Jodistrict

I was thinking of the story in the Mahabharata where Dronacharya rejected Ekalavya and demanded his thumb because he indirectly learned from Dronacharya but wasn't of the right caste. But on second look, Dronacharya was a warrior guru and not necessarily enlightened.

The same happens with any religion. I don’t think Christianity is uniquely bad. In traditional India, an enlightened yogi would have refused to give you instructions because you are in the wrong caste.

As for the Christian evangelicals, I know someone who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home and was a fundamentalist herself. When she became older she turned into a radical left-wing activist in the democratic party. What I notice is that her behavior is exactly the same, the only thing that has changed is the content - now wearing a short dress is no longer bad, but misgendering a transexual is a grave sin. Moral values don't come from a vaccum. The book discusses the history.

He said he uses it every other week under the prescription of a legitimate doctor (not an Elvis Presley type doctor). That doesn’t sound like abuse. Using this to raise doubts about a political enemy really doesn’t contribute any useful information as to the use of drugs and their effect on mental health. Trump doesn’t even drink alcohol.

An interesting read is the book “Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World” by Tom Holland. He shows how virtually anyone who grew up in the West, including atheists and secular people, are basically Christians in their perspective, moral framework, and assumptions. Even “wokeism” is a natural evolution of the Christian obsession with equality.

What you are perceiving is the limitation of language. "Self" and "no-self" point to the same "thing". Ultimately, you can't really understand any of these paths unless you fully commit to it as a practice and then the limitations of language fall away.

I wouldn’t go that far. They are both complete paths in themselves. Also, Tibetan Buddhism does emphasize compassion and the heart opening, while still having a strong intellectual component.

Many posters are looking for God in a forum.

Christianity focuses on relationship with God, Buddhism on liberation from suffering, and Hinduism on union with the divine. John 8:32 - "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." This aligns with the concept of awakening as liberation through understanding. In Buddhism, awakening (bodhi) involves seeing reality as it truly is, free from delusion. Jesus’ emphasis on truth freeing a person could echo the idea of breaking through ignorance to a higher awareness. Matthew 13:11-13 - "He replied, 'Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them... This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.'" Here, Jesus describes a spiritual blindness or ignorance that prevents people from perceiving deeper truths, akin to the "sleep" or "illusion" (maya) in Hinduism and Buddhism. The disciples, by contrast, are given insight into divine mysteries, suggesting a kind of awakening to a higher reality. Luke 17:20-21 - "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." This verse points to an internal realization rather than an external event, paralleling the inward focus of awakening in Eastern traditions. In Hinduism, the Self (Atman) is recognized as divine, and in Buddhism, enlightenment arises from within through mindfulness and insight. John 3:3 - "Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’" The idea of being "born again" implies a radical transformation of perception and identity, not unlike the shift in consciousness associated with awakening. It’s a spiritual rebirth that opens one’s eyes to a new way of being. Matthew 5:8 - "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." This suggests that inner purification leads to a direct experience of the divine, which resonates with the purification of mind and heart in Buddhist and Hindu practices that precede awakening.

"The Christian faith makes it possible for us to affirm that man is a child of God… This belief gives us a basis for the love of our fellow man. We don’t love people because they are lovely or because they are perfect… We love them because they are children of God, and in them we see the image of the divine." - Martin Luther King Jr. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. And this is the way that Jesus Christ taught us to live… It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this love which is at the basis of the Christian faith." - Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s Bakhti yoga. Cultivating a loving relationship with a personal deity can lead to spiritual enlightenment. I didn’t really understand how Christianity works until I studied Hinduism, which explains the underlying mechanics.

My suggestion is to continue to teach Qigong as a practice and not as theory. Theory is always incomplete and by itself fairly useless. I am leaning towards practice (sadhana) myself. Too much conceptual clutter is unproductive. For example, I am getting more deeply into Hatha Yoga. This is often ridiculed by “spiritual” people as just exercise. But I disagree. The spirituality naturally arises by doing the asanas. It is much more productive than theories and concepts which just trap you in your head. Yes, “hot yoga” is real spirituality.

I did the Goenka Vipassana 10 day years ago at the Twentynine Palms center. It's a beautiful and tranquil site located in the desert. I recommend it. https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/schedules/schvaddhana

Here is some input from spiritual teachers.

The problem with PUA is that it became too big and broke into the mainstream - the death of any organic movement of men who think outside the box. The same with MGTOW which started out as a small group of men (called the Nice Guy forum) who decided they didn’t have to chase women to be happy. But once it became big enough – the mainstream controllers of reality immediately perceived it as a threat to their conformist wokeism narratives and the attacks began.

I believe awakening requires clarity, precision, and stability of mind which comes from a meditation practice that increases focus and concentration except for the few who awaken spontaneously (perhaps due to practice is past lives). Something like Ayahuasca or Mushrooms activate the unconscious mind and produce cryptic hard to interpret hallucinations from past memories similar to a dream state. They can also produce strong emotions which increase anxiety and destabilize the mind. Thus, in Shamanism, they are used for healing. 5-meo is different but I have found that it is still a memory that next day and doesn’t create a permanent shift in consciousness. I think that those who are trying to use psychedelics as a tool in the awakening process (not just healing) are experimenting with something new and trying to figure out how to fit it into their unique practice. It’s not a slam dunk.

Mearsheimer has been one of the most important contrarians to what up to now has been the mainstream foreign policy establishment. He is a minority outsider because of his point of view, not because of his competence. Keep in mind that it was the consensus foreign policy establishment that got America into Vietnam. That’s why we need dissenting voices to keep things real. NATO is an obsolete organization. It’s original mission was to provide protection to Western Europe from the Soviet Union. But the Soviet Union collapsed and it and the Communist ideology that sustained it doesn’t exist anymore. For the United States it has become a dangerous trip wire, given European history and their love for wars. When Ukraine shot a missle into Poland and they initially thought it was Russian, that could have triggered Article 5 of NATO.

That’s what Trump told Zelensky in the meeting. Without the US he has no cards. With the US, he has cards. Zelensky gets pumped up by the European elites fawning on him as their hero. In the long run it’s beneficial to be brought down to reality.

Zelensky seems to have changed his tune about peace being a long ways away. It appears that Trump's strong approach is what is needed to get a peace deal. "Zelenskyy says he will work under Trump’s leadership as he proposes Ukraine peace plan" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/04/zelenskyy-ukraine-peace-plan-ready-work-with-trump

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor and foreign policy expert at Colombia University, gives an analysis of the Ukraine situation. One has to step back and look at this at a higher level in the context of a complex and changing world.

Here is the clip of Zelensky saying the quote I gave. I just quoted what Zelensky actually said. Someone could argue that since this is a clip, it is out of context, and then provide the missing contex to support their argument. https://x.com/i/status/1896267384153161880

The is a quote from Zelensky: "The U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending their sons and daughters to war, and they will have to fight because it’s NATO that we are talking about and they will be dying." Zelensky is trying to drag the US into war. He is a dictator. It's time to stand with the peacemakers. Especially if you are a young American male and don't want to die in another mindless war to enrich the elites.

In the 1960s, the Western mass media told us that Ho Chi Minh was the biggest threat to mankind. North Vietnam had invaded South Vietnam so according to simplistic logic, he was “clearly” the aggressor. After an estimated 2.5 million people dead, North Vietnam eventually won. The result? Now they are capitalists hooked into the world system and barely noticed by anyone. After the Vietnam war, dozens of books were written on the errors of groupthink and how it blindsided US foreign policy. If the policy makers had actually understood the complexities of Vietnam, there never would have been a war. Now, substitute “Putin” for “Ho Chi Minh” and “Ukraine” for “South Vietnam” and you have the same narrative. We need to be more critical of those who push war narratives using fear and simplistic propaganda that hide the complexities. There is always someone who profits from war. The US spent 20 years in Afghanistan. The same cruel elites want a unlimited no win war in Ukraine in order to supposedly grind down Russia. They already know that Ukraine can never win. Here is a young man kidnapped off the streets to serve in the Ukrainian army. The brutality of war is real. https://x.com/i/status/1895921103085916587

This is interesting. Lindsey Graham said Zelensky was a disaster and hinted that Zelensky should resign. Lindsey Graham is a neocon and a big supporter of Ukraine, he has been there 8 or 9 times. https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cx2g7yedg74o

Here is an interesting article "Biden lost temper with Zelensky" So maybe Zelensky is more of a problem than we think. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-lost-temper-zelenskyy-phone-call-ukraine-aid-rcna54592