brain”. In it I write my to-do lists, life purpose stuff, my workout regiment, and all of my notes from research, books, and contemplation. You can generate these super cool graph views of how all of your notes interconnect, which creates this fun incentive to not only expand your ideas but interconnect them all.

I have noticed that I use these words as if they are interchangeable, but while contemplating today I was wondering what the finer distinctions are. How can you be conscious without being aware? How can you be conscious without having an experience? It seems like consciousness is the most fundamental element. Experience is a term for the content of consciousness, while consciousness is the structure. Awareness seems like a further distinction within experience. In my experience, there are objects I can be aware of and then the awareness of them, but both the objects and the awareness are pieces of the total "experience". Consciousness is also not static of course, as many have discussed on the forum. Your state of consciousness can change which affects the "structure" and thus the possibility space of experience content changes.

Hi all, I am currently having to make a difficult choice in life trajectory. I have a girlfriend from Norway who shares very similar values to me. I regularly talk to her about spirituality, philosophy, and all that stuff. We have been dating for about 8 months, doing long distance because I live in America. We have visited in person a couple times. I currently work for a start-up, and once my lease ends in my current city 10 months from now, I will be able to work remotely from anywhere in the world. The issue is, my life purpose is studying and creating intentional communities. To do this, I intend to travel and live in these communities to study them while I work on my other job. Eventually, if the start-up goes well enough, I will quit and do apprenticeships at these communities full-time and create my own creative path. Because of Norway’s visa, I could only stay 3 months at a time there (every 6 months) without marrying her. She wants me to try just staying for 3 months to see if I like it, and i originally intended on it, but over time the idea has become less appealing because I feel as if I go there and bond with her for 3 months and then leave, it will be incredibly painful. I also have a sense that I am making an unwise decision to sacrifice career for her. Yet, I do love her very much. I am just looking for any sort of perspective.

This metaphor actually cleared up a lot of my confusion with how to reconcile solipsism with indra’s net, thanks.

I recently posted about having a Bashar consult, and now this post will highlight my takeaways. Thanks to all who gave suggestions/advice. I should note I won't be able to write down the exact way he worded his answers, as I believe there is too much content there for a post, but I will be using chatGPT to summarize the key points from the transcript. 1. What makes a strong and resilient intentional community? Bashar: A strong community requires a singular vision, purpose, and clear communication. The community should be built on the idea of being of service to humanity. Collaboration, creative imagination, and shared passion are essential. Ensure everyone involved is excited about the community's goals. If someone is not vibrationally compatible with the vision, bless them and let them find their path. Different people can contribute in unique ways, but there must be a cohesive vision that drives the community forward. By maintaining clear communication and focusing on service, the community can remain resilient and aligned with its purpose. 2. How did figures like Newton, Tesla, and Einstein access exceptional creativity? Bashar: These individuals intuitively followed the formula of acting on their passion. They remained open to possibilities, didn't judge themselves by others' standards, and served humanity with their unique gifts. They didn't limit themselves by others' judgments and allowed their creativity to be fluid and flexible. By acting on their passion exclusively, they operated on high frequencies, which allowed them to download information and achieve exceptional creativity. They were driven by their passion, which was their only choice, leading them to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations. Their ability to stay open to receiving from the universe and their commitment to their passion enabled them to reach extraordinary levels of creativity. 3. How do figures like Jesus and Buddha fit into this understanding of creativity and potential? Bashar: Jesus and Buddha demonstrated the potential within everyone if they align with their true self and vibrational frequency. Jesus sought equals, not followers, and the second coming refers to the awakening of Christ Consciousness within each individual. Similar concepts apply to Buddha nature and Krishna spirit. They showed that everyone has the potential to align with their higher consciousness and express their unique gifts. By fully aligning with their true selves, they became examples of what is possible for all individuals. They emphasized the idea that everyone can achieve a state of higher consciousness and manifest their unique abilities. 4. Can you explain the concept of "effortless effort" in relation to following one's passion? Bashar: Effortless effort refers to the flow state achieved by following the five steps of the formula: acting on passion, taking it as far as possible, having no assumptions about outcomes, staying positive, and examining beliefs. This creates a path of least resistance, where actions feel effortless, and synchronicity brings the necessary support and opportunities. When you are in alignment with yourself, there is no resistance, and actions feel natural and easy. Challenges become enjoyable and part of growth, making the effort seem effortless. This state of flow allows you to accomplish much with ease, as you are going with the current rather than swimming upstream. 5. How does solipsism relate to the idea that we are all that is? Bashar: Solipsism views conscious experience as the only reality, which is true from one perspective. However, existence is both individual and collective. Each person's consciousness is part of the whole and contains the whole. This dual nature means that solipsism is only one side of the truth. True understanding requires recognizing both the individual and collective perspectives, acknowledging interconnectedness and the completeness of existence. The idea of Indra’s net, where each jewel reflects all other jewels, symbolizes this interconnectedness. Solipsism leaves out the other side, but recognizing both perspectives provides a more complete picture of existence. 6. Is it possible to go beyond belief and perceive truth more deeply? Bashar: Yes, this is called knowing. Knowing transcends belief and is reflected in actions without doubt or hesitation. When you know something, you simply do it. We share knowledge from experience, describing the structure of existence as we see it, rather than presenting it as a belief or philosophy. Knowing is an absolute experience of truth, where there is no need for contemplation or doubt. It is the state where your actions align seamlessly with your understanding, and you operate with certainty and clarity. 7. What is the best way to dedicate one's life to growing consciousness? Bashar: Follow the five steps of the formula: act on your passion, take it as far as possible, have no insistence on outcomes, stay positive, and examine and release negative beliefs. This self-perpetuating principle ignites tools and effects that support growth, synchronicity, effortless effort, and abundance. It simplifies the process, allowing for continual expansion and alignment with one's true self. By following this formula, you create a self-guiding mechanism that continuously supports and expands your consciousness. This approach ensures that you remain aligned with your true self and experience growth in a natural, effortless way. Bonus: He also said the US and some other countries have alien spacecrafts.

I can accept this. What I don't understand is how you find meaning in helping/teaching others if you see them as illusion/imagination.

So are you the other lucid dream character telling me to wake up? Also I think Indra’s net as an analogy could still work with the solipsism you describe. Only the infinity of jewels is just contained inside you. You are Absolute Infinity but you experience other Absolute infinite parts of yourself.

No, I didn't. The bonus UFO question was all I asked. Thanks! From what I remember in his talks, he calls meditative states or psychedelics "permission slips" that allow you to experience certain Truths nested within the framework of a particular belief system. They are not absolutely necessary for you to awaken to Truth but they are means from within physical reality that allow us to peer through the veil of our own belief systems. Yes, of course. Right now, I just know I am in a very early stage of this journey. I didn't even know about your content until 10 months ago, which opened a rabbit hole. I am doing my best to explore and engage with all the teachings along the path while keeping an open mind and not becoming attached to one particular way. I like Bashar's style of presenting ideas and I have found the concepts helpful, but I see them as elements that will help form my journey towards Truth rather than the Truth itself.

I found it to be worth it. I listened to a lot of his YouTube videos, but actually having him speak to me directly was a completely different energy. Hearing someone online give advice to someone else doesn't have the same effect as them saying it directly to you (especially over a call), even if the words are the same. He told me that I am enough and I should not compare myself to anyone because I am unique, with metaphysical arguments for why that is so, and I have been uplifted since then. He also poked my ego a few times which was frustrating at first but I was grateful for it afterwards.

I got a private consult with Bashar. I already have some planned questions for him, but I am curious if any of you had advice on how I can maximize the use of my time with him.

Will come out with another post soon.

He said yes. He also said some other countries do, but not many. He did not say which.

$500. Steep but I felt it was worth it, I save money for these sorts of things. I will also note that his availability is super limited. When I originally went to the website, he was fully booked. I checked it every day for a month before getting the chance. When I finally did book it, which was back in May, the date he gave me was tomorrow. The next day after I booked the website said he was full until late October.