legendary

Isn't human society itself a conspiracy? Egos coming together to create an illusion of physical material reality.

Of course Leo is correct. No person can love unconditionally. Think of Jesus Christ flipping the table. Think of Buddha becoming sad after learning about the death of his loved ones. I spoke with an enlightened master who gives people Shaktipat transmission. Yet, when I asked him about his thoughts on psychedelics, he strongly came out against them. He once experienced mindfuck during one of his trips and didn't like it. So he couldn't love the trip. 100% love at all times is a myth.

https://local.theonion.com/insane-man-gets-a-little-perspective-by-reminding-himse-1819575922

It's 2020 and Americans will have a choice to make between the guy who said he can grab women by the p*ssy and the guy who actually grabbed a woman by the p*ssy!

Interesting.

@billiesimon Thanks @Heaven Godspeed! @Consilience Thanks. I will

This was a standard trip, except for the start when I felt I might be ill (can't downplay that right now). Just as the peak of the trip was subsiding, I switched off the lights in my room and proceeded to sit in silence, in the dark. Just as I was sitting down, I started panicking that I was beginning to be enveloped by the dark. I could not see anything around me, which partially alarmed me and the other part of me demanded to let go and surrender. Then I turned back and saw the light coming through the window and assured myself that I was still in my room and nothing was out of order. This, I realized, is exactly the problem. I must go completely dark in order to produce a significant change. Which is why I am going to do an at-home (hopefully) intense solo retreat for the next 25-30 days. -------- Despite all the societal and economic challenges, personally, I am grateful for this opportunity to be able to contemplate and focus on self-actualizing for the next month. My deepest love to everyone!

Bernie will go down in history as the Ned Stark of American Politics. Highly loved, extremely principled, but too nice for his own good.

It has been tried before, and in general, it's tougher than you think. Politics is a tricky game.

You heard him, folks. Biden 2020. No Malarkey!!

Gotta disagree here. Poll after poll has shown, that when people are asked about which issues they support, they overwhelmingly come out in favor of the so-called ´progressive´ agenda: Universal health care, gun control, no endless wars, legalizing marijuana, etc. It's just that when these policies come with the added label of ´far-left´ or `democratic socialism`, that the media narrative comes into the picture and skewers everything. I genuinely think the current electorate resonates with Bernie's policies. the problem is the media narrative, combined with all the misinformation and fear-mongering. Bernie has a serious marketing problem, he in fact a moderate and Biden is the far-right candidate. Additionally, if you are an anti-establishment candidate, why play nice with the establishment and call Joe Biden `a good person` and ´a good friend´? Why be so soft? Even if Bernie gets elected, will the establishment really let him pass all his ideas if he continues to be nice? This is the equivalent of plugging 2mg 5-MeO and hoping for ego death. You've got to go all-in and increase the dose man!

The Hill reported that people who consider Corona virus a huge threat overwhelmingly voted for Biden. Their perception probably was: we can't afford a 'Political Revolution' in the midst of a potential pandemic, so let's just nominate the safe and moderate candidate.

@Annoynymous Texas is like sour grapes for the Dems. Every few years, they say how Texas is a purple state now and how they're going to flip it. Afterwards when they lose, they say, "Who cares, it's a red state anyway". Besides that, the point is that in all states where primaries have been held, Trump has been drawing big crowds and his support is really fired up to get him re-elected.

Look at this, turnout for Trump was greater than all the Dems combined in Texas. And state after state, Trump's base is showing up in record numbers, even though he's virtually unchallenged. All this, combined with the narrative that the Dems are tried to remove the President via manipulation is only going to fuel the fire. This is an ominous sign that Trump is going to probably win, esp. if it's Joe Biden running against him. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/16/trump-campaign-voter-turnout-115338

Interesting Bill Gates Interview

Bernie Sanders famously said this a few weeks ago. And at first, I just felt too much of a stretch to me; after all, we as a society do glorify Billionaires and many portray them as the geniuses who come to humanity's rescue at the eleventh hour. But upon some contemplation, it got me thinking, why would someone need a Billion Dollars (Pounds, Euro) for their personal life? There is no way they and their family are ever going to spend that much money in their lifetime. And if they really love what they do, do they need to be incentivized this much? AOC made a great point in an interview a few days ago, that no one ever makes a billion dollars, but you can only TAKE a billion dollars, through a massive redistribution of wealth. Would people really be deterred from creating a business or from changing the world if there was a ceiling to how much wealth they could amass?

Her campaign has taken a turn for the worse over the last few months. She backtracked off medicare for all, and her poll numbers tanked. Next, she hired a bunch of Kamala and Hillary staffers, and now she is dabbling in identity politics. She has lied about some things in the past (Native American heritage, being fired, etc.). Trump is going to hit her hard on these. Ain't no midwesternTrump supporter switching to Warren.

Here's Mark Zuckerberg weighing in on the issue. Basically, he agrees with Bernie, while justifying why he's a good billionaire. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/21/mark-zuckerberg-plea-biillionaire-class-anti-democratic

@VeganAwake thank you for your kind words @Leo Gura Thanks a lot for that succinct assessment and the practical advice. I'm on it @inFlow thanks a lot for sharing your insights @Spaceofawareness Great questions. To me, losing myself (aka Total Awakening) would be akin to going totally insane and saying goodbye to all the selfish aspects of my life; and that's terrifying because I'm extremely selfish. I'm not saying that I feel this on an intellectual level, but I definitely feel this on the level of my body-mind (karmic). Another thing is also that I think I'm likely to lose interest in my current life and subconsciously I'm trying to shield myself from that. But the ego/inauthenticity does hurt, after all, it is akin to shooting yourself in the foot. As David Deida says, when it hurts more to remain closed down than to open up, that's when you will open up. @Nahm That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your insights Maybe it's just me, but I didn't completely get this.

I'm going to be really honest. A few nights ago I was exposed as the fraudster that I am I have been (semi) actively doing spiritual practices on a fairly regular basis for a few years now. And although I have had some amazing mystical experiences on psychedelics, l have not been able to experience it through any other practice, and until now, I've been blaming it on a host of different things (my shadow, monkey mind, etc). However, since the last few weeks, I have been doing Yoga/meditation right before I sleep and things have been getting interesting. I have had numerous experiences like being out of my body and flying, semi-lucidity and expansion of my awareness during my sleep. A few nights ago, I experienced an expansion of my consciousness and I saw the words "Do you want to experience Infinite Consciousness?" appear before me. I intuitively felt like all I had to do was have some faith and say yes. But I ended up saying, "Not completely. I still want to maintain my separate self". I know now that I have nothing to blame but my intentions. On one side, I do all these practices and on the other side, I do my best to resist awakening. And it is deeply agonizing to have this realization. ---- This brings me to another experience I had a year ago when getting Shaktipat from a lady who also happened to be psychic. She told me that when giving me Shaktipat, she got this message/download, that I need to pay attention to Lakshmi (wealth/prosperity/accomplishments, etc.) in my life, That would be the ideal way for me to progress on my spiritual path rather than shooting straight to Enlightenment. I'd be grateful if anyone has any recommendations/suggestions or alternative interpretations. Thanks!

Not much will happen unless the Berniecrats clean up the Democratic Party, win the senate and are able to appoint Supreme Court Judges. Sanders admits that one person cannot bring about the kind of change he envisions.

It's a beautiful resort (esp. the gardens), but it is a bit too expensive (at least IMO). However, if that's not an issue for you and you feel that you resonate with what they offer (check their website) then go right ahead. I personally would recommend you to visit the Ramana Maharshi Ashram, Auroville/Shri Aurobindo Ashram in Southern India. Other places like Haridwar, Bodhgaya, Dharamshala can be good for opening your eyes to the culture and how spirituality plays a role in it. If you are looking for a specific spiritual line of work (Yoga, Zen, etc) then you might want to look around on the internet and check the reviews to get a feel for it. But you will find spirituality and Nonduality infused in every nook and cranny of the country if you have the eyes for it. Namaste