Posts by Anthony Cook8

Drew Flores3 said:At the end of the day, you realize what it actually means to be a Human being—to embrace that full scale of existence, including all those messy flaws and empty spaces we carry inside us.
It’s funny, though—and I don't mean to say it's stupid, just a bit misguided—to imagine that a spiritual journey or a path through life is some kind of idyllic, sun-drenched meadow where fairies are dancing around playing harps.
Sure, there might be little pockets of perfection like that, but more often than not, you're trekking through dark, silent woods in the middle of the night on a trail covered in thorns and surrounded by stinging nettles.

🙂 These thoughts just drift in and out, coming and going, and honestly, it's fine. Whether the experience is pleasant or unpleasant doesn't matter much if we don't cling to the idea that what's happening is absolutely terrrrifying—which I think many of us tend to do. In the end, it's just a thought passing through, and once we let it go, it disappears.

Why not act from a place of courage instead of fear?

When someone is operating out of pure fear, you can see it in their eyes—there’s this watery, unsettled look. Their mind starts racing, piling up worries on top of worries until they're trapped in a cycle of even deeper anxiety.

But the moment they actually start to relax, everything changes. They finally gain the clarity needed to see the big picture and discover solutions that were completely invisible while they were stuck in that narrow, fearful mindset.

Zachary Gonzalez8 said:Well, you're a woman, so 🙂 us men have spent thousands of years diligently feeding our demons 😉

It's nice reading your stuff 🙂

🙂

Nicholas Gonzalez8 said:I think you misunderstood me. I actually support and love the kind of grit and persistence you're talking about. But when I say "struggle," I'm primarily talking about one's attitude toward life, toward oneself, and toward others. Like a wind that sweeps everything away—it doesn't rage or throw insults before or during the process; it simply *is*, and it does what it does.

Take two people born into poverty in some rough part of the States who want to change their circumstances. Both work hard and eventually succeed. But there's a fundamental difference. The first person curses their poverty; they blame Bog, their family, and life itself for what they went through. They obsess over every single step of their progress, and once they finally make it, they live in constant fear of losing it all, still cursing the years they "wasted" being poor. That kind of struggle is useless—it just poisons your happiness and your health.

The second person can accept that poverty was just a part of their reality, while still deciding to live differently. They will work to achieve their goals and overcome hurdles, but they won't curse the situation or point fingers at anyone else. And when they succeed, they won't be paralyzed by the fear of loss; they'll actually enjoy the here and now. They won't look back at those years of struggling with resentment; they'll accept them and even feel grateful, because those exact hardships were what sparked the decision to learn and grow, which is what made their current life possible.

Inner strength exists in all of us, and rage isn't the only way—nor is it the best way—to express it. You can be just as successful acting out of love as you can out of fear, but the way you experience life will be entirely different—you'll feel fundamentally different throughout the whole process.

What I'm really curious about is, how many hours of sleep are you getting every night? 😲

😁

This is a beautiful piece of writing; I really enjoyed it.

Steven Cruz3 said:Look, honey—you can't pin your responsibilities on me just because you're feeling less important or less worthy. That’s your own internal struggle, and frankly, it isn't my problem or my responsibility to fix.

All I hear are these tedious "spiritual" clichés that don't actually sound like they're coming from a real human being with actual life experience. But let's be clear: I never said you were less important, and I never said you were lacking anything. I have zero interest in arguing with you, either. You're the one who approached me first, and now you're throwing a fit because I gave you my honest opinion???

Seriously... all that talk about Manifesting and New Age prophecies seems pretty useless if you aren't even listening to a word I say.

🙂 five out of 5

Steven Cruz3 said:You’re feeling attacked because of your own projection—it has nothing to do with me. And thanks to some damn "law of attraction" nonsense, you've latched onto my post, so why don't you try actually doing what you suggested to me:

"We can either learn from everything or we don't have to... the choice is always ours."

You haven't been attacked, seriously. When I actually go on the attack, it looks way, way worse. 🙂

You asked what it means to let go of old beliefs, and I tried to show you through an example, but you just brushed it off...
You dismissed me just as quickly as you dismissed Zak, claiming he's too young to know anything—blah, blah, blah—simply because you don't understand his perspective. The moment you start becoming aware of your own reactions and observing your behavior, that's when the letting go truly begins...
If you're here and pouring over all those books, it's obvious you're searching for something...
Your journey is yours alone. There's no need for anyone else to walk the same path you did, nor will anyone else share your specific experiences. We are all different...

Steven Cruz3 said:A strong spirit doesn't feel attacked just because someone disagrees with one of their beliefs or stances. Only a tiny little ego—which we all have, no matter how "enlightened" we think we are—is that sensitive. Personally, I don't feel the need to bury my head in the sand of "spirituality" to avoid those basic human flaws. Instead, I always ask, "Okay, so what can we actually do about this?" Because if we have an issue, it should serve a purpose, right?? I end up building up energy when I spontaneously use the tools nature gave me, whereas reading stuff like Transurfing just makes me roll my eyes. But please—don't go feeling like I killed your cat again. Even if you did, cats have nine lives; I wouldn't come after you for it.😁

Just because I can see your struggle and your approach doesn't mean I feel targeted; I’m simply stating what I've observed.
We can choose to learn from everything, or we can choose not to. The choice is always ours...

Steven Cruz3 said:Where exactly are you seeing that? I just said you weren't being clear about those "beliefs one needs to let go of" and that I can't feel what you're talking about.

But honestly—I've read those exact phrases a million times already. All that talk about splits between mind and spirit, intellect versus spirituality, letting go of beliefs, and so on. My irritation isn't about who you are—it's about those horrific, "modern" spiritual clichés used like some kind of psychological sedative. They don't actually mean anything.

The mind processes experience—it has a function, just like an intestine does. It’s neither better nor worse than any other organ. To me, the whole point of spirituality isn't stripping away something "lower" just to achieve something "higher." It's about synergy. It's about trying to connect the incompatible—adding new shapes, colors, problems, and solutions to the puzzle, while keeping it grounded in actual feeling. For crying out loud—I can't walk up to my neighbor digging through a dumpster and try to sell her some story about how everything is fine and her mind is just playing tricks on her. She'd think I was a total freak. If I can't genuinely empathize with someone, I'd rather stay away and not drone on with empty platitudes. It's better for everyone involved.

Hope you get where I'm coming from. 🙂

It sounds like I've committed a felony or something...

But what I wrote above is simply true: you cannot grasp literature like Transurfing or the Law of Attraction through logic alone. That isn't an opinion; it's a fact. And as for the situation with your neighbor, of course you can help her...

I'm just writing whatever comes to mind... just like you are.

To "let go of a belief" might mean, for instance, noticing when someone is attacking me for no reason at all... that could be a good starting point.

Steven Cruz3 said:Honestly, I have no clue what you're even talking about. Look, I can understand all kinds of people who have that certain "presence"—you know, when someone vibrates with emotion, humor, or just pure energy—but with you, there's no vibration. I just see a string of buzzwords: mind - intellect - spirituality, and so on. 🤷

The issue isn't whether the mind or intellect is grasping something; it's that the heart feels nothing, the solar plexus feels even less, and my root chakra gets bored whenever I run into "spiritual types" tossing around phrases without any actual lived experience behind them.

For instance, what does "letting go of the beliefs we hold onto" actually mean to you? Let go of them where? What are we holding them with? Who is doing the holding—is it the mind, the intellect, logic, me, you, or Quincy, Mark, etc.? If you could just clarify these concepts for yourself first, maybe then I'd actually get what you're saying.

Let's be clear: life is fine just the way it is. I have one single life, and I am one single version of myself. I've evolved from being a militant atheist to a pretty chill agnostic once I realized that believers can't objectively prove God exists, but neither can I prove He doesn't—so, what?

I eventually simplified it like this: if God doesn't exist, great, I'll keep living just like I have been. But if He *does* exist and created me in His image, then screw it—if I'm a mess, then He's a mess too for making me this way. Why should I bother stressing over stripping away my mind, my intellect, my logic, my ego, or my sex life? Either way, I keep living my life. Once I simplified things that much, everything started moving smoothly—I guess that's what they call a "spiritual path." 😁

Why are you automatically attacking me?

Steven Cruz3 said:If I hadn't spent my life fighting, I’d probably be dead by now—and I definitely wouldn't have achieved a single thing I set out to do.

You’re probably pretty young—life hasn't really kicked you in the teeth with massive problems yet. But let me tell you, once that happens, all that colorful "spiritual" nonsense goes right out the window, leaving nothing but raw survival instinct. Which, honestly? That’s a good thing. Instinct is bloody and real. It forces you to push through, claw your way forward, clear obstacles, and move mountains. You fall, you get back up, and then you get that sweet, visceral feeling in an exhausted body when you realize you actually broke through or won something. No amount of philosophizing can match that flavor—none of those spiritual concepts mean squat if they aren't soaked in actual, lived experience.

But even the toughest people with the strongest will can snap under enough weight. You can fall into a black hole suddenly, or just sink day by day through a pile of life's bullshit. There is absolutely nothing romantic or "enlightened" about that. Suffering can be so brutal it literally tears at your soul. And even then, you still have to fight—maybe even harder—just to pull yourself together and stand back up. Those are the edge cases where I haven't found answers in any trendy spiritual fad—Law of Attraction, manifestation, chanting, visualization, *The Celestine Prophecy*, or whatever other garbage. The only thing that helped was gritting my teeth and using pure willpower to fight through the crap whenever it showed up. I even cursed God and every saint in heaven just to fuel my own rage, and somehow, that worked. If I had just sat there meditating and philosophizing, everything would have gone straight to hell.🙂

Humans evolved because we fought against harsh nature, greedy predators, and struggled to find food and shelter. We survived slavery, disease, and poverty. We are here today because our ancestors were gritty; they fought for themselves and their kids just to survive, to organize, and through sheer struggle, build something for themselves—both materially and spiritually. I don't see anything wrong with that. I'm not talking about some corrupt corporate CEOs trying to grab every cent; I'm talking about decent people who overcame material obstacles and shaped much of the good stuff in this world.

Nowadays, parents shove kids in front of computers while they're still in preschool, handing them games and smartphones just so they won't bother the checked-out, apathetic parents. The result? We get these "metrosexual" generations—bloodless, disconnected from reality. And that's exactly what modern spirituality has become: consumerist, instant junk designed to numb the masses, instead of a powerful, fresh wind that blows everything in its path. 🙂

When spirituality escapes the grasp of the mind, you realize you simply can't think your way toward a solution. You can't just read about it and "get" it through sheer intellect. In this realm, logic doesn't follow the rules—two plus two doesn't equal four. Honestly, the intellect becomes more of an obstacle than a tool. The tighter we cling to our logic, the harder it is to let go of the convictions we hold dear, especially when the whole world seems to be screaming evidence at us to prove we're right.

The primary purpose of stress is actually quite simple: it’s our body’s way of prepping us to run from a grizzly bear. The problem is, we’ve hijacked that survival mechanism by forcing our bodies through the same grueling physical strain hundreds of times a day
through mental projections, anxious thoughts, and imaginary scenarios that aren't even happening—most of which will never actually occur.

We try to be clever by "preparing" ourselves for discomfort, running through a thousand worst-case scenarios in our heads and essentially experiencing the agony of each one as if it were real. We fail to realize that we are actually stronger than any obstacle; when something truly happens, we have the clarity and strength to handle it. But instead, we obsess over the idea that things *should* be bad, clinging to the suffering because we feel like we have to. To make matters worse, society constantly reinforces this by piling on with comments like, "Oh, that’s terrible," or "I'm so sorry, that must be awful..."

I don't know, I really don't see it being that complicated... everything you're saying to me just doesn't resonate...
I see what people call innate health—I see beauty, laughter, ease, simplicity, and true strength... I feel like everything is alright right now, and everything will be okay no matter what happens... that's what lives inside me, and it is clear, powerful, and peaceful...

All this stuff you're stressing over means nothing to me...

Michael Gonzalez77 said:Right, that's what we call human free will. But here's the thing: that will exists within the framework of the physical being—what we label a "human" (usually just seeing ourselves as a physical body). In reality, it's much more complex than our current self-perception allows. In this dimension, that being is unintegrated. Think of it like a biological organism where the individual organs aren't quite working in harmony; even though all those parts are supposed to come together to create a whole, functioning system to allow for growth, they often act as if they're disconnected.

I don't actually think that's the human will... I believe it belongs to our Soul, our Higher self—to who we truly are as God-realized beings.

Nicholas Gonzalez8 said:Beautifully put, and I'm mostly on board here. My only gripe would be ditching those "should" and "shouldn't" words entirely. I truly believe souls have total free will to become whatever they want and do whatever they feel like. If they want to dive into something brand new, the door is wide open. If they want to stay right where they are and just live their lives as they are in this lifetime, that's allowed too—at least until they decide to change things up again.

That’s pretty much how I see it too...🙂

Michael Gonzalez77 said:Absolutely. There is no other Paradise besides the one on Earth (for us), much like any other planet in the cosmos inhabited by advanced material races. This is simply the state of the body (of all bodies, beings, or forms) and the evolution of consciousness (knowledge and potential). It’s our ancient experience of form and conscious growth that we’ve messed up (something anthropologists recognize, though they look at it through a completely different lens regarding Paleolithic or Neolithic cultures, their mindsets, and mythologies—they weren't living in "Paradise" back then, but their intuition functioned better. Later, religions mentioned this in different ways, and barely an echo remains today). But we can start thinking about this actively. However, if we approach it with the mindset of "everything is perfect and should stay this way," we won't move the needle much from where we are now. I'm not saying we should collapse into misery and gloom, either; I'm just saying we should do whatever we can to contribute to improvement—which is perfectly natural.

Some things fall outside the scope of human cognition because most human understanding exists solely at the level of the mind. Yet, intuitively, we accept them once we come into contact with them. People aren't capable of pulling themselves out of the messes they've made on their own—that’s a vital fact one must realize. They can only, and exclusively, do so with massive help from spiritual energies. That’s exactly what this is about. Otherwise, neither you nor I would be sitting here right now discussing spirituality. It isn't just some personal achievement that we see things differently than most people, nor is it just a general trend of people turning back toward nature (to themselves).

Love, kindness, and helping others are just part of being human. You don't have to force it; you just have to be. We shouldn't struggle to achieve or reach something that we already are. Instead, we need to stop fighting and just let go...
We are light...
That is my truth, and it's the truth shared by the people I'm lucky enough to surround myself with... and that is enough for me.🙂
You can't force love, and you can't force Effort. Everything flows when it's meant to... that's where the real beauty lies.

Michael Gonzalez77 said:Every soul carries its entire evolutionary history within it. In human form, that includes our biological development and even the very concept of descending into this dimension. This means they carry memories linked to incredibly advanced levels of civilization. Kids aren't born with "knowledge" in the way we think of it; they are born like everyone else, but they are granted easier access to their Self. This isn't a credit to the children or their parents—it's a result of an immense Grace that has been unfolding over the last two decades (largely because humanity has reached such a point of hopelessness). This will continue until things align with the will of the Creator, and people simply need to accept that. Looking at it from a broader perspective, they have already accepted it, which is why this knowledge exists. We are still a long way from the Creator's will and far from perfection. Ask any random passerby if they share your vision; you'll realize whether you're speaking poetic truth or just looking at things through an extreme lens where neither you nor they are close to what Is. Regardless, if things are exactly as they should be, no one is obligated to die of worry, but no one is required to be resigned either. You can absolutely help where you can. Don't fall into the trap of thinking your help is pointless just because "everything is perfect."

Things either follow their built-in principles toward Growth, or they drift toward self-destruction, much like how human civilization behaves. But let's not call it "perfect." While poetic license is always allowed, remember there is something more than just man—there is the One who wonders, who Is, and who orchestrates everything. If we say we surrender everything to Him, that doesn't mean we sit idle; it means we do our absolute best to align ourselves with those universal principles. That is more than enough.

Well, I guess what you're saying just isn't my truth. It hasn't come through as an insight for me, and it doesn't resonate...

Anyway, we can help every single day, every second, just by snapping at someone or offering a kind word or a hug...

My own experience has been a transition from the despair, hopelessness, and malice surrounding me into a sense of paradise, peace, beauty, and love... it's been a pretty good experience. A person can live in paradise right here on Earth, on this very same soil where we all stand...

And I realize I'm writing this from the ego, but I'm trying to reach for something deeper... it's not for nothing.

Michael Gonzalez77 said:I completely agree when looking at things as they are. In that sense, a person is no different from a stone because everything falls under the domain of the Creator. However, when we talk about consciousness, a God-realized person is as far removed from ordinary human awareness as ordinary awareness is from the consciousness of a stone. This isn't about whether humans should show respect or not; it's just a matter of how things actually exist. "A human lives and a stone exists; neither knows the Truth."

It’s self-deception to try and "recognize" enlightenment (which is itself an anomaly for someone viewing a God-realized teacher), but it’s even more deceptive for those who claim to be enlightened when they truly aren't—and believe me, those people exist. On the other hand, anyone on a spiritual path, whether consciously or not, is trying to recognize their own Self within a God-realized teacher. Of course, there are no hard rules here, but there is always a greater or lesser risk of self-discovery versus self-delusion.
As long as someone is wandering through Maya alone, they’re like a blind person. If they pick another blind person to lead them, you just have two blind people stumbling around—one is deluded, and the other is just following the delusion. It makes it incredibly hard to reach the depths of one's own imagination quickly. That’s the gap between a God-realized being and the consciousness of even the highest saint, who becomes Perfect through a single "touch" from the Guru, provided they are ready. I'm not talking about comparison or competition here; I'm talking about the nature of Maya. It has to be this way so that, eventually, every soul can realize its Highest state—to be God.

There’s a strange phenomenon on this planet: Maya is one, and it is exactly what it is—natural. But humans have a slightly bigger problem: we are unnatural, tangled up in the mess of our own egos. You won't find a world quite like this anywhere else; it’s a unique example of how things aren't supposed to evolve.

What about those children born with innate knowledge, who won't find things difficult? The only thing that's actually hard is the ordinary illusion you've chosen to believe in, nothing more, nothing less...
If you believe in something, you'll receive a wealth of evidence—perfect proof. Open yourself up to diversity, to the infinite, and you will receive the infinite...
We keep spinning in circles around self-deception, but who cares who is deceiving whom? People can never truly be themselves if we constantly see them through the lens of their mistakes... You can't help someone by trying to lead them or by reciting your own unique path back to them. No one is here to be a carbon copy of someone else. Instead, by staying true to yourself in every moment, you allow the other person the chance to be true to themselves in that same unique moment...

And what I'm saying is ultimately irrelevant, because two souls create the perfect situation for growth. That’s why mistakes don't exist—everything is perfect...

Michael Gonzalez77 said:My point was that you can't just "shed ignorance" without actual learning—or what we might call expanding your consciousness. Think of it as de-identifying from those deep-seated mental impressions, which are really just Maya. But look, when we're talking about the final stage—completely freeing consciousness from those impressions—you can't just wish it into existence through pure imagination. In fact, using imagination too early in a spiritual journey often leads people straight into self-deception. They start convinced they've reached enlightenment. Honestly, even on a forum like this, you'll find people claiming to be enlightened just as often as you'll find them anywhere else in the world. It doesn't really matter.
I was building on what you said about how "nothing is mandatory"—meaning, sure, you don't *have* to snap out of a delusion immediately. In a natural sense, a misconception eventually gets overcome, and you "move on." How or when that happens isn't the priority, because time isn't a factor in the grand scheme, though life itself certainly feels like it has an imaginary duration.

Every single moment is brand new. Nothing is permanent, or rather, nothing *needs* to be. Every one of us has the opportunity for a fresh experience in the very next instant. Labeling someone as "enlightened" is honestly pointless and unnecessary... nobody holds more value or deserves more respect than anyone else. We are all one, simply serving one another.

Michael Gonzalez77 said:It’s similar to those descriptions where people lean on imagination or a fictional version of enlightenment instead of experiencing the real thing.
If we’re just talking about semantics, then it isn't a "problem" in the way humans usually define it. On the flip side, you could call it what it actually is: classic self-deception. This happens inside a person's psychological bubble—it happens to everyone, really—but it hits those with vivid imaginations even harder, especially when they fuel that fantasy with intense psychological drivers. But since nothing is ever truly mandatory (and it really isn't), you eventually move past that too.

When someone hits an absolute abyss before reaching enlightenment, there is simply no amount of mental gymnastics that can leap over it—that’s the paradox of the leap. But, naturally, the nature of Wholeness isn't going to change just because someone's semantic or categorical definitions don't align with it. The continuation of that solution lies within Sadhguru or the One-in-multitude.

I didn't quite catch the point of this post... I just wanted to say that living in ignorance is actually full of possibilities...

Michael Gonzalez77 said:Look, you absolutely have to internalize—really wake up to—the Knowledge first. That’s the only way to strip away the ignorance (those little ego-driven delusions about what the Truth actually is and how it works). You can't just have something fall away without replacing it with what was missing in the first place. Otherwise, the ignorance stays. It's a steady process, moving through layers until you hit even the most subtle impressions. Any pause along that Path feels like "idling" or just spinning your wheels. At the end of the day, an unenlightened person can't just power through and enlighten themselves. You might be able to pull a mental somersault, sure, but that isn't true annihilation of the mind. It's a law of nature. We are fundamentally tied to the unity of two principles: the masculine (that false, individualistic ego) and the feminine (the One-in-multitude, which is held exclusively by the Perfect ones or those who have realized God—though the rest of us carry it latently, buried under endless layers of impressions). And since even those Perfect beings didn't achieve it alone, but through the "touch" of Sadhguru, no one can reach that state solo. It's simply impossible. You can work your way to the very edge of your mental impressions—people like that are known as saints—but from there, all that's left is that single "touch" from a real Sadhguru.

There are just too many words like "must" and "impossible" for my liking... In my experience, concepts like obligation, impossibility, or even "universal truth" have faded away. It's all just trivial chatter 😁..