Thoughts And Reflections On Life 9798837887420

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THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ON LIFE LUCAS GAGE

CONTENTS

DEDICATION PREFACE SECTION I SECTION II SECTION III

SECTION IV SECTION V SECTION VI SECTION VII SECTION VIII SECTION IX SECTIONX SECTION XI SECTION XII SECTION XIII SECTION XIV SECTION XV SECTION XVI SECTION XVII

SECTION XVIII SECTION XIX SECTION XX SECTIONXXI AUTHOR'S NOTE

DEDICATION To everyone in my family, both nuclear and extended, for every one of them, whether alive or deceased, made a huge impact on my personal development and have contributed greatly, in their own unique ways, to ensure a young trouble­ maker became a good man. They forgave me when I lost my way during the darkest phases of my life, and showed me nothing can break the bond of a real family.

To all my close friends, from the different towns I lived in and schools I attended, to my fellow Marines I served with in Iraq, all of whom contrib­ uted to my social development by teaching me the meaning of real friendship and helping me dis­ cover my true self. They were there when I needed emotional support to get through hard times, and of course, were there for all the good times as well. To my wife, Caitlin, who has endured everything I have put her through and didn't hesitate for a second to go to Hell and back with me. She stood by me despite my flaws, mistakes, PTSD episodes, and all the other troubles I caused her. I often wonder what the hell she is still doing here with me, and realized it's because she is the personifica­ tion of unconditional love.

To my son and daughter, Alexander and Avery, who already are so gorgeous, funny, and smart, I can only imagine what kind of people they will grow up to become. Their birth into this world was the final stage of my metamorphosis into be­ coming a real man, bestowing upon me the great­ est title a man could ever have: father. I hope one day, they will be happy and successful, and make a positive impact on this world.

PREFACE There are many reasons why I have taken so long to write a book, even though I have had the idea floating in my head for a few years. Firstly, I didn't think I would have the discipline to go through with it. My life is full of things I began to do, but stopped halfway or near the end of achieving them. I have an issue with finishing

things and figured this project would end the same. Secondly, I had no desire to write a lengthy book with long, drawn-out chapters, which I find very boring to read; I had no interest in becoming an author if that was expected of me. Moreover, to­ day's average person simply doesn't have the time to read 500-page books, unless they love reading. And does the average person read any philosophy at all? Not so much. Thirdly, I didn't think anyone would care about what I had to say. Who am I anyway? Am I not just like everyone else out there? Of course, all of these excuses were made by my ego to prevent me from failing again, so in order

for me to even begin writing, I had to learn how to "tame" it and let it know who the boss was. That boss is, "I am," the consciousness that is the True Self. And when I became my true self, I threw away all of these excuses and decided I was going to start writing a book the way I wanted to, and keep writing until finished. Now all this ego and true self talk sounds very "New Age," and may lead you to believe I'm preaching like some kind of spiritual guru, claim­ ing there's something mystical and supernatural about our existence, like a soul, but I don't sub­ scribe to that. Nor do I subscribe to the opposite position which the materialists hold, claiming there's nothing is spiritual about our existence, and the supernatural doesn't exist. Both of these

positions are actually describing the same phe­ nomenon, but from different perspectives; those who subscribe only to one, fail to realize this. Although reality is relative to one's perception, that doesn't mean there's no external reality, but rather, there's no single universal consensus of a what reality is; all we know is our direct experi­ ence of it via our senses. And what we perceive outside of ourselves is actually more parts of our­ selves in different forms, since we are in fact part of the whole of reality. That is not to say when I see the Sun that I am the Sun, but that the Sun and I are both part of the same cosmic system. Where does the Sun begin and end? Does it begin at its core and end at its surface, or does the Sun extend as far as its light and become one with my

skin? Asking it in another way: is there no dis­ tance between the Sun and I, if we are two parts within the same phenomenon? So, what am I getting at with all this? Simple. None of us know what reality actually is or how it all works; all explanations via language or symbols of any kind can't explain it fully. The rea­ son I brought all this mystical stuff up is because nondualism-the idea everything is one-is the foundation of my philosophical view of reality, and on this I derive all my other beliefs which I will share in this book. And what about the really big question of God? Ultimately, one cannot do philosophy without mentioning God in some way, whether rejecting or accepting the idea. Thus, I will share my po-

sition on God, and attempt to convince you that God cannot be a personal being, but rather, a non­ personal substratum. As a former Catholic, it is my intention to share my thoughts on God that led me to leave the faith in order to help others who have any doubts to free themselves from the manmade religions of the world that limit their experiences and under­ standing of existence, and separates them from their true nature. Naturally, those of you who are religious will reject my position, but that's to be expected. I mean you no harm nor offense, but I do feel you should entertain my arguments to see if your faith can withstand them. Nondualism is the best description of God we can possibly comprehend, so naturally, my views are

those of a pantheist. Many of my influences on this subject come from the Stoics, namely Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and English philoso­ pher Alan Watts, famous for bringing Eastern philosophies, such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism to the West. Both of these men helped me expand my self-awareness and views about "the Whole"­ a phrase used by Aurelius to describe the whole of reality. But this work is not only about metaphysics, spir­ ituality, or God; it also includes many aphorisms and personal insights that came to me throughout my life, even while writing this book, which deal with everyday experience. Because many of these came from spontaneous moments of clarity, they are in no specific order and were written only

when I was reminded of things I wanted to share, or when I had new epiphanies. You will find some are very profound or thought-provoking, while others are outright silly or strange. This book is not full of chapters solely dedicated to one topic, rather, it's structured similarly to Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. I enjoyed reading his work because each entry is different from the one before, and I wanted my work to flow similarly. Most people find philosophy to be rather boring, and reading extremely long books very time­ consuming; my goal with this book is to change that by keeping it short and reflecting on a wide variety of topics in order to make philosophy and thinking enjoyable.

This book should be easy to read because it's composed of 21 sections, each having 15 entries, giving you the ability to easily find and reread parts you enjoyed, without being drowned in lengthy chapters dealing with a single subject. This is the first book I have ever written and I hope you enjoy it. But more importantly, I hope you learn something that you'll use to improve your life. If my book helps you change positively in any way, then I have done my job.

SECTION I

1

Do you believe you are just flesh and bones, and your thoughts and feelings are just results of a mindless, chemical process? If so, then your worldview is that of a materialist. But what exactly is "material"? You could respond by naming all kinds of subatomic particles and even concepts of particles yet to be found, but you'd

fail to answer the question because no one knows what it is. Do you believe you are just an immaterial con­ scious mind, and all of physical reality and matter are just illusions? If so, then your worldview is that of an idealist. But what exactly is a "mind"? Thoughts and emotions? Sense perception? How does it create an illusion that it can sense? Where does it reside, and how does it have any spatial ori­ entation? Any attempt to answer these questions will leave you just as clueless as you were before. Do you believe in the combination of the two, that you're an immaterial being (spirit) trapped inside a material body? If so, then your worldview is that of a dualist, believing there is both the physical and immaterial that creates reality. But how could

a spirit create a physical response, such as our emotions? How could something immaterial be trapped inside of and operate something that's material if it's apparently immaterial and not bound by anything physical? Your attempt to find a middle ground between the materialist and ide­ alist worldview also fails. It may now be clear to you none of these worldviews are able to describe the whole picture, because they have divided reality into several parts when it is actually one. There is nothing "material" or "immaterial" about this existence; these words are just labels used to describe two sides of the same coin, and fail to do so.

2

Those who say philosophy is dead are making a philosophical statement. This is usually claimed by those who have decided to make science the final authority on truth. Ironi­ cally, in science, there's a saying that goes, "There are no authori­ ties in science." Philosophy will never die because the sciences cannot address the so-called nonphysical aspects of our existence, such as morality. However, sci­ ence should be used in tangent with philosophy in order to help humanity develop better ethical and moral codes, promote human flourishing, protect the environment, and create better societies.

3

You're not who you think you are; you're not even what you do; and you can only be what you are in any given moment. But each moment is different from another, which means you're never one thing in time, but a constant flow of change in an eternity.

4

When should you break up with your significant other? The moment you realize the relationship causes more pain than pleasure, and there's no sign of it improving in the near fu­ ture, after waiting and hoping it would for longer than you should have.

5

Nature, designed as it is, ensures conflict with itself, for conflict is the driver of its own evolution. Many of us wish for world peace, but

our idealism blinds us from what's right in front of us: without conflict, no evolution in any form could take place, whether it be physical or mental. It would be foolish to believe we could ever see a total victory of good over evil, or vice versa, for such a victory denies the very fundamental characteristics of Nature itself. For every problem we seem to solve, another pops up in its place, and this cycle repeats, forever. Isn't it ironic how mankind tries to preserve Nature, while She is constantly trying to destroy him?

6

The War on Drugs has been an utter failure, costing taxpayers about $1 trillion since 19 71. It has put many nonviolent addicts and recreational users behind bars for engaging in ac­ tivities where their only crime was altering their

body chemistry and states of mind without harm­ ing anyone else. Taking a look around America, no one can possibly say this "war" has been successful at all, especially when the government allows legal drug dealers, like Big Pharma, to sell extremely addicting opioids that lead to addiction and end up killing people as well, with little or no repercussions. Why is there no "war" on Big Pharma? Why are these corporations, who put profits over people, considered to be any different than a heroin dealer who knows their product could kill, but cares more about the profits than the people whose lives are destroyed? And what makes matters worse, the street dealer is consid­ ered a criminal, but Big Pharma has the Congress

on their payroll. Both dealers are equally evil and should be dealt with in the same manner: the death penalty. Now, I'm not promoting the use of drugs, but I would be delusional to believe people will just stop doing things they want to do because it's illegal. As we can see, it doesn't matter how illegal something is, if there's a will, there's a way. Even the National Prohibition Act didn't stop Ameri­ cans from finding ways to get drunk when alcohol was illegal. Moreover, it's not my place, nor any­ one else's, to tell an adult what they can or cannot put into their body, if they are putting no one else in danger while doing so. Although I do not drink, smoke, or do drugs today, I would be a hypocrite to condemn them when I

engaged in plenty of safe recreational use during my younger years in the club scene. Because I used them safely and responsibly, the worst side effects I experienced were similar to having a hangover the following day. Unfortunately, not everyone can do this, and many people can't stop, develop­ ing a higher tolerance, which sadly, in many cases, leads to addiction and/or death. I knew many acquaintances from the club scene who died from unintentional overdoses using harder drugs, some of which were obtained from people with prescriptions. These situations may have been prevented if Big Pharma was held liable for their products, and had to adhere to effective regula­ tions that would keep them off the streets.

Although the State ostensibly protects its citizens by regulating access to controlled substances that could seriously harm or kill them, it fails to do this by allowing adults to purchase legally, without limit, cigarettes and alcohol, which have claimed more lives than any recreational drug, with painkillers coming in third place. You'd think that the government would ban the former two, but they don't. Hard drugs that could lead to unintentional over­ doses should never be legalized; however, drugs like marijuana, along with the safest psychedelics -many of which are used in spiritual practices­ should not be illegal, as their use cannot lead to overdose or death. The government could create regulated markets where safer substances could

be purchased by adults of age, legalizing their use only in private settings. Allowing safer alternatives lets citizens obtain safer products that are not cut and/or laced with potentially deadly substances, and also keeps them away from drug dealers and criminals. These safer drugs would be taxed and regulated by the government, eliminating black markets entirely. Some argue all drugs should be legal and to let Na­ ture take Her course, saying it's better for society if all of these heroin addicts and crackheads killed themselves off. From a eugenics standpoint, their argument does make sense, but most who get addicted to these substances are victims of unfor­ tunate circumstances, such as becoming addicted

to painkillers, after a doctor prescribed them for a legitimate reason, or using drugs to cope with emotional trauma, while living in a very toxic en­ vironment. To simply not care for their suffering is ignoble and unacceptable. We must treat such people with compassion, and use our resources to rehabilitate rather than incarcerate. The only thing standing in the way of a real war on drugs, are corrupt politicians who are bought and paid for by the drug cartels and Big Pharma. Both doctors and street dealers are incentivized by the same thing: profits. They are being subsidized by blood money, both legal and illegal. This kind of corruption must be tackled and eliminated before we could engage the international source of this plague. Private lawsuits aren't enough. We

must have legislation on the books that can really hold pharmaceutical companies liable for their products, as petty fines-although very high to the average person-are a joke to them. They need to face total shutdown and prison time, in order to entice them to join us in this war, rather than be against us. But until then, our borders should be secured, and our agents should be authorized to use deadly force against drugs traffickers. Once we do everything necessary to deal with the internal corruption within our society, we can then mobilize our military to eliminate all agents and heads of the drug cartels, and destroy their bases of operation and crops. This would not only help America, but also the many countries who are also affected by these criminal organizations.

Only then would the War on Drugs truly be effec­ tive, noble, and just; a war where many nations could join forces and help rid the world of these poisons for good.

7

When we enjoy ourselves, time seems to fly. When we suffer, time seems to move slowly. Either way, time is never on our side. Time is our worst enemy, one we created ourselves.

8

No matter what you possess, or what you have achieved in life, at some point you will cease to appreciate those things like you used to; this is our insatiable nature. Denying this truth will only lead to further suffering, accepting it will lead to the next chapter of your life.

9

One lesson I learned from an Indian mystic named Sadhguru, was when he explained in a YouTube video, that we are not our bodies, nor are we our minds. Although I'm not a big fan of these so-called mystics and gurus, especially when many of them have turned out to be noth­ ing but cult leaders, criminals, and conmen ped­ dling nonsense, I won't reject any teachings that happen to be true. This is what he stated in the video: Your body and mind arejust accumu­ lations that you have gathered. What you accumulate can be yours, but it can never be you. What he means is both our bodies and our minds are pieces of other things put together in a process

we call life. These pieces consist of things our mothers ate as we grew in her womb, and pieces of knowledge and thoughts we picked up along the way in our experience. If we're not our bodies, nor even our minds, then what exactly are we? Who is doing all this gather­ ing? What is doing all this thinking and perceiv­ ing? The answer to these questions is, nothing. There is no gatherer, there is only life; and what is life but an expression of the Existence? The Existence-Sadhguru's name for the whole of reality-shapeshifts into and out of all forms; it becomes you when you are created, and then becomes other things when you die. You are essentially a piece of the Existence, which has borrowed from other parts of itself and became a

certain form in this current time and space. And this form, which you identify with, is limited and transient, but the real you is the entirety of the unlimited and eternal, shapeshifting cosmos.

10

I highly recommend investing in some massage therapy. Not only does mas­ sage therapy help improve circulation, release stress, increase mobility, and reduce pain, it's good for your mental wellbeing as well. Many of us go too long without being touched by the healing hands of another human being; having someone touch your entire body in a therapeutic way will do wonders for your psyche. No matter what kind of work you do-whether sitting in a cubicle or doing tons of manual labor

-massage therapy is for everyone. Repeating the same actions can lead to microscopic tears in muscle that will turn into knots which cause aches and pains. A massage therapist can help break those knots, relieve the pain, and restore mobility. So, how many times should you get a massage? Well, that depends on what you need done. If you have a stiff neck or something extremely painful that limits normal range of motion, you may want to go to a therapist several times to do some deep tissue therapy until the problem is resolved. If you want to just maintain optimum muscle health, once or twice a month is plenty. If you just want to relax and treat yourself to a stressrelieving mas­ sage, you can do so whenever you feel the need.

I like to go at least once a month to make sure my body doesn't get stiff and knotted up, and to release any stress I have accumulated during that time.

11

All things, as horrible or wonderful as they may be, are expressions of the Uni­ verse, and will continue to exist, despite our wish that only what we consider good should exist.

12

My definition of God is simply all of existence; I need not add anything to it, nor could I. Anyone who claims they know God fully is a fraud of the highest order. The majority of people who believe in the so-called prophets, do so because they have had no direct experience of God themselves. But God can be experienced,

just not in its totality because of its infinite n a ­ ture. Those who have had mystical experiences, whether from deep meditation or psychedelics, have only seen a small fraction of God; and if they are honest, none of them will tell you that they saw the entirety of God.

3 1

I used to think it was important for me to avoid the works of philosophers, be­ lieving I would be influenced by them and unable to establish anything original of my own. But then I realized I was being irrational, because in order for me to evolve, I needed to do just that, as all things evolve from prior things, whether correct or incorrect. Even the most illogical ideas can influence a person positively by reinforcing their position and guiding them toward the correct

path, showing them which way not to go. It is the duty of all philosophers to pick up where their fellow sages left off, to keep this baton race going, as it traverses the ages.

14

It is not happiness we should strive to achieve, but rather freedom; even a slave can be happy from time to time, but is never free. You may wonder, "But what good is freedom without happiness?" The answer to that question is simple: A man who is free and is not happy is choosing not to be, but when he decides to be, he will be both happy and free ...the same cannot be said of the slave.

15

Arguing with people is a waste of time, so say what needs to be said and then let

it be. However, if someone wishes to learn more about your position, then teach them, for it is the best use of your time. What better activity is there to help create a better society other than civil discourse, especially with someone who's open to your ideas and seeking the truth?

SECTI ON II

1

I don't know whether or not there's an ob­ jective morality, but the closest argument I could think of for it would be: No human being wants to endure any kind of unnecessary physical pain inflicted upon them against their will. With this logic, we can state that inflicting unnecessary pain on other human beings is immoral. This could establish an objective morality, because

there would be no one on this planet, not even the vilest serial killer, who would want to be tortured against their will. The key word I want to empha­ size is will. If someone is willing to be tortured for money, it wouldn't be considered immoral, be­ cause it's their will to endure that pain, in order to get that money. One could try to argue with the same logic above, that forcing a child who is crying and screaming, resisting to get a tetanus shot after stepping on a rusty nail, is immoral, because it is against their will; however, the shot's temporary discomfort would be doing way less harm than a tetanus infection, and such medical measures are no way malicious. In fact, not giving the child the shot,

would be considered gross negligence and abso­ lutely immoral. Another could use this logic to argue against the death penalty, claiming that no murderer wants to be imprisoned and executed, since it would be against their will. However, a person who has committed murder, forfeits their right to life and protection under this moral code. When they en­ gaged in murder, they violated the code and chose to risk suffering the consequences. Furthermore, a society that upholds this moral code, would ensure that such a person would be executed in a humane manner, unlike his unfortunate victims.

2

I was hesitant to add this entry about my favorite movie quote of all time, because I

didn't want my book to have many quotes, espe­ cially one from a fictional character. But despite being said by a fictional character, the scene was written by a real person, and it helped me get through very tough times, so it would be wrong to leave it out. The quote is from the 2006 film Rocky Balboa, where Sylvester Stallone once again took on his iconic role as Rocky. The scene takes place outside of Rocky's restau­ rant, after his son comes to pay him a visit to discuss something on his mind. The conversation turns sour, and his son explains how hard it is to live in his father's shadow, due to his success. He begins arguing and complaining about it. Rocky then tells him this:

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hardya hit. It's about how hardyou can get hit and keep moving forward. How muchyou can take and keep movingforward. That's how winning is done! Now ifyou know whatyou're worth then go out and get whatyou're worth. Butya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing.fingers sayingyou ain't whereyou wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that

and that ain'tyou! You're better than that!

I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life. What an inspirational quote! I bolded the parts that really stuck with me. It was those lines that taught me life isn't fair and it's going to beat us up more than anyone else possibly could; that strength isn't about how hard you can hit, but how much pain and suffering you can endure and still persevere.

This struck a deep chord within me, as I have al­ ways blamed myself for things life threw at me­ thinking everything was my fault, rather than it throwing curve balls as it does to everyone. It also helped me realize I needed to forgive others for things I blamed them for, at times when I was too weak and cowardly to take responsibility for my life's situation. This quote got me through some very difficult times and allowed me to find some peace; I hope it does the same for you.

3

The moment you decide to showcase your acts of charity or good deeds to others, is the moment you expose the fact you were driven to do so by your ego, in order to be praised and accepted. In other words, you used those who are less fortunate than you as a way to bolster your

image. Praise be to those who do good works in si­ lence, who care not for thanks or recognition, and who do good works solely because it is in their na­ ture to do so.

4

I find it interesting that billions of people trust the word of dead prophets they've never met, along with what's written in their holy scriptures-much of which defies everything they've ever known to be true-yet don't trust their living fellow man.

5

An important fat-loss diet tip, is to make sure you don't drink any of your calories. This means eliminating all drinks that contain sugars or fats, and sticking to calorie-free alter­ natives and water. Drinking things like soda,

milkshakes, juice, and alcohol beverages, is one of the easiest ways to overconsume calories, because these drinks don't satiate you, all while being high in calories. In fact, many drinks will leave you craving more sugar, and could lead to overeating as well. Suppose you start your day with a glass of whole milk, or a large coffee with cream and sugar, then drink a can of regular soda for lunch, have a fruit smoothie as a snack, and then a glass of wine at night, you've easily consumed over 500 calories just from those drinks. If you were to remove all those from your diet, but still eat the way you did before, you could lose around a pound of fat per week by doing so.

This doesn't mean you should never have any of your favorite smoothies or drinks again, but the goal is to kick the habit of drinking hundreds of calories that you don't need on a daily basis. You can still enjoy drinking coffee and/or tea, but make sure you use sugar alternatives and low­ calorie creamers, instead of going to Starbucks for a 300-calorie gourmet coffee. If you follow this tip and eliminate the habit of drinking your calories-sticking only to water and calorie-free alternatives-you'll cut hundreds of calories from your diet, which will lead to fat loss, so long as you don't replace those calories with something else. Combine this with a good diet and exercise routine, and you'll get even bet-

ter results. But for now, start small and get rid of these liquid calories.

6

Negative emotions are a natural and healthy part of the human experience; their purpose is to let us know something is wrong, and that we need to take some sort of action to address a prob­ lem. Yet, we're taught by society to suppress, and, depending on which feelings, even be ashamed of them, in order to not become a "nuisance" to ourselves and others. But shame and suppression only makes matters worse; instead, we need to accept our emotions and let them be, because the more we resist them, the more we resist reality, and the more we suffer.

Resisting reality is resisting what is; it is like screaming at traffic, or yelling at the sky when it is raining-nothing changes, but everything feels worse. In order to avoid this, don't try to suppress your emotions, rather, be aware of them and channel their energy toward taking positive action. If you can't solve your problem-like being in a traffic jam or in a rainstorm-then accept nothing can be done, and the only action you can take is to wait until they run their course.

7

When people are given a common goal, all things that separate them vanish, at least temporarily. We humans all share a common goal: we wish to avoid suffering .... If only we all worked on it together.

8

Many people fear death, but this fear is illog­ ical. Why? Well for three reasons: Firstly, because the ego doesn't want to die; secondly, mankind's obsession with an afterlife has scared most people to think they could be sent to Hell for eternity; and thirdly, people fear the unknown. Yet, there's no good reason to believe in an after­ life, and no logical reason to fear death, which cannot be experienced by the dead. So, why would someone be concerned with it? This should not to be confused with dying; dying is not death, but obviously, the transition to death. Once you die, you won't even know you're dead, you won't know that you're supposed to be alive, and you won't feel a thing, because you'll no longer exist. Death is like falling asleep, or being

put under general anesthesia; in both cases, it's something that happens without your awareness. The only difference in the case of death is, you don't wake up again.

9

There are so many things you tend to regret in life; so much daydreaming about a sce­ nario you wished turned out the way you wanted. But do you realize that had those things turned out the way you wished them to, perhaps you wouldn't have any of the good things you have right now? Everything that has happened, is the only way it could have happened, and you should be thankful you're lucky enough to have any good things at all.

10

Every stone, no matter how big or small, will always make ripples in a pond. The size and duration of the ripples won't always be the same, for each stone has its own nature, and thus makes its unique waves in the pond, even if it's only for a brief moment. The same is true with our lives. We each come in different shapes and sizes, and we each have a role to play. We'll all make ripples in other people's lives and in the world, one way or another. Some of us will make ripples that'll last longer and reach the end of the pond-things that change the course of human history-but most of us will make ripples that'll only last a few mo­ ments, and dissipate without reaching the edge -living average lives. But in the end, all ripples

in a pond go away, as if there were no difference among them. If you insist on making bigger ripples when you don't have the means to do so, you will create unnecessary suffering; it's like a pebble lamenting about how it doesn't make ripples like the boulder. If you want to make big ripples, then you must become a boulder. However, accept the fact most of us will never become one, for it is not in our nature, and we should accept our role as pebbles if that's what we are, for even pebbles have their place and are not inferior to any other rock. Could you imagine a beach with just boulders to step on? Could you imagine a driveway made of boulders? So, you see, even the small things have their place,

and some fail to see their big importance in this world.

11

Hatred costs too much. Do you notice how much more suffering and pain ha­ tred adds to your life? Some of us get sucked in so deeply, it ends up costing us our very souls. The more you allow your anger, jealousy, or whatever other negative emotions drive you into hatred, the more you'll pay. Do you notice how negative emotions always feel draining? That's because they are. How many of you have felt drained after a moment of joy? Some hatred is justified, such as hating someone who wishes to harm your children. Love and hatred are interchangeable, for it is not just ha-

tred of the enemy that drives one to protect their children, but also the love of their children. Both emotions lead to the same attitude towards this enemy. But there's a way to hate someone without an ounce of negative emotion, so it doesn't cause you or your loved one's unnecessary suffering, and that's to accept your enemy's role as one that's evil in this play we call Life. The lion and the gazelle don't hate each other, they just play their natural roles-no emotions needed.

12

We're all cogs in a machine. If you focus on doing your part, whatever that is according to your nature, this machine will run smoothly. If you desire to do more than you're able and resist your nature, you will cause friction

and the machine will not run smoothly, harming yourself and the Whole.

3 1

It's not my own death that I fear, rather, it is experiencing the loss of a loved one, especially, God forbid, one of my children. Thinking about this fear while lying in my bed last night, led me to ask the Universe, with tears rolling down my eyes, "Why make all this when it will all go away?" Of course, there was no answer, and that's because I was waiting to hear it from the wrong place-thinking something out there was supposed to respond. I came to learn there are no answers out there, so, I focused within. Then in the silence came the thought, "Because this is the only way it can be. Infinity cannot take finite form

forever; its nature is never-ending change, and death is the doorway to that change."

14

There is nothing more inefficient than a government in which multiple parties exist, all striving to dominate the other in a never­ ending power struggle that divides the people and hinders and/or prevents any progress. An example of this is my very own United States government. This government, founded as a republic by very good men of virtue-true philosopher kings-has fallen in such a way they could have not possibly foreseen: its own so-called democratic process has become its very undoing. Currently, our so-called republic has been dom­ inated by two political parties: The Republicans

and Democrats, most of whom are bought and paid for by special interest groups that form an oligarchy. The reason this is possible, is because our government allows lobbies to influence our leaders, thus leading to tit-for-tat or pay-to-play politics which corrupts the system. The biggest donors-the groups with the largest purse and most connections-will drive policy, rather than the will of the People. This encourages criminals, traitors, and the worse types of people to run for office. The very few good men and women cur­ rently in office are far outnumbered to the point they can't bring any significant change. And if such people were to pose a threat to the system, they're railed against-sometimes even by their own constituents-until they're driven out of politics. There are several other parties who want

to bring real change, but none of these parties have an actual chance due to the status quo. And because of this, many Americans don't care for politics at all; they're demoralized, uninterested, and even accept this rigged system as a part of life. When you ask them about this they say, "What can we really do about it?" We have the people divided in many ways already: politically, religiously, racially, and ethnically, plus those who don't care for the system at all. None of these people can be properly represented by a party they oppose, and leads to everyone ac­ tually losing when one party wins in a multiparty system. The winning party loses in the sense that now they have to tolerate their opposition existing under the same roof, defying them at

every turn. And when the next round of elections come, they have to defend their acquired power from half the country. How stupid is this? Even a business isn't run in such a fashion. Imagine a corporation where half the board always wants one thing, and the other half always wants the opposite thing; only a fool would fail to see that it is only a matter of time until this company com­ pletely implodes. If both sides are unwilling to compromise-which is another word for tolerat­ ing what you don't want-then wouldn't it make sense for one half to just split away and form a new company? Of course! Typical rebuttals to this are: the idea isn't possi­ ble; no one will want to relocate; our checks and balances create fair compromises. No! Compro-

mise is a form of submission! Why should any free person have to compromise their position and submit to laws and leaders they do not wish to? Would it not make more sense to form oneparty state governments, so that every single person living within each state actually agrees with their government? Would it not make more sense for elections to only be about choosing the best among several candidates who share the same values as you do, rather than having to vote against people who don't? Wouldn't it be better if there were no more power struggles against your fellow citizens? Of course it would be, and that's why it's not allowed by the Oligarchs.

one-party state governments, so that every single person living within each state actually agrees with their government? Would it not make more sense for elections to only be about choosing the best among several candidates who share the same values as you do, rather than having to vote against people who don't? Wouldn't it be better

if there were no more power struggles against your fellow citizens? Of course it would be, and that's why it's not allowed by the Oligarchs.

15

Anytime you feel overwhelmed, turn inwards and do the following: 1) Notice the uncomfortable feeling.

2) Accept the inevitability of this feeling. 3) Realize negative emotions are natural responses to stress. 4) Remind yourself that no feeling is permanent and this one will eventually fade. 5) Embrace the feeling in the moment, but don't

focus on the reasons for the feeling. 6) Command your mind to think of nothing. 7) Think of nothing until the feeling passes. Such an exercise doesn't necessarily stop the feeling dead in its tracks, but it can limit its duration. A feeling typically peaks around 90 seconds, so

if you ride out its peak and focus on its endI the feeling will pass instead of being trig­ gered again. You may ask, "Well then how could someone cry for hours on end?" The reason is because the person who is crying that long, continues to focus on what has caused their feelings, repetitively triggering the body to respond to them-chaining to ether several

different waves of emotions-which ac­ cumulate to hours of crying. When you do the above and accept the feeling, you let it run its 90-second course without triggering another response because you are focused on nothing, rather than the thoughts which caused the feeling in the first place. Some

may think stoics don't feel emotions and are cold people; on the contrary, they feel like we all do, but know how to handle their emotions.

SECTION I II

1

The ego is like a dog; it will bark and growl at anything it perceives to be a threat. But the thing is, it sees everything

other than itself as a potential threat. That's why if you identify with it, you will feel torn, have arguments in your own head, and be eas­ ily deluded, all while getting barked at by this thing. Sometimes it will be overconfi­ dent and bark with no bite; other times it will be insecure and whimper in a corner, wanting to be pet and loved. But

you and it are not the same thing: The greatest delusion of all, is when people mistake themselves -their true selvesI the "I am"-as their ego. Many object to this and say, "But your ego is you thinking! What kind of non­ sense is this? You're just a brain!" And to that I respond, "Who 1s perceiving these thoughts? How can a bunch of chemical

reactions perceive anything?" Many believe we are not just the brain, but rather, a nonphysical entity we call "the self." Some say, "The self is just an illusion·I it's not real." And to that I respond, "Even if it is an illusion, an illusion is not fakeI just as a dream is not fake." If both are illusions, they are still real experiences that

are perceived; thus, there must be a perceiver. And if you can observe yourself, your thoughts, and your dreams, that means you are none of them and must be something else. The real you is the perceiver.

2

When someone does you wrong, don't take it personally. That is not to say don't get upset and be OK with what

they did, but rather, don't allow your ego to make it more than what it is. The person who does you wrong is coming from a negative place, and you-the receiver of this wrongdoingare in a positive place. In other words, you, right from the start, are better off than them because they resorted to dishonor able means to achieve their ends. What kind

of person does that? Clearly one who's suffering. This in no way justifies their actions, but it does show you're always in a better place than them, and their actions had nothing to do with you personally. Their jealousy, their envy, their anger, their schemes, or whatnot, are their problems, not yours. One may say, "Well

what about the millionaire stock broker who deceives and steals from his less wealthy clients? He's in a better place than all of them!" To that I ask, "Who's poorer, the man who has all the money one could wish for and yet is still not satisfied, who dishonors his character-becoming a deceiver and liar in an attempt to satisfy his greed-or the

honest person who has less money and is thankful for every paycheck?" The bro­ ker, even though he's in a better financial situation, is not bet­ ter off in a spiritual sense. In fact, many of these types who have an insatiable greed for money are unhappy and live very neurotic lives. Even when someone does something very

wrong to you, there's still no reason to take things personally, es­ pecially getting to the point where you want revenge. That is not to say you shouldn't seek justice if they have done something illegal, but rather, to not bring further harm to yourself by adding stress and anxiety to your life because of them. Get­ ting angry and resort­ ing to similar actions

they've taken will make you no different than them, and will lead to even further suffering. Have pity for those who do evil in order to achieve their short-lived happiness; they are slaves to their emotions, and will never truly be happy.

3

Does life �ave any meanmg or purpose? The best way to find out is to

ask life itself. And what better way to do that than ask yourself, since you're an expression of life? You may humbly say that you can't speak on behalf of all life, that you couldn't possibly know, or that we must ask the creator of life (if one exists) if it has any meaning at all. Our individual lives are a subjective experience and have a unique meaning and

purpose which only we can assign to it. There is no objective meaning or purpose to life, nor is there an authority on life. Life is an experience which needs no justification. Asking what is the meaning or purpose of life, is like asking what is the meaning or purpose of a flower.

4

The more technically

advanced humanity becomes, the more dependent on tech­ nology it becomes. That's why it's impor­ tant to occasionally take a break from the technological world around us, lest we be­ come enslaved by it.

5

The amount of government corruption that exists in a country is the amount of govern­ ment corruption that

its population allows to exist.

6

Should an atheist or theist convince their in­ terlocutor to accept their position, that person would end up right back where they started, holding on to assumptions and being unable to prove anything. Ultimately, both the atheist and theist would have to admit that they're

agnostic, that is, if they have any sense of integrity. so, do not waste your precious time seeking the opinions of gurus, prophets, scientists, or clergymen; instead, look within yourself and ask, "What does life mean to me? What purpose do I choose to serve?" In this way, you can cre­ ate a meaningful life

which will be aligned with your true nature.

7

There are many instances where human beings have risked their lives to save helpless animals, whether it be a pet stuck inside a burning house or a wild beast ensnared in a trap. Men and women of universal compassion across the world have risked their lives as if they were saving their

own children. And do you know how to tell that these people are loving, compassionate be­ ings? Because animals have no way to thank them for their kind­ ness and willingness to save them; they have no real under­ standing of what has transpired; and once saved, will go on with their lives as if noth­ ing happened. And for

this, you know their saviors did it purely out of love; they needed no thanks, no praise, and no favors in return.

8

Whe� :7ou have repet1t1ve thoughts in your head -like a catchy song or negative self-talk -here's a good NLP technique that can help you get rid of this unwanted mental noise:

1) Imagine your mind has a dial that can turn the volume in your head either up or down. 2) Imagine turning it up as loud as you can, and then imagine turning it down as low as you can. 3) Repeat this a few times so you realize you have control of

the volume in your head. 4) Now imagine turning it so low you hear a click as the dial is set to zero and there is no sound. 5) Continue imagining there is no sound and keep your mind quiet for as long as you can. 6) Repeat until the unwanted noise is

gone. Doing this should help shut off that annoying and repetitive thought or song stuck in your head. Once you shut it off, focus on something else to keep it off. Try it next time this happens and see for yourself.

9

Why do those who believe in free will pray to God ifhe bestowed upon

them the ability to carry out their wishes? Why do those who believe God has a master plan, pray to change that plan when it would be futile? Since you are part of the Whole, that which is also called "God"the infinite nothing composing everything-realize there's no divine help on the way, nor anyway to

alter the course of your life, unless you learn to take actions that would lead to change.

1o

As parents, on one hand we find much joy in watching our children explore the world around them, mesmerized and enamored with a l most everything they come in contact with; even the mundane

activities of life seem to miracles to them -such a sight is a beautiful thing to be­ hold. Yet on the other hand, we're filled with sadness, because we wish we could . . once agam experience that very innocence we lost with age. We also know one day our children, too, will lose their innocence, and be hardened by the same real world which hardened us.

That's why it's impor­ tant to cherish these moments while they last, because they won't last forever. And the best way to do so is to play along with your children: be silly, be funny, shed your tough skin, and relive your past expe­ riences through and with them.

11

If you take a moment

and examine your fears, you will see they're just figments of your imagination -intrusive thoughts which only bring you more anxiety. In other words, your fears are just fantasies. That is not to say all of your fears are irrationalI. in fact, many of them are healthy fears of possible outcomesI connected to real situ­ ations in your life, but the added anxiety and

suffering on top of those situations, are fantasies. For example, imagine you're at a zoo and one of the zoologists asks if you're afraid of any particular animal. You tell her you're afraid of spiders. She suggests allowing a giant tarantula to crawl on your arm to get over your fear of spiders. She says if you remain calm

nothing bad will happen, but if you make any sudden movements, it may startle the spider and cause it to bite. Of course, your fear of tarantulas stems from the fact they have large fangs, and not to mention, aren't so pretty looking. Because of all this, you imagine things going wrong before anything even takes place, reinforcing

your phobia. How­ ever, if you can re­ mind yourself that your fears are just a fantasy, you will remain calm and allow this creepy crawler up your arm, conquering your fear. On the other hand, if you allow your fear to conquer you, you may actually end up getting hurt, reinforc­ ing that fear.

So, what's a good way to conquer your fears? E n ­ vision yourself conquering them instead of them conquering you; then you'll act with confidence and have a better chance of overcoming, rather than succumbing to them.

12

War is hell, and it should be the last resort for a nation to protect itself and its interests from an aggressor. But as things are today, especially in the United States, war has become a business that has a great return on investment for those interests behind it, while the People front the bill. This corrupt and evil indus­ try has caused the unnecessary deaths of millions of innocent people, along with the destruction of entire countries, for no just reason at all. This madness must be stopped, and so, here I provide a

policy of declaring war that would prevent all un­ just and special interest wars: • All U.S. citizens in good standing will vote on war no different than they would vote for a new president of the United States (POTUS). In this case, instead of selecting between two candidates, the people will vote either for or against war. • The results are sent to Congress, who then makes an official declaration of war. • The role of commander-in-chief will be separated from the role of the POTUS. The position of commander-in-chief will be held by the most competent, high-ranking

general of the armed forces, who would be appointed by Congress. • The elected general will only be authorized to use the armed forces to engage in wars outside of our borders, whereas POTUS will be able to deploy the National Guard only to deal with domestic affairs. What this does: • Gives taxpaying citizens, who are subsi­ dizing war, the biggest say whether or not it happens. • Prevents a bought-off Congress from au­ thorizing any special interest wars.

• Prevents POTUS from using any military force against the will of the People or other sovereign nations that could escalate to­ ward war. Justification: • The taxpayers suffer the most from war. Not only do the families of our troops have to endure their loved ones being killed, they have to pay for it, too! Moreover, hundreds of billions of our tax dollars are spent treat­ ing those who return wounded. This is a huge and unnecessary burden on the na­ tion, especially if a war was unjust and not for the direct defense of our homeland.

• A Congress who is able to declare war with­ out the People's consent is not representing the People; it has too much power and can abuse that power for special interests. How can 535 people decide where 300plus mil­ lion people's taxes go, especially when it's to subsidize a war which the majority of the population rejects outright? They should have no say in the matter. • The position of commander-in-chief should never be held by a civilian, because civilians are not part of the armed forces, and should not command them during an international conflict. Just as you wouldn't hire a store manager to do brain surgery, nor should you hire a civilian to lead a war.

In conclusion, these ideas eliminate the possi­ bility of a bought-off Congress, or a corrupt and incompetent POTUS, from orchestrating wars that are not in the best interest of the People. Ulti­ mately, the People should have the only say when it comes to war.

13

If you don't love yourself and accept what your true nature is, you won't be able to share love with others. For anything you do in the name of love, will actually be for the sake of the False Self (the ego), acting out how it be­ lieves it should be acting, rather than the True Self acting according to its nature. Furthermore, you'll be unable to appreciate love from others, since the receiver of it won't be your true self, but your false self, who will always judge and gauge everything

according to its standards and desires, which are not those which your true self upholds.

14

It's wise to write down your thoughts and insights the moment they arise. I find in my experience that I tend to easily forget them if I don't, even if they are very profound ones. It's a good idea to have a means to do so read­ ily at hand, whether it be your smart phone or a notepad. I wonder how many insights and ideas I have forgotten each time I told myself, "Oh, I'll write that down later," only to lose them forever.

15

Any title or name bestowed upon you by others is meaningless compared to those bestowed upon yourself.

SECTI ON IV

1

Before criticizing someone for something they have done wrong, compliment them on their efforts and on the things they have done right. After that, mention how you have made the very same mistake before. If you haven't, simply mention some mistake from your past that can relate in some way. You'll find this approach to criticism much more constructive and effective

than shaming or blaming. The person on the re­ ceiving end of your critique will be more receptive without much, if any, ego backlash. Why? Because by opening up and showing them you're not afraid to admit your own mistakes and be vulner­ able around them, you show them it's OK if they admit to their mistakes and be vulnerable around you, allowing them to lower their guard, and be much more open to your advice.

2

The topic of abortion is a touchy one-some consider it murder, while others consider it a human right-so let us examine it from a neutral perspective. The act of abortion is the destruction of aform oflife. This form of life, if left to its own devices, would eventually become a fully devel­ oped human baby. But the words "developed" and

"baby" mean something different to each side of the argument. One side justifies abortion by saying a fetus isn't a baby, because it's just a clump of cells; they further argue that an unborn fetus or baby isn't a legal person who can be murdered, so it is not murder. The other side says regardless of the stage of development, a fetus is a baby and a unique human life; the justification to terminate its life because of the lack of legal personhood is i m ­ moral, so it is murder. The use of the word "mur­ der" is also problematic within this debate; no one would disagree that abortion is the termination or destruction of a human life. Let's further examine the word "developed." One can argue no human being is ever fully developed

because we never stop aging, changing constantly until our inevitable death. With that logic, why then is it not OK to terminate a human being at any stage in life if they're an inconvenience to society or a burden to one's family? Technically, they, too, are just a clump of cells-albeit trillions -at a specific stage in life. One could argue against this, saying, "But chil­ dren and adults are aware they exist, whereas a baby inside the womb is not." But then one can respond, "At what point does this awareness man­ ifest itself? Do you remember anything when you were one or two years old? Why can't we end the life of a one or two-year-old, if self-awareness is your measure?" The truth is, a society arbitrarily

decides which stages of life are morally acceptable to terminate. Ultimately, abortion is the termination of a human life, and I only agree with it under spe­ cific circumstances: if pregnancy threatens the mother's life; if the child was a product of rape or incest; or if the baby has severe disabilities that would result in a terrible life experience for itself and its parents. Although I'm not here to tell women what to do with their bodies, there are people who be­ lieve abortion should never happen under any circumstance. For example, it would be morally reprehensible for a rape victim to be forced to go through a pregnancy that was the result of an invader impregnating her with his unwanted

DNA; yet there are people who would find it morally reprehensible if she terminated the pregnancy, and believe forcing her to go through with it would be right thing to do. This of course is absolute lunacy, and thankfully, this is not the thought process of most people; most people who are against abortion, are against those which terminate a pregnancy that was the result of consensual sex. In such a case, I do want people to consider what is growing inside a woman isn't ac­ tually her body, but rather, something attached to her body, that is the combination of two people's DNA forming an individual human life, who was brought into existence by their actions. Whether illegal or not, people will always find a way to have abortions. Having unprotected sex

comes with many risks, from STDs to unwanted pregnancies; therefore, we need to be more re­ sponsible and educate people on this subject, es­ pecially our teenagers. I know it's hard for young teens and adults to control their sexual desires with their raging hormones, and many will risk enjoying the pleasures of unprotected sex without contemplating the consequences. But many do so because they have easy access to abortion clinics, so if anything goes wrong, they can rid them­ selves of any possible consequences their selfish actions would have created, by terminating a human life for no reason other than it would be a burden on them. These kinds of abortions I call "abortions of convenience."

The best way to stop abortions of convenience is through education, free contraceptives, and not glorifying the freedom to choose. Abortion should be seen as a terrible misfortune; our education system should teach people how to do everything in their power to avoid it; and our society should not consider it a positive and empowering act in the name of female liberation, as it is to some today. Whether you're prochoice or prolife, you'd have to logically agree that it is better to reduce avoidable abortions rather than increase them. A generation of human beings willing to terminate their prog­ eny to avoid responsibility, is a generation that'll eventually destroy itself, and we should do some­ thing to prevent that.

3

There can never be a perfect form of govern­ ment capable of governing a species as im­ perfect as ours.

4

All of our emotions emerge from within; we cannot experience emotions outside our­ selves, so it's irrational to say, "X made me to feel this way," when in fact you allowed yourself to feel that way because "X" didn't turn out the way you wanted. The truth is, most people have no idea how to deal with their emotions, and let the external world determine the state of their inter­ nal world. When something doesn't go their way, they are upset; when something goes their way, they are happy.

One who's in control of their emotions accepts the fact they are responsible for how they respond to both positive and negative influences. They understand their negative emotions are caused by their resistance of what is; they understand their positive emotions are an acceptance of what is; and so they know in order to find peace, they must not resist what is.

5

Everything has unfolded the only way it ever could have, because all that has un­ folded is a result of the entirety of the Whole, moving all of its infinite parts according to its will. So do not trouble yourself with wishes of how things could be, since they could have been no other way; let go and accept what is, changing

only that which you have been given the role to change.

6

Life is a game where we get to define what winning means, and yet we have so many people choosing to lose by believing they're not the ones who are supposed to set the standards, make the rules, and decide what the point of the game 1s.

7 8

Philosophy is the wellspring from which science and mathematics flow.

Do not wish to be like anyone else; do not envy those whom you perceive to have ev­ erything you desire; do not look down on yourself

and think you are not worthy. Remind yourself you are unique; that you are the only thing in reality which exists as you; that eons of evolution created the unique genetic expression which is you; that there will never be another exactly like you. Go out in the world and be your true self. De­ cide what your place is and do your best, because you will have an extremely hard time trying to be someone else.

9

When thinking about negative things that bother you, always remember one day you'll die and none of these things will matter. But why wait until you're lying on your death bed to let go of these things? Why suffer for years, when you can release yourself from their grip right now, by simply changing your perspective of these things?

10

What did you expect the world to be other than mirrors? Do you not realize what you see out there is a reflection of what's within? "But those evil things there, they're not within me!" On the contrary friend, those evil things, as you would call them, are in fact inside you; perhaps not in the same exact form, but in another, nonetheless. You're quick to accept the good reflections as your own, but reject the evil ones. Yet, the only way you could recognize evil, is because you're seeing something familiar. It doesn't matter which form your evils take, for they are composed of the same energy other evils are composed of. And no one disagrees that we all have a dark side-some are unfortunately more consumed by theirs than others-yet people will pretend they don't, in order to ignore it, hoping it

will go away. But rejecting our dark side will not make it go away; the only thing we can do is merge with it, by accepting our flaws and our negative thoughts, so we can bring balance and harmony within, and reflect that back to the world.

11

All your regrets are simply reminders to yourself not to repeat the mistakes you've made in your past. Sometimes we dwell on a specific mistake, believing the chance to do the right thing in the same scenario will never arise again. Perhaps it won't, but something similar could occur with different actors on the scene. What's important isn't whether or not such a scenario arises again, but whether or not you've learned from your past mistakes and became a

better person who'll do the right thing next time, whichever way next time manifests itself.

12

You shouldn't take people's opinions to heart, for they are simply preferences that suit them. Do you get offended when some­ one eats a dinner consisting of something you don't like? Perhaps the smell bothers you, but do you really care if they enjoy eating it? No, of course not. This is how you should deal with the opinions of others: don't mind them, even if they stink.

3 1

I was walking my dog on a very beauti­ ful day. It was so perfect outside I said to myself, "Ahh, what a wonderful day it is!" My

mind quickly reminded me this day was only possible because of the crappy days before it. And then it reminded me of some crappy days also being wonderful. A few nights ago, there was a severe thunder­ storm: the loud thunder and rain woke me from my sleep; the wind blew fiercely; and the rain fell so hard, the exterior of my home sounded like it was being bombarded by an enemy force. Although startled at first, I laid in my bed finding this experience to be a pleasant one. The loud noises became soothing; the lightning flashes del­ icately bright. With my sheets wrapped around me like a cocoon, I enjoyed witnessing Nature's awesome forces at work from the comfort of my

bed. Even this terrible storm was a beautiful thing to behold.

14

In regards to a fat loss diet, one should focus not so much on what they eat, but how much they eat. There are many diet "gurus" who claim their diet is superior to all others, but there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet, nor a superior diet. And because of this misinforma­ tion, many people fall into the belief that certain foods are good or bad. The truth is, when it comes to losing fat, there are no good or bad foods; the only thing that really matters, is if you're burning off more calories than you consume, creating a calorie deficit which will force yourself body to tap into your fat stores.

The real cause of the obesity problem is the overconsumption of calories leading to fat gain and other health issues. People are underconsuming nutritionally dense foods, which would satiate them, and are overconsuming nutritionally defi­ cient, highcalorie foods which don't. For example, it's way more filling to eat three small apples (240 calories) than three small Nacho Cheese Doritos bags (450 calories). So, if there are no good or bad foods, and all that matters is creating a caloric deficit, then which diet should you follow? Well there are plenty of diet zealots out there claiming only their kind of diet works, so try them all and see which works for you. If it does, great! If not, then try some­ thing else. Ultimately, the best diet is one that fits

your lifestyle and you can adhere to. If you don't see yourself being able to stick to a specific diet for the rest of your life, you will fail. If you love cookies and vow to never eat them again because someone convinced you they're bad, you will fail. What's important is you continue to enjoy the foods you love, but not overeat them and become obese. A good rule of thumb is the 80/20 rule: 80% of your calories coming from nutritionally dense "good foods" and 20% from "junk foods."

Regardless of which path you choose, you'll have to learn how to portion your food and count your calories. At first it may be annoying, but over time you'll able to "eye" your portions out and do it without calculators, scales, and apps. By taking this approach, you'll still be able to enjoy some

junk in your diet, so long as it fits into your daily caloric allowance.

15

When you see a mosquito land on your arm, do you sit there and watch it suck your blood? No. Then why allow people who are energy vampires to remain in your life?

SECTION V

1

The saying, "Everything happens for a reason," really translates to, "Everything is caused to happen." But are things actually caused by anything else? If reality is infinite, then it logically follows it must have infinite causes. But infinite causes would mean infinite regresses, and that is totally illogical. The only logical explanation is that there are no causes; it only

seems like there are because of our finite human form perceiving what's actually a nonduality as a duality through the lens of time. In order to grasp this concept of no causes, you must not look at cause and effect as two separate events occurring in time, but rather, one uncaused event that has always been happening.

2

The concept of rights is imaginary. There are no "God-given" rights, as many people will claim there are, nor do rights exist objectively in reality that we can all observe and agree upon. Nature teaches us this: No creature has the right to live, nor the right to food or anything else it needs to survive; each must fight for its survival and secure its own existence by whatever means necessary.

It is only by the grace of the philosophers that the concept of rights even came to exist. These ideas, although imaginary, are necessary to maintain order in human societies. But rights are simply privileges given to people in accordance to the laws established in their society. So, when some­ one says, "It's my right to do X," there will always be those who disagree and claim they don't have that right, even if it's law. So, who's right? Neither, because rights are just opinions.

3

4

Life is a serious joke.

Everything new comes from old things, for the Whole evolves by continuously recy­ cling old parts of itself to make new parts-this

is its nature. This evolution occurs to everything contained within it, and it will continue to do this forever. Therefore, those who do not embrace change, in whichever form, are resisting the Whole and will suffer.

5

When you're trying to get over an ex, stop thinking about how things could have been; instead, accept what happened and examine why it happened. Most people tend to fantasize about their relationship working out after a breakup, continuously reminding themselves of all the good times, which makes them miss their former lover. This is usually done more by the person who has been dumped: they feel rejected, less worthy, and betrayed; all they want to do is fix

things so those feelings go away, and they think getting back together is the answer... it's not. Feelings of rejection stem from the ego due to its insecure nature; therefore, the solution to stop these feelings is to tame it. The best way to do that is: don't be so hard on yourself; don't take the breakup personally; don't engage in negative self­ talk; don't feel sorry for yourself; and don't get angry. Realize the breakup wasn't just about you, but rather, both ofyou. Realize it's irrelevant who initiated the breakup, because it would've ended either way at some point in time. A better way to accept a break up, is to realize it was meant to end, otherwise it wouldn't have. There's no reason to deny reality, for it's the only thing that is real-your fantasies aren't. Your for-

mer lover is simply a mirror reflecting the reality of the situation, and it's your turn to accept and not judge it. If you were in a very toxic relationship but still find yourself missing your ex, avoid them in every way possible: social media, phone calls, texts, and especially in person. It's also a good idea to get rid of any physical things which may remind of you of them, such as pictures and gifts. This may sound extreme, but you have to take every measure to keep this person out of sight and out of mind; you don't need any "anchors" pulling you back toward them. When your ego tries to torture you with its "What if" scenarios, quickly turn your attention away from those fantasies and come back to reality.

Remind yourself of all the bad times, along with why the relationship failed. Rarely do people do this, and instead, they keep wishing for things to be the opposite of what they are; this causes more suffering than necessary, which could lead them back into that toxic relationship and stunt their personal growth. This is why it is critical to follow the advice I'm giving you here.

6

When it comes to the application of things, take what works and discard what does not. The same should be done with your beliefs, for those things that do not reflect themselves in the Whole cannot be true.

7

If you don't know how to appreciate what you have now, what makes you think you'll

appreciate when you get that which you desire later?

8

99% of your suffering is self-inflicted and stems from the lack of mastery over your ego. The other 1% of your suffering is from phys­ ical pain, either from injury or disease. In regards to the former kind, it is you who perceives reality in such a way that you resist what is and bring upon yourself unnecessary mental anguish. The ego, like a dog, will always bark when it's con­ cerned. The barking itself is neither good nor bad, because it is a natural response; the ego believes it's protecting you and itself from an external threat. But an untrained ego, like an untrained a dog, will bark all the time and drive you mad.

That's why it's your job to train it, so it stops bark­ ing the moment you tell it to. By doing so, you will know how to eliminate all unnecessary suffering.

9

After you calm down from a bout of anger, reflect and ask yourself, "Did that spurt of irrational emotion make the situation any bet­ ter?" The answer will always be "No." Some may say, "But anger can motivate people into action!" It certainly can motivate people into action, specifi­ cally those who've failed to see they could have taken the same action without their poisonous anger, allowing them to focus more on solutions with positive energy.

10

Capital punishment is just in cases of rape, murder, pedophilia, and trea-

son. The perpetrators of such crimes commit acts which cannot be undone. The rapist invades a woman's body; the murderer ends a life which cannot be resurrected; the pedophile defiles a child's innocence; the traitor does irreparable damage to their country. In all cases, life in prison is unjust, for why should the citizens of a country use their taxes to keep such people alive? Many argue that only God can judge a person, and it's not our right to execute anyone; others say it's more expensive to execute a person than to keep them in jail. In the case of the former, the god of Abraham condones all kinds of punishments throughout the holy texts across many of its manifestations. He ordered genocides, took vengeance on sinners,

and killed off most life on Earth with a great flood. So, what makes anyone think this god would be against the death penalty, especially when many holy texts demand it for certain sins? God, who apparently created the Universe, also created life which must sustain itself by killing and consum­ ing other forms of life. So, how does one conclude this god is against killing, especially when it comes to justice? Why is it wrong to execute someone who has done something so evil to oth­ ers? The death penalty is like removing a cancer from your body; you don't remove the cancer and keep it on life support, you excise and dispose of it. And the same should be done with perpetrators of such crimes.

The costliness of the death penalty is due to our prison system being mostly driven by profit, rather than driven by virtue. The death penalty is more expensive these days, because it takes years and years to execute someone guilty of a crime worthy of death, since they strategically appeal their case in order to prolong their lives. This can all be changed by policies that would expedite the process. When someone is, without a shadow of a doubt, convicted of a capital crime-such as a murderer who was caught on camera killing in broad daylight-there is no reason for it take more than a few days to execute this person, after all legal a:ffairs have been settled in preparation for their departure.

If we have a case where we can't prove the guilt of someone with 100% certainty, as above with the video footage, then the criminal should be sentenced to work for life in prison, so they can produce free goods for society. In fact, it would make sense to do turn all prisons into work camps, allowing inmates to serve their sentences, while giving a return to the taxpayer for their in­ vestment into the prison system. If a person who was sentenced to life is one day exonerated, the government would release them from bondage and compensate them for their loss of freedom. This system may not be able to prevent wrongful convictions and incarcerations, but due to the very specific criteria that would need to be met in order to be eligible for the death penalty, most

criminals facing death will end up working for life, while still having a chance to be exonerated, rather than being put on death row for decades and possibly wrongfully executed.

11

A true leader must learn how to detach himself from his doubts, fears, and mis­ takes, for ifhe dwells too much on these, rather than focusing on the needs of his people and duty to his cause, he will lose his way and lead every­ one who follows him astray.

12

There is no "true love" waiting for you out there; the only true love lies within yourself. Once you understand this, you could share that love with others.

3 1

Anytime you feel rejected, lonely, angry, insecure, and afraid, are all times you are identifying with your ego.

14

I consider each nation on this planet an organ that is part of the Earth's body. This means each one has a specific role that is carried out by the unique people who have inhab­ ited the area long enough and developed a culture which helps them produce and share things necessary for the function and sustainability of the whole world-like how our organs do with other parts of our bodies. It's in our best interest as human beings to work in tangent with Nature, to ensure a safe and clean environment, and with each other, to ensure peace and harmony. How­ ever, this balance can be disturbed if we reject

natural order, and try to impose unnatural things likeforced multiculturalism and diversity via globalism.

15

You should learn the different kinds of logical fallacies for these reasons: to learn how to refute your interlocutor and help them learn the truth; to find inconsistencies within your own logic, so you, too, can learn the truth. In both cases, none of you are defeated, but are liberated from illogical beliefs, which hinder your progress as human beings.

SECTI ON VI

1

Some people claim human beings are pes­ simistic-I disagree. We tend to live our days as if they weren't numbered, and bad things won't happen to us. We tell people we're going to the store and we'll return in 30 minutes, without the slightest consideration we could die on the way there.

While you're enjoying a moment in life, especially when all things are running smoothly, always remember that death can come at any time and in any place. This will allow you to appreciate each of these moments even more rather than taking them for granted. It's better to live as your days are numbered so you'll put your time to better use and appreciate each moment you live on this earth.

2

Once you see how your ego operates and learn how to tame it, you'll start to see how the egos of others operate, too, allowing you to re­ alize what drives them, and help them tame theirs as you did yours.

3

What the world needs are leaders who have conquered their vices, overcame their ego, and are willing to die for their people. Only such types are able to truly lead from a position of justice, for they would not allow their vices, their ego, nor fear of death prevent them from doing so. The many so-called world leaders we see today are the opposite of such types, and are a reflec­ tion of our own flaws manifested in the form of government.

4

If a policy isn't based on merit, then it's des­ tined to ruin whichever goal it's meant to achieve.

5

A virtuous man does what must be done, then what should be done, then what could

be done. A vile man does what pleases him first, even at the expense of others, and cares not about his obligations or duties to the Whole.

6

Mathematics is the written language of the Universe, whereas music is its spoken form. However, unlike mathematics, music is under­ stood by everyone, without it ever having to be learned.

7

Could we imagine what the Whole is like? We can try. Imagine an infinite television screen. Such a screen could not make an image of itself because it is infinite. Infinity has no shape, size, or form; it is like a formless, clearness that has no limits. Such a thing cannot be seen, and yet we see images. How so? An infinite television

could not produce any image, unless it was com­ posed of finite parts to occupy the space within itself. In other words, infinity is composed of an infinite number of finite parts which complement each other. When you see a picture of something on the screen, you not only see what is shown (the positive), but also that space in which nothing is shown (the negative), both of which are actually one thing: reality.

8

The best way to eliminate your opposition is to convert them to your side. In this way, you put none of your people in danger, the opposi­ tion's lives are spared, and more fighters are added to your ranks, which further strengthens your forces. Always try to convert opponents whenever

possible, unless they are lost causes and you have no choice but to destroy them.

9

A very powerful quote from Meditations that really stuck with me, and helped me evolve into a more confident man who no longer could be affected negatively by the opinions of others, was the part where the Marcus Aurelius wrote: I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himselfthan on the opinions of others. Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor longfor it.

Although Marcus did not offer his guess as to why, the answer is this: so long as a man identifies with his false self (ego), the love which he thinks he has for himself, can only be a false love. Thus, when he hears others don't think too highly of him, he gets upset, offended, and inflicts upon himself emotional pain; he knows deep down that their criticisms of him are valid, precisely because he is a fraud, pretending that he loves himself when he doesn't know true love nor identifies with his true self.

10

A true patriot fights for his fellow citizens, not for his government. Thus, should his government become unjust, he will risk all to protect his fellow citizens from it, and seek to destroy it. Those who enforce the will

of tyranny due to fear or the desire of coin, are traitors to their people; they are nothing more than mercenaries for hire.

11

As an immaterial being, nothing ma­ terial will bring you true happiness; things only seem to bring happiness, because you have given them an immaterial value. For exam­ ple, you may desire money because you equate it with freedom and security, but what does money itself do? Nothing. Sure, it can give you a sense of freedom and security that will make you happy, yet you already have both at some level. But be­ cause you don't appreciate what you have now, you think you need more to be happy.

Even the things you want to buy yourself will only serve to fulfill an emotional need. But as shown above, your emotional needs are fulfilled when you decide they are, since you actually set the standards. Your standard in the previous ex­ ample was, "If I get more money, then I will allow myself to be happy." But if you were to fully accept and appreciate your current situation, you would experience that same emotion without a single new dollar added to your pocket.

12

We can't do everything, but we can do something; the best thing we can do is to help others do something, too.

3 1

Usually when someone tells you they don't believe you can achieve your

dreams, they're actually telling you they couldn't achieve theirs. Anyone who has achieved their dreams will tell you that you can achieve yours just like they did: with hard work, dedication, and perseverance.

14

Beliefs are simply opinions based on faith; knowledge is the understanding of facts. Do not be concerned about converting those who share different beliefs than you, rather, focus your efforts on debunking those who are trying to twist the facts, for it is your duty as a philosopher to do so.

15

What good is having a strong mind if you have a weak body, and vice versa? The mind and body are interdependent in many

ways; having one strengthened and not the other will create an imbalance. Therefore, in order to become a well-balanced individual, you must ex­ ercise both your mind and body.

SECTI ON VII

1

A person does not achieve spiritual enlight­ enment by letting go of desires, but rather, by no longer having those desires. The same goes for vices: One cannot be considered freed from their vices simply because they have found ways to subdue their urges; they can only be considered free when they no longer have any such urges at all.

2

You have to be honest and ask yourself: Do your set of moral standards, that were passed down to you and accepted without ques­ tion-by family, friends, culture, and/or religion -support your convictions, or do you suppress your true feelings to conform to these ideas in­ stead of rejecting them? If you are struggling with your sense of morality, it is because the standards you are holding are not aligned with your true nature.

3

Lending money to a friend, in some cases, not only means you risk losing your money, but also your friend.

4

Your worst critics will give you more useful feedback than your greatest fans; you won't be able to truly improve your craft with just blind praise, you also need blunt criticism.

5

For you to resist any event that develops un­ favorably from your view, is an attempt to change the entire cosmos itself, which is an im­ possible task that only leads to suffering. That is not to say you should enjoy what you consider to be misfortune or tragedy, but losing yourself in a fantasy of how something should be rather than how it is, will only exacerbate your suffering.

6

Your emotions are never wrong, it's your interpretations of them that can be i n ­ correct. That's why it's important to take a step

back and examine your feelings to find their root causes; only then can you get the correct message they're trying to deliver and act accordingly.

7

It's not enough to just vaguely envision your goal, you must be very specific -you have to design a plan, make the necessary prepa­ rations, and execute it. Not only must you plan to the very last detail, you have to inspire yourself to achieve it. This can be done by imagining how it would feel to accomplish your goal, how much better your life would be because of it, and how your life would be if you failed.

8

If the masses had the same passion for poli­ tics as they do for sports and entertainment, I bet our system wouldn't be as corrupt as it is

today. The entertainment industries distract peo­ ple long enough until the dog and pony show we call politics is on the air. Now all things become political, including sports. Every channel, once keeping the people docile, now demands action and tells them, "Make sure you go and vote; it's time to change your country for the better!" Most people find politics to be rather boring and are very disinterested. Can you blame them? I don't. However, those who do find our politics interesting and are heavily involved, don't even realize that they, too, are being entertained no differently than watching two different football teams trying to win the Super Bowl. They're not only attracted to, but also tolerate the idea of, two parties that hold diametrically opposing belief

systems battling for dominance and trying to un­ dermine each other, as their form of government. Political pundits take the place of sports commen­ tators and get their audiences all excited about the next big game (election). Even the brightest fail to see this and contribute to the existence of the very system that continues to destroy our freedoms. When the time comes, the People are then herded like cattle to go exercise their so-called voting power with emotional appeals to patriotism and duty. Sadly, instead of revolting against the system -so obviously utterly corrupt it deserves to be destroyed-they'd rather ensure the conti­ nuity of it and vote for whomever is saying what they want to hear, all while knowing deep down they're about to get duped again, as they have

every other time. But what does it matter to them really? So long as their sports and entertainment programs run uninterrupted, they will continue to support the very system that has enslaved them.

9

The passing of our loved ones is a painful experience for reasons that are obvious. But one thing most people don't realize is that we mourn their deaths because they are reminders of our own mortality.

10

Do not allow your ego to prevent you from seeking help. Getting help, espe­ cially with vices, isn't a form of weakness, but rather, a form of strength.

11

Great orators have always known the importance of well-placed silence in their speeches. Pausing between points and taking your time with what you're about to say, evokes a feeling of suspense in your audience, causing them to listen more closely. This is some­ thing you can practice by recording yourself speaking, then reviewing that recording and mak­ ing changes for the next one. Many people, despite their level of intelligence, fail to understand the power of the pause and just ramble on, chaining their statements together with "urns" and "uhs" or other filler words. The "urns" in between your words is your brain trying to think of what to say next, but using fillers is not the best speaking strategy. Pausing not only

allows you to think before you speak, it does this in a better way, by allowing you to connect your words in a more fluid fashion. A well-timed pause can also emphasize any point you're trying to make much more profoundly, which is why you're speaking in the first place. One way I trained myself to master the pause was to replace all "urns" and other fillers with pauses. Any time I felt an "um" coming on, I would just stop talking. It's quite easy actually, but requires practice. A good exercise I do, is pretend I'm on some kind of talk show doing an interview, where I imagine the interviewer asking me questions about whatever subject, and I respond to each out loud as if l were there. Sound crazy? Well yes, perhaps around other people, which is why I do

it while driving or when I'm home alone, but it's very effective, like an actor practicing his lines. Speaking is an art and you need to practice it. My method allows you to practice doing thousands of seminars, interviews, and speeches you don't get a chance to do daily, right in the comfort of your own home or car, whichever you prefer.

2 1 3 1

Life is short, but it's the longest thing you'll ever do.

I've cried so many times for so many different reasons, and not once did my tears change a thing outside or anything within me. It was only after the tears stopped flowing that a period of self-reflection could even begin.

There can be none of that if our emotions are overwhelming us and clouding our judgment. So, don't look at crying as a form of weakness, but rather, the transition from weakness to moments of clarity and strength.

14

Nobody knows what this reality actu­ ally is; nobody knows how it got here, or whether it's always been here; all we know is that it moves, changing from one form to another in an endless dance, in perfect step, and in an effort­ less flow. There is not a glitch in its complex matrix, nor a single mistake; it moves in every way possible, for its moves are the only way possible. All must con­ form to its nature and follow in step; they have

no choice, for they are just its expressions mani­ fested, dancing to its tune.

15

When at restaurants with my family, I oftentimes try to make our server laugh. Usually, I will give them my order and say some­ thing silly like, "I'll have a cheeseburger with no cheese please," or "I'll have three ribeye steaks," and wait until they look at me with disbelief. Then of course I correct the order and they're relieved. Another corny joke I use, is when I'm done eating and my plate has a morsel of food on it, I give the waiter my plate and ask them, "Could you box this for me?" They instantly laugh. Some actually fall for it at first, but then realize I'm joking.

And finally, when they come around to check how everything is going I tell them, "Absolutely terrible," then pause, and then go on to tell them some silly reason which they realize is a joke. Sometimes, when I eat a dish clean, I will present my empty plate and tell them I was unhappy with my meal, and I'd like to speak a manager. Why am I sharing this with you? Well, like several other seemingly mundane entries in this book, there's a deeper meaning and purpose to it: Servers are slaving away for under minimum wage and are dependent on tips. They work long hours, bouncing from table to table, taking the same boring orders over and over again. In worse cases, they have to deal with grumpy or rude cus­ tomers who stress them out.

But you get to be different. You get to be their little break from the tedious work they have to do. You have the ability to lighten up their day just by making a very corny joke, and they will appreciate it. Sometimes they may even throw you a free dessert or hook you up with extra sides just for making them feel better. If you can, always tip 20%. They need those few extra dollars more than you do. Be charitable!

SECTION VIII

1

Empty space is infinite; it facilitates all there is, all there was, and all there ever will be. It is in this nothingness that all possibilities can occur, bound by no limits other than the nature of those things within it. When you attempt to imagine the entirely of the Whole, perhaps you envision a blackness surrounding an orb of some kind: the orb being the boundaries of the accumulated

things, and the black space around it, the Absolute Infinity. But that blackness is not actually black, nor the orb actually an orb; the nothingness is clear, yet it contains all color. The "orb" is an amalgamation of different forms, yet has no form itself, for it will continue to shapeshift according to the nature of all of its infinite parts.

2

The goal of a stoic is not to eliminate all suffering, for this is impossible, but rather, to reduce the amount of suffering one experi­ ences, especially the kinds of self-inflicted mental tortures that are created by the ego.

3

In a game of chess, you'd never tell your opponent your next move if you wanted to win, for such an honest gesture would cause you to lose the game. So as it is with war, for it is a game of deception. It doesn't matter which form it takes-whether physical or psychological-decep­ tion is the key strategy. "I am no chess player, nor am I a soldier, so how does this apply to me?" Well friend, you miss the deeper meaning: even you are a soldier at war with your ego. When struggling with a vice, a fear, or your identity, a war ensues between you and it-the False Self vs the True Self engaging in a battle over your life. And what's the most pre­ ferred strategy of the False Self? Deception! Learn

how it deceive you, and you will learn how to win against it.

4

Every day I try to chip away at this book, but some days I fail to. And then comes that little voice saying, "You're not going to finish it, just like you don't finish anything else." This voice clearly is my ego. If I buy into its nonsense, I cer­ tainly won't finish it. But why would my ego work against me, and what's it really trying to accom­ plish? Does it really care whether or not I finish this book? Of course not. What it cares about is avoiding pain. It knows that if I don't finish this book, I would've failed again at another goal, leading to more suffering and self-consternation. In other words, it's actually looking out for itself; it would rather feel like it's in control and end

something on its own terms, rather than trying to accomplish something and fail at it. But when you learn to master your ego, like train­ ing a dog, you can tell it to sit down and stop bark­ ing. So, despite my doubts which my ego presents -with good evidence by the way-I will continue my work, chipping away at each entry whenever the mood to do so arises, until it is complete.

"Ahhhh, but what if people don't like your work? Spare yourself the criticism and rejection now. Don't waste another moment!" my ego says. I n ­ deed, it may be possible my work will be rejected, but that doesn't matter. What matters is I do what I love to do. We're not here to please everyone; we're here to be our true selves.

5

When you need to get things done, but are overwhelmed by many different thoughts and don't know where to begin, there's a very simple neurolinguistic programming (NLP) technique that will help you get your thoughts in order. All you have to do is the following: 1) Observe the numerous thoughts and no­ tice they are all contained in your head. 2) Imagine commanding those thoughts to come together and form a single file line. 3) Now shuffle these thoughts and put them in an order, from most to least important. 4) Notice the thought in the front is the one that needs to be addressed first.

5) Now go on and handle it.

6

Mankind created fiat currency; Nature created genetic currency. One value is at the mercy of the economy, the other at the mercy of Nature herself. What we have today are con artists who have usurped Nature's system-which ensures the best of our species procreates-and replaced it with a monetary scheme favoring the most wicked, criminal, and genetically inferior elements of our species, by helping them rise to the top and oppress their superior competitors in an artificial game that denies Her will. If we truly wish to advance our species, we must return to appreciating Nature's currency.

7

Every single experience, no matter how pro­ found or seemingly insignificant, influences you in some way, whether you realize it or not. That's why it's important to be around good com­ pany and in an environment that will help you evolve into a better person.

8

God cannot be a person or entity with traditionally accepted attributes for the fol­ lowing reasons: • For God to be infinite, he could not have limits of any kind, nor a single defining characteristic of personhood. • For God to be omnipresent, he could not have a locus, nor could he exist apart from his creation; he must literally be

everywhere and be the composition of everything.

• For God to be omniscient, he would have to not just know all knowledge, but also all ex­ perience-the subjective experiences of all of his living creations-which could not be possible unless he was all of his creations. • For God to be omnipotent, he must be able to exercise all possibilities which exist in the Whole; thus, he must actually be the Whole itself in order to do so. The best logical conclusion is God cannot be a person, but instead is all persons, all of creation, and exists at all times, being every possible form, and essentially is the unlimited, infinite reality

which is a reflection of itself, that is not one thing in particular, but is all things simultaneously, and knows all experiences by being all things that can have experiences, and is the eternal substrate that is, has been, and always will be.

9

You should take your imagination seriously, because it's an extremely powerful tool that needs to be under your control, otherwise it will be used against you by your ego. When you finally learn to tame your ego, you'll be able to use your imagination to visualize and build useful ideas and strategies that'll help you, rather than fears and doubts that'll hinder you.

10

When things go wrong and our rela­ tionships end, we tend to feel we need

closure to get over them. Sometimes we can get it, other times we can't. It is nice to get closure when you can, and many times it this will help you grow as a person, but torturing yourself by yearning for it when you can't, is counterproductive. When you're unable to get closure, you must realize there's no need to have the other person in­ volved; it's up to you to close that chapter of your life, and you don't need their permission to do so. Many questions will be unanswered, some feel­ ings may still linger, but all of these are ego-based and you must let them go, just like you're letting the person go.

11

Have you ever stopped and realized you're a product of every war and disas-

ter in human history, and somehow your ances­ tors survived long enough to reproduce and create the very lineage which you were later born from? An unfathomable number of human lives had to end so yours could begin. You therefore owe your existence to every single event-whether good or bad-that occurred before you. For if any sin­ gle event didn't unfold precisely how it did, you wouldn't exist today. And because of this, it's your duty to understand the gravity of every decision you make in life, and to think before you act, for you are setting up events for an eternity to come, effecting the lives of people you'll never meet.

12

A man driven by his lust can be easily manipulated.

3 1

Being lazy is a habit, it isn't your nature. The ego tries to convince you it is by say­ ing things like, "Oh you're just a laidback person. Why rush things? Do them later! Nothing you do will matter anyway, so why bother right now? Conserve your energy for something more impor­ tant. Go get it done when you feel like it." The ego will say anything in order to keep the status quo, since it doesn't like to do extra work. It's up to you as master to realize this and push yourself to break the habit of laziness. How do you do it? You have to remind yourself the ego is con­ vincing you to be lazy, and every time it tries to do so, you must take action in direct opposition to its devilry.

14

Ironically, social media has made human beings less social in real life, and has given the False Self a way to express itself like never before, on a global level. What makes plat­ forms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., so addicting, is the fact these sites feed the user's ego in some way, shape, or form. Social media com­ panies sell the idea that any person can use their services to bolster their social status and expand their social circles. But not all social media use is ego-driven: those who aren't consumed by their egos use it to spread useful information, or keep in touch with friends and family. However, those who are consumed by their egos use it quite differently. Some use it to get attention by portraying a perfect life they

think everyone should envy, while others do the opposite and use it to air their dirty laundry, cause drama, and hate on people. Despite their different approaches, both types are addicted to the at­ tention they get, and will spend a lot of time and energy maintaining the shrine they have built to the False Self. And what makes matters worse, is all these platforms are mobile, and people are constantly on them everywhere they go. We now see what can accurately be described as hordes of zombies on their smart phones, marching themselves to work while checking their social media to see if they got any new "likes," or have any new gossip to address. Whether you're taking the train into a big city, having dinner at a restaurant, or walking

down the street, there are always people hunched over looking at their phones, sucked into a vir­ tual world and missing out on the real one. They spend so much time on social media, they have more friends online than they do in real life. And this is because the False Self loves falsehoods and fantasies, and on social media, it can be whatever it wants, as there's plenty of people online to deceive.

15

When you're not in the right state of mind or body, it's OK to detach yourself from your duties for a bit. You can't be efficient if your mind or body isn't all there; it's best to take some time to rest and return to your duties fully reinvigorated, instead of preforming halfheart­ edly and draining yourself even further.

SECTION IX

1

What are dreams? Are they real? Does our soul leave the body and travel to different d i ­ mensions where other souls are roaming? Dreams are certainly real experiences, but they only hap­ pen in our head. It is believed they're the product of unprocessed data that the brain filtered out during the day, which is processed while we sleep.

The brain can only consciously absorb so much data during our waking hours, the rest of it goes into the subconscious, where all unprocessed sense-based information lies. When we fall asleep, that data is played back to the conscious part of our brain as it's being processed. Because we can only focus on one thought at a time, the sense data is perceived as a string of information, like a script. This is why our dreams produce a movielike simulation that casts us as the star, but also puts us in the audience, since we don't know what the script contains. Sometimes things stressing us show up in our dreams; other times things we haven't thought of in a long time pop up seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes dreams make sense, other times they

don't. Then there are recurring dreams which seem to have the same plot and meaning. Some dreams can be very unpleasant, that when you wake up, you're actually upset because of them. I can't count how many times I have had dreams about my time in the military, waking up and feeling I was in trouble with my superiors, or was being redeployed to Iraq. Naturally, I've also had several pleasant dreams, some of which involved sex, but rarely with my own wife or women I've known in my life. These dreams involved sex with strangers I've never met. Perhaps the brain creates characters by combining the different features of people we've seen throughout our day. It would be very crazy if

dreams were actually souls meeting in different dimensions and having spiritual affairs. Another interesting thing about dreams, is some­ times the characters in them aren't always played by the same people; there are even times you're played by someone else. How many times have you experienced people you know being played by others in your dreams? I'm sure plenty of times. Why is this the case? No one knows for sure. And how many times have you had a pleasant dream, woke up, and tried to get back into it? I've tried and have only succeeded a handful of times. Imagine if we had total control of our dreams and could command ourselves to dream what we wished; that every night before we went to bed, we told our brain, "Dream all of my deepest

desires to come true," and it did as commanded. If this were the case, I bet none of us would want to wake up.

2

Take a look back throughout your years and notice how much "you" have changed, not just physically, but also mentally. Really think about it for a moment. Were you ever the same person this whole time? What makes you think you have reached your final form? What makes you think you even have one? Does the "I am" within have one? No, it doesn't. So, what's this thing that's changing over time? When you look at a photograph of yourself in your teenage years, is that the same you today? Of course it's not the same you physically, but

what about mentally? I doubt you'd say, "Yes." In fact, there are so many stupid and immature things you did as a young teen you can laugh at now. There are so many memories created by that "you," but not the "you" of today. You had very a different view of the world back then as well. So, who's actually living your life now? There may be a time when you think of this very moment, looking back and saying, "That's how I used to be." But who is this "I"? How does this "I" expe­ rience different things, yet seems to be the same "I" in the end? "I have learned this; I have done that." Who exactly? The body? The brain? Clearly this "I" is something different all together. This "I" is the true you. You are a timeless, formless

observer of all of your experiences. You are pure consciousness.

3

Sometimes, when the ego is suffering too much all at once, it starts to think up of the ultimate escape plan: suicide. Many of us have had suicidal thoughts during times of immense suffering, but not all of us have actually planned anything out, and none us reading this right now ever successfully carried out such plans. Sadly, however, it is estimated that suicide takes nearly a million lives per year worldwide. Although the reasons each of these people decided to take their lives may differ, the underlying commonality is they each identified with their ego, meaning, each of them didn't believe they

were the "I am." They chose to die because of their attachment to their ego's story, believing it was their story rather than its story. How many of these deaths could have been prevented had these people not identified with their ego, and realized they could change how they perceived their story? Probably all of them.

4

Why do some of you believe that Nature could not create all of this complexity? Why do some of you think She is an unintelligent, blind force that has no ability to design intelligently? Take this into consideration: intelligence can only beget intelligence. If there exists intelligence in the Universe, then the Universe itself must be i n ­ telligent in some way. If the Universe was created, then the process which created it must also be

intelligent, and so on down the line, ad infinitum. The only possible way to end this infinite regress, is to logically conclude that an infinite intelli­ gence exists. Many reject this notion because they think their arbitrary definition of intelligence is all that it could be, and thus, believe intelligence can only exist in a brain. Not a single human being under­ stands anything in this reality in its entirety, and yet we dare say the very reality that spawned us is into existence isn't alive and intelligent. Real­ ity must be alive and intelligent in order to even beget life and intelligence. Whether you call this living intelligence God or Nature is irrelevant.

5

It's sad to see how easily the masses are herded by the Parasite Class who runs the West. Is it because these rulers are that clever, or is it because the people are that naive and gullible? Although both are probably true, it is more the lat­ ter than the former.

6

It's been a few days now that I've had writer's block and haven't written any en­ tries. I have attempted to force some entries in several times, but only ended up erasing what I wrote. I realized trying to force myself to write when it's not the right time, is working against the flow. I told myself I won't force anything, that the entire point of this book is to capture genuine insights which come to me from time to time. If I were to put even one entry that didn't come natu-

rally in accordance with the flow, then this entire work would lose its authenticity. We all must realize when creating something from the flow, we are really creating something from the soul; thus, we have no choice but to be patient and wait for the right conditions for it to express itself. These conditions are brought about by an infinite number of causes; there's no way for you to persuade the soul and force it to work for you by sheer will. Such an attempt is your ego trying to control an infinite thing, which will only create inauthentic work. That's why there's no deadline for this book; I don't know how many sections it will contain, nor how many pages it will be, but I will know when it's complete when I get that inner feeling.

If you're in the creative arts and want to create something genuine, the only choice you have is to submit to the flow; only then will your soul come forward. In my case, I had to accept for the last several days, that this was the only way it could be. I had no negative thoughts about these days, nor any self-doubt, just an acknowledgment and understanding that no work was meant to be done during this time. This is the attitude you must have if you wish to create something truly authentic.

7

A hundred years from now you will most likely be dead. Even if you had accomplished something of worth, you won't be around to con­ tinue to witness and enjoy the fruits of your labor. In a hundred more, if you had not accomplished

anything historic, all who knew you will also be dead, and your name won't be uttered by a single person. If you did accomplish something historic, you'll only be a footnote in history. This is why no matter what you do, make sure you're doing it be­ cause it's in your nature and not for some egotis­ tical reason. Do things out of love for oneself and others. Do things for the good of the Whole. To live a life that isn't loving and aligned with your true nature, is like dying twice when death comes to claim you.

8

Are you living according to your true nature? If you are, you'll have no doubts and answer this question in the affirmative. If you wish to find out who you truly are, then you must con­ duct a serious self-inquiry, in order to shed all the

layers of the ego's story until you reveal your true self. Once you do this and accept who you really are, your true nature will set you on the correct path, where you'll be able to live the life you truly want to live, all while serving the Whole.

9

Being offended by something is a sign you are identifying with your ego and taking things personally. The True Self cannot be offended in anyway.

10

There's nothing more unimpressive than a self-absorbed individual who boasts about their shallow and unfulfilled mate­ rialistic life, trying to pass it off as the kind of life­ style everyone should envy. The most impressive

people are those who don't try to impress anyone at all.

11

Your objective in life should be to do no harm and only do things that will benefit the Whole. Granted, there will be times you do some harm, but those times will be when your ego has taken control and your true nature was suppressed. This must be prevented as much as possible by always asking yourself, "Is what I'm about to do going to harm myself or others?" There are, and always will be, many lost human beings whose true nature is so enshrouded by their ego, they'll only do harm. It is your duty to stand against those who seek to harm the Whole, but before you do, you must do no harm yourself.

12

Current science claims our universe began with the Big Bang 13. 7 billion years ago. All evidence thus far points to this being the case, but our universe always existed, just in another form. Many of those who say it's impossible for it to come from nothing, fail to understand what that really means. "Nothing" in philosophy means completely void of anything, whereas in physics, "nothing" still contains some things, as confusing as that may sound. There­ fore, when scientists claim the Universe came from nothing, they don't mean the philosophical nothing. Nothing really means no thing: no form, no characteristics, nor any distinctions whatsoever. If this is the case, then how can we experience

anything at all? How is this possible? The only logical answer to this question is that there is, was, and always will be something. However, that something is not actually a thing, but the totality of all there is. In other words, this something is not one thing, but is simultaneously everything. Therefore, it has no one form, no defining charac­ teristics, and no distinctions within it. The reason it seems it does to us is because we're one of its finite parts looking at other parts of it. Our universe, as it is now, is simply a trans­ mutation of the fundamental substrate of existence from one state to another. It, with its infinite potential, can temporarily take this form as we experience it. But what we're seeing is only a fraction of the Whole that is connected to this

fundamental source, which is "nothing." The only reason it seems to have come into existence from our point of view, is because we view re­ ality through the lens of time. But time doesn't actually exist; there's only one "time" and that's now. Everything is happening now. Everything can only happen now. There was no cause, there was no start, and there is no end; it's all just an endless dance of energy, changing from one form to another.

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14

All change starts from within.

Freedom is an illusion in the sense that everything is connected and affects everything else; thus, there's nothing in reality

that can exist freely on its own. That is not to say freedom doesn't exist, but it's not what most be­ lieve it means, for even the so-called freest person isn't totally free. Freedom is simply being less de­ pendent on others and having the privilege to do more than they're able to do. However, even then, such a person is still connected to and dependent upon everyone and everything else, and thus, is never truly free. As good people, we should all strive to become as independent as possible, not to give ourselves a false sense of total freedom, but rather, to give us the ability to better help others who are more de­ pendent than us. We can do this by lessening our burden on society, and helping others obtain the

things they need, so they can achieve their goals and become freer.

15

A truly enlightened person knows there's no such thing as a truly enlight­ ened person. They know every higher stage of awareness brings us back to a place of ignorance, by opening up a new level of reality to explore. They know once we achieve an enlightened state, we'll realize that whatever we knew was but a fraction of a fraction of the infinite truth. And be­ cause of this, such a person knows achieving some stage of final enlightenment is impossible. Enlightenment isn't a state of being, it's a spiritual understanding and nothing more. An under­ standing cannot be a person, and a person cannot

be an understanding, but a person can under­ stand the concept that their spiritual growth continues for their entire lives until they die. They can understand reality is infinite and they'll never be able to experience all of it. And it is this understanding which humbles a person, giving them the ability to see the larger infinite picture and find their place in it. That's all enlightenment is, contrary to what many charlatans will tell you.

SECTI ON X

1

Anti-supremacy is my fundamental position from which I derive all my political philoso­ phy. It is the position that no group has the right to lord or rule over another group for any reason, unless with the consent of that group. Naturally, this aligns with the position of nationalism rather than globalism, since globalism seeks to eliminate all boundaries and create a one-world govern-

ment. This not only violates national sovereignty, but is also a direct attack on Nature. In order to implement globalism on a worldwide scale, its proponents must engage in acts of aggression against all sovereign nations. Naturally, my anti­ supremacist position rejects this and upholds, with the upmost importance, the nonaggression principle (NAP). The only time aggression in the anti-supremacist world view is justified, is in the case of self-defense. Any person or group who disagrees with the idea of anti-supremacy is by default a suprem­ acist. The wish to impose their culture, laws, or creeds upon another group unwilling to accept them, even if their intentions are good, is still supremacy. However, it's not a form of supremacy

if another group adopts parts of another group's culture, laws, or creeds, or wishes to live under their form of government via annexation or immigration to their land willingly. But any su­ premacist group that wishes to forcefully impose its will on others, should be considered an enemy to all free peoples of the world, and dealt with ruthlessly should they violate the NAP. An important pillar of anti-supremacy is my concept of supreme sovereignty. Supreme sovereignty means the following: Because each human is an individual being, who was brought into this world without their consent, and will inevitably be exposed to pain and suffering, no other human being has the right to tell this in­ dividual how to live their lives. In other words,

being brought into this world without your per­ mission, and then being told how to live in it, is the ultimate form of supremacy. The individual is the basic unit of personhood; groups of related persons create families; families are the backbone of society; and politics is the expression of that society. A population of unique individuals and families living under a certain government, hand their sovereignty (power) over to their elected leaders who represent their com­ bined will to the world. Thus, whenever a foreign or domestic entity begins to attack and tries to usurp their representatives from within, such an entity becomes a supremacist entity. The same goes when elected leaders betray their oath: they become the instruments of supremacy for special

interests in direct violation to the people's will. In both cases, the People should ruthlessly excise these cancers from their society. One may wonder, "What about minors, are they supreme sovereigns who can't be told what to do?" The State grants parents "dictatorial pow­ ers" over their children until they become adults because this form of supremacy is necessary for their survival and development. However, parents shouldn't abuse their power, nor attempt to mold their children into something they aren't, but rather, assist them in becoming what they truly are and wish to be, so they can reach their full po­ tential-this is the difference between good par­ enting and bad parenting.

The opposite of supreme sovereignty is the egotis­ tic notion that new lives who come into this world "owe" their existence to everyone else. Certainly, this is true in the physical sense, but because there was no contract made between the parents and these new beings (since it's impossible) there's no debt owed whatsoever. In fact, procreation can be considered a "selfish investment" in an evolutionary sense, since parents create new life in order to pass on their genes and legacy. That is not to say parenting is selfish, on the contrary, it's an endeavor where one should expect nothing in return, gladly make sacrifices for, and give sup­ port to their children in order to ensure they have a better future.

Anti-supremacy and supreme sovereignty are concepts aligned with the nature of the True Self, whereas their opposites-supremacy and slavery-are aligned with the nature of the False Self. Thus, you'll realize that all supremacists are driven by fear and self-doubt, for their wish to control others is based on insecurity and a desire to make the world in their image. Such individu­ als not only wage war against their fellow man, but also against Nature, since they fear their very own mother who created them, and wish to bend Her to their will. But Nature will not tolerate this kind of hubris from supremacists; their transgres­ sions against Her and Her children will eventually lead to their utter destruction.

2

If a state truly cared about the prosperity of its citizens, it would give an incentive for married couples to have families that would allow one parent to stay home while the other works. If both parents wish to work, the State should pro­ vide daycare services. In this way, couples have an incentive to get married and start families, being able to achieve replacement-value birth rates in order to preserve the demographic and culture of their nation, instead of working several jobs to make ends meet and having subpar birthrates, while their state imports foreigners to replace them.

3

"I am a fraud. I am weak. I am scared. I am not worth it. I am a failure. I am going to die alone." All these thoughts are the ego's attempt to

convince you that it's the "I am" by impersonating it. The True Self, which you really are, remains silent and is observing those thoughts.

4

There are only a few people in the world willing to put in the necessary time and sacrifice to make a serious historical impact on so­ ciety in some way. This is achieved by doing some kind of work, or taking some form of action that will be considered either "good" or "evil" by soci­ ety. However, each path isn't the same: It is much easier to gain notoriety by doing evil, than it is to be renown for doing good.

5

The Oligarchs have all the power and money in the world, and yet they are still unhappy, insatiable arasites. With all their power and

influence, instead of doing good, they choose to do evil. Why? Because deep down inside they suffer...they are worse off than we peasants will ever be.

6

Reality has no explanation: it is grounded in nothingness; it has no beginning nor end, and all things contained in it have the same attributes. One may object and say, "But this Universe began at some point!" or "All life begins and ends." However, the Universe was always on its way to "begin" and always on its way to "end.'' The same is true about life: All the processes that would eventually create life, were already evolv­ ing before "time" supposedly came into existence. In other words, there was no time in which any of

these things began to exist; they already existed as different parts before coming together. When did you begin to exist? Did you pop out of a void, or was your birth a product of an incal­ culable number of causes and variables before it? To say "you" only began to exist when you were born is nonsense. One can argue you began to exist the second of conception; another can argue you existed in two places at once-the sperm and the egg having yet to meet to then create the e m ­ bryo version of you; and yet another can go even further and continuously divide your existence until the beginning of spacetime itself. In other words, you have not always existed as one thing, but rather, as everything.

7

The best way to endure hardships is to constantly remind yourself they won't last forever. Every time you have a breakdown, cry un­ controllably, smash objects, or fall to the ground, remember these moments are part of a process­ one necessary for your growth toward becoming a stronger and more experienced person.

8

There are many apologists who claim the laws of physics and logic were given by a lawgiver (God) who created them along with the Universe. They claim these laws exist eternally and are contingent on the mind of God-existing even before the Universe began-and will still be true even if it ceased to exist. However, these so­ called laws are simply mathematical equations and models created by mankind, based on our ob-

servations of natural phenomena. In other words, we are the lawgivers, not God. Granted, we did not create the attributes of the Universe, but we did create the descriptions of its attributes. The laws of logic are contingent both on our minds and physical reality. Would such laws still be true if there were nothing but empty space -the philosophical nothing literally devoid of anything? Could 2 + 2 = 4, or A = A be true, if there were no objects at all? These, or any other equations, could only be true if there were things to add or distinctions that could be made within that reality. There can be no A in reality without something that's not A. How could A = A be true in a philosophical nothingness, with no observing

minds and no distinctions within it or outside of it, to make even itself A? So, as you can see, the existence of these laws doesn't mean there is or was a cosmic lawgiver; they are just descriptions of the reality we find ourselves in. There's no need for a cosmic mind or god to create or maintain these laws, because they are just our observations of what exists and noth­ ing more.

9

When something is bothering you, take a step back and observe it, then ask yourself, "Have I ever experienced something like this be­ fore?" If so, do the following: 1) Imagine the place where you hold your old memories.

2) Imagine that place is a box with a lid you can open that contains other similar memories. 3) Now imagine taking these bothersome thoughts, opening the lid, and placing them inside this box. 4) Notice how doing that reduces the anxi­ ety and negative emotions those thoughts were causing. 5) Repeat this until the negative feelings cease. This is a great mental exercise, because it reminds your subconscious you have already dealt with something similar and have already overcome it. However, if you're experiencing something new

that's troubling you, make sure to pay close at­ tention and prepare for new lessons to come. You may notice even these will have similarities to things you've faced before, and will eventually be thrown into the box as well.

1o 11

Hope is just another word for anxiety.

One day, future generations of mankind will look back at history and be baffled with what we, their ancestors, religiously be­ lieved. They will refer to these beliefs as myths and superstitions, just as we do with Greek or Roman mythology today.

12

In order for the citizens of a nation to truly have freedom of speech, all sacred cows must be slaughtered.

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A fair tax system would collect taxes from everyone, but allow taxpayers to choose where they go from a list of necessary g o v ­ ernment functions. In this way, politicians will be unable to misuse our taxes, and it will also ensure certain programs, bureaucracies, and other things the people don't want, wither away and die. Con­ versely, the people can ensure the things they do want, like healthcare, education, and infrastruc­ ture, are never underfunded. Currently, the government takes our taxes and uses them to overfund the military to protect

their expansionist empire and special interests across the globe, while underfunding the things we need to improve the lives of our citizens. This is an inefficient and unjust way to use our taxes. Taxpayers should have the final say on where their hard-earned money goes, that is, if this gov­ ernment is truly of, by, and for the People.

14

Hunting for sport is an ego-driven, barbaric act that has no place in our society. The killing of animals should only be done out of necessity, whether for food or culling a population in order to maintain a balanced ecosystem. In these scenarios, hunting serves a higher purpose and is for the greater good.

15

All lobbies should be banned from influ­ encing our elected representatives and required to go directly to the People. Of course, the Oligarchs would reject this because it's much easier to buy off one corrupt person than get the blessings of the millions of voters themselves.

SECTION XI

1

A state that doesn't use capital punishment to deal with capital offenses, does its citi­ zens a great disservice. The State, whose purpose should be to protect its citizens, must take all pos­ sible measures to deter and decrease crime. There will always be killers, rapists, pedophiles, and traitors who would risk their lives to commit their crimes, but the remainder of would-be offenders

will have to seriously weigh their options to see whether or not acting on their desires are worth dying for.

2

When an authority tells me not to read a certain book, question a certain event, nor criticize certain people, I tend to do the exact opposite.

3

If one had the ability to see reality as it truly is, all forms would disappear. The reason for this is because the substance that makes reality would be seen in every possible location at the same time, blurring away all lines of distinction and causing each object to vanish. The only "thing" the observer would see at that point, is an infinite canvas with no corners.

4

The ego isn't always deceptive, it will be quite honest if you ask it the correct ques­ tions. In other words, if you're not asking the right questions, you won't get the right answers. If you're on autopilot and unaware of why you're doing something harmful, the best way to figure why is step back and observe. Ask the ego, "Why are you really doing this?" and it will tell you honestly. Let me give you an example from my own life during the time I was in a very toxic and imma­ ture relationship. One of my ego's methods to "punish" my girl­ friend was to ignore her for days or even weeks after an argument. The ego's game here was to show her who was boss, by pretending that I

didn't need her and didn't care enough, which ap­ parently gave me the upper hand. During a session I had with my psychologist at the time, I spoke about various problems in my life, including my relationship with my girlfriend. When I told her how I would ignore my girlfriend when we would have arguments, she asked me, "What are you really trying to achieve by doing this?" and my ego responded with, "To make her call me and have her fix the problem." But she was already calling me and trying to fix the problem, yet I would ignore her. The ego was only making matters worse by prolonging the situation rather than addressing it. This life lesson stuck with me ever since that ses­ sion with my psychologist. I learned when asked

the correct questions, the ego won't lie. That's why it's important to always reflect and find out what truly motivates your actions. The more you do so, the better you'll be at finding and eliminat­ ing bad behaviors that are harmful to yourself and others.

5

I'm no economist, but if your currency isn't backed by something of real value, then what's it really worth? Would it not be more log­ ical and just to ensure that the People, who sell their labor in exchange for currency, determine the value of that currency, rather than private banks, foreign nations, and speculative markets? Some argue it should be measured by the labor of a workforce and the supply and demand of

actual goods produced by that labor, while others promote the gold standard. But how practical is having mounds of gold stored somewhere? Per­ haps something like Bitcoin could be the new gold standard-something decentralized, rather than in the hands of governments and banks. I don't know for sure, but I do know we need something better than what we have now, otherwise our nation and its citizens will remain indebted to the Bankers, and never truly be free.

6

Even within ideologically homogeneous groups, it's inevitable a process of evolution will occur. Our observations of society show it's just a matter of time until an individual within a group begins to think differently, and like a muta-

tion, changes parts of society into an entirely new species. This is why we constantly see the rise and fall of several ideological and political forces within the same nation. As time brings about marked change in a nation's environment, people of the same group will divide themselves and try to impose their will onto the rest. The dominant force will win, as Nature favors the strongest. These groups will stubbornly continue to struggle for dominance over each other, but eventually they'll have to accept and realize their once ho­ mogeneous nation has become too heterogeneous to maintain. Those who insist to live amongst each other will foolishly be engaged in a fight for supremacy without any end in sight; those who

understand how Nature works, will honor Her laws and try to find a new home for their nascent group.

7

A good friend once told me I'm too hard on myself-which is true. The reason I am is because I expect much more from myself. Perhaps you do, too. In some ways, being hard on yourself can drive you to do better and improve, but for those of us that are too hard on ourselves, we tend to dwell on our mistakes much longer than we should, keeping us stuck in the past. Instead of learning from them and moving on, we needlessly continue to punish ourselves, despite knowing we made choices based on information we had. In other words, none of us chose to make a bad

choice on purpose, yet we punish ourselves as if we did. What my friend told me that really opened my eyes was I had to learn to untangle the problem from the punishment. It's OK to feel regret or shame for a little while, but to drag it out for weeks, months, or in worse cases, years, is very unhealthy, and does nothing to help solve the problem at all. So remember: separate the problem from the punishment. When you have learned your lesson, discard the negative emotions, in whichever form they manifest, and move forward. What good would it be to do the opposite and add additional suffering by abusing yourself? Does the solution to your problem involve torturing yourself men-

tally or physically? Obviously not. But it isn't so obvious when we let our ego get the best of us. Once you accept that you're human, you can even­ tually let the negative energy go, giving you more positive energy to solve the problem, if possible, or the ability to move on.

8

For one to truly have courage, they must first be afraid and then muster the energy to overcome that fear. Their fear doesn't go away, it's simply overpowered by the desire to do what is right. There can be no courage if there's no fear of loss. Thus, one can only be considered courageous when they put themselves at risk in some way, doing so for a greater good.

9

The reason people get so defensive when you challenge their beliefs, is because many of them identify with them as if they are them. Their beliefs shape their perception of the world, forming judgments and opinions based on what they experience. They mistake themselves to be these things rather than the perceiver of both. If you say their beliefs are wrong, they'll see this as an attack on them as if you were saying they are wrong. They take offense because by identifying with their thoughts and perceptions, they iden­ tify with the False Self. In order to bypass the ego's defense mechanisms, one must carefully approach someone's thoughts and perceptions in an unbiased and neutral man­ ner, asking questions about their beliefs and what

justifications they have for believing them, in a curious way. With this approach-rather than dictating and flat-out saying they are wrong ­ they become a teacher and you their student, giving you an opportunity to ask any question you'd like. And here is where you can insert your suggestions that may raise some doubt within them, without it seeming like an attack. And if they answer these questions-those which you cleverly asked knowing they'd lead to a contra­ diction in their beliefs-they'll be exposed to the truth. Even if they decide to stubbornly reject it, the seeds of doubt have been planted.

10

We, as humans, are bound to the laws of Nature, to our environment, to other species, and to each other: There's no action nor

inaction that does not have its consequences on everything else; there's no action nor inaction which isn't a response to some other action or inaction. Therefore, it's best for us to ensure we choose our moves wisely, for they will affect real­ ity in some way, shape, or form.

11

It is estimated that 1 % of the population are psychopaths; this means, here in the United States alone, there are over 3 million psy­ chopaths among us. A psychopath is a person who totally lacks empathy, but can mimic and use it to manipulate people to achieve their agenda. Sound familiar? Sounds like our politicians, doesn't it? What are the chances our entire government is composed of psychopaths? How about all of the

world's governments? It's not a question of proba­ bility, but rather, a question of what to do about it. And why do we, the absolute majority, allow a sick fraction of the population to control and manip­ ulate us? Perhaps we have a little bit of psychopa­ thy within ourselves. Of course we do! Have you not witnessed someone defending their beliefs with such passion, it actually turned into rage and hatred toward anyone who disagreed with them? This ingroup vs outgroup preference and overly emotional investment in our ideologies, is a weak­ ness psychopaths exploit. Even the tiniest amount of psychopathy in us gives these monsters enough leverage to pit us against one another. And while we are being manipulated to battle each other, they-the

psychopaths, who are playing both sides-are un­ affected and remain in power. Therefore, in order for us to gain our power back, we must first learn to control the devil within, and then fix the cor­ rupt system we helped create by removing these psychopaths from power.

12

It doesn't matter what you're saying to people if they don't believe what you're saying matters.

3 1

If you don't love yourself, then you'll be dead inside. If you are dead inside, you'll walk among the living and act as if you were like them, but you won't be. You may even go out and do good works to help others, maybe even feel temporary joy or fulfillment in doing so in those

moments, but when they come to an end, you'll be back where you started-in a place of misery. Even if your work is helpful and lifechanging to others, you won't be able to appreciate what you have done; you'll probably believe you're not doing enough at all. This will drive you into a deeper depression, feeling worthless and power­ less, despite trying to help bring positive change to the world. At some point, you may even start to resent the very people you want to help. I have been there myself, and this madness can last for decades, and in worst cases, until death. In order to avoid this, you have to accept that you must love yourself before loving others. This doesn't mean don't act loving toward others and be totally selfish, quite the contrary, it means to

love yourself like you'd want others to love you, and treat yourself how you'd want others to treat you, so you don't get in your own way, and can actually do some good from a place of love. If you don't love yourself, do you truly think you can have a genuine relationship with other people? No, you can't. But how do you start loving yourself?

First, you must accept who you are and who you aren't. Many of us have created this mental ver­ sion of ourselves based on impossible standards that can't be achieved, which leads to suffering. Instead, if we are more realistic-knowing and ac­ cepting both our strengths and weaknesses-we will have no delusional standards to achieve, and

can be practical with our approach toward better­ ing ourselves. Second, you must stop caring what others think of you, to the point where no one should be able to offend you. You do this by accepting all the flaws people might use to offend you, so they won't faze you if mentioned. In fact, you'll agree with people should they bring them up, perhaps even laugh about those flaws if they are silly ones. This is the total acceptance of one's self. We have no issue accepting the good parts of us, but we have a hard time accepting the bad parts. However, you can't fully love yourself unless you accept both.

14

No need to speak on your own behalf to bolster your public image, let your

works, which should come from love, do the talking for you. A humble person doesn't need to brag, nor do they feel it's necessary to receive any thanks and praise for something they were going to do, regardless.

15

Isn't it ironic that so-called toxic mas­ culinity actually comes from men who are the least masculine? Wife beaters, rapists, alcoholics, drug addicts, perverts, pedophiles, nar­ cissists, and misogynists -weaklings who defy the masculine role of protecting and caring for women and children- shouldn't be considered men at all. These misguided man-children are a detriment to society, and give a bad name to real men who abide by their natural role assigned to them by Nature.

SECTION X I I

1

When thinking happy thoughts doesn't work, there is another method that can help change your mood, and that is moving your body in a positive way, regardless of how you feel. The reason this works is because the mind and body are connected, and you can put the body in certain positions where it has no choice but to release positive emotions.

Here's two exercises to prove it: 1) Stand on your feet, look up, raise your hands in the air, smile, and keep saying, "I am miserable," repeatedly. Notice the negative talk had no effect. 2) Sit down in a chair hunched over, make a sad face, cross your arms, and keep telling yourself, "I am so happy right now," repeat­ edly. Notice the positive talk had no effectfor the same reason above. This is why people tell you to turn your frown upside down, to keep your head up, sit up straight, and so on, because your body knows that certain

positions correlate with certain emotions, and thus, it will release proper chemical reactions to elicit and support those emotions. So, now you know if you're in a negative mood, you can move your body in a positive way to snap out of it. But there will be times that cannot be artificially overcome, and you'll have to just deal with what you're going through, such as losing a loved one. This method works on things that are less important than what you're making them out to be, such as your ego-driven thoughts.

2

There's one thing you can thank hypocrites for: they help you stay consistent.

3

The real problem with mankind is that we have the ability to hate ourselves, which can lead to the hatred of others. When we focus on the negative aspects and flaws about ourselves, rather than our positive ones, we begin to project such flaws onto the rest of our fellow human beings. That is not to say we all have the same flaws, but it does mean we're all flawed. The fact we typically refuse to accept anyone's flaws, especially our own, eventually leads to resentment toward other people. In fact, the refusal to accept our imperfec­ tion is a denial of reality, which leads to us harm­ ing ourselves, others, and even our environment -no other species on Earth is in this predicament. The absurd and impossible standards we hold will eventually extend to even hating certain truths

and parts of reality. When we're faced with things we refuse to accept about ourselves and the world, we begin to make excuses or blame others for those things. The truth is, all of these problems stem from the same issue we all share, regardless of which form it takes. The only way to change our problem as a species, is to accept ourselves and others, flaws and all. That is not to say to ac­ cept the flaws themselves, but to accept we are all flawed, and we need to work our flaws together.

4

The more I see the efficacy of medication on my own mental conditions, such as my PTSD and anxiety, the more I accept the idea our minds are the product of chemical and electrical processes that can be altered by the introduction of other chemicals. This led me to believe, against

any previous doubts, that not only do we have zero free will, we have no agency either, being that our previous brain states and experiences deter­ mine what actions we'll take and how we'll think next. This supercomputer we call the brain, collects data from our experiences and stores them for future retrieval to make better "choices" later on; thus, each choice is dependent on that data. The argument that we can look ahead and make our own free choices with our agency is untrue; the choices we would make are contingent on former data, leading us to either repeat the same actions or not. We are the observer of the "choices" being made, witnessing this supercomputer (mind/ brain) making them from the perspective of the

"I" or True Self (consciousness). Our thoughts are the accumulation of all life processes within us, and every single thing happening in our body con­ tributes to our current state of mind. In fact, our bodies are composed of several different colonies of organisms, all performing unique functions and sending messages to the brain that influence its "choices." What you feel like eating, what you're afraid of, etc., are not choices at all. For example, you don't "choose" to like eating pizza or not, or be attracted to someone or not, nor be afraid of heights or not. When it comes to making choices, none of them are actually choices, but rather, our brain's cal­ culations, which are only possible using current information compared to past experiences. You

may "choose" not to eat pizza today because you ate it yesterday and your body doesn'tfeel like eating it. You may alsofeel the need to vary your food choices. You may "choose" to eat the same pizza again because it was so delicious, but that's because the bodyfeels like it. If your body didn't give you the feeling of wanting to eat it again, you wouldn't "choose" to eat it again. Furthermore, this scenario isn't even possible if you hadn't eaten the pizza the day before. And how many calculations and events in your life led you to eat that pizza in the first place? It's impossible to know. "So how do we change our minds?" one may ask. Simple. In order to change our minds, we have to be exposed to new information that will then

be absorbed and processed-we obviously can't change our minds with the same information. For example, a person can't overcome a phobia until they're exposed to new information and experiences that teaches their body/mind the fear is irrational. If they're exposed to the same fallacious information that created their phobia in the first place, they'll remain unable to overcome it. However, facing their phobia with enough positive reinforcement will provide the body/mind ample experience, allowing them to overcome it when the body "decides" it is safe. The brain computes the data and tells the person, "The probability of this little spider biting and killing me is way lower than I previously thought." Pho­ bias would not exist if we had total free will or

agency, for no one would freely choose to be afraid of something irrationally. So, for those of you who still think we have free will . . . we don't. Your resistance to this truth is coming from your ego that wants to control everything and deludes itself into thinking it can. Everything we ever do is contingent on our past experiences, future concerns, and current situation, on top of all the chemical processes of the body and information being calculated by the brain. The brain projects all this sense data as a holographic interface which becomes the mind many of you identify with. You can experience this projection via the mind's eye as thoughts and visualizations, but you are that which can see this projection and observe its workings, so you're

not even the mind. "So, what the hell am I?" you ask. You are not a single thing, but all of these things combined. You are a continual process, a walking physical and nonphysical calculator that can witness its calculations and experience their outcomes. When I say you have no free will or agency, I'm saying there is no one "you" doing it, rather, it's all ofyou doing it. The True Self, (the "I am") is the part of you able to observe the learning process in real time, and experience this wonderful machine which you reside in at work. The False Self, the brain, the body, and all the colonies of bacteria, etc., are the other parts of "you" influencing the choices you make. So, if you only identify with

one part, of course you'll think you have free will and complete agency, but you don't. And so you may ask, "Well then, why bother trying to change ourselves or help others think differently if we're all at the mercy of chemical processes and previous events?" You don't need to bother, because it will happen if you're exposed to the correct information. You are the awareness observing things and collecting information along with the other senses and parts of you, and you'll act accordingly. Just remember that free will and agency-working from what seems is the top down-is actually one phenomenon happening simultaneouslyfrom the top down and bottom up.

5

A great way to reinforce a positive habit, is to leave reminders on things you use and places you'll be throughout your day. A personal example of this is when I was following a diet and I wrote on my bathroom mirror: "Don't eat like shit." This worked because every day I looked at it, there was a reminder to stick to my diet. Not only that, I made my phone's background text say the same thing, so anytime I used it, I was reminded again. There are plenty of other things you could do as well, like leaving stickies on your fridge, writing reminders on a white board, setting alarms on your phone with certain messages, and so on. The most important thing is to put these reminders in places you will be often and on things you will use

a lot. If you work at a desk, then most of your re­ minders should be there with you. Another method is to use objects to remind your­ self of things. In this case, you select something portable, like a coin, and tell yourself it represents something you need to do. In other words, you need to mentally project your intention onto that object so your brain makes the association with it. Another way is to carry an object directly related to that thing you wish to achieve. No matter what you choose to do, the entire point is to make sure you are constantly reminded to reinforce that habit over a long period of time, so it becomes second nature. Once you achieve that, you won't need to leave reminders to yourself all over the lace anymore.

6

Do not be ashamed of who you really are. Do not deny yourself what truly makes you happy. Do not suppress or act against your true nature. Do not be afraid to lose those who refuse to accept you. Do not be afraid to be rejected even by the entire world. For what good would your life be if you did otherwise? Would you not be but a slave to people's expectations and opinions?

7

"Love your enemy" means you should accept who and what they are, along with their role in this play we call Life. If you hate them emotion­ ally, you allow them to hurt you without them having to lift a finger, whether in your presence or not. How counterproductive is this?

You don't need to hate someone in order to do what's necessary and right: A person fighting for justice does not take things personally, and does what must be done for the sake of justice; they are not driven by emotion, vengeance, or anything else.

8

A revolution is only good when patriots suc­ cessfully take out the corrupt without harming the innocent. Such revolutionaries un­ derstand this: when you want the puppets to stop dancing, you must slay the puppet masters, other­ wise they will find others to dance in their place.

9

Whenever you become obsessed with some­ thing, you lose all the joy you used to get from it. The joy you once had, turns into an anx-

iety based on a fear of loss. When you don't get that thing when you want it, you feel empty and begin to suffer. Your suffering leads you to want more and more. And when you do get it, you want to keep and control it. You don't want to lose it, but in the end, your very obsession is what causes you to lose yourself and it in the process.

10

When it comes to the concept of race, there are two groups: those who say race doesn't exist and is a social construct not based on science; those who say race exists and is a biological reality, but the concept is suppressed by political correctness. Although it could be argued race is a social construct-racial classes created and assigned by a society-the heritable

traits people share that can place them in a so­ cially constructed racial category, cannot be. There are many reasons why some deny the con­ cept of races. One reason, these types claim, is you can't point to the human genome and say, "See, this is where this race begins and ends." In other words, their argument is there are no unique traits found exclusively in one human population that would make them a different race or species -like Homo sapiens vs Neanderthal-rather, there's a continuum of differences that all blend into each other in any given spectrum within our species. Another reason, is they believe the concept of race is dangerous, and the acceptance of what's called "scientific racism" could lead to discrimination, segregation, genocide, and all the

other horrors witnessed in our history. Ironically, what we're seeing these days is an increase of iden­ tity politics, despite this flat-out rejection of race, leading to more division and racism. Those who don't deny race, claim that the human species is composed of several different diverse groups, which they refer to as subspecies or races. The issue between the two camps really comes down to semantics: we all agree we can tell the differences between Homo sapiens who lived and evolved in different environments-someone from Congo vs someone from Japan, for example. But does this make race a valid scientific concept? And whether it does or doesn't, does that mean such categories aren't a useful tool in everyday life? How could a police officer identify a suspect

on the run in a society composed of different­ looking people? Will he just say, "Suspect is a male human being running down Baker Street."? It is much easier to point out their race, whether a so­ cial construct or not. Moreover, those who refuse to use the term "race," typically use the terms "population," "demeI" or "clineI" which all essentially mean the same thing as race. Some of them will just use the region of origin, like Sub-Saharan African or Northern European. In the end, it's the same exact thing being described, so what's the problem? The problem is political correctness. For one to say they know evolution is a fact, while simultaneously claiming the human species is not composed of different races or subspecies-when populations, demes, or clines describe the same

thing-is either ignorant, has been misled, or has an agenda. This is like saying different dog breeds don't exist because they're all dogs. Dogs, like human beings, come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, with clear physical differences and even general behavioral patterns. To dismiss the fact Homo sapiens also has its "breeds," assumes mankind is exempt from evolution; that all of our differences-which we can observe with the naked eye and instruments-are irrelevant, social constructs we invented, and are not products of environmental pressures which caused unique groups to evolve differently around the world. Such denial is preposterous and actually harmful, only worsens society, and as I mentioned, ironi­ cally increases racial tensions, as we see here today in the United States.

The solution to this problem is to stop denying what can obviously be observed and accept our differences. This by no means advocates for racial discrimination, but rather, the total acceptance of our diversity, acknowledging that some of those differences could be an underlying cause of many a group's challenges, whether physical, mental, or social. The only way we can heal our communi­ ties and the tensions between them, is to accept reality as it is and work together as a team to tackle our own group's issues, then our communal ones. No group is perfect, no group is superior; we should all strive to improve ourselves. There­ fore, whether race is a scientifically valid concept or not is irrelevant; people are real and they are different, and we need to work together to create peace and prosperity for all.

11

The media in the wrong hands is one of the most powerful tools of control, second only to the banking system. It pits the people against each other-creating a left vs right paradigm-so it can divide and conquer them via moral debates. Of course, each side believes they are morally superior, but the puppet masters know morality is subjective, and neither side can ever "win" the debate; they can only take turns subjugating each other under this sham two­ party system, while the puppeteers always win regardless who's in power, continuing to rule from behind the scenes. These parasites accomplish this by controlling both sides, and when they want a specific thing, they pull the strings of their media mouthpieces and puppet politicians, telling them to put aside their incompatible

differences and start dancing to the same tune. This is especially true when it comes to America's favorite pastime: war. Is this not obvious? Both the left and right wings are attached to the same war hawk.

12

If you were to conclude most people -by that I mean almost all of the 7 billion-plus human beings inhabiting the Earth -are ego-driven, selfish, deluded, insecure, and gullible, then you'll understand why the world is the way it is, and how a minority of parasites can have so much power over them.

3 1

Just as you can still find good use for rotten fruit by removing the decaying

parts and planting its seeds, so you can do with your negative experiences.

14

Although we exist in a nonduality, we experience it as a duality; and because of this, we can easily fall victim to our ego and forget we're all connected. Ironically, it's our lim­ itations which give us the ability to experience existence. In other words, we couldn't experi­ ence anything if we weren't limited and unable to differentiate ourselves from other things and other things from other things. But all of these things are an illusion; there is only one thing, the Whole, which is a nothing, perfectly illustrated by the y i n -yang symbol.

15

Just people are divine beings, for they're not driven by their tribal nature, but rather, their idealism. This allows them to tran­ scend all boundaries and distinctions between them and others, in order to achieve a common goal: harmony. That is not to say they don't identify with a specific group or ideology, but they don't allow their personal beliefs or biases get in the way of justice. Such a human being transcends their physical nature and becomes a demigod-by acting on those ideals, they become the incarnation of those ideals.

SECTION XII I

1

The Universe must be eternal; its form may not be, but its essence must be. All of the building blocks of the Universe existed in reality prior to its current form, so how it "began" is ac­ tually meaningless, due to its eternal nature. And when or if it dissipates, collapses, or whatever else is hypothesized, it will still exist in some form, just not in the same form as it is now.

2

Your emotions are neither right nor wrong; they're either helpful or unhelpful. Some­ times anger is needed to help defend yourself from a threat, other times it's unwarranted and only makes things worse. Therefore, don't be so hard on yourself when you realize a certain emotion isn't helping the situation, nor when someone points it out for you. Instead, accept you are feeling that way for a reason. Once you have realized that reason, you'll see you no longer need that emotion, since it has served its purpose. What do I mean by this? Emotions are like a gauge that tell you when pressure is rising into the red. Once you see it's getting too high, you have to release some steam to stabilize the mechanism; adding more pressure (same emotion) will only cause it (you) to burst.

The first step is to realize the pressure is rising, otherwise you wouldn't be able to prevent an explosion. The next step would be to do some­ thing to release that pressure. You know what can push your buttons, but you also know what can calm you down. When you feel emotionally overwhelmed, do those things you know will release that steam. Make sure those things are not negative things, like having a drink, doing drugs, or harming others; it is extremely important to do constructive and positive things, like going for a meditative walk outside, hitting the gym outside, listening to some music, or even going for a drive. Moving the body in some way will always help, since the mind and body are connected, and it's better than standing in one place foaming at the mouth, feeling like nothing can be done.

3

If your quest is to seek the truth and follow it no matter where it may lead, then you should never be afraid to question your own posi­ tions, consider the possibility you could be wrong, nor shy away from debates with others who op­ pose you. In fact, these are the only ways to ensure you may even have the truth, by putting your be­ liefs to the test to see if they hold up to reality. However, you must put your ego aside in your quest and not care about your feelings, nor any­ one else's for that matter. You also shouldn't feel bad about yourself if you're ever proven wrong. The truth is, you can't be proven wrong, only your positions can be proven wrong; you are just some­ one holding a position which you can let go of once you learn it is.

The same is true about losing a formal debate: you can't truly lose if your only objective is to find the truth. Because when you do lose the debate, and your interlocutor shows you the errors in your logic and proves your position is false, then great! Now you have the truth, which is exactly what you were looking for the entire time! When seeking to learn the truth, the only thing you can lose are falsehoods, and you should never be upset when that happens.

4

You literally are what you eat. Your rela­ tionship with food will determine your overall health; therefore, you should seek to ob­ tain and consume the most high-quality, organic health foods available. Although such foods are

more expensive than low-quality, inorganic foods, you shouldn't let money be a factor. If you think eating high-quality food is too expensive, then you value money over your health. Think about that for a minute: you're more concerned with wealth than health. But what good would your wealth be, if you had to spend it on fixing your unhealthy body? Do you think dieting is supposed to be extremely restrictive and impossible to enjoy? Then you must be unaware that you can still enjoy your junk food in moderation, while maintaining a healthy body. Are you unable to stop eating? Then perhaps there are deeper issues, such as depression or addiction. Find out what­ ever it may be and make changes.

Here in the United States we have one of the most obese populations on Earth. We have human beings who weigh over 500 lbs. driving their carts around Walmart because they can't walk long distances. I wonder how they use the toilet when they're 10-times bigger than it? How do they tie their shoes? How do they have sex (if at all)? I feel terrible for these folks. They are most likely suffering from some kind of depression or addiction which they turn to food to self-medi­ cate with. Being that fat is unhealthy, which is why I find this current fat-acceptance movement a danger­ ously ignorant one. I'm 100% against the mock­ ing or degradation of people if they're obese, but to pretend that being obese is OK and beautiful, is

downright irresponsible of us. Sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but health is not.

5

True leaders: • Do not rule, they serve. • Do not command, they guide. • Do not need praise, they give it. • Do not demand respect, they earn it. • Do not lead with fear, they lead with love. • Do not need followers, followers need them.

6

It is true money can't buy you happiness, but it can make things much easier by allowing you to afford the basic necessities of life, instead of being hungry and homeless on the street. Yet you'll find rich people with poor spirits, and poor people with rich spirits.

7

At the time of this writing, I don't own a gun of any kind, I'm not a member of the National Rifle Association of America, nor am I a gun aficionado. Although I'm a former Marine who received the highest marksmanship award of "Rifle Expert" during my service, and was sur­ rounded by weapons of war for four years, I have no interest in owning a gun. But as the country seems to be getting more divided, mentally ill, and politically unstable, I probably should go buy

one. But one of the reasons I don't, is because I currently live in New Jersey, where it's illegal to conceal or open carry weapons unless you're in law enforcement. Here the law states that New Jerseyans can have guns in their homes and can take them to the range, but can't carry them out in public for any reason. This to me is a human rights violation, being that all mass shootings and many gun-related crimes that occur in this state happen in public places, and these draconian measures pretty much ensure law-abiding citi­ zens are completely helpless, should one of these happen to them in public. No government should have the authority to take away our natural right to defend ourselves in all places and at all times, but this is precisely the case in New Jersey and other states that have similar laws.

One of the hottest debates today is whether or not the government should ban "assault rifles." Those who support such a ban fail to realize most of our gun-related deaths are from suicides by handgun; in fact, handguns are used in the major­ ity of gun-related crimes. They also fail to realize "AR" actually stands for "ArmaLite Rifle," and calling them "assault rifles" is a misnomer, like "weapons of war." No weapons sold to civilians are "weapons of war," because none of them are fully automatic weapons, nor contain explosive rounds like those used by the military. These weapons are semiautomatic, meaning with each trigger pull only one bullet is fired. Every pistol is essentially a semiautomatic, but most of these anti-AR advo­ cates don't call for a ban on semiautomatic pistols, although some do. Strangely enough, I have not

spoken to one anti-AR advocate who would agree to a policy that would allow law-abiding citizens to conceal carry in all 50 states to help stop mass shootings in progress. You'd think because these people believe "ARs" are the problem, they'd have no issue with my idea. But they do. When I sug­ gest this solution, they respond with, "We have a gun problem! More guns are not the solution!" The only single thing that stops a mass shooting is a person with a gun: whether the mass shooter ends the shooting spree by killing themselves; an armed, law-abiding citizen steps in; or police show up and either arrest or kill the mass shooter. But by the time the first and last scenarios hap­ pen, the deaths of innocent people have already occurred. There have been many cases where law-

abiding citizens have stopped mass shootings because they were armed and lived in a state that allowed concealed carry. The goal for us should be to prevent mass casualties to the best of our ability; it's not possible to prevent mass shootings entirely, but it is possible to reduce as many casu­ alties as possible. An armed civilian populace is the only practical solution and response to these types of crimes. The anti-AR side offers their solutions in the form of background checks, lower magazine capacity, a total ban on "assault rifles," and other measures, that in the end, would do absolutely nothing to prevent someone from passing all checks, buying more magazines to make up for the shorter clips, and then go on a killing spree with legal weapons,

which has happened plenty of times. Moreover, these measures would do absolutely nothing to stop mass shootings already in progress. Any laws passed would only make it harder for law­ abiding citizens to obtain the firearms they need to protect themselves from criminals who would illegally obtain banned weapons to commit their crimes. In other words, these measures will only harm law-abiding citizens, since psychopaths and criminals don't follow the law. My solution is to allow all law-abiding citizens of age to conceal and carry a pistol. Although having a pistol isn't the same as having a semi-automatic rifle, it's better than having no weapon at all when a killer enters a public venue you and your family are in. I'm also not against the open-carry of rifles

and other legal weapons, but I'm more adamant about allowing people to conceal carry. This would be the most effective way to stop a mass shooting in progress than any other law imagin­ able. Again, we should all have the right to defend ourselves in all places and at all times, unless we're in a venue where being disarmed is required and armed security is provided. In an ideal world, none of these shootings would happen, humans wouldn't need guns, and we could turn them all in to be destroyed...but we don't live in an ideal world. There's a plethora of arguments from anti-AR advocates on why we don't need these rifles, ranging from, "You don't need an AR to hunt deer with," to "Your rifle doesn't stand a chance against

a helicopter or tank." These people also blame the guns or access to them for mass shootings, rather than the underlying issue of mental illness in this country. America has the most mentally and physically ill people on the planet, but these anti-AR advocates just throw that fact aside and say, "The common thread among these shootings are the guns," rather than realizing the common thread among these shootings is they're all perpe­ trated by mentally ill maniacs. The United States has had rifles and guns since its founding; these frequent mass shootings are modern phenomena which seem to correlate with our culture and our people becoming more depraved. In other words, these shootings are a symptom of something much deeper.

The founders of the United States made sure our Second Amendment right was not to be infringed; to ensure we citizens could protect ourselves from criminals, and more importantly, a tyrannical government, not deer. It's true such weapons have no chance against a tank or helicopter, because they're not meant to; they are designed to elimi­ nate human beings, such as the troops who would be deployed to round your family up to be sent to a death camp. No wars are won without troops; they're always sent in to secure the area after the air force, artillery, and mechanized divisions do their part. Therefore, a civilian population armed with semi-automatic rifles can better compete with troops armed with fully automatic military models; they would be at an extreme disadvan­ tage only having bolt-action rifles, shotguns, and

pistols with limited range and capabilities. I know this scenario may sound a bit farfetched to some, but history shows us repeatedly that disarmed populations can be killed off by the millions under tyrannies-look no further than the former Soviet Union and the communist regimes in Asia. To be­ lieve such a scenario couldn't happen here is not only naive, but dangerously foolish. When it comes to this mass shooting problem, the only practical solution is to make all soft targets, hard targets. Let American citizens decide, on the individual level, if they wish to take the risk and be unarmed in public. If people are smart, they will get armed. The more armed civilians, the more likely shooters will see there are no soft targets left, and they won't have the option to

surrender to police and walk into a court after killing a lot of people. They should all know if they wish to attack the People, they'll be killed on site by the People. Let these psychopaths know this and I assure you these shootings will be reduced drastically. And again, the only way to do this is to allow all lawabiding citizens to conceal carry in all 50 states-anything less is unacceptable.

8

You can tell whether or not someone is consciously connected to the Whole by the way they treat themselves, others, and especially animals. Why did I say especially animals? Be­ cause animals are always innocent and can never do evil; thus, there is never any reason to harm them unless you must defend yourself and your loved ones from them. Those who are discon-

nected from the Whole commit the barbaric, and egotistical acts of trophy hunting, animal torture, animal sacrifice, and animal abuse.

9

The answer to our nation's increased division and conflict among its citizens is an old idea: one-party states. Instead of pretending this disaster will eventually work itself out, we should break this country into smaller sovereign states where homogeneous populations can live according to how they wish without any oppo­ sition. There is literally no sound reason people should be forced to live around anyone who opposes their politics or their way of life. None. There's no reason people should have to compete in elections with other parties who oppose them in almost every position, and then be subjected

to their laws if those parties win. The opposite of this would be the most efficient way to organize people. The federal government would still exist as it does today, but with much, much less responsibilities. Its role would be to solely provide military protec­ tion from foreign nations, coin the national cur­ rency, help mediate any conflicts that could arise between the states, provide natural and basic resources necessary for the states to function­ water, gas, electricity, etc.-but have no say in what happens within any state; the states would essentially be autonomous in every other regard.

10

The religious doctrine of the Trinity is easily solved when you realize God

is not a personal being. This mystery can be ex­ plained by comparing God to water. Although water can be a solid, liquid, or gas, it can never be in all three states at once. However, God, being the fundamental substrate which is existence, it is all solids, liquids, and gasses, simultaneously. In other words, because God is reality, it is in all pos­ sible states, in all possible places at the same time, whereas water is limited to one state at any given time and place.

11

12

Tears are the blood drops of the soul.

When you have failed, always ask your­ self these questions:

• How could I have prevented this? • What did I do to contribute to this? • What could I do differently when a similar situation arises? These are important questions designed to help you realize the lesson that needs to be learned.

3 1

Whenever you come across people whom you find strange, compare how you feel to the time you felt when you first saw the cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope (find it on YouTube if you haven't). Realize everyone is just another character in a movie playing their role, as strange as it may be. Accept them as they are and appreciate the different forms the Universe

expresses itself as, since those forms which you are not, are those that make you what you are.

14

One thing New Age spiritual gurus like to peddle is the "Law of Attrac­ tion" (LOA), which is the ridiculous idea that if you believe and think of achieving or obtaining something hard enough, the Universe has no choice but to give that thing to you. In other words, the "vibes" you send out to the Universe will be met with similar "vibes" in return. If you want to be rich, all you have to do is act and think you're rich, and the Universe, somehow, will make sure you become rich. If you're afraid of some­ thing and send out "bad vibes," the Universe will ensure that bad thing will happen to you.

But when you take a look around the world, it should be clear to you this is absolute quackery. How many rape victims "attracted" their at­ tackers with their "vibes?" How many newborn babies who died in car accidents did the same? What "vibes" were they sending out that deserved death? The number of bad things that happen to good and innocent people should make you realize this "law" is just nonsense. If you're not blinded by the romantic idea that you have total control of your life in every aspect-especially things out­ side of your control-you should see the selling point: it gives you hope in this unfair world, like religion. The peddlers of the LOA claim this "law" is backed by science, yet there have been no experiments

that provided any empirical data to prove that, through some mysterious mechanism, the Universe does anything to match the "vibes" of any person for any reason whatsoever, let alone respond to our thoughts at all. Thus, there's no such law in any scientific sense, yet these charla­ tans speak of the LOA as if it's just as intrinsic to the Universe as gravity to give it more credibility. They even have the audacity to appeal to quan­ tum mechanics as justification for their theory, using quantum entanglement or some other strange phenomenon that doesn't even work the way they think it does. The truth, which you know from your own expe­ rience, is simpler: bad things can happen to good people, and good things can happen to bad peo-

ple, because the Universe has no such attraction system that responds to what these believers are essentially claiming is telekinesis. The Universe seems to dish out "good" and "bad" to everyone without any discrimination whatsoever. Babies can and will die in car accidents, criminals will get away with murder and never be caught, and of course, the opposite of those things will happen, too. LOA pushers have several excuses when its adher­ ents don't get what they want: "The Universe will give it to you when the time is right," "It's not your true destiny," "You don't want it bad enough," "Perhaps it isn't what you truly want." These char­ latans blame the person when it doesn't work, but when it does seem to work, they point to the LOA

as the reason. This is no different than religious folk blaming Satan for evil outcomes and God for good ones.

The LOA doesn't work because it's not an intrinsic law of the Universe, nor could it ever be; no amount of positive thinking will reverse your inoperable brain tumor, grow back your ampu­ tated legs, bring your loved ones back from the dead, or allow you to manifest millions of dollars just by thinking about that amount in your mind for several months or years. This "law" is easily debunked just by the examples above, and I could give many more, but just one example is enough to prove it's false. When we hear about these "success stories," most are either fabricated to sell books, videos,

and seminars, or are simple coincidences. Or maybe . . . just maybe, when a person believes in the LOA and engages in positive thinking-to the point it changes their attitude and approach to­ ward getting what they want-they achieve it be­ cause they made the right choices that led to the right conditions, all of which were a result of the cause-and-effect system our Universe operates on. Just because they credit the LOA, doesn't mean it was the LOA. You can thank God you didn't get hit by that truck, but it wasn't God who prevented that truck from hitting you, the laws of physics did. Ultimately, the LOA is just New Age nonsense preying on insecure people to give them false hope, used by the many snake-oil salesmen of the

world, posing as enlightened mystics or gurus, to lure them into their cults, so they can sell their products and create lifelong customers.

5 1

The act of circumcision is a crude and barbaric one that has no place in the modern world. This act should be banned in every civilized society that values the social contract theory and the NAP, for such societies should realize circumcision violates both, and thus, is a violation of human rights. It would be ideal if everyone stopped this horrific practice, but we can't expect the blind traditionalists of the world to simply give up their archaic ways and adhere to any divine notion of individual rights.

In regards to any doctor preforming this pro­ cedure, they should realize circumcision is in direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath, which all of them swore to uphold. Its motto, "First do no harm," is totally disregarded when any doctor preforms a circumcision without an actual med­ ical reason to address, especially when there are risks involved with the procedure. Can any sane person tell themselves doctors are not violating their oath, when they strap a helpless infant onto a table and proceed to butcher their genitals? Circumcision is an act of supremacy; the muti­ lation of any child's genitals is no different than a slave owner permanently marking a slave to ensure everyone knows they're his property. A l ­ though circumcision removes a part of the body, it

still leaves its mark, not only on the body, but for some, also on the mind, in the form of permanent psychological trauma. Sadly, most parents don't think twice about it; they go along with this unnecessary and damag­ ing procedure simply because they're ignorant and/or are misled to believe it's beneficial. They also don't care to question it: it's what the doctors recommend, the rabbis and imams say to do, or it's because daddy is circumcised, too. But none of these excuses give anyone the right to mutilate an innocent child. None! People also never seem to consider, in the case of religious customs, if a child later decides to leave the faith. What now, when a Jewish or Muslim boy grows into a man and becomes an apostate? They

are left scarred by the very doctrines they now reject. Again, as I said, a slave owner permanently marking his slave. To help illustrate the insanity of our so-called civ­ ilized society, imagine some authority, whether religious or medical, proposed the preposterous idea that we should remove all children's earlobes at birth for (insert reason). The earlobes don't even contain a fraction of the foreskin's or clitoral hood's nerve endings, and really don't serve much purpose at all, so what harm could it do? I bet my life that no parent would agree to this, and yet many unwisely agree to remove the most nerve­ rich areas of their children's bodies, which do have purposes, which should be there, and do so with­ out a shred of concern.

The divine right of bodily integrity should apply to newborn children; they should never be muti­ lated in order to satisfy any criteria. But they are violated in their most vulnerable state and we do nothing about it! Can we truly consider ourselves civilized if we practice such barbarism? Can we really say we are just, when we allow such an injustice to continue? Can we honestly have faith in our so-called medical authorities, when they allow our doctors to violate their oath without consequence? It is the duty of the State to ensure this practice is banned, and that each newborn is protected from being unnecessarily mutilated.

SECTION XIV

1

Marcus Aurelius' adherence to stoicism had a huge impact on me for several reasons: • He was once the most powerful man in the world during his time as emperor, yet he did not fall into decadence and hedonism like many of his predecessors. Most people with his kind of power usually are corrupted by

it, but Marcus wasn't. He was a true philoso­ pher king. • Being as powerful as he was, he could have ordered the deaths of anyone who even slightly bothered him, or had massive orgies with as many women as he pleased, yet he did not abuse his power, nor did he suc­ cumb to his base desires. • He wasn't an egomaniac and was very humble. In fact, he didn't even want his power, but felt he was obligated to fulfill the duty bestowed upon him by Providence. In other words, ifhe had the ability to give his power up and just be a stoic philosopher, he would have. Only a truly good man would be willing to give up such power.

Despite me being the average Joe, I can relate to him in the sense that had I been in his position, I would've acted in the same way. I'm just a peasant compared to him, yet we both think alike. It just goes to show that true nobility is not of blood, titles, or class, but rather, of spiritual maturity. Marcus was the highest concept of nobility personified. The emperor's work inspired me to write this book the way I have. When I use the phrase "the Whole," I borrow it from his work Meditations directly. I also have kept this work of mine "clean" by only using one profane word, just as I remem­ ber he did. This does bother me as it feels a bit inauthentic-being that I'm a former Marine who has a habit of using profanity a lot in my private

life and don't always use proper English-but this is the way I wanted to write this and is my way of paying tribute to him. Although Marcus believed that everything is one and was certainly more spiritually aware than most people, he still had to operate on the earthly level. As emperor, he was obligated to protect the interests of his empire and wage war against other parts of the world. How did he feel knowing he had to order the deaths of other humans on one hand, while being a practicing stoic on the other? He must have felt torn as any good man would, but he had a duty to fulfill, and he did it without complaint, as any good stoic would.

2

The differences between justice and vengeance are as follows: •Justice is holy; vengeance is unholy. •Justice is social; vengeance is personal. •Justice is spiritual; vengeance is egotistical. •Justice restores order; vengeance creates chaos. •Justice benefits the Whole; vengeance harms the Whole.

3

I do enjoy debating philosophical topics, but not with polemic types who, instead of engaging in civil discourse, launch an offensive by behaving in a passive-aggressive, condescending manner. They can't help but resort to name-call­ ing and making the experience a contest rather

than a conversation. I don't consider these types philosophers at all, but rather, arrogant intel­ lectuals who seek to one-up whomever they're debating with, knowing full well neither person involved could ever prove their philosophy to be true. So, what's their motive? Why would such a person even engage with another whom they believe is intellectually inferior and idiotic? Why even debate with those they consider fools? Why the disrespect? Why the name-calling? Is it a need to feel superior to others? Is it their way of getting validation? Is it all these people have? Either way, it's an experience which I have recently learned to avoid altogether-the hard way of course.

When you engage in philosophical debate with mature and civil people, it's like a friendly game of chess: one of you plays black, and the other white, and you proceed to wage war with your pieces, trying to defeat your opponent by either having a superior strategy (better arguments) and exploit­ ing their weaknesses or mistakes in their play (ex­ posing logical fallacies). Philosophy, however, does differ from chess in this way: in chess, there will always be a better player, but in philosophy, although one may be better at arguing their position, it doesn't prove their position. You can see an example of this when you watch two people debate about whether or not God exists in front of a live audi­ ence. Usually after such debates, the audience is

then asked to vote on who "won" the debate. Even though they will determine who the "winner" is, they still don't know whether or not God exists, but they did have a good time thinking about it. Ultimately, the point of philosophically sparring with someone isn't to win, but rather, to check whether or not they are holding contradicting be­ liefs, help them realize it if they are, and to allow them to adjust their worldview accordingly, so it's congruent with their logic.

Debates should be conducted in a mature and civil manner; both interlocutors should be respectful, kind, and genuinely be seeking to help the other become a better thinker. You won't experience this kind of nobility when debating with the polemical, pseudo-philosophers I mentioned. If

you find yourself among these types, I suggest you disengage the moment you realize it. They will goad you to stay, resort to name-calling when you tell them you're leaving, and may even foolishly claim victory as you do-proving you were indeed in bad company, and you just avoided wasting your time and energy. Using philosophy to help educate and uplift someone is an act of divinity; using philosophy to abuse and degrade others for one's personal satisfaction is an act of devilry. Don't waste your time with philosophical devils.

4

A man who is afraid to speak his mind is a slave. A man who speaks freely without fear, is free, even ifhe were in chains.

5

You will inevitably encounter people whom you cannot tolerate, and no matter how much you try, you'll always find them repulsive in some way. Seeking some mystical solution to this is futile. You can try to convince yourself their repulsiveness is beautiful in some way, but this delusional thinking serves no purpose; in fact, it's egotistical. You are attempting to go against your true nature by trying to force yourself to accept something that's clearly unacceptable to you. It's egotistical because you're doing it for the sake of being the "better person" or an "enlightened" being, and yet you achieve the opposite. Instead of struggling to love everything possible, it's best to simply accept there are some things your senses will outright reject no matter how

much you try to overcome them. No amount of awareness or meditation will make you love vanilla ice cream if you hate its taste. The same is true if you can't stand someone's voice or the way they look. This is normal and doesn't make you less of a person at all. And the same goes for others toward you: No mat­ ter how wonderful you seem to your friends and family, or how handsome or beautiful you are to your significant other, there are people out there who will never like you, think you're unattractive, and could never enjoy being in your presence. This is also normal and nothing to be offended by; this is just how things are. Acknowledge these truths and relieve yourself of the desire to accept everyone or to be accepted by everyone.

6

Let's pretend for a moment that stone slabs can feel physical and emotional pain, and we hire a sculptor to make us a statue. The sculptor begins to do his work, and with each chisel strike against it, the stone slab feels and suffers. This suffering endures for months, until one day the chiseling stops. In the end, a beautiful statue of a Roman woman is all that remains. The slab of stone, now transformed, has finally found peace. It did not know why this suffering began, or when it would end, but it endured it and became some­ thing beautiful-it had no choice in the matter. The suffering was necessary for its transforma­ tion into a masterpiece that'll be enjoyed by those who appreciate art.

Remember this when you suffer: take your challenges and consider them God (the Universe) chiseling away at your imperfections to reveal who you really are.

7

The more you learn to cut your losses, the less you'll find yourself angry about things. I've learned to cut some major losses that used to drive me crazy. They made me question my own intuition and judgment to the point I could no longer even trust myself. I started to question my own worth as a human being, especially when my ego talked down to me and made me feel like a loser. Eventually, I stopped hoping things would get better, and learned to walk away from all bad situations. The more I did this, the more I felt like a winner.

Making the right choices and leaving these things behind, taught me to trust myself again. Even though I had lost things, I learned not to lose myself in the process like I used to. I also realized I was much stronger than I believed and didn't need those things in my life. In fact, they weren't worth my time and energy. I consider my losses expensive life lessons and keep them to the side. When the smaller anno y ­ ances of life occur, I remind myself of the things I endured which were way worse and spare myself the headache.

8

This morning, I took a moment to just observe my children while they went about eating their breakfast: my son sat there with his

cute little face, chewing on his pancakes and giggling at the screen while watching cartoons on his pad; my daughter eating and enjoying her strawberries, turned to her right to get her brother's attention, demanding he give her some of his pancakes, using her unintelligible baby talk. As I just sat there present in the moment, feelings of pure love and joy came to me, and a voice in my head said, "This is what it's all about."

9

You can have your beliefs, but you must not be attached to them. This may sound coun­ terintuitive, but understand that attachment is a result of emotional investment. The moment you are emotionally invested in your beliefs is the mo­ ment they become dogma. If you hold your beliefs logically, separated from "you," then you are truly

holding them rather than identifying with them. By holding your beliefs rather than believing you are your beliefs, you'll be more willing to let go should you be confronted with new information that's convincing, instead of doubling down and rejecting it because it feels like an attack on your person. This ability to let go gives you more op­ portunities to learn and grow spiritually.

It is possible that your beliefs could be true, but you don't know for a fact they are. You should al­ ways be open to the idea they could be false and be willing to listen to alternatives. But it's painfully obvious most people are not like this. When such a person is attached to them, they state their be­ liefs as if they were fact, and any criticism of them is interpreted as a personal attack to them. The

reason for this is because they're identifying with their ego, which is built on those beliefs. Since the ego is the False Self, it depends on the external world for its existence; it need opposites and distinctions in order to artificially construct itself with ideas and concepts, unlike the True Self which exists without the need of anything. Challenging the things ego uses to create itself is literally attacking its foundation; thus, it perceives any criticisms of itself or its beliefs as someone trying to kill it. That's why many refuse to accept when they are wrong, and sometimes will even get extremely mad and/or violent when challenged: to them, it's literally life or death, that is, if they identify with their ego.

I don't exaggerate when I say it's life or death to the ego: having to accept new information means going back to the drawing board and de­ constructing decades of its work. This could bring one's entire worldview crashing down and their ego along with it, leaving them feeling confused, frightened, lost, and not knowing who they even are. The reason for this is because when someone does have to change their core beliefs, they have to let go of control and surrender to reality; only a person who wants to go through that painful, truth-seeking spiritual transformation is willing to endure the negative feelings and thoughts that come with it. The ego doesn't want to let go; it's a control freak that fears the unknown. Not know­ ing means danger to the ego. But when you realize

you're neither your ego nor your beliefs, you'll re­ alize you're in no danger at all. So, how do you detach yourself from your beliefs? Logically, you must first detach yourself from your ego, realizing it's not you-this will automat­ ically detach you from all of them. That doesn't mean you will no longer hold any beliefs nor have preferences, but it does mean you will no longer feel threatened by new ideas, nor be offended when someone challenges them. You will also no longer feel the need to label yourself any partic­ ular thing, nor be identified with any particular group; you will truly become an individual, free of constraints and limitations, which is a character­ istic of the infinite, True Self.

10

There is no single crime in history that justifies removing rights from innocent people today.

11

Littering is a disgraceful act of vandal­ ism against Mother Earth and all her children; it's something that can be so easily avoided, yet people do it anyway. Why? Because they are inconsiderate pigs, only concerned with their own living space, and don't care to put forth the energy to walk to the wastebasket and clean up after themselves. Such behavior forces me to consider these kinds of people cancers to society, spreading their filth and infecting healthy parts of our towns and cities with their garbage. It disgusts me and we

must find more effective ways to prevent this problem-signs and fines are not enough. Per­ haps we need to make environmental education mandatory for all schools and grades, to instill the idea littering is morally wrong and harmful to our planet. Perhaps the fines for littering should be increased 10-fold, so the mere thought of littering and being fined that much more would motivate people to find the nearest garbage bin. Heavy fines, along with mandatory community service, would certainly send a message to would­ be offenders. But none of my solutions presented would pre­ vent all littering from happening. However, there is one that would clean up the mess after the fact, and that would be to use all of our nonviolent

inmates-even minors in juvenile detention-to clean the streets of our once beautiful towns and cities. This makes more sense than employing people to do it, while our deviants sit in a cell and enjoy three meals a day on our dime. Our inmates should be working eight-hour shifts every day, cleaning up after their other fellow deviant citi­ zens who haven't been caught yet.

12

If you wish to become successful at something, seek out and learn from those who have become successful at that thing. At first, it can be quite intimidating and discour­ aging, since the person whom you want to model yourself after has already succeeded and estab­ lished themselves over the years, while you're just starting off. But realize this: you're not seeing the

struggle they had to endure to get to where they are now; all you're seeing is the end result of their hard work that got them there. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or discourages, a good way to motivate yourself is to go find an interview of them telling their story. You'll be surprised to find out their story is almost always about how they didn't have much-sometimes even less than what you have now-and fought hard to overcome their challenges and accom­ plish their goals. This should motivate you after learning these successful people are no different than you, and that you, too, can achieve what they have, to some extent or another. So, don't get discouraged; instead, learn what they did, make some adjustments so it aligns with your

goals, and then go on to use your unique strategy to fulfill your destiny.

3 1

The claim of superiority is always a subjective one, for each part of the Whole plays an equally important role. That is not to say each part or role is equal to another, but rather, no parts of the Whole can work indepen­ dently from the others. To illustrate this, I want you to imagine a machine that has many cogs: if you randomly remove one, the machine will not function properly. Since each cog shares equal importance in regards to the whole function of the machine, none of them are superior in this context. That is not to say things cannot be compared and considered to be

superior or inferior to each other, but they can only be in particular contexts and when people make value judgments.

14

Our brains are unable to perfectly recreate our memories and can only give us generally accurate renditions of events that have occurred, which we accept to be correct. They're also susceptible to many things that could alter those recollections; in fact, this is the very reason eyewitness testimony isn't always reliable. A simple change in a question's wording about a past event can elicit a very different story, espe­ cially if the witness wasn't too sure in the first place.

For example, suppose we have a court case where there was an accident involving a car and a truck colliding at an intersection, with only one eye­ witness. A lawyer may question them to find out what was observed, asking something along the lines of, "Ma'am, how fast was the truck going when it crashed into my client's car?" The eye­ witness may answer with an estimated speed. However, if the lawyer used different words and instead asked, "Ma'am, how fast was the car going before my client's car was totaled by the colli­ sion?" it's more she will give a higher estimated speed in order fit the criteria of the word "totaled." Why? Because her brain rationalizes that in order for the vehicle to be totaled, the truck driver must have been going much faster than she previously believed. If she doesn't have a clear memory of

what happened, her mind is susceptible to render­ ing a different accident-in this case a faster acci­ dent-than what actually took place. Although our brains are wonderful supercom­ puters, we still don't completely understand how they work, but we do know they're highly vulner­ able to suggestions, can be self-deceptive, and are extremely susceptible to doubt, all because they cannot replicate memories flawlessly.

15

The more power bestowed upon you by the citizens of your country, the more severe your punishment should be if you abuse it. When those in the highest offices of government abuse their power, the death penalty should be their punishment.

SECTION XV

1

Sometimes, I'm quite disturbed by the thoughts in my head, but I quickly remind myself I'm not creating these thoughts, rather, they're phenomena happening to me. To put it simply, I'm not responsible for what arises in my mind, I'm only responsible whether or not I act on such things. When disturbing thoughts arise, no­ tice them and just let them pass.

2

The old adage "The truth shall set you free" isn't completely true. Simply knowing the truth can't set you free, only acting on it does.

3

For ages, scientists and philosophers have been wondering why there is something rather than nothing, in regard to our universe and existence itself. It should be obvious that in order for there to be anything now, there must have a l ­ ways been something. A physicist can explain how the Universe came from nothing-how it was created by virtual par­ ticles that pop in and out of existence, caused by quantum fluctuations in empty space-but this doesn't answer the question, why. Moreover, for them to pop into existence, they must come from

a place to pop in from, which leads some to believe there may be a multiverse. But why does that exist? As you can see, science cannot answer such questions, because it can only explain how things work, not why they exist. Ultimately, the question, "Why is there is some­ thing rather than nothing?" can only be answered with reason. The answer is so simple and obvious one tends not to believe it. It's like asking, "Why is white not black?" The answer to both is, "Be­ cause that's the way it is." Some will point out this logic is circular, but when dealing with the most fundamental, existence is the only thing that could justify existence. Moreover, these questions assume things could have been another way, but clearly, they could not have been, just as white

could never be black. Nonexistence is not possible if there already is existence-at no time will it ever be possible.

4

The death penalty is not an act of vengeance, but of justice, and thus, should not be cruel or unusual. Although there are times we will feel certain criminals deserve a slow and painful death for committing unspeakable crimes, it would not serve the greater good to add more suffering. It would make us-the just people of the world-as unjust and barbaric as these mon­ sters. The death penalty should be like taking out the trash as quickly and efficiently as possible: it does not need to be a spectacle; it does not need to be celebrated; it certainly does not need to be

costly; it just needs to be carried out, so that jus­ tice can be served.

5

The ego is always subordinate; the only time it ever takes control is when you have aban­ doned your post.

6

What is our life other than an accumulation of experiences stored as memories? If we were unable to store any memories, would we be conscious of anything? Would we be able to establish an identity? We would still be able to experience the now, but we wouldn't have any recollection of that experience just a few seconds earlier, since it wouldn't be stored anywhere. We obviously would be alive and function like any other organism-driven by subconscious survival

instincts-but we wouldn't be a conscious human being in the individual sense. I would wager the concept of "I" wouldn't even exist. I wonder if we even would be able to talk to ourselves in our heads? Would we be able to feel pain? Ifwe got hurt, but forgot that we did, did we get hurt? For example, if I got stung by a bee, which took one second but forgot about it immediately, would I even register the pain? I would imagine there would be pain and swelling of the bee sting loca­ tion, but each second my memory would reset. Perhaps it would feel as if this pain was always present-seemingly timeless in that moment­ but then once gone, would be as if it never hap­ pened at all.

So, what's the point of this entry you may won­ der? Well, I'm trying to emphasize the importance of our past and our ability to identify ourselves with it. Being unable to do so would make it im­ possible for us to even be an individual person, in the mentally abstract sense. Of course, we would be alive and probably institutionalized, like the unfortunate souls who do suffer from a similar mental disorder called anterograde amnesia. This is a mental disorder where people can't store or re­ call any new memories or events. The worst case of anterograde amnesia was documented in Clive Wearing, who couldn't store any new memories after seven to 30 seconds. He could recall some of his memories prior to his injury, which gave him the ability to establish

himself as an individual and even recognize his wife, but he was unable to remember what he did moments before, had a very unstable mood, and felt constantly confused and lost. He was told to keep a diary, and its entries consisted of short sentences like: "I am awake now," "I do live," "I am really awake." This shows us he did have a sense of self, but in the case I'm trying to imagine, even this wouldn't be possible. We are beings in time whose identities exist in the past, present, and future, even though the past and future only exist in our minds. But without our ability to remember the past or imagine the future, we lose the "holy trinity" (past, present, and future) that establishes our human identity. I'm not saying the true you is your past, or any

other time for that matter, but rather, the avatar you operate in needs time to establish its story and function in this world.

7 8

Most of your limitations are mental con­ structs, rather than physical ones.

Human beings are very complicated crea­ tures, and some, when traumatized, can develop coping mechanisms which manifest as negative behaviors that provide them with what is called a "secondary gain." A secondary gain is when a negative behavior provides the person a positive end result in some way, shape, or form. Here are two examples:

• A person who engages in self-cutting, does so not because they necessarily hate them­ selves, but rather, to deal with whatever psychological problems they have. They may be cutting themselves because the pain makes them feel something rather than feeling numb, or to take control away from any external culprits who've caused them pain. Despite their actions being physically self-destructive, the secondary gain gives them some kind of emotional benefit. •A woman who was sexually abused as a young girl may find employment in the porn industry. Now you'd assume someone who was sexually molested would have an aversion toward sex, and some certainly do,

but many will actually become sex workers because the secondary gain allows them to feel they can't be molested again, as they now have full control of who they have sex with and when it happens. So, if you're trying to help someone, you should always examine their bad behaviors and ask them what they get out of them. Most of the time they won't even be aware of the reasons at all, because those reasons are hidden in subconscious pro­ grams running in other parts of their mind. But once you inquire into their behavior and they be­ come aware of its root causes, they'll be able to see not only do their coping mechanisms cause more unnecessary harm to themselves and others, they

only give a false sense of control and solve abso­ lutely nothing in the long term.

I also suggest that you search within yourself to see if you can find any behaviors that are being driven by a secondary gain, so you can eliminate any behaviors that are doing you more harm than good.

9

Attacks on free speech are no different than a government trying to disarm its citizens, and should be met with revolution. Those who promote either, should be considered enemies of freedom and of the People.

10

In the world of networking, it isn't about who you know, but who knows

you. And even more so, not what others can do for you, but what you can do for them. The best way to expand your influence is to become someone who has something valuable to offer others, pro­ viding them something they need or love. And the best way to do this is to make sure you're doing what you need to do and what you love to do, for there's no better way to network than to connect with people who need and love what you're doing.

11

In a sense, the nihilist is right when you consider our Sun is in the middle of its life cycle and will begin to die in about 45 bil­ lion years, becoming a red giant. Its size will be as large as Earth's orbit and it will swallow our planet whole. So, what's the point of anything if our inevitable destiny is to be swallowed up by

the Sun? Why does it matter whether or not we live life like a good person or bad one, when all life will eventually go extinct? What's the point of accomplishing anything? Why bother stopping pollution or war? Why care for one another when none of our efforts will matter in the end? The truth is, nothing in the end will matter, but it's best to live your life as a good person and not add further suffering to yourself and others. For what good would it be ifwe just wallowed in con­ stant depression and suffering until we were all swallowed whole by the Sun? Would it not be bet­ ter to enjoy living on this spaceship we call Earth as long as we can before the party is over? Why be miserable and allow this pointless existence to bother you? The fact it has no point means we can

all create our own points and purposes! A point­ less existence is like a blank sheet of paper with endless possibilities. And for those of you who are worried your great­ est grandchildren will be around to swallowed by the Sun, have no fear; it will be highly unlikely our species will still be around, and more likely we would have already gone extinct way before then. So, sit back and enjoy your life while you still can, and don't worry too much about the distant fu­ ture, because we all know what it entails: we're all going to die, and everything will be annihilated. But this shouldn't prevent you from living your life to the fullest and making sure you leave this place in better shape than you found it, so future

generations can live their lives to the fullest and prosper, too.

12

One of the most effective ways to implant the truth into the minds of people, is to deliver it via sarcasm or jokes. Most comedians make jokes based on true things which many people have not connected consciously, but know are true subconsciously. Once the connec­ tion is presented by the comedian, the audience laughs because of its veracity. They wouldn't laugh if it wasn't true, unless a joke was designed to be sarcastic, using a falsehood to imply the point. The opposite of that falsehood, which is the truth, is necessary for that kind of joke to work.

Another reason this is effective, is because the ego is well-equipped with defense mechanisms that will reject any new information which poses a threat to its established worldview. However, it is completely vulnerable to false statements made in a sarcastic manner, because it sees no need to defend itself from what it believes to be untrue. Thus, cleverly stated falsehoods will bypass its defense mechanisms and deliver the truth by im­ plying the opposite.

3 1

Religion isn't entirely bad, but the excuses believers make when con­ fronted with inaccuracies, falsehoods, and even the most deplorable verses of their holy texts -such as those that support bigotry, racism, slavery, genocide, and infanticide-are always

defended by an appeal to "context" or "interpreta­ tion." However, this explains nothing, and causes further division and confusion, even among those of the same faith-which is why there are count­ less denominations of the same religion across the world. In the end, any unfounded "truth"-based on reli­ gious fables-is simply conjecture. Such "truths" harm believers by disconnecting them from the True Self and the real world, creating impossible standards that can't be achieved by human be­ ings. This oftentimes makes believers feel guilty, unworthy, and undeserving of good things just for being human, causing unnecessary suffering which the believer then tries to pray away­ asking their god for strength and forgiveness-

when the very source of all their suffering actu­ ally comes directly from the beliefs they hold.

14

I'm a person who enjoys music very much, but I wondered if there are any people in the world who don't like music at all. I searched on Google to find the answer to my ques­ tion, and the results popped up showing me there are people who can't enjoy music. They suffer from specific musical anhedonia, a neurological condition which limits or dampens the interac­ tion between the auditory cortex and the reward center of the brain. This condition is found in 35% of the population. These unfortunate folks can comprehend the music, but it doesn't elicit a single emotional re-

sponse. In other words, they hear the music, but to them, I would imagine, it would be like hearing a man breaking cement with a jackhammer, or an alarm clock going off, none of which evoke any deep, moving emotions of appreciation or joy. I feel sorry for these people; they are like the blind who can't enjoy a beautiful sunset, or a wonderful piece of art.

15

Some of the most ridiculous laws ever passed in the United States are those that ban possession of preforming enhancing drugs (PEDs), such as steroids or any other substances one could take to increase muscle, endurance, fat burning, and speed recovery. And let's not be naive and believe Congress' reason to make them illegal was because they cared about

our citizens; they made them illegal because they wanted to stop their illicit trafficking, since they can't tax those transactions. But by doing so, they paved the way for the creation of an international black market, where these drugs are ordered online from places around the world where they are not illegal, and smuggled into our country. This also led to the birth of underground labs that mass-produce steroids for sale on the black mar­ ket. Such labs popped up all over the country and still exist today. However, it is legal in the United States for a man who has low testosterone to get a prescription from a doctor to treat his deficiency. This is mon­ itored and refills are timed in such a way that abuse is not possible without the risk of running

out before the next refill. So, raising testosterone from low to optimal levels is legal, but why should it be illegal to raise testosterone further than that? The reason this topic is important is because this is another case of injustice and rejection of per­ sonal freedom. There are millions of recreational PED users in this country who are harming no one, yet are at risk of being harmed by the State simply because they possess certain chemicals they intend to use to enhance their bodies with. The fact the U.S. government considers these people criminals is asinine: Simply possessing PEDs without a prescription could lead to prison time and thousands of dollars in fines, depending on the charges. I understand the government's motivation for arresting PED dealers and shutting down underground labs-in both cases it has to

do with taxes and distributing banned substances -but to make it illegal for someone to have and take PEDs for personal use is just wrong. Some argue that banning PEDs is justified because they have "dangerous" side effects, but this argu­ ment is extremely weak and based on ignorance. Although some have side effects, not everyone will get them, and none of them are "dangerous" when used properly. The more problematic side effects, which can certainly manifest, are due to long-term and irresponsible abuse, as with any drug. And speaking of side effects, why is it OK for women to take birth control drugs that ma­ nipulate their hormones and could damage their reproductive system, or go under the knife to aug­ ment their bodies via unnatural, surgical means,

which is much riskier than any steroid cycle? What about the hormone-manipulating drugs given to "trans kids" that can cause irreversible damage to their minds and bodies? Why is the U.S. government OK with all these? Ultimately, if adults wish to change their bodies without harming others, the government should have no say in the matter. If PEDs were a threat to public safety, I would understand Congress' mo­ tives, but they aren't. What kinds of problems do they cause socially? Are PED users running people over like drunk drivers do because they take PEDs? Are they dying from cancer like millions of ciga­ rette smokers do because they take them? No. Yet they are illegal, whereas drinking and smoking are not. Drinking and smoking have way worse

deleterious effects on health and society than steroids ever could. And the most hypocritical thing is the fact most Olympic athletes and sports professionals, if not all, obviously take steroids and other substances to maximize their performance, yet the feds aren't busting down their doors and arresting them. Although sports associations have banned PEDs, there are many ways to beat drug tests, so that doesn't prevent their use. A smart user will use new drugs which can't be detected yet, or simply stop using a drug prior to testing in time for its metabolites to clear their body. Some get caught, but most do not. It is no question professional bodybuilders are on steroids, yet none of them are arrested while on the Mr. Olympia stage for

obviously taking them. So, what gives? Why do professional athletes get a pass while average Joes can face incarceration and fines for simply pos­ sessing them without a prescription? The solution to this injustice, and all the problems it has created, is to legalize PEDs; it is the govern­ ment's moral obligation to do so. If the they really cared about their citizens, they would lift the ban and allow people to purchase PEDs made by phar­ maceutical companies that would be high-quality, and most importantly, safe, rather than leaving people with no choice but to go to underground labs that can sell fake or contaminated products which could harm them. Furthermore, legalizing them also ensures none of our citizens would get

involved with black market drug dealers; in fact, it would eliminate the black market altogether. In the end, the government can pass common sense laws to regulate these drugs and ensure no one would have enough in their possession to sell them illegally. Similar to marijuana, PEDs could be sold at dispensaries, allowing adults to purchase them for personal use and tax these transactions; using that tax revenue for better things, rather than wasting taxpayer money trying to find and shut down underground labs and arrest PED dealers. The black market, under­ ground labs, and PED dealers would all disappear simultaneously, because people would be willing to pay for pharmaceutical-grade products that are superior, safer, and won't land them in jail. This

is the most logical position, especially when there are plenty of countries where PEDs are legal and there's no PED health crisis in any of them, so we know this will work.

S ECTI ON XVI

1

The highest level of education I achieved was a few semesters in community college, but I dropped out twice-despite having a GPA of 3.86 and getting accepted to Rutgers Unive r ­ sity-due to my PTSD, but also because I wasn't very interested in learning anything other than psychology and philosophy. I never was a fan of tests, nor the fact that one's intelligence is deter-

mined by grades and scores, despite me doing very well on them. I felt college was wasting my time, by forcing me to learn things I didn't care for, in order to get a degree I would never use-nor guarantee me a job. After dropping out, I actually became more educated by doing my own research on the Internet and reading many books that interested me. And it was my experience that led me to conclude there's something seriously wrong with our current education system. Human intelligence is much more than the ability to memorize and regurgitate facts. Some of the most intelligent people are the most cre­ ative types; people who can problem solve and overcome new challenges that benefit the world, whether it be inventing a new service or some

kind of technology. Many of the most influential people in contemporary times have been college dropouts who founded multibillion-dollar com­ panies that changed the course of human history. They felt the same way I did about college: it was limiting and essentially unnecessary for achiev­ ing their goals. Our current education system is geared toward creating "worker ants," rather than allowing students to excel at whatever field they're truly interested in. Why should someone who hates and will never use algebra in their lives, be forced to spend years learning it when their field of inter­ est wouldn't require it? Why should someone be forced to learn about French history when all they want to be is a chemist? I'm not saying eliminate

these courses from the lower grades of education, but once in high school, students should be able to choose every single class they want, instead of being forced to take classes they're not interested in at all. In this way, they can truly prep them­ selves for higher education, which then would be focused on those same subjects they're interested in, should they wish to specialize in a field that re­ quires a higher college education. A high school education should be designed to give students the ability join the workforce and have full-time career right after graduation. In other words, a high school education should carry the same weight as a college degree would now, and college should be reserved for those who want to be doctors, physicists and experts in other such

fields that require a higher degree of learning. We are wasting time sending 18-year-olds to these expensive institutions that delay them from entering the workforce another four years or so. Furthermore, students at this age are ill-prepared to make lifechanging decisions, like taking out massive loans to learn subjects they don't truly care about, and earning a degree that won't really determine their line of work, transforming them into wage slaves for decades to come, in order to pay off that loan. This alone should tell us something is seriously wrong with our education system. In regards to our students' younger years, kinder­ garten through middle school should focus more on social skills and the personal development of

each child, rather than stuffing their heads with facts that don't teach them how to be individual human beings. As I alluded to before, these are the grades where they should be taught about history, biology, writing, mathematics and so on, but there should also be classes on self-esteem, nutrition, and social skills to help them learn how to love themselves and work together with others. I also believe we should have more gym time to ensure our youth are kept physically fit and active. Currently, we are creating a society of sedentary people who are extremely unhealthy and lack the basic knowledge of how to achieve and maintain optimal health. Education shouldn't be about training a person to be something society thinks they should be,

but rather, to help bring out the best in them so we can create a workforce of citizens who are pas­ sionate about working in their respective fields. In my system, we would have more educated, moti­ vated, and competent young adults entering the workforce earlier, and more graduates who will contribute to the higher needs of our society.

2

The truth is the most powerful weapon; it is the only one which can pierce a man's soul, kill an enemy without harming their body, and prevent a war from ever happening.

3

The best way to accomplish a goal is to first state specifically what you want to achieve, learn what you need to do to make it happen, write it down in detail, set a start time and end

date, and then break it down to several mini­ goals. This is the best way to do it because we are more likely to stick to a plan if we see progress. Furthermore, it allows us to make adjustments along the way if we fail to reach our mini-goals. Let's set up a fat loss goal as an example: First, we need to determine how much fat we want to lose. Let's say that amount is 20 lbs .. We learn that each pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, and we need to cut our total daily caloric intake by 500 calories-at this rate, we'll lose around 4 lbs. per month. In order to lose 20 lbs. at this rate, we would need five months of dieting. We decide to start our diet on January 1, which means we will reach our main goal by June 1. Now we can use this information to create two mini-

goals within our main one: the first is shooting to lose 1 lb. of fat per week; the second, is losing 4 lbs. per month. All we have to do is stay focused on each week, until we complete the first month. Now, if you do lose a solid pound of fat on week one (probably more), you will be happy you ac­ complished a goal and will look forward to the next week. This will motivate you to continue on as you start accumulating a winning streak. The more you hit your mini-goals, the more you will push forward, even when things get harder. And as the weeks and months pass by, you'll finally reach your main goal before you know it. Another good thing about this strategy is, it lets you monitor your progress and make changes if necessary. Let's say after week one you've only

lost . 5 lb. of fat, that means you need to make adjustments so you can get on the right track. If you're dieting without any mini-goals set, you'll be unable to make these crucial changes, and you'll be very disappointed when you jump on the scale on June 1 and see you have failed to reach your main goal. By setting and accomplishing your mini-goals on schedule, you will more likely stay on track and reach your main goal. This is the best way to plan things out and is the same exact way the fitness pros do it. I used an example of a fat-loss goal be­ cause it easily illustrates this strategy, but this can be applied to any goal. Try it and see for yourself.

4

I find it silly people become obsessed with longevity and are constantly looking for new ways to extend their lives, when all they'll be doing is extending the amount of time they'll be in old age. That is not to say one shouldn't adopt a diet and lifestyle which helps them live a long and healthy life, but to go crazy and restrict them­ selves from certain foods or activities in an at­ tempt to prevent their inevitable demise, is futile. What's important is to make sure you are fit and healthy long enough to achieve your goals, give back to society, and if you want, have a family and raise your children. Once you have accomplished these things, it's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of your life observing what you have created. But there will come a time where sitting

around and enjoying things won't be so pleasant anymore. As old age takes its toll on us, our bodies begin to weaken and start breaking down: our joints seem to always hurt; we're unable to move like we used to; we tend to forget things more often; we're more susceptible to disease; we have to constantly see the doctor; we need medication to counter several health problems; we need as­ sistance with basic things-the list goes on. Why anyone would want to prolong the declining years of their life is beyond me. There's no diet that'll make you immortal; there's no lifestyle that'll conquer death. So, loosen up and take it easy, and enjoy each moment rather than obsessing about your future. Spoiler: you're going to die no matter what you do.

5

The best way to convince a very stubborn person of the truth, is to split it up into smaller parts and deliver it over a period of time, similar to titrating a medication. The reason for this is because these types, when exposed to too much of it at once -especially the kind that chal­ lenges their beliefs-will get extremely defensive and quickly reject it. Thus, you must administer it in smaller doses, so the person is exposed to new bits of information without raising too many defenses, allowing them to absorb and process it over time, rather than rejecting it outright due to an overdose.

6

Jealousy is always a reflection of your own insecurities and shortcomings. I was never one to be jealous of other people's accomplish-

ments or what they had, rather, I had a strange kind of jealousy in my romantic relationships that would cause me to get upset about my lover's past. Anytime I asked my guy friends if they ever experienced this kind of jealousy, they looked at me as if I had three heads. And what's even crazier is, as I began typing this entry-thinking I was the only one who experienced this kind of jealousy -I realized after all these years I never looked up if there was an explanation for it. I did a quick Google search to see if there was, and it turned out I wasn't alone. This kind of jealousy is very real, and it's called Retroactive Jealousy Compulsive Disorder (RJOCD). RJOCD is where you have an unhealthy OCD-like obsession with your lover's romantic past which

causes you to make assumptions, judgments, cast doubts, imagine scenarios, and even cause fights because of it. It's not like the casual conversations a couple may have to get to know each other better-which might include discussions of exes and past sexual experiences-but more like an interrogation to see if your partner committed any "crimes" in their past sex life. All information you gather will be stored into a mental file that will later be analyzed to see if they measure up to your delusional, perfect standards, which are impossible to achieve. It's your ego's expectations of someone you care about, on steroids. RJOCD causes you to ask your lover: Who all their partners were; how many partners they had; if you know of any of their partners; were they the

promiscuous type or not; did they ever engage in risky sexual behavior; why they slept with certain people-the list can go on. All of this information is then obsessively analyzed in order to find a reason not to trust them. Not only does this annoy your lover, it also tortures you with visual movies of them having sex with their past partners, espe­ cially if you've seen or know any of them person­ ally. This all sounds insane, because it is; I feel bad for all the girls I dated who had to put up with this madness. My healing process began with the awareness that this jealousy was actually about me. I didn't want my lovers to be the types to have one-night stands with men because then they'd be a "victim" to the kind of man I actually was, and I could never date

a girl like that! I didn't want them to be promiscu­ ous because I was, and a real lady doesn't spread her legs so easily! I didn't think I could trust them because I was the player who couldn't be trusted! I didn't want them to have been cheaters because I was the one with the history of cheating! I didn't want them to have engaged in any risky sexual behavior because that's all I did! All of this amounted to the fact that I hated myself and what I was doing, and didn't want to date someone like me; it was all a projection of my insecurities and shortcomings. I knew I was being a player and womanizer, viewing women as objects. Like a used car, I judged them on their "mileage," how many "owners" they had, and if there were any accidents" before me. This was the kind of hypo­ critical and unhealthy mentality that fueled this

insanity. Luckily, no girl I ever took seriously and dated was anything like me. Over time and with consistent self-reflection, I realized my RJOCD was not only illogical, but unwarranted. In the end, it was my wife-to-be, Caitlin, who helped me overcome it. She endured my jealousy for a long time while we dated and I knew it wasn't healthy. So one day, she and I sat down one day and devised a strategy that allowed us to work together and overcome this problem. I told her my crazy RJOCD brain needed to know the truth about the things it wanted to know, otherwise it would make assumptions and think things were much worse than they actually were. This meant she had to share some intimate details with me-which most men would never want to

know-but she knew I wanted to end this as much as she did, so she was open and honest about ev­ erything, and it helped me greatly. Eventually, with enough honest conversations, I had all the information I needed and all my assumptions went away. I instantly became less jealous of her past-which was nothing crazy at all-but I still had work to do. I then took what I knew and constructed the correct mental nar­ ratives in chronological order so I had a timeline of events I could examine and discard. Anytime my ego tried to come up with another question about an event we already covered, I told it I al­ ready knew the answer and I didn't bring it up to her; and anytime my ego created any visuals, I removed them from my mind's eye by using NLP

techniques. I did this whenever I had an episode, and any time I slipped up, she was understanding and kindly reminded me to use NLP to change my state of mind. Our team effort, along with the mental training and discipline, eventually solved this problem permanently. I share this intimate part of my life with you because I know the hell this kind of jealousy can cause a relationship, not only for you, but also for your partner. If you or anyone you know suffers from this, you need to tell them they're experi­ encing RJOCD and to look into it; a Google search will lead them to a ton of information about it and how to overcome it. I hope this crazy story of mine helps some of you out there.

7 8

Religions are hypotheses that can never be tested.

When studying NLP in New York City, I would walk my way to class from the sub­ way and be exposed to large crowds of people in the city's streets. My first thoughts were how densely populated this city was and how many different types of people lived here. It then dawned on me, that each person who walks, by has an entire life story composed of experiences from their childhood until their current age. I wondered how many libraries could be filled with data from just one of these people's lives. The amount of information they have stored in their memory must be astronomical.

Keeping all this in mind, I looked at each passerby and was overwhelmed by the amount of informa­ tion available, as if I was discovering a new uni­ verse every time someone walked by. I was asking myself different questions about each person: Is that woman married? How many women did that old man sleep with in his entire life? What does this woman do for a living? What kind of child­ hood did this lady have? What's troubling that boy? How many loved ones did the man standing on the corner lose? Each of these questions, as mundane and silly as they were, could have been asked forever. Each of the subjects of my inquiry have their own experience of reality, which is es­ sentially a different universe than my own.

Such universes could be explored by simply ask­ ing questions and learning what their story is, but who has time to learn all of their stories? None of us do, and we take this all for granted. Many of us walk by people without wondering about them at all; we just go along pretending there are no other universes other than ours to explore, thinking there's only one world which revolves around us. But stop, take a moment, and see: there are many different worlds revolving around you.

9

If you get jealous when your friends succeed, then you're not a true friend. You should consider your friends' successes as your own, and be happy you're surrounded by competent people. There's a saying "You are the average of your five closest friends."

A personal example is a time when a good friend of mine had invited me and two others to join him for a weekend getaway in Florida. Our only costs were our flights, food, and booze. He comes from a wealthy family and makes a good living, hav­ ing the kind of money I will never see in my life. However, due to his generosity and kindness, he always shares the benefits of his wealth. He isn't the type of person to flaunt his money; in fact, he dresses very casually and does not come off in any way that's arrogant. The only thing that gives away his wealth are his houses and cars. Anyway, we all took the flight down to Florida, and spent a fun weekend in beautiful weather, while staying in his luxurious condo, with a beautiful view of the entire city below.

I also remember the joy ride we took in his convertible SL5 00 Mercedes: the car rode as if it was driving on a cloud; the weather was perfect; the wind blowing through my hair (when I had some). There we were, just two good friends en­ joying a nice cruise through Fort Lauderdale. It was that weekend I remember which inspired me to write this entry, because it was then I real­ ized why I was never jealous of my friends and al­ ways wished them great success-real friends will always share their success with you, as if it were yours. But what's more important is, that you're there with them to share the moments of joy and happiness their success brings with it.

10

Imagine if the supply of your blood was not regulated by your body, but by some outside mechanism which charged you interest and demanded you pay that interest with more of your blood. How long would it be until you die? This is essentially our parasitical banking system.

11

When it comes to teaching the truth, it's not the light you want others to see, but rather, what's seen in the light. The light is not the truth, but is that which removes the darkness to reveal it. The truth always lies on the path between the light and the dark. Thus, to fully un­ derstand it, one must navigate both the light and dark realms, learning from each, in order to find the path.

12

We need to treat our livestock with more respect and dignity, because they are beings who can feel pain and suffer. We need to take care of and raise them in environments where they can flourish as if they were free in Nature, and not be maimed, mutilated, and/or slaughtered indecently as many are today, thanks to companies who engage in unethical practices. I detest the fact companies: inject them with chem­ icals and hormones; genetically modify them; violently abuse them; stuff them in cages; restrict their movement; steal their young; and feed them wrong diet. I find such practices reprehensible, and they should all be made illegal.

3 1

A man truly becomes noble and divine when he transcends his libido. That is

not to say such a man completely avoids sexual pleasure, but rather, that his life isn't solely driven by the libido's insatiable nature. A healthy man will always have a healthy libido, but such a man falls from grace when he engages in an unhealthy lifestyle to solely seek pleasure at the expense of virtues. When a man has freed himself from his basest desires and vices-the most powerful being the insatiable need for sex-he lives with a sense of purpose that drives him to give back positively to the world, rather than seek hedonistic pleasures for himself. He will no longer care to spend his resources, time, and energy trying to impress and seduce women, but rather, take his sexual energy (the creative force) and use it to pursue and en-

deavor in ventures that will benefit others and the community.

14

The truth can only hurt you if you don't accept it. That is not to say learning a certain truth-like someone close to you has be­ trayed you-won't be a painful experience, but it's only a painful experience so long as you're unwill­ ing to come to terms with it. The amount of pain a truth can cause us, is determined by how invested our ego is into the opposite belief. It is very easy to accept a new fact that challenges a belief when you're not heavily invested in it, but the ego will resist new informa­ tion when it's heavily invested, especially when it identifies with that belief.

In order to accept a new and uncomfortable truth, you must detach yourself from your ego and allow your true self to acknowledge, process, and accept the new information. By transcending your iden­ tity and all things attached to it, the ego will have no choice but to obey and adapt with you.

15

It's always a good thing to find a third party to arbitrate when you have a disagreement with someone and can't come to a compromise. However, this third party shouldn't be connected to the parties in any way. The same goes for conflicts within yourself: It is best to seek the guidance of someone, whether it be a life coach or psychologist, rather than family or friends who will offer advice based on conclu­ sions they have already made because of their history with you.

SECTION XVII

1

From your personal perspective, you are the most important thing in existence. If you're lucky enough to somewhat transcend your ego­ tism, you may consider your children more im­ portant, yet you're still attached to them. The sur­ vival of you and your loved ones is of the upmost importance! However, on the cosmic level, you and your loved ones are irrelevant. But for now,

let's just focus on your own irrelevance in the greater scheme of things. Sounds harsh I know, but it's important for your spiritual growth. I want you to do the following mental exercise: • Imagine seeing yourself from the eyes of another person across the room. Notice how you feel about yourself and your life. Then imagine seeing yourself from the eyes of a bird above in the sky. Notice again what you see and feel. Go even higher and imagine looking down at yourself from someone on an airplane. You can't even see yourself at this point. Notice the higher you go, the smaller you become, and the more detached you are from your problems, especially when you can't be seen.

• Let us go even further away. Imagine looking down from the Moon. Where are you? Where are your loved ones? Where are the animals? Where is life? You can't even see yourself, let alone anyone or anything else; all you see is the entire Earth in all its glory. What problems do you think of? Perhaps now you start thinking about more global issues? War, famine, disease, natural disasters, and death. But realize all of those can't be seen from where you are, as they're all in your head. Go beyond our Moon, leave our Solar System, and look at it from afar. Where is our Earth now? Nowhere to be seen. Notice how detached you are even from it! Keep going farther until you see our galaxy. Notice the more you zoom out, the

less attached you are to even the idea of life itself! The fact is, the closer you identify with the ego's perspective, the more troubles you seem to have. But as this mental exercise shows, neither you nor anything else matters that much in the grand scheme of things. Within 7 million years, hu­ manity may go extinct. In billions of years, our Sun will begin to die and expand into a red giant, engulfing our planet. Let this humble you. Let this remove all your petty fears. Because all of your fears are ego-based and only relevant from your tiny perspective. On the cosmic level, there are no problems, there is no fear, there is no you, and there is no death; there is only the cosmic dance of existence.

2

I recently learned about some very dan­ gerous chemicals called "endocrine disruptors." These chemicals are found virtually everywhere, and are very harmful to humans and animals. Since I'm not an expert on the subject, I won't dive into the specifics, but it's certainly worth taking your time to learn about them. And when you do, you'll realize there's virtually no es­ cape from them, unless we create a massive social movement to get every single one we can identify banned from being produced by any company. But as usual, big business and lobbies have our government by its throat and always put their interests above that of the public. And you may wonder, as I did, "How the hell is this possible?" It's only possible because we allow it.

3

In some cases, such as those dealing with injustice, anger isn't only necessary, but a natural expression of the soul. Those who preach infinite peace and tranquility are selling you n o n ­ sense. There will always be that struggle between light and dark emotions, each having their pur­ pose and their place. To reject your dark side, in order to be solely light, will create an imbalance. The goal, however, is to accept the darkness, to contain and turn that anger into motivation and positive energy, so you can restore balance once again. This can only be done by taking just action, for if you took unjust action, you will only create more imbalance in the world. I understand the power of the anger you may feel; I know anger very well. It can indeed be

intoxicating to feel something that removes all fear of repercussions and gives you a temporary sense of invulnerability. But such overconfidence can blind you and lead to more harm than good. Holding on to your anger too long-in order to continue to feel shielded from threats-will drive you into madness and can lead to acts of evil. Thus, someone who understands both sides of the Whole, will remind themselves to restore balance within, before attempting to restore balance in the world.

4

Too many people confuse lust for love and jealousy for caring. They believe these exhil­ arating and extremely potent feelings are signs of true love, but they fail to see they're actually egotistical defense mechanisms that become

forms of obsession, self-delusion, possessiveness, and in worst cases, abusive behavior. But this doesn't mean these things will always manifest in extremes. Another way to know if you're allowing your lust to delude you, is if you let your lover cross bound­ aries you've never let anyone else cross-making excuses and rationalizations to justify their bad behavior and your acceptance of it. In other words, accepting the unacceptable and lowering your standards are signs you are allowing your so-called love to blind you. If you allow others to disrespect and abuse you, then you don't love yourself. And if you don't love yourself, you can't truly love anyone else.

5

Surrender isn't always defeat; in fact, align­ ing yourself with the Whole will ensure your next victory. By going with the flow, the Whole will guide you to your next objective; by reject­ ing and resisting the flow, you will struggle and suffer. You will waste your time and energy and not be prepared when the next opportunity that aligns with your desires manifests itself. Thus, you should realize the sooner you submit, the bet­ ter, and the quicker you can move on to the next thing, which will be granted to you because it was meant to be.

6

Your word is like credit: people will take it in good faith at first, but once you start miss­ ing payments, their distrust in you rises. They may excuse you if your reasons are legit-a credit

card company can waive a late payment fee-but keep abusing their trust and you'll pay a heavier price. The credit card company will raise its inter­ est rate, just like a person will start doubting you more. Eventually the credit card company will turn your account over to collections and want nothing to do with you, as will the person you have constantly failed to keep your word to.

7

When I have an episode of depression, the way I deal with it is to think of it like a rainy day when you expected sunshine. To dwell on it and try to force yourself to feel otherwise will only make matters worse. You have to go with the flow. No feelings last forever and will pass just like the rain does.

8

Learn to disagree with people on topics such as politics, religion, and philosophy as you would disagree with their preferences for foods you don't like.

9

Our great, great, great, grandchildren won't even know our story; all the sacrifices and things we did for them, they will probably take for granted and destroy, just as we have; and all the lessons we learned and passed down will be for­ gotten. But not all hope is lost: When our progeny becomes too weak and complacent, Nature steps in to teach them what She had taught us gener­ ations before, striking down all who fail to learn from Her eternal wisdom and refuse to obey Her immutable laws, bequeathing the world to those who deserve it, so they can build anew.

As harsh as this may seem, it's this very cycle which allows humanity to progress: moving two steps forward and one step back; teaching us lessons the hard way-which ensures they are seared into our subconscious-giving us the truths we need to overcome our struggles and move forward; forcing us to grow stronger when we become weak. But so long as humanity can for­ get, this cycle will repeat itself, from generation to generation, ad infinitum.

10

You should learn how to be patient with things: Your anxieties and restlessness do you no good, nor will they make the cosmos speed up for your sake. What good is it to make yourself suffer for long periods of time before those moments of joy arrive?

11

During a dispute, it's best to say what you need to say and leave the conver­ sation without having to repeatedly justify and explain yourself to anyone. In this way, you plant a seed and give it time to sprout a bit, allowing others to examine your claims and come to their own conclusions. The more you push your position to someone who rejects it, the more their defense mechanisms will push back and support their confirmation bias. Rarely will you find people openminded enough to change their positions immediately. Even a person who's open-minded has to do their due diligence, and research the claims you're making before they can come to their own conclusions. The only time a conversation leads to a conversion

on the spot, is when you're pointing out logical fallacies in someone's statements-all you need to do is point out where their logic doesn't add up and that should do the trick. However, you will encounter people who'll even resist this, and that's because they're emotionally invested in whatever position they're defending, and will pretend they can't hear what you're say­ ing. However, once they hear the truth, it will be acknowledged by the subconscious mind and the seed will be planted. But just like you wouldn't forcefully shove a seed into the ground and then drown the soil with too much water, likewise you shouldn't try to shove the truth down people's throats and drown them with too much infor­ mation. Just plant the seed and let Nature take its

course. Even the most stubborn will have to learn it eventually, and they will most likely learn it the hard way.

12

Don't be cheap when it comes to buying a mattress because you'll be spending a third of your life sleeping on it. Buying a high­ quality mattress, although pricier, should be seen as a long-term investment, because quality sleep is crucial for your overall health. If you're not willing to invest in something you'll be doing for a third of your life, then can you really com­ plain when you fall ill more often, have sleepless nights, wake up with a stiff neck, have an achy back, etc., all of which are a result of sleeping on a crappy mattress? A good mattress can help a lot! So, spending more is absolutely worth the

investment, because you'll experience good qual­ ity sleep for years to come, which means better health for years to come.

3 1 14

Not using your strengths is a form of weakness.

A good reading tip that I picked up along the way is to quickly look over what you're about to read from beginning to end. For example, before you read an article online, scroll from top to bottom and just absorb how long it is. Another example is if you intend to knock out an entire chapter of a book, flip through and see how long the chapter is before you do. This helps by eliminating any guesswork which

can turn into a form of anxiety-leaving you con­ stantly wondering if the next paragraph or page is the end of what you're reading-especially if the work you are reading seems to have no end. This little habit may seem useless at first, but once you practice it, you'll see it's not. Just as a sprinter wouldn't want to enter a race without knowing how many meters it was-to analyze and calcu­ late how much effort they'd have to put in-the brain doesn't want to expend any of its mental en­ ergy guessing how much it has left to read.

15

Although I'm not one to care for useless debates, I do find the ones between theists and atheists to be rather entertaining. Granted, neither side can prove their position, but

the atheist can point out that the theist has no empirical data to support their position. The ma­ jority of theists can only jump to conclusions and take a leap of faith based on ancient "holy works," and appeal to their own or their fellow believer's subjective, so-called religious experiences. I say subjective because it seems every religious group has their share of followers who claimed to expe­ rience something they concluded could only have been supernatural. Unfortunately, none of them can replicate or share their personal experiences objectively, nor provide empirical proofs; thus, they all remain impossible to confirm. During these types of debates, theists will claim atheists put their faith in science, and that sci­ ence is their religion which describes reality for

them, but fails to do so completely, since no one knows how everything began or what everything actually is. Some will even appeal to evolution and claim life was intelligently designed at some point due to its complexity. But the theist isn't alone in his folly. Some atheists do make definitive statements such as, "There is no God," while the less militant ones don't make such bold assertions. An honest atheist simply takes the position of skepticism, waiting for any definitive proof that would change their mind, and is open to investigate any claims. The problem is, never in history have theists been able to prove a single claim made by any of their religions, leav­ ing their hypotheses of how reality works unfal­ sifiable and outside of the realm of science. Their

excuse for this lack of evidence is one can never obtain proof of God, for he transcends reality, and thus, can only be discovered or known through reason alone. Another problem with religion in general, is with every claim of a supernatural experience from one religion, you will find plenty of similar claims from others, whether they believe in the same god or believe in many gods. This leads one to con­ clude there are only three possible scenarios: 1) There is only one god, but instead of making himself known to everyone, he de­ cides, for whatever reason, to play tricks on humanity by appearing at different times and in different forms, giving out contradic­ tory laws to different prophets, which lead

to religious conflicts and division between his creations. 2) There are multiple gods that exist, each competing for mankind's worship, and ap­ pearing at different times and in different places throughout the world. 3) There are no gods, and all religions are the creation of mankind's imagination. The third scenario seems the most plausible. I don't doubt for a second that people across the world have had what they believe to be supernat­ ural experiences-I even have some cases of this in my own family-but what I do question is what these experiences actually are and how they come about. They are probably hallucinations during

altered brain states caused by deep meditation, prayer, psychedelics, or during a near death experience. It is also possible human beliefs could be passed down via epigenetics due to parents' or a society's strong beliefs in a specific religion, like instincts are. So, even if one was never a believer, and didn't have religious parents, they may be living in a re­ gion of the world where one religion is dominant in their culture. Thus, when they have their mys­ tical experience, their subconscious manifests the religion of the dominant culture, rather than a subordinate one or some other one from a culture across the planet. I intentionally left out a fourth possible scenario: There are other forms of highly evolved intel-

ligent life (aliens), who have visited Earth in different places and at different times, which mankind mistook as gods and their technology as magic, and every encounter with them seemed supernatural. But since we're talking about or­ ganized religion and the concept of a god(s), I left this scenario out. However, I still don't find this scenario plausible due to the vast size of our Universe and the lack of any proof that shows we were visited by aliens in the past, or that there are any other highly advanced civilizations out there, after decades of scanning the heavens and finding nothing. Thus, it is highly unlikely Earth was ever visited by any aliens at any time. Despite my position, I don't find it appropriate to dismiss one's religious experiences so easily, nor

consider them to be blind followers; at least they have some experience to justify their beliefs to themselves. What's problematic is when those who never had such experiences and believe blindly, try to assert that their religion is true without providing empirical evidence.

In the end, we must be very honest and not make claims that none of us can prove. As I said before, an honest atheist or theist would actually take the position of agnosticism. The only reason atheists seem to dominate these intellectual debates on God, is because theists tend to make assertions they cannot prove and atheists simply point that out. Thus, theists are constantly pummeled by atheists in debates and this makes their positions look extremely weak.

The truth is, their positions are very v,.reak, and Vvhat I find entertaining are the atheists' counter­ arguments against such positive assertions made by theists based on no proof v,.rhatsoever. Even if a theist claims God cannot be empirically proven, as many do, the atheist still is able to point out the logical fallacies Vvithin their reasoning that led to their belief in God, and also point out inconsisten­ cies and contradictions Vvithin their so-called holy scriptures. You may believe I think it's impossible some kind of higher pov,.rer or intelligence exists beyond our comprehension, but this isn't so. Hov,.rever, I do re­ ject the Abrahamic faiths, along Vvith the polythe­ istic religions of the East that believe in millions of gods v,.rho apparently exist outside of reality. Therefore, I prefer to label myself a pantheist v,.rho believes Vvhat Vve call "God" is just the totality of all reality (the Whole), and that Nature and God are synonymous.

SECTION XVI II

1

The following exercise is an NLP technique that will help you overcome your bad mem­ ories. It is written in a hypnotic form of language, so make sure you take time and read each com­ mand, as they are exactly, to get the full benefits of this exercise. You can do this by yourself, but it's more effective if you ask someone you're com­ fortable with, to read these instructions to you as

you sit or lay in a relaxed, comfortable position with your eyes closed. Follow these steps exactly as written: 1) I want you to recall a bad memory. Now, go back to that time and step into the event. See what you are seeing, feel what you are feeling, and notice how it's affecting you right now. 2) As you are there, in that memory, notice this is a time when you did not know what you know today, but you have brought with you the knowledge and experience you have today. You now realize you have a better understanding of what this event actually meant to you, and how it affected your life.

3) Notice, even though this memory may have been painful, there is something pos­ itive you can learn from it. And when you notice what that is, I want you to imagine that becoming a part of your awareness right now, and integrating that into your being. 4) I now want you to imagine that memory going the way you wanted it to go. Imagine the events happening in your favor, chang­ ing them as you wish and notice how you feel about it. Notice how you feel better about the event now, and allow those feel­ ings to become part of you. 5) As you are imagining the event going the way you wanted it to, knowing the

things you know today, and knowing the event itself is only a recollection of a time passed, you come to realize it didn't need to go your way after all, and you are accepting of the fact that it went how it did, regard­ less of how you wanted it to, because you are an amazing person who can overcome anything. 6) Now as you are in this memory, I want you to imagine making peace with this event, doing whatever you must in order to do so. As you are making peace, notice how much lighter you feel as the weight of this event is lifted from your being. Notice how you are now being filled with positive energy.

7) Now that you have made peace with it, realize it has served its purpose and no longer needs to be focused on. Imagine putting this event in its rightful place in your past. Your past is either all the way to the left of your mind's eye or literally behind you. Whichever place you feel is the right place, imagine that memory being placed there, out of your focus and com­ pletely losing its power over you. 8) Now say goodbye to the memory. Imag­ ine saying, "Thanks for teaching me what you needed to, and making me a stronger person, but it's time to move forward. Good­ bye." Now watch the memory fade into the past, as it gets farther and farther away.

9) Take a deep breath, and hold it for 10 sec­ onds. Exhale and notice how you feel. This mental training can help you overcome any bad memory you wish to make peace with. Sim­ ply follow these steps and practice putting those memories in your mind's past. You may find some memories are dealt with in one go, but others you may have to repeat this exercise many times for it to work. Like any muscle, the brain has to be trained harder when things are more difficult. Teach your mind to send those memories to where they belong so you can make room for more positive ones in your life.

2

Irony is when armchair generals-whose only experience with war is having watched

Saving Private Ryan or playing Call ofDuty: Modern Warfare-call me an unpatriotic traitor for being antiwar. I've actually been to war and want no one else to die from it, on any side. Have these people never heard of Major General Smedley Butler, and his speech, "War is a Racket"? Then you have the tragic example of those who have fought in war but never woke up to the truth. Even after being injured and seeing their friends die, they attack me for my anti-war posi­ tion. Most of my fellow Marines I was able to wake up, but sadly, not all of them. It breaks my heart to see those who I served with still buying the false narratives of our warmongering politicians. These types who are still asleep, continue to think our wars in the Middle East are necessary for our

"national security," and believe everything the government says without question. They don't even need evidence anymore; they just need to hear things from their favorite political puppet to be convinced. The reason many veterans refuse to wake up, is they don't question and learn these narratives are false, because then they'd have to question them­ selves and their entire reality. In other words, they'll have to face their ego, which identifies with their war and their story of being a hero who served their country. This kind of truth would make their whole world crumble and lead them to an identity crisis, one that I and many others who sought the truth had to endure. Not everyone is able to put their ego aside and follow the truth

wherever it may lead; it's much easier to just be­ lieve the lies. In a time of massive disinformation and prewar propaganda, I urge all my fellow veterans to always question the government and any narra­ tives put forth by it. The most powerful weapon against the war machine are veterans who are awake; it is our duty to fight for our country and protect its people just like we thought we were, but this time for real. Our greatest enemies are the traitors in D.C.; they are responsible for all of our friends' deaths, by sending them into wars they should have never been in.

3

Each and every one of us has a set number of breaths we will take before we die. This num-

ber cannot be known, but it doesn't change the fact that our breaths are numbered. You should value each breath, and learn not to waste them on useless endeavors.

4

A true friendship is one that isn't affected by neither space nor time; it is a mutual love and respect between two people, whose bond ex­ ists beyond the physical, which demands nothing from either. When you catch up with one of these friends after years of not seeing each other, it's like no time has passed at all. The old inside jokes are brought up, laughter and joy from old memories shared, followed by new and exciting updates about each other's lives-a truly wonderful thing to have in

life. Such friends can be counted on one hand ... two if you're lucky.

5

Americans, armed to the teeth, still allow their government to strip them of their freedoms. This is only possible because they're not willing to go out and do something about it, other than protest in the street or complain about it online. The majority of people would rather accept a mild form of slavery than fight for actual freedom. Furthermore, many convince them­ selves whatever new laws are passed won't affect them, but what they fail to realize is any injustice tolerated against their fellow citizens will only embolden the government to take even more. And should the people dismiss this as some kind of alarmism, there will come a time when even the

most ignorant and stupid citizen will see things have gone too far. But by then it will be too late­ just like when the frog finally realizes it's getting boiled alive in a pot-and there will be no escape from the situation without a fight.

6

The way I judge the value of things is not by quantity, but rather, quality. If, for example, I was put into a position where I had to choose between saving the life of one scientist whose research could save billions of human beings in the future, or the lives of 10 people who would live out mediocre lives, I would choose the scien­ tist. But if I had to choose between the life of this scientist or the life of billions of people, I would have to let this one scientist die, because to let him live over 10 individuals is much easier than

allowing billions to die for him. If my reasoning is to let him live to possibly save the lives of billions, then my reasoning should also be to let him die to definitively save billions. However, by choosing the scientist, who could save billions over the other 10, I have prevented countless generations from existing which could have been brought forth by those I let die. Those 10 people could have had families and produced way more offspring than the one scientist alone. But what kind of generations would they produce? Would they produce several of the kind of scientists who could save billions? If so, then perhaps it would be wise to let the one scientist die in exchange for several ones like him to come at a later time. But what if they don't come? The issue is, these are only projections of possibilities; we can only act

on what we know now. Thus, I stand by my choice in this theoretical exercise, to choose the one sci­ entist over the 10 regular individuals.

7

I used to gamble when I was younger and played all kinds of casino games until I even­ tually stumbled upon poker, specifically Texas hold 'em. What ensued from that discovery was years of losing thousands upon thousands of dollars, learning how to play poker the hard way. I finally learned how to make money playing the game, but by then I had endured so many losses over the years, it would have been impossible for me to get in the green, unless I played at higher stakes tables.

I eventually mustered the courage to go play higher stakes and did have some decent victories, but none of them put a dent in those losses that were in the back of my mind. I knew this kind of thinking was counterproductive and would lead nowhere. I later learned better players treat poker like a business, so I tried this approach for a period of time-keeping notes, managing my bankroll, setting hours, and keeping track of my wins and losses-but I did not have the passion to continue. I did not feel that my destiny was to be become a professional gambler, nor did I have the money to risk trying to. Toward the end of my "career," I realized the ups and downs weren't worth it; losing a mortgage payment one day, then making it up the next,

wasn't fun. Having a family was one of the biggest reasons I stopped, alongside the fact that winning and losing almost felt the same: the win wasn't worth all the stress, and the loss wasn't worth all the regret. The ongoing ups and downs and i n ­ stability were rather frustrating, and so I decided to end this side gig. However, I must say I learned many valuable lessons from poker. Poker, in a way, is a reflection of life itself. You are dealt a hand which can either be considered good or bad, but this will depend on how you play it and also what comes out on the flop-the first three faceup cards on the board. You may have the best hand, which is A -A, but the flop comes out 7-7-2, giving someone with a 7-2 a full house. Your best hand just turned into your worst

nightmare, as your confidence in it becomes your downfall. You never expected someone to call your raise with such a weak hand, but there you are facing a very irrational and risky person, who just got extremely lucky and is about to clean you out. On the flip side, the person with the 7-2 started out with the worst hand, yet for some reason, decided to gamble and call when he shouldn't have. This variable in human behavior is what makes life and poker so unpredictable. No sane person would expect someone to call a large raise with a 7-2, but we humans tend to lose our sanity from time to time. Perhaps this player was getting bored; perhaps he wanted revenge against you after beating him last hand. Either way, several

conditions led to this person making a very stupid call that turned out in his favor by getting ex­ tremely lucky. Then there is the case where you may not know how to play a good hand life dealt you, causing you to fail, whereas someone with a worse hand, somehow makes it work because they have more mental fortitude than you. This would be akin to a player with a weaker hand bluffing you out when you have the stronger hand. Say you had Q-Q, but the person against you had J-J, and the flop was A ­ K-2. Sensing insecurity from the way you're bet­ ting, they feel you don't have an ace or a king and decide to raise. This raise makes you believe they have a better hand, so you fold thinking they have the ace or the king, instead of reading their bluff.

But one of the most important lessons poker taught me, was how to cut my losses. Of course, I had to learn this the hard way since I was ex­ tremely stubborn and overconfident. There were many times I would play all day and refuse to leave unless I was up. There were times I lost almost everything, but then broke even and still didn't leave the table. There were times I quadru­ pled my money, but wanted more. Sometimes I was wise enough to leave the game after making thousands, but other times my greed kept me in the game and I would end up getting sucked into an all-in hand that cost me everything. Eventu­ ally, I learned when it's time to go, it's time to go. This final lesson was what led me to make the decision to quit permanently, and I haven't gam­ bled since.

To summarize, life may seem unfair to you, but it's very fair when it comes to indiscriminately dishing out both good and bad luck to everyone. Moreover, it does not give anyone foreknowledge of what's to come: no one knows how something will play out until it does. Someone may be handed everything in life, but external conditions may screw them over. Life may have dealt some­ one the worst hand, yet you find some of these people achieving their dreams-rags-to-riches stories come to mind. Ultimately, we can't control what hand life deals us, but we can control how to play our hand.

8

While pondering the silly concepts of an eternal afterlife, I came up with the idea that perhaps it is possible, and even more plausible, to

have an eternal physical life. If the Universe is in­ finite and is one of many in an infinite multiverse, then is it not possible one of these universes, in­ cluding ours, could eventually rearrange atoms precisely how they are now and recreate you given enough time? For this concept to work, we would have to sub­ scribe to the idea there are no disembodied souls, and our spirit is just an emergent phenomenon. If we agree to this, it could be completely possible for you to come back as you are today. The one flaw I see in my idea is, in order for you to come back precisely how you are today, all prior events would have to happen exactly the way they did before, because if they didn't, you wouldn't be you, but rather, someone like you. And it's this

understanding that leads people to believe in the possibility that other versions of "you" could exist simultaneously in alternate realities. Is this even possible? How could I or anyone know? But it's an interesting idea, one that may not violate any laws of physics, and seems to be more plausible than the traditional beliefs of an afterlife.

9

You are like a blade, and your errors are like a whetstone that you sharpen yourself with.

10

Before you attempt to change your external world, you must first change your internal one. This begins with your thoughts and ends with your actions. Only in this order could you possibly shift things in your favor.

11

In Marine Corps boot camp, one of the methods used by our drill instructors to instill discipline, was to keep us standing at attention or sitting Indian style with our head and eyes fixed facing forward for long periods of time. This could have been anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and was done throughout the entirety of our training as recruits. Seems easy right? No so much. During this time, we were not allowed to speak or move whatsoever; we weren't even allowed to scratch our face should we have an itch, or even if a fly landed on it; and we had to maintain proper posture in whichever position we were com­ manded to be in, with our eyes staring straight

ahead. If we were caught doing otherwise, we were disciplined. I remember one day having sweat dripping down my face while standing on the parade deck in the blazing heat, and not being able to wipe it away. I had to feel it slowly move down my face, as it tick­ led me torturously. I experienced the same with any itching that followed. The Marine Corps taught me these sensations are temporary, and each one will run its course if left alone: the itchiness that came from nowhere, will go back to nowhere on its own; the sweat dripping down from my brow, will fall to the ground on its own. We recruits had to simply stay still and allow Nature to take Her course, and by doing so, we be­ came tougher.

What does my personal story have to do with you? A lot actually. By understanding and practicing the discipline of being still, it can teach you how to control your thoughts and emotions when they become uncomfortable. I challenge you to try it yourself. You'll find how hard it is for a human being to do absolutely nothing. This is why med­ itating is something people have to learn, since they find it quite difficult to calm their monkey minds and ease their anxious bodies. It takes much effort not to do something you have a habit of doing.

12

It's OK to doubt yourself and others. Doubt is a sign of uncertainty and insecurity; it's what humbles you and makes you human. It also helps you reconsider your position

and prepare for the total opposite of your expec­ tations to unfold. Doubt is also necessary for the creation of confidence, for where could your con­ fidence arise from if not from overcoming it? If you doubt nothing, can you honestly say you are rational and not deluded? Ultimately, your doubts are just guesses, and what you guess could be right or wrong. But when you doubt something, so much so that you dismiss its possibility of occurring with 100% certainty, you may be in for a rude awakening. Thus, it's better to find balance between complete confidence and total doubt, and always be prepared to expect the unexpected.

3 1

Just as you should let go of your grudges, so should you let go of your regrets. In both cases, nothing can be done to change the past, yet some of you insist to dwell on it, wishing it were different. Holding a grudge takes energy and focus away from other things that could improve your life, regrets also have the same effect. A regret is a grudge held against your­ self. . .let it go and move on.

14

In order to create a better world, we must transcend our tribal nature. This can be done by realizing our true essence isn't our physical bodies, but rather, the self-aware con­ sciousness that resides within them. By accepting this, we can truly organize ourselves in a manner which will result in the creation of the best pos-

sible kinds of societies, where likeminded people can truly live among those whom they feel a deep connection to. In theory, organizing ourselves by our spiritual essence could minimize and even possibly eliminate racial, cultural, political and religious tensions, since all of these would be absent among a mass of people who are of the same spirit. Such a state would be a spiritual one-a state that's united by ideology, rather than physical common­ alities-where each individual "soul" can find their place among others, without conflict and the need to continuously struggle for power against those who have a different kind of spirit. However, not all will want nor could transcend identity politics; there will still be souls who wish

to identify with things such as race, ethnicity, culture, language, land, and so forth. This need to identify with these kinds of things is an expres­ sion of true diversity, and should be respected. Moreover, no matter how many times I, or anyone else for that matter, try to dismiss identity politics altogether, it is ultimately impossible. Even an anti-supremacist like myself belongs to a group that shares my values, and thus, puts me in a cat­ egory against supremacists. So long as there's di­ versity among humans in any form, we will label and attempt to organize ourselves accordingly -to go against this would be going against our nature. The idea of transcending tribalism is not to go against our nature, nor eliminate the concept

of self-identification, but rather, to truly ac­ knowledge, respect, and appreciate diversity. An anti-supremacist would never wish to violate the sovereignty of another group, even if they strongly disagreed with its values, so long as that group does not try to impose those values on in­ dividuals or other groups who do not subscribe to them.

15

When it comes to the debate about the origin of life, it essentially is divided into two schools of thought: one is intelligent design, which states a disembodied mind cre­ ated life from the top-down (God); the other is materialism, which states life was created from the bottom-up in an extremely slow process by the forces of Nature. The former appeals to the

overwhelming complexity which they believe is mathematically impossible to have occurred by chance and natural causes. The latter argues given enough time and with the right conditions, life can be created via chemical reactions in a process called abiogenesis, without any need for a mind or a god. But I often wonder if the truth lies some­ where in between. Since the Whole is one no-thing that has no opposites, life could have been created by a bottom-up and top-down phenomenon simul­ taneously, without a personal being involved. What do I mean when I say top-down if I don't evoke a personal deity? I answer that question with several another questions: Could Nature itself be intelligent or conscious? Does Nature

have the capability to design intelligently, or does intelligence need to come from a brain and/or a mind? What exactly is a mind? If it's an emergent phenomenon of chemistry in the brain, could other kinds of chemistry create disembodied, brainless minds? Is intelligence just a field of elec­ trical activity? If so, could our electromagnetic universe be conscious? These are the questions that cross my mind. I don't reject abiogenesis, and I don't appeal to an intelligent designer, but I do think it's possible consciousness, whatever it is, plays a role in this creative process. The material (the bottom) somehow interacts with the immaterial (the top) in a process that meets in the middle, to create ev­ erything we see, including life, without the need of a guiding mind. But until we know what a mind actually is, what Nature actually is, and what con­ sciousness actu.ally is, we are left wondering.

SECTION XIX

1

A good sign you've learned to overcome your ego, is when insults no longer have any effect on you whatsoever. This is easy when you don't value the person insulting you-such as a random stranger in the street-but when the insults come from those you do value and you're unaffected, this is the best si n.

This doesn't mean you won't be surprised, dis­ appointed, or like the fact someone close to you is trying to hurt you, but you will realize their attacks on you are not personal, and are an indi­ cation they're being overwhelmed by their ego. Instead of firing back when they are clearly upset, stay calm and simply wait until they cool off. By doing so, this lets the person realize their attack is ineffective, allowing them to reflect on their own emotions. Becoming thick-skinned is only possible when you accept your flaws instead of denying them. When you do so, no attack is unexpected and is easily predictable. That is not to say you should like your flaws and think they're acceptable, but rather, be aware of their existence and do not

care if others mention them. If someone is saying something true about you, why would you be offended, unless you find the truth offensive? Conversely, the egotistical type is in denial of their flaws, which is why a total stranger can trigger a negative emotional response, because they know subconsciously what they're saying is true. They have not fully come to terms with their flaws, so pointing them out reminds them they're not perfect as their ego tries to portray. Even an insult that's completely false can have the same effect, because these types can't allow others to have a negative view of them, despite such insults being baseless. The ego won't tolerate any narrative that doesn't go along with its own.

2

Philosophy is like a spell-checker for the mind; it helps determine whether or not our arguments and beliefs are congruent with our own observations and experiences of reality. It has been practiced for thousands of years and continues on to this day. However, some will claim it's dead, no longer serves a purpose­ arguing that after all these years, there remains unanswered and unsolvable questions-and that we can find all the answers we need via science and mathematics instead. Yet these types fail to realize philosophy's true value: not only does philosophy help mankind develop ethics and seek truth in regards to other abstract matters-taking an "is" and coming up with an "ought," which science and math cannot do-it also helps us find ourselves.

3

Success is dependent not only on your ability to win, but also help others win as well.

4

In order to truly connect with yourself, you must go deep down within. This can only be achieved by quieting the ego and expand­ ing your awareness. This is done by deep medi­ tation that helps cease all thoughts that distract you from your true essence. But deep meditation doesn't necessarily mean sitting still, it can be any kind of action or inaction that gets you into a trancelike state which allows you to become your true self. To give you an example of action-based medita­ tion, think of an athlete who gets in "the zone" in order to play their best. They may perform some

kind of physical ritual-like practicing a swing, doing a quick stretch, or clap and shout to amp themselves up-in order to help them get in the right state of mind. This, too, is a form of medita­ tion, but since it involves movement, people don't think of it as such. They think meditation means sitting still in the lotus position for hours at a time, repeating a mantra until something magical happens. Not all of us find being still while meditating useful or even effective; in fact, I am one of these types-I never liked sitting still and meditating with my eyes closed. I always found it more effec­ tive to be silent while walking in Nature; focusing on the warm water running down my body while taking a shower; or doing repetitive tasks like

working out at the gym or mowing the lawn. It doesn't matter whether or not our body is still, what matters is whether or not our mind is still. Experiment to see which kind of meditation is right for you. Remember, you won't experience hours of clarity, only moments. For some, it may take hours to reach this kind of focus, and to have an epiphany or understanding of something; for others, only seconds doing something they love.

5

Alan Watts, a former priest turned nondual­ ist, helped popularize Eastern philosophy in the West. Mr. Watts was a very prolific writer and an extremely gifted speaker. His teachings affected me greatly, and continue to have an i m ­ pact on me and millions of others.

One proof of this, is how his lectures are em­ bedded in countless motivational videos, and promoted by many New Age types. His extensive vocabulary, creativity, and mastery of public speaking, makes him a joy to listen to; he turns the English language into music for the ears. But Watts wasn't New Age; his teaching style was unlike any of these so-called guru types we see today, especially the kind who give off a holier­ than-thou vibe and have amassed cultlike follow­ ings. His approach was more human and playful. He was a very charming, charismatic, and funny individual, who made clear to his audience that he was no better than them. His untimely death -most likely due to his alcoholism-would prove this fact.

Watts touched my soul with his humble and free­ spirited nature, and intrigued my mind with his impeccable logic and oratory skills. He taught me not to be so hard on myself and just being me was enough. He once said: The meaning of life isjust to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something be­ yond themselves. His teachings taught me to accept the yin and the yang within myself and others. He taught me death is nothing to fear, life is something we should enjoy while we can, and this is all just a big game that isn't meant to be won or lost, but to be experienced and lived.

6

Most people won't learn the truth until they're thrown through the Overton win­ dow and are scarred from their lacerations.

7

The best way to reach someone you're about to criticize for their behavior, is to make sure you deliver your criticism in the form of an opin­ ion, while disassociating them from the kind of behavior you're criticizing. For example, a friend of yours is being completely irrational and is allowing their emotions to cloud their judgment. Don't say anything like, "You are too emotional," or "You're losing your mind," which are both being stated as facts rather than opinions. Doing this will be perceived as a personal attack, because you're implying they're

inexorably tied to their behavior and it's an inher­ ent flaw, rather than something that's happening. In other words, by saying "You are X," you are rein­ forcing the connection with their ego, rather than helping them disconnect from it and see from a different perspective. A better approach is to say something like, "I understand what you're going through and I think you're overreacting," or "Ifeel like the thoughts you're having are clouding your better judgment." In these examples, your opinion isn't being stated as a fact, which will more likely bypass their de­ fense mechanisms so they are more receptive to your message, and will be able to see that their be­ havior isn't aligned with their true nature.

8

Is extrasensory perception (ESP) real? Is it even possible? I don't believe in people having the ability to read minds or anything like that, but I do consider it possible if we define it as a hunch or intuition that we get correct some­ times. These hunches don't happen all the time, but occur often enough to where I don't believe they're always coincidence or chance. How many times did you know what the next track on your music player was going to be, even when you randomized your playlist? This has happened to me several times in the gym. Mo­ ments before I even pressed the button to change the track, I heard and imagined it was one specific song that was going to be played, and it turned

out to be it. Again, this doesn't happen every day, but enough times to notice it. Another strange phenomenon I experience, is how many times I get this feeling to look at the clock, and when I do, I see it's 9:11. This happens to me a lot, and I know a skeptic would ask, "How many times have you looked at a clock and it wasn't 9: 11 ?" Well, plenty, but in those times I didn't have a hunch to do so, and it was just to see what time it was. But when it comes to this strange 9: 11 phenomenon, I find myself looking at the clock because I am prompted to do so by a feeling. This is probably a result of psychological trauma the 9 / 11 attacks created on a global scale that resonates with many people on a subconscious

level, especially if they were directly affected by the attacks in some way, as I was-they motivated me to join the Marine Corps, led me to being de­ ployed twice to Iraq. If humanity has a collective consciousness, perhaps there are others who have experienced this 9: 1 1 clock phenomenon as well. How many times did you know that it was your one friend calling the second the phone rang without even looking at it? How many times have you and someone close to you said you were both just thinking of each other at the same time? How many times have your dreams predicted a future event, even one the next day? Both my mother and grandmother once had dreams that predicted accidents which happened the following day, dealing with specific injuries: My mother dreamt

I would break my left leg snowboarding, and I did; my grandmother dreamt my cousins and I would get in a car accident on the way to the beach, and we did. To brush these off as mere coincidences, is not a satisfactory explanation. But don't take my openminded position on ESP to think there's anything supernatural about it; in fact, if we accept that reality is one thing that is connected, why couldn't different parts of reality be able tofeel or see what may be coming? Perhaps there's something happening on some level we can't always sense, but can do so occasionally.

9

The ego loves labels, titles, awards, medals, and trophies, because with them it can say, "Look how others value me! Look what I have ac-

complished! Look at who I am!" But none of these things are really what or who we are. In time, even the greatest athletes realize their titles and trophies mean nothing. I've listened to interviews of several world-class champions -such as Mike Tyson and Dorian Yates-who, in their later years realized this was true. Although there are many who still cling to who they were, these two champions-despite their fame, money, and achievements-both said that all these things actually empowered their egos and disconnected them from who they truly were. With this understanding, both Tyson and Yates became aware of the bigger picture and were humbled, changing them into more spiritual be­ ings. Their trophies, medals, and titles simply lost

all their meaning, and they eventually learned what really mattered to them in their lives. And this is when they became true champions.

10

I often wondered why the public is saddened more about the loss of their favorite celebrity, than when our troops arrive home in caskets. As I pondered the reasons, I re­ alized the answer is very simple: The media and entertainment industries allow the public to get to know celebrities on a personal level. They're in our magazines, living rooms, and on our computers and devices all across the world. And because of this, the public grows fond of them as they become part of their life and culture, while the lack of genuine concern for our troops, is one of the main reasons why the military -industrial

complex can get away with their special interest wars without much resistance. Celebrities become role models who represent the people's dreams. The public gets inspired by their rags-to-riches stories and motivational speeches about their success. Some are also exemplars of human excellence and achievement. Whether superstar athletes or popular musicians, they represent the pinnacle of human talent in perfor­ mance and arts. That doesn't necessarily mean they're good or moral on a personal level-usually we discover that many of these so-called role models are anything but-however, the public will dismiss, ignore, and in worse cases, make excuses for their behavior, because what the pub­ lic really cares about is what they rovide them.

It doesn't matter whether or not one of their fa­ vorite celebrities was a pedophile, a wife beater, or an animal abuser, so long as they made great music, won several Grammy Awards, or played great football! As for our troops, although they're exemplars of courage, strength and selflessness, the public never gets to know them. Every so often the media reports on a few who died overseas, but rarely, if ever, are they spoken of while they're alive. Certainly, the media and entertainment industries will glorify patriotism and war, with the media televising Veterans Day parades cele­ brating people no one knows, and Hollywood pro­ ducing propaganda films of wars that should have never happened, and that's really the extent the

public is exposed to our military. And because of this, when they perish, there's no loss felt in every American home as it is when one of our celebrities die. If only the public had as much regard for our troops as our celebrities, we would be able to put an end to the war machine and its special interest wars once and for all. But the media purposely keeps the troops away from the public, so this kind of connection can never be felt in every home, and strategically uses their deaths to pro­ mote more war instead of preventing it.

11

The so-called art of our day is a rebellion against everything beautiful. It's no wonder most people are disinterested and the art

industry has turned into a kind of stock market where the rich speculate and determine what's valuable and what's not. But to any sane person, we see past this sham and don't partake in it. The current industry attracts the egotistical and deluded rich people of so-called high society who are willing to pay millions for a canvas that has a few colored squares on it, or some hideous display of twisted metal, in a game of social one-upman­ ship. They buy the work of unskilled frauds in an attempt to obtain "class" and impress their fellow socialites. What fools! They're not only being played by the "artists," but also the gallery owners who manipulate prices no different than any Wall Street criminal.

So, what exactly does the modern art industry symbolize? Decadence. This ugly cancer growing in the heart of our society needs to be excised, so real artists can once again express the true beauty of Nature, form, and idealism.

12

When it comes to physical fitness, everyone should be doing some form of weight training. There are many types, so you must experiment with them in order to see which you're capable of, which fits your lifestyle, and more importantly, which one you'll enjoy most. You must also understand that not every exercise or routine works for everyone the same; each of us has different biomechanics, so it's impossible every exercise or routine will work or feel the

same to all of us. Moreover, there are no "must-do" exercises in order to increase strength and muscle mass; forcing yourself to do something you don't feel is working, or can't do because of some physi­ cal limitation, is counterproductive. For example, some will claim that you must do squats in order to build great legs, but this isn't true at all. If you have lower-back problems, the leg press is a great machine that'll help you develop them without putting a ton of weight and pressure on your spine. Like a diet, your fitness program should also be a sustainable lifestyle. You don't need to hit the gym seven days a week, nor should you because your body needs rest, but you should make an effort to get there at least three times a week. And for those

of you who are extremely busy with work or like to make excuses, you can still take 30 minutes of your time and do some kind of exercise a few days a week. If you don't like going to the gym, you can buy some cheap equipment for your home and focus on bodyweight exercises. Just make sure you do something to keep your body active and healthy-our bodies did not evolve to sit around and do nothing.

3 1

Religious tax exemptions should not include property taxes. It goes against reason to force citizens-especially those who don't believe in a certain religion, or any religion for that matter-to pay more in taxes to subsidize these institutions. Although many argue religion helps build happy communities, lowers crime,

and creates social cohesion, this is not supported by the data and could be achieved by other means. In fact, the 10 happiest nations on Earth are coun­ tries that are the least religious. Regardless, I'm not saying religious institutions shouldn't have tax exemptions-since they're like other non­ profit organizations-but they certainly should pay property taxes.

14

I am one who'll entertain a conspiracy theory because I like to think outside of the box and also enjoy learning another person's perspective, even if I find their position to be high unlikely or even utterly preposterous. Although something may sound outlandish, it should be taken seriously until it's debunked. Why? Because anything within the laws of physics is possible,

despite how unbelievable it may be. If you out­ right say it's nonsense without proper research and refutation, you may be dismissing it because you are biased and/or even emotionally invested in it not being true. If you dabble in alternative sources of history, you'll learn many "official narratives" put forth by governments are actually crazy conspiracy theories. It's only decades later the public finds this to be the case, like the lies Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and was tied to the 9 / 11 attacks.

15

Why do some people advise us to go with our gut feeling in certain situa­ tions when we're overwhelmed by indecisiveness? Is this where our soul or stomach chakra is lo­ cated? No. Turns out, there's a system called the

enteric nervous system (ENS)-a weblike network composed of 100 million neurons that line your gut and your stomach-essentially acting like a second brain. This system is what creates the feelings of gut intuitions and butterflies that we experience in certain situations. Although it has nothing to do with the cognitive processes of the brain, it does have an impact on your mood and wellbeing. The ENS is responsible for handling digestion and excretion without the brain's involvement. As mentioned, it has an impact on mood and wellbeing, which is why when someone is hungry, they become irritable. Conversely, when some people get depressed, they get hungry and want to eat their problems away.

So, this connection is more nuanced than people think. The feelings of nervousness before a presentation, or when talking to someone of romantic interest, has nothing to do with hunger or digestion, yet we get those butterflies that tell us we're anx­ ious. Sometimes, we make decisions that seem impulsive because we have a gut feeling, and yet they turn out to be the best ones to make. I'm not saying to trust your gut over your reason, but in times where your brain is drawing blanks, overwhelmed with thoughts, or fails to logically comprehend what's transpiring, you can rely on trusting your gut, since now you know it's actu­ ally a sensory system that can help you make con­ scious decisions based on how you feel. If you feel

something is off, then you know you should avoid it; if you feel something is right, then perhaps you should go for it. Of course, neither our brains nor guts can predict the outcome of our decisions, but it's clear both play a role in our decision-making process. So, don't rely solely on logic to make decisions for you, because as emotional human beings, we need to always consider how our decisions will make us and others feel. The best choices I've made were the ones where my brain and gut were on the same wavelength. But many people will overthink and ignore their gut completely, or do the oppo­ site and ignore their thoughts and go only with their gut-in both cases, a bad decision is very likely.

SECTION XX

1

The policy of "protected groups" actually destroys any concept of "equality" under the law. There should be no protected groups, no undeserved handouts, no "diversity quotas," no "hate crimes," and no special privileges based on one's identity. None. Everyone must earn their place in society by merit. However, this does not mean there should be no welfare or accommoda-

tions made for the disabled, or those who need help due to certain circumstances, but rather, whenever we do help our fellow citizens, we do so when they truly need it.

2 3

Life is going to beat you up plenty of times, so why beat yourself up on top of that?

I occasionally think about critical decisions which led me to where I am today. Naturally, this also reminds me of all the bad decisions I tend to still regret. But then I realize had any of those bad decisions turned out to be good, I wouldn't have what I have, nor be who I am today. The same goes for you: If your path of hardship led you to attain good things and become a better person,

then those negative experiences were actually blessings in disguise.

4

We all show our love and care for others in different ways, and because of this, we may feel someone doesn't care as much if they don't show their love the same way we do. I learned this when I stumbled upon an article summarizing the book The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate, written by Dr. Gary Chapman-a book that helps people under­ stand how others express their love. Although I never read his book, the research I did was enough to grasp his concept. According to Dr. Chapman, there are five ways in which people express themselves. Although we

can and do use each one, all of us have a primary and secondary language we use more often. They are as follows: • Affirmations: People who say you they love you, give you compliments, and remind you they care. • Gifts: Those who show their love by giving sentimental gifts to you. • Services: The type to do favors and support you even if it's an inconvenience. • Quality Time: People who make sure they spend quality time with you.

• Touch: Touchy-feely types who show they love and care for you with physical affection. Typically, each type appreciates when someone uses the same love language as theirs, for that is how they understand love. So, if they don't know of the five love languages, they may feel less loved; that's why it's important to learn about them, and share this information with others. When I learned about these five love languages, I finally understood why my father-who rarely if ever said the words "I love you" to me or anyone else-still broke his back with physical labor to support our family. It turns out he, in his younger years of being a dad, was a Gifts and Services type. He made sure there was food on the table and a

roof over our heads-that's how he showed his love for us. Every so often he would buy me and my sisters' toys or whatever we wanted to make us happy, and also help us with anything else we needed. It's interesting now as an older man and grandfather, he is constantly using affirmations, and is way more physically affectionate than he ever was. It appears the primary and secondary modes are not set in stone forever. Learning about this subject not only made me understand my father more, but also gave me an understanding of myself as well. As much as I was confused as a young boy as to why my father would rarely use any affirmations, I turned out to be the same way: I am a Gifts and Services type. I don't need others to spend quality time with me,

nor do I need to hear any affirmations. My wife is the complete opposite. But by knowing the love languages, I'm able to do and say things others need, in order to keep my relationships healthy. For example, if my wife is having a bad day and needs reassurance, I can't just do my typical Gifts and Services thing, I have to give her a hug and tell her I love her, for this is the language she speaks. The point of sharing all this with you, is to help you know how to better communicate with others in the love languages they use, in order to make them feel loved, or at least, understood. If someone is a Touch type, then you know they need hugs and kisses. If someone is an Affirma­ tions type, then you know you need to tell them

you care. You get the point. Now, go use this knowledge to help improve your relationships.

5

My dog Maximus is a purebred German Shepherd, who is extremely intelligent, well­ mannered, and very friendly. He never tore up any furniture, nor made a mess of the house, and has been a good dog since we've bought him. I chose him when he was a puppy due to his unique personality; the other puppies at the store were too hyper, and others seemed too needy, but Maximus was calm. He was excited to meet us, but didn't invade our space by jumping on us con­ stantly like the other dogs did. In fact, he spent much of his time with us exploring the surround­ ing area-an inquisitive animal, like myself.

Many would claim these differences in person­ alities are solely because of the breed, but even among the same breed there are different person­ alities, some of which are immediately noticeable without any training. Of course, environment and genetics have an influence on their development, but it seems even at eight-weeks-old, a dog's per­ sonality is developed to some extent. All of this has made me wonder: If my dog has a personality, which implies a persona, does he have a form of consciousness similar to mine, at any level? Does his memory work like mine? Is it visual? Does he have a voice in his head that barks at him? Does he make decisions with that inner voice? I have seen him dream while he sleeps, barking away at something his brain is showing

him, but is he dreaming like me, or am I just look­ ing at an automaton? I will probably never know.

6

What kind of species pollutes the very area it lives in? What kind of madness is that? Just take a look at our own and realize we are the only ones who pollute the Earth. We must take better care of our environment, not just for our own sake, but the sake of all future generations of the species that live on this beautiful planet. It is our duty as the most intelligent and capable species to be the caretakers of Earth, and ensure we do whatever we can to stop this terrible evil. We're not doing enough, and that's because most people don't feel the effects of pollution firsthand, unless they live in very bad areas. But if we con-

tinue tolerating this despicable practice, it's only a matter of time until we all will.

7

A polite theist would never speak for an­ other person, yet feels he should speak on behalf of God.

8

The Internet has been a vital tool to help h u ­ manity break through much of the pro­ gramming pushed by the Parasite Class. Although many are waking up to the lies their media mouthpieces and puppet politicians peddle, they are taking measures to control the flow of infor­ mation in various clever ways, using the very same technology that helped many of us break from the mental prison they constructed, along with legal measures as well.

Not only have they implemented the use of algorithms in search engines, urged social media platforms to ban certain influential people and ideologies, they have created and enacted "hate speech" laws in several countries that can land someone in jail if they violate them. But their other method, which is rarely discussed, is to flood the Internet with so much disinformation that people get overwhelmed and give up trying to make sense of it all. For example, there could be a legit movement on the rise demanding answers to a government nar­ rative that seems to be a coverup or conspiracy. And when such a movement gets traction, sud­ denly several other versions pop up, all claiming to be the real movement, while promoting addi-

tional crackpot theories alongside the original, in order to delegitimize the entire idea. They resort to this type of subversion because they know they don't have the capacity to censor everyone or every idea, but they do have the ability to drown the Internet with enough false information to lead truth-seekers astray, so they don't learn what the actual problem is and who the culprits are. I have always been interested in learning alterna­ tive narratives, but many of them turned out to be false; thus, I always tell truth-seekers to be just as skeptical of any alternative narratives as they are of any official ones.

9

Do astrology and numerology have any predictive power? I don't know, but in my

mid-20s I did research into my zodiac sign (Tau­ rus) and read a book by Dan Millman called The Life You were Born to Live, which gave an extensive breakdown of what my life path number was, based on numerology. Life path numbers are determined by one's birth date added together and reduced to one number. In my case, 5 + 18 + 1984 = 2007. You ignore the zeros and add 2 + 7 to get 9. The number then describes who you are and whether or not you're acting in your number's positive or negative po­ tential. All of this seems like quackery, but I was amazed at what I read about my life path- nu­ merology was more accurate and descriptive than astrology.

As someone who rejects pseudoscience, as any skeptic would, I wondered how could things like these be true. If the Universe is one unified thing and can be described by mathematics, then why can't numerology describe the mental makeup of an individual in the same way it describes physi­ cal laws? But in order for that to be possible, there must be physical laws governing the energy of that person's mental and physical states as well. My only concern is the truth, and my investment in these ideas is virtually zero; I find them in­ teresting, but cannot possibly claim they are scientific at all. But could we find a scientific basis for these ancient beliefs? Where would we look? Perhaps the mechanisms could be fields of energy present during a person's creation in a specific

time and place, inheriting those energies of the Universe like a child inheriting genes from their parents. Perhaps there's some kind of quantum entanglement going on, where somehow the en­ ergies of certain planets and their positions can be expressed in individuals because they're made of entangled particles. Such phenomena would have to be measured and observed, and be able to make accurate predictions about someone's personality in order to be considered scientific. So far there's no scientific backing for astrology or numerology, and I doubt there ever will be; all tests and studies done on these systems have shown their predictive power to be no better than chance. In other words, they're useless. Although my belief in them helped change my life for the

better, it was probably due to having faith in some sort of higher power, like religion. The positive results I experienced were nothing more than a placebo effect due to changes in my beliefs and taking positive action. In the end, I let go of these superstitions, and I suggest everyone else who currently believes in them does, too.

10

Some are concerned with the evolution of artificial intelligence, and believe one day we'll create something that could be a threat to humanity. I highly doubt we'll ever create a self-aware entity that'll have any form of genuine creativity, or be able to think in abstracts beyond its programming, let alone decide humanity needs to be exterminated because it considers us a threat to Earth's environment. Although some

science fiction ideas have come true, I doubt this particular scenario ever will.

11

Sometimes when I look at people, I imagine I have X -ray vision and can only see their skeletons. It's quite entertaining, as I imagine watching these skeletons carry out their daily activities: there's a skeleton driving in a car; another walking their dog; and two skeleton lovers holding each other's bony hands as they walk on by. Although this mental exercise seems silly, it has a profound effect which reminds me to see through the layers and facades we create on the outside, in an attempt to protect ourselves on the inside. But if people could see as I do with this X -ray vision,

they'd realize they're tougher than they think, things are simpler than they believe, and don't need to be afraid of anything, for they are just silly skeletons going about their days, covered in flesh that will eventually rot away.

12

Sometimes, the most effective way to start a discussing about important and/or uncomfortable topics, is to use comedy to break the ice, in order to get people thinking about and discussing them without feeling too bad. Good comedians do this all the time, which is how many of them get away with joking about the most sensitive things. Although, one doesn't have to be a comedian to do this, ones does have to make sure they are spot on with their delivery.

Speakers can use strategic comedy to break through the defense mechanisms of their audi­ ence by setting up and maintaining a framework whereby they mix their message that's entertain­ ing and funny, with the uncomfortable topic they wish to address. This is accomplished by making fun of the thing they want to discuss, but doing so just enough to create the necessary shock value, without diminishing the seriousness of the topic. However, one has to be careful not to go overboard or be too insensitive, otherwise it could backfire terribly. A perfect example of someone who used strategic comedy is my favorite comedian, George Carlin. Carlin was a master at it, which is one of the reasons I love watching him. He not only makes

you laugh, but also educates you on life itself. He even discussed the most uncomfortable and harsh realities about our world, from government corruption, consumerism, and war, to our irra­ tional beliefs, hatreds, and hypocrisies. He talked about serious things, but did so in a way that you laughed about them, but then reflected deeply af­ terwards. It was comedy in its best form. Rest in peace, George.

3 1

When being attacked by someone who's trying to use your past beliefs that you no longer hold to harm your reputation, I learned the best strategy is to simply say, "I held those beliefs, but I no longer do," and leave it at that. Any time I responded to any further comments

and went on to justify my past beliefs, the person would use that to claim I was still defending them, even though that wasn't the case. So, I rea­ soned it's much easier to grant them the past and keep them there, because it's irrelevant. People fail to realize our enemies only have the past and try to use it against us, as if we can't actu­ ally change. But we can and do. We are not a belief, nor a system of beliefs; we are human beings who hold beliefs and positions that are subject to change at any time. However, these types, when on a malicious campaign to ruin your reputation, will claim you have not actually changed and are just pretending. But by admitting your past and taking that away from them, they are left in an extremely weak position. If this person insists

you're still secretly a (insert label), they have cre­ ated a conspiracy theory narrative they now have to prove-any further claims made against you re­ garding it would be conjecture. Finally, and most importantly, never apologize for your past in any way, for it was part of your necessary evolution as a human being that led you to become a better one today. Apologizing for it gives your attackers legitimacy, and even a semblance of authority over you, which will make you look weak in the public eye. Furthermore, you don't need their validation or blessings to change; if they don't believe you've changed, that's their problem, not yours. Your actions will show other­ wise, and prove them wrong anyway.

14

All foreign lobbies should be considered national security threats and banned from operating within the United States, as their sole purpose is to sway the votes of American politicians toward pursuing the interests of another nation without the taxpayer's direct consent. This treason and subversion must be stopped.

5 1

Behind every sacred cow there are char­ latans who profit from their existence. Those of us who stand with truth and justice are obligated to slaughter both.

SECTION XXI

1

Your true beauty lies within; it will never age, wrinkle, or die. Never forget how beauti­ ful you are now and always have been, and never believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

2

The Parasite Class has an infinite amount of funding, because they were given permis-

sion by governments to run all the world's banks and print money out of thin air. It is naive to think any of their moves are about profit, for they al­ ready have all the money they could ever want. So, what is it then? It's total power and control. The profits made by their schemes are to pay off their political puppets and lackeys who make their power-grabbing agenda possible.

3

Failure is simply a feedback mechanism which tells us that our current approach to something isn't working. Unfortunately, most people take failure to mean that they're the prob­ lem, rather than understanding their approach is. Blinded by their ego, they miss the valuable lessons their failures have to offer and stubbornly

try the same or similar approaches, until they burn out and give up. Learning how not to do something is the key to success. You may know of the legend of Thomas Edison trying 999 times before he finally got the light bulb to work. When a French reporter asked how he felt about failing 999 times he simply replied, "Young man, I have not failed 999 times. I have simply found 9 9 9 ways how not to create a light bulb."

Once you understand failure isn't about you as a person, you can learn to embrace it and keep mov­ ing toward the goals you've set. Instead of being blinded by your emotions about failure, you will extract the valuable lessons it has to offer. Those lessons will empower you with the knowledge to

help create or discover approaches that will help you achieve your goals. The human brain is like a super computer that acquires and analyzes data, assesses the matter at hand, determines whether or not a strategy is good or bad, and stores those results for future reference. It needs failure in order to know what works and what doesn't. Failure gives your brain a chance to work outside the box and use its amaz­ ing creativity to solve problems. Could you imag­ ine what it would be like if Edison stopped trying after failing five times? The world would literally be a darker place. How many failures does it take until your brain automatically shuts down and gives up on some­ thing? The answer is: none. Why? Because if

you want to keep trying, your brain will simply continue so long as you have the will. Remember, failure is only an indication that your method isn't working; it's only feedback, and it's that feed­ back which holds to key to your success.

4

In many cases, insults tell us more about the people hurling them than the people receiv­ ing them.

5

We all at some point in our lives, have read magazines, seen movies, or read books about the game of seduction. Some people have gone to great lengths to learn how to manipulate people into sex. Both men and women are guilty of this, whether they're educated on the fundamentals of courtship or not.

Being I didn't have an older brother to "show me the ropes," and my father didn't really tell me any­ thing about women, I didn't understand them. While my high school friends were hooking up with girls in our grade, I was insecure, shy, and way too nice. It took me until senior year to lose my virginity, whereas many of my guy friends had lost theirs, years before. In my early 20s, I took it upon myself to learn the ways of the modern Casanovas. I read a bunch of books and watched many videos on the topic of courtship, which gave me very powerful knowledge that "pickup artists" had developed into a science over the last several decades. It transformed me into a totally different type of

man. But what kind of man did I actually end up becoming? At first, I was shocked how simple it was to speak to women and seduce them once you adopted the correct mindset, and knew which steps to take in any situation. Most men have such a big ego, they're too afraid to approach a woman because of the fear of rejection, so they don't even try. Or they get so drunk trying to build the courage to, that when they finally do approach a woman, all that comes out is a bunch of gibberish or creepy things that turns them off, ruining their chances completely. Such types who don't understand how to talk to women become extremely frus­ trated and start resenting them. The truth is, the

majority of men are completely clueless, because they don't know how the game really works. Through years of study and application, I became sort of an expert in this field, and started to teach my close friends what I had learned. Some of them used what I taught them to meet the exact woman they wanted and are now happily married. I re­ alized this knowledge, if used for good, can give people the ability to be with the person they want, rather than "settling for less." But with any knowl­ edge, there's always a dark side to it. My newfound ability quickly became an ego­ driven endeavor that transformed me into a wom­ anizer. The more successful I got with women, the more I wanted more women. They became objects to me that only served one role in my life: sex.

That a man would admit such things might be unexpected, but I have no problem using my past to teach someone a new lesson today. However, my womanizing days were put on hold when I began to exclusively date a bartender who I fell in love with. Unfortunately, my so-called love was actually ego-driven lust, and I later learned this the hard way. After three years of hell, I finally broke up with her and told myself I wouldn't get involved in a committed relationship again. I decided it was time to go back to play the field, and I sure did. I acquired such a large number of women in my "rotation," there weren't enough days in the week to spend time with them all. Most men dream of such a thing, but this is commonplace with the small percentage of men

who know how this game works. By my late 20s, I was racking up numbers most men don't achieve in their lifetimes. One day I looked at myself in the mirror, reflecting on the life I had been living, and realized I was stuck in a vicious cycle of mindless, sexual con­ quest with no real meaning. I started to think of all the women I hurt, all the times I got hurt when my game backfired, and how draining this life­ style was. I was allowing these women to stay in my life even though I knew deep down there was no future with them. The time spent going out, the money, the energy invested in maintaining all my girls, and the headaches that would come when my priorities became too much for me to juggle, all started to take their toll.

It was at the peak of my womanizing when I finally realized I wasn't a man at all, but rather, a small boy trying to prove how much of a man he was by acting on desires to conquer women like a king expanding his empire across the globe. It was at this moment when my life changed once again, but this time for the better. Being a man isn't about how many women you sleep with, how cool you think you are when you sleep with a hot girl and then brag about the deed to your friends, or about how much money you have, or any materialistic measure of "success" for that matter; being a man is all about being a provider, protector, and leader of people. How was I providing, protecting, or leading any of these women, other than into my bedroom to

have sex and then out the door? How was I doing any good when most of these "conquests" even­ tually became strangers or enemies, and were no longer a part of my life, always leaving one of us hurt in the process? Was I any different than a drug addict chasing the next high? Another thing you'll realize while being a wom­ anizer, is your guy friends will probably be just like you. And if they have made women their No. 1 priority, you'll be surrounded by backstabbing, deceptive, secretly envious, insecure, fake men who'll always be trying to one-up you in some way, whether it's intentional or not. I had come to find some of my closest "friends" were so envious and jealous, they'd conspire against me when it was for the attention of cer-

tain women. People like this are so desperate to conquer the next girl, they'll do anything to win, even if it means crossing you in the process. They have no boundaries, no honor, and they're only looking out for themselves. They're only your friend when it suits their agenda, and quick to be your enemy when they find out a certain girl likes you instead of them. I know it sounds like a soap opera, but this is how fake men actually operate when they're obsessed with winning. When I finally broke from this addicting cycle of womanizing, I started to devote my energy to other aspects of my life. Going out and meeting girls was no longer important at all; in fact, I stopped caring completely. Ironically, that drew more quality women into my life, and filtered

out all the needy, insecure, unstable women I no longer wanted to deal with anyway. You may be wondering why I have chosen to share this phase of my life with you. Well for one, I'm not ashamed of growing up, and two, what better source is there to help other men get out of this vicious ego-driven cycle than someone who was actually a womanizer? If you're a womanizer, the Universe is going to set you up with a nice maneater and/or a headcase who's going to drive you insane. Sure, you may occasionally snag a good girl into one of your traps, but it won't work forever. And when you're exposed, not only did you just hurt someone, your ego will get crushed as a result when this girl moves on and finds a real man.

You must realize it takes too much energy trying to maintain meaningless, superficial relation­ ships just for a five-second orgasm and to appease your childish ego. Instead of being a mindless sex­ ual zombie thinking with your other head, wake up and notice what you're doing. Notice you're in a vicious cycle of sexual addiction, and until you get out of that, you aren't going to meet anyone worth your while. Being a womanizer is fake, it hurts people, and devalues you as a man. If you want to be a real man, tame your ego and end this vicious cycle. Practice a 100% honesty policy, build real relationships, and start enjoying a healthier, more fulfilling love life. And one day, you may meet the right woman, have a stable and

healthy relationship, and eventually have your own family with her.

6

If you think you cannot be fooled by others, you are most certainly a fool who is going to be fooled much easier and more often than you think.

7

No matter what obstacle or challenge you think is keeping you from achieving your goals, one of the biggest roadblocks on your path, is you. Once you realize this, all you have to do is get out of your own way.

8

When times get tough, imagine taking a step out of the situation and going within your-

self. Be silent. Be still. Separate your true self from your thoughts and emotions. Expand your aware­ ness to include all things that are transpiring in the moment. Heighten your senses by focusing on the center of your being and everything around it, simultaneously. You can do this with your eyes opened or closed. Notice how the experience transforms and becomes something more pro­ found. You are no longer fixated on the problem: you now see everything is connected; that the problem has a solution; and that solution is found within your expanded awareness of the problem.

9

In my quest to learn as much as I could about myself, I took many different kinds of per­ sonality tests over the years. The most accurate one was on the website l 6personalities.com, which

combines the well-known Myers- Briggs Type Indicator test with others to get more specific results. The test is free, and when completed, will give you a four-letter acronym which describes your personality type. I got "INTP," which describes me exactly. Now, the results to the free test are quite accurate, but they also offer an affordable, in­ depth analysis of your type you can purchase and download. Once I knew what my type was, I pur­ chased the extended profile and was blown away. While on your journey to self-awareness, you should study and research as much as you can about the different ways we human beings have tried to understand ourselves better. Take the test and see if you'll be impressed as much as I was.

But there is one thing I want you to be aware of: these types of tests do not and cannot describe the True Self, rather, they help you understand how your brain and body operate in this reality. Think of them as a guide or user's manual to the biolog­ ical machine you are in, so you can be more aware of how it functions and understand how to use it better.

10

The popularity of memes on today's social media platforms have had a pow­ erful impact on society and culture. A meme is as a form of media usually combined with images and a concept or catchphrase, which is spread from person to person via the Internet. Memes vary in their forms, messages, and intent; many are meant to make fun of people, culture, or other

things about our society, but others are meant to educate people with quick facts or even shift po­ litical discourse. A very good meme can point out an undeniable truth with just a few words. Such memes that make an impact could lead to cultural revolutions and permanent changes in politic discourse. But not all memes will make such an impact. Memes, like genes, live in a pool where it's all about the survival of the fittest. If a meme doesn't resonate with the Internet community, it will die out quickly and be forgotten. However, should a meme make a huge impact on social media, it will not only be propagated quickly in a viral fashion, but also undergo several phases of evolution as more people add, subtract, and improve on the

original meme, as it continues to spread in differ­ ent environments. Memes are a great tool to use to quickly obliterate false narratives and help people break free from their spell, by pointing out obvious contradictions in it. They can't unsee a picture that shows them a contradiction; they can't unthink a phrase that does the same. Thus, one should have effective memes in their arsenal, ready to be used to help shatter programming and wake people up from their conditioning. So next time you have a powerful message you wish to express, turn it into a meme, keep it short and simple, and use powerful imagery. I found this method to be one of the most effective ways

to plant seeds of truth into those minds who refuse to engage in any dialogue.

11

A question for believers: If the Devil can mimic the same powers as God, and can also speak to human beings, then how did the prophets know whether they were speaking to God or Satan?

12

An injustice you don't concern yourself with because it seems to have no direct effect on your life at this time, may, sooner or later, find its way to your doorstep and force itself into your home, thanks to everyone who had the same mindset as you.

Noble people of the world must unite and see injustice as a cancer that must be dealt with. We need to tackle it regardless of where it may exist, for an injustice anywhere, even in a distant na­ tion, is one against us all. Although it's impossible to police the entire world and tackle all injustices at once, it's not impossible for all of us to speak out and show solidarity with our fellow human beings. The most we can do is go out of our way and get directly involved in their fight; the least we can do is speak out and bring awareness to it. Either action is just, and each of us should make some effort to engage in their struggle against injustice to the extent we can, whether helping these peo-

ple on the front lines or providing support from the rear.

3 1

There's something that plagues rela­ tionships which are not based on honesty and open communication called "covert contracts." I first learned of this term while read­ ing the book No More Mr. Nice Guy by Dr. Robert Glover. Covert contracts are a set of tacit expec­ tations created by one person in the relationship that are expected to be fulfilled by the other without them even knowing-e.g., a man takes a woman out to dinner and expects sex afterwards. Covert contracts play a big role in unhealthy relationships. Whether romantic, platonic, or familial, these contracts are made without the

other party's knowledge and will lead to all sorts of problems in the future. The one holding the contract is actually trying to manipulate the other, because their actions are part of an agenda to get what they want from them. While the tar­ get of the contract accepts what they're offered -whether favors, gifts, or services-the manip­ ulator is secretly expecting something in return. When they don't get it, this is where the anger and resentment develop. They might hold this anger and resentment in for a while before they explode; and when they do, the other person has no idea where it's coming from. Typically, the contract holder is the type of person who's afraid of confrontation and is unable to communicate their needs efficiently, so they

create these unspoken contracts and just hope the other person will do what's expected of them, eventually. After countless disappointments, they finally break down and the contract is exposed. Going back to the example of the man taking the woman to dinner: the woman has no idea this guy just wants to sleep with her. After the first dinner resulted in only a few make-out sessions, the man was disappointed he didn't get sex, but figured she would live up to his expectations soon, so he kept it to himself. But after a few weeks of dating, the woman finally feels comfortable enough to invite him over to her house. This gesture leads him to believe she is prepared to give him what he had expected all along.

Later that night, they get intimate as they have before, but this time he tries to escalate to sex. She rejects him. Suddenly, he lashes out in frustration and starts acting like a jerk. The woman has no idea why he reacted that way, believing this man was into her more than that. Now she is turned off, he is frustrated, there's an argument, and the relationship ends. Only when it's too late does the target finally learn the true motives behind the holder's actions, and by then, the damage is done. The best way to avoid becoming a target of a covert contract is, to always ask someone what their intentions are, and to also create healthy boundaries by letting people know what you will and will not accept. In order for you to avoid becoming the creator and holder of a covert con-

tract, you have to make sure you always tell people how you really feel about things. You can't expect people to read your mind, nor live up to your ex­ pectations all the time. In summary, make sure you're always practicing open and honest communication with people. By doing so, you put everything on the table, and that helps you avoid those out of the blue argu­ ments and confrontations which no one likes to be surprised by

14

What is beauty? Beauty is the pleasure derived from the senses when an ob­ server experiences something that closely rep­ resents their values and ideals. However, despite the diversity and subjective nature of beauty, true

beauty-even symmetry, proportions, and other properties-is all dependent on mathematics. For example, if there are two people with the similar facial symmetry and the same set of beau­ tifully colored eyes, but one has their eyes too close to their nose, while the other has their eyes equally spaced between the sides of the face and nose, the latter face is more beautiful, because it is more symmetrical. The example above is very simple, but for a person to be considered really beautiful, several parts of their body would have to be symmetrical and proportional as well. A woman with beautiful eyes evenly spaced like the example above, but with a deformed, asymmetrical skull and crooked jawline, would not be considered beautiful. Thus,

the more complex something is, the more total symmetry is required for it to be considered beautiful. Beauty is directly correlated with how close something is to mathematical perfection in a world that's imperfect. It's also based on how close physical things resemble perfect geometric shapes. For example, a round, bald head is more appealing than a conelike, bald head. Using the same standards, I don't think there exists a single human being on Earth who would consider a terribly drawn, uneven circle to be more beautiful and aesthetic than a near-perfectly drawn one.

15

The human species must evolve into a spiritual species-one driven by virtue

and self-awareness rather than materialism and ego. In order to truly reach our potential, h u ­ manity must strive toward achieving an almost superhero-like version of itself to continue being Nature's most admirable contender. For to be truly superhuman means to be more than just a highly evolved primate trying to survive and gather re­ sources under Her heel. We must show Her what we're truly capable of; that we can go beyond our Earthly limits and populate the Heavens. We must show Her we can conquer our ego and explore the mysteries within us, sharing what we find with our fellow brothers and sisters across the world, to reduce internal suffering and create a global community of spiritually and emotionally fit human beings.

This spiritual humanity I envision is one that works together, respecting the true diversity of cultures and peoples across the world, allowing both homogeneous and heterogeneous societies to form and exist in peace. Granted, it is true Nature requires conflict between all life to ensure evolution, but we must transcend our primitive condition-especially our tribalism-and unite together against challenges that affect us all. The version of humanity I dream of will continue to work together on scientific dis­ coveries, but expand to include ways to end world hunger, eliminate poverty, stop all war, and tackle pollution. This new humanity will be balanced, but not naive. We understand our goals will be ex-

tremely difficult to achieve, but we'd be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. Our struggle to change the world would not be imposed by force, but by example. As those of us who evolve into spiritual human beings create better and more prosperous societies, others will want to join our cause willingly. But we should expect some parts of the older humanity-the su­ premacists-to try to destroy our efforts and wage war against us. Even though supremacists are a threat to all life on this planet, they will be given a chance to change, but we know they won't. And when they attack us, we will not only defend ourselves, but fight until they are eliminated once and for all, as they are not fit to live in the new world to come. This conflict is inevitable; their

destruction is not only justified, but necessary for the greater good. It's not completely impossible for our species to create a Heaven-on-Earth-like scenario. Picture a possible future where robots do the majority of labor, world hunger is eliminated, city streets are safe, resources are abundant, war is replaced by international games to settle matters, and hu­ manity is free to focus more on education, phys­ ical fitness, spirituality, science, arts, sports, and other things that lead to more human flourishing and a better world. Imagine being able to take your family to a theme park, zoo, aquarium, or beach any day of the week, spending each day enjoying life as a free human

being, rather than being enslaved by an interna­ tional clique of soulless parasites. Such a world is possible. Granted, I realize my vi­ sion is very idealistic, but it's these kinds of ideals we dream of which allow us to strive forward and become better than we currently are, whether or not they're possible to achieve. I share my dream so maybe you, too, can join in the creation of such a humanity and world by simply becoming a spir­ itual being and the real you.