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I thought it was Gandhi but I couldn't remember the source and I hate quotes without context. But thank you for backing this up.
Reading more.
I stopped spending time reading things that didn't matter so I got rid of Facebook, Twitter and recently LinkedIn. Next I got a simple book and started to read. I've read a lot of books but I had to get back into it. My speed increased and I was still researching words, phrases and other ideas. I'd get back to a paragraph and complete thoughts became apparent which meant I was doing narratives and patterns in and out of context of the subject.
If there was a tough subject then I broke down the pieces and patterns started to emerge. In my non reading life I would write by hand in the morning and focus on structures, clarity, spelling (without the assistance of phone/Web ) and I would practice meditation as I have for 35 years.
Since 2020 I have read more books than I had in 12 years! I get faster and faster and I get more time doing other things because I'm much more focused. Sometimes it is good to read something that is very difficult. Sometimes it's good to read technical things. Sometimes history.
In my professional life I'm a marine carpenter. At lunch I bring a book with me and I eat on a barge with a lunch I pack from home. My coworkers go out to eat every day and the time it takes to do that I don't waste. Home food is healthier and less expensive.
Reading... I read Kindle books and real books. I alternate. I hate PDF books so I prefer ebooks that flow in presentation. I have PDF books but they are not so good on the Kindle yet they are free so I have to eventually learn how to read them. I don't listen to audio books. There is one audio book I did like and that's one I listened to when I would commute so if you are driving maybe audio is for you.
I do listen to podcasts so I'm researching by flipping through a physical dictionary or other reference books in an active capacity.
In the Army I went to artillery school and I had to learn how to study fast. I learned to scan a book, read the table of contents, flip through the pictures and diagrams; and then investigate things that interested me. After I did these steps I would read without attachment and let my mind, relaxed, absorb content.
Here is the funny part. I was put into remedial reading in elementary school. I failed highschool three different years. In middle school I was bringing my own books to class and failing whatever classes I had. So I'm a firm believer that education is an inside job.
Set a goal for yourself. The first real adult book I completed was the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams when I was 12. After that it was the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings books and all kinds of things.
I hope this helps a little. Any feedback is good.
Here is the funny part. I was put into remedial reading in elementary school. I failed highschool three different years. In middle school I was bringing my own books to class and failing whatever classes I had. So I'm a firm believer that education is an inside job.
This is a cool anecdote. Another great example of how much power is lurking inside of people -- if they're put in a context where they get to direct it, they can do amazing things. They ready a thousand books, when they choose what to read. If you try to squeeze them into some narrow pursuit, people who could be smart and creative can appear, from the outside, to be inert.
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Thank you. The best part about the inside job is that I can accept where I am and that I have the power to get going. We all can accept this. No one is powerless!
When we circle back to culture it seems to be more like yogurt. Yogurt is a culture that has been activated by an outside source but the yogurt does the real work. We are either yogurt, yoked on the stockade or yoga masters of our selves. As above, so below. As inside, so it is outside.
If I am dissatisfied with the culture I have to change myself. I don't change myself to accept the defeat of loser culture. I change myself to accept that I am responsible for the winning culture. Why are there stories of men leaving civilization to be with the Supreme Self? Why then do the men return and as messengers break up the monopoly?
The trap is trying to control externally others. Sorcerers are in this thousands of years old trap. They practice a human psychology based on the outcome, like outcome based education. They cultivate slaves. They, themselves are slaves to fear. To them this planet is a prison planet. It is the tetrahedron.
A great place to start of this subject:
WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING
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I believe there's a middle ground here. Both poles seem, to me, pathological:
  • If you believe everyone is the master of his own fate, you tolerate things that shouldn't be tolerated. If you're in a system where slavery is normalized, the idea that slaves should self-actualize misdirects attention from the individual to the system.
  • If you believe that systems are the only arbiters of fate, then you look outside yourself for your redemption.
It's easy to find people people living at the extremes of this gradient. I don't think those are the right models of reality. They certainly don't seem to be very useful in creating a better world, in the small or in the large.
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Everyone is the master of his fate. All of us are where we are because the cause and effect has produced this outcome. Many of us are asleep at the wheel and some don't even know what is going on. Frederick Douglas is noted by becoming aware of his slavery and then gaining his freedom.
The trap is when you see others in a situation and you stop working on yourself by getting into another person's head. This is very important. I'm currently reading a book by a woman who was a slave in the 1960s to the 1980s. Her daughter was also a slave. She pulled out of her situation with help by a man who saw that if he ignored her it would be harmful to his sanity. This is important.
We in our actions set up situations that as useful idiots we perpetuate slavery. When we accept that we are responsible for our actions then we also say, "no." By saying "no" we use force to help someone we know has been harmed by our compliance.
It is easy to blame others, demonize others and want to take revenge or fix others. That's delusional. You first and foremost protect your own happiness and then create a safe environment for others who respect you and themselves. The middle ground is you. You are the observer. You are the witness. You also are responsible for not adding to the harm of this world.
You need to do what you think is the best. This action is 100 percent your responsibility. It is your proof of work. No one can make this decision for you. You can not make the decision for the actions of others either. Your children are the exception or anyone who can not take care of his or her self that has been put into your care. Here is the tricky part for the moral relative controllers. They believe that other humans belong to them. This is their belief system. Higher up on the occult ladder are those who use mind control to play chess with people. They use movies, celebrities, sports, books, drugs , food and many other ritual activities to produce outcomes.
You may not believe you are totally responsible for your life. You may feel otherwise. Self mastery is not for everyone but it is available for everyone. Simple things like tapping your foot for no reason. Humming a song out of habit. Any habit that is done out of ignorance (ignoring the truth) is the antithesis to self mastery.
This is why the symbol for Swastika is appropriated and occult. It is the Sun wheel of action. Swa is Self. This is also why the seal of Solomon (sol -Sun + mon - Moon) is appropriated and occult because it is the academical conjunction of masculine and feminine energy. This is why the green (Terra - Earth) color and the all seeing eye are on the dollar. Heart chakra is green. It is in the middle. The all seeing eye is the SELF and you are the self connected to the SELF. The money (mon + eye) is an appropriation meant to fool you into giving up your sovereignty.
We are all connected to the Divine. We are all ruled by the natural law (Torah, Terra, Dhamma). Written law is an appropriation and it isn't stopping anyone from harming others. The law of cause and effect does. The law of dependent origination is the law of Because the is this, there is that and because there is that, there is this. This life is not an easy life. But to be born a human is a gift and we should never feel sorry for any other human regardless of his or her circumstances. Instead we realize our connection and we help wake them up if we can and if we can not we make sure not to harm others out of ideas, dogma or righteousness.
Defending ones self is our duty. Defending those that we care about from harm is our duty. Observing ignorant behavior and ceasing unskillful activity is our duty. Mastering our selves is our duty. No one else will save you. It's an inside job and must be activated by the initiated. Initiation is now.
When the man who rescued a slave and helped to deprogram her he gave her the keys to herself. This was initiation. He gave her a watch to observe time. He told her to write down by hand what she remembered and only if she could write down a solution to her memory.
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