116 posts shown.
Anonymous said:Actually, what you're describing is the progression of human desires—basically stages of personal growth—rather than power itself.
The craving for power is nothing more than the capacity to exploit certain parts of reality for your own benefit. In terms of intensity, wanting power is on the same level as chasing fame or honor.
You're talking about how power manifests in the physical world. We're all born with the potential for power, and a person's life mission is to develop and master that strength.
Power isn't inherently good or bad. It's just how we choose to wield our own influence within this dualistic world.
Without any power at all, a person won't even have the leverage needed for spiritual growth. They might end up just being someone else's appendage, unable to take those necessary steps toward their own spiritual evolution.
Look, I’m trying to put her perspective into the bigger picture here, just to get things straight for once. 🙂
you're talking about the worldly expression of power. everyone is born with this inherent potential for power, and honestly, it should be every single person's job to cultivate and master it.
power isn't inherently good or bad. how we choose to wield our own influence is what defines us in this dualistic world.
if you don't have any power at all, you won't even have the strength required for spiritual growth; you'll just end up being someone else's doormat instead of making actual progress on your soul's journey.
🙂 Alright, alright, let's move on. But seriously, tell me this: who or what actually decides if one person gets the power they need to get things done while someone else gets absolutely nothing?
Nathan Cook4 said:The benefit lies in the fact that you know what misery feels like, and you don't want anyone else to experience it. Has there ever been a moment in your life where you thought, "God forbid this ever happens to anyone else"?
Similarly, you want others to be happy because the world is at its best then. Just look at a person when they are laughing from the heart. Surely, you want for others what you want for yourself.
Oh, absolutely. But that was a lifetime ago. Eventually, I realized that God is actually the one orchestrating those exact moments, and He does it for a damn good reason. That applies to everyone, across the board, no exceptions.
The real problem when people face these situations that God sets up—and let's be honest, God is behind everything that happens—is our own massive egos.
Honestly, these days, I almost find myself glad when someone hits a rough patch, because I know it's just God pushing them forward toward a state that's going to be better than anything they've experienced before. Our human ideas of what counts as "good" or "bad" are purely selfish delusions and have zero claim to being the truth; they're just reflections of our own petty desires and personalities playing out.
It’s the same thing with wanting people to be happy, because the world just looks more beautiful that way. Just look at someone when they're laughing from the bottom of their heart. You probably want others to have the same things you want for yourself.
So, basically, you want to make people happy because it makes the "world most beautiful." For *you*. To me, the world doesn't get any prettier just because you made someone smile. Look, I don't know you, I don't know when you make people happy, and I personally gain nothing from it. But you do. You get the "beautiful world" as your little reward for playing the hero. 😉
Look, it's fine. I'm not attacking you or trying to tear you down or anything like that. I'm just trying to point out the hidden, deeper motivation lurking behind every single thought, feeling, or action we have... which is that, ultimately, we are always trying to satisfy ourselves, which is inherently selfish by default. That's all.
brisktiger56 said:So, if we aren't using it to dodge reality, how are we actually supposed to use power?
There isn't some simple, one-size-fits-all answer to that question.
The whole system is rigged so we just spend our lives acting like mindless robots, constantly being driven by the carrot and the stick—you know, that endless cycle of chasing pleasure and trying to dodge pain—and honestly, everything just revolves around that shallow grind. The entire point of this rat race is to pile up enough suffering until we finally hit a breaking point where we actually want to escape the loop, which usually happens on an individual level once someone finally matures. That’s when the second stage kicks in: you start craving something spiritual and begin preparing to step into that realm. Then comes the third stage, where you actually enter the spiritual world and start climbing those higher levels.
In my own opinion, once you've secured all the basic necessities required to survive here on Earth (which obviously looks different for everyone), any power you have left over should be channeled and used solely to pursue spiritual enlightenment.
brisktiger56 said:Why?
Hmmmm, good question... why do we love thinking well of ourselves?
If we had actual power, wouldn't we just use it to feed that exact need?
Duh, obviously! We love feeling good because, frankly, it feels great. And since everything we do is basically a quest for some kind of hit of dopamine, we feed ourselves these pretty little thoughts about how awesome we are just to soak up that sweet, sweet satisfaction. If we actually faced the truth and thought poorly of ourselves, it would be pure misery, and let's be real—nobody wants to deal with suffering. So yeah, we're being totally selfish by thinking well of ourselves just so we can feel comfortable.🙂
The ways we pull this off are endless. I mean, look at us: we twist reality to fit our narrative, we flat-out ignore things that happen, we deny what's right in front of our faces, and then we go ahead and craft our own little "subjective truths" through pure delusion, making stuff up, fantasizing, or just gaslighting ourselves until we believe the lie.
brisktiger56 said:Selfishness is clearly everywhere...
but still, I find it hard to wrap my head around calling the act of giving to someone else an "abuse of power" just because egoism is pulling the strings behind the scenes...
Exactly.
but still, wouldn't giving to someone else be better for them, I find it hard to accept it as an abuse of power when selfishness is acting as the "client"...
Nobody ever said this was an "abuse," even if selfishness is pulling the strings—it’s just hidden, and that’s the whole damn trick. We can't even see our own selfishness because we all love to tell ourselves how great we are... and honestly, why wouldn't we? 😉
Nathan Cook4 said:Are you suggesting that it's impossible to give or receive anything without it being an act of egoism?
Is it truly impossible to want someone to be happy and find joy in their happiness itself, rather than finding joy in the fact that you were the one who caused it?
Spot on. It’s just how we're wired. Those rare souls who actually manage to step outside their own ego—even just a little bit—can actually sense the spiritual side of things, but only to the exact extent they've managed to shed that selfishness. If you aren't perceiving the spiritual, you're 100% trapped in your own ego.
Don't you think it's possible to genuinely want someone else to be happy and just enjoy their happiness, rather than getting a kick out of the fact that *you* were the one who made them happy?
Sure, it's possible in a spiritual sense, but in the real, material world? Forget about it.
It’s like the bond between a mother and her child. A mom gets a rush from seeing her kid happy and providing for them. And even if she doesn't consciously think, "Wow, I'm so happy because *I* was the one who provided this," you still have to ask yourself: if it's truly selfless, why doesn't she feel that exact same way for every other child out there?🙂
If I claim I want someone else to be happy, I have to face the music: what's my angle? What am I getting out of it? Do I even get anything at all? Go ahead, tell me—from where you're sitting, what's the payoff?🙂
brisktiger56 said:So, is it also "selfish" to have the power to drag people down? Like, when we dump our personal baggage on everyone else—forcing them to deal with our drama, expecting them to make excuses for us being jerks...
Is cracking a joke to get a laugh just as selfish as making everyone feel miserable?
Basically, yeah. There’s a technicality there, but honestly, who cares? When you dump your problems on someone, you're just taking from them to get something back, whereas making someone laugh feels like giving—but even then, it's still about getting something "for yourself." Making people laugh is just a much sneakier kind of selfishness. You think you're being a saint by trying to cheer someone up, but really, you're just doing it so *you* don't have to sit there feeling depressed alongside them. If I can make you laugh, then both of us feel better, and suddenly I don't have to carry the weight of your bad mood anymore. It's all just a way to serve ourselves. 🙂
brisktiger56 said:Wow... so, by that logic, being able to make people laugh is just pure egoism?
Duh! It totally is. I mean, think about it—anyone who spends their time cracking jokes just to get a reaction is basically just feeding their own ego and sucking up all that attention for themselves.🙂
If brisktiger56 wasn't such a massive narcissist looking for a cheap thrill, he wouldn't even bother trying to be funny in the first place. 🙂
Terry Kim3 said:So, how would I even begin to gauge where I stand in this process?
Is this entire path of construction exclusive to the Kabbalah, or is it a universal journey available to everyone?
And what kind of "spiritual actions" are we even talking about here?
I consider myself a spiritual person—spirituality is something I'm deeply invested in, and I'm constantly trying to work on myself and improve—but I honestly have no idea how far I've come or if I'm even on the right track.
Look, if you aren't directly perceiving the spiritual, you haven't even hit the baseline; you're still just stuck in the material world.
The Kabbalah is a universal, singular method for achieving spirituality, and you can't just mix and match it with other methods like some buffet. It's universal because it doesn't care about your race, your gender, your age, or what religion you were born into—none of that matters. The only prerequisite for studying the Kabbalah is a genuine hunger for spiritual insight or a deep need to find the actual meaning of your life.
As for "spiritual actions," those are actions taken within the spiritual realm. You can't explain that to someone who hasn't experienced direct spiritual perception yet; that realization comes later. 🙂 First, you have to achieve that perception, and if you're doing things the right way and actually giving it your all, that alone takes years.
It’s just human nature for people who *want* to be spiritual to go around thinking they already are. 🙂
But let's be real: a truly spiritual person is only someone who possesses direct spiritual perception and has actually managed to flip their qualities from being selfish and ego-driven to being altruistic and spiritual. That fundamental shift in your own character is exactly what makes spiritual perception possible. So, if you aren't perceiving the spiritual, it means you haven't successfully swapped out a single egoistic trait for an altruistic one yet.
Regarding whether you're on the right track or where you currently sit, I'd suggest going back to the beginning of the KabbalahINFO thread. I think you might stumble upon some answers to those internal questions you're wrestling with there.
Best,
brisktiger56 said:Wealth, though? Are we talking cold hard cash or spiritual richness? I mean, someone could be considered powerful just because they’re rich in spirit, right? Like, if a person is charismatic enough to crack a joke—one they actually came up with themselves—and they manage to force everyone else into a fit of laughter, isn't that a form of power?
Exactly. It’s material. And honestly, it’s selfish. If you want to be truly "rich in spirit," you have to perceive things through a spiritual lens, which is a bit of a paradox. In this world, when we claim someone is spiritually wealthy, what we really mean is that they’re damn good at spotting weird, unexpected connections and analogies, or maybe they just have an incredibly deep understanding of the physical world—and yeah, that includes human thoughts and desires, even though people mistakenly label those things as "spiritual." At the end of the day, it all falls back into the material realm, not some mystical spiritual one.
Power is really just the next level of human desire once you've already exhausted your craving for wealth. Once you've chased down power, you move on to this even higher pursuit of knowledge, which is basically where all those material cravings finally die out.
At its core, wanting power is nothing more than trying to manipulate certain parts of reality just to suit your own needs. Honestly, if you look at it closely, the hunger for power is right up there with the desperate need for fame and glory.
Terry Kim3 said:So you're saying there isn't some higher self just waiting out there. But what about the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah? It maps out different densities, right? If the human body resides in the 3rd density, isn't it possible that a Higher Self exists within the 4th, 5th, or 6th? Could it be that through disciplined effort, we gradually uncover these higher versions of ourselves—essentially bridging the gap to them—and that is how we actually achieve spiritual progress?
Look, you don't just "find" the Tree of Life—you have to build it inside yourself from the ground up. It doesn't even exist until you put in the work to construct it. Once you finally do, that entire structure becomes your actual soul, acting like a spiritual sensory organ that lets you actually live in a spiritual reality. And yeah, obviously there are stages to building this thing. When you manage to construct those first ten basic sephirot, that stage is known as
Ibur, basically "conception." At that point, your soul is nothing more than a spiritual newborn; it’s totally incapable of taking any real spiritual action on its own, so it just sits there "nursing" everything it needs for growth from a higher level—like a mother—just like a baby does in the physical world. It can perceive the spiritual realm, sure, but it's basically just chilling in the womb at that stage.
Look, here’s the truth: your soul—that "organ" you use to actually perceive spiritual reality—isn't some finished product just sitting there waiting for you. You don't just dig up some buried "Higher Self" and suddenly everything becomes sunshine and rainbows. That's a total illusion. We aren't born with a full-blown soul; we only have this tiny little seed, a mere blueprint that requires massive effort and constant work to grow into a complete being. Basically, you don't *have* a soul yet; you just have the potential for one. You have to build that soul yourself from the ground up.
Who even is Pero Perić? I mean, honestly, why is everyone suddenly acting like he's some kind of big deal when we can barely get a straight answer out of anyone around here!
Most of us think we’ve got people all figured out, right? We’re pretty damn sure we know exactly who someone is, just like we’re certain about who our real friends actually are. But honestly, whenever I try to describe myself or one of my buddies, I always end up stuck talking about superficial crap—you know, the usual stuff like gender, age, height, build, hair color, eye color, and all that nonsense.
Tell me more about this guy. What’s his deal?
Look, that description is way too thin to actually pin anyone down, so there’s zero point in dwelling on it—we need to get straight to the real meat of the matter, which is digging into this person's actual character and those deep-seated traits that define who they really are.
I need to know more! What does he actually do for a living?
Look, half of who we are is just a byproduct of our surroundings—it’s the neighborhood we grew up in, the family drama, the grind at work, or even just the circle of friends we hang out with every weekend. Honestly, if you ask me, this description is totally lacking because it misses the whole point. If you actually bother to dig a little deeper, you hit the real core of a person: what they actually give a damn about. You might have a buddy who lives for the opera or someone else who can't live without country music, or maybe one guy is obsessed with NBA basketball while his neighbor would rather curl up with a book than go out partying until sunrise. That's what makes us human.
What are we even talking about here? These traits aren't some fixed list; they’re just a collection of things people actually enjoy doing. Honestly, you don't really know someone until you figure out what makes them tick and what gives them that genuine sense of satisfaction. That's exactly why our inner circle usually consists of people who are basically mirrors of ourselves when it comes to what brings us joy.
Look, it’s pretty simple: when we’re constantly vibing on the same wavelength as our friends and hitting up the same spots, we naturally want to hang out with them more. At the end of the day, you can tell who someone really is just by looking at those specific, unique things they actually care about.
Am I actually getting what I want out of life?
So, what you're actually asking is if I am nothing more than a collection of my own desires? Like, am I just this specific pile of wants and cravings that, when you add them all up, somehow pass for a person on top of all my biological wiring?
Look, when you actually stop to think about the sheer, overwhelming mountain of different desires floating around this world—and I mean every single crazy whim people have, especially since there are a million different ways to satisfy any one of them—it honestly makes perfect sense why humanity is such a chaotic, fragmented mess of nothing but constant disagreement.
But look, let’s just pause for a second and play along with the idea that there might actually be some deeper "self" buried in here—a real "I" that isn't just some messy cocktail of physical traits and a constant, nagging hunger for the next hit of dopamine or whatever pleasure we're chasing today. If that kind of thing even exists, where on earth are we supposed to go to find it, and how the hell are we even meant to dig it out from underneath this external shell we call a persona?
Confused? Seriously, what other "self" could there possibly be besides this one?
I am not my desires, period.
The answer isn't about the desires themselves or what you're actually chasing, it's about the "who" behind them—that deeper part of you that’s doing the wanting in the first place. You have to stop looking at the goal and start asking where the actual spark of satisfaction is coming from.
Just imagine for a second that there’s this force out there—not like gravity or electricity or any of that physics stuff we learned in school, but something totally unique. This force has one specific job: it exists purely to feed us pleasure. It works by sparking those deep, restless desires we all carry around inside us, only to step in and actually satisfy them once they peak. And honestly, if you look at how people actually live, that is exactly what’s happening right now. Every single thing we do, from the tiny little habits to the massive life decisions, is nothing more than a desperate attempt to chase down some kind of satisfaction.
Look, while you guys are busy chewing over all that, just think about this for a second. We’re completely flying blind when it comes to this force, totally cut off from seeing what's actually driving the bus. But if this thing really exists like everyone says, then it isn't just pulling our strings every time we're chasing some mindless craving or even when we're just sitting on our butts doing absolutely nothing—it’s also responsible for everything every other person does. I mean, come on, every single action taken by anyone on this planet is fueled by some kind of desire to get something, whether it's big or small. It’s the same deal with animals too, though obviously our human wants are way more twisted and complicated than anything a dog or a deer is dealing with.
So, I was reading this old story about a king and a peasant the other day—you know, those classic tales that always seem to circle back to the same tired themes—and it honestly just made my blood boil because it perfectly captures how much the world has changed while staying exactly the same. You’ve got this guy sitting on a throne in some massive estate in Connecticut, probably sipping expensive bourbon and making life-altering decisions for people he wouldn't even deign to look at in the eye, while this poor laborer is out there breaking his back in the sun just to scrape together enough to pay rent. It reminds me of this one time I was stuck behind some billionaire’s motorcade on the highway in Los Angeles; they just glide through life completely insulated from the chaos, while the rest of us are left eating their exhaust and wondering when things will actually start making sense for the little guy. It’s infuriating how these power dynamics are baked into our history, and even though we aren't living under literal crowns anymore, the way the elite play god with everyone else's livelihood feels like the exact same script being played out by some corporate CEOs today.
What are we even trying to get at here? Honestly, let me just tell you a quick story because maybe that’ll make things click for everyone. Once upon a time, there were these two guys who were absolute best friends, but as they grew up, life totally split them apart—one ended up becoming this high-powered CEO and the other just some regular guy working a blue-collar job. They lost touch for years, but then one day, the CEO tracks down where the old friend is living. When he sees how much the guy is struggling, he starts secretly sending him these massive gifts and helping him out behind the scenes. The guy loves everything he's getting and is just riding this wave of good luck, so he doesn't even realize what's happening, and honestly, it takes him forever to actually stop and wonder who the hell is actually pulling the strings.
So after years of being totally clueless, this guy finally realizes there’s actually a source behind all those gifts he keeps getting, so he starts hunting for it. One day, he spots the farmer who left him a gift and decides to shadow him, and of course, the guy ends up following him straight into the White House.
When he finally meets the President, he’s absolutely floored to find out that *he* was the one providing everything all these years! The President sees how genuinely happy the man is now and asks, "What else can I give you to make you completely fulfilled?" And the guy just blurted out, "I want to be like you, doing exactly what you do." Well, the President couldn't actually do that—he could hand over his entire estate, sure, but it was up to the man to find that spark within himself to match the President's own spirit.
Honestly, we're all just like that farmer, constantly chasing these little hits of pleasure from desires that some anonymous provider planted in us. But then, at some point, we stop just obsessing over the handouts and start wondering who the hell is actually giving them to us, eventually wanting to become just like the source itself.
I need to create my true "Self"
That specific urge right there—that’s the real "Self." Why? Because every other random craving we have is basically just something handed to us by the provider. But that hunger to "be like the giver" and act like they do? That isn't something they planted in us; it’s something we cultivate ourselves. It's literally the only independent desire we actually possess, since everything else is just a reaction to what we've been given.
If someone actually wants to figure out who they really are, their search has to start by uncovering who is actually responsible for all those feelings of pleasure they experience. That's when you stop being obsessed with the stuff being given to you and start connecting with the one actually giving it.
Ashley Robinson58 said:That happens. But there are people who are miserable for no reason at all. They just can't handle things being normal and boring. They crave excitement, so they rush headlong into chaos that only ends up complicating their lives.☕
The thing is, you can't even ask them if they're happy with a standard life because this relentless force of constant progress just leaves them feeling hollow and restless, so they start chasing after stuff they think will fill the void, almost like they're programmed robots or something. And honestly, it's not even their fault! It’s the same for the people who actually *are* content with a quiet life—they didn't "earn" that peace, it's just that the momentum of modern society keeps them leveled out for a while before things shift again. At the end of the day, a Man doesn't get to pick what he wants; those desires are just shoved into his head, and he's totally at their mercy.
Ashley Robinson58 said:You've drifted too far into the divine. I was talking about the peace found in the daily grind. A happy person is someone who doesn't sink into depression when their alarm hits at 5:00 AM for work. Or someone who smiles while making lunch for their family after a long, exhausting day. The key is having a mindset where things aren't all bleak; life is good as long as we're healthy and breathing.
But honestly, it's total BS. Because when life actually hits you in the face with something devastating—like getting hit by a truck or facing some terminal illness—that "positive thinking" crap doesn't mean a damn thing. 😍
driftingfox15 said:I'm just sitting here reading right now, so I guess I was wondering what you guys actually think about this book?
Look, I haven't touched the book and honestly, I don't plan to. But let me tell you something about Abraham's teachings—it’s just Kabbalah by another name. The word itself comes from the Hebrew "le kabel," which basically means "to receive." The whole teaching is just a method designed to teach you how to receive everything that's supposed to be yours from a higher power. It's all about learning how to receive things the "right" way.
Andrew Sullivan6 said:Man is just a creature engineered by "reptilian" aliens. Our primary purpose is to serve and labor until we are finally ready for consumption—whether that’s physical or spiritual... if anyone actually cares to dive deeper, I'd suggest checking out books by David Icke, Sitchin, or Daniken.
Just pure nonsense and pseudo-intellectual garbage. But hey, whatever works for you! I guess some people find their life's purpose in being someone else's dinner. If that makes them feel like they're serving the "Greater Good," more power to them.🙂
Sophia King42 said:Someone once asked a sage what defines a human being—are we spiritual beings or material ones? His answer was simple:
"We are spiritual beings having a material experience, not material beings having a spiritual one." I'd like to hear from the community: which side of that coin do you land on?
We are spiritual beings living through material experiences.
We were born into the spiritual realm; that’s our true home base. We basically dropped down into this physical reality just to feed our egos and chase after whatever desires we could find. But now, we're looking at an ascent back up to the spiritual side where we belong forever, while this whole material world eventually fades away because it won't be needed to fix us anymore. There's still plenty of time before that happens, so there's no need to freak out just yet. 😍
The word "Adam" actually comes from the root "Dom," which means being "like the creator."
Right now, though, we are the complete opposite of the creator, so we can't even see Him or feel His presence—to us, He's practically non-existent. Sure, we can choose to believe He exists, but that’s just faith, not direct perception or actual knowledge; it's just thinking "He's somewhere up in the clouds."
This whole process of fixing ourselves starts right here on Earth, starting from a position that is totally opposite to His. Once we manage to correct even one single quality within ourselves so that it aligns with His, we start to experience Him directly through that specific trait, allowing us to mirror what He does based on how much we've improved. When we finally fix all our flaws, we become perfectly aligned with Him, and in the spiritual realm—where everything follows the law of equality of form—that means we become One.
Humanity is the absolute peak of creation. We are the ones who perfect everything, bringing creation to its ultimate conclusion by ascending back into the spiritual realm.
There was only ever one creation. The first human, Adam, was a single, unique soul, and we are all just tiny fragments or cells of that original entity. In order to rise back to our roots and enter the spiritual realm, we have to reunite into one single spiritual organism representing all of humanity, and honestly, that's slowly happening right now. Take this current crisis, for example—it's just a physical manifestation of the fact that we are all interconnected (just like we were in that original Adam). Through this chaos, nature—the creator—is showing us that nobody is an island and we are all interdependent, even if the way we perceive reality right now makes us feel totally isolated. The real question is how many more hits we're going to take before we finally get it and start moving toward that spiritual unity. Trying to unite physically is a lost cause; history is full of failed attempts at that.
Ashley Ramirez41 said:👎
No way in hell! People inside these big institutions are nothing more than tiny little cogs in this massive, soul-crushing machine...
they don't have any real say in anything important—unless you're one of those big shots sitting at the very top.
That’s just more than enough to push me over the edge. 😉
Even the little guys can push their own agendas if they play it right... honestly, what do you think? Where do all those "connections" come from? They come from right there. 😉