old3bob

well I'd say much of what passes for human affairs takes place on the surface (so to speak) but that there can also be elements underneath that which are demonic affairs that sometimes seduce, drive or infect impressionable humans . We also have some people who willfully and knowingly align themselves with evil. I'd also add that it is impossible to be truly enlightened without facing and overcoming any evil that may be in oneself and also outside oneself. (along with any pretenses or silences of being above it all and or that ignoring same is nuts)

when there was more of a balance at various times and places....lets remember the wounded can be the most dangerous and the evil on Earth knows its days are numbered thus its doing as much damage as possible before then. Btw, you got to be kidding about a review since this is a spiritual topic...that applies to most all people and their lives in one way or another here on earth. Was the holocaust only political or also of great spiritual darkness....

your last sentence was fine imo, the rest sounded like foolish B.S.

The adharmic actions per the lowest chakras and their related hell realms and their evils are described in Hinduism as: "While the main seven-chakra system ends at the Muladhara (root chakra), some traditions describe seven additional chakras below it, extending down the legs and feet, representing deeper primal instincts, fears, and connections to the earth, including Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Rasatala, Mahatala, and Patala" with the patala being of ruthless malice and horrible murder which we are seeing a lot of manifestation of same talking place on Earth and which btw philosophical, non-dualistic and or humanistic talk is out-right mocked and laughed at by beings operating in those lower realms. The only things that such evil recognizes are great will power and the purity of spiritual light directed against it. There is light at the end of tunnel so hanging on and guarding at muladhara and above is what all wholesome spiritual teachings are about, if we fall lower there is hell to pay.

me thinks emanation is also and accurate pointer, and it could be said that with more permutations the more intent normally gets watered down in the manifest.

well heck don't forget we are "created in the image of God" As for duality it is connected to non-duality, or the manifest is connected to the unmanifest, so who decides what is real and not real if such is accepted? (or where reality or non-reality begins and ends) Many have trouble with the term "God" since much of mankind has created God in their image.

on random association how about those female underhand softball pitchers that throw really fast! (listen to the sweet sound of the ball hitting the catchers mit near 80 mph!)

(May have posted this before, sorry it may not apply to struggling or younger folks )

Btw, there has been speculations about reincarnating into the past to correct past karma making for better outcomes down the line... (haven't come across that speculation here which happens to include some Bible verses (believe it or not Ripley) )

haha, reminds me of when I played catcher in little league without something like that which was a mistake! (besides thinking I could also be a pitcher which was true until someone went up to bat)

good luck when your time comes...

I'd say that besides types of illusions that may only be in our heads or that might be downplayed or written off as only that, there are real beings that are predatory dark souls which are not written off so easily or just by philosophical thoughts. Thus all the thousands of years of work that protective beings have done and are doing, along with teachings and methods that have been used against such forces. Btw, most orthodox shrinks know nothing of the other side...and also write off problem's related to it as just a mental or emotional delusions.

well there is that saying: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10) But what in the hell does that mean and how can that be if God is love? Well its more or less emotional pretzel time if you are a Christian trying to fully understand that but if it was changed to a more "eastern" meaning of, "one should knowingly fear breaking dharma for karma will then kick your ass a good one", is easier to understand for me.

May God, gods, devas, masters and ourselves help us! So much horrific and willful evil along with other forms of destructive chaos and suffering ran wild for mankind in 2025, along with great harm to the Mother Earth! The battles and wars continue, but there is light at the end of the long tunnel.

"Idol worship" is fundamentally and totally misunderstood in the Abrahamic religions but not in some "eastern" ways per this quote: So strange to some but not others... "SHLOKA 108 We worship God Siva and the Gods who by their infinite powers spiritually hover over and indwell the image, or murti, which we revere as their temporary body. We commune with them through the ritual act of puja. Aum. BHASHYA The stone or metal Deity images are not mere symbols of the Gods; they are the form through which their love, power and blessings flood forth into this world. We may liken this mystery to our ability to communicate with others through the telephone. We do not talk to the telephone; rather we use a telephone as a means of communication with another person who is perhaps thousands of miles away. Without the telephone, we could not converse across such distances; and without the sanctified murti in the temple or shrine we cannot easily commune with the Deity. His vibration and presence can be felt in the image, and He can use the image as a temporary physical-plane body or channel. As we progress in our worship, we begin to adore the image as the Deity's physical body, for we know that He is actually present and conscious in it during puja, aware of our thoughts and feelings and even sensing the pujari's gentle touch on the metal or stone. The Vedas exclaim," Come down to us, Rudra, who art in the high mountains. Come and let the light of thy face, free from fear and evil, shine upon us. Come to us with thy love.”Aum Namah Sivaya.” GURUDEVA" Edited Saturday at 09:12 AM by old3bob

anyone who jumps out of airplane without a parachute is nuts to say the least, those with a parachute less so.

My take is that all 'lesser' desires can be boiled down to or driven by a seeking for the true desire (often in all the wrong places via the schools of hard knocks) which is for freedom and satisfaction of the soul finding and knowing its own Soul. To try and quash that and related life force is missing the boat and futile. True desire is the force behind or within all beings to find and know what the hell is really going on (including right dharmas) , thus not an elaborate and or high sounding philosophy that may get turned into or be interpreted as a dead like denial of that force.

right, similar wonderings for politics which are part of most everything mankind does regardless of trying to deny so.

not much mention about the ways and means that the Devas and Gods help out mankind? (including helping the historic Buddha at a critical juncture) What gives? Just meditate and be happy is all it takes.... since we have "our books and poetry to protect us" along with an all powerful intellect.

on a side note: religions are for use of mankind, mankind is not for use of religions...

yea, we can hope the whale burps

did Jonah say there's light at the end of the whales belly?

Lets not forget that are probably organic pretzels to be had somewhere that are baked with ancient sea salt on them; so watch out for those GMO ones with bleached salt that is minus natural trace elements! Btw, If I remember correctly Jesus had something to say about salt, and in his day most of it probably had its natural trace elements.

"Autobiography of a Yogi" goes into Hindu-yoga/ Christianity correlations a lot but to me parts of it are a bridge too far...

well I've done some of that pretzel-ing myself but it doesn't really work that well with the wide and sometimes very drastic differences among religions even if ultimately they all or mostly derive from on pretzel.