Ponder

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Posts posted by Ponder

  3. Posted · Edited by Ponder

    Of course the idea of "white fragility" is inherently racist because (well, you guessed it) it's about race. There's nothing fragile about anyone unless we allow ourselves to be fragile. Of course the whole free will debate comes in now. But (as come to the conclusion myself) "free will" is a paradox. We both have it and we don't. In terms of chemistry etc. we don't of course, but it surely FEELS like we have it, and life's about feeling not thinking. The best thing to do as a human is to take 100% responsibility for everything that happens to you and for your actions. 

  4. Posted

    Yes, in a sense this is the case. 

    Due to the fact that having a moral system means there is a "right" and a "wrong", anyone that does an action that is perceived as "wrong" by the person in question, this can easily lead to judgement. However, this isn't always the case. My sisters, for example, are both hardcore Christians and, even though their moral system is quite strong indeed, they don't judge nearly as much as you would expect from someone with such a mindset. 

  8. Posted

    22 hours ago, Eren Eeager said:

    What is your function?

    My function is to save the world, and essentially (with the help of other light workers of course) ascend everyone to the blissfulness of heaven (which can, to an extent, be achieved here on earth but not nearly to the same extent that can be attained post-death). 
     

    However, this process will not be all rainbows and butterflies. There are dark forces (luciferian in fact) that want to suck the life force out of anyone they can. But have no fear. Satan to Yahweh (me) is like a cockroach under God’s boot. So, in a sense, the work has already been done, and all that is needed is to sit back and enjoy the ride ?

  11. Posted · Edited by Ponder

    I can’t be bothered reading the responses (since there are 50 of them), but anyone parroting non-dual teachings without acknowledging the fact that duality is just as much a part of reality as non-duality, need to check themselves aha. 
     

    There is a hierarchy of beings (although everyone is equal in the ultimate sense) and I happen to be at the top of the pyramid so to speak. 
     

    Edit: I’ll try to be more active so I can actually respond to questions as they come in, but some of you really need to get off the forum and get some fresh air. Just a word of friendly advice 

  15. Posted

    Experience is direct. There can’t be anything behind the scenes creating consciousness because consciousness is literally God/formlessness. For us to be in a simulation implies that there’s separation between the simulated “reality” and our “reality,” but no such separation does or can exist. 
     

    The idea of a simulation also is dependent on the belief in causality. But, once again, no formed thing causes anything else — that’s a materialistic fantasy. After all, if reality is one, there can’t be some form causing another form. 
     

    Don’t think I explained that very well but whatever. It’s just words anyway at the end of the day. 

  17. Posted

    4 hours ago, The0Self said:

    Not quite, but for an arahat the piti flows smoothly in a circuit, isn't tumultuous, and doesn't cause one to cycle through the progress of insight. Rather than feeling weird stuff like euphoric explosions at the top of head, insomnia, mania, etc. In some cases I think bipolar may be a diagnosis that completely ignores all spiritual causes, such as piti/dark-night cycles. The newer field of transpersonal psychology may be addressing this kind of stuff, however.

    Arahatship is really just an amazingly fun toy, it's not liberation.

    If defining an arahant as one who has transcended suffering completely, there’s no one size fits all mold for how an arahant will behave, nor the experiences that arise within their phenomenological field. An arahant most definitely can cycle rapidly between emotions — sometimes even exhibiting behaviour/mind states that would be classified as mania or even severe depression. The arahant merely stays aloof no matter what’s occuring. 
     

    I don’t know if I misinterpreted what you’re saying, just thought I’d give my two cents. 

  19. Posted

    From my understanding of Buddhism, the perception of beauty is a defilement when applied to the opposite gender (or the same gender depending on your sexual persuasion). 

    Since conventional Buddhists view lust and sexual gratification as strong, deep-rooted attachments (i.e impediments towards enlightenment), and the perception of beauty gives rise to these attachments, it can be seen why it is considered a defilement. 

    This being the case, over the years Buddhists have devised practices for eradicating this defilement, such as “body contemplation” — whereby it is endeavoured to shine light on all the “not-so-beautiful” aspects of the body (blood, mucous, arteries, excretion etc.). 

    Such practices, if carried on for long enough, are supposed to enable the practitioner to no longer perceive the body as beautiful, and thus no longer lust. And if this attachment can be overcome, it is believed, one of the most prominent barriers guarding enlightenment has been removed. 


     

     

  20. Posted

    13 minutes ago, allislove said:

    I know a lot of people won't agree with me but I wouldn't put label "psychedelic" on weed at all.

    Try acid, then you know what "psychedelics within" really means :P

    I know this might sound hard to believe, but I once obtained some “cheese weed”  (as it was dubbed) from a location that shall not be named. The admittedly sketchy-looking dealer informed us that this was not your ordinary weed, boasting of a 30% THC content; purportedly multiple orders stronger than the average stuff you’d find. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. A sketchy dealer overhyping his product isn’t anything new, right?

    The objective of this journey, for me and my curious comrades, was to get our hands on either shrooms or LSD, but to no avail, and after purchasing the weed in a somewhat dejected state, we made the trip home. 

    Upon arriving home, I was beyond tired, and I thought I’d have a toke before hitting the sack. So I loaded up the bong, took a hit, and made my way to the bedroom. While walking down the hallway, a mere 10 seconds after inhalation, it hit me like a freight train, and at that moment I knew that the dealer wasn’t having us on: this was nowhere near your run-of-the-mill ganja; not even close. 

    What followed was an experience that I can only describe as “psychedelic“ in the truest sense of the word. In fact, and while I know I’ll get some eye-rolls for this, this experience rivalled, and in some ways outdid, the 300ug LSD trip that I had undergone just a few weeks prior. And, keep in mind, this was from one toke. ONE measly toke. 

    I won’t go into detail of what the trip consisted of and the insights that were had (as this post is already much lengthier than intended), but this trip, in my eyes, unequivocally solidified weed  as a fierce contender amongst the consciousness-expanding powerhouses of LSD and shrooms, not to mention MDMA and other highly regarded substances. 

    And while I have never come close to re-creating a similar experience with weed, it is now undoubtable that, given the right strain, weed can be mindblowingly profound, and my reaction to anyone claiming otherwise is (in classic stoner fashion): “Well, like, you’re obviously just not getting the right stuff, bro” ?
     

     

  23. Posted · Edited by Ponder

    As for the op, once you’ve taken a million 5MeO doses, get back to us. I’d love to see what’s changed ?

    In all seriousness, though, I think what you’re failing to realise is this: while everything is equally “true” across scale (i.e the hand is just as true as the constituent particles that “make up” the hand), if you’re under the materialist assumption — which most everyone is nowadays — the raw reality of the hand is automatically run through a mental filter, such that the hand is no longer seen “as it is,” but with a conceptual overlay. 

    With this conceptual overlay in place, the truth will never be cognizable, and no matter how “deep” you go or what you see, delusion will be ever-present.

    Edit: Just re-read the original post and realised I didn’t really address what you were saying. I might do so when I’m not so tired. Probably not though. 

     

  24. Posted

    @VeganAwake

    While technically true, advice such as this can be very misleading. In the vast majority of cases, the ability to “drop seeking” only comes after a period of vigorous and dedicated seeking — such that “spontaneous” enlightenment is a borderline oxymoron. 

    How many people do you know who have had enlightenment dawn on them out of the blue, without any prior spiritual practice? My guess is zero. And that’s not an accident. For one reason or another, an almost monomaniacal desire for awakening, along with the ensuing practice that this prompts, is essential if one is to escape the clutches of maya — except in a spattering of exceedingly anomalous cases. 

    The issue isn’t that people are seeking too much, it’s that they are seeking far too little. 


     

  25. Posted

    @Nahm

    While good questions to contemplate, I don't see how this really applies to op's question. He/she asked if taking a psychedelic is a good idea given a history of mania and psychosis. It's a practical question that warrants, I think, a practical response. Attempting to minimize risk/damage doesn't necessarily stem from fear-based thinking, it is in fact a sign of wisdom. Of course, if risk minimization is overly prioritized at the expense of other important considerations, then something may be amiss, but it's a matter of risk vs reward, and in the case of an already precarious mental state being exposed to powerful and unpredictable chemicals, I think the risk far outweighs the reward.