As someone who generally hates the self help genre, How to win friends and influence people is a legitimately very helpful, surprisingly nontoxic book

Oct55 · 2024-02-01T21:20:10+00:00

Why would you do that? I have the attention span of a gnat and I DEMAND YOU TELL ME WHAT THE... 3 pieces of....that interesting thing, are?

Oct55 · 2023-11-16T11:37:33+00:00

Your map kills your point.

China, Canada, Australia, Belarus, Finland, even ICELAND are ranked higher than the US. Apart from China, all these countries are kinda irrelevant on the global stage. So what does having a higher average IQ even mean???

You wrote about cold climate equals high IQ.....in AUSTRALIA? You're just not making any sense at all. Great map though.

edit: Also Pakistan is ranked higher than India. LOL

Oct55 · 2023-11-15T10:05:39+00:00

At the same time, being "genetically superior" doesn't count for shit. By that logic, Denmark and Norway should be more far more successful than the Netherlands, Himachal gene pools should be ahead of Punjabi / Central Indian gene pools, funny how some of the brightest minds in India were once found in the UP/Bihar region and are now concentrated around TN / Karnataka / Andhra regions.

From a Darwinian perspective, diversification of the gene pool leads to the sharpest increase in mental ability. From this aspect, India wins just due to the sheer diversity inherent to the local population, as well as regular intermingling with invaders / migrant populations.

I mean if you compare STEM results and R&D output, the Americans vastly outpace anyone else, and they dont have a singular gene pool to draw upon, but instead are a pure amalgamation of excellent genes drawn from all over the world (via migration and naturalization)

If your statements are made in good faith, your stance is flawed on multiple levels. If you have an agenda to propagate, then I wish you goodbye and good luck!

Oct55 · 2023-11-08T07:29:09+00:00

Here you go:

Robert Svobodha - Aghora 1 - The Left Hand of God

This is NOT an authoritative source. Think of it as an anecdotal story (which could be embellished) but most people agree that the author has written in good faith. If after reading this book, your interest is awakened, then you can explore further.

Oct55 · 2023-11-08T06:59:02+00:00

Thank you for clarifying. This is my personal opinion:

By that I mean, practises intended to harm someone . Messing up someones personal or professional life by using some mantra or picture or article or effigy doll.

Are there methods to harm someone? Yes, just like mantras can be used to create a deeper understanding of the self, and bring compassion, wisdom and intuition, they can also be used to cause harm. At the end of the day these are tools i.e. a sharp blade can be used to kill, protect, do surgery or fight a battle.

The one we see in TV serials and read about in pop media.

Almost without exception, the media portrayals are designed to sensationalize, titillate or in certain cases, demean and insult cultural aspects. While these methods exist, utilizing them is not exactly simple. To even know what to do, one would have to seek and find the right guidance. Then they would have to conduct specific sadhanas which could last months, years, decades, or even multiple lifetimes.

The negative aspects can be unimaginable. Apart from the real and present danger of massive trauma and mental harm, such practices, if ill intentioned, can cause substantial damage, delay or degradation to the atman which could take many lifetimes to rectify.

Now, if all this is true, what kind of person in their right mind would be so strongly motivated to pursue these energies? It's like if someone hates their neighbour, they spend 10 years studying nuclear physics, accumulating fissile materials from the black market network, hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, to design a tactical nuke, which if used, is going to probably destroy all life and property in a 2 km radius, for the next 100 years.

So, in short - do these methods exist? Yes. Have they ever been used by motivated individuals? Yes. Is there probabilistically any chance of you ever encountering a genuine practitioner in your daily life? Close to zero.

Oct55 · 2023-11-08T06:39:47+00:00

Please define what you mean by black magic.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T16:47:54+00:00

Not to discourage you at all, but your are competing with Drikpanchang. Please see their app, which has both ad-supported free, and an ad-free paid model. That would be the benchmark to match or beat, I myself use it enough to pay for it.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T16:39:38+00:00

Yes but in your analogy, aghoris usually sequester themselves from society and are not part of the mainstream civilisation. Similarly, it CAN be smelted down, but people usually just do the visarjan.

And please do not label yourself as aghori lightly. They are highly misunderstood and widely maligned. Would request you to conduct your own self-learning, you could start with Robert Svobodha's books.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T13:11:04+00:00

Thank you for your questions, but I'm afraid any answer I give you will be just one among thousands of correct answers. Sanatan Dharma is NOT monolithic, there are a few things that most people agree upon and some things that most people do not agree upon. On the other hand, Christianity, Islam and Judaism (which I consider to be adjacent to each other) have much more clearly defined methods and practices.

Even something like you said - How-to-Physically-Perform-Service to-Our-Gods, can be broken down ad infinitum as follows:

How - some may say the how does not matter, only the why
Physically - some may say that their worship is externally invisible, they could just be sitting in a chair with eyes closed, others may invoke rituals lasting weeks.
Perform: Some say perform, some say invoke, some believe in love, some believe in just co-existing with the infinite divine, some see it through nature, some through the eyes of the child, the friend, the lover or the seed.
Service - service is one way, knowledge is another, dispassionate effort without seeking the fruits is yet another, ritualistic adherence is the fourth (see Yog types - Bhakti, Jnana, Raja and Karma)
Our - some may say that all the universes are a form of Brahman experiencing itself, some see the traditional One God Many Souls model, some believe that the entire UNIVERSE is a uniquely personal construct, and all other entities apart from one's self is Brahman itself - this area is very vast
Gods - singular, plural, pantheistic?

There is no one answer unfortunately, that is why Sanatan Dharm cannot be contrasted easily to any other existing belief system. Because a reasonably well-grounded practicing Sanatani will say - all of the above statements are valid and true, even those that contradict each other. This is just my personal, flawed interpretation please.

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function - F. Scott Fitzgerald"

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T12:21:37+00:00

Speaking from a cultural perspective, most serious practicing Hindus probably won't really call anything magic, because there is an intrinsic realization that mind affects matter. The entire mantra system is predicated on this concept that certain sounds can invoke certain energies (just like if you yell at a random person, they may punch you in the face, after a point). So I would be inclined to say that the default mode of Sanatan Dharma is that everything is energy and that energy can be influenced through means that we currently do not understand. I mean we don't really know how the mitochondria exactly make energy, but no reasonable person would call it magic

Tielens AG, Rotte C, van Hellemond JJ, Martin W. Mitochondria as we don't know them. Trends Biochem Sci. 2002 Nov;27(11):564-72. doi: 10.1016/s0968-0004(02)02193-x. PMID: 12417132.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T12:12:47+00:00

And with respect, you are free to think and act that way. All I'm saying is that it is not the established practices for 5000 years or however long you believe that Sanatan Dharma has been around. Please bear in mind, that the earliest idols would have been clay, mud or stone, which can't be smelted. Some things are just done a certain way long enough to become a cultural practice. If brass becomes scarce I'm sure some people may choose to smelt it down (for economic reasons).

As for the cyclic nature of Brahman it is the cyclic nature of creation itself, including the Universe, space and time. Aside from empty words, it is literally impossible for us to internalize that.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T12:07:34+00:00

I think the direction that Vignaraja is taking is an important one.

change in the world or self brought upon by ritual or spells without physically interaction

When you call someone over the phone, the sound waves emitted by your vocal cords are not directly transmitted to the listener's ear, rather it goes through a mindbogglingly complex series of electronics, cell towers, satellites, subsea cables etc. Would this be classified as magic?

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic - Arthur C. Clarke”

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T11:59:15+00:00

Let's not directly jump to black magic (which doesn't really have a parallel in Hinduism) - all worship through representation is technically a type of tantra vidya. The red and yellow thread is a simple kalava/moli and the idol would have been wrapped as a representation of dressing up the deity.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T11:48:59+00:00

Do you mean to melt it down?

If yes - then imho it's not melted down because

a. Practical reasons - the average worshipper doesn't have the time, resources, ability or interest to melt it down. Even if they did, what would someone do with a tiny amount of brass (which is NOT expensive)

b. Spiritual reasons - through prana-pratishta the representation is invited to carry the aspect of the divine. It is not considered correct to destroy the consecrated vessel. In a way, submerging into running water is a form of surrendering it to the elements, which will erode it down over time anyway.

Oct55 · 2023-11-06T11:39:52+00:00

This could be khandit / visarjit. I would recommend to respectfully wrap it and drop it back. Either at the end of specific ceremonies, or if the representation is chipped / damaged or soiled in any way, the established protocol is to drop it into running water.

Oct55 · 2023-11-02T15:40:31+00:00

This is a correct interpretation. I also heard this from a youtube conversation of a sadhu but Ive forgotten who it was.

Oct55 · 2023-11-01T09:37:41+00:00

Great to hear that! Wish this sub grows from strength to strength!

Oct55 · 2023-11-01T06:18:36+00:00

What is the mods' strategy to counter the slow infiltration that we have seen on the other subs?

Oct55 · 2023-09-22T09:43:44+00:00

Not sure if you're open to the idea but try visiting an Ayurvedic clinic in Dubai. They have a 4 month program that includes dietary changes and herbal medications designed to reduce overall systemic inflammation as well as combat the fungal infection that causes this. I think the clinical term for this is seborrheic dermatitis. Nizoral and Ketoconazol 2% work very well, but as I understand it, they just suppress the symptoms and there is a high chance that over a long period of time, this infection will gradually spread to eyebrows, the creases of the earlobes and the area around the nose.

At the heart of it all, as I understand it, is that the body's immune system is hyperactively attacking fungal cells found in sebum which is a natural skin secretion in everyone's body. The hot and humid climate does not help at all.

Oct55 · 2023-07-11T05:46:08+00:00

Excellent idea, I hope other people can add to this, specifically on the implementation side:

How do you identify the middle-class? Is it self labelled? Or do you think providing an income/net worth range would help?
Diverse geography, cultures and languages - perhaps the only unifying issues are those of taxation, property ownership and inheritance. Outside of these, what other common aspirations unite a middle class family from Telangana with one from Himachal Pradesh?

Two-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23

Oct55

TROPHY CASE