mandyjw

Just because are no negative examples really, and challenging yourself with seemingly negative archetypes can help to reframe our beliefs or stop judgement about other "negatives" in our experience.

@Dumuzzi Yes, I agree that being literally male of female has nothing to do with it. Intelligent men are the most masculine on this scale, but in our culture, they may be seen as nerds or effeminate, and men who are actually more filled with Divine Feminine are the famous athletes and stars. Japanese culture has an entirely different view of masculinity than we have in the west. Some people are fantastic at using both for the purposes of ego identification, (Donald Trump) because powers themselves are neither good nor bad and someone in search of power itself is likely to use all means available. However there is still a trend, but not a rule, women are more emotional, men are more logical. You're wise to follow the path of tantra. I'm just trying to suggest that certain practices and paths resonate with us for good reason. It may be irresponsible to blindly or generally prescribe certain practices without knowing someone first. It takes a lot of intuition and a lot of going back and forth. Why are so many "enlightened masters" male? Because it requires logical understanding and study to call oneself enlightened, (whether you do so literally or not) and to teach it. It is underappreciated how much thinking and understanding goes into our definition of and quest for enlightenment itself. Does enlightenment exist without it? If the mind doesn't recognize a "change" did it occur at all? Why would the story of enlightenment and different ways of mapping awakening as a process of something occurring over time like we discuss on the forum be any different from other stories? Perhaps there's only one story and ancient myths and archetypes all point to the same story? Enlightenment is just a story. The mindfuck is that they are all true. If we can throw spiral dynamics out the window for a bit, (cause that's Luciferian understanding, charming and incredibly helpful as it is), think of America when the English first interacted with the Native Americans. White man was logical (Luciferian) and the Natives were deeply in touch with Divine Feminine. The Divine Feminine is ancient, it does not progress because progression of building, thinking and acquisition destroys the earth. Progression is measured logically. Divine Feminine, loves, cares, nurtures, gives and takes life, it is Being. It doesn't write out horseshit posts, and make up bogus models like this thread itself. It doesn't care about being seen or understood. What happens when being finally understands itself? It comes up with a really good, wild story to try to explain it. Then understanding hears it and calls it horseshit, romantic fairytales. What happens when logic finally honors being instead of trying to exploit it? Paradise. Does the search for enlightenment honor it, or is it still trying to exploit? Hmm...

@V-8 It's not patriarchal in my experience at all, it's incredibly freeing. The stories and the histories are patriarchal, but if you see still them as such that means you are still valuing the masculine over feminine. The model you are using while interesting it's it's own right, doesn't apply to human behaviors, psychology and "personality" which is what I'm trying to address and personally understand. @Dumuzzi It's about seeing "through" the story of the myth, and reading the symbols as timeless pointers that pertain to your own spiritual journey. The negative examples are chosen to highlight the imbalance, the balance of these is enlightenment and freedom, loving the world as yourself. When you can understand and love lazy drunkards, and understand Hitler as an imbalance, as a duality that creates the wide variety in the world, like light and dark creates the contrast that allows us to see beauty. It's interesting that you as a male are trying to help me understand the divine feminine because you place higher value on understanding and how you have understood these things in the past rather than on creativity and exploration.

Kundalini awakening requires a spiritual background and understanding to be called that, to most people it's called psychosis.

Seriously not picking on you for using a common phrase, but synchronicity in timing is a funny bitch.

I got my puppy on Monday, we're so in love and just getting in the flow of a schedule with him. In the meantime I couldn't get this subject out of my head, so I wrote a post and hope to make a video after Christmas. It explains the circumstances of my awakening and the fallout thereafter. This question, I've been asking it all my life. I've never really fit in as a creative, and never fit in as an intellectual. I am more creative than intellectual in some ways but I am drawn to intellect in others like a moth to flame. I want to integrate that. Posting my thread here below so it's here in my journal. It's the Devil. But to be fair, the Divine Masculine is Lucifer. They are not the same things, they are different symbols with different also important symbols associated with them. They are not evil, they are powers, but in their pure form, they become destructive because balance is lost, and duality is created. So we're separating them for the purpose of understanding them. There seem to be two separate forces or inherent spiritual powers, when examined by the mind of course. Just like the chakras separate energy into seven energy centers to aid understanding of experience, understanding these "two" forces can be incredibly helpful in teaching and mapping your own journey. Some religions worship one and call the other evil, other religions are very biased towards one. The Devil- Passion, associated with heat, with a power that rises from below like fire, lower chakras, kundalini energy. Associated with Goddess Kali. Associated with the Divine Feminine. Passion and creativity. Explosive, impulsive, passionate love. When imbalanced results in overeating, sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, laziness, rage, emotional reactivity. Witchcraft celebrates Mother Earth, and there is an element of maternity and care here, like angry mother bear. Kali is finally stopped by infant Shiva. Lucifer- Intellect, associated with cold, light, a power that falls from above like light, lightning, or rain. Associated with judgmental Gods like Zeus. Divine Masculine, intellect, judgement, separation, (so much so that he separates himself from God and "falls" from heaven, black and white perception of the world, dogmatic. Cool, calm and calculating. Disciplined, loves structure. Repressing. Modern Christian churches, celebrate this "Heavenly God from above" dogmatically with rules and regulations. Strategic, brilliant, building, planning. To give credit for this, I found this mostly unknown author a while ago and this is just my own summary, interpretations of her writings that I thought people here might find interesting and helpful, especially because we talk about Devilry so much. Here's a link to her website. https://www.mischaalyea.com/

It's simpler than you think, there are Facebook groups and likely all kinds of different meetup groups on the internet. Just please don't go randomly friend requesting women there, because that's a problem. There are people of all levels of understanding who call themselves witches and pagan. There are lots of women who only understand it on the level of superstition, or are attracted to it because it's edgy or trendy right now. If you want someone more self-actualized, there are lots of "witches" who don't necessarily call themselves that. Gardening, herbalism, natural medicine, certain types of crafts and art, especially those incorporating elements from nature are all interests, even yoga are all activities that tend to attract women who are awake and in touch with the Divine Feminine aspect of themselves.

@Serotoninluv Oof. I've experienced how motherhood kills your ego, and yet becomes it at the same time. It can sometimes be difficult to be around people who don't know what it's like to have to be "on call" 24/7. Just typing this response so far I've been interrupted by my kids twice. It's hard to integrate your kids into your spiritual journey at some points and sometimes feels like you have to choose between them. Luckily you don't, but it can be hard to see that sometimes. Sorry it didn't work out.

Enlightenment and even self actualization are not cookie cutters, God/Source is a master sculptor. You never know what the results are going to look like, and the sculptures never get completed anyway.

Seeking for the fun of seeking is not suffering. You think you're a character in a book looking for buried treasure, but you are the character, the treasure, the setting and the author of the book. You came to seek, to be challenged and for the adventure. You came to be complete and incomplete all together. It's hard to weather days of sea sickness when you don't have a mission you're excited about.

You have to keep in mind that in this life we each choose our own unique experiences. Having choice means that most possible experiences don't get chosen. Acceptance in making your choices with confidence, love and intuition is what you came here for, not to check off all the boxes on some arbitrary list of important life experiences.

For those with religious backgrounds, since they've been believing for years that God has a larger plan, it looks like ownership of choice, "I" chose what it seems I would not have chosen. "I" chose and love my parents, my flaws, every enemy I've ever had and the problems they caused me. Faith in God's love for you becomes Self love. Love is strangely as much empowerment as it is surrender.

Yes, there are plot twists in the story of awakening. There are different spiritual energies inherent in different people, there are different paths, different facets of awakening, all of that that makes understanding of even one's own experience of their spiritual progression incredibly difficult at times. Kundalini is not always necessarily a good energy on it's own in practice, it entirely depends on the person and their own balance, where they are in life, even how they interpret it. You generally want to have a good settled foundation in life, and then a good foundation of basic spiritual knowledge or "practice" before getting too deep with mystical stuff. It can easily be misinterpreted by the mind. But don't forget this. “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” -Julian of Norwich

If there's no conscious way to cut someone off, don't. Cutting off a parent without a sense of peace and knowing it's the right thing every step of the way will feel like cutting off a part of yourself. You can certainly give yourself a break from him to breathe, but making the decision to cut him off will be unlikely to give you the peace you seek. You can however become that peace no matter who is in or not in your life. Good luck.

@electroBeam It is liberating. Funny that we use the word "bullshit" when bull excrement is one of the most honest expressions there is. There's really nothing there at all to judge between truth and false at all, just liberation.

The forum is just one big mirror. It's very uncomfortable when you don't love the reflection.

Sounds like the chills are a sign that you are trying to adjust to the higher vibration but patterns of thought are pulling you back down again. You want to intend to become a match to that energy, and the way this is done is by letting go of negative or resistant thoughts. Meditation is a huge boost but this "work" of becoming conscious of thoughts patterns and working to change them is 24/7. I really suggest Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and later A New Earth if you haven't read it. Also highly recommend Abraham Hicks for raising your vibration and staying in that place more of the time. Both of those teachers are amazing for taking spirituality beyond practices into life.

@Serotoninluv Yes, the intention is important but it's when love arises, or is, where it clicks. @Raptorsin7 The nature of "reality" is very creepy when dualities start to merge but there still appears to be a you, it's like you have a peeping Tom who is always watching you and loves you oh so much. So creepy presentation doesn't bother me much anymore.

A few months ago Zigzag Idiot shared this in his journal and I had an aha! moment. I realized that this was describing step by step instructions for how I ever accidentally entered deep states of meditation. It first started happening when I was running, (naturally diffused focus) and "appreciating" the beauty of nature around me but more so the entire everythingness of the experience. "Love" is seemingly a contentment, appreciation, and gratitude that when the first two steps are done, can sometimes intensify to profound levels, the last piece of the puzzle in meditation that unlocks something great.

Notice all the separations your mind is still making out of oneness in this post. Contemplation is part of enlightenment, if enlightenment is indeed already here, how could you stray from it by contemplating it like you are right now in this very moment? There's no point to miss. You can pay attention to how "on track" you are by how you feel and paying attention to your thoughts. The thought "I'm missing the point" feels awful. The thought or "no thought" of appreciating the beauty of a tree and sharing a laugh with a friend feels great. Curious contemplation feels good, and getting an insight feels amazing.

That seduction you are worried about only happens when the teacher takes ownership of the power of love, or exclusive connection to it in some way. What better way to not take personal ownership of love and being the "one" to care for your followers emotional needs than proclaiming that Love is all that is and all that you are. That's the ultimate empowerment, when you realize that you are the only thing that is responsible for your connection to it.

That's a really important warning, that should probably also include the numbers for some resources including suicide prevention hotlines, in my opinion. Therapy isn't just for people who are in a really bad place, it should be for anyone who is suffering at all. People have misunderstood ideas and prejudices about therapy just like they do psychedelics or drugs in general. The consciousness and intentions of the user and the quality of the tool come together to determine the results.

Ralston and Sadhguru are both using the word "life" to avoid the connotations with using "Love". If you exchange the word life for love, then you have to accept all the stuff that doesn't look like love, all that looks like hate is love. That's a hard pill to swallow, and it turns away students as we see here on the forum regularly. However there's a huge cost to not using the word Love. There's also the feeling of coming home, the feeling of a greater "being" or "Self" looking out for you, the feeling of connection and oneness itself, how could that not be described as love? How could the entire process and purpose be overlooked? Love and God are horribly misunderstood words that no one wants to touch, that get you in a ton of trouble, but there's a huge benefit to having the courage to understand them and use them, in my experience anyway. There's something more to language than we can say.

You should pursue both. You can't analyze what you haven't observed. Observation changes your analysis. Analysis changes your observations. Buddhism doesn't have to look like Buddhism and therapy doesn't have to look like therapy.

The distraction is the way, when you see it you laugh about how silly you were and then the moment you say "Now, I've got it!" it's a distraction again.