It’s one thing if faith comes through a sudden movement of the Holy Spirit—there’s nothing you can do about that, and that’s genuine belief. But if this "faith" is just a mental calculation—a choice made because you're hitting rock bottom and you're desperately hoping for some divine bailout—then yeah, it can be shaken by less than thirty bucks. That isn't faith; it's just a desperate attempt at a transaction... a hustle.
And those testimonies of yours? They're nothing more than cheap theatrics from people who would ditch their convictions in a heartbeat for a glass of water if they'd been fed enough scraps beforehand.
Every serial killer and monster has had a "spiritual awakening" while sitting on death row... it's a tired cliché.
Sandra Murphy33 said:You're conflating two different things.😉
Even if I am identified incorrectly, I'm still wrong because I am the one existing before any identification takes place
The mirror of consciousness reflects every single identification and non-identification—all opposing pairs, all subjects and objects, the entirety of existence and non-existence... to put it poetically
Identification is just an unconscious biological mechanism designed for survival
The only way to survive among the Self + idiots is to become a Self + idiot yourself among them
Ethan Hill said:You can't claim you don't care—I mean, you clearly care enough to post, and you care enough to read what others say. That’s just how this forum works. And man, don't even get me started on life in general—books, music, even just exploring different types of mushrooms or food. You have to be interested in something.😬 If you truly didn't care about anything, you'd just be sitting there in total emptiness doing absolutely nothing. But since you're here typing and reading, it shows you actually give a damn.
Ah, blissful ignorance. 😬 🙏
The more you learn, the more you realize you haven't actually figured out a single thing. That's why spirituality is the ultimate escape from all that knowledge.
I don't read to acquire facts—you can't really "know" anything just by reading.
I read for inspiration... certain works hit me with incredible force.
Things that once seemed impossible or beyond my wildest imagination (stuff I could only ever read about someone else doing) have become my reality—my everyday life.
I've even been lucky enough to have my own journey inspire someone else...
Ethan Hill said:I’ve got my own takes on things, mostly based on my gut feeling. But, I mean, I can't wrap my head around something if I didn't even know it existed in the first place. 😬 Plus, I actually enjoy hearing what other people know. It's not like I'm always following their lead or anything.
You still haven't told me, though—where does all your knowledge actually come from? 😬
From nowhere—honestly, I don't know anything about any of this, nor do I care.😵
Ethan Hill said:So, what kind of knowledge are you actually basing this "original" realization on? How can you claim to understand anything without it being some reflection of someone else? I mean, how can you have a take on the soul—or anything else, really—without being guided by something you read, learned, or were spoon-fed? Or maybe you don't actually have a stance on the soul at all?
How does one grasp anything without being guided by everything they've been taught or programmed to believe?
That is a genuinely profound question—and it isn't something people typically "install" in you. People usually just hand you the answers; nobody actually wants you to ask the question. So, go ahead... ask yourself, and let me know where you land.
And while you're busy questioning it, try to forget everything you think you know—or don't know...
You’re just recycling definitions and data—knowledge, software, and tools you either scraped from the web or had baked into you through some sort of programmed upbringing...
Your views aren't yours, your thoughts aren't yours, your taste isn't yours, and your standards aren't even yours—it's all just brutally hardwired into you to ensure you stay shaped in a very specific way.
You have no idea what’s actually happening in the world until you turn on the news, check a paper, or watch TV.
Maybe the news can tell you what *isn't* happening—which isn't useless, I suppose—but you still won't truly know what *is*.
Wikipedia isn't much different from AI these days—honestly, there's almost no distinction left. Once you type a term into Google, you basically have to be capable of judging what actually makes sense and what doesn't
The truth is, most people think exactly like an AI—they just accept things without any real comprehension, knowing only what was hardwired into them through upbringing and schooling. That education doesn't even encourage independent thought; it’s just about the brute force memorization of "facts." In the modern school system, critical thinking is practically forbidden—until finally, a person becomes a true system BOT, nothing more than a soulless mess
From what I gather, the soul is what makes you alive—the actual spark within you—and once that leaves, you're dead
Emily Scott68 said:The general function of labeling is widely understood as a method of categorization, helping people distinguish one product from another. For instance, telling chicken apart from beef.
In a social context, however, labels serve as a way to categorize and identify individuals—a practice many view as a fundamental driver of prejudice and discrimination.
Maybe try brushing up on some Deleuze and Guattari—read A Thousand Plateaus; an introduction to the politics of desire. That might actually help you guide an AI program toward some interesting cultural theories. Or dive into Massumijev's Guide Through Capitalism and Schizophrenia, or even work through the stuff by Žark Paić, our most fascinating cultural theorist... You really need a broader educational foundation to make sense of AI tools and get anything worthwhile out of them. Even when it comes to spirituality, having a complete grasp of postmodern terminology and theory in general is essential.
Thomas Nelson25 said:Spiritual experiences can definitely stem from the ego—or maybe that's just consciousness itself—but it always feels like you're expanding or just totally drowning in everything.
Now, whether that's just some brain trick or the real deal... honestly, who cares.
Other theories suggest the soul is the self—the core center of being. It’s mostly just unconscious, though, so the whole point of spirituality is basically just waking up.
People generally act like "soul" and "mind" are interchangeable terms.
But what actually constitutes a mind? What defines a soul? Honestly, figuring out if either even exists is something everyone has to tackle on their own...
Spirit, soul, mind—it's all just semantics at this point.
Emily Scott68 said:Memory can be defined as the imprinting of various excitation levels into a linguistic field. This structure is complex, housing specific linguistic representations that serve as the sole valid configurations—essentially, the only permissible solutions or allowed states of arousal—for any given structure. One might say that the process of imprinting this field, which constitutes memory itself, acts as a sort of "registration" or an indexed "catalog" of these permitted excitation levels.
Field equations are essentially timeless and non-local. A field does not possess temporal or spatial characteristics. The Id (functioning as the state function of the field or its wave function) yields solutions that do not rely on the use of any spatial or temporal linguistic elements.
The asymmetry of the arrow of time is derived from the Superground, which preserves representations of the external world. In doing so, it records the inherent informational asymmetry of the field itself (memory). We possess access to information from the past, yet we lack access to information regarding the future. The Superground is deeply linked to data processing—the representation of reality—and, consequently, to both informational and thermodynamic (temporal) asymmetries.
The sensation of the present, conversely, is provided by the Ego. It monitors activities on the ground that, by definition, occur "simultaneously." Thus, the Ego experiences itself as being "simultaneous," "coincident," and immediate.
Unless this is just some brutally pseudo-intellectual bullshit, try shaping it into one or two simple, understandable sentences so that Gingerin and I can actually grasp what the poet was getting at—since apparently, you're incapable of doing so. As it stands, this is just neurotic nonsense without a shred of meaning... you can feed this kind of garbage to idiots, but you end up sounding like one yourself.
You’ll find it if you head to a monastery—then all your problems just vanish. You won't even need those measly $31 tips for yourself or anyone else; you'll be part of a great crew with Christ in your heart—you just have to sacrifice your comfy little life, easy as pie...
shadowlynx102 said:I am 100% certain that won't let me see the actual password on my phone—just a QR code.
I told you exactly what to do, yet here we are... surely you know someone with a laptop and an Ethernet port? Just plug directly into the router, log in, and either view the password or change it. I don't see the issue.
A quick 35-second Google search: To access the web config: - default IP=192.168.0.1 - user=leave blank - pass=admin
Edit: actually, you can do this from your phone too.
🙏🙏🙏
Yeah, yeah... that's the WPA Pre-shared Key right there. Thanks to you and everyone else. It's clearly not easy explaining something this simple to a dummy like me... Didn't need a laptop after all—did it from my desktop. Took less than 35 seconds.
shadowlynx102 said:I am 100% certain that I can't actually see the password on my phone this way—only a QR code.
I told you exactly what to do, so stop being difficult... surely you know someone with a laptop and an Ethernet port? Just plug directly into the router, log in, and view the password or just change it. I don't see where the issue lies.
A quick 35-second Google search: To access the web config: - default IP=192.168.0.1 - user=leave blank - pass=admin
Edit: You can also get this done using your phone.
Yeah, I'm there, but what am I supposed to be looking for? Wireless MAC address? WPA Pre-shared Key?
urbanheron4 said:No, I meant check directly on the phone itself. If it’s connected to the router via Wi-Fi, you had to enter a password at some point—that info is stored right there in the device settings. I sent you a link with instructions for Android, assuming that's what you're running. It might vary slightly depending on which version of Android you have... can you follow these English instructions?
For Android 10 and above
Open the Wi-Fi or Internet submenu in Settings. Tap the current network or select "Saved networks" and choose one. Tap "Share" below the network's name. Authenticate yourself if you have device security set up. See the plain text password under the QR code.
All I'm getting is some MAC address... and an IP address... none of this is actually helping.