Ishanga

Well better to Aim for the stars then the status quo and fall short a bit then to continue as is and probably go down further..The main problem in the world is not a tech or AI problem, its Human Concsiousness, even with all the work that has been done and is being done, You cannot talk Spirituality when a persons stomach is empty, or war is going on, or some sort of lack is there, and that is happening everywhere for no real reason, I live in Canada one of the most wealthy countries and we have a ton of problems and each 10yrs it gets worse, I can't imagine what it is like in a 3rd world country, nothing is getting done for the masses, so something has to change...

Another perspective or way of saying it Entanglement, the problem with detachment is that life is about Involvement, total invovlement with Everything and Anything, detachment is non involvement, entanglement means something stick to You. The most important Moment in Your Life is Now, because Now is all that exists, but the past memory is important, it brought You here didn't it? So in Yoga they talk about being Transparent, that means nothing sticks to You, you go thru a situation and experience, whether it was wonderful or depressing it doesn't stay with You intensely after it is over, for this too happen well You have to establish Your Being first, first BE--->DO--->HAVE, how do I want to be within myself, determine that, then being Transparent works well, attachment/entanglement is no longer a concern, You can enjoy Your ice cream, but not crave it afterwards or have to cling on to an experience for fulfilment...

Living to Your Highest Potential, not being a part of the problem (suffering from depression, anxiety, anger, past experiences, etc) but a part of the Solution, creative energy, compassionate, internally at Peace or at Bliss, giving not extracting from anything, making the society a more Inclusive place to be...

I would humbly disagree, there is the top level realm, Brahman the all prevading Presence and Creative Intelligence that was always there and never dies, then there is creation, duality, manifestation, and eventually Us, Human Beings on this planet with Individual Body and Minds, none of it is imaginary, to imagine it like that is imagination and totally un reality, within that is our Brain, it doesn't create consciousness it allows it to flow and function within this Dual world, but we have the potential to rise above the duality and be in the presence of Brahman and Oneness and experience to a great extent, not totally since we are here and embodied, at that point You have to decide do I want to continue here in this dual world or go beyond it and lose individuality and have complete merge with Oneness...Until then You have a Brain, Body, Emotions, Society/Culture and Work, Kids, joy/suffering to deal with, root yourself in Awareness and all of this is much easier to deal with, to say it is all Imagination is false spirituality...

One of the most powerful Spiritual Systems available today, Inner Engineering by Isha/Sadhguru, super simple and effective...

Over the years of personal practice and researching Spiritual systems and theories, like we all do, we personalize it and come up with our own way of describing it. On a scale of 0-10, 0 is Peacefulness, all experiences are within a range of Intensity, Peace is a certain Intensity of Pleasantness, its calm, cool, collected, silent in basic nature, but it is the start of the ladder. Above this is Happiness, which I would say is around 4 on the scale, Happiness is more about external stimuli, looking at a beautiful sunrise or sunset, flower, woman/man, eating pleasant food for You, laughing at a joke, etc, sometimes You wake up happy because of a nice dream or just the way Your body/mind are that morning, but then it can go away... Bliss is around 8 on the scale, Bliss is more than a state of Emotion, its in the realm of Realization, when in Bliss You realize somethings about Life, its much more intense than Happiness and is more permanent than Happiness, its not reliant on a outside Stimuli like Happiness, but is dependent on how you keep the Reallization Alive within Your Awareness and Consciousness. Ecstasy is 10, it is Bliss on Steriods, You cannot function physically or mentally very well when in Ecstasy, everything is beautiful for You, even the cold winter cloudy day, this is a temporal State, between physical and non physical and while You are here on this Earth You don't want to stay in Ecstasy states too too long, but once a day for a short period of time will do You wonders, and bring You to Your hightest potental and possiblity!

The Idea of a Resource Based Economy and what Fresco is saying is not a Uptopian concept, he even addresses this in his talks, its about a more efficiency society (society has been going this way for decades, each decade with tech things are heading or pointed towards more efficiency than before) and fairness. Right now nothing in the west is efficent or fair for the majority of ppl when it comes to equality of almost anything, the wealthy are getting more wealthy and hording all the money and power, the gap btwn most of us and them is widening, so Resource Based Economy is about that, making it more fair and equitable for everyone so the resources are not isolated to a small group of ppl while everyone else suffers for it...I don't think right now this generation or the next one could handle it, but the ones after could if brought up to speed about what it can offer and Humans being more Conscious, the problem is with all the problems in the world (Climate change, Wars, Social divide, etc) I am not sure we will make it or be here in 20-30 yrs,,,

Yes true. I don't beat myself up with it, one cannot force themself to do the practices it won't work that way, so that is why it doesn't bother me, and as You said I just make my witnessing and mindfulness the current practice, I will get back to more steady practices in time:)

I've thought abou this allot, and when I buy a lottery ticket when the jackpot is high, its the physical freedom that is the most attractive part of being Wealthy, I despise the present day economic system, its no different from slavery of the old days, but our culture has conditioned us to see it as the best time ever, in the best system ever, but its slavery to time and money, I spend more time at work and in traffic than at home with family, and what I see everyday out there in the world is slavery, stress, and suffering of all sorts, especially in the big city, its chaos here, nothing is built right, going right, so with individual weath I could get out of this trap and be more free on that level. When on vacation back home where I am from, away from big city stressors, I had laughing fits for no real reason, it just came out, so that would be more wanted and availabe with wealth, its just a better way to live...Good Post!!

I'm a work in progress, but much more alive and balanced, equanimous in my nature, yeah I get a bit of road rage, but most anyone would living in Toronto, lol, but it doesn't mess up my whole day. My real only spiritual problem is I have more intellectual knowing, than experiencial knowing, its just on the edge of the two, but I've been lazy with practices....I have a definite space created btwn what is Me and what is not Me, that is what brings me the equanimity, and mindfulness, I observe allot, see my ego judging on a daily basis, watching it do this and that, but that space is what saves my sanity...

Just some advice from a layman, and person on the spiritual path for a long time, with any sort of addiction, or problem like this, it is either one is seeking to stop the pain, so they drowned themselves in a chemical of somekind to get sort of numb or radical change in experience, or one is looking for a more intense experience than what they are having right now (this is desire in action), to try to stop huge urges and addictions mentally or by will power will result in failure for sure, this is a sort of karma in play here and its deep intense and doesn't stop, one has to create within themselves a even more intense joy that come naturally, then you won't need any effort to stop watching porn, but can one just do this? No most can't, so its a practice of sorts, start a practice that will eventually allow you to be joyful of Your own nature, its hard work and a work in progress, but will power will not get you there...

What we experience is a result of our Karma for the most part, Karma is the residual consequence of all the actions you perform, on the level of the Physical, Mental, Emotional and Energy, are You conscious of the actions being performed in these areas of your life every moment? Most are not, so therefore they are slaves to past tendencies and habits, which is karma in play. When one is conscious which is the right of every human being, then karma no longer has an affect, You choose what to Experience right now, How to be within right now.

When It comes to Sadhguru he has done all of this, he's 24/7 on the air from what I understand and have observed, but he also does circus which is sit in front of people and answer the same questions over and over again, could You do that, and travel to different time zones, do envirnomental work, supply medical and educational services, run 4 ashrams, multiple business ventures, and run Spiritual events and programs and still have a smile on Your face? That is the proof, just see the smile, the laughter, the spontaneous dance, in the midst of all of this, and he's been doing it for over 30+yrs straight, most all of us here could not do what he does for a week...

I would say (as someone more than twice Your age), that Your a bit fragmented right now, too many goals and those goals probably are not even original too You, but picked up from watching others and what they are doing and supposedly living. I was lucky I accidentally walked into learning Wing Chun, I didn't intend to learn or teach any Martial art at Your age, but it came into my life and basically that is all I could think about for 5 or 6 years, since then I don't practice anymore but taught up until covid hit the scene so that was over 30yrs of teaching and research, so it was great for me. Since then in 2009 I found a Yogic Guru (Sadhguru) and use his practice to find Bliss and Enlighenment, but I research others, both Martial Arts and Spirituality are passions of Mine, I still work for a living, am married to a much Younger woman from a totally different culture than mine (never thought this would happen lol), and live in a terrible big city with all its chaos, I think of it as a spiritual challenge..So hopefully You find one or two things to focus on, that come Your way and Your super passionate about it, but first and foremost start a Yoga/Mediation practice, find a method that appeals to You, do it daily, make Yourself Happy and Healthy naturally, this will be with You your entire life and thereafter, the other things may come and go, but that won't and it will serve You well:)

I would say You had a glimpse of it, as most of us have, but not totally there yet..I haven't done any hard psycedelics yet, just some pot, and a bit of psylocibin, but have had some natural experience of oneness, bliss, and general well being via the Yoga practice I do...Have done a ton of research on trips though, I watch a guy named Shawn Ryan, he's an ex Navy seal/Cia contractor, and has a big podcast channel on Youtube, he went away a couple of years ago to try DMT and Ibogane and recalled his experience in a video, it was very similar to Yours, feeling of Love and Oneness, that everything is perfect..One thing I notice though since coming to this forum, when ppl talk about their trips and their feeling of Love, it always includes I and God and Love is everything, since I have been doing practices and involvement with Spirituality for a long time I guess it is just my education on the subject coming into my mind when I read this sort of thing, but isn't it a feeling of Bliss that You are having? When I feel in Love, I feel Blissful, very happy and excited and intense about it, the thing with Love as most of us know it involves a relationship, You and Object, so when someone says God Loves itself, Reality Loves itself, that is two entities one Loving and One being Loved, how is it that God is Two? But it is good to have these sorts of experience, just root it in practices now and try to get there naturally, its awesome as well:)

Yes agreed, and this is an important point, only a few things may be considered absolutely wrong, thinking Child sex abuse, Elder abuse and such things, but most other things that many label as "wrong" are only wrong in a very conditioned subjective experience, the conditioning is the important word there, so with a higher consciousness in place as an everyday experience, then one can see with greater Clarity, with that comes the realization that in this world, duality is here, materialism is here, no system to manage that massive amount of ppl works perfectly, and sometimes what looks very bad is a necessary action, and visa versa, Tech is just like anything, just use it, don't let it use you, You are the master of Your Universe, or should be, if not then that is the work and where the attention should be...

Yes this ideology of gain "strength" and becoming "stronger" via dealing with stress situations, pain and suffering has been around a long time, "What doesn't kill you makes You stronger", for me when I hear or see this in action and intellectually, it still lives on the level of survival, strength, being strong, going thru struggle, that is survival level of existence and experience, its our low end for human beings, we have much more potential than living via this way or ideology. One can learn and be more creative and have more clarity via the Bliss route, and its more empowering overall for all others and society as a whole imo..Change happens on the physical and mental level, unchanging in the reality of Oneness and that dimension of Reality, the non physical part of existence is Unchanging, never created, never destroyed, always there, the foundations of everything, what was there before the supposed Big Bang...

If Your really on the Spiritual Path, which is a path towards Truth and Reality, then one becomes more connected with so called "other", in your experience there is no real other, you are them, they are you, you see the sameness in everyone more than the differences society/culture/business wants you to see, so when it comes to different perpectives yes there maybe disagreements but that doesn't produce a emotional response to it, or offence of any sort, a spiritual person determines how they want to be withing themselves, so it won't matter to them that others may intellectual see or describe things differently on that level, imho:)

I would say this, I've been on the Spiriutal Path for over a decade now, and it has changed me tremendously, and I've gone thru periods where I did the practices and sadhana for years at a time everyday consistently, and times where I did not practice. I'm curious about psychedelics but I would not have used them first off, since I have allot of experience with practices, have a solid foundation, then I think it is safe to just try it and get the grand experience it can give, learn from that for sure and build on it, but to start with it would not be recommended since there is no foundation built up as to what life is, having naturally high consciousness experiences, your own intellectual researching and find of reality and so forth..

For me this is crap, I've been in depressed state over period of time, not just one day but for a few months at a time, would never want that for myself or other, been blissed out too for mths at a time, which much rather have that. The ones that say all experiences are necessary are kidding themselves imo, yes if Bliss is possible, Depression is possible, but it doesn't mean I have to experience depression, just because its available. that is like driving off a cliff because it is there and beside the road lol...

over 50

Guns do not kill ppl, People are the ones killing other people, and life forms like the amazon. Its choice.. What Your talking about is value, we put nukes and other things in safe places because of their value, and we haven't used them much because someone knows or is conscious enough to know their potential to end life, its enormous. So in the end its all about consciousness, if Your unconscious to a high degree then Your a slave to everything, if consciusness raise up the less of a slave You are, if Your totally conscious, then Your destiny is Yours, your internal experience is complete, from that everything you do is a giving, no extraction needed, other than sustaining Your body with nurishment...

The problem is never the Technology, or Invention we create, its You being Unconscious, reacting to it compulsively, and not responding to it Concsiously, everything is a tool, you use it then drop it when not needed, same with Ego complex, you can do this when Your Conscious, when Your complusive it all rules You...

@Mesopotamian Objectively You are correct, this world needs healing, it needs Transformation. We produce enough food for more than 8 billion ppl, but lots of ppl are still starving today. Lots of Homeless ppl around, but there is more than enough resources to get them places to live, many wars going on about who own what land and what resources, but there's plenty of that too, but we still have tons of conflict, no different from cave man days imo and observation. But we live in Subjectivity too, Your world is Yours, everything happens within You, when You go into Deep Sleep, the world does not exist for You, it comes alive when You Wake Up. So all You can do is be the best You, Live to Your highest potential and possibility, Enlightenment is that, so get there anyway you can, then see what You can do for the rest of Us.. Never Suffer anothers suffering, that just adds to the suffering, being Happy in a depressed world is essential, be that..Whatever this world is lacking in, be that and supply more of that, the only way to do that is too not be a part of the problem, being Depressed, Sad, Anxious, Angry, Bitter is part of the problem, be the solution, be Blissed Out, Intensely Alive, Creative, Compassionate, Loving, Devotional, Inspiring, those are the solutions we need..

AI should revolutionize the way society is, it should take the jobs, make it so ppl do not have to do mundane jobs over and over again on a daily basis, or labor jobs, what we need is for AI to manage our resources, make better choices that are not polictically or emotionally motivated which is the human disease of not being Conscious and not see others as Yourself, Yourself as Others. Check out Jacque Fresco, he's passed now, but he was an Inventor and had been around for Years promoting his idea of Resource Based Economy, where tech/AI would manage the worlds resources in a better way so all could be provided for, everything would be essentially free, but this is not socialism or communism, its a different set up, tech/AI would design better cities, better transportation systems, medical and educational systems, so that we could explore our creativity and true purposes in Life rather than being slaves to the dollar and other things...