Seth Ananda

Being one of the people who has promoted homophobia here over the years I am not surprised you find the Overly PC direction uncomfortable. As for Women, just read BKA's first response. I have invited a number of female friends here over the years, and none stayed longer than a few days. Feedback ranged from far too much sexism, disembodied eggheadism, racism, or its a sheltered workshop for sexually maladjusted little boys.. Weirdly, all the women I know seem to be put off by any kind of bigotry. {must be their undeveloped submissive nature} Anyone who thinks that proper 21st century guidelines and rules on hate speech will be destructive to the forum, is either a bigot themselves, or has never visited one of the many well running forums anywhere else where they have an actual social conscience. Allowing hate speech is not protecting freedom of speech. It is allowing bullies and bigots to dominate a shared forum, with members from all over the world. People everywhere can say what they want anyway, but a Forum can run just fine by saying you may not say that here. You may not denigrate women, blacks, gays... here. It will not be tolerated. That is ensuring a clear welcoming and honouring space for our brothers and sisters.

I am a member of a number of other forums, and every one has a very clear rule system. If you post sexist, steryotyping, racist or homophobic bigoted shit, then you will get banned. Its that simple. One post like that, and thats it. I am proud to belong to those forums. I feel slightly ashamed of belonging to this one though because of it's antiquated rules and occasional tacit support of bigotry. I keep coming back cause I have some friends here. Sean is part of the problem, though. In a shocking thread full of homophobia and bigotry, he got upset at me for saying TTB's was supporting hate speech by refusing to moderate it. He asked to see the hate speech. I showed him the whole thread, which was full of "gays are unnatural predators who wank to much," and he couldn't see it. Said I was exaggerating. lol.

Kicking out the known misogynists would be a start {hey why not include the racists and homophobes as well} TTB's rules joining the 21st century would be another start. In the past, this site has supported and stood by, or refused to moderate people guilty of hate speech, aimed at both gender and race and sexual orientation. After a big crapstorm a while ago, the rules were changed to 'respect' one another which is a big fat load of nothing, because as long as you are targeting a whole race or gender rather than a single person well, then it seems to be ok. We have our shining regulars here advocating: Tricking women into sleeping with you, women as all being money grabbing whores, women as being less spiritual than men, 'blacks belonging to a different more animalistic species' Men as being naturally dominant, over woman's natural subservience... Gays being disgusting freaks of nature That women should 'just put out' because a man might get sad at lack of sex and shoot people! {her fault of course} And many other aspects of rape culture where a woman is not seen as being entirely in control over her body. Any stellar intellectuals that can't see why most women wouldn't want to spend much time here, well....

There are a variety of ways of working against someone. Bindings to minimize harm, Mirrorings to bounce their 'projections' back at them, Wardings/blockings/banishings to remove them from your life, and pure old revenge workings to cause bad luck/negative circumstances, sickness or death. All can have their place. I agree though that if you find yourself needing to do this frequently, then the one common denominator is you, and there are probably things you need to look at. That said, some people are incredibly toxic, and need to be dealt with one way or another. Years ago we discovered that a new member of our community was a peodophile who prayed almost exclusevly on seriously disabled women. We involved the police, who said they suspected he had a number of Identities, and there were cases against him in several states, but he kept managing to get jobs close to these women, and the Police had never quite managed to get enough evidence to take him down. There were blessing circles, prayer circles and so on to try and help this man, but he did it again and I took matters into my own hands. Quickly ended that situation. Did I loose the tiniest bit of sleep over my actions? No Also, when under genuine magical/psychic attack, sometimes it is best to fight back. Our etheric energy body {a major target for curse work} is very closely tied to our animal instincts. Our animal instincts are normally repressed by do-gooder morality {which is not to say that metta/blessings responses and so on don't sometimes work}, and so the etheric intelligence is stifled and cant always defend itself against intrusions. It has a very unique level of intelligence, and when healthy it will strike back with animal ferocity if it needs to, and will know far earlier than the conscious mind if something is up. A friend left a dodgy magical cult years ago, who have been targeting him ever since. It doesn't help that they have object links to him of hair, blood and semon. He tried everything. Blessing them, cord cutting, surrounding himself with love, exorcisms, healers, yogis... Sometimes these would work briefly, but he spent round 8 years emotionless, libidoless, drained, tired and having recurring nightmares. It all changed this year when he started attacking them back. It roused some deep righteous anger inside him, liberated him from the unnatural shackles of "you can 'only' respond with love", and suddenly he has some fire inside him again, sleeps well, has libido and energy, and feels good in his body. Moralists can rant all day about 'higher' laws and what not and sometimes make some good points, but if they paralyse you to the point that life is unbearable, or to where you think that someone shitting right on your head is an important soul lesson, or your karmic duty to bear, well fuck them and fuck that. These people don't even know what 'soul' is half the time, nor that it itself is part of the magical/energetic universe which is a whole array of forces all influencing and being influenced by, for good or for ill, countless other forces.

Racial profiling is a disgusting habit. People justified their racism in the past based on arguments like "i'm just basing it on what I see." Please note that what they 'saw' was cultural not racial. A class of very poor African Americans, fresh out of slavery, with little access to education, a whole lot of access to less than effective coping skills, high stress, cultural and personal PTSD... Well what you see is cultural, not Racial. The 'smart asians' that get adopted and grow up with american families do no better than anyone else around them. The 'smart asians' who grow up in a culture that demands 16 hours of study a day on the other hand... well, there is the stereotype.

I like my wire garotte, and my phalaris grass toxin... Kidding of course

1. Acts as filter system that keeps away/removes the need to interact with normal/boring people. 2. Acts as a magnet drawing the interesting people your way 3. Ensures having plenty of unusual things to contemplate 4. Ensures having experiences that the norms will barely consider possible, or desirable ~ Good! 5. Probably goes hand in hand with a unique style/dress sense 6. Teaches out of the box thinking 7. Gives people plenty of good stories to tell about you at your funeral.

1. We should be Materialistic. The Material world is a very Important part of the sacred dimension of life. True Materialism should be seeking to protect our Earth Mother and her natural resources. Doing so will require real, material actions, not just positive thinking and fantasy. 2. As far as New age being a spiritual path, all it seems to do is encourage deep Narcissism and entitlement. Everything becomes about you. What you are thinking, feeling and manifesting is of more import that anything else. Your personal safety and security becomes more important than techniques that unsettle, push and catalyse real growth. 3. It creates false equality. Everything is equal, everyone's perspective is just as valid and equal as everyone else's, and everyone is a master, and an absolute authority on themselves, even if they show the self awareness of a gnat. Actual masters {who may even have the brain scans to demonstrate their existence in a very different state} are viewed suspiciously as products of an old elitist paradigm, that want's to tell you what to do to actually evolve. Oh the Horror! 4. It encourages spiritual bypassing massively. Teaches 'niceness' over authenticity. It then creates Authenticity [tm] workshops which seem more like tantrum house sheltered workshops for childmen and whiney bitches. I'm expressing myself, its Sacred! 5. It borrows from everywhere. Dalai Lama quotes, Shamanism quotes, and gods know what else, all to self validate a system that has none of the potential or integrity of the real traditions they selectively pick from. Because they only pick the bits that suit them, that seem nice and comfortable to their narcissistic self entitled existences. None of the gruelling rigor is required or even noticed.

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For the people that can/wish there are paid tuition options for the later modules. I like how she is doing it.

I mean no disrespect to the Tibetans either. I just find a certain sense of irony here. The Taoist term 'Immortal body' seems to be so concerning to the Buddhist's 'Impermanence' and 'no self' frame works. They grumble about subtle attachment, trying to live forever and clinging and such, then go and do the same thing but call it 'Illusory body' instead, in the hope that the name change will aspire less attachment and clinging... Here is my "Illusory, dependently arising, everlasting indestructible vehicle of neither eternal nor nihilistic Immortal consciousness!"

Hmm, the Tibetan Buddhists continue to bag the Taoists as being caught up and obsessed with the subtle phenomena, while trying to pretend that they are different, all while they spend heaps of time developing Illusory body, that they may 'survive' death with memories in tact, so as to have longer to attain...

Nice. I was thinking that the subject of what Imagination actually is, {at least from an esoteric view} had yet to be addressed. In many old schools of thinking, all of existence is Imagined into being by the Mind of God, the Divine Mind or however you like to conceptualise it. That is how 'God' creates. It is the creative power. God Imagines the world/existence within hirself, and thus the world exists, within and made out of the substance of the Mind of God. Within the world, God Imagines beings {humans} who have all Hir qualities (in a limited capacity) also within them. We are a mircocosm of that Infinite being. In our limited state we dont just Imagine things into being Like God {normally}. We Imagine them and then our hands have to bring them forth. {which may cover the Will aspect in its limited state} But, Our Imagination is the divine door that in its true state, separated from fantasy, is connected to the Macrocosmic Divine mind. It can create, change events, and all the other beings and phenomena in existence are also Imaginal. So it is our door for sensing and exploring the deeper layer of things, and for making contact with beings that are not readily seen/experienced with the other senses. It is actually another sensing organ in its own right. But it takes training to use it properly.

Hmm, In Isaac Luria's Kabbalah its described quite differently to the more Hermetic Qabalah, if my memory serves me...? lol. It isn't an actual place or thing, and certainly has no beings living within it. It is the 'false' limitation of our individual perception, that stops us from seeing the supernals or Divinity in everything, the oneness, the connectivity and all the other good Divine stuff. One doesn't really cross it, but rather realises that it was never there to begin with...

Imagination is the sacred door to much magic. It can be a great trap on the other hand. This is seen readily in the world of new agers, and untrained magicians. You get all these people, with very poor left brain skills, an inability to think logically or clearly, who compensate for this by having very very active right brain attributes. They really dont know how to discriminate between what is normal imagination and just the content of their own psyches, with possible traces of real intuitive processes, and when imagination has actually 'become the door' to real spiritual and magical experience. You get people who talk to space elves one week, pleiadians the next, followed by their atlantean ancestors and visions of their past life as an Egyptian high priestess/sacred prostitute. Observing them from the outside you will notice that none of their experiences really change them, or rarely results in anything. They might get a 'contact high' of sorts that can last for a while, especially if they believe they are fulfilling some grand mission that they have been given, but thats about the end of it. As things don't go according to plan, they are quickly returning for another fix Its insane and sad really. They have no Idea of whether they are tuning into an egregore, seeing their own fevered imaginations content and wish fulfillment patterns, or an actual real contact. It seems over time that any real beings who may have been there to begin with, eventually turn their backs on them in frustration, leaving them with just their imaginations... They often turn sad and bitter as they no longer get the sweet nourishing feeling of real contact that they used to get. They know this inside, but are rarely willing to admit it to themselves. Sometimes they get downright mean, and some end up willingly embracing the life of the charlatan. Josephine McCarthy's stuff is awesome by the way. She should steer you away from those pit falls.

I love love love findhorn. Its a great example of successful work with the spirits of nature, and is my main focus.

Ohh I didn't say that But energy without recognition is still just energy without recognition. Our busy mind remains a very poor tool for investigating the nature of phenomena/experience/mind. The deep meditative states, samadhi and so on, are amazing for that investigation. Depends on your definition of enlightenment. In some Hindu thought, yes. In others, or Buddhism, no. I think the Immortal spirit development doesn't equal enlightenment, but should possibly come first, or at least be a side on practice to ones Mysticism. Death has always been the great obstacle, and if every time you die, your soul and spirit separate, causing eventual rebirth without memories then how well can you proceed? If you can attain the wedding that allows continuity of self after death, then you have a lot longer to practice enlightenment methods. Achieving both is ideal, the 'enlightenment' of substance and of mind.

There is a spectrum of experience. Whether meridians or chakras or anything else, closed exists somewhere down the line from open. Open and closed may have differing degrees of pleasure or preferability inherent within them, Yet they remain experiences within the nature of mind. As long as the nature of mind goes unrecognised, there is only ignorance. no needle will lead you to enlightenment, other than the needle of inquiry and observation.

Sure, I was just saying that quietening the mind can be a result of energy building, {not that that is the only way} and quietening the mind can make some people more perceptive, which can also be 'beacon like' as beings tend to notice us noticing them. lol, tell me about it... I sometimes describe it as being scorched. I partially agree. Its just there are plenty of cases where a person { who would usually be described as needing grounding } who has pushed it too far and need to do zero energy work. Even working with earth energy would only trigger and exacerbate their symptoms, rather than serve to 'ground' them. Ie: centered and stable. Thats cool. What retreats?

I dont really like the term grounding. Energy practices of any kind when overdone, including the ones that work primarily with earth energy, can all lead to the scattered, floaty, or dissociated aloof space. What has happened is the ego, or 'regular self' is overwhelmed and your standard sense {or experience} of self is changing faster than it can adjust too. {Which can be good at the right time, or disastrous at another.} It is more a case of uncentered, or un-present than 'ungrounded'. It usually requires a short break from energy practices, to allow your regular self to become stable again. In terms of energy development, the capitalist mindset of more equalling better, and constant acquisition just leads to trouble and space cadeterry. I think the 'high vibration' thing can become its own obsession. Just look at the ascension crowd and the loonery that they swallow. 2012 galactic awakenings, mass ufo landings and so on. These people are so out of touch with reality. All because of a constant 'self hating' need to be higher in vibration, which they have interpreted to mean 'better'. Higher is better, and better than what they are now. As for Demons, well we live in an intelligent sentient universe. Everything has a sentience, and hate, war, rape, violence as well as all the good stuff, it all has its own pockets of consciousness, which are 'deeper in' than just the physical. This is the stuff of some malevolent spirits. Mind you, not all Demons belong in this category, and some are actually quite wonderful, but just have had a long long bad press campaign run against them. But upping your energy levels does do the beacon thing. It also can quieten your mind allowing the deeper senses to perceive the other life forms which also makes you stand out. Getting 'friends' on these levels is important if you plan to be bumping uglies with these levels frequently. Also, working with your animalistic nature/inteligence, and its 'heavy' sticky energy I highly recommend. Most of us deny and deprive our animal side, which is alert, instinctual, and even predatory at times, and its 'intelligence' serves as a great warning system and is very defensive. Once awakened, it wont allow cling ons, intrusions, or so on... My tradition calls it the Fetch Beast, and its a crucial part of the early training.

The possible experiences are greatly varied. The way to them is constant practice. For instance oobe {for me and 'most' people I know} takes constant work via the relax down to vibration state and roll out method. It guarantees success if carried through and I had great experiences and witnessed events i was able verify, though it takes so much time that its not worth it for me these days. I have other easier methods now that also serve to fulfill other functions. Invocation/Evocation/spirit work leads to so many strange kinds of experience that it would take all day trying to describe even half the experiences I have had, let alone the entire range of possible experiences. A quick reply from my own bank would describe 'miraculous' seeming healings, watching spirits move physical objects, flows of good or bad luck, attracting lovers ~ quickly, successfully cursing enemies, countering malicious magick, being taken on trips through the cosmos, being warned of danger, being physically saved by being pushed out of the way of an unseen speeding car, entering an ongoing love relationship with a demigoddess, possession {in the best possible way}, exorcising spirits from others and needing entity removal work myself at one point... But more importantly, being helped along the path of the great work by Beings far wiser and more powerful than myself. Beings who have my back, who only kick my ass when I really need it, and who really count as some of the greatest friends one could wish for. The feelings and understanding of interconnectivity that come from this kind of work alone make every second of these disciplines utterly worthwhile. Deeper again is the learning about the nature of the consciousness and the universe, Gnosis in its active and passive forms...

Its pretty culty. I have several friends and acquaintances who have been part of it over the years, and they tend to cling to each other and try to shove it down everyone else's throats.. And there is a bit of a shunning if you leave..

Wow, big thread... typewriters, and god knows what else... As much as I am allowed to speak for Feminism, I would like to add that Feminism can do a lot for Men. The silly games that some women {not feminists} play, (maybe lots of them in some circles) are very unpopular within most feminist subgroups. With time, as feminist thought gains a stronger foothold in the collective psyche, these will become far less of an issue. {as they seem to be for some people here} Feminism empowers a mature understanding of femininity, and appreciates mature Masculine energy. The Feminists I know are wonderful women, straight shooters, Intelligent, bold, comfortable with vulnerability, and very aware of power dynamics, which they do not run on others, or stand for from others. Lesser men are freaked out by them, cause their bullshit does not fly with these women. Seeing them get called Leso sluts cause some 'alpha game' fails on them is very very sad. Feminism is slowly freeing women. Free woman are far more preferable than slaves. When our society changes its collective attitude enough for women to be able to feel just as safe as men ~ Everywhere They Go ~ Then Men will win, because the women we Love and care for will be safe. I will love the day I feel safe with my daughter/lover/sister/mother leaving the house with the same safety that I do.

But back to objectification, I hazard that it has created most of the problems between men and women. If a Man {a human} is relating to a Woman {an object} with al the insidious undercurrents that go along with that, how can something healthy emerge? The man has a twisted view of the woman. She is there to fulfil him, she owes him something, if he does/says the right thing he will get sex. The woman has a twisted view of herself. Do I meet his Ideal of woman?, do I have to please him?, If we hook up will that make me a slut? I like him, but what will being with him do to my self esteem {Based on external values}? Im sure there is a heap more, but this is the dynamic that Feminism is trying to fix. Strip all the hideous cultural trappings off so humans can just meet other humans and be real with each other.

Hmm it could be case by case. Australia is full of self described 'good men', 'good blokes' and many of them are just dickheads. Many resultantly have no success with women. As for women wanting 'fun times', well what women want is there prerogative, and I am not going to make assumptions about what they want, or risk coming off like a dickhead myself. As for the good boy/bad boy dynamic that PUA's love to obsess about, it is fairly fictitious. I hate to use the language, but I know women who are '9's' or '10's' who live with quiet gentle men, and a host of other combinations. It becomes a self fulfilling mindset, seeing the world that way. When you see a 'hot' woman with a cocky bastard you go, "look! There is the Proof!" And just ignore 90% of the rest of the relationships in the world. And who cares if a woman wants to be with a cocky risky bastard? Maybe she wants to live a little, and when she meets 'good' guys, or nice guys, she gets that ~ 'I want to make you my wife and have babies' vibe? So your advice is to trick them instead? Look at what they go for and emulate that? Wow! So being honest and yourself just went out the window. Are you sure you are the good person you profess to be? On that subject, I know fairly 'unattractive' males, who are very good men, some who are low earners, but have big hearts and express themselves honestly, and who nearly always have wonderful partners... I believe all humans respond best to big heartedness and open honesty.