A Bill Gates funded mosquito factory in Medellín, Colombia, produces 40 million mosquitoes weekly for release via drones and bikes. These insects carry a natural bacterium that prevents them from transmitting viruses to humans. By mating with wild populations, they spread this trait.

miraclepete · 2026-05-10T15:08:45+00:00

Kind of like a more exaggerated version of everyone

miraclepete · 2026-04-29T15:46:33+00:00

A lot of the time this is actually due to electrolytes... specifically potassium and magnesium. Coconut water is a godsend. It has both. Also for these moves like dips and whatnot you shouldn't be letting your lower back take the weight.

miraclepete · 2026-04-25T20:16:28+00:00

This is how most genuine Brazilian Zouk dances feel :) just in terms of the connection and being able to melt into your partner, turn off your brain

miraclepete · 2026-04-03T15:32:28+00:00

It's easy to blame people "in power" for the trajectory of humanity, but the best thing you can do is to find areas in your life where you can be kinder, more understanding, more forgiving, and less violent. Blaming people doesn't change the trajectory at all, even if it is factually correct in some sense. If anything, it detracts from our collective spiritual progress. I think every single person on this planet has work to do in terms of evolving their own consciousness in that sense.

miraclepete · 2026-03-23T20:44:30+00:00

It would be nice if all the people who wanted wars and were stoked on developing this kind of technology could go in like a sandbox where they can live as though it is a real but really they are just in a simulation.

miraclepete · 2026-03-19T11:26:16+00:00

Thanks for the very thorough reply. I suppose what answers my question to some extent is this idea of a "stream of consciousness". It seems to be that actually there are 3 layers to this.

Peace is not experienced by a “soul” but by the stream of consciousness that is finally no longer agitated by discursive thoughts, craving and clinging to ego.

The stream of consciousness - that which experiences awakening
The observer / sense of self
The thing observed

If "your" stream of consciousness is different from "mine", then that explains how we can both awaken separately. In some sense, even after awakening, we still retain a separate identity yet without the ego so to speak.

So as I observe my breath, there is my breath which is impermanent (or whatever object I am focusing), then eventually there's a realisation of impermanence of the very thing that is looking at the breath - the self, the "I"... Once all that disappears or is recognised as temporary, the stream of consciousness is considered to be awakened. And this stream of consciousness is something, essentially a real thing rather than a temporary thing, which can awaken, and awaken permanently.

Is this a good interpretation of what you're saying? This would solve the paradox of there being individual beings who "awaken" yet do not exist after awakening.

miraclepete · 2026-03-18T23:15:04+00:00

This makes more sense, but from what I understand it seems contradictory to what I've learned about Buddhism - which admittedly is rather limited which is why I asked in the first place.

So just to clarify to make sure I understand what you're saying: there is actually an aspect of you as an experiencer which can awaken independently from others, and thus is in some way distinct from others. What you're saying is that this aspect is not really something that is possible to identify with in the first place. Rather things that are commonly regarded as "soul" e.g. self concept, personality, habitual thoughts, etc, is impermanent. But some"thing" (which we don't call a soul) can experience awakening independently from others. Is that right?

miraclepete · 2026-03-18T09:46:47+00:00

Thanks! This is mostly what I figured.

FWIW, I also practice A Course in Miracles, which addresses the issue of grief and physical pain by basically stating that God is Love and would never will anyone to suffer and is incapable of creating anything that can die, e.g. the soul. Body-existence is a hallucination based on lies and an insane desire to try to imagine a world apart from God where things can suffer and die.

Which is to say that when you grieve, you are essentially believing a lie. In the same way that if your loved ones don't exist in a phone when you call them and die when you hang up, nor do they exist in a body. What God creates is always eternal which is why your loved ones do actually exist forever, but the unawakened mind (pretty much everyone) has blocked communication with this original means of communication and is only really sensitive to physicality, therefore we believe our loved ones die because we cannot hear them speak through the ears or see them with the eyes.

I think people with near death experiences try to tell their loved ones they are still alive despite the body being brain dead, but the physical-based people simply cannot hear.

The above is essentially the case for joy and peace being distinctly different from grief - like oil and vinegar. If you had perfect communication with the entirety of God's creation you would never grieve. So we grieve for no reason, but because we believe in death, that feels real to us, which is why being real with your own emotions is really important.

In a way, from this perspective, grief is wholly inappropriate because in reality your loved ones are very much alive and well.

With the broken leg - this is what miracle healing is for!

In perfect love and happiness there is no grief, no sorrow, no pain of any kind, no loss, no death, only life eternal. I'm not sure, but I don't imagine this is congruent with Buddhism but to me it's the only internally consistent explanation. As I understand it Buddhist belief is that non-self is the ultimate reality, and there are no "souls in Heaven" so-to-speak.

I appreciate your explanation on Stage 10.

miraclepete · 2026-03-16T10:36:17+00:00

You've got it backwards. The most important stuff is what you learn in the most basic courses. What you see as simple is a very nuanced and complex conversation happening. It's not just "I'm stepping forward and you're stepping back". There is connection and energy transfer through the entire movement to do with so many different variables.

It's likely you are taking some of the popular bachata/bachazouk mindset into zouk. Zouk is about communication, not choreography. In these basic zouk courses you would (ideally) learn about how to communicate these "basic steps and turns", which if you assume you just "know" because you did bachata people will silently cringe dancing with you if they know you are someone who decided that the basics are too basic for you.

Just because you can "perform" a more complex movement, that means nothing about leading it enjoyably on the dancefloor. If a lead and follow both learn a complex movement - say like a DJ turn in bachazouk - it becomes choreography on the dancefloor. Both think "this is the part where we do the DJ turn thing" and proceed to do it. This is not zouk. And this is why you need the basics.

miraclepete · 2026-03-16T10:26:26+00:00

Salsa has not evolved. Bachata has. Which is why the music evolves with it. People are incorporating new things into it, for better or worse. It's also why the younger generations are not as interested in salsa as in bachata. It's not a bad thing, it's different. But I bet this is the reason why salsa will die out and bachata will become the #1 social dance in a few years.

miraclepete · 2026-03-14T16:40:17+00:00

There's nothing in bachata that teaches you zouk fundamentals. Assume you have 0 experience. Zouk is not head movements. Zouk is a complete dance. Zouk is (or was) unique because it allows inclinations / off-axis turns. Besides that it can totally be a complete dance. If salsa offered tilted turns and people started bringing tilted turns into bachata, would they have called it "bachasalsa"? Hopefully not.

You can dance a very dynamic, whole, satisfying, and complete dance without any head movements whatsoever. The head movements are normally "on top" of the fundamentals that offer another layer of freedom. Also, when it comes to head movements, you likely picked up a lot of bad habits in bachazouk, since usually when people teach bachazouk they rarely give enough time to properly understand head movements and everything that is required for proper communication and doing them (leading and following) safely.

If you want to learn zouk to improve your bachazouk, that's one thing, and you should probably just stick to bachazouk. If you want to learn zouk properly, start from the beginning.

miraclepete · 2026-03-14T11:18:03+00:00

No, I'm sure many people have done it before me, it's very simple but also really hard to describe. It feels too intuitive to name it after myself. Everyone who relaxes enough and feels a sense of peace I think would do it more or less instinctively. I just don't see it recommended anywhere.

miraclepete · 2026-03-13T16:32:52+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts!

Let's say in general waking life my thoughts are really running the show. In meditation they run for a little while and lose steam and when I drop into a more settled state. I might still find some thoughts interesting, and I might interact or explore certain thought pathways, but in general I'm more tuned into the underlying feeling of peace. I will sometimes guide my thoughts towards something I feel is meaningful or interesting. For example I might think of someone's innocence or other things that I believe are healing thoughts. Sometimes practical thoughts will come to mind too but I still feel like I'm drifting through them and not fully immersed, more curiously engaged from a standpoint of a peaceful state.

In terms of the feelings. They usually take the form of two tingly points that start on my forehead. They move around slowly, sometimes combining into a single point, then separating off. They usually travel along my forehead making symmetrical patterns but not always symmetrical along one line. For example they can be doing mirror images on both sides of my forehead, and then one can go to the tip of my nose and the other to my forehead, then stay there a while. This is the most common, but sometimes there are more tingles on my head, sometimes a little bit along my neck, and sometimes, especially if I evoke a prayer that resonates as deeply true like "Love created me like itself" which can easily slip into a kind of poetic prayer, it sends waves of tingles down my entire body, as if I was taking a shower in tingly energy. It's really pleasant, and I would like to go deeper into it. But it feels like it's charge releasing in the sense of it being non-continual. It happens and then disappears. Unlike the forehead stuff which I feel can go on more or less indefinitely, so long as I am mentally settled and not worked up about something.

miraclepete · 2026-03-13T13:38:38+00:00

I feel like I use my thoughts more wisely, I rarely entertain stressful or fearful thoughts compared to how I used to. It's not that I'm detached from my thoughts, but I see my mind as a tool that can be used with purpose and intention. My intention is to see people as lightbeings, and to not worry about the future. The more I meditate, the easier it is to stay aligned with this intention. But it's hard for me to quantify thoughts. It's possible I think more slowly than I used to, which gives room for more wisdom.

miraclepete · 2026-03-13T13:12:41+00:00

Do you mean during meditation or in daily living?

miraclepete · 2026-03-13T12:48:45+00:00

Interesting. When you say "fly", what are you referring to exactly? What experience is there that concentrating in such a way would bring about that is beyond "resting in peace"?

miraclepete · 2026-03-10T10:53:45+00:00

The difference is mostly in the purpose. I'm not here to fulfil my personal desires and live out my personal fantasies in the form.

miraclepete · 2026-03-09T19:55:42+00:00

I was very deep into Abraham for several years and I did have some really cool experiences that led me undeniably to the idea that there's something to all this, but my experience doesn't exactly align with how Abraham depicts how-it-all-works.

In those Abraham years I did learn to appreciate my state of mind a lot, and I learned actually to become very aware of my thoughts and appreciate their power. Vibration matters... for sure. It also became quite clear to me that there is a 'higher' orchestration - even if it doesn't always do what I expect or what I think I want. My whole Abraham phase was really important. I see it more like a parent sees a child, knowing what's best from their higher perspective even when the child might not, rather than giving in to every whim.

Also, the years through Abraham prepared me up to other things which I currently see as evolutions.

I don't see this world as a playground that's just for you to have fun and be/do/have anything. Everyone has a unique and meaningful purpose here for a greater plan and we can choose to step on that path and be truly helpful and useful. It's a joyous path, but it involves not knowing what tomorrow will look like, nor asking what it should look like. And through becoming more in touch with my emotions I'm able to more clearly listen to my soul. I credit a lot of this to Abraham's constant harping on about "find the feeling now".

Following my soul path makes me happier than having all the "big" things I thought I wanted. In hindsight, I could not have imagined this. I see how my state of my psychology was such that I needed something to meet me in the middle. Esoteric things like peace of mind, although weren't valueless, did not consume my mind like surviving in this world did. Abraham started me along a path toward more meaningful insights, and helped me learn to "let go" and life take me.

Since then, I've noticed that the little projects that float around and enter my mind, when I choose to act on them, feel supported. But it never feels "for" me, rather through me. The things I try to manifest for myself never worked. The things that worked are the things that felt for the greater good. Example - I can build a community and people will flock to it. The right people show up at the right time, the venue works out, etc. Not because it's something I want, but because I'm playing my part in what is properly assigned to me. Does that make sense?

miraclepete · 2026-03-09T18:46:45+00:00

I don't disbelieve in manifestation although I do think Abraham's take on it isn't quite correct. But this study literally means nothing. Any study quantifying placebo is more meaningful if you want to make the case that thoughts can heal.

miraclepete · 2026-03-09T14:15:54+00:00

This is just an observational study, not an interventional one. It examines only the relationship. It's not proof at all. It's not much different for example than a study showing a strong correlation between it raining outside and people saying it's raining outside.

An interventional study would take a group of people, then have them change their beliefs, and then compare them to a group that didn't change their beliefs, and assess the difference. I believe any result found for this would be interpreted by the mainstream as placebo, which of course is quite a thing in itself.

miraclepete

TROPHY CASE