Inuyasha and Kagome were the cute story lol.
(Spoiler) Sesshomaru initially treated Rin with fierce disdain, but then recognized the nature of her loyalty and respected it. He respects loyalty, which is why I think he lets Jaken follow him, despite Jaken being a lowly creature (like Rin). The fact that he's willing to give up the sword he spent so much time trying to possess, to save Rin's life, also shows profound love and sacrifice which is far more meaningful and heartwarming than anything Inuyasha did.
Sesshomaru was more mature than Inuyasha, especially in his ambitions. What he learned on his journey, didn't finally make him mature, it just gave him wisdom and perspective. And it obviously changed him in dramatic ways, completely reversing his feelings/attitudes in some respects.
The problem with humanity is that we're too anthropocentric and egocentric. We only want to accept reality in terms of empirical evidence, what we can see, hear, taste, touch. But the essence of all life, the universe, and everything, is unbound consciousness. It is a singularity, a profound oneness that can be felt if you reach a higher state of consciousness. But to do this, requires a measure of "courage" because it's not "safe." It has to be a choice. Enlightenment can never be forced—it only causes the person to retreat further into their lesser state of consciousness and ignorance. To double down on religious dogma, or scientific method.
There's this great scene from Star Trek: TNG that always comes to mind.
Q: "The galaxy contains wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine. And terrors to freeze your soul. ...It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. BUT IT'S NOT FOR THE TIMID."
A lot of what this guy says is just nonsensical, or highly speculative, and lacks intuition. What seems much more likely is the opposite of what he's saying. They're waiting for us to become more conscious and aware, to join them in the greater reality and to participate on the level of reality they exist in. Because it's not possible unless we evolve in consciousness. Whenever it's forced, it's often a bad experience. It's why they're framed as "abductions."
For example, Barney and Betty Hill had very different reactions. Barney reacted in abject terror, with a singular focus on escaping the "nightmare" of his abduction. Betty however was more receptive, so her experience was more "pleasant" and agreeable.
This is why some refer to them as "demonic," because they're projecting their own feelings of being "forced" into a more awake state of being, a different reality, like a sleepwalker jarred awake who immediately reacts in fear and disorientation... It feels "malevolent" and "demonic" because of how oppressive the experience is, because the person is actively resisting the reality they're experiencing, trying to deny it's real.
It's not always our tax dollars paying for protestors. It's groups like Code Pink, who are funded by China. I'm guessing the woman there "concerned about humanity" and "bombing children" (presumably in Iran), is funded by China lol. Most of us have jobs, we have to work for a living, and don't have the time or money to fly out to Washington and track down and harass a Congressman lol.
@ShawnRyan762@remarks I think Marco Rubio would be the ideal choice for POTUS. He's the only candidate I'd be excited to vote for. He's great. I think a lot of people feel the same as well.
I feel like people don't get it. This is something Noam Chomsky and many others have tried to explain decades ago. The reason we're still supporting Israel, or funding other things besides investing in the American people, is because the national interest and national security changed a long time ago. It no longer serves the people, it serves the "MACHINE" that runs the world. It serves transnational corporations, which in the 70s and 80s were euphemistically called "special interest groups." Even though, as Chomsky pointed out, the actual special interests are the people—farmers, the poor, ethnic minorities, the youth, women, labor, the elderly, veterans...
As Joe Biden put it in 1986, "It’s about time we stop apologizing for our support for Israel. There is no apology to be made. It is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to go out and invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region."
Giving taxpayer dollars back to the people, by subsidizing grocery prices, gas prices, healthcare costs, is simply seen as a poor ROI, it's considered "the worst investment."
This is always what I've felt, even when I was really young. I think it was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries and the showed a depiction of the Grey, and it just really creeped me out. I had this feeling of being watched, like "it" was near me.
I also found it interesting that in brain experiments, where they stimulate parts of the brain, the test subjects all report seeing a "Grey" entity that match this description. Which tends to corroborate this theory that they're just beyond our perception (along with many other entities).
This is why I say that human consciousness or embodied consciousness, is analogous to existing on the surface of an infinite ocean, oblivious to everything lurking in the unfathomable depths below, or that watch from the infinite sky above...
To play Devil's Advocate...
As Joe Biden put it in 1986, “There’s no apology to be made. None. It is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.”
So I'm guessing that we continue to invest in Israel because it serves as a vital strategic location in the Middle East and Europe.
The lack of taxpayer dollars that go towards Americans, such as subsidizing grocery, gas, or other expenses, is because the "national security" has become synonymous with "national interest" and (corporate) "profits." It's why Trump always points to the stock market, or to big corporations investing trillions of dollars, as a big "win" for Americans.
Investing taxpayer money back into the people is the lowest ROI, we're considered the "worst investment." (Even though, it's OUR money lol)
What's that saying, "...the way out, is the way through."
There's a great passage from Dune that illustrates this perfectly:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
But what is the "I" that remains? It is unbound consciousness. When you stop identifying with the body, with ego and thoughts, you become "that which remains."
And only through consciousness can you discern the truth, by becoming aware of how you are connected to everything, one with everything.
@PlayStation I didn't think it was particularly woke nor did I feel the need to frame it as such. Looks interesting, but not be what people enjoy if they played the game simply for Kratos's story.
Privacy is an illusion/delusion. The surveillance tech is just a more "convenient" way of tracking people, but there are already plenty of other methods available. The CIA's remote viewing program, for example, demonstrates that strict privacy is literally impossible. Because consciousness can observe anything, anyone, in past, present, future.
The reason we feel the need for privacy is the same reason people in power need to take it away from us. Because we're egocentric. Ego is always seeking more control, power, and "privacy" in order to feel safe, and ultimately so it can feel bigger than life. Because it's the shadow, it's not real... When we identify with the ego, with the shadow, we unconsciously feel not real, not whole, separate from everyone and everything (from life), and view reality through the lens of fear, scarcity, isolation, and self-concern. Ego is antithetical and antagonistic to evolving consciousness, because higher consciousness is a threat to control. An "enlightened" person cannot be deceived and controlled, and "enlightenment" leads to ego death. Naturally ego fears and abhors this. Ego is at the heart of the world's woe, it's the true "Satan." Because it infects the most powerful people, not all, but as the saying goes, "a few bad apples ruins the barrel." And those "bad apples" can maintain control in the "shadows" preventing humanity from evolving...
What needs to be examined is the entire ideology of demons and angels. They're not what we think they are. I think that what people consider demonic is just the presence of a lower dimensional state of consciousness, and this extreme disparity between your own consciousness. The fact that they often can't make contact or possess under certain circumstances, corroborates this nature of a lower dimensional state. Everything about them suggests their egoic beings, egomaniacal. The ego is essentially the shadow, not real, and it's actually the true "Satan" of humanity (but this is a long discussion I won't get into here). The nature of ego is fear (of losing their power/control), scarcity (never feeling they have enough), isolation (distrusting of everyone), and self-concern (believing only they matter).
Angelic presence or angels are also not what we think. They're not "absolute good." They're TRANSCENDENT. That is why their presence is so glorious. They are BEYOND good, beyond evil... They are something MORE. This also, is the nature of "God." It is the perfect unity of opposites, the transcendent one. And it's through the contrast of life, good and evil, suffering and joy, loneliness and belonging, scarcity and abundance, vanity and humility, etc., that we find our own glory in life.
This is why many people have described extraterrestrial encounters as "angelic" and profoundly benevolent, loving. The being isn't "pure good," it's something beyond good, it has transcended each extreme and become something greater.
This is also why transcendent beings convey a feeling of love, or rather, why we feel profound love in their presence. Because transcendence is perfect unity. It is the nature of love, to become something more than the sum of its parts.
@AmericanALCHMY I've always thought of it in terms of an analogy, that we're like insects skipping along the surface of water, in a vast infinite ocean. Oblivious to everything lurking in the unfathomable depths below, or all who watch from the infinite sky above...
It's true to some extent that embodied consciousness is the exception, but only in comparison to an infinite dimension of unbound consciousness, which exists in a "void" or "nothingness" state of infinite potential, always "at rest." But the other extreme of this continuum is a singularity of all life and reality, which is finite because it is in a state of constant creation, as The Absolute or "God," has exceeding enthusiasm to create "more of itself." Life just "goes on" no matter what, through infinite forms of embodied consciousness, in every subatomic particle, grain of sand, a tree, a dog, a human, an extraterrestrial, a planet, and so on. The "aliveness" of The Absolute or "The One" is present in everything, for it "projects a hologram of itself, and then perceives it."