Posts by Paul Rogers94

lonestag15 said:What even was that? Lol, just a total stream of consciousness—no paragraphs, no periods, no commas... nothing. 😁

Just kidding... obviously... (now I’m definitely gonna end up in the trash, lol)...

It’s pure concentrate 🤣

But it doesn't matter when everyone else is still stuck on outdated, romanticized Theosophical teachings—like attracts like, after all—clinging to those shallow New Age nonsense trends. That is, except for Motorist, our esteemed moderator, who actually grasps some fundamental principles (huge respect there, without being overly cynical—which is a rare, almost unique occurrence these days). And, heavens, Thor. It actually seems like they both operate on roughly the same level of understanding; it's just that Thor is "a bit" more radical while Motorist takes a more traditional approach. 🙂

lonestag15 said:So, does anyone here actually have some firsthand insight into astral planes or any real experience with astral projection? (Just looking for someone who can actually back up or debunk what’s being said)

... because most of these theories coming from "spiritual gurus" are basically just pulled out of thin air—and honestly, every single organization or society has its own specific cosmogony and set of theories that you simply don't have the bandwidth to study all at once. If you tried to soak it all in, your brain would end up feeling like a total mess of half-baked "knowledge"...

Every group looks pretty appealing on the surface, but once you start digging deeper—kind of like with religions—you just start finding a massive pile of holes and nonsense in the whole system..

I've had countless experiences with astral projection and various astral planes—but honestly, it’s just spiritual kindergarten... actually, more like nursery school.🙂

Drew Moore5 said:Look, unlike many other theosophists, Leadbiter actually had genuine insight into the astral plane, which was widely recognized. However, that doesn't apply to Devahan, which operates on an entirely different level.
The astral plane is essentially a realm of images that sit behind reality. Devahan, on the other hand, is a realm of sound behind reality. Even if his description of Devahan isn't perfect, I suspect he would agree with that distinction. Honestly, Devahan can't really be described systematically; you can only approach it through certain outlines or principles.

To recap: Leadbiter was an Anglican priest who joined the Theosophical Society, got kicked out, then got let back in, eventually becoming a bishop for the so-called Free Catholic Church in Australia. He was also initiated into Freemasonry during that time.

He faced accusations regarding teaching boys assigned to him about masturbation. Without passing judgment ourselves, we should look at the consensus of his contemporaries. A significant number of Theosophical Society members, including Annie Besant, pushed for his expulsion. And he was expelled. We won't dwell on the specific accusation from one boy regarding his sexuality, but the fact remains: Besant, who basically ran the Society, eventually changed her mind and allowed him back in.
Aleister Crowley wrote in 'The Equinox' that he was a "senile sexual maniac."

Then there's Krishnamurti, which is a whole different story. As the son of a Theosophical Society member (convenient, right?), he was intended to be the vessel for some sort of Messiah, though nobody was quite sure which one. After a few years, he walked away and headed to Australia. Once Krishnamurti matured, he tried to reject the labels people forced upon him, but it was a losing battle. He practically had no choice. Fortunately, Krishnamurti himself was a decent person, even if his personality was crushed under a massive burden.

Since your avatar is the Ukrainian flag, it suggests that your emotions are driving your logic. That’s not necessarily a catastrophe at your level—that's how most people operate. But it becomes dangerous if those emotions push you toward action (like changing an avatar, for instance), because emotions are the easiest things to manipulate.

Image and sound are inseparable—one is born from the understanding gained through the experience of Devahan, and Devahan carries its own specific description: a sun rising over the mountains accompanied by powerful thunder (from a clear sky)—that image belongs to that sound; the sound is inseparable from the image.

I once started a thread titled is the universe real or unreal—here are some of my insights derived directly from that experience, just passing them along for the sake of clarity;

Is the manifest universe real or unreal?
It is neither real nor unreal.
It can only be real or unreal from a limited perspective.
Take, as a parable, the sight of the sun over the mountains.>
Is it rising or setting?
It is either rising or setting only from the viewpoint of the observer.
In itself, the sun knows nothing of rising or setting.
The sun doesn't even know it is the sun (it simply IS).
Conceptualization begins and ends within the mind.
From the "viewpoint" of the Absolute, there are no sunrises or sunsets.
Nor is there any sun that rises or sets.
The story of rising and setting is merely a fabrication.
Just like the story of reality and unreality.
There is nothing that is real or unreal.
Everything simply *is* as it is, without the narrative attached.
From the standpoint of relative consciousness—the standpoint of the mind—it necessarily must be either rising or setting.
The mind "forces" you to adopt a viewpoint, so depending on where you look from, it is either rising or setting.
By its very nature, the mind lacks the capacity to grasp any idea that does not have its opposite.
For the mind, no absolute category exists; it reduces everything to its own level.
Meaning, it must be either real or unreal, either existing or non-existing.
The mind is the universe.
The mind consists of mental contents.
The mind cannot experience absolute reality directly; instead, it perceives it through concepts and ideas.
What we commonly refer to as reality (the manifest universe) is merely our interpretation—the interpretation of the mind.
Directly experienced reality knows nothing of concepts or minds.
From the "standpoint" of the Absolute, there is no compulsion to conceptually define one's viewpoint (and that is precisely the "freedom from" that spirituality actually strives for).
For the Absolute, there are no concepts.
There is no existence or non-existence.
There is no reality or unreality.
There is no absolute or relative.
There is no me and others.

There is nothing to choose, nor is there anyone to do the choosing.
There is no separation from the so-called supreme reality.
Nor is there anyone striving toward it.
Because there is nothing except the supreme reality.
Except we don't know that.

This game of enlightenment is merely a play of the mind.

Consequently, for the mind, there is no such thing as an absolute, and for the Absolute, there is no such thing as a mind.

Basically, Devon’s whole experience centers on opening the Anat chakra—which ties directly into astral projection. Once you unlock Anat, you gain access to what some call siddhis, specifically astral projection and those internal vibrational sounds. In fact, Draganov’s mentor, Abba Aziz Makaj, built his entire philosophy and teachings on love around Devon’s specific experiences. Back when Leadbiter was talking about Devon, describing astral planes and these out-of-body experiences... man, it was mind-blowing. No one had ever heard anything like it. Looking back from where we are now, though? Those descriptions feel pretty dated—just romanticized Leadbiter nonsense based on books rather than any actual firsthand experience with what Devon or astral projection really entails. Nowadays, Leadbiter’s expertise has basically leveled down to giving foot massages for wellness 🙂

I can actually play games now—not sure what I clicked to fix it, but they're working 🙂

Even Google can't help me here...

It’s totally routine—I log into Facebook, try to jump into a game like some slots title or Candy Crush, and then this happens



Since none of the suggested passwords actually work, I click on forgot my password.
Then they send some numeric code to my email—something like 219655
. But instead of letting me in, it just asks if I want to change my Facebook password...
Basically, they're just running me in circles like an idiot
And even though I'm playing along with everything they ask
I still haven't been able to play any games for months now🕺
Is there some simple trick to finally get back into these games?
I've tried every setting under the sun and nothing changes

restlessdriver said:That's an interesting observation, just explained through a different lens. Thanks. I would only add that I don't feel like every exchange of energy is a bad thing, especially if a group of people is working together toward a common goal or self-improvement. In that scenario, everyone relies on everyone else; if one person falters, they pull the rest down because the "junk" one person fails to clear out affects the whole group. Or, conversely, one person's clean energy can lift everyone else up.

What you're describing—this constant recapitulation and returning of energy—is a bit more of an individualistic approach, a specific technique, much like self-preservation...

Gurdijeff argues that the whole point of "group work" is that your weakest link inevitably surfaces within a group. You simply cannot hide the very things that need overcoming—things you might never even notice if you were working entirely alone. Ultimately, it isn't about hanging out with people just like you. Personally, I'm not much for groups or "group work," but I am willing to face things exactly as they ARE... self-deception only leads to a dead end. Total honesty with oneself and everything else is the key.

I appreciate both your thoughts and the biker's "reflections"—there's a certain integrity in how you both express them.

Paul Rogers94 said:Watching a movie on my laptop when suddenly this lock out message pops up and the whole thing just dies. What actually happened here, and how do I get my laptop back up and running?

In the meantime, I hit Ctrl + alt + del and everything seems fine now... 😁

I was going to delete this, but figured if someone else runs into the same issue, they might find this helpful...

Watching a movie on my laptop when suddenly this lock out message pops up and the whole thing just dies. What actually happened here, and how do I get my laptop back up and running?

Quote : art with Heart

Thomas Nelson25 said:But what if those phantom projections were actually just a stage of evolution?

I feel like every philosophy out there... is just an author projecting their own version of the world based on their ideas.

The most basic level is just... meeting needs and satisfying them.
Then there's the whole thing where Western society basically manufactures neurotics... or whatever.

What evolution? Give me just one single example from the entire history of all species. I’m not exactly denying obvious biological adaptations to certain environments—that's a different thing entirely—but that has nothing to do with evolution. Despite the massive spread of technology, we’re still living in a strictly slave-based society where this concept called "labor" remains a top-tier "human" value...
I might eventually accept self-awareness as a defining evolutionary milestone—something that sets the human race apart from everything else—assuming we even reached that stage to begin with. But the true evolutionary leap? That would be the ability to break free from it... which, honestly, seems like a strictly individual experience.
So, if we’re supposed to believe everything kicked off with a Big Bang and just linearly evolved—moving from single-celled organisms to amphibians, then vertebrates, all leading up to a monkey turning into a human—then the whole thing is just a load of nonsense...
Species show up exactly as they are and vanish just as abruptly—there’s no gradual evolution, no layering, not even any biological blending between different kinds. And humans? We're just one species among many. We'll exit the stage exactly the way we entered it, despite all our self-importance... it seems species have an expiration date just like any individual does.
So, evolution is just one of those dominant paradigms we use to try and make sense of the reality we live in—just as meaningless as any other framework, really... since the nature of reality itself is designed to remain forever out of reach.
We can keep believing whatever nonsense pops into our heads—it’s nothing more than an atavistic form of magical thinking, really... just another entry in the catalog of collective delusions. It’s human nature to cling to these illusions, sure—but it’s equally human to cast them aside. That’s the only true evolution—the only real leap forward in "progress."

I’ve lived in both rural towns and major cities, and honestly—there isn't much of a difference once you have money and don't owe anyone anything. If you're completely broke and struggling just to exist, nowhere is going to feel "good." People think moving from the city to the countryside—or vice versa—is some magical fix for their existential crises, but that’s nonsense. Every option has its pros and cons, but movement alone doesn't solve your problems; it's usually just a byproduct of solving them. If I were loaded, I’d live out in the sticks... maybe closer to nature. As it stands, I live wherever I can afford. Fate decided my current reality should be an upscale neighborhood in Chicago, surrounded by nothing but brutal, mindless stupidity. Still, change is always possible—and welcome—even if every move I make is forced rather than chosen. You’d need a massive bank account to live exactly where and how you want, but there’s no sign of that appearing on the horizon for this lifetime. Then again, reality is unpredictable... and miracles happen.

Go live your dream and stop giving a damn about what bluemason3 is up to 🙂

Thomas Nelson25 said:What did those guys actually figure out?
Even that last guy and his whole "return to nature" thing

Where’s the spirituality in any of that?
With the hippies, you at least knew where you stood—today... you just don't know anything

They discovered that living a Self-sufficient lifestyle is nothing more than an impossible fantasy—even Thoreau eventually crawled back to civilization right after finishing his book. Escaping the madness of modern society isn't achieved by fleeing into some imaginary daydream; personally, I think chasing those delusions is a recipe for disaster if you actually try to live by them. At the end of every fantasy, there should be a functional way to live—but in practice, that fulfillment just doesn't exist.

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

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

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

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

A little story to wrap this up:

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

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

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

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

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

The man asked, "And then what?"

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

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

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

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

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

Hopefully you've got Walden & Civil Disobedience and the rest of the Henry David Thoreau collection in there, along with Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions
and, of course, the essential Nietzsche

Brian Young76 said:Everything you're writing seems perfectly fine, but...

I suppose I can't quite agree with the notion that nothing can be realized through the mind. After all, Ramakrishna mentions that the path of devotion is much easier, but the path of knowledge is certainly possible too, even if it is significantly more demanding. One just needs to hold onto the principle of "Not this, not this..."

In my view, the natural sciences actually fit quite nicely with that "Not this, not this..." approach, since they essentially provide answers by defining what is impossible.

cool🙂

Brian Young76 said:I suppose everyone just scratches where it itches (😬), so in that sense...

I've reached a section where Bernadette Roberts and ACIM definitely diverge—specifically regarding who or what brought this material and energetic universe (space-time) into being.

Bernadette Roberts suggests that God cannot create perfection, because doing so would essentially be creating Himself; therefore, she argues that God can only create an imperfect universe like this one. In this regard, I think she aligns more with traditional Jewish, Christian, or Islamic interpretations, where God acts as the Creator of the cosmos.

On the other hand, ACIM posits that God (the Father) can only create perfection (the Son, who is equal in essence), and that the universe was brought forth through the joint action of the Son and the Holy Spirit—essentially the Father's response to the thought of separation.

Then there's a third perspective: the Gospel of Ramakrishna suggests that the universe was created by Kala, and that all of this is merely a grand cosmic play because Kala finds joy in the game. Only Brahman is truly real, while everything else is an illusion (which is actually something ACIM agrees with).

From a fourth angle, Buddha essentially argued that seeking an answer to this question is irrelevant when you are focused on uncovering truth or reaching enlightenment (much like that parable about the poisoned arrow).

So now I find myself wondering... is it even necessary to find a definitive answer to that question if our goal is the actual realization of God?

Hmmmm....... 🤔

Everything I’m trying to say—no matter how I frame it—boils down to one single point: you can't actually realize anything through mere washing... nothing. A direct look into the true nature of reality... It clarifies everything—yet that "everything" can't be captured by language, which is really just an instrument of reason. Everyone has to find their own way through it... and honestly, that’s where the real value lies.

There is no process for gaining direct insight into the true nature of reality—none. There is no way. "Ways" are merely functions of the mind, and if you think you’ve actually found one, then it’s inherently flawed... Direct insight isn't some prize waiting for you at the end of a spiritual marathon.

What you're looking for simply isn't there—because that thing isn't an object that can actually be known...
That’s the thing—it uncovers everything about an object, yet remains fundamentally unknowable...
That is the subject of all subjects...
That is the core of everything—and everything is that...
That’s just the reality of existence—because everything that actually exists is defined by THAT...
That is the ULTIMATE REALITY.
YOU ARE IT.

From the Gospel according to Paul Rogers94...

You can't truly grasp what you are—you can only perceive what you aren't... because you are the one who knows, the pure essence of knowledge itself.

hiddenpuma75 said:So, after those first 30 pages, we hit a section from pages 161 to 174 that dives deep into analyzing and clarifying terms like

PERSON VS INDIVIDUAL.

It covers concepts such as the self, the soul, and the logos.

Then, things get really heavy—we’re moving into the heavyweight division here.😁

What does it actually mean to be Christ? (I'm not talking about Jesus as just a historical figure)
We look at the distinction between Jesus and Christ.

What exactly is the Hypostatic union?

And so on, and so forth.

To wrap it up, Bernadette Roberts says this toward the end, and I'll quote her directly:

The truth is simply unbelievable,🙏 ,and hiddenpuma75, bluemason3, krena, Dragan, and Paul Rogers94 haven't the slightest clue, even if they think they do.''

😲

Christ is the self (consciousness, Atman, the Son within the Trinity), whereas Jesus is merely the externalized, dramatized portrayal of that self—crucified and resurrected. This narrative of consciousness drowning in matter (death) and its subsequent liberation from it (resurrection) is found in every culture throughout history via their various initiations, much like the Orphic mysteries that ritualistically perpetuate the myth of Persephone... personified through natural cycles...

Then there's the Shroud of Turin. There were countless such cloths in the early Middle Ages, and many still exist today—just like the thorns from Christ's crown, the spears that pierced Him, fragments of the cross, or the relics of various saints. These served as lucrative "inputs" for a dull, illiterate medieval majority driven by magical thinking, and they sit in churches today being treated as authentic. Yet, whether they are authentic or not is irrelevant—just as it doesn't matter if Buddha is portly or if he's just some folkloric figure like Budai—so long as one focuses on what the relic or artifact represents. The issue arises when people worship the idol, the thorn, or the cloth itself. I personally believe none of it is authentic and that Christ as a historical individual never existed; He is simply the personification of an archetype—a story of death and rebirth that perhaps every culture in every land has told throughout all of history.

There is nothing more dangerous or ruinous than trying to "ground" these archetypes. Many have tried to engineer a "paradise on earth," yet it always ends in catastrophe...

As for the dialectical distinction between a person and an individual, I could probably spin my own theory out of thin air—it’s not like it would be nonsensical regardless of how you look at it.

By the way, I was watching that YouTube lecture where BR lays out his basic cosmogony. His framework holds up fine; however, your interpretations of it are questionable at best. But I won't descend into nonsense right now—I do respect your personal approach, most of your influences, your sense for the supreme Reality, and your pathless path.

Sandra Murphy33 said:Here’s more. 🙂
For those who can't be bothered to go straight to the source and instead prefer to sip from a glass bottle—specifically a glass one. 😎 )

The concept of "Ashes of Love" isn't just some poetic metaphor; it’s a blunt description of how most people experience the end of an intense emotional attachment. We tend to romanticize the fallout, treating the wreckage of a relationship like a sacred relic, when in reality, it’s often just a messy, hollowed-out version of what used to be there. When we talk about non-duality in this context, we aren't talking about some airy-fairy escape from reality. We are talking about the recognition that the "self" we built around another person—that ego-driven idea that "I am because you are"—is ultimately a construct. When that connection breaks, the collapse feels total because our identity was tethered to the other person. We feel like we are dying, but what is actually dying is a specific, limited way of perceiving ourselves. There is a certain exhaustion that comes with realizing this. It’s a wearying cycle: building up these elaborate structures of love and identity, only to watch them burn down. But if you look closely at the ashes, you realize the fire didn't create the emptiness; it just cleared away the illusions. The void left behind isn't a hole to be filled; it's the space where the illusion used to live. Most people spend their lives trying to prevent the fire. They cling to the structure, terrified of the inevitable burnout. But there’s a quiet, cynical sort of freedom in accepting that everything eventually turns to ash. Once you stop trying to preserve the embers, you stop being a slave to the flame. It’s not about finding peace through happiness; it’s about finding a steady, unshakeable neutrality in the face of constant dissolution.
You can find plenty of that stuff on YouTube if you know where to look.

The digital landscape is increasingly cluttered with superficial content, yet platforms like this one attempt to carve out a space for genuine spiritual inquiry. It’s an interesting corner of the internet, though one has to approach it with a certain level of skepticism regarding how much actual substance is being offered versus mere philosophical window dressing. The site functions as a repository for teachings that lean heavily into non-duality and Advaita Vedanta—concepts that have been around much longer than the fiber-optic cables carrying them. For those looking to dive into deep, contemplative studies, it provides a structured way to consume video content and written reflections. However, if you aren't prepared to sit with some pretty heavy, abstract ideas, you might find the experience more taxing than transformative. It isn't just about passive consumption, either. There's an underlying push toward a specific kind of awareness that requires a decent amount of mental discipline. In a culture obsessed with quick fixes and "life hacks," this is a stark departure. It doesn't promise happiness through external acquisition; instead, it suggests that the search itself is often the obstacle. It’s a measured, somewhat clinical approach to what most people consider "spirituality," which I suppose is its primary strength. It avoids the usual saccharine, overly emotional tropes you see on mainstream social media. Whether this serves as a legitimate gateway to deeper understanding or just another niche hub for high-minded abstraction depends entirely on the user's capacity for rigorous thought. It certainly doesn't cater to the casual browser looking for easy answers.
You can find the exact same thing on YouTube.

By the way, Francis Lucilla is the mentor to Rupert Spira—who, let's just say, has actually surpassed him. Rupert isn't sipping from a bottle; he’s drinking directly from the spring.

Jean Klein mentored Francis Lucilla.

... Jean Klein - Francis Lucilla - Rupert Spira ... that's the lineage order.

I probably should've found an existing thread for this, but I couldn't track one down anywhere.

I’m planning on swapping out my PC today—problem is, I don't have a single password memorized... Facebook, Google, the whole works.
Is there actually a way to pull these passwords before I ditch the old machine, or am I stuck resetting everything from scratch?

Kevin Ruiz36 said:The real question is who stands to gain by triggering mass psychosis. This whole "global awakening" concept is just a way to induce widespread psychological breaks, leaving people stuck in deep depression because they've been convinced their mental collapse is actually some spiritual breakthrough.

Exactly—spirituality is just an undesirable psychosis that leaves the masses depressed. You have to stay unspiritual to survive.

No serious relationship is going to jumpstart your self-actualization journey. Once you’ve actually grown up—once you're truly ready—a connection might happen. But it won't be because you went out looking for it; it happens in spite of that. It happens because the timing is finally right.
I’m against expecting anything from anyone else—but then again, everything of actual value I’ve ever received came from someone else, and honestly, it’s been the best thing to ever happen to me. And I’m not talking about some basic exchange of information here; I’m talking about lighting a fire under you.
In religious communities, there isn't a shred of true spirituality to be found—it's just a flock of sheep.