TheAlchemist

I understand this topic can be approached from other angles than just the punishment mindset. But for anyone who holds the view that punishing people is a useful way to make society more peaceful, consider this: "Two Questions That Reveal the Limitations of Punishment Two questions help us see why we are unlikely to get what we want by using punishment to change people’s behavior. The first question is: What do I want this person to do that’s different from what he or she is currently doing? If we ask only this first question, punishment may seem effective, because the threat or exercise of punitive force may well influence someone’s behavior. However, with the second question, it becomes evident that punishment isn’t likely to work: What do I want this person’s reasons to be for doing what I’m asking?" -Marshall B. Rosenberg

I think the need for what people call privacy, represents the natural need in humans for autonomy, specifically the need for space, and the need for independence. The need for security is of course also a human need. Imagine a human relationship between two people where there is security, while maintaining independence and space for both people. If you think this kind of relationship is possible, where these needs are being met simultaneously, then this kind of community, government, state or coalition is possible as well.

At the ultimate level this is true. But sometimes personal problems are being fed by global problems (which were originally created by personal problems). This can create a viscious feedback loop. The global problem can become a beast of it's own, more than the sum of its parts, further feeding the personal problems, causing even more global problems and so on. For example, conflict between nations stems from internal conflict inside people. But to practically end wars, it's not enough to tell the people to take responsibility and solve their internal conflict. These dynamics of war have become an untamed beast, so systemic, holistic solutions are needed. We need to collectively set up systems where it is safe and practical to do that internal process of ending internal conflict, without incentives driving another actor to exploit that within any specific person, community, country or coalition.

These are some great questions, they helped me realize some things about myself and connect some dots. I don't want to share those things here since I am not yet ready for that kind of vulnerability on a public forum. But thanks for the post, I certainly have lots of respect for you for having the courage to be a bit vulnerable with your situation here. I think it's something we can all respect and also relate to in our own ways.

First time I saw the territory, I retreated in terror. I was looking at a lake, contemplating perception, when I suddenly realized that what I am looking at is NOT a lake! When I tell myself I'm looking at a lake, I have already laid the map in front of the territory! Seeing that the thing I was referring to as the "lake" is something totally alien and raw was a real big and overwhelming insight, but also glaringly obvious at the same time. And now, here I am, making a map out of that moment...

There seems to be a trade-off between immersion in the dream (vividness?) and lucidity. When I have a lucid dream, everything is still vivid in some sense, but in another way I'm not as immersed and it's not as intense/vivid as when I dream but forget I am dreaming. So, I have been in a lucid dream where I try to make it more intense/vivid, but there is a certain threshold where I have to sacrifice my lucidity if I want to make it any more intense. There is no fear for example in a lucid dream, if I want fear I have to sacrifice lucidity. Interesting parallels here to our "waking life" now that I think about it. If I want fear, I have to believe in separation, I can't be fully lucid and have fear.

Jacobs Ladder “The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life: your memories, your attachments. They burn 'em all away. But they're not punishing you,' he said. 'They're freeing your soul. If your frightened of dying, and your holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. If you've made your peace then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.”

With such black/white and simplified thinking it's no surprise you have been fooled that many times. Maybe you can learn to look for more nuance in your positions so you don't have to flip flop from one extreme to the other.

Why the rush? Why not wait at least a few weeks integrating the first trip? An LSD trip is so long, there is bound to be tons of stuff to integrate. But if you're gonna go for it regardless, then godspeed my friend!

Beautiful trip report. Thank you for sharing

"The Consilience Project is focused on research, publication and the building of a decentralized movement towards enhanced collective intelligence. At the heart of the project is a series of interconnected articles called the Consilience Papers. Once complete, these articles will constitute an open curriculum that covers humanity’s current risk landscape, the inadequacy of existing social institutions, and the theoretical basis of the social technologies of the future." https://consilienceproject.org/about/ Now, the Consilience Project has also started making videos in addition to the extensive articles, to make the ideas more digestible to a larger public. The project is still in its infancy, but it does seem to be something quite unique in the field of modern media. This is what a spiral dynamics stage yellow media source looks like.

Hyper healthy green. A piece of art and a message that all humans can relate to at some level.

I have found the best thing to do when people start gossiping about someone is to say something you like about that person, mention something cool they did. People will have to consciously be assholes from that point forward if they don't go along with it and also say at least something nice. And it's not about being "nice" just for the sake of it really, it's about integrity. We should be capable of saying anything we say about someone behind their backs right to their face next time we see them. If we're willing to take that responsibility, then it can be ok to talk some shit at times. But most people won't take that responsibility. Another practical reason to not talk shit about anyone behind their back is that you can be sure as hell that the people you are gossiping with are taking note, and realizing that you are not a trustworthy person, since you likely gossip about them too when they're not around.

There's no escaping bias. Just being a human is bias. We can be either conscious of our bias, or pretend it doesn't exist and live in fantasy, and be disappointed as we see the bias of others, never recognizing our own. Game is basically becoming conscious of (some of) the realities of human bias, instead of pretending it doesn't exist. It doesn't need to be used to hurt others in any way though!

Switch "girl" with "guy". Replace "she" with "he". Realize something?

Not all music can be placed on the spiral. Only music that explicitly expresses some values. This seems to be most common at stage green. There is a beautiful variety of ways to express values, for most other stages it's just usually not done in the form of music at such a large scale. Stage green values have a unique richness in expression through music.

I am happy for you! Life can be so beautiful when we let it

A few I have field tested 1. Stand in front of a wall, with your back towards the wall. Lean into the wall, or fall back on the wall behind you. I'm not gonna spoil what happens 2. Look into a mirror with your eyes closed. You can see your reflection in the mirror, a reflection of someone with eyes closed. This is a real mindfuck. 3. Do some crazy shit in a public place. Levitate or fly around. Look at the faces of people around you. You might notice something interesting..

Look into the concept of Tulpas. You may have unintentionally created one in your mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa https://luciddreamsociety.com/tulpa/ r/Tulpas https://www.reddit.com/r/Tulpas/ go to that reddit community and make a post about this and ask them how to remove a Tulpa, if you think that is what this is. They will probably be able to point you in the right direction.

Beautiful. I see no reason to be salty about these types of posts. Personally I find them very inspiring and empowering, and I hope people keep sharing their realizations. These types of posts are 1000x more helpful for someone who is seriously on the path than any of the nonduality debates that happen on the forum. So please, keep speaking your truth!

WOW! Thanks for sharing. Don't know what to make of it yet, but a fresh perspective (for me at least) and will definitely be exploring this more. Some notes: Like a caterpillar squirming in the cocoon, psychology tries to make you get back out of the uncomfortably tight cocoon of transformation to "normalcy" back to "reality", but really you are just left being a dysfunctional, half caterpillar, half butterfly. The mystic tells you to keep going with the suffering and pain, so that you can become the butterfly and transcend the old reality completely, like a phoenix rising from the ashes "This work aims to transform the mind to reject the Ego based self-worth of determination, and thereby replace self-worth feeling with self-awareness. This work is occult through and through and will transform the fool who absolutely wants to be like before into a spirit that merges with the universe, which looks back on the pain and suffering and feels nothing but LOVE for this pain, the pain that made him burn, so that now the Phoenix from the ashes brings light over the world!" Shame destroys you, it is always self-centered thought mechanisms. At it's extreme it can be psychosis, where the panicked ego tries to desperately save self-worth and avoid shame as the ego is being burned - from the perspective of psychology this is a problem to be treated to quickly get you back to being a functioning member of society. From the perspective of mysticism, this is you being freed from hell, transforming into something totally new.

Vegan restaurants/cafeterias, live meditation/yoga courses, satsangs, startup communities usually have a wiff of green, techno/trance clubs and hippie bars plus all kinds of related workshops and facebook groups; cacao ceremonies, holotropic breathwork stuff, wim hoff etc. Also walking tours in bigger cities that have some kind of green theme, climate marches, activist groups, book clubs, natonal parks, festivals, backpacker hostels, volunteer places around the world on helpx or wwoof. Just consistently be around those people, that can be enough. Put in some initiative and you will be well on your way. Most greens are very diplomatic, welcoming and understanding, despite what it might seem online. That being said, I'm still experimenting myself with immersion in green communities to deepen my embodiment of the stage, so I'm no expert.

Yesterday I was having a very intense psychedelic experience after eating a thc edible. Thc/cannabis, especially in edible format is incredibly intense for me nowdays. I do it very rarely, but in moderate to high doses. I can't even see myself consuming it just to chill out anymore, the nature of it has totally changed for me after taking other psychedelics and doing spiritual practices seriously. So, about an hour after taking it, the intensity just kept ramping up, all kinds of bodily vibrations and rushing thoughts, eventually to the point where I realized this shit is about to get very real and existential. I was watching Leo's guided exercise for realizing you are God video and then contemplating on the topic alone, when it dawned on me. To realize God, I need to give up myself, totally and fully! I was struggling with this idea, even as I was telling myself "yes, show me the truth! I am done, I am ready!". It was a very intense moment when I understood that to realize God I would have to be totally ready to give up my current identity forever, to basically thrust myself totally into the "hands" of God. In that moment I couldn't be sure if I could even come back to being "me" if went for it all the way, and it felt extremely real. I realized how attached I am to this body and to this persona. When I was faced with the possibility of seeing the truth, my bias and my attachment just became crystal clear. I was telling myself stuff like "no please, I want to experience the Love, the God realization, the beauty of life inside this body, this personality, I don't want to give it all up yet!". It felt like I would need to take the ultimate leap of faith, surrendering myself and any ideas of myself totally, to realize God. I wasn't ready in that moment to give myself up for it fully. At least now I know what lies ahead, what it takes to fully realize God. I wrote in my journal during the trip: "May I one day have the courage to give up my own will for God's. This is the ultimate act of faith." Questions: For those of you who have been faced with this choice, did you just give up everything in that moment and surrender yourself totally? Do you think it's best to just jump "in" next time and let whatever happens happen, is there even any use in trying to make more sense of it and only then going for it?

Just one more thing to consider for the toolbox, really good things have been mentioned already: Try to identify the most triggering moments from your past, those moments that caused you the most shame, and that still cause an emotional reaction in you. Write them down, visualize the hell out of them, as vividly as you can handle. The earlier the memory, the better. It can be really small things, something you might think isn't even worth considering. If you gave some kind of meaning to that event, like "I am a weak person" "I am a failure etc.", it will likely be strongly stuck in your psyche, and it will have been fed by confirmation bias over the years. So even a tiny event, or belief might have snowballed into this massive burden of shame you feel on your shoulders. And then. Take mdma (follow all safety protocols ofc) and as you start to feel more loving towards yourself, go deeply into the deepest, most painful and triggering moment you can remember. Visualize it in extreme detail, where you were, who was there, and most importantly what you felt and what you thought it meant. Drill deep into it, let the emotions come out, it could be rage, it could be laughter, crying, twitching like someone having a stroke. Or you might be totally calm as you process this event. Whatever it is, that's ok. This is a highly intense, but effective process, mdma is used to treat ptsd patients who have such traumatic memories that they cannot go there at all. With the help of mdma, they can see and process the source of the trauma for the first time, without feeling totally overwhelmed by the emotions attached to it. They are healed within a few sessions, and there's no reason why this could not work for more minor forms of trauma or shame that you want to work through. If you don't have access to a psychologist, use a journal for preparation and integration. Might be useful to have a serious friend you can open up to, who would ideally also take mdma at the same time, but do what feels most natural to you. The most important thing is to focus seriously on the emotional work during those few hours. Studying my own shame, I came to the conclusion that it was rooted in my lack of boundaries, my lack of a healthy identity. I was always a shy kid, and we moved around the world a lot. I never developed a healthy sense of identity and boundaries. There were some specific events that resulted from that, which resulted in me carrying toxic shame everywhere I went. I have worked through maybe 80-90% of that and it no longer runs my life. Also, with spiritual work there is a danger, if you don't have a healthy sense of boundaries and identity to begin with, and you carry toxic shame within, starting to dissolve the boundaries might cause more problems. I think it's useful to first build up a healthy sense of identity, a sense of what your values are and who you are etc., and only then deconstruct it. Remember, it is possible to overcome toxic shame and to love yourself again, deeper than ever before. It will take work and lots of commitment though, but making that commitment to help yourself will already make you feel better. Good luck! <3