Posts by Paul Jones7

Not that I mean anything by it—just a little provocation, I suppose—but the name Paul Jones7 kind of implies this whole idea of friendship and closeness, whereas the nickname actually comes from a Chinese brand of table tennis rubber. And let's be honest, you can't exactly count on finding any real friendship over the internet 😁 🤣

Matthew Gomez2 said:Hello everyone. Lately, I’ve been distilling my various life phases into one singular direction, and I wanted to put it out there to get some perspective from those who might know better. 😉

I’ve walked away from college entirely.
I’ve deleted all my social media accounts for good.
I’ve cut ties with about 99% of people, leaving just my girlfriend and my parents.
I’ve bought over a hundred books on psychology and philosophy with the intention of deepening my self-understanding—fields I’ve always had an affinity for.
I’ve dedicated myself to daily reflection, thinking through how to decouple myself from the machine as much as possible.
I’ve embraced minimalism (getting rid of about 80% of my wardrobe, sticking to a specific diet, and refusing to spend money unless it's absolutely necessary).
I’ve started learning the ropes of investing and building passive income streams that could eventually overtake my primary income once I leave my current job.
The plan is to move out to the countryside with my girlfriend and live a quiet life, far removed from the noise of shallow people and the frantic pace of modern life.
I’ve replaced all my bad habits with ones that actually hold value.

Am I being realistic here, or have I completely sabotaged my future? Does this kind of mindset actually lead anywhere?

To be fair, if someone else had made these moves overnight, it would have been catastrophic. But I didn't just snap; I spent a long time sharpening my blade before I finally cut everything loose. Because of that, none of this feels overwhelming. In fact, after a long period of sleepwalking, indulgence,
and believing in fairy tales, I feel incredibly awake and driven.

A little story to wrap this up:

There was a man living in a coastal town who would spend his mornings fishing and selling his catch, his afternoons working on personal projects, and his evenings sitting by the beach with his wife and kids, drinking wine and playing the guitar.

One day, an American businessman arrived. He noticed the fisherman and approached him, asking if he could offer some advice.

The man agreed, and the American said, "I can help you significantly increase your sales. You could buy more boats and gear, hire a few employees, eventually move to a major city to start a firm, and ultimately end up in New York City running several global companies."

The man simply asked, "And how long would that take?"

"Well, maybe twenty or twenty-five years," the businessman replied.

The man asked, "And then what?"

The businessman answered, "Then you'll be able to fish in the mornings, work on yourself in the afternoons, and spend your evenings by the beach with your family, drinking wine and playing the guitar."

That resonates deeply with me. I’ve taken it to heart. What is the point of grinding every single day for someone else just to satisfy the emotional whims of others, or to remain enslaved to our own habits and useless clutter?
Establishing a meaningful existence is actually quite simple; it just requires the discipline to understand what a human being is truly meant for.

Why wait to actually live your life when you already know what you want and realize most of what the world chases isn't even real?

Thanks for reading. I'm open to any thoughts—whether it's practical advice on setting up a life in rural America or suggestions on what kind of work I should pursue.

I hope no one finds this topic out of place here, but to me, this is fundamentally about spirituality, self-discovery, and shattering the illusions of what we think is real versus what is just a fantasy of the mind.😵

I’m jumping in here to respond directly—not sure if anyone else even replied to you yet—but honestly, this whole thing doesn't really have anything to do with "exiting the system."

Also, that line about "leaving 99% of people behind"... I don't know, it feels a bit like you're just settling an old score with yourself. I mean, if those were the people surrounding you, wasn't that kind of your choice to begin with? Either way, your decision doesn't really say much about them at all.

I suppose I could go on dissecting all the contradictions and inconsistencies here, but that isn't really about anyone else. That's more on you—it's your own homework to do, I guess. But then again, that's true for everyone.

Jamie Davis9 said:yeah, I don't really feel like it hits that hard.
for instance, if you were at a show—before he played "Suzanne," maybe—and someone explained how a friend basically fought tooth and nail over those songwriting copyrights, and why that actually matters 😁, then you’d realize his singing isn't just some casual humming. You'd see that his sort of melancholy cynicism is something nobody else can quite capture quite like he does... and, I don't know, I guess that resonates with me.

everybody knows

The impact comes from the lyrics themselves—if you actually get them (and you probably will if you've lived through even one significant thing he sings about). The real sting comes from Cohen as the writer, not the performer; honestly, maybe not even from him as a singer, but from Cohen the lyricist.

Jamie Davis9 said:honestly, spare me the wealthy elitists. 🙄

For instance—whenever someone tries to tell me that anyone could perform a song better than Cohen, I immediately know I'm dealing with a complete idiot... there's just no damn way. ))
hallelujah...

Cohen is all about those lyrics, really.
What I love about this cover is how it really highlights the exact part of the songwriting that hits you right in the gut:
Everybody Knows

Paul Rogers94 said:WE ARE NOT ALL ONE (because there is no "you" and there are no "others")
EVERYTHING IS ONE
There is no PERSON who supposedly awakens. Nor is there anyone to know that everything is ONE.
Because if everything is ONE, then there is no OTHER to know it—otherwise, it wouldn't be ONE.
A person cannot be awakened.
AWAKENING is nothing other than knowing that you ARE NOT a person.
An "awakened person" is an oxymoron—YOU (the person) cannot wake up; only when you transcend the idea of being a person are you awake. And if you have truly awakened, you realize there is no YOU, nor any "rest of you" (the others).
AWAKENING is awakening FROM the person.
That's why Advaita isn't for everyone.

The best practice for beginners is Mooji's guided silent sitting meditations.

COMPLETE ADVAITA PRACTICE FOR NOVICES IN THREE SIMPLE STEPS

1

For me, the beginning of any practice is calling upon and paying respect to everyone who has had a serious impact on my spiritual journey, which looks something like this:

Om Namah Brahmajnananadd; Om Namah Narayananand; Om Namah Bhagawan Raman Maharshi; Om Namah Nisargadatta Maharaj; Om Namah Papaja

If they were able to assist in the awakening of others, why wouldn't they assist in mine? It's essentially like having a satsang (communion in pure consciousness) with the greatest saints, which makes your mind humble enough and open enough to receive the grace of realization (the realization that there is nothing to realize and no one to do the realizing)—I often let them meditate instead of me, which is the same as letting God meditate "as you."

Pay your respects to those who have significantly influenced your spiritual development; this could include Christ, Buddha, Ahura Mazda, Zoroaster...

2
Next, and not less important, is to wish peace and happiness upon all beings in the universe—very simply and from the heart, something like this:

May all beings in the universe be forever peaceful and happy
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

3
then you simply 'stay away from thoughts' and dwell in 'contentless presence'—or more accurately, exist 'as presence,' as Bhagawan Raman Maharshi puts it be as you are, which is just the "I AM" presence—call it consciousness, the present moment, holy silence, or whatever you like; it doesn't matter. You don't interfere, you don't wait for something to happen, you don't judge... because this isn't an achievement. It already *is*... there's really no need for any other practice, nor are there any other practices to be had

as Om Namah Nisargadatta Maharaj says: Consciousness (the witness, the I AM) is the final remnant of illusion and the first touch of reality

The witness is both unreal and real. The last remnant of the illusion, the first touch of the real. To say: I am only the witness is both false and true, false because of the ‘I am’, true because of the witness. It is better to say: ‘there is witnessing’. The moment you say ‘I am’, the entire universe comes into being along with its creator.

this kind of practice, at any given moment or stage, can result in direct insight, regardless of whether you're ready or not, whether you deserve it or not, whether you're experienced or a novice, or even if you're a fool or a genius

it’s all the same

Paul Rogers94 said:WE ARE NOT ALL ONE (because there is no "you" and there are no "others")
EVERYTHING IS ONE
There is no PERSON who supposedly awakens. Nor is there anyone to know that everything is ONE.
Because if everything is ONE, then there is no OTHER to know it—otherwise, it wouldn't be ONE.
A person cannot be awakened.
AWAKENING is nothing other than knowing that you ARE NOT a person.
An "awakened person" is an oxymoron—YOU (the person) cannot wake up; only when you transcend the idea of being a person are you awake. And if you have truly awakened, you realize there is no YOU, nor any "rest of you" (the others).
AWAKENING is awakening FROM the person.
That's why Advaita isn't for everyone.

The best practice for beginners is Mooji's guided silent sitting meditations.

COMPLETE ADVAITA PRACTICE FOR NOVICES IN THREE SIMPLE STEPS

1

For me, the beginning of any practice is calling upon and paying respect to everyone who has had a serious impact on my spiritual journey, which looks something like this:

Om Namah Brahmajnananadd; Om Namah Narayananand; Om Namah Bhagawan Raman Maharshi; Om Namah Nisargadatta Maharaj; Om Namah Papaja

If they were able to assist in the awakening of others, why wouldn't they assist in mine? It's essentially like having a satsang (communion in pure consciousness) with the greatest saints, which makes your mind humble enough and open enough to receive the grace of realization (the realization that there is nothing to realize and no one to do the realizing)—I often let them meditate instead of me, which is the same as letting God meditate "as you."

Pay your respects to those who have significantly influenced your spiritual development; this could include Christ, Buddha, Ahura Mazda, Zoroaster...

2
Next, and not less important, is to wish peace and happiness upon all beings in the universe—very simply and from the heart, something like this:

May all beings in the universe be forever peaceful and happy
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

3
then you simply 'stay away from thoughts' and dwell in 'contentless presence'—or more accurately, exist 'as presence,' as Bhagawan Raman Maharshi puts it be as you are, which is just the "I AM" presence—call it consciousness, the present moment, holy silence, or whatever you like; it doesn't matter. You don't interfere, you don't wait for something to happen, you don't judge... because this isn't an achievement. It already *is*... there's really no need for any other practice, nor are there any other practices to be had

as Om Namah Nisargadatta Maharaj says: Consciousness (the witness, the I AM) is the final remnant of illusion and the first touch of reality

The witness is both unreal and real. The last remnant of the illusion, the first touch of the real. To say: I am only the witness is both false and true, false because of the ‘I am’, true because of the witness. It is better to say: ‘there is witnessing’. The moment you say ‘I am’, the entire universe comes into being along with its creator.

this kind of practice, at any given moment or stage, can result in direct insight, regardless of whether you're ready or not, whether you deserve it or not, whether you're experienced or a novice, or even if you're a fool or a genius

So, if there's no person to wake up, who exactly is doing the waking?
Consciousness doesn't have anything to wake up; it just is awake.
The One doesn't have anything to wake up; it just is.
You say the person doesn't even exist, so they can't wake up.
Which means, according to you, awakening doesn't even exist. Whatever is awake, is awake. Whatever isn't... well, it doesn't exist anyway.

By that logic, I guess all spirituality is just useless and fake.

Let's be real here for a second

Look, you can definitely beat Norway—they’re great, they've got young talent, and honestly, their roster is probably more well-rounded than ours right now—but we can do it. We’re the big dogs compared to them, even with this specific lineup, and I think that's going to get under their skin. Especially since they won't be able to ignore the fact that we just knocked out the Spaniards

But against France? Man, let's not kid ourselves, we don't stand a chance

Though, if we somehow stumble against the Norwegians, we're looking at a wild, high-stakes medal game against Vuja and his Slovak squad🙂

Joshua Myers432 said:those Spanish folks are just used to having things lean their way by at least 30% in basically every sport. And the second they don't get what they want, they start whining all over the news 🤦

Yesterday, they were barely getting a 20% tilt in their favor, which—I mean, honestly—is pretty unacceptable... I’d love to see some actual data showing exactly which second they call a passive play on us versus when they do the exact same thing.

man...
take a 30-point beating, and then you've got Canellas coming out and claiming they lost simply because they didn't score enough. 😛

exactly
there are plenty of other forums out there...

Nicole Martinez83 said:And here's why:

Is February 23rd to April 30th really considered "soon"? I guess it depends on who you ask, maybe.

😁

I’d suggest tweaking the wording a bit:

Dear users, the search function has been temporarily disabled. It should be back up shortly.

Thanks for bearing with us.

Dennis Doyle3 said:I suppose I agree—without a true powerhouse at the Duvnjak position, reaching for gold is going to be a real uphill battle. But, hey, look on the bright side... now that Balić has moved on, we actually have someone else solid in the middle, Karačić. Honestly, for the first time in ages, it feels like we almost have two quality players for nearly every spot on the roster. Now, I guess it’s just up to the coaching staff to actually make something of it.

There are still a few pieces missing if we ever want to talk about a 'golden generation':

- A top-tier starting goalie (maybe Ivić will grow into it, but right now we just don't have that elite level you see in the world's leading national teams)
- A true starting pivot (Marino is a decent backup, but you can see his limits during those high-stakes games; he just doesn't create enough space for himself)
- A defensively stout option on the left wing who can also burn people on the break—someone with that China-style speed
- An actual defensive anchor—a real leader on the backline
- And, well, a decent head coach.

Jonathan Barnes5 said:Mirko is just off today—there’s really no debate there. And Cupic? Total choker. Yet somehow, Duvnjak is going to get another free pass. I don't get it. He's supposedly the best player on the floor, yet he always seems to underperform when it actually matters.

But look... I wouldn't say it's entirely on him. Maybe he just struggles to produce when the defense decides to zero in on him. I mean, who are you going to shadow most closely during a championship game from our perimeter lineup?

To me, he just seems low on energy overall—like he’s burning too much fuel trying to cover both ends of the court, which leaves him without enough gas to actually execute his offense. It's the same story with Kopljar. These guys just can't play relentless defense and high-octane offense in a continuous loop without paying some kind of price.

The real difference between him and Karabatic is that... animalistic... raw physical strength and conditioning Karabatic possesses. Though, even then, I saw Karabatic hitting his own physical limits during this tournament—he wasn't exactly flying through the offense like he used to back in the day.

frozenrider112 said:I honestly think it would have been enough if we just had two of those 18 shots saved—then we’d be looking at a -2 or maybe even a -1 at halftime instead of being down by 4.

Bottom Line: if we actually want to finally break through that semifinal wall and grab the gold, we aren't doing it unless our goalie manages to shut down a few of those easy ones and some penalties. That's the only way, I guess.
Let's keep the discussion focused on the goalkeepers.🙂

I don't know, I don't think so. Besides, even setting that aside, I find it pretty strange how people try to pin every single mistake the defense makes onto the goalies. It feels like a warped way to look at handball—you end up missing the actual biggest issues by focusing like that.

Dennis Doyle3 said:Whether we would have actually beaten the Spaniards if we had Steve and Horvat on the court—well, I guess we’ll never truly know. But, looking at this as a total amateur, there's something else bugging me. That Spanish squad basically builds their entire game on just two things: 1. feeding the ball to the pivot and 2. running fast breaks. They don't really have any long-range shooting. Shouldn't we have been playing a 6-0 defense against a team like that? I mean, I get why they might try a 5-1—maybe that aggressive push prevents the defender from letting the pivot get the ball—but honestly, a 6-0 seems way more logical in a situation like this.

if you ask me, the 5-1 shouldn't be letting the pivot get free; that's not an issue with the 5-1 formation itself, it's just poorly executed defense

Exactly. Since it clearly wasn't working, something had to change. We should have switched to a 6-0 much earlier, just to break that losing momentum. Our national team used to do that all the time back in the day—if one defensive setup isn't clicking, you swap it out immediately.

For us, the real headache was those two quick players on the perimeter, especially Garcia. I actually think we might have pulled it off if he hadn't been there—or rather, if he hadn't been the one to single-handedly tip the scales in their favor. I don't know how he usually plays, but man, he played against us like he was in a different league, absolutely dominant in every single part of the game.

again: you can go ahead and trash Babb, but he’s the one who put him in the net

Babb just isn't the guy you want leading a national team that actually expects to bring home medals—though I suppose he stays because the squad managed to pull one off. Maybe we just caught a lucky break, but if you look at the actual results, we clawed our way into the semifinals by taking down France and the host nation. It was messy, honestly, but I’m worried this win is just going to keep him in that head coach seat for a while longer. Especially if we manage to qualify for the Olympics—which, let's be real, I think we will

Samuel Walker7 said:And Steve is somehow even thinner than 7/20... What kind of curse is this, where you have a keeper this golden but he can still cost you the final? I guess that just happens to us, unfortunately...

So, basically, the other Chicago keeper—who probably wouldn't even be sitting on the bench for any of the top 8 teams in the EU—is being treated as our savior and the reason we missed the final. Mike, just give it a rest!

Steve wouldn't have handed us the final on a silver platter; the defense completely blew it, folks. This isn't about criticizing Alilovic as a goalkeeper—it’s a critique of how leaky the defense was, which was the main factor in the loss.

I mean, we put 14 goals past the Spaniards in the first half, while the Germans only managed ten. Meanwhile, we let in 18, while they only gave up 6.

Scoring 14 goals is perfectly fine. Especially when you consider that our offense lost its way right during the period where we were conceding from every single Spanish attack—whether it was straight from the line or via a fast break. For crying out loud. And then the Germans shut down those Spanish passes at the line, and suddenly their game fell apart; they didn't have a Plan B at all.

btw, imagine the domestic criticism the Spanish coach would face—the guy everyone was praising—for not having a Plan B. The best part is, he actually sort of did have one (it worked against us), but for a final, you obviously need a Plan C, and there was no sign of it anywhere. And he's supposed to be this brilliant manager.

If Steve had been in goal, he might have pulled off a few more saves, and that's that. It doesn't mean he shouldn't have been playing—of course he should have, he had to—but he wouldn't have flipped the whole match on its head regardless.

That's really up to the coach, though. We have the defensive players we have, but those same guys have shown in various matches and segments of games that they know how to defend. It's just consistency that makes the difference. Back in the day, our coaches used to run three different defensive setups, and if an opponent broke through one, they’d switch, and usually, they’d find something that worked by the end. Nowadays, we get breached, and the coach just stands there looking surprised while the opponent runs in for 8 or 10 goals (since the offense gets rattled once they start getting bullied), instead of making adjustments in time.

So, that’s where I see the key. We made the semifinals and grabbed a medal because of good defense; we couldn't go further because of the bad defense. The fluctuations in quality were incredibly intense. And it sounds funny, but I honestly don't see the result changing much even if Steve had been in goal 100% of the time (which, let's be honest, he pretty much should have been).

Anyway, hats off to Steve for this tournament; he showed pure class.

As for Alilovic or Cupic, I can only think of two reasons why they were pushed so hard. One is coaching stupidity—forcing former starters because of an inability to realize that things have changed since the old days. The second is just favoring his guys from back home. Who knows, maybe it's a combination of both.

Samuel Walker7 said:Look, this might sound a bit silly, but could Mirko rec just say, "Hey, Stevei is defending better, maybe he should start instead"... I mean, can the players step in here? Or maybe the coaching staff—you know, guys like Venio, Pero, Matosevic, Balic?

Why does the public act like the guy in goal is just a complete sieve?

And where was Kopljar, our captain, to tell Babić, "Don't put Mirko in net"?

A real athlete doesn't react like that; they just get out there and give it everything they've got. They aren't going to play coach, and honestly, nobody else should be trying to do that either—that kind of mindset is a one-way ticket to disaster.

Besides, Allovic isn't the reason we lost the semifinals, or why we struggled against France.

jadeseal7 said:You kind of have to manufacture an excuse to defend him, I guess.

But honestly, this is where you actually see what kind of keeper you're dealing with. When the defense doesn't let anything through and the goalie just shuts the door on those strikers... well, a keeper can't lock things down if he's constantly stuck out there facing shots.

And as for Alilović—yeah, he was absolutely terrible. But it wasn't just him putting himself in those positions. We all know who’s really responsible for that mess.

George Robinson43 said:Our opponents barely managed three or four forced shots while we handed them maybe 25 or 30 wide-open looks. 🙂
That’s basically how the LafargeHolcim fan club operates.

Man, I hate to say it, but that was pretty much exactly how the semifinals went down.

Robin Fox2 said:In a game where, let's be honest, pretty much every single offensive drive ends in a score these days, you really need a goalie who can actually step up and make a save once in a while.

But, I mean, if you want the goalie to actually have something to save, you first need a defense that's solid enough to force the other team into taking some desperate, low-percentage shots.

We didn't lose this one because of the goalie. Honestly, the keepers weren't even the main reason we took the L here