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accidentally joined a group for people interested in gnosticism but i said heck let's see what this is about so i joined their first group seminar...
and uhhh sounds like a cult
i appreciate spirituality and have beliefs based on psychedelics, crystals and planetary shit that others may find bonkers.
i also appreciate using religion and any sort of spirituality as guidance for you to feel better and become a better version of yourself.
however the communities like the ones in the seminar are alarming. you should definitely not listen to somebody that claims to know the mysteries of the universe or have some incredible knowledge that they acquired through mysticism. you can learn, meditate and make your own meaning but claiming you're a new prophet of the one true religion, a divine messenger of god, or have any relation to a higher power that is directly communicating + giving directions to the masses through you is wild.
this is a pretty basic level ramble, but i see why the in-group quality of a "healing" community is so attractive here. everyone wants to be a part of something especially in this loneliness epidemic, and even more so if it sounds like it's going to improve you mentally or physically.
all that is to say just be careful y'all.
imma read some climate crisis, psilocybin and sociological substacks now
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i've been wrestling with this idea for a little while
let me know if you have any insight
i'm fascinated by the idea of true belief. i want it, i admire it, i respect it. i also think it is scary and it can cause so much damage.
lately i've been thinking how everything we see we process through our own perception, so all of reality is subjective. we can interact with nothing as it is, but only as we are. if you think about synchronicity too, all meaning projected onto the world becomes valid and true. everything exists only to confirm what you're experiencing. if you believe the phase of the moon being the same at two points in time holds meaning, it does because it's just another part of your mental map.
but when it comes to religion and politics it can be so destructive. i wasn't raised with religion but i have always felt myself drawn towards it. i am at the same time very critical of it, especially how the human aspect of organized religion tends to be used for control, but i truly admire true belief. but seeing the results of it, like the persecution of trans people in american politics, is scary and sends me back to the critical mindset. but there's still some appeal i can't shake.
what if there were a geocentrist today? someone who worked a normal job, went about an ordinary life, they just happened to believe the earth was at the center of the universe. that's kind of a beautiful thing. if you only draw conclusions from your own experience, of course the earth is at the center. everything seems to orbit around it. and there's still a purity in believing only in what you have found for yourself. the world would live only in their mind, and each world created by each person is all the more precious for being unique and reflective of its individual.
i'm just rambling at this point, but what do you guys think? true belief: yes or no?
1d ago
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Subliminals and manifestation are so fun to read about. Do I really think these people are out here changing their physical bodies? Fuck no. If that stuff DID work, which it could, physical changes like that would take decades.
However, playing pretend and finding stuff for my goals like I Do believe it is very entertaining.
Jun 11, 2024
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Ah…. Trungpa Trungpa. I don’t follow any gurus, nor am I satisfied with any religion in particular, but for many years, I’ve been walking the tightrope between Catholic mysticism and Buddhism. I’m somewhat attracted to Chogyam Trungpa because he’s intentionally bad and everyone in religious circles is always trying so hard to be seem good. He’s a bit of a charlatan but some of his ideas resonate with me, particularly for art making. He coined the term Crazy Wisdom which refers to unconventional, outrageous behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. He was a womanizer who drank, took drugs, and often acted inappropriately to test everyone else around him. He also mocked his western followers’ superficiality by making fun of the sari-wearing hippies that attended his lectures, to which he showed up dressing like a conservative british man (a bit of a Gilbert and George move) instead of the expected traditional Tibetan costume. The play on identities appeals to me. But that being said, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate his contrarianism without Ram Dass by his side providing me with comfort and soft spoken guidance. Great good cop/bad cop combination.
Oct 25, 2022
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Jul 15, 2024
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how elegant
May 5, 2024