Posts by Roger Hall15

Brian Doyle86 said:I’ve always felt that a genuine, unassuming spiritual healer focuses on helping people find the tools to heal themselves first and foremost. And honestly, they should only be working with those who actually need it—not with the fools who would just end up making things worse by trying too hard. There aren't any shortcuts in this life, and frankly, why would there be?

I haven't run into anyone quite like that yet, nor have I heard much about them, at least not in my circles. Though, I suppose there's a chance I might have brushed past someone and completely missed the signal without even realizing what was happening.
In my view, these are just regular, everyday Americans who don't look or act any differently than the rest of us. They just happen to know exactly who needs to know what, and they know precisely how to deliver that realization.
It sort of fits with the idea that healing is really more of an interaction between the healer and whoever happens to be in their orbit or caught in their wake.
The way it works, the healer and the person they're meant to impact simply gravitate toward one another, so there’s almost no room for error.

That said, these types are rare birds. 🙂

The vast majority of people claiming that title—regardless of how impressive their demonstrations might seem—are destined to go down with the ship along with the rest of us the moment they embark on an ego trip. As soon as they start thinking they're powerful, brilliant, or possess some special set of insights and abilities, they’ve already lost the plot. Instead, they stay entangled with people, essentially feeding off their desperation. 😢
You can find plenty of people like that if you look. In fact, it feels like there are more of them every single day. 🙄

Brian Doyle86 said:I was actually thinking more along the lines of him being untouchable to all those opportunists and manipulators who would, heaven forbid, try to use his influence to get their hands on money or other material assets. That’s why, for people like that, he stays out of reach and—more importantly—completely off the radar. 😉 🙂

The best defense against that kind of crowd is just staying under wraps and maintaining a total incognito status. It's about playing it cool, maybe acting like "Oh, I'm just some random guy" or "I'm just a local carpenter, a dentist, or a web moderator..." 😁 😳 😁 instead of pretending to be some big-shot spiritual guru or whatever.

Well, now we're on the same page. 😉
I actually had a sentence drafted up that was basically ready to tear him apart, but I decided to delete it because I didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea.
That's really what the protection is—staying completely out of reach from those manipulators and thieves who are always looking for an angle.
Essentially, he stays invisible. Which means he's protected. 🙂

Brian Doyle86 said:The more a self-proclaimed "healer" tries to sell themselves, the more they're just chasing a paycheck rather than actually trying to help anyone. 🙄 👎

Real ones—people who actually possess those abilities—work quietly, mostly incognito, without any of the fanfare or ego... they couldn't care less about the money. Honestly, I find it hard to believe there’s even one legitimate, high-quality healer left in American culture; if they do exist, they’re living in the shadows, completely off the grid.

I'm with you on this.

If there's someone out there who can actually do the work, they stay under the radar and operate discreetly, and that's fine by me. But if they can't, then all that talk about what they "have" is just something they're keeping to themselves.
By untouchable, I assume you mean they've found a way to protect themselves from the noise. Or am I off base?

Folk wisdom—if you want to call it that—tends to draw these arbitrary lines between physical traits, perceived flaws, and everything else we might bucket under the umbrella of spirituality.
Even certain "unusual" conditions, like epilepsy for instance, often carry these superstitions where people claim specific patterns or states are more common within those groups, though whether that’s actual fact or just collective imagination is a question worth pondering.
What one person interprets as a divine blessing, another might write off as a curse, and it all boils down to these intense, deeply subjective perceptions of reality.

Of course, we aren't immune to this kind of thinking either, mostly because we are far too preoccupied with the surface level of things. Those who are imperfect, or simply different, end up facing a double burden,😉 because we tend to only perceive them through the narrow lens of what we choose to see.
It works the same way in reverse; we don't expect profound intellect or spiritual depth from a physically imposing, powerful man, yet we somehow expect it from a scrawny bum. How much of that says more about our own internal misery and fear than anything else is its own separate issue.

At the end of the day, when we toss around the phrase "a sound mind in a sound body," we aren't actually grasping what a healthy body even is, let alone the concept of a healthy spirit. 😁

Roger Hall15 said:There’s this school of thought out there suggesting that any kind of physical ailment basically shuts down your ability to do spiritual work, mostly because the body ends up burning through all its energy just trying to stay upright or heal itself...

Epilepsy is actually a pretty fascinating case study here—there is some seriously controversial stuff written about that strange condition.
In a higher sense, some people even argue that it should be viewed as an exception to the rule.

Vorkosigan said:If you look at it from a certain angle, being born with a physical disadvantage can actually feel like a curse.

I’ve pulled this completely out of context here, but it sparked a thought. There’s this recurring idea where certain physical imperfections are interpreted as some kind of "sign" of greatness—whether people put that in quotes or not—almost as if someone is being deprived in one area, specifically the body, just to be compensated with an abundance in another, more "spiritual" realm.
It strikes me—and I’m just speaking off the top of my head here—that shamans, prophets, and various spiritual leaders throughout history have often carried some sort of physical mark or disability.
In what you might call old-school folk belief, a body that isn't considered "perfect"—say, someone who walks with a limp—isn't usually viewed as unfit for spiritual work; if anything, they're seen as more connected to it.
Now, some folks argue that any kind of illness actually disqualifies someone from spiritual pursuits because the body ends up burning through too much energy just trying to stay upright or heal itself, especially during an acute phase. But there's a distinction to be made there, really, because a lifelong physical trait isn't quite the same thing as a sudden sickness.

hollowviper72 said:You can try to pull the wool over my eyes until the sun comes up if you really want to, but the reality of the situation doesn't change—anyone who’s perfectly content just staring at the mask is nothing more than a superficial soul. People love to lean on that old "ignorance is bliss" cliché, but honestly, that only works for the folks who lack the backbone or the actual desire to uncover the truth. Not that it matters much in the grand scheme of things, because at the end of the day, nobody cares about any of this except for us.

It really doesn't matter whether everyone else is content just skating by on a superficial existence, because what actually matters is whether we can manage that ourselves. Personally, I just can't do it. That’s why I make it a point to strip away the masks the second I feel them starting to settle on me, because I have this deep-seated need to live this life as my actual self, rather than some curated figment of someone's imagination. Stories and theories aside, this life is the only one we can be certain we actually possess, so it seems only logical that we should at least try to live it with a sense of genuine freedom.

Most people. 😢
It all feels a bit too seductive, honestly, to suggest that we should just offer ourselves up for some kind of voluntary "ascent" or "descent" into the essence of things—you know, this whole idea of stripping away our masks and tossing aside our identities as if it were easy. It’s asking for a true sacrifice. And to be perfectly honest, I really do get those people who just don't have the strength or the willpower to go through with it. I truly do.

😬 No, no, no. 🙂
You’re out there doing something even worse. 😲
You’re just stripping away everyone else's masks. 😉 It’s really just a side effect, honestly. 😁 And that’s really just part of the whole sacrifice narrative, isn't it? Because, let's be honest, you're going to end up getting screwed over on a regular basis anyway. 😬
But honestly, you can't really help yourself, can you? It’s just how you're wired, deeper than anything else, and there isn't much anyone can do about it.
I can't really get into the weeds of explaining this any further right now, though I'm hoping you're following my train of thought. 🙂

hollowviper72 said:Everyone knows exactly who they are deep down, really... the only issue is whether they actually have the guts to look themselves in the eye and face their own core. Not everyone is happy with what they find there, which is pretty much why people feel this constant need to put on masks and play parts.

They really ought to know, I suppose; you’d think by now it would be common sense to understand your own nature. 😬

I mean, how is someone supposed to feel satisfied when they're actively avoiding their true self? (Though, honestly, some people manage it quite well.) Those masks we wear are certainly more appealing and feel a lot more human, providing a pretty solid foundation for feeling content. It's superficial, sure, but when it comes to our own lives, who really cares about being deep? 😢

hollowviper72 said:Me? Well, they’d have to catch me first. 😛

I wonder if that dread of our own fleeting existence stems from some deep-seated memory of all the things we let slip away—those versions of ourselves that never quite materialized because they ended up suffocated under the weight of the shallow masks we build for the world.

Is it tempting? Only to people who haven't actually stopped to calculate the cost. Hyuuuumaaaans. 😉 The fallout has always been pretty much irrational...

I didn't mean that literally. 🙄 Unless you're holding something back? 😬

I can't say for sure if it comes from there or if it was already sitting there waiting,😁 but fear is definitely the driving force here, big time. 😉

Most people find it attractive. They don't think about it because—maybe—they just can't. If you've ever felt fear, and I mean the kind where you're absolutely shitless, then you understand how much power it carries. Sometimes it just paralyzes a person. People will go looking for a lie if a truth isn't handed to them on a silver platter.
Freedom is one of those illusions.
What we call freedom isn't even close to the real thing. 😉

Kate Lee12 said:Oh boy, what a riveting discussion we have going here... 😁

I truly hope whoever started this thread is picking up some sort of spiritual enlightenment from all these posts. 😂

A tiny bit of light finally flickered into this thread before being blown out again, 😁 but I suppose there might still be some potential left in the wreckage. 😬

Who knows what we’ve actually gathered from all this. 😉

Jack Harris3 said:When I’m in a bad mood, I just stay off the forums entirely😁 (I usually hop on when things are going well, though sometimes I go on specifically because I want someone to push my buttons😂 ), and if anyone tries to slide into my DMs, I basically give them a heads-up to back off and leave me alone until I've cooled down, unless they actually want to be the punching bag for whatever frustration I'm dealing with at the moment.😁

Honestly, I don't even need much of a reason to snap; I can get there just by calling my mother.😬

In all seriousness—in those moments😁 where you can actually manage it—it probably makes sense to just retreat or quiet down a bit, just to make sure you aren't causing any unnecessary damage to people around you.
😬

It isn't really about the forums (I'm still perfectly fine here),😬 I know I can get just as worked up with my boss at work.
😱

hollowviper72 said:It sounds like you’re just highly sensitive to those subtle nuances in any given scenario, and you end up carrying that energy from one thing to the next, even if the situations have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

I mean, look, I’m usually about as level-headed as they come—getting me worked up is actually pretty difficult. But then I’ll be having this perfectly pleasant conversation with someone, all smiles and friendly, and five minutes later I’m snapping at them just to make sure they get the point. That tendency of mine to lash out without any warning isn't exactly fair to people, I know. But it happens because certain things from a completely unrelated situation will grate on my nerves, and then if one more little thing goes wrong on top of that... well, it's a domino effect. Like today, I was already in a funk over something else, and then I ended up flying off the handle at those posts over on Reddit, posts that wouldn't have even made me blink under normal circumstances.
Maybe it’s a similar kind of thing with you?

Exactly! That's it! 👋 👋

Jack Harris3 said:If you’re constantly losing your mind over every little thing, maybe you should try looking at what’s actually causing all that frustration. 😁

Well, that’s kind of the point—it’s not even that I freak out about every tiny detail.
It’s more that sometimes I just completely snap and lose my grip entirely, and other times, honestly, nothing really gets to me at all.
🙄
And no, there isn't some predictable four-week cycle going on here. 😬

I'm not trying to be some kind of textbook case. 😬

Jack Harris3 said:Beyond all that, you aren't actually the pushover you're making yourself out to be. 😂

G. is Black Stone. 😬

hollowviper72 said:Moderation in all things—that’s my personal motto.

I’d love to say I live by that middle ground, really, but I just don't have an ounce of self-control when it comes to anything. 😢
I’m completely undisciplined and honestly quite clumsy with how I handle life, constantly swinging from one extreme to the other.
I can't seem to keep anything steady for long because everything eventually needs a shake-up. For instance, every once in a while, I feel this overwhelming urge to rearrange my furniture, switch jobs, find a new circle of friends—everything starts to itch and get under my skin.
The sheer scale of what I go through (meaning, what I actually do to myself) is pretty terrifying. 😲
How does a person ever actually settle down? 🙂 🙂
And at what age is that even supposed to happen? 😬
It isn't that I am both extremes at once, it's more that I'm a little bit of one and a little bit of the other, and neither side ever feels quite right.
And honestly, you could swap those two opposites out for any conflicting concepts imaginable and the feeling would stay the same. 😁

Yeah, and then they’ll spin this whole narrative about how they’re just out there helping people, guiding them back to the right path, or balancing their energies, and all that other nonsense.
The truth is, they aren't helping anyone or fixing anything except for their own bank accounts.
It really doesn't matter what kind of lofty promises they're ready to make, or how much we might be tempted to believe them. 🙄

When you're desperate or dealing with a serious illness, you're in an incredibly vulnerable spot. You have to take that into account, because honestly, who's to say we wouldn't be just as susceptible if we were in their shoes?

I actually stumbled upon a version of what I was trying to get at over on this thread on a different board.

Kanye West said:I went to see this psychic one day, and she basically summed everything up in a single sentence; she told me I was carrying around all this heavy, negative energy from my past, and that I really needed to close that chapter of my life before I could move forward, offering to help me out since she’s a spiritual healer (or some such title).

The girl turned down the treatment, obviously, and most of the issues she was dealing with have already passed. Honestly, you can't truly understand how low someone can sink unless you've been there yourself.
That said, if someone isn't particularly self-aware or just isn't sharp enough—and look, intelligence doesn't really matter when you're in a tailspin, we're all equally vulnerable then—or if they're just following a gut feeling that might be lying to them, they'd probably fall hook, line, and sinker for how convincing those spiritual healers can be, or just get caught up in the way they present the problem and offer an easy fix.
And there you have it: the spiritual healing industry. 🙄

boldsailor32 said:Are we talking Flap or Stem here? Who even are you?

V.

I ended up picking "choleric-variable"—which is funny because, according to most personality tests, I’m mostly a melancholic type at heart—but honestly, I can be a pretty high-strung woman, 😍 so I tend to swing between extremes, being one way one minute and completely different the next. Just living life at the absolute edges of everything.
😬

Gaudrath said:"if you tighten the string too much, it will snap. If you let it lax, it will not play." 🙂

That’s precisely it, really. You just have to let the music happen and then sit back and actually listen. 🙂

Gaudrath said:Does our physical body even matter when it comes to spirituality, or do you think whoever came up with that old cliché was just high on something...

It matters, I suppose, but in a very specific sense, since we really ought to maintain this temple so the spirit can actually "exist and function" without constant interruptions.
As long as we're walking this earth, the body is going to have its own set of demands that need meeting, and while those needs are realistically pretty minimal, we always find ourselves eating more, running more, or constantly trying to fix something about how we look or feel.
We’re never truly satisfied, are we? 😬
Adopting some sort of extreme asceticism on a spiritual journey—you know, just a crust of bread and some water, barely enough to stay alive while you sit there meditating or praying—is certainly an option, and whether that's actually feasible in modern America is another question entirely, but I'm just not convinced it's strictly necessary for spiritual growth in today's world.
I think the logic behind the saying is that there are people who aren't exactly at their peak physically, and they need to "service" their bodies as best they can given their circumstances, which shouldn't hinder their spiritual progress in any way whatsoever.

Who are these people, really, and what actually sets them apart from the endless sea of other "healers" out there? Does being a healer inherently require some kind of spiritual component, or does that imply that your typical MD is somehow devoid of spirit?

I’ve been wondering if spiritual healing is even a coherent concept. I’m not just talking about addressing mental or emotional struggles, but actual, physical, somatic issues too.

I was browsing online the other day when I stumbled upon this link, and the first thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how the author kept using the phrase "we healers"—which strikes me as pretty unspiritual, honestly. Even though they go through the motions of claiming they’re merely a "medium" or a "channel," you still get this lingering impression that they’re—whether they realize it or not—trying to take a slice of the credit for themselves.

And what happens when a spiritual healer, or any healer for that matter, neglects their own inner work? They all love to claim they're helping people, but is that actually the case every single time? There's also the question of "quality"—specifically regarding the energy they’re supposedly channeling or passing along. Is all this energy coming from one singular source regardless of the specific spiritual technique used, or is there plenty of room here for some very convincing scams?😁

Take this one individual, for instance, who brands himself as a bioenergetic specialist, a psychotherapist, a counselor, a visionary, and a teacher all at once; he’s advertising sixteen different roles and even runs his own wellness programs.😁
He goes on about "holistic healing," which he breaks down into four distinct layers of the human aura: bioenergy, emotions, thoughts, and spirit.
Now, sure, someone might walk away from a session with a miraculous recovery, deep spiritual peace, or a sense of total well-being, but it seems to me that this "holistic healer" definitely has his own version of well-being. Specifically, the material kind.😁