Atropsyche,
I wholeheartedly agree with you, both of your posts, and I 'get' exactly where you are coming from. Thank you for your post. it is like a breath of fresh air and connected straight to my heart/soul !
Why? well.. whilst I feel it is positive, and to some extent important, that people (west or East or South or North) have an awareness of some of the issues on this forum, I also feel that there is sadly also a lot of hypothetical navel-gazing, self-serving/self-preservationism .. and a sometimes strong air of some kind of 'spiritual hierarchy' to be fair... and a whiole heap of what I'll call "insular thinking & behaviour" ... (no, NOT all on here, but definitely amongst a fair few folks/mods) ...
in spite of what some folks have posted in this thread, if you stand outside this forum and look in here objectively, there definitely IS an core element of Elitism within this forum itself (e.g. some of the comments/tone/approach taken made by some members/mods in the past few weeks - some of which is extremely elitist... and also at times very rude and dismissive of others... a major part of why I left this forum as a member last week.. but that's a whole other story which I don't have the energy or time to start getting into!).
I tried to convey ideas very similar to your points, Astropsyche, in a few of my previous posts (under my previous name of Worlds Beyond), as I felt that hwilst some are in here ego-fighting, point-scoring and on some kind of spiritual or intellectual "superiority trip", there are 28 kids dying every minute of every day from starvation alone on this planet. Yet so many in here speak of "we are all one" and "we are all connected" and "enlightenment" and "awareness" , Karma, positivity, etc... etc... It made no sense at all to me.. as there seemed to be very few who were actually LIVING the talk, or actually DOING things to help others.. here and now.... the ones in REAL need in the here and now.. the ones we ARE connected to, and also collectively repswonible for... surely this is one of the MAJOR components of being Spiritual/Enlightened/Awake/Aware... the realisation that everything/everyone is connected and everything has a consequence?
For example, I posted that I'd rather spend £5 per month on helping a child to eat/survive in the here and now, than pay for a subscription to read about how to stock up my pantry for some possible future date... a point that seemed to elicit a deafening silence, apart from one comment that the suffering of this world are in that position due to "their Karma" and we "should do nothing about it" (excuse me for not recalling exact words)... I was deeply saddened and also quite shocked by some of the attitudes, arrogance, dismissiveness of quite a few (NOT all!) on Avalon forum..
When I first found Avalon, I was SO excited and full of hope and positive feelings about this forum.... I came here with nothing but peace, love, light and my experiences, ideas, caring heart.. was open to learning and ready for sharing my own journey/learnings... thinking (naively perhaps?) that this was a place were people came together to try to create a better place/improvement for people... for humanity ... in the face of all the control/darkness in this world etc ... I stayed a couple of weeks then I left.... I felt the tone, level of communication/co-operation and awareness of a reasonable number here (mods as well as members) was sadly and surprisingly lacking.. lacking in the VERY spiritual awareness, enlightenment, freedoms, purpose, truth/honesty and sense of basic care/respect for other members of humanity (whether in Africa or USA or Middle East or nextdoor!) that this forum was all about!
A day later I re-signed up here, only because I was absolutely appalled that my last post on here elicited such a rude, arrogant and totally dismissive response from a mod. I was then equally appalled and disgusted that my (non-contentious) reply was immediately deleted by another mod, AFTER having first deleted my account here (giving me no way to respond!), then his publically posted explanation made it all appear a VERY different way entirely to the facts that happened!
However, I took some time out and reaslied there was little point continuing to try and get that little matter sorted out, as whatever I had to say would probably be censored/deleted/misrepresented or whatever.. I realised that my voice meant nothing here.. am just an ordinary humble soul with no PA/PC credentials or connections... and I didn't want to get into ANY confilct or battle just to get my voice heard fairly.... so i left it alone.
However, I have come back today.. just to state that I think and feel your post is one of the most sane, spiritually "on-track" and positive I have seen on this forum... Spirituality and Preparedness and Awareness is more about what we all do in the NOW, for OTHER people on this planet, as opposed what we're doing to self-serve or self-preserve in the 'tomorrows' of our lives.. Whilst I think there are some truly enlightened souls lurking around this forum, there are plenty who seem to be missing the point entirely... in my humble opinion..
Which is more spiritually enlightened/valuable to this planet or humanity.... Having 100 cans of beans and a publically posted shopping list of survival items? Figuring out what is going to happen in 2012 or tomorrow or 3,100?
Or making a regular/real contribution (not necessarily financial! there's PLENTY of other ways.. volunteering, campaigning, raising awareness etc etc etc) to others who have not even got the basics for life, let alone the privileges that many on here do?
Spirituality is not about knowing some ancient texts, or knowing any jargon, or the latest "guru" or meme or whatever, it is the simple, basic, everyday actions, carried out in humility and grace, for others.
I've known some 'down and outs', some "weeds", some 'nobody's' of this world to be more spiritually aware /evolved /enlightened /good hearted /well-intentioned/true & honest, than I have some (SOME, not ALL!) of the people I've come across in here (and other supposedly "awake" places)...
I realise this post will possibly be deleted (as I have mentioned a previous Mod incident which made me feel very uncomfortable/unfairly censored) or gain some less-than open-minded listening from many members ... but I truly have not come in here to have ANY conflict... I just wanted to add my voice to what I feel is a very sane, intelligent (in the true sense) and TRULY spiritually aware post....
Spirituality/Enlightenment is not just some airy-fairy, hugging-the-flowers, saying "namaste" every 2 minutes, nor is it about meditation or religion or channeling or crytals or whatever else you use as a route to try and access/evoleve our souls/learning/understanding.... ...
Spirituality and awareness is about REAL Values, REAL connectedness to one another, REAL love/care/respect for ALL, REAL actions, REAL consequences... REAL Humility.. and REAL Grace... every day..
To help those we know is one thing , to help those who we do not know, and have NO way of ever 'repaying' us... THAT is giving!
'What I give to others, I gain.
What I keep for myself, I have already lost.'
Peace and Light
