TheAlchemist

Ganja/Charas, so Cannabis/Hash. I heard local people actually donate it to them, and these sadhus often like to share too

The demon is a representation that emerges to get relief from the state of anxiety caused by not knowing. In the same way that in the middle-ages in europe, the oceans on maps had all kinds of crazy monsters on them, we tend to "fill in the blanks" of something we don't understand, and usually fill it with something dark and evil. It is like a canvas for the imagination to create all sorts of explanations to relieve the tension caused by not knowing if there is a threat in the "darkness". This effect tends to be especially strong in us with a Christian upbringing, since we have been taught that there is an all-good and all-loving God that has consciously planned and created the universe. In our minds this causes us to feel conflicted, since there still is all kinds of evil and suffering in the world. How can absolute evil come from something that is absolutely good? This leaves a powerful void of not knowing around evil and suffering in the world, and all sorts of attempts are made to get relief from this anxious state. This void is often filled with the character of a demon, or even ultimately Satan himself as that which must be the source of all evil, and must be behind everything that is bad in the world. But ultimately there is no Satan as an entirely independent identity, Satan is a scapegoat, a projection canvas that has been collectively imagined to bring coherence and relief from this cloud of not knowing. It is still experienced by people because the belief is at such a fundamental level in the mind, so it is not entirely imaginary like what we call a delusion, since many people do experience it and report similiar things. But this mostly springs from a shared worldview that tends to generate the same representation in multiple peoples minds. Basically it is the same phenomenon that happens when we fear darkness or the unknown in general, we imagine all sorts of monsters and dangers lurking in the shadows. It is not that they are necessarily there, yet we don't want to turn on the lights because we think the monsters (which we have imagined) will be there, see us and destroy us completely. Again, they do have a sort of "reality", since it is a collectively shared representation/imagination or "weakly objective". So in a world of demons and monsters, in a world with a lot of unknown, we tend to find solace in the representations that present themselves as opposing forces to the darkness. We find true relief through Jesus or whoever, yet we also simultaneously accept that the monsters really are real and that we must resist them since they want to destroy us. So, it seems to me the leap into the arms of God or Jesus (as representations that oppose dark/evil) brings true and deep relief, at least temporarily, but ultimately it still keeps the war going, it evades a fully lucid confrontation with the Absurd. Through facing the Absurd, (the seeming contradiction of good/evil ) I believe there lies an opportunity for understanding, for wholeness and for true peace. Reminds me of a few quotes: "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." -------------------------------- "Recognition of the reality of evil necessarily relativizes the good, and the evil likewise, converting both into halves of a paradoxical whole." -------------------------------- "It is a bewildering thing in human life that the things that cause the greatest fear is the source of the greatest wisdom." -Carl Jung

Without progressive taxation of the rich you end up with increasing economic inequality in society, which has many downstream harmful effects, for example reduction in social cohesion and social mobility and an increase in polarization. You might get economic growth in the short term by pleasing the rich, but in the long run the stability and resilience of the society suffers, and ultimately the economy suffers too.

Maybe he doesn't want to be a guru, but he sure doesn't mind sitting on a literal throne

99% of the 300 missiles/drones were shot down by Israeli air-defence, and obviously Iran would have known this before the attack. It would actually make sense for Iran to shoot empty shells towards Israel, knowing that they will get shot down. Iran mass produces one of the world's cheapest and versatile drones, so it's not a big investment to appease parts of the population that demanded a counter-attack. Interesting to see how Israel will react. In a way they got their "win" already with their air defence systems being so robust, so there is no humiliation or real shock element here that would rile up support for a strong counter attack in the population. Although with the current government you never know what might happen.. Curious to hear from any Israeli people on the forum, how is this attack being perceived among your friends/families and in the media? Is it perceived as a win because of the air defence being so successful, or is there a sense of anger or desire for retaliation because it sure was quite a large scale attack in many ways?

I appreciate the reply, and I think there is a lot of truth in it. Yet at the same time I am left wondering, what is the value of "being human" (if any) from that perception? I wonder if what you say could be interpreted by someone as a devaluation of the experience of being human. If I am God, I am not human. If I am nothing, I am also not human, (since we generally define human as something distinct and seperate from the rest of the world). While I am not being nothing and I am not being God, I am being human at this moment as a matter of appearance at the very least. How do we take this perspective and affirm and rejoice the limited human experience in all its absurdity, instead of it being taken on as something that reduces our sense of agency or valuing of our condition? The qualitative, subjective experience of being human (even if it is only appearance), what value do you see in it? Is it a mistake? A misperception? In any way "lesser" than some other way or state of being? Is there something novel, something fresh, something unique in the experience of being a limited human? Something to celebrate here in limitation? How do you see it?

The modern spiritual, self-help and business gurus and celebrities are just new forms of the old Gods. People think these gurus and celebrities have all the answers and understand it all, and get upset when they find out they were flawed and fall short just like any other human. An image is projected onto these figures, that of a savior, a great leader, even a messenger of the "higher realms". Then when these people don't live up to the image, it often causes immense pain and frustration, and these figures are attacked as having "deceived" them. When really it was the deception that was truly desired by the follower, to bring coherence and relief in a world of unaswered questions. It's just the illusion of the guru that was shattered, which was in itself originally constructed by the follower to get relief. This loss obviously causes great pain and confusion, since so much hope was invested. People who have gone through a western education often are puzzled by how people could believe in silly things like Gods and angels and demons. But really that hasn't gone anywhere, those ideas have just taken on new forms. Forms that are taken as supremely real and that are adequately convincing in this time. In the world of the ancient greeks, the idea of Zeus or Afrodite playing around with humans was interely reasonable and rational. The stories were built around what made sense at the time. For us the equivalent might be the "self-made" billionaire character, the spiritual or the self-help guru, the celebrity singer or any person that is put on a pedastal and idealized. It doesn't seem that silly to us now, but I imagine future humans will look at such notions of these ideal human beings as equally silly as we see the notion of big evil monsters lurking in the oceans. This is not to say that we can't learn from spiritual teachers, religions, philosophers, self-help teachers or even musicians and celebrities; just that if we want to escape the cycle of excitement and disappointment, we must stop putting any of these people on a pedastal as characters. People will always fall short of that ideal, and maybe there is no perfect teacher. Maybe even God itself doesn't fully know what's going on. This perspective, far from being depressing can truly put us back on the drivers seat and can empower us to be active agents in the world, not throigh chasing some ideals or running away from hell, but from a place of not-knowing why it's all happening and embracing that. Maybe even God doesn't know what the heck is going on, maybe he needs the human consciousness to figure this shit out somehow.

Sounds very interesting. I'm in Finland and many of those alt-cannabinoids are basically legal since they aren't explicitly banned. But I guess nobody is having the balls to sell them here, at least yet. This sounds very much like something worth exploring, there are some strains of cannabis that activate and open the floodgates of insight like that for me, but it is often overshadowed by other more powerful effects. So, it sounds entirely plausible to me that there exist cannabinoids that really dial in some specific quality like that.

Decriminalizing also doesn't really solve the problem of the black market, the substances continue to be sourced from the black market which funds organized crime. There is no regulation on the purity of the drugs, so overdoses and impure (and maximally addictive) substances continue to flood the markets, because that is what is most profitable. You also need a good social security system to help those who are struggling with addiction so that they have a safe place to sleep, access to food and water and basic healthcare, without which there ends up being even more problems and costs down the line for society as a whole. That's what they did in Portugal, they funneled all the money they spent on imprisoning and prosecuting the users towards rehabilitation, housing and healtcare for the addicts. Eventually we also need to ask why is our society producing so many addicts? Most people don't get addicted despite trying hard drugs, but the proportion of people that do get addicted is much higher in certain environments and circumstances than others. Decriminalization solves part of the problem but a strictly regulated and controlled market through legalization is what will eventually be needed to handle the problem along with a realistic plan for how to prevent escalation of problems tied to addictions. It's not any different than with alcohol. I think we have actually gone too liberal on alcohol, the marketing of it should be more strictly regulated and controlled, just like with drugs. A regulated and controlled market with bans on all drug marketing and strict quality control seems like a reasonable solution.

Those are some really solid questions. Somehow, I think this all ties to aversion to insecurity. The idea of the world as infinitely complex and ever changing conflicts with our desire for a solid and secure identity, and these models and simplifications of the world provide relief. The idea of the world as an infinitely complex functioning whole which we are an expression of challenges other core assumptions we hold about the duality of man/nature and even the rigid distinction we make between self/other. This is exposing the "operating system" which is mostly invisible to us, just like any ideology is from the pov of those living in/as it. This feeds insecurity and a drive towards overcompensation through simplifying the world and desperately clinging to some past identity and idea about our place in the world. So thinking about the "how", the way forward probably needs to be something that addresses this core insecurity, some way of feeling secure despite constant change and despite a lack of concrete, "true" identity. Or a kind of identity based on paradox.

One of the major challenges is that this conversation can't really be constructively had in the current political climate, the identity of both left and right is contructed largely on being an antithesis to the other. So if you start bringing up the excesses of the left (rightfully so) it is vacuumed up and weaponized by the narratives on the right. Neither side has a clear and compelling vision for the future, the movements are largely fuelled by resistance to the other, so downplaying the resistance of one side feeds the other, as of course the resistance itself does too. This is a very difficult predicament to break out of. We have to find some kind of synthesis that takes into account the underlying core needs that drive both the left and the right. The solution isn't some compromise or either side "winning", it is some (still invisible) path that will emerge and provide a compelling vision forward. Not something that somehow magically unites the left and right into some one big happy hippy human family but just trancends and includes these sides enough through a more positive and meaningful vision for the future that it gains more attraction than the drive towards engaging in the culture war. I think that us getting tired of the polarization itself as a phenomenon is a subtle signal of what is coming.

@DefinitelyNotARobot gold

Honestly I don't know, pain can be so intense and invasive, it can throw out all the fancy spiritual ideas we like to talk about. They don't feel relevant in the midst of it. Pain is so raw and direct, and utterly undeniable, it throws any conceptual games in the trash. I don't know if my compassion is of any help, but I really feel for you and truly wish I could somehow ease the pain and take it away. You're right, it doesn't make sense and I'm sure it's utterly unbearable at times. It's a testament to the power in you that you have made it to this moment through all these hellish states. All I can say is I really think you are an absolute hero for every minute you endure it. I see you as a brave explorer in the deep dark caves of reality where meaning is nowhere to be found and absurd levels of pain test every fibre of your being. You didn't choose to go to this place but maybe only you were up for this task, only you could explore these dark senseless caverns of consciousness. Anyways I hope you find some solace and relief, whether it be through spiritual approaches/perspectives or through strong painkillers (as instructed by a medical professional) if necessary.

The greatest bullshit is thinking you have transcended the bullshit into some higher realm. Bullshit is an inherent feature of our collective human engagement, it's not something that can be eradicated. The most dangerous forms of bullshit claim that they are "post-bullshit". But it's not all bad, once we recognize our bullshit it can humble us in a healthy way, and we can make some cool bullshit cakes and fine pastries

Cringiest post I saw all week