The current Ukraine crisis...

[Vasilisa]

Did Russia have crusades? And the Inquisition? Has Russia staged holy wars? The fact that Russia is not developing very fast, yes, it is. But to be honest, I am very concerned about the aspiration of progressive and developed countries to virtual, augmented reality. To me, the development of such virtual reality resembles a direct path into the Matrix...

I believe that without understanding and studying the fundamental ideas of the same hermetics about the collective soul (and about the soul in general), it is impossible for a person to safely use the possibilities of virtual reality.

[YinYang]

Did Russia have crusades? And the Inquisition? Has Russia staged holy wars? The fact that Russia is not developing very fast, yes, it is. But to be honest, I am very concerned about the aspiration of progressive and developed countries to virtual, augmented reality.

I don't think anyone around these precincts is going to try and convince you of the virtuousness of the Anglo-Saxons. Our greed and cruelty is well documented. Just look at the Scramble for Africa... just in the Congo alone, King Leopold's reign of terror is the stuff of nightmares...

Imagine a bunch of men sitting in a boardroom in Berlin, carving up an entire continent and claiming it for themselves, without any consideration for the inhabitants of this continent...

And now these same Pharisees are wagging their finger at South Africa for failing to condemn Russia, a country which was instrumental in overthrowing apartheid... oh the complexity of it all....

Lots of amnesia going around...

What the West needs to realise, is that their failure at restitution is still holding sway across the continent, as all the abstentions from African countries at the UN vote condemning the invasion have shown. As a sidenote, I can only imagine that Donald Trump referring to African countries as "shitholes" did not win the US any friends around here. There seem to be very little goodwill on the menu.

[YinYang]

For myself, I do not support authoritarianism, I cast my vote for democracy, however ineffectual it may be, but I can understand why our government is walking on eggshells at the moment on this matter. There's much history.

I will always be in opposition to centralization of power as a political model, it never ends well...

[Patrick]

One world government ended really well in Startrek.

[YinYang]

One world government ended really well in Startrek.

Lol, let's just wait till the neggies are no longer around, then we give that a try! 

[Vasilisa]

I'm sorry, but I will delete my message, after all, this is not a political forum....I wrote on emotions (

[Vasilisa]

No state in the world wants to lose its sovereignty.

And so we have a stalemate, because the Ukrainians, in their defiance, are clearly showing us that they also want sovereignty for themselves.

Neither side acknowledges the other's position as having any legitimacy, same as Taiwan & China.

"On July 16, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine, which, in particular, proclaimed Ukraine's intention to become a neutral non-aligned state. This intention was later confirmed by a republican referendum on December 1, 1991." Russia trying to remind the West about the neutral status of Ukraine. But the West does not agree with Russia, stuffing Ukraine with Javelin and NLAW, and now the US leadership has already started talking about precision weapons for Ukraine.

[Vasilisa]

Единое мировое правительство очень хорошо закончилось в Стартреке.

Фантазии сценаристов не всегда точно отражают природные процессы) Исследования психологов, социологов и биологов и даже религиоведов говорят о невозможности полной централизации в обществе. Равновесие, как сказал Ра, это то, как Творец лучше познает себя...

[Margan]

I was not going to post here anymore because it triggers me too much unfortunately. And I can only repeat that the way Russia and Putin are portrayed in western media has been very negative for quite a long time now. And it is impossible to understand this "manufactured crisis " without a bit of background info - and the Americans themselves have admitted that their goal is retaining full spectrum dominance, that means prohibiting other countries's rise to power that could threaten their "superpower status". And we all know US has used dirty tricks and orchestrated coups , not only in Ukraine but decades ago in South America etc.
You can read about their tactics in books like "the grand chessboard" by Zbigniew Bresinski for example. He explicitly mentions Ukraine as an "entry point" in order to weaken and destroy Russia. Which is why with the overthrow of Yanukovich who was too russia-friendly "the most blatant coup in history (according to George Friedman of STratfor)" was orchestrated by the US in Kiew in 2014....

Anyways what I was going to say is this :
to all of you reading this, who are convinced that Russia is not a democracy, that Putin is an "evil dictator" and that there is no freedom there.

For one week, I dare you to leave your mainstream media and TV behind and do the following :
consume ONLY Russian state-sponsored media.
That would be Tass, Sputnik and RT afaik, who have English translations. (or maybe Vasilisa knows others, please write them down)
Only read and watch those.
And mentally take notes - how do they broadcast news. How do they portray world affairs etc.
Do they report in a neutral way or do they take sides, resort to name-calling, vilifiying etc.
Do they quote sources, or do they only "state" things without backing their facts up.
Watch videos with interviews of for example Putin and Lawrow. You can find those with English translations online. Listen to them directly.
Do this for the sake of balance and for trying to see the other side too. Because that is one of the basic rules in a court of law also:
auditur et altera pars. And that is what western media tries to destroy by prohibiting Russian media outlets in the west.
After that week you can go back to your own media.

[zedro]

One world government ended really well in Startrek.

Lol, they couldn't even make it work fictionally, the Federation was shown to be very corrupt and prone to colonial misdeeds and genocide on multiple occasions, all while seeing themselves as the good guys of the universe. They perfectly captured the hypocrisy of the west.

-end derail-

[YinYang]

to all of you reading this, who are convinced that Russia is not a democracy, 

I suppose it was only just a matter of time before the question "what is a democracy?" came up.

So I will just ask one question for now. If Russia is a democracy, why was Alexei Navalny poisoned and imprisoned?

[Patrick]

If we let the Elites convince us that borders are important, then we will feel "them" vs "us". In truth there is no such thing, we are one. It's our choice to see that we are all brothers and sisters.

[YinYang]

If we let the Elites convince us that borders are important,

I think Putin would agree with you! 

[Patrick]

If we let the Elites convince us that borders are important,

I think Putin would agree with you! 

Oh I think he's having much too much fun to worry about that. If we get down to the level he is playing the game at. Taking Ukraine should be easy for a powerful country like Russia, but they are stalling on purpose in my opinion. I think the game plan is just to shake things up and reinforce the "them" vs "us". They just used Covid for this purpose and now they want a stronger reinforcement. That's my understanding of the game at the level they play it. But we can play that game at a higher level and keep in mind that We Are One and then we do not get angry at Nato, Ukraine or Russia.

[Margan]

to all of you reading this, who are convinced that Russia is not a democracy, 

I suppose it was only just a matter of time before the question "what is a democracy?" came up.

So I will just ask one question for now. If Russia is a democracy, why was Alexei Navalny poisoned and imprisoned?

https://moderaterebels.com/russia-oligar...ha-levine/
Cus he is a Western "useful idiot". The US / West uses all kinds of tricks to discredit Russia.
Do you think if Putin was really trying to get rid of him, that he would have agreed to let him leave Russia and go to Berlin? do you think if Putin really wanted to kill him, he would have used Russian poison that points the finger right back at him? do you think that a former KGB agent is really that stupid?

And : If the US and UK are democracies, then why is Julian Assange rotting in prison? Why did Edward Snowdon have to flee and go to Russia of all places (lol)

But I can only reiterate what I wrote in my previous post : 
I dare you to read only "the other side" for a week. Do it. 
Instead of reiterating some russophobic propaganda you read in the Washington Post or heard on CNN.

[YinYang]

But we can play that game at a higher level and keep in mind that We Are One and then we do not get angry at Nato, Ukraine or Russia.

I have learned to relax about the sorry state of this planet a long time ago, I just thought that a little humour might lower the mercury.

[Vasilisa]

Patrick, won't you even be angry if your own people are killed? Mom, father, wife, child? You must be close to the ideal of Jesus if you rise above such pain. I can't climb that high, and as a weak ordinary person, I'm very worried about my family! Because knowing that there is a single Field at the core does not help me in this "illusion" where I am a human being, with human biology and reactions. I can't rise above my reactions and instincts, no matter how hard I try. As long as I live in a society, and not on a lonely mountain in a cave, I will react like an ordinary person. Neither meditation, lucid dreaming, nor prayer help me cope with human nature,

[Vasilisa]

to all of you reading this, who are convinced that Russia is not a democracy, 

I suppose it was only just a matter of time before the question "what is a democracy?" came up.

So I will just ask one question for now. If Russia is a democracy, why was Alexei Navalny poisoned and imprisoned?

Democracy in Russia? Who told you about this? Russia was closer to a veiled monarchy in Soviet times, as it is now. It's just that it's served in such a "democratic wrapper". I have already said that due to some national peculiarities, our other state structure does not work. (Again, my personal opinion)

As for Navalny, I can ask the same question about Assange. (I apologize for repeating Margan's question, but these arguments are quite reasonable)

[Patrick]

Patrick, won't you even be angry if your own people are killed? Mom, father, wife, child?...

I do not believe that we can be expected to remain unmoved in the examples that you gave. But I think that we do not need to get angry at a future that does not exist yet. We should live in the now.

While each of us remains at peace internally, this helps bring peace into the world. For those of us losing people in the thick of it, we can only understand their reaction and we add them to our prayers. But for those of us seeing these things on our screens, it will not help anything to get angry at the images we are seeing or at the words we are being fed. This only plays in the hands of the Elites.

You can start with little exercises. When you get angry at your screen, you look around you within your sphere of influence if there is anything to get angry at the moment. When you succeed in seeing this, you move to other exercises.

Also, just realizing that you are feeling anger instead of thinking that you are angry. Because you are not anger, you are that which perceives the anger. You can then look inside at the feeling of anger and this helps create some distance in between your self and the anger you are feeling. You associate less as being angry.

[Patrick]

...The entity who seeks within your illusion is one which faces choices at each step along the journey of seeking. That which is learned, then, creates within the entity the need for putting that which is learned into practice within the life pattern. Thus, the life must equal the learning...

Of course, once we start those little exercises and we find a bit of success, we are challenged by life. This way we know when we succeed, we don't need to think about how we will know if we are getting there.

[LeiwoUnion]

This, shall I say, 'no u no u' game of pointing fingers at whose government is the biggest bully will lead nowhere. This current massive catalyst is just direct continuation of the covid mass catalyst where much of the lessons supposedly went unlearned; confusion reigns. The smokescreen is as always the fool that's dancing on the table while no-one saw the dark figure who slipped through the backroom door. It doesn't even matter much, though. The peoples here still need to make the conscious Choice for which these tragical looking events should be quite effective in principle; and they seem to be to some extent. However, much of the great compassion seems to be balanced by an equal amount of hate and separation. Insanity.

[Vasilisa]

Patrick, I wasn't talking about anger. I was talking about the banal human fear for my family. That's why I said about "loneliness on top of a mountain" referring to monks) Assuming that loneliness without a family will not cause such fear. But I'm not ready for loneliness)

This is an article describing what is happening on the Polish-Ukrainian border https://www.economist.com/1843/2022/03/1...ve-refused
Fortunately, there are people who know how to assess the situation sensibly...

[Patrick]

If you fear, then certainly you should work with the catalyst. When my son takes the road in a winter storm, I also need to work with that catalyst. But what I am saying is fearing for others is not the real issue that the Elites are trying to instigate (although it is part of it). It's our following feelings in response to the fear that can become an issue. We may not have the discipline to deal with "banal" fear as you said, but we can at least work on how we react to it if we so wish. For example, out of fear I could try to forbid my son from going on the road in a winter storm (or going to war), but I don't. I don't let fear decide for me, I don't let it define who I am or my actions/reactions. I certainly won't let what my government, your government or anyone else says make me feel separate from others. In my reality, there is no reason for war and so there is nothing anyone can say that will have any chance of convincing me otherwise.

It's definitely a choice, a personal choice. Not a choice of war happening or not, but a choice of how we react to it. If we agree or not. If we are a part of what will fuel the war or not.

[YinYang]

Cus he is a Western "useful idiot".

Are these people also "Western useful idiots"?

List of journalists killed in Russia

[Vasilisa]

Patrick, there is nothing left for us to do, in fact, but to work with our own reactions. And the closest environment around you... In Russia, the Catalyst (as it seems to me) is much stronger and sometimes it is more difficult to cope with it. I'm not just talking about the horror experienced by the population after the "collapse" of the Soviet Union, there is a very big difference (for the ordinary average population) life in the Soviet Union and in "free" Russia. It takes a very long time to describe and explain everything...

[Vasilisa]

I can make a list of those killed in Ukraine
For example , Oles Elderberry
"Neteshensky Bulletin" Olga Moroz

I can continue the list. The absence of a strong government is a very scary thing for the country. Especially for a country where two "egregors" collided.

[YinYang]

I can make a list of pro-Russian Ukrainian leaders killed in Ukraine.

Actually my post was a response to Margan's post saying this:

to all of you reading this, who are convinced that Russia is not a democracy

I would be one of those who "are convinced" that Russia is not a democracy. In fact, I think we can all agree that Russia is not a democracy by Western standards.

[YinYang]

In Russia, the Catalyst (as it seems to me) is much stronger and sometimes it is more difficult to cope with it. I'm not just talking about the horror experienced by the population after the "collapse" of the Soviet Union, there is a very big difference (for the ordinary average population) life in the Soviet Union and in "free" Russia. It takes a very long time to describe and explain everything...

One of your countrymen has attempted to explain it:

Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia

Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

[Vasilisa]

I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest". - Winston Churchill
It seems to me that Russian politicians are tired of talking about the national interests of their country)

"Pomerantsev was the chairman of the Information Warfare Initiative project of the Center for European Policy Analysis"?

[YinYang]

"Pomerantsev was the chairman of the Information Warfare Initiative project of the Center for European Policy Analysis"?

Your point? How about reading the book and letting us know afterwards if there's any of his observations you disagree with (or agree with...).