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Thread: You're All In

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default You're All In

    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Last edited by Mike; 11th September 2025 at 08:20.

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    Australia Avalon Member s7e6e's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    You might have too much time on your hands.

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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Johnnycomelately (here)
    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Risk.


    (message too short so added this)

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Raskolnikov (here)
    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Risk.


    (message too short so added this)

    oh you motherf#ckers!

    well I guess that's what I get for trying be sound profound lol

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    United States Avalon Member Raskolnikov's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Quote Posted by Raskolnikov (here)
    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    There are some games you don't get to play unless you're all in.

    Life is one of those games. Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.

    Are you playing any magnificent games? What makes a game magnificent?
    Risk.


    (message too short so added this)

    oh you motherf#ckers!

    well I guess that's what I get for trying be sound profound lol
    Were you looking for a long philosophical answer? I like where you're going with this though.

    Here's a magnificent game for ya:

    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1684395

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    Default Re: You're All In


    de Ropp wrote about the games and figured this was the only game worth playing.

    His book is in the Avalon Library
    https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Rob...ter%20Game.pdf
    "We're all bozos on this bus"

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Sue (Ayt) (here)

    de Ropp wrote about the games and figured this was the only game worth playing.

    His book is in the Avalon Library
    https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Rob...ter%20Game.pdf

    thanks Sue!

    Bill suggested that book to me a while back, and I enjoyed it.

    I'm just curious (for anyone who wants to answer): what is the most magnificent game to play while you're here on this planet??
    Last edited by Mike; 11th September 2025 at 20:21.

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    Default Re: You're All In

    And in the 60's, this book came out and was widely read:


    and this song was popular shortly after:
    "We're all bozos on this bus"

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    Default Re: You're All In

    I found Carlos Castenada's series of books to be quite profound and thought-provoking. I never had any reason to doubt their authenticity.
    Particularly intriguing to me was the idea of a soul being able to be in two bodies at the same time--what Don Juan Matus referred to as "the Double".
    In tracing the reincarnation paths of certain souls (a preoccupation of mine), I have concluded that they either were in two bodies during two slightly overlapping incarnations, or else they had left one body and a "walk-in" had inhabited the other (but the former seemed more to be the case).

    (For those unfamiliar with the term "walk-in", it's an unincarnated soul which takes residence in a body when the former inhabitant decides it's time to move on, but the body is still inhabitable. The walk-in soul is privy to the memories of the former inhabitant, and so is able to more or less take on the identity as well, though those very familiar with the departed one will likely sense a marked change. )

    It seemed apparent to me that those "double" souls were very dedicated to a particular mission, and were trying doubly hard to help see it accomplished.
    I will not provide examples of my investigations, as I respect the privacy of the souls in question.

    But for what I think is a good example of a soul who has had an ongoing mission that overlapped into more than one lifetime (though not applicable as a "Double") and who hopefully won't mind serving as an example, see:
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1675765
    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    Gigi Young is talking about all that in her latest update posted here:
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1675734
    I think one reason that Russia may become the hope of the world is that once the poles have reversed and the geomagnetic excursion of continents takes place, Russia's new climate will be much warmer and there will be lots of farmland there which will be yielding crops.
    Ben Davidson goes into how that will all pan out in his documentaries on the playlists here:
    https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceWeatherNewsS0s

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Thanks for bumping this fascinating thread!
    I'm increasingly leaning to planning my next incarnation to be in Russia. (I was 'told' a few years ago that whatever happens in the world in the next few years, 'Central Asia will be safe'. I never mentioned this specifically in my More predictions (maybe) thread, as it seemed a little too general. But I noted those exact words down for myself in my journal and have never forgotten them.)
    Based on everything which I believe I know and understand, the 'west' is dying an inevitable slow death culturally and economically, a decline which might also be accelerated by war and/or natural events. In contrast, readers might remember that Edgar Cayce wrote that "out of Russia will come the hope of the world." I find myself taking that 100% seriously, and I do feel it's very likely to be accurate.
    ...And speaking of Ben and incarnations, the following isn't about my own incarnations, but about one that I think was Davidson's in the past, and certain parallels of the two personalities which I think can be logically drawn.
    ...Not to mention the marked resemblance. It's not quite as obvious from the photos, but I have seen that same pensive, criticial expression on his face during his youtube videos, and the resemblance fairly leapt out at me.
    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    I cannot comment on the data but I think it's kind of interesting that Newton in this photo:

    ...bears a strong resemblance to Ben Davidson of SpaceWeatherNews, who is also brilliant (a speed reader with a very retentive memory and a rare case of Hyperthymesia, is very innovative, astute in the fields of math, astrophysics, meteorolgy, etc....though he is only 40 years old. I've seen that very same critical expression on his face in many of his youtube videos as we see on Newton's face in the portrait.
    More about Ben's background here: https://suspicious0bservers.org/about-faq/)
    Two photos of Ben:


    Recently in Ben's Q&A sessions on youtube, and especially after a very recent and traumatic divorce from an unfaithful wife, he has been demonstrating some unusually aberrant behavior.

    And this is a description from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Newton
    ...of Newton's volatile nature, probably due in part to traumatic events from his childhood:
    Quote Deprived of a father before birth, he soon lost his mother as well, for within two years she married a second time; her husband, the well-to-do minister Barnabas Smith, left young Isaac with his grandmother and moved to a neighbouring village to raise a son and two daughters. For nine years, until the death of Barnabas Smith in 1653, Isaac was effectively separated from his mother, and his pronounced psychotic tendencies have been ascribed to this traumatic event. That he hated his stepfather we may be sure. When he examined the state of his soul in 1662 and compiled a catalog of sins in shorthand, he remembered “Threatening my father and mother Smith to burne them and the house over them.” The acute sense of insecurity that rendered him obsessively anxious when his work was published and irrationally violent when he defended it accompanied Newton throughout his life and can plausibly be traced to his early years.
    Also:
    Quote When Newton received the bachelor’s degree in April 1665, the most remarkable undergraduate career in the history of university education had passed unrecognized. On his own, without formal guidance, he had sought out the new philosophy and the new mathematics and made them his own, but he had confined the progress of his studies to his notebooks.
    Both extremely dedicated,"bookish" scholars, both original and innovative, though controversial in their work.
    More evidence of Newton's very tempermental nature related to controversy:
    Quote Newton was also engaged in another exchange on his theory of colours with a circle of English Jesuits in Liège, perhaps the most revealing exchange of all. Although their objections were shallow, their contention that his experiments were mistaken lashed him into a fury. The correspondence dragged on until 1678, when a final shriek of rage from Newton, apparently accompanied by a complete nervous breakdown, was followed by silence. The death of his mother the following year completed his isolation. For six years he withdrew from intellectual commerce except when others initiated a correspondence, which he always broke off as quickly as possible.
    And
    Quote When the Royal Society received the completed manuscript of Book I in 1686, Hooke raised the cry of plagiarism, a charge that cannot be sustained in any meaningful sense. On the other hand, Newton’s response to it reveals much about him. Hooke would have been satisfied with a generous acknowledgment; it would have been a graceful gesture to a sick man already well into his decline, and it would have cost Newton nothing. Newton, instead, went through his manuscript and eliminated nearly every reference to Hooke. Such was his fury that he refused either to publish his Opticks or to accept the presidency of the Royal Society until Hooke was dead.
    More at https://www.britannica.com/biography.../The-Principia ... about Newton's very colorful life, how he became quite a wealthy man, was very religious and found fulfillment in associating with other innovative scientists.

    Criticisms have been registered here on the forum about Davidson's temper tantrums, his apparent acquisitiveness and his religion, but members who have been monitoring his work closely, including Bill Ryan, believe his scientific work has a lot of merit.
    More about his very rare case of Hyperthymesia here: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1674906

    I could certainly be wrong (and this is not exactly on topic so please pardon the diversion) but I am fairly intuitive and have often matched up past lives with current lives of various people of my acquaintance.
    Though I don't know Davidson personally, my strong hunch is that this is another reincarnation match.
    His accomplishments so far have been remarkable considering how controversial his work is and how a lot of it has been done single handedly, but he has reached a certain landmark now with Observer Ranch and it will be interesting to see how the work proceeds.
    He has a second book coming out now and a new documentary due this Fall.
    Hopefully he will be able to heal more easily than Newton did, and his Hyperthymesia prove to be more of a gift than a deterrant, as I think he has an important role to play. But much may depend on whether he can maintain emotional balance.
    Newton lived to the age of 84, and Ben has the kind of ears which signal longevity in the ancient (and very accurate) art of Chinese Medicine, so he may well survive beyond the pole shift he is helping many Preppers to be ready for.

    Quote Posted by Jim_Duyer (here)
    For "intellectual inspiration" Linconshire also appears to be tops, as it was there that Sir Isaac Newton, "studying in isolation", invented calculus, the binomial theorem, the law of universal gravitation and the discovery of the composite nature of white light - all at the tender age of twenty three and immediately after leaving Trinity College, Cambridge, where his academic career was said to be "undistinguished".
    Each breath a gift...
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    Default Re: You're All In

    I noticed I got sidetracked with that last long post, and what I originally meant to note was that I found the theme of achieving "impeccability" in one's life, which Castenada's Toltec shaman teacher Don Juan Matus recommended, to be profoundly on point.
    Included in those teachings is the goal of avoiding self-importance and defeating what the Toltecs considered to be the four main enemies of humanity: Fear, Clarity, Power and Old Age.
    Then there's the overall goal of finding a Path with Heart.
    See: https://toltecschool.com/toltec-inde...enemies-of-man

    [QUOTE=onawah;1684864]I found Carlos Castenada's series of books to be quite profound and thought-provoking. I never had any reason to doubt their authenticity.
    Particularly intriguing to me was the idea of a soul being able to be in two bodies at the same time--what Don Juan Matus referred to as "the Double".
    In tracing the reincarnation paths of certain souls (a preoccupation of mine), I have concluded that they either were in two bodies during two slightly overlapping incarnations, or else they had left one body and a "walk-in" had inhabited the other (but the former seemed more to be the case).

    (For those unfamiliar with the term "walk-in", it's an unincarnated soul which takes residence in a body when the former inhabitant decides it's time to move on, but the body is still inhabitable. The walk-in soul is privy to the memories of the former inhabitant, and so is able to more or less take on the identity as well, though those very familiar with the departed one will likely sense a marked change. )

    It seemed apparent to me that those "double" souls were very dedicated to a particular mission, and were trying doubly hard to help see it accomplished.
    I will not provide examples of my investigations, as I respect the privacy of the souls in question.

    But for what I think is a good example of a soul who has had an ongoing mission that overlapped into more than one lifetime (though not applicable as a "Double") and who hopefully won't mind serving as an example, see:
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1675765 [QUOTE]
    Last edited by onawah; 22nd November 2025 at 07:56.
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  25. Link to Post #13
    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    I found Carlos Castenada's series of books to be quite profound and thought-provoking. I never had any reason to doubt their authenticity.
    Particularly intriguing to me was the idea of a soul being able to be in two bodies at the same time--what Don Juan Matus referred to as "the Double".
    In tracing the reincarnation paths of certain souls (a preoccupation of mine), I have concluded that they either were in two bodies during two slightly overlapping incarnations, or else they had left one body and a "walk-in" had inhabited the other (but the former seemed more to be the case).

    (For those unfamiliar with the term "walk-in", it's an unincarnated soul which takes residence in a body when the former inhabitant decides it's time to move on, but the body is still inhabitable. The walk-in soul is privy to the memories of the former inhabitant, and so is able to more or less take on the identity as well, though those very familiar with the departed one will likely sense a marked change. )

    It seemed apparent to me that those "double" souls were very dedicated to a particular mission, and were trying doubly hard to help see it accomplished.
    I will not provide examples of my investigations, as I respect the privacy of the souls in question.

    But for what I think is a good example of a soul who has had an ongoing mission that overlapped into more than one lifetime (though not applicable as a "Double") and who hopefully won't mind serving as an example, see:
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1675765




    I've always really liked the Castaneda books (the first 3 mainly). He had to stay within the bounds of reason with the first one because as I recall it was intended as an anthropological academic paper written while he was a student at UCLA. The 2nd book is similar to the first in tone, and the 3rd takes place during the same period of time as the 1rst and 2nd, only it's stripped of much of the psychedelic plants and mysticism and offers very basic pragmatic lessons. I think it's my favorite book in the series (I dont count any of the books after the first 3. They got pretty bad after that)

    The books are vague and hazy to me generally (which appeals to some part of me.. I like the mystery) but as I've gotten older I prefer the clarity and basic instruction of the 3rd book (the pitfalls of self importance, not being dictated to by your past, and so on). As a sort of spiritual approach to life, I'm still not sure what it offers exactly because it reads like a hodgepodge of acid soaked wisdom to me. I never knew how to arrange the lessons in my head to apply them in any kind of pragmatic way.

    Don Juan is not oriented vertically towards God as I understand God(at one point he makes a funny joke to Carlos about this), instead he's oriented towards all the hazy mysteries the plants have to offer, so to my way of thinking the lessons pull the reader in any number of directions (often with unclear intent) instead of the one vertical direction I'm accustomed to as a westerner (upwards, towards God).. resulting in very fun and mystical sounding tales but also alotta confusion.

    The "impeccable" emphasis did make an impact on me though. That's one of the things I took away from the books and what I remember most about them now. I liked that. It suggested total integrity to the cause, which I respect and admire (even if I didn't always understand what the cause was).

    Regardless of what Carlos and DonJuan were up to, they were playing a remarkable game (assuming the books are true or true'ish). A pretty fearless game! And having just read my OP (and being initially confused about what the hell I was driving at) I think at the time of writing it I was thinking about the way fear stops people from playing magnificent and fearless games, and just how sad that can be because, well..life is short and we're all gonna be dead in about 5 f'in minutes lol. You might as well make the experience memorable while you're still here.
    Last edited by Mike; 22nd November 2025 at 15:28.

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    Default Re: You're All In

    Clarity was one of the enemies Castenada was apparently still struggling with, but then the subject matter was so metaphysical it's no wonder he had problems rendering the OOB experiences, etc. into words.
    Another important point was, as Matus said, those on the path who could not make sufficient progress without injesting substances that assisted in letting go of their programmed reality could also suffer great damage to their bodies.
    I wish my generation had heeded those words more!
    I was among the many who took LSD and suffered the consequences.
    Though I never took mushrooms, I suspect the side effects of manmade psychedelics are much worse.

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    I've always really liked the Castaneda books (the first 3 mainly). He had to stay within the bounds of reason with the first one because as I recall it was intended as an anthropological academic paper written while he was a student at UCLA. The 2nd book is similar to the first in tone, and the 3rd takes place during the same period of time as the 1rst and 2nd, only it's stripped of much of the psychedelic plants and mysticism and offers very basic pragmatic lessons. I think it's my favorite book in the series (I dont count any of the books after the first 3. They got pretty bad after that)

    The books are vague and hazy to me generally (which appeals to some part of me.. I like the mystery) but as I've gotten older I prefer the clarity and basic instruction of the 3rd book (the pitfalls of self importance, not being dictated to by your past, and so on). As a sort of spiritual approach to life, I'm still not sure what it offers exactly because it reads like a hodgepodge of acid soaked wisdom to me. I never knew how to arrange the lessons in my head to apply them in any kind of pragmatic way.

    Don Juan is not oriented vertically towards God as I understand God(at one point he makes a funny joke to Carlos about this), instead he's oriented towards all the hazy mysteries the plants have to offer, so to my way of thinking the lessons pull the reader in any number of directions (often with unclear intent) instead of the one vertical direction I'm accustomed to as a westerner (upwards, towards God).. resulting in very fun and mystical sounding tales but also alotta confusion.

    The "impeccable" emphasis did make an impact on me though. That's one of the things I took away from the books and what I remember most about them now. I liked that. It suggested total integrity to the cause, which I respect and admire (even if I didn't always understand what the cause was).

    Regardless of what Carlos and DonJuan were up to, they were playing a remarkable game (assuming the books are true or true'ish). A pretty fearless game! And having just read my OP (and being initially confused about what the hell I was driving at) I think at the time of writing it I was thinking about the way fear stops people from playing magnificent and fearless games, and just how sad that can be because, well..life is short and we're all gonna be dead in about 5 f'in minutes lol. You might as well make the experience memorable while you're still here.
    Last edited by onawah; 23rd November 2025 at 08:30.
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Thank yous Mike and Natalie.

    I read a few of Carlos’ books, I forget if then was before or after I read a few of Lobsang’s.

    Yes, Mike, Carlos was very lateral in his ventures. All about experiences, and building personal power. One of the things I recall recalling, ~“power places”, I experienced several times. Recognition of the fancied latency of a place or situation, then activating it. Freaky. Now, like you iiuc, I try to step away from my impulses of better-than, of winning a contest with other power seekers. My goal is to be free from my self-binding quirks. All of those quirks are about games. Good luck to you, or rather, good power.

    Natalie, if I may relate Lobsang Rampa to this, he spoke about effect of drugs. Said that they could damage the soul. Jives with Epigenetics. I dodged LSD (that I had bought) by taking advice from my then-GF. She said I was like people she had known, “addictive personality”, who went on to higher and higher highs and then died from that. I think she saved my life, at least in that aspect. I respect your survival there, and welcome any advice or stories about that.

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    Clarity was one of the enemies Castenada was apparently still struggling with, but then the subject matter was so metaphysical it's no wonder he had problems rendering the OOB experiences, etc. into words.
    Another important point was, as Matus said, those on the path who could not make sufficient progress without injesting substances that assisted in letting go of their programmed reality could also suffer great damage to their bodies.
    I wish my generation had heeded those words more!
    I was among the many who took LSD and suffered the consequences.
    Though I never took mushrooms, I suspect the side effects of manmade psychedelics are much worse.

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    I've always really liked the Castaneda books (the first 3 mainly). He had to stay within the bounds of reason with the first one because as I recall it was intended as an anthropological academic paper written while he was a student at UCLA. The 2nd book is similar to the first in tone, and the 3rd takes place during the same period of time as the 1rst and 2nd, only it's stripped of much of the psychedelic plants and mysticism and offers very basic pragmatic lessons. I think it's my favorite book in the series (I dont count any of the books after the first 3. They got pretty bad after that)

    The books are vague and hazy to me generally (which appeals to some part of me.. I like the mystery) but as I've gotten older I prefer the clarity and basic instruction of the 3rd book (the pitfalls of self importance, not being dictated to by your past, and so on). As a sort of spiritual approach to life, I'm still not sure what it offers exactly because it reads like a hodgepodge of acid soaked wisdom to me. I never knew how to arrange the lessons in my head to apply them in any kind of pragmatic way.

    Don Juan is not oriented vertically towards God as I understand God(at one point he makes a funny joke to Carlos about this), instead he's oriented towards all the hazy mysteries the plants have to offer, so to my way of thinking the lessons pull the reader in any number of directions (often with unclear intent) instead of the one vertical direction I'm accustomed to as a westerner (upwards, towards God).. resulting in very fun and mystical sounding tales but also alotta confusion.

    The "impeccable" emphasis did make an impact on me though. That's one of the things I took away from the books and what I remember most about them now. I liked that. It suggested total integrity to the cause, which I respect and admire (even if I didn't always understand what the cause was).

    Regardless of what Carlos and DonJuan were up to, they were playing a remarkable game (assuming the books are true or true'ish). A pretty fearless game! And having just read my OP (and being initially confused about what the hell I was driving at) I think at the time of writing it I was thinking about the way fear stops people from playing magnificent and fearless games, and just how sad that can be because, well..life is short and we're all gonna be dead in about 5 f'in minutes lol. You might as well make the experience memorable while you're still here.

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    Avalon Member norman's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Quote Posted by Sue (Ayt) (here)

    de Ropp wrote about the games and figured this was the only game worth playing.

    His book is in the Avalon Library
    https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Rob...ter%20Game.pdf

    thanks Sue!

    Bill suggested that book to me a while back, and I enjoyed it.

    I'm just curious (for anyone who wants to answer): what is the most magnificent game to play while you're here on this planet??


    As I see it right now, the extent to which any of us can luxuriate in any of the fine art of living is existentially determine by how successfully we avoid the 18 wheeler coming at us at 50 miles an hour, with the insect debris on it's windscreen already measurable with the naked eye.

    If someone violently grabs you, is it personal assault or a passionate impulse to save your life ?

    "All In", to me, is surrender to god. As cheesy and cringey as that can surface to the social atmosphere sounding, I mean it at my end, however that looks at your end.

    At this point, those 'funny' video clips of woke girls and boys refusing to be rescued from a building fire by a masculine/misogynist fire fighter are not funny. They're infuriatingly tragic.

    But then I guess, if you believe we're an over populated mass of useless idiots by our own doing . . . .

    . . . . having a few elite pure 'deserving few' we can kill to become a member of is a good thing . . . right ?
    ..................................................my first language is TYPO..............................................

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    United States Avalon Member Raskolnikov's Avatar
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    Default Re: You're All In

    Difficult to fathom clarity as one of the main enemies to humanity. But he may have achieved his goal because Mike found the books vague and hazy, lol.

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    Another important point was, as Matus said, those on the path who could not make sufficient progress without injesting substances that assisted in letting go of their programmed reality could also suffer great damage to their bodies.
    I wish my generation had heeded those words more!
    I was among the many who took LSD and suffered the consequences.
    Though I never took mushrooms, I suspect the side effects of manmade psychedelics are much worse.
    Yes, I witnessed a friend or two lose a grip of their minds from too much lsd, never the same. I never enjoyed lsd like I did mushrooms, too many variables in buying that manmade substance, low quality, or low intellect, or no morals. I always came away feeling I’d somehow been poisoned, however slight, and experienced lower back pain the following day from the rat poison they added. “Hey, how do we make a few extra bucks?” “I know. Let’s add rat poison.” I always had a cleaner experience with the mushrooms which never once resulted in back pain. It was somehow reassuring knowing it came from nature. As Jesus once said, “Look under a cow patty, there I am.”

    And as Norman said, “‘All in,’ to me, is surrender to god.” I’d have to humbly agree, that pretty much sums it up at this point. Bizarrely, when considering this life as a great game, I can’t but help think that the level everyone has reached, or achieved, up to this point is kind of where they’re going to remain. Basically because it feels like something big is about to happen and whatever you’ve learned to this point is the arsenal you’re equipped with to cope with whatever’s coming. Not sure how that plays out for children or teens but feels right for those of us here who endured 9/11, the buildup to 2012, and the covidiot era of late. "What do you want to be when you grow up Johnny?” “I want to be a digital slave with a kick@$$ AI girfriend!”

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.
    Yes, seems we have a bit of time left before the digital slave era begins, a brief window of opportunity to turn this ship around before it slams the rocks. Something deep within tells me there’s more to this show, this game called life. In the meantime, in that brief window of opportunity, I’ve been playing a magnificent game of my own creation, a lifetime in scope and maybe more in ambition, of which to fail is not an option, and yet I may quite possibly never even know if I succeeded or not in this current incarnation. And here’s the kicker - only I can know the details of this game, because like the tired old cliche of the pressure and time needed to make a diamond, any word I release from that secret vault causes a tear in the ether allowing pressure to escape and thus putting my goal in danger, my goal of making something magnificent, maybe even eternal, like a rare jewel or the alchemist's gold. Don’t mean to come off cryptically vague. You could do a better job explaining this Mike. But I’ll just say this game is rooted in love, first and foremost, a deep appreciation for beauty, and the insatiable lure of the hero’s journey.

    I remember reading one of those more channeled books long ago that referenced how people used to spend their whole lives trying to make the perfect creation, an artist striving to create the perfect piece or the musician spending his whole life in pursuit of the magnificent song or sound or, but it was true dedication, perfecting one’s craft throughout one’s lifetime until things coalesce into something truly beautiful.

    Creation seems like a magnificent game. Take your writing for instance. I’m guessing you create to fulfill a need that you maybe can’t even put into words, how did Bukowski put it, “because I have to.” Creating, the act of turning the mundane or average into something beautiful, fulfills the deep need to be of service in some way, especially for those of us who have maybe lost the desire to be around people which kinda makes being of service to them rather difficult. Picture Nietzsche in forklift, frozen mustache ending in points, moving a pallet of Cheerios onto the truck. But I think we still have that need within us no matter how much we pull back from society and pursue a different way of life. There's always that pull, the deep seated need. It's going to kill you so you may as well make it magnificent - or die trying!

    Then again, maybe I’m just talking out my @$$. Either way, enjoying your stories and some of the others you’ve referenced on Substack.
    Last edited by Raskolnikov; 24th November 2025 at 19:08.

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    Default Re: You're All In

    I struggled a bit with why clarity would be considered one of the Enemies of Mankind, but after observing how much importance I placed on it myself, and after observing many self-satisfied intellectuals who seemed to consider that their clarity was all-important and seldom seemed to strive for any other goal, I think I got the point.

    My problem with LSD was more because I apparently had, at one point, access to the really pure stuff. It worked only too well and I got into what was called "the White Light", a state similar to samadhi in which I was totally blissed out for the better part of a whole day and night.
    My body was flooded with energy such as I had never experienced before or since, but the problem was that my body's circuits were just not equipped to handle that much energy, and not long after that trip, something broke.
    I began leaking energy and I could literally see the effects. I sensed sparks of energy shooting out from my third eye and if I was around an animal and interacting with it, they would stare at me, blink rapidly and shake their heads because the sparks of energy were bothering them.
    This made me very paranoid and I eventually had a kind of nervous breakdown which lasted for months until I finally escaped the city and moved to a Zen Center in the mountains of Virginia where I stayed for over a year and was able to heal.
    If that process had been reversed and I had taken the acid after living at the Zen Center, I might have been OK because there was lots of hard physical labor, lots of fresh air and time spent in Nature, and lots of meditation.
    But I got into high states naturally from all of that (not so intense, but getting there on my own was much more rewarding), and taking acid would just have been silly at that point.
    There's no good substitute for just Doing the Work (though there are lots of mistakes that can be made that way too, at least they are more honest than taking dangerous shortcuts).

    I agree that time is about up for this paradigm, and possibly even less than a decade remains before it all hits the fan and the first coming catastrophe from the Sun hits, the one where the electric grid goes down.
    But when that happens, the last-ditch technological efforts of the Controllers will likely come to naught too...

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    Another important point was, as Matus said, those on the path who could not make sufficient progress without injesting substances that assisted in letting go of their programmed reality could also suffer great damage to their bodies.
    I wish my generation had heeded those words more!
    I was among the many who took LSD and suffered the consequences.
    Though I never took mushrooms, I suspect the side effects of manmade psychedelics are much worse.
    Quote Posted by Raskolnikov (here)
    Difficult to fathom clarity as one of the main enemies to humanity. But he may have achieved his goal because Mike found the books vague and hazy, lol. Yes, I witnessed a friend or two lose a grip of their minds from too much lsd, never the same. I never enjoyed lsd like I did mushrooms, too many variables in buying that manmade substance, low quality, or low intellect, or no morals. I always came away feeling I’d somehow been poisoned, however slight, and experienced lower back pain the following day from the rat poison they added. “Hey, how do we make a few extra bucks?” “I know. Let’s add rat poison.” I always had a cleaner experience with the mushrooms which never once resulted in back pain. It was somehow reassuring knowing it came from nature. As Jesus once said, “Look under a cow patty, there I am.”

    And as Norman said, “‘All in,’ to me, is surrender to god.” I’d have to humbly agree, that pretty much sums it up at this point. Bizarrely, when considering this life as a great game, I can’t but help think that the level everyone has reached, or achieved, up to this point is kind of where they’re going to remain. Basically because it feels like something big is about to happen and whatever you’ve learned to this point is the arsenal you’re equipped with to cope with whatever’s coming. Not sure how that plays out for children or teens but feels right for those of us here who endured 9/11, the buildup to 2012, and the covidiot era of late. "What do you want to be when you grow up Johnny?” “I want to be a digital slave with a kick@$$ AI girfriend!”

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.
    Last edited by onawah; 24th November 2025 at 20:55.
    Each breath a gift...
    _____________

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    Default Re: You're All In

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    I struggled a bit with why clarity would be considered one of the Enemies of Mankind, but after observing how much importance I placed on it myself, and after observing many self-satisfied intellectuals who seemed to consider that their clarity was all-important and seldom seemed to strive for any other goal, I think I got the point.

    My problem with LSD was more because I apparently had, at one point, access to the really pure stuff. It worked only too well and I got into what was called "the White Light", a state similar to samadhi in which I was totally blissed out for the better part of a whole day and night.
    My body was flooded with energy such as I had never experienced before or since, but the problem was that my body's circuits were just not equipped to handle that much energy, and not long after that trip, something broke.
    I began leaking energy and I could literally see the effects. I sensed sparks of energy shooting out from my third eye and if I was around an animal and interacting with it, they would stare at me, blink rapidly and shake their heads because the sparks of energy were bothering them.
    This made me very paranoid and I eventually had a kind of nervous breakdown which lasted for months until I finally escaped the city and moved to a Zen Center in the mountains of Virginia where I stayed for over a year and was able to heal.
    If that process had been reversed and I had taken the acid after living at the Zen Center, I might have been OK because there was lots of hard physical labor, lots of fresh air and time spent in Nature, and lots of meditation.
    But I got into high states naturally from all of that (not so intense, but getting there on my own was much more rewarding), and taking acid would just have been silly at that point.
    There's no good substitute for just Doing the Work (though there are lots of mistakes that can be made that way too, at least they are more honest than taking dangerous shortcuts).

    I agree that time is about up for this paradigm, and possibly even less than a decade remains before it all hits the fan and the first coming catastrophe from the Sun hits, the one where the electric grid goes down.
    But when that happens, the last-ditch technological efforts of the Controllers will likely come to naught too...

    Quote Posted by onawah (here)
    Another important point was, as Matus said, those on the path who could not make sufficient progress without injesting substances that assisted in letting go of their programmed reality could also suffer great damage to their bodies.
    I wish my generation had heeded those words more!
    I was among the many who took LSD and suffered the consequences.
    Though I never took mushrooms, I suspect the side effects of manmade psychedelics are much worse.
    Quote Posted by Raskolnikov (here)
    Difficult to fathom clarity as one of the main enemies to humanity. But he may have achieved his goal because Mike found the books vague and hazy, lol. Yes, I witnessed a friend or two lose a grip of their minds from too much lsd, never the same. I never enjoyed lsd like I did mushrooms, too many variables in buying that manmade substance, low quality, or low intellect, or no morals. I always came away feeling I’d somehow been poisoned, however slight, and experienced lower back pain the following day from the rat poison they added. “Hey, how do we make a few extra bucks?” “I know. Let’s add rat poison.” I always had a cleaner experience with the mushrooms which never once resulted in back pain. It was somehow reassuring knowing it came from nature. As Jesus once said, “Look under a cow patty, there I am.”

    And as Norman said, “‘All in,’ to me, is surrender to god.” I’d have to humbly agree, that pretty much sums it up at this point. Bizarrely, when considering this life as a great game, I can’t but help think that the level everyone has reached, or achieved, up to this point is kind of where they’re going to remain. Basically because it feels like something big is about to happen and whatever you’ve learned to this point is the arsenal you’re equipped with to cope with whatever’s coming. Not sure how that plays out for children or teens but feels right for those of us here who endured 9/11, the buildup to 2012, and the covidiot era of late. "What do you want to be when you grow up Johnny?” “I want to be a digital slave with a kick@$$ AI girfriend!”

    Quote Posted by Mike (here)
    Being alive puts you all in. No matter what you do, it's going to kill you.

    You might as well play the most magnificent game you can while you're waiting.
    Hey Onawah, just wanted to say I'm sorry you had such a frightening experience with lsd. Glad you were able to recover. Guess what they said is true, it can cause serious damage to your bodies. The CIA really did a number on the public when they introduced that stuff, yet we almost turned it into something meaningful until they interfered yet again by turning the hippie movement into the thrill kill cult of Manson fame. Interesting side note: I read that he was a more talented singer/songwriter than most who rose to fame back then. Thanks for sharing that story. There's definitely something to be said for "Doing the work." And I hope you're right about the grid down scenario ultimately playing in our favor because that scenario is a major concern. The grid going down anytime soon is going to bring about the zombie apocalypse.

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