Hello everyone!

I recently launched a YouTube channel combining my theology studies and my love of culture: Théoculture. I've just posted a video on Avatar and the climate worship, inspired by Gaia Hypothesis and Eastern religions / philosophies, and how James Cameron’s ecological thinking integrates those elements in his cinema.

Here's the link : https://youtu.be/cKK-9xJmRHY

Video is in French, but you can activate the English subtitles. Enjoy

True value-

In my experience, one of the most crucial lessons one should learn early on in order to further their spiritual development, is that of true value…, this is particularly important seeing as we live in a largely materialistic world. The idea that money is value is a spiritually diminishing mindset that has been programmed into the worlds populace for a very long time now, money is only of any “value” at all because the system that is in play on this planet, makes it so we cannot survive without it… and this is of course very intentional.

We are forced to spend so much time worrying about money, that we have hardly any time at all to do anything beneficial for ourselves such as develop as a spirit or even just to realize that the state of the world is not at all what we think it is. Anything that is truly valuable, is slowly weened out of our lives or limited so much that we can hardly enjoy it or take from it anything of true value. Sayings such as “money makes the world go round” are subconscious “architects” who further build upon and solidify the negative mental constructs that we are fed through psychological programming from every direction.

In my time learning to manifest, I discovered that once you learn to “see through the money” and call it out for what it really is, which is just a piece of paper that is made out to be “god” when it's not at all…, once you realize this, then there is a sort of respect gained from the universe and higher self…, making it much easier to manifest money/wealth, from having a much more in depth understanding of what value truly is (something I have experienced with great clarity).

Let us not forget the things in life that are of pure and true value. Things such as Love, respect and the urge to better ourselves, others and the world…, these amongst the many other truly valuable parts of life which bring us growth, love and balance. Do not let yourself struggle due to lack of money, but at the same time do not put it on a pedestal…, remember that money and value are two very different things.

Much Love

Gage Timothy Kreps Ramirez

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "Meet my cat, Ego" by u/humxnprinter
• "For anyone interested in learning more about Advaita Vendata 🙏"
• "There is nothing to chase. You are Whole as you are." by u/Infinito_paradoxo
• "Absolute Determinism and the unknowable randomness. The naive free will. (Philosophical Taoism)" by u/Infinito_paradoxo
• "How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the Modern World" by u/ElliceBailey
• "How Zen made its Way to the West" by u/n5tonhf
• "The Bhagvad Gita – Join an online Reading Group for this Foundational Text of Indian Philosophy – meetings every Friday, open to all, no background required" by u/darrenjyc
• "What is Art if not Everything? Any ritual is an art form. Art is Love and a great way to forget oneself, because Art contemplates the Union of the observed and the observer" by u/Infinito_paradoxo
• "A place to discuss philosophy, psychology and religion" by u/eternalised
• "Contemplation" by u/0ranssi

So I've been working on concepts trying to adequately describe the mysteries and have been posting aphorisms here and elsewhere to convey the feeling to the best of my abilities. You may have seen some videos / audiobooks about it already and so I want to praise your patience with me. This is the last entry about the book 'Infinity and Paradox'. You can get it free today here if you wish. It is a 2 hour read. If you do read all of it and if you like it (or if you don't) leave a feedback. I'd love to know. It was written originally in the Portuguese language, so if someone is a native Portuguese speaker, the Portuguese version will also be free next Saturday here.

An entry from the last chapter:

" Happiness is elusive, it is shy.
Happiness cannot be conquered, it is too powerful.
Happiness is not built, it is too grand.
Happiness is a mirage, we see it more in others.

That's why Happiness is like a butterfly,
for the butterfly dodges because it is shy.
The butterfly is powerful because it flies
with the wind.
The butterfly is huge because it looks down
on the drama of the people.
The butterfly is a mirage because it is beautiful
but far away.

With its big blinking eyes,
whoever is in Silence is where it stands. "

The audiobook's last chapter (TTS voice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fc57qS2wLI

"I watched a pigeon walking on the ground.
I really wanted to be the pigeon for a change.
I wanted to look through its eyes and take flight.
Do an aerial stunt and fly high, up there,
and see all the little things below.

But I realized, this is me
being the pigeon, being human.
That imagination is nothing more
then to be things being human.
In particular, the own self.

Well, if I were Truly the pigeon,
that is, the pigeon being the pigeon,
would it have the human desire
to do such an aerial feat?

To be the pigeon,
it's enough that I don't want to control it.

Indeed! The only things that take me seriously
are the things I imagine."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaRB3PmibKY

I would like to invite you to a philosophy discord server. For teachers, students, and autodidacts.

The purpose of this discord chat is dedicated to the engagement of philosophical discourse and the exploration of ideas in the history of philosophy. Our main goal is to become more knowledgeable about historical thinkers and ideas from every philosophical domain through interpersonal dialogues. We are not a debate server. Argument is a method used by philosophy, but this isn’t to be confused with debate. The latter is competitive in nature, whereas the former is a cooperative endeavor. Philosophy is a group project that aims to determine what is true, and this server is a place for this activity.  Here is the invite link for those who are interested: https://discord.gg/BHzbXDVwHR

Invite link is hopefully permanent, so you won't have to worry whether the link is working if you're reading this sometime in the future.

See you all there!

Zen/Buddhism/Eastern Religion QUESTION I read a story several years ago. I can not find the source. It was in the Zen section of a bookstore. A nun goes to live in an abbey when she was 16 after her grandparents died. Two monks come to the abbey and they ask the Master a question. He turns to ask her. But she is in the corner preparing tea. She does not reply to the Master's question. The Master turns to the two monks and says "she understands better than either of you"... I hope someone can tell me the source/book/author of this story.

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "My grandfather (bless him) sends me a quote from the Gita almost every morning for inspiration... I have no idea where he finds them, but I decided to make an app to make the whole process easier!" by u/feriths
• "Tao Te Ching - The Book Of The Way (full audio book)"
• "I found this really cool philosophy discord. They talk mostly about Stoic philosophy but also eastern philosophies. Pretty great community. Thought I would share!" by u/malonekt1
• "In the Northern Deep there is a great fish, thousands of miles long. It turns into a giant bird whose back is thousands of miles in size. When it gets enlivened and takes flight, its wings are like clouds covering the sky... - Chuang-tzu - Chuang Chou - Chapter 1 [Freedom]" by u/BrightscapesArt
• "Classical Chinese Philosophy: A Brief Introduction" by u/iankwb
• "Did the Greek Philosophers Study Buddhism? Exploring the History of Cultural and Philosophical Exchange between Ancient Greece and Ancient India by taking a look at some points of conceptual contact between these two great civilizations." by u/SeekersofUnity
• "The Bushido philosophy behind Japanese women" by u/ReiTanotsuka
• "Taoism and the Value of Being Useless" by u/marineiguana27
• "Daoist Philosophy: Identity | Zhuangzi’s The Hunt" by u/faibro
• "My friend gave me this as a gift, what does this pitchfork symbol mean?" by u/iiiiiii-0