Posts by Benjamin Taylor6

Ronald Nelson2 said:Jesus Christ wasn't out there promoting himself. He performed healings in a way that opened people up to faith.
God gave humanity free will. A "smart" person might abuse that will, and much like how medical science advances, we see more and more people falling ill. If you have faith, you will be healed.
Why did Jesus say, "Your faith has healed you"?
Because when he opened the eyes of the blind or cleansed the leper, they recognized God, the Savior, within him... they believed, and it was that very belief that brought about their healing.
No one can be like Christ, which makes that statement above quite foolish.
Ask yourself where all this sickness, poverty, misery, destitution, wealth, and everything else comes from. Who created it? God? Or "free" human beings—meaning us?

The next time you're doubled over with appendicitis or a gallbladder attack, try praying to God. And hey, your faith might just save you.😍 Just make sure you aren't praying from the afterlife.😢😲

Nobody can replicate what Christ did, which is why that sentence above is just plain foolish.
Ask yourself where all this suffering comes from—the sickness, the poverty, the misery, even the massive wealth gaps. Who created all that? Was it God? Or was it "free" humans—meaning us???

I remember back in the day, my father asked me for some details about a friend of mine.
I told him the guy had three brothers and four sisters, but then mentioned his father had passed away from a heart attack at age 52.
My old man just looked at me and said, "Good Lord, I'd have had a heart attack too if I had eight kids. Only I wouldn't have waited until 52; I would've gone at 32."😢😲😁
People can certainly influence their own wealth or poverty through their actions. But if God sends a hurricane, an earthquake, or a drought... well, then you're pretty much out of luck.

hiddenbear3 said:To be more precise, I think it's more accurate to view Cronus as time itself, or rather, that constant motion and progression that inevitably leads to the end of everything in motion...
That's why there is that old saying about time devouring its own children—referring to anything with a physical presence—but when you take it too literally, you end up with this image of some cruel, child-eating deity...

The real trouble starts when people insist on reading metaphorical passages as if they were literal facts. If you do that, even Yahweh turns into some kind of deity of horror. In reality, those four letters represent four cosmic elements in Kabbalah—a concept you see mirrored quite often in Indian philosophy as well.

Joseph Ward2 said:I basically assume everyone's guilty until proven innocent, honestly.😬

But seriously, walk me through this Cronus stuff—why was he swallowing his own children, and what’s the actual point behind all that?

Cronus is basically the god of time. While he’s sitting on that throne, people just age and die off. It’s like we’re all just his children being swallowed by the clock.😢

Joseph Ward2 said:It’s just not true that the gods don't step in when things get heavy, because I mean, look at Prometheus—he literally handed us the fire, didn't he? And if my memory isn't totally shot, the gods were the ones teaching mothers how to build those massive pyramids back in Egypt, plus they helped out in all sorts of other ways too. It’s just that we stopped putting our faith in them; instead, we started obsessing over these fake, trendy deities that everyone’s hyping up right now, and honestly, I think that's why the real gods don't seem to be looking out for us anymore.

This is already veering into alternative theory territory.☕

Susan Green15 said:The question was actually framed around the idea that believers constantly insist God is both good and just, yet simultaneously allow children to die from illnesses despite having the knowledge required to prevent it.
I personally have no issue with the theory that God granted us intelligence and left us to struggle through life on our own terms. However, we cannot claim such a being is good or righteous if He sits idly by without intervening. It really boils down to contradictions that believers simply choose to ignore.
Imagine you were dying in the street after a car accident, and instead of helping, passersby just walked right past you—or worse, they stopped to grab a burger and a soda, sat down next to you, and watched you expire rather than calling 911 on their cell phones. I am merely pointing out that such people are cruel.
By that same logic, if God created the world along with the early viruses and bacteria that cause us to fall ill and die, then He designed a world specifically intended for suffering and misery. In my view, that is the hallmark of an evil being.

If that's all you care about, you could have found my thoughts on it on my blog ages ago.

wearyowl29 said:Don't go being all naive and green! Seriously, you've gotta grow up a little.😁Look, I love the sentiment, I really do, but let's be real for a second—faith isn't exactly a magic pill that keeps your physical body running. You can pray all day long, but at the end of the day, you still need a decent meal to stay upright!

People seem to think we should all just act like some enlightened yogi and survive on nothing but pure energy or prana🙂

wearyowl29 said:And what about all those organizations founded by profiteers in his name???
You hit the nail right on the head.

Look, if this group actually managed to cure even 90% of all ailments, then hospitals and doctors could just pack up and shut down their doors for good.

And honestly? Do the people in this photo actually UNDERSTAND how their "treatment" works? They don't. Not a clue. It’s nothing more than theories about the PLACEBO effect.

Susan Green15 said:What could possibly be the noble reasoning behind an omniscient God choosing not to share the kind of knowledge that could save millions of lives or simply make our existence less of a struggle?
During the Middle Ages, countless millions perished from the plague and various other ailments, not to mention the periods of famine caused by things like potato blight wiping out crops.
Why didn't God explain the mechanics of the plague or how to treat it, instead just watching silently as millions died, leaving us to stumble upon the cures entirely on our own?

Why do people continue to praise Jesus for miraculous healings rather than criticizing him for using his knowledge and abilities for his own promotion and glory, instead of teaching humanity medicine so we could actually heal ourselves—both in greater numbers and long after his passing?

Why doesn't He do that?
Because God isn't wired that way. The universe is structured such that Man MUST discover everything through his own effort. You have to sweat for it. Think about it—a single antibiotic discovered by humans has saved millions of lives. Meanwhile, a prayer at some religious shrine might help a few hundred at most. Even a "bioenergetic healer" is a thousand times less effective than a simple antibiotic. If you don't believe me, run an experiment. Next time you have appendicitis, go to a church and pray. Or better yet, go visit Domančić. Personally, I suspect that out of 1,000 people suffering from acute appendicitis, maybe two or three would be cured through prayer or energy healing. The other 999 would be cured by surgery. And that one lone person who dies? Well, they probably had a weak heart or were just getting too old anyway.😢😲😁

Drew Reed6 said:I've spent some time digging through a couple of different sites, but I honestly haven't been able to find a straight answer to the main question here: Why did Jesus die? And I don't mean the theological explanation—I'm looking for something else.

So, why did Christ die? Growing up, I was always told it was this grand act of redemption—you know, paying the debt for our sins. But honestly? That whole interpretation feels incredibly hollow to me. It just doesn't sit right. I’ve actually gone into a deep dive on this exact point in one of my previous posts.

Sandra Morgan2 said:I agree that Jiddu Krishnamurti doesn't fit that mold. In fact, he dismantled the very organization that was built around his persona. For reasons explained in one of his jokes, of course. But Jeff? He fits.

Why shouldn't he share his experiences? And why stay silent? Of course, he’ll charge for them just to cover expenses. If he clings to authority, or allows himself to be turned into a guru, then he’d be wrong—falling right into the trap of religious merchants and gurus, tapping into that general human laziness and craving for security in authority. I don't think he falls into that.

I'm with you on covering hall costs being fine. Krishnamurti was an international speaker, but people invited him to teach and made sure all his expenses were taken care of.

Jeff, however, has an organization that handles all of that for him, promoting him online (and who knows how else, since he isn't exactly a household name) and charging $40 per head for every single talk.

Beyond that, his frantic weekly schedule is pretty suspicious; it keeps changing from the moment you posted the link. Basically, the guy runs four different operations: hall lectures, small group sessions (private settings), Skype consultations, and retreats. All of them are $40 per person. The retreats are probably even pricier.

Just imagine... say Raman had posted Jeff's price list at the entrance of his ashram:
- Large lecture: $40
- Small group session: $40
- Private consultation in a little room: $40
- Retreat: $100

Raman would have said he turned self-realization into a business. But he didn't... he never took a single cent from anyone. He gave spiritual guidance as a gift; in fact, he went out of his way to feed those who came to visit him. For free.

Nisargadatta Swami lived by working at a newsstand. He sold tobacco. When he had free time, people would come to his house, and he would share his insights. Free of charge. That didn't stop him from becoming internationally known or his teachings from traveling the world.

If an enlightened being charges for their help, advice, or sharing—and does so through an organized system with even minimal administration—then they are living off their talk about self-realization. If, on top of that, someone like Jeff is frantically scrambling for cash, then to me, that is the most vulgar form of materialism there is.

If I ever happened to become enlightened, I’d put the exact same sign above my door:

- Large lecture: $40
- Small group session: $40
- Private chat in a side room: $40
- Retreat: $100

But I’d add one little thing: please wire the money directly to my wife's bank account. She can never have enough. 😍
As for me, just bring food—rice, beans, lentils. I’ll take canned fish or meat too, though I usually just give it all to the neighborhood cats.
I’ll accept clothes and shoes as well. But only used ones, and the shoes better be a size 12.

Paul Jones7 said:I’m with you there, Benjamin Taylor6! Thinking about oneness strictly on a physical level is just total nonsense, honestly.

I mean, obviously, if you consider that spiritual unity really does transcend our day-to-day existence—since we're all so much more than just meat and bone, I guess.

So, we’ve got this little bit of a muddle going on here...

Do you have any actual advice on how to transcend all this? I’ve tried everything under the sun, but nothing seems to stick:

Maybe there's a piece of the puzzle I'm missing.

Paul Jones7 said:I just wanted to point out that even in situations like this, people tend to build up expectations, imagining their chances and making assumptions. That irrational part of us is just as real as the rational side, I guess. It happens that we start expecting things if we perceive that there’s something we can realistically achieve.

Then there’s the other scenario—the "imperative." It’s that sneaky bit of "information" used to screw you over: telling you that time is running out, that it’s now or never. Either you reach enlightenment, or your soul is stuck in an endless cycle of reincarnating somewhere even worse. 😉But hey, the forces of light are helping right now! The odds are higher than ever! Enlightenment is being offered at a massive discount! 😉 Save your spiritual ass in the next few years, or join the crowd that’ll be paying karmic debts through another Kali Yuga, or whatever. 😛

Maybe hope leans a bit more into the emotional component, while expectation focuses more on the mental side—though neither is really on "clean ground," since they both bleed into one another. So, hope isn't necessarily forced—think back to how much hope you had as a kid, and how unforced that felt. As for what you said about hope summoning a force to help... hmm... I can't say for sure if it does, but doesn't expectation do the exact same thing? Maybe the link is that clear vision of fulfillment that acts as a companion to a future realization, but then again, you can't have a vision like that without being transcendentally whole across all levels of the self. And thirdly... what "external" force? In the spirit of unitarism, there is no outside force; it's just as internal as it is external, since everything is all-pervading. 🤷

We're getting into deeper territory here; I'm just tossing these thoughts out there for you to chew on, just passing through.

I guess once you actually bring something into focus, it becomes conscious—it's right there. It's kind of like how expectation stops being this subconscious reflex and becomes something else entirely. That internal observer we all have... they can finally see what's actually going down.

It’s all just nonsense. I said it briefly to a high-ranking Buddhist once, but he wouldn't hear it:

The world is an illusion, right up until a horse steps on your foot.
As long as it's just a horse, maybe it’s not the end of the world.
But the worst case scenario is if an elephant steps on your knee while you're sleeping out in the wilderness 🙂

electricdriver33 said:So I guess WatchBreaker isn't exactly a loser since he actually practices self-control... how long he works or what he does when he's off the clock is his business and nobody else's. That's just called freedom, I guess... 😍

That’s exactly right. His father basically pulled him back from the brink—literally saved his life—and then made sure he was set for good by leaving him both that farmhouse out in the sticks and a condo in the city. Honestly, for someone like him, that's more than enough. $500 To the moon.

Oh, great. Just what we needed—another "enlightened" genius among us. Honestly, this guy is in a league of his own. Truly a special case. I honestly don't see why people are getting so worked up about this—it’s almost comical, really. We’ve been through this loop before, haven't we? It’s like watching a rerun of a bad sitcom where you already know the punchline, yet everyone keeps laughing at the setup. I was talking to a friend over at Starbucks the other day—just a casual conversation, mind you—and he brought up the exact same point regarding how much energy we waste arguing over things that have zero impact on our daily lives. And he’s right. It’s all noise. Pure, unadulterated noise. Benjamin Taylor6 seems to think there’s some grand logic at play here, but if you actually sit down and look at the data—and I mean *really* look at it, not just the headlines—the whole argument falls apart. It’s flimsy. It’s thin. It’s like trying to build a skyscraper on a foundation of wet sand. You can pretend the structure is solid all you want, but eventually, gravity wins. And then you have Lisa Morales4 chiming in with those predictable takes... honestly, it's exhausting. It feels like we're just circling the drain at this point. We need to stop reacting emotionally to every single little shift in the wind and start looking at the actual mechanics of the situation. But I suppose that requires a level of patience most people simply don't possess anymore. Everything is so instant now, so reactionary. We've lost the ability to just... sit with an idea. It's frustrating, truly.
And then there’s this guy... I honestly don't see why everyone is getting so worked up about this—it’s almost laughable at this point. We have people acting like we've never seen a bit of chaos before, but let's be real: the way things are being handled right now is just... messy. It lacks any kind of cohesive vision. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day—he works in logistics over in Chicago—and he was telling me how even the most basic supply chain issues can derail an entire operation if there isn't a clear head at the helm. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing here. There’s no direction. It’s just a bunch of people running around trying to fix problems that shouldn't have existed in the first place if anyone had bothered to plan ahead. And don't get me started on what Benjamin Taylor6 was saying earlier. I mean, I respect his input, I really do, but some of these takes are just wildly disconnected from the reality on the ground. You can't just ignore the fundamental mechanics of how these systems work and expect a different result. It’s basic math, really. It feels like we’re constantly waiting for some massive "force of rescue" to swoop in and sort everything out, but newsflash: nobody is coming to save us. If we want things to actually function, someone needs to step up and apply some actual logic instead of just reacting to every little spark like it's a forest fire. It’s exhausting to watch, frankly. Just exhausting.

What do people mean when they talk about the Himalayas or India? Honestly, it’s a bit much—all that lofty talk about spiritual enlightenment being tucked away in some far-off corner of the world. I live on a tiny island with maybe 150 souls total, and let me tell you, we have several truly enlightened individuals right here among us. It doesn't take a trek across the globe to find wisdom.

electricdriver33 said:I don't get why you're coming for the slackers like they're the bottom of the barrel. If they were shaved bald and wearing orange, would they suddenly be more valuable to you? 🤷
Besides, isn't it better to have a slacker as a neighbor than some loudmouth who spends every weekend blasting country music or whatever other way they find to annoy everyone nearby... 😕 😍

Look, I’d much rather live next to a guy stuck in the past than a rock star. Or a junkie.🙂 It’s just not ideal having one of those "enlightened" types in the family. That’s where things get messy. I actually have a distant cousin like that—really thinks he’s seen the light. He rolls out of bed at 10 AM, sure, but then he spends the rest of his life babbling. He found this group of retired intellectuals, and they sit around debating philosophy until 3 in the morning. 😍
His father is 74 years old and still pulling shifts at the plant just to feed this 42-year-old son who does nothing but philosophize all day.
The old man doesn't have issues in the bedroom, but he certainly has them dealing with his "enlightened" offspring!

http://www.otok-ist.comxa.com/razno221.html

I wrote a bit about this whole "enlightenment" issue over here:

Peter Phillips32 said:I mean, why bother breaking a sweat or bleeding out to actually achieve something when you can just pay someone else to handle the heavy lifting of manifestation for you? It’s all about outsourcing the effort, right?

Meh, I'm tossing this advice straight into the trash because it makes zero sense, especially since you aren't even following your own damn rules. ☕

If you want to talk about a truly enlightened soul, I actually know one. He was a marine engineer I worked with back home on my island. The man is the absolute definition of enlightenment.
We used to call him "The Watch Hater" as a nickname because of his bizarre obsession with timepieces.🙂
Here's the proof:

He loves animals, but he can't stand watches. Just like any truly enlightened person should!

cosmictinker21 said:That’s pretty close to how Buddhist thought works. Taoists feel the same way—that the essence lies in the journey itself—and even Jesus made it clear that we need to look with open hearts.

I’m not really a fan of expecting happiness to arrive via some supernatural intervention; I prefer the natural flow of things and events. Then again, we can never account for every single variable, algorithm, or potential path in life. On the flip side, it’s also not wise to just sit back completely passively and act like a plaything of fate, karma, or whatever you want to call it. That’s the easy way out: "It's not my fault, there's nothing I can do, everything is already predetermined," including my entire life path...😁

Unfortunately, this whole "auto-karmic" way of living is pushed by both Eastern and Western religions alike. If someone is having a run of terrible luck, they're told it's their own fault because of some sin in a past life. Or maybe it was their parents' fault. Or perhaps God decided to hand them a raw deal just to "strengthen their character." In reality, none of that matters. Total garbage. Bad things happen regardless of who we are now or who our parents were. There was this one interesting discussion about this recently:

Here’s a bit of what I wrote a while back:

People say they shape their lives based on their desires. Maybe so, but more often than not, things happen in ways you’d never see coming. Back in '93, during the war, my company was basically a ghost town—paychecks were late, the kids were tiny, and my wife was out of work. On top of all that, there was always the looming threat of being drafted at any second. And God knows I wasn't looking for a fight, so He decided to step in.
Well, His way of intervening involved me wiping out on the stairs on my way to work. It was late June, just a light drizzle, but those steps were slick as ice.
I took a nasty fall and ended up in the hospital with a broken hip. Recovery? It was a long, grueling process.
But through what I’d call some "accidental" manifestation, I ended up walking away with:
1. A $20,000 insurance payout $0.00 which, let me tell you, was a massive amount of money back then
2. Two instances where they couldn't manage to draft me
3. The ability to pick up some side gigs while I was on medical leave.

The bottom line is this: when God grants me a favor, it usually comes with a pretty steep invoice. 😲 😍

Thomas Bailey59 said:😂🤣 sounds incredibly logical to me. It’s easy to blame some mysterious force for our own greed and mistakes, BUT maybe those forces actually exist. Maybe she really was "cursed," or maybe envious people are using telepathy to trip people up, or maybe we just don't know enough about the truth yet. Science hasn't caught up, though maybe it could if you've seen a movie like Insidious, where they use special tech and cameras to capture demons

Wild writing!
Don't delete this post just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can still read it.

I am sure that I can understand what I am reading. By leveraging the uninhibited power of the human mind, through irritation with the Cmbargeid, it is clear that even when the letters in a word are scrambled, only the first and last letters remain in their correct places.
The words can be in complete disorder and despite this absurdity, you can read them without a problem. This is because the human brain doesn't read every single letter, but rather the words as a whole. This phenomenon is mildly known as typoglycemia.
Pretty crazy, right?

The lady is persistent. She still keeps several whiskey bottles on the table. Every day she asks for advice, and every day she sinks just a little bit deeper.🙂

Jamie Chase6 said:Look, fine. You don't believe possession is possible. But just because psychology denies it doesn't mean it isn't an absolute reality. The only people who can actually give a relevant answer here are the Church authorities who deal with this stuff. Someone already mentioned how psychiatrists and clergy work together, so in that sense, I don't think psychiatry is flat-out denying the possibility either.

I think Grace is the most competent theologian here. I'd really appreciate it if she could take a look at this article I pulled off the web (you can find the whole thing online); I found it pretty compelling and it seems to hold water to me.

Look, I didn't say whether I believe in it or not. I'm just researching it critically without jumping to conclusions. All I know for a fact is that SCIENCE does not recognize possession.
Theology, however, DOES recognize it. Because even among priests—in my opinion—there are those who don't believe the Evil One can actually "get inside" a person.
This guy in the picture believes in curses and possessions:


http://www.nytimes.com/article/example-news-story-link/530442/

Anyway, I have a friend who completely tanked her business. She bought this 75-foot boat to run tourist trips. Now? She’s lost the apartment, the garage, the car—she and her husband are basically under legal seizure for everything they own. And that boat? It's just sitting high and dry at the dock because she owes money to both God and the devil.

She went to see this guy—a magician/tarot reader type. But, turns out, the man was actually quite grounded and sensible. He told her straight up that she had been targeted by some dangerous people—basically, witch doctors:
1. Witch doctor: "You're a woman, and a boat isn't for a woman, especially not one that's 75 feet long."
2. Witch doctor: "You bought a 40-year-old wooden boat; it's a maintenance nightmare."
3. Witch doctor: "You're broke and you had to put the boat and everything else on credit."
4. Witch doctor: "You don't have any political connections within the local MAFIA."
5. "You don't have anyone to help you with labor or cash; your son is too young, and your husband works at a factory."

restlessfox29 said:Hey everyone, I was wondering how psychologists typically view people who feel like they're being obsessed over or targeted in some way? Is that usually linked to a specific disorder, or could it just be someone having an overactive imagination? Aside from that, there aren't really any other symptoms present—unless you'd consider a total lack of interest in things to be a symptom too🤷 If there are any professionals in the group, I’d love to hear your thoughts😳

Psychology, as a scientific discipline, flat-out denies the existence of possession. It’s viewed strictly as a mental illness—it isn't about someone casting a spell on you or being overwhelmed by "negative energies." Most often, we're looking at organic issues, or purely psychological ones, which act a bit like a glitchy computer program running in the background.

There’s this one debate—not specifically about possession, mind you—but it really highlights how classical science refuses to acknowledge anything beyond dialectical materialism.

Then again, I see plenty of famous celebrities who swear by curses and possessions: