Posts by Paul Rogers94

Charles Wood73 said:True enough. Lucid dreamers know they’re dreaming, astral travelers believe they’re in the astral realm, shamans claim to be wandering through one of three or nine different worlds, and partygoers know they managed to score some top-shelf stuff this time around... meanwhile, anthropologists will tell you the difference isn't found in the insight or the sensation itself, but rather in the cultural framework used to label it. 😬

I can wrap my head around all of them, except for the folks who blindly follow Leadbeater and his crowd instead of just trying things out for themselves to see what’s actually there. A gram of practice is worth more than a ton of theory.

🙂 is 🙂

It's time for the people to revive their spirituality

Paul Ross2 said:I was referring to this:

All of this feels somewhat reminiscent of the Chod ritual.

ah, okay...
I thought you were replying to Gregory Jackson🙂

Paul Ross2 said:The term Rinpoche—it’s essentially synonymous with Gollum’s "Precious." Back home, people tend to translate it simply as "Gold," but that misses the mark entirely; it actually refers to something truly precious.

I remember him from back before the internet was even a thing. Now that he’s online... well, it's interesting to watch. He seems to share that same specific trait found in Leadbeater—and let's not forget Osho Rajneesh (if we can ever forget the whole saga involving those 100 Gold Rolls-Royces and the endless parade of young women). Of course, we had our own localized, slightly smaller-scale versions of that particular brand of chaos right here in the States—think of someone like Don Ante Baković and his Jeep Grand Cherokee, or even how Aziz Makaj (Franjo Miličević) wasn't exactly far off from that orbit either.

The accusations leveled against Sogyal Rinpoche—ranging from sexual and physical assault to the blatant misuse of charitable funds—aren't exactly recent developments; in fact, they stretch all the way back to the 1970s. One has to wonder: how much longer can such systemic issues remain under the surface?

Back in 1994, a massive $10 million civil lawsuit was leveled against Sogyal Rinpoche. The core of the allegation? That he allegedly leveraged his authority as a spiritual mentor to coerce a female student into a sexual relationship. It wasn't just a simple accusation, either—the legal complaint went much further, citing claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, a breach of fiduciary duty, and even outright assault and battery. Ultimately, the whole matter was settled out of court, avoiding a public trial.

Back in 2011, some rather serious allegations resurfaced—this time brought to light by journalist Mary Finnigan, who, if you recall, was actually the primary author behind the original piece back in 1995.

Back in 2014, Marion Dapsance concluded a grueling seven-year investigation into the life and actions of Sogyal Rinpoche. It wasn't just abstract allegations, either—by 2016, *Time* magazine had published the harrowing testimony of "Mimi," a former long-term assistant to Sogyal Rinpoche, who detailed the systematic sexual and psychological abuse she and her colleagues were forced to endure. Then there was the internal fallout: in 2015, Olivier Raurich, who had served as the longtime director of Rigpa France, resigned from the organization—not just for a change of pace, mind you, but as an outright protest against what he described as a suffocatingly dictatorial atmosphere. To top it all off, another survivor finally found the courage to go public during the June 13, 2017, broadcast of the American investigative program *Brandpunt*. One has to wonder: how much longer could such a culture of control actually persist?

Fair observation—if only he’d actually notice any wisdom worth sifting through, that would be something...

I once posted a quote from Ramana Maharshi on Facebook—paired with that classic image of him sitting on a tiger skin—and honestly, it was hilarious. Not one of his hardcore followers noticed the profound wisdom in his words... instead, everyone just lost their minds over the fact that he was sitting on the hide of a dead tiger. Typical...

And that’s exactly why it’s such a nightmare for people to separate the wheat from the chaff...

Wasn't Zar Buddha a king, just like Janak?

Beyond that, Sogyal Rinpoche falls under the Milarepa lineage—that whole "crazy wisdom" thing—which is defined by those avadhutas and mahasiddhas who are essentially intoxicated by divine madness... people for whom conventional rules just don't apply. Nothing. The norms were always there—those standards that the people living in... Red quarters. They were literally waking up hookers through intercourse—if someone like that spat on you or hurled insults at you, it was considered a massive blessing. That single act would completely strip away a person's negative karma. Sogyal Rinpoche’s behavior is entirely consistent with that logic and his actual state of being... if people only acted that way by merely imitating divine madness, it wouldn't just be useless, it would be... Any behavior that doesn't align with our true state of being—it just causes harm... nothing more, nothing less.Then you’re just kidding yourself...

Even within Sufi mysticism, you find two distinct currents—one follows a standard, pretty disciplined path... Naqshbandi...and the other one is... Malamatiyya What exactly is this "path of blame" concept? It’s the idea that you have to go out and commit actual transgressions just to connect with the divine—essentially acting out your darkest impulses to confront the shadow you hide behind a mask of socially acceptable morality...

So, let me get this straight—neither how someone acts nor what they own can serve as any kind of yardstick for spirituality...

Gregory Jackson said:Thanks, I’ll definitely give that a look. I’m really hoping Rinpoche goes a bit deeper than just the immediate post-mortem stuff, and honestly, I’m crossing my fingers that the language isn't too heavily tied to strict Buddhist terminology—otherwise, I might be stuck hovering over a dictionary the whole time.

I'm mostly curious about the actual roadmap of progress after we leave this material life, you know? Like, the whole process of moving through various astral planes after death while working through the exhaustion of desires, eventually hitting that second death, reaching Devachan, and all that good stuff... basically, what life and development actually look like in those spaces between incarnations.

it hit me hard back when I thought nothing could impress me anymore

You need some prior knowledge—there’s probably some kind of glossary involved...

And you always have to know what's being discussed. If you're reading something like Jacob Boheme's Morning Glow in the East, you won't understand a thing unless you study the spirit of the language used at that time. For instance, if you don't immediately link the bitterness, acidity, and sweetness he constantly mentions back to the gunas (tamas, rajas, and sattva), then the whole reading experience is completely pointless...

Dammit, you have to have some points of reference to compare things against; you have to be able to recognize them within a broader context and find where they actually fit.

It took me about ten years to truly grasp a little booklet that was written in just three days—to the point where I can say I "see through it"—but it was worth it. 🙂

Just pick up the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying; I'm sure you won't have any trouble with it.

Paul Ross2 said:Oh, absolutely. This should clear up quite a bit.

Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche

Paul Ross2 said:Exactly. Jazz serves as a perfect example of moving away from classical constraints. In classical theory, when building chord progressions, you generally stick to tones within a specific scale. Jazz doesn't play by those rules; a simple four-chord progression might pull tones from as many as four different scales simultaneously.

Jazz also utilizes harmonies that don't attempt to minimize tension, which is why it can sound so dissonant.

Regarding the physics of beats and interference, there is a decent read on the subject here:
http://www.precisionstrobe.com/apps/...mp/temper.html

Anyway, I’d like to pivot back to Theosophy for a moment.
Why do I hold any affection for Theosophists? It isn't necessarily because of their doctrines—which can be quite cacophonous and bear a striking resemblance to today's New Age movements (it's a bit of a mixed bag, really).

However, a few things about them are genuinely compelling:
1. During H. P. Blavatsky's era, Theosophists were essentially adventurers. They sought out cultures that have since been swallowed by a materialistic world (for instance, one could argue the most aggressive drivers of modern corporate exploitation are certain groups in India). Look at places like Nepal or the Vajra cults, or even the Dugpa mentioned by Blavatsky (the Buddhist sects like Dag Dugpa or Drukpa). They documented these expeditions in their writings, providing us with a historical record we can still study today.

2. They possessed some incredible scientific outliers. Take, for example, Crookes' spiral periodic system, which alternative scientists today use to try and explain that mysterious, degenerate matter they call ORMEs. Sir William Crookes was a Theosophist—or at least closely linked to the movement—and his system was embraced by Theosophists through their occult chemistry.
https://theosophy.wiki/en/William_Crookes

3. Regardless of how one views the man himself, Leadbeater's work describes multiple planes of existence—concepts that later inspired Anthroposophists like Rudolf Steiner.

And those worlds he describes don't exist—at least, not in the way he claims they do. I'm not saying the Devachan or astral planes aren't real, but his descriptions have zero correlation with reality. I picked up that little pamphlet on the Devachan variety last night just to flip through it—I wasn't interested in it even when I was a kid—and honestly? It’s useless. First off, it doesn't actually explain anything about the Devachan variety; once you finish reading, you aren't any closer to understanding it—you're just confused. The West only heard about the Devachan level through Leadbeater, and they swallowed it whole without any other framework or way to compare it to anything else. The only thing in his little book that actually connects to the Devachan is the title itself, and then people spend all their time debating whether he actually understood what the Devachan was or if he was just playing around with astral planes. Leadbeater didn't know anything about anything; he was just spinning his own theories regarding the Devachan, the astral planes, and so on. I've read several of his other booklets, and they are all equally pointless—at best, you walk away with wrong impressions because someone with no clue can just ramble about whatever pops into their head... which is exactly what happens here. Everything he wrote is worthless and explains nothing. I reread the Devachan variety again last night, and if someone were to ask me, "Okay, you read it, so what does it say about the Devachan level?" 🤔🤔🤔 I wouldn't be able to summarize it for them, because it says absolutely nothing.
My two previous posts on this thread contain more substance and sense regarding the Devachan variety—offering at least a hint of an actual impression—than you could ever find in Leadbeater's entire body of work.

I’m genuinely curious: what basis do people have for judging whether Leadbeater "mastered" the Devachan or the astral planes? He only knows what the Devachan and astral planes are because he learned it from Leadbeater, which means he knows absolutely nothing and is completely muddled on the subject.

I truly see no contribution from Leadbeater to anything whatsoever, let alone to our understanding of the astral, the astral planes, the Devachan, etc. In fact, he just created a massive mess, leaving us with people who use his nonsense to claim he mastered certain things when he actually mastered nothing. If anyone thinks otherwise, feel free to try and convince me.

Since we're discussing Theosophy and its literature: back in the day, I actually liked Blavatsky's *The Secret Doctrine*—regardless of whether she received those messages from Ascended Masters or just sent them to herself—just so it doesn't seem like I have some blanket vendetta against Theosophy.

Carol Ramos2 said:Depends on who you ask. 🙂

Isn't the point actually part of the mind? 😬🤦
.. Fine, I'm done. Can tell you're getting worked up tripping over your own nonsense.
👋

it's all just bad wine 😛

There's no way I'm getting upset—not even on a forum. I just have a colorful way of putting things sometimes. We're all stuck in the same mess, so how could I possibly be bothered?
And what the hell do you mean "you don't sleep"? 🤣

Carol Ramos2 said:🍿

You say feeling comes first and then the mental chatter follows, but I’m asking you: how do you actually know the mind didn't just process the emotion before you even felt it?
So, can we also talk about what it actually feels like to exist without a mind?

What kind of damn "feeling without a mind" are we even talking about? A feeling is just a mental construct—it's part of the mind, just like everything else we can actually grasp. We're all stuck in this same loop of things that make sense... the whole point is always found in the stuff that doesn't.

Carol Ramos2 said:Quote:But you can see the pattern: the feeling hits first, then the mental movie starts playing.

Paul Rogers94 says: Some biker made a pretty sharp point here: We’re basically slaves to our own thoughts because they're hardwired to our feelings and desires. Feelings act as the glue connecting the mental loop to physical action. That’s the trap—we're held hostage by our own fantasies. If you notice, certain moods always trigger the exact same mental movies. If you're pissed off, you run the same "they screwed me over" or "I'll show them" script—always centered on some perceived slight. Same goes for sexual urges; everyone’s got their specific rerun. Every feeling has its go-to mental narrative. It's repetitive.

How do you actually know if your brain hasn't processed those emotions yet?

How do I pray? 🤣
I'm out in the middle of nowhere—just asking for a signpost, a compass, some moss to follow, North Star guidance, clarity...

Carol Ramos2 said:Just feelings? 🍿

A biker makes a pretty sharp observation here:

We’re slaves to our own thoughts—mostly because they’re hardwired to our feelings and desires/actions.

Basically, emotions act as the connective tissue between the mental narrative and physical action.

And that’s where we get trapped—in our own fantasies.

If you pay attention, you'll notice that certain emotions—especially the intense ones—trigger the exact same mental movies every single time.

If you're pissed off, you run the same script: "They screwed me over" or "I'm going to tear them apart"—some cinematic loop centered around a fundamental sense of being wronged.

When it comes to sexual desire, it's the same deal; everyone runs their own specific script based on what they're into.

So, every emotion has its corresponding mental story—and vice versa. It's almost always the same loop for the same feeling.

But notice this: the feeling hits first, and *then* the mental story kicks in. Before that initial spark, the story doesn't even exist in your head.

The story has to be there to anchor the feeling. You don't feel anything about a random flag on a pole—it’s irrelevant and triggers nothing—so you don't waste mental energy on it. You don't dwell on things that don't move you.
...

Charles Wood73 said:Well, I'm not really cycling through it anymore, but I remember what it felt like when I was, you know? I get the underlying mechanics of it. Nowadays... honestly, I just don't care. Whether things feel empty, full, or just a giant mess—I mean, I don't even think about it... it's all pretty much the same to me. I show up here mostly out of sheer habit, kind of like how ghosts haunt old houses—not because I'm looking to gain some profound insight, learn a lesson, or engage in some heated debate. I'm just here because sometimes there's a bit of twisted, dark humor to be found that hits just right. Everything finally clicked into place not because I put in some massive effort, but precisely because I stopped trying so hard. If that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, your words are incredibly transparent, beautiful, and they actually make sense.

And don't you dare apologize to God, to the public, or even to yourself.
That would be anti-spiritual.

George Wood2 said:It is. 👍 Losing all your knowledge is beautiful. At least, initially.

Prometheus observed this correctly.

It doesn't matter what others think of you.

What matters even less is what you think of yourself.

Charles Wood73 said:Cheers. There’s a passage in the Gospel... let me paraphrase because I can't be bothered to go hunting for the exact wording... you cast that certain Devil out of a house (or a person), you clean up all the mess he left behind... and then that Devil returns to a tidy, organized space, settles in, and tells you, "Alright, big shot, try kicking me out now."

Of course, we aren't talking about exorcisms or anything like that. It's more that once you discard the contents of the mind—the knowledge, the beliefs, the structures, the ego, the trivial nonsense—you achieve that peace, that insight, that realization... well, then you might get a day or two of enjoying that 'emptiness' before the trash starts piling up again. It settles back in, becomes stronger, more structured, more organized. And then it happens again. And again. And again. It's a bit like breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

So, when someone goes through this process multiple times—which is evident from the fact that they can speak about it in their own words (which, by the way, are much clearer and more transparent than mine)—they need something a little more potent to shock them and kick them out of the structure. If the mold won't do it, the trolls will; that's just how nature works.

If you're going through that cycle over and over, it just means you haven't actually completed it.

And that person swinging back and forth between the internal and external—between the void and the chaos—has also been seen...

That "void" you think you reach by "clearing your mind" is just another part of the mind itself, and it needs clearing too...
So then you see if there’s anything left worth returning to.

Otherwise, your words are very transparent, clear, and beautiful.

George Wood2 said:Oh, absolutely. :spiritual_vibe: Total nonsense. 🤣
He's so obsessed with maintaining this "spiritual guru" persona that he refuses to challenge his own narrow little version of 'gnosis.' He just keeps cutting everything short to protect his ego... and in doing so, he loses all authenticity. Absolute amateurs.

Sometimes you really do sound like a little devious devil 🙂

Charles Wood73 said:Cheers. There’s a passage in the Gospel... let me paraphrase because I can't be bothered to go hunting for the exact wording... you cast that certain Devil out of a house (or a person), you clean up all the mess he left behind... and then that Devil returns to a tidy, organized space, settles in, and tells you, "Alright, big shot, try kicking me out now."

Of course, we aren't talking about exorcisms or anything like that. It's more that once you discard the contents of the mind—the knowledge, the beliefs, the structures, the ego, the trivial nonsense—you achieve that peace, that insight, that realization... well, then you might get a day or two of enjoying that 'emptiness' before the trash starts piling up again. It settles back in, becomes stronger, more structured, more organized. And then it happens again. And again. And again. It's a bit like breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

So, when someone goes through this process multiple times—which is evident from the fact that they can speak about it in their own words (which, by the way, are much clearer and more transparent than mine)—they need something a little more potent to shock them and kick them out of the structure. If the mold won't do it, the trolls will; that's just how nature works.

when you discard the one doing the discarding, nothing ever returns to anyone again.

Charles Wood73 said:Cheers. There’s a passage in the Gospel... let me paraphrase because I can't be bothered to go hunting for the exact wording... you cast that certain Devil out of a house (or a person), you clean up all the mess he left behind... and then that Devil returns to a tidy, organized space, settles in, and tells you, "Alright, big shot, try kicking me out now."

Of course, we aren't talking about exorcisms or anything like that. It's more that once you discard the contents of the mind—the knowledge, the beliefs, the structures, the ego, the trivial nonsense—you achieve that peace, that insight, that realization... well, then you might get a day or two of enjoying that 'emptiness' before the trash starts piling up again. It settles back in, becomes stronger, more structured, more organized. And then it happens again. And again. And again. It's a bit like breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

So, when someone goes through this process multiple times—which is evident from the fact that they can speak about it in their own words (which, by the way, are much clearer and more transparent than mine)—they need something a little more potent to shock them and kick them out of the structure. If the mold won't do it, the trolls will; that's just how nature works.

Look, us non-religious types don't bother cleaning—we hire a maid while we deal with much more important things. Besides, the Devil and I are on friendly terms—more than that, actually. He has his place and his sanctuary in my heart; he works for me, and he lives in a doghouse where he belongs—that Devil is ME.

Carol Ramos2 said:

Honestly, it’s pretty cool when someone actually has that kind of mindset.Yeah.Gurdjieff. 🙂

How are you supposed to wrap your head around that without even using your brain? 😬

intuitively

George Wood2 said:An interesting observation, 🤣 indeed; except that I agree with the parts I disagree with, offering a secondary perspective that the aforementioned proud moderator hasn't quite grasped yet. Not yet... Mind you. But he copies and follows 🙂, which is pointless 😁 though admittedly clever. Yet, he truly lacks any sense of tact when he abruptly cuts off a spontaneous dialogue in his own secret. 😬
But all of this, it simply is, It is!

I wouldn't say they're just copying and following; there's actual consistency there. It's not like a blind chicken stumbling onto a grain of corn every once in a while—there is a logic to what is being said. They don't contradict themselves without reason, which wouldn't be possible without some foundation of true understanding. You can't fake that.

I don't know about quoting, but here are just a few things that meet resistance despite actually being expressions of deeper insight.

That's how the biker puts it; and there are plenty more wise and profound thoughts:

'stilling the mind allows for direct realization and insight'

'what requires the mind isn't spirituality, but rather exactly what needs to be cast aside'

'I've already written somewhere that I have discarded my beliefs several times—once my faith, and a few times the knowledge I identified with. And I would have no problem discarding my current knowledge again...'

🙏

Would you also be able to discard your current beliefs, knowledge, and practices just as easily if there was any truth to them?

And as you clearly know, reasoning is not the path to realization. Isn't that in itself a rare and respectable thing? Or perhaps the act of casting off current knowledge and beliefs is a serious leap toward realization.

Honestly, it gladdens me when someone truly possesses that kind of understanding. 🙂

That sort of genuine insight usually meets massive resistance from those who simply don't get it.

That doesn't mean it shouldn't be put to the test.

The difference is that you, quite rightly, have no desire to engage in an utterly senseless debate with an irrational mind—so you come across like some enlightened autistic. Meanwhile, the biker has a neurotic syndrome or maybe just a "professional deformity"—perhaps some vestige of a certain mental control practice where one stays composed while debating every idiot, even though it's a suicide mission.

Long live the trash. 🤣

Free shrink analysis.

Freemasonry traces its lineage from the builder of Hiram’s temple, through Faustian figures like Castor, all the way to Christian Rosenkreuz and his Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn, and eventually the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite—which, let's be honest, is just a nod to the 10 sephirot, the 22 paths, and the Deity. Since then, it’s undergone this brutal, progressive dilution until we're left with the hollowed-out shell we see today. Back during the height of the Golden Dawn, Freemasonry was actually a complete system; even those Theosophists and Steiner types were somehow tethered to branches of the Golden Dawn...

The history of Freemasonry summarized in two overly long sentences.

lonestag15 said:Whatever, it doesn't even matter... honestly, just having something to go on puts me at a neutral starting point—no real experience to speak of. I tend to trust people when they share their stories... I mean, why would they make all that up? And why would there be so many accounts if it wasn't actually happening... Is it basically the "kindergarten" phase of spirituality? Sure, absolutely... but it's still pretty interesting...

The only thing I’ve got going on that even touches on projection is this weird sensation... like my gut just flares up with this intense, overwhelming rush of love, and then I get this premonition—like some part of me is actually detaching through my core and just drifting away. It feels totally autonomous, too. I have zero memory of where that "other self" went or what it was even doing... if it was even doing anything at all...

Astral projection... honestly, nobody ever describes it accurately—not even when they’re talking about lucid dreaming...

So, here’s my totally amateur-hour experience;

As part of my practice, I’d wake up in the middle of the night every single night, get my business done, and head right back to bed.
One night, I did the exact same thing—got up, finished my tasks, went back to bed—only to realize I’d forgotten to turn off the light.
I stood up and reached for the switch to kill the light, but for some incredibly bizarre reason, I just couldn't make it happen.
Then I turned around and saw myself lying there in bed.
In reality, I had performed the entire midnight ritual without ever actually waking up or getting out of bed.
Being a complete novice at the time, it was... a pretty fascinating experience.

Hopefully, this won't land me in the trash bin. 🙂