andyjohnsonman

Nice where did you guys live? I was in Chengdu. I suggest getting Astrill that VPN works really well there but you have to get it before entering China as you need a VPN to get on the websites to buy VPNs

I just found this podcast and it has very few views. The guys discussions are really on point about enlightenment. I really like how they don't overcomplicate it with the first half being a discussion and the second half a guided meditation, they also give you questions to contemplate. I would say it follows a similar trajectory to actualized.org and therefore is definitely worth checking out. So far i watched these 3 and the discussions were excellent.

yes you can i lived there for 7 years and could access it without a vpn. You can get on the forum but need a vpn to watch the videos.

Rupert talks about how whatever we take ourselves to be we enquire into this as we are experiencing it. To most people the self is awareness plus thoughts, feelings and perceptions but none of these are essential to what we are as they are constantly changing. Everything is constantly changing a tree is not the same today as it is tomorrow - maybe fundamentally we are that which is constantly changing and therefore we are our thoughts. A thought is an experience as you are experiencing your thought and Spira talks about that which you experience is real so why are we not our thoughts? The whole idea of self enquiry is to use thought to get to what you are so the argument of not being able to understand this rationally can't really be given.

Yea you described the stance that is conceived within all spirituality. I am aware of this stance but i'm contemplating it's flaws. The flaw I see is I could be awareness or i could be awareness and thoughts feelings and perceptions. I guess the main point I am trying to make is why cant The Self be that which is always changing? Just because something changes doesn't mean it doesn't exist or isn't real. Or maybe it does? I am just contemplating this rather than having fixed thinking, but up to now I can't see why it wouldn't be the case.

My thinking is you could be impermanence just like everything else which comes and goes which is defined as them. Every species alive comes and goes constantly changing from the cells in their body to the thoughts they are having, with this defining them. Why can't you be that which is changing? Why can't you be thoughts you are experiencing as they are real and you experience them? I'm more playing devils advocate rather than this being my definitive stance but it is interesting how in spirituality this point seems to be neglected for being seen as too rational, but self enquiry is using rationality to find what you really are.

Perfect example of green observing orange

war on sensemaking 2 and 3 on rebel wisdom are just as good too

This video absolutely baffles me! I was following along with it conceptually until at the end of the video when the guest asks about death at 16 mins. Birth and death dont take place at 2 different times they take place at the same moment - now. Thought cant go to the now so everything that has ever happened is now? If we have a memory of something we are remembering it now? But what about change there must be a passage of time as i look older. I understand that the past is an idea because i have never experienced it but theres definitely a transition going on as things are changing. How can things change in the now? Is this just semantics? Just because i cant experience the past now doesn't necessarily prove it doesn't exist. If birth and death happen now then why am i alive from the relative perspective? I know people will say this is a duality hence my wording. Ruperts model of all meetings stay in the same space.

Has anyone else been watching Game of Thrones and been analysing it from an egoic perspective? I find it very interesting especially the most recent episode. How we are all concerned with our petty grievances while the world goes to shit, climate change. All the collective ego's and different groups not willing to let go. The majority of them display traits of spiral dynamics stage purple with rights, rituals, tabboos and superstitions. I was iterested in the final scene of episode 5 when Tyrrion Jamie Lanister says to Versei "remember nothing else matters just us two", I was thinking this is what has put everyone in this situation in the first place.

I just meditated to this video from her was pretty phenomenal....

there are websites you can get mushrooms delivered to your door in the UK from Amsterdam. Then just find a nice place in nature like the lake district and commence.

After watching rebel wisdom with Rubin it got me thinking about a few important matters: Rubin saw the problems with the left especially the identity politics and started to dabble with new ideas. He along with others such as Eric Weinstein coined the term The IDW. The IDW is now rejecting a lot of stage green and creating their own right-centre ideologies. However,He wanted to stop the culture wars by being able to have conversations in the same room with people who have alternate perspectives without fighting. Rubin clearly has no awareness of spiral dynamics like the interviewer Fuller has but sees the problem with greens ideology. I wonder if he is yellow as he fails to integrate green but has on guests who are blue and orange and slight greens and therefore can be considered a spiral wizard? After watching this it made me wonder how yellow can handle maters like identity politics as after stage green there is no ideology so how do matters get resolved? Seeing a more integrated approach to all the stages is good but how do you know what's next after identity politics if all you have is integration without an ideology? It seems yellow is more about integrating all the stages than actually coming up with a philosophy of how to do things. For example whats next after identity politics? Just more understanding? But then how do we make laws on what people can and cant say just based on understanding?

Ok fair-enough i can see that. I've been following Rebel Wisdom over the last year and they are really all about integral. They had Kew Wilber on who agreed that the IDW are a new emerging integral stage and he talks about the problems with toxic stage green. However, I can see that Rubin probably had an ego backlash to green. How would yellow handle maters like identity politics from above green? Without an ideology how can you enforce rules?

But according to the spiral dynamics model you go up in stages right? So he was green saw the limits of green and now has created a platform where he has guests from different stages of the spiral - Shapiro blue, JP Orange, Sam Harris Orange/green, Weinstein green. That would make him a spiral wizard

Yes i can see that her actions are loving in that she conceals the truth by giving a much more preferable simulation. However, the raw hellish reality of how things actually are is the truth. This raw, hellish truth if symbolising how things are when all ego/concepts are broken down and universal consciousness is experienced, seems to differ to how i picture/have experienced this loving truth. However, there were points on an LSD trip once when my ego was battling in a similar way and wanting to go back to the concepts as a safe haven, as the truth that my parents who i love the most only exist as concepts scared the shit out of me.

I also watched it following Leo's recommendation on his blog. After watching the episode - Beyond The Aquila Rift it shows that the truth is very ugly. Leo comments that "the ending is profound in that it shows that truth can be an ugly thing which most people don't have the courage to stomach. Most people don't realize how shocking and radical truth is, which is why it must remain hidden. Before you ask for the truth, make sure you can handle it. Tis a good life lesson." I'm hoping here he is talking about truths in the relative domain like the fact that when you actually understand the animal cruelty going into the food you are eating not absolute truth. I have always seen Leo talk about absolute truth being synonymous with love so i'm sure he can't be taling about that?

After spending years of personal development observing the ego, trying not to be judgemental, being aware of when my mind separates things, spiral dynamics and the stages of spiral development etc I find that at times so many concepts can be overwhelming and especially one thing i've noticed on my journey is the need to improve and a lot of this can cause suffering. I observe the ego and see the judgement I had of others and instead of accepting it can at times be frustrated that I am still at this level of development and especially at family events when my brother unconsciously is just better and more accepting of other family members. This can make me feel inferior and struggle to understand why my mind still works like this. So my new years resolution.......... To honour the life of Ram Dass and because i feel this will be a very valuable practice I'm going to see myself and everyone as a tree: I also bought this bracelet which i will wear everyday to remind me of the tree idea: I am going to scrap all other personal development tools for a year and just try to accept myself and others in the same way i accept a tree. What are you guys thoughts on this?

i second that about the mind illuminated

I would say more than 3% of UK is green. I think most university students, the education industry and multi cultural Londoners under the age of 35 have a high percentage of green.

This highlights a lot of it.