Hmm.. I first thought I'd sit down to write this and be able to type endlessly... that first step is always a pain. ;)

I am 22 years old, male, and born in California. I grew up as a cowboy so to speak, living on a ranch, riding horses, herding cattle, etc. I have a passion for computers, programming, video games, martial arts, music, general athleticism, and most importantly learning.

I'm very active and enjoy any challenge I can find in life, but I also find time to sit behind a computer whenever I can. I only speak English, though I have studied others in very small amounts, and intend to fully learn other languages once I reach proficency in Korean.

I enjoy music of all varieties, from heavy screaming music to country to foreign music to instrumental modern interpretations of classical music. I listen to music from Korea, Sweeden, Japan, Russia, and countless other countries. If I were to expound on the topic of music I would never get to anything else.

I'm very social and outgoing, unphased by interacting with complete strangers in just about any circumstance. My confidence can often be stronger than it should be, making arrogance a word used to describe me at times, though I try to keep it under control. I'm proud of my heritage, being more than half Italian. I'm also proud of my country and being a part of it, though I often have severe qualms with the decisions made on its behalf. I was born in the month of August, another thing I enjoy about myself. Despite the last few sentences I much prefer to consider myself nothing more than a man from Earth, not an American, or an Italian, or any other thing one can associate with.

I have a very strong personality which often clashes with people who are insecure.

People tell me I have a 'light' in my eyes that draws others to me, especially children. It is not uncommon for strangers (again, especially children) to speak to me, for reasons I do not fully understand. I am very happy about this however, as I love people.

I try to live my life as a good man, not because I fear divine retribution from an angry god, but because it is what I want and it is what logically makes sense.

I despise intolerance, cruelty, closed mindedness, and inequality.

Ah, and I was raised Christian but I gave it up around the age of reason (I think I was maybe 12-14 or so). The primary reason for my disassociation stems from the hellfire and brimstone teachings of the Bible, but also the logical contradictions of heaven and hell, the nonexistance of free will in heaven, the demanded subservience of women, the condemnation of homosexuals, and the idea that God has in the past or ever would murder countless humans with his own hand (some by acts of nature, some just directly killing), or the idea that God would ever damn one of his own creations to hell, no matter their mistakes or lack of faith. Since these are all very clearly explained points in the Bible, I simply cannot justify associating myself with such contradiction, hatred, cruelty, torture, or unnecessary murder.

For clarity, the reason I included so much detail about my personality is because it helps clear other's perception of my motivations driving what I believe and share. One other point for clarity: I say "I believe" and "In my eyes" too often to emphasise the point that all of my opinions are based on my own conclusions and are subject to change as I recieve new information. I'm going to start removing that from my writing to shorten it, but please assume it is there in front of every sentence from this point on. =)

To the spiritual side of things:

For starters, organized religion is a blight upon humanity. We should seek answers inside ourselves, and we should only take the opinions of others as just that, opinions.

In one of my posts I mention one of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee, "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." We are all students and and everyone is different, and as such each person should come to their own conclusion based on their own logic, logic, and critical thinking.

It is because of the above I do not believe political parties should exist, nor religions, nor (in a perfect world) even countries. Assoiating one's self with a group that collectively makes decisions and appoints leaders who direct thoughts or agendas encourages a hive mind mentality which stops people from thinking for themselves or making their own decisions.

Life is a game, with a very simple set of rules forgotten over the ages.

1: reality is defined by those who experience it. The more something is 'believed' by people, the more true it becomes. The less different people are aware of a situation the easier it is for a single person to influence the outcome using their own will. I believe this is the explanation for why 'faith healing' and 'prayer healing' are often "disproven" by studies, because those conducting the studies are imposing disbelief on the healing, and so it doesn't work.

2: Everything is kept balanced by the power of opposites. Though there are two sides, that does not mean something is a 'yes' or 'no'. There is an infinite number of possible states of being, from the extreme light/dark, to a balance between the two, or even the absense of both. A clarification of the above point, I believe love and hate are opposites that balance one another, but that doesn't mean you must 'love' or 'hate' a person. You can love, hate, both, or neither, neither being the case of people you have no emotional investment in positive or negative. (This concept can be represented by a yinyang, however the western perception is often incorrect in assuming yin and yang are separate beings whom are 'locked in battle' with one another for eternity, rather than two sides to the same entity that require one another to survive and grow. This common perception also fails to thoroughly acknowledge that the balance between the two is a state of being in and of itself, as is a strong positive / negative, or neither.)

3: The body and spirit are opposite sides of one being, with the mind being a creation of their combination. Each of these three entities has its own 'body' or 'being', which can be wounded just like flesh and bone, trained to be stronger or more flexible just like muscles, made to heal faster by addressing different types of wounds properly, etc. Similarly to physical bodies I believe our minds and spirits take different forms from person to person, varying in size, shape, identifying characteristics, power, flexibility, and speed.

4: If you try to grow one side of a coin and not the other it causes imbalance. In subtle imbalances there are systems in place to encourage balance to center again, but they can be 'fought against' by the will of the person, causing the imbalance to grow even further. Example: If you lift a ton of weights but do no flexibility training you will be static, immobile, slow, and vulnerable to impact causing muscle tears. If you lift no weights and only train flexibility you become brittle and vulnerable to impact because the muscles are not strong enough to withstand the forced expansion.

5: There are no absolutes, and everything depends on the individuals involved.

6: If an idea has been imagined, a movie, a story, a fairy tale, a legend, it has happened either in the past or in an alternate reality.

7: If we reject a concept or idea, thinking "I don't know how I could survive if that happened", it WILL happen because we are putting energy into it. We must be willing to accept any possible outcome of a situation before we can control its outcome. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." ~ James Dean. My rendition of this quote which I live by, "Believe that you will live forever, but live each moment like it is your last."

There are of course more 'rules' than just that, but that covers the basic rules of engagement.

I think humanity has been around and active for considerably longer than we are aware, and I believe we have reached spiritual, scientific, and physical levels far beyond what we believe to be possible today.

I believe as life becomes more and more advanced it becomes more and more unstable, and when it becomes unstable enough it finds a way to destroy itself and start over, trying to get it right this time.

I also believe every time we encounter something new an invisible bond is created between us. This bond can be fueled to grow through positive or negative emotions, and it serves as a conduit for sharing energy between the two beings. It is up to the people involved to decide what kind of energy is shared, and how much. As a bond grows people gain a deeper understanding of one another, even if they do not realize it happening. This is why you will see close friends who can finish one another's sentences, understand what each other are thinking without the use of words, or when people 'feel' a loved one has perished.

Your spirit has senses just like your body, and your mind can imitate the feelings your body recieves in its 'world', your imagination.

So for every physical sense we have: touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, there is a spiritual equivalent. I believe if you train your spiritual eye(s) enough you can see the energies I reference above, as well as the auras of a person's energy that they radiate.

I also KNOW if you train your mind enough you can create complete visual recreations of real places using your memories, and even 'feel' the senses you would as if your body were truly there.

The amount of detail you can create with your mind as well, as what you can sense with your body or spirit, can be trained just like any muscle.

You can train your eyes so you can see more detail / color range (google this, there are some fun exercises and it is enjoyable) You can train your mind's ability to record, recall, and recreate scenarios, by consciously acknowledging details over and over until it becomes reflex and your subconscious takes over (just like learning to read. Remember as a child when you had to sound out each letter? Now you read entire words without even looking at the letters contained therein, that is how you can read over typos without even noticing them.) You can train your spiritual senses in the same fashion, and so many more.

As you train your body's senses to "super-human" levels you are able to see incredible distances, more vibrant colors, identify subtle smells, hear distant sounds, etc. As you train your spirit's senses to "super-human" levels you are able to not only use your spirit to percieve the world around you, but detach your spirit from your body and explore the world freely, as well as feel senses that are shared with you through the energy sharing bonds I mention above. Your mind can create entire virtual representations of memories, or entirely new imaginations, down to the most miniscule details.

I believe if you try to train your spirit without your body you will find it increasingly difficult to grow spiritually, until finally you reach a plateu you cannot pass. On the other side, if the spirit is neglected eventually the body will enter a 'zombie' state, wherein the person is not actually living life and don't even realize they are not truly 'awake'.

If you neglect your dark sides, the 'negative' ends of emotions, they will grow inside you like a cancer and fight to be given attention. Though to be clear, negative emotions to not need to be exercised in negative ways. Even people's darkest demons can be slated safely, healthy, and positively.

An excellent example of this (very easily related to if it is something you have experienced yourself) is sadism. I see tons of sadists, though most people would never even begin to notice. The 'safe' manner of control I refer to in this case is 'adult content', just to be clear. Have you ever had a lover who liked to be 'rough'? Scratching, biting, etc. There are varying degrees (some girls will leave your back literally bleeding), but it is extremely common. Even for those who are not affected enough to be considered 'sadists' this practice can be very enjoyable, in moderation. Often people will justify this as "it isn't intentional, it's a physical response I can't control", generally out of fear of judgement or persecution for their tastes, but all understanding I have gained on the subject indicates there is a pleasure experienced from inflicting this pain, i.e: sadism. There are also extreme versions where people desire to actually cut (knifes, real wounds, etc), punch, beat, etc. And there are people (masochists) who want this done to them.

All potentially 'safe' practices, if approached with common sense and caution.

I believe God set the rules of the game and created us with any of the abilities he has (including manifestation, which is something most people outside this forum would scoff at) I don't think he ever will interact with the world from a 'Godly' perspective, divine retribution or any of that, though he does walk among us from time to time, sometimes even partaking in our history. I believe all God wants is for people to LIVE life and be happy, because that is the reason it was created.

I don't believe humans need to die, and we are capable of living thousands of years or even longer. A great example of this exists in the ancient Bible times. I believe our bodies will begin to age if we stop challenging them, forcing them to overcome new challenges, grow and improve. The same goes for your spirit and mind. If you do not use them, they will decay, atrophy, and once one point on the triangle fails all 3 collapse to the ground.

I believe heaven and hell exist only inside ourselves, and which we live in is decided by us. If we choose to live a good life of happiness and positivity, we will be gifted with all worthy desires and live eternally in prosperity. If we choose to neglect our one job in life, which is to LIVE it, then we live in hell. Tormented by the agonies of our own lives, unable to change them or escape.

If you fear death or reject the idea, you will die, just so the universe can show you what you'd do in that situation since you couldn't figure it out on your own.

I think if you DO die but you were ready for and accept your fate, you will pass peacefully into your next life retaining much of the power you gained in your last.

As the above implies, I believe in reincarnation, but I don't believe it is a case of "you die and are immediately thrown into a new body." I believe there are many other realities out there, and our soul can travel to all of them freely. Whether we can take our consciousness to and from them however is dependant on our balance between physical and spiritual, and the balances that comprise them.

Spirituality should come from the inside, where it has been all along.

I believe Earth is actually Eden, a gift from God to humanity wherein we can create any reality we desire. I believe we have perverted and corrupted our duties as guardians of the cradle of life, and now that we're finished we ask questions like "What kind of God could allow wars or murder?" I absolutely love humanity and every good person in it, but at the same time I have the deepest loathing and abhorance for what it has allowed itself to become.

I don't believe we ever left Eden, nor God "threw us out" or anything of the sort. I think we have forgotten things we once knew about life, and humanity has been grown, burst into flames, and been reborn countless times. I believe our ancient stories of life we believe to be far technologically and spiritually inferior to our own are actually tales of entire civilizations, some even more advanced than where we are today.

I think our fairy tales and legends of old stem from true stories, and as civilization was destroyed and reborn it lost the language and cognitive abilities necessary to explain the thoughts to describe just how advanced the civilizations were.

And a point about Jesus... I believe we are all 'sons of God', and all capable of miracles. I think Jesus taught concepts of love, tolerance, and equality, and he and his disciples said churches should NEVER accept money for their services. Instead the pastors should work to fund their own efforts, and I believe that is why he was a carpenter, some of his disciples tent makers, fishermen, etc.

History is always written by the victors: Jesus condemned the church for their corruption and greed for power and wealth... He was crucified for it, the rest is history.

That more or less covers the basics of my beliefs. I've missed quite a few points but I think this is more than enough sharing for the time being.

Oh, and since this seems like a good place to respond to some questions posed to me by Jaianniah:

"Leo, you seem to speak with absolute certainty. Where does this certainty originate?"

All of my thoughts and beliefs come from inside. I meditate, I exercise, I do yoga, and I simply think. These are the answers that have come to my heart, the things I feel inside me and I know to be true because they are what make the most sense to me with the knowledge I have gathered thus far. I may change my opinions as I gain more information, as any educated individual should. I think logic and reason can supply an answer to everything, even things of a spiritual nature.

"You said that sin is something that results when we clash with society says is right and proper. But what if society is dead wrong?"

I don't think I said that. I believe sin is something obvious, it is harming someone else or ourselves.

"Martin Luther King said that black people were not being treated fairly. He was the start of a movement that changed the basic truth of a whole society."

That's an excellent example, one of the many reasons I think following the common hivemind thinking of your time is foolish, because the ONE and ONLY ABSOLUTE FACT that history has proven time and time again is humanity repeatedly has NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL IT IS TALKING ABOUT! As White Tiger pointed out, men were murdered by the church in the past for stating such obvious truths as "The Earth revolves around the Sun"

"The seven deadly sins are a safe point to jump off from; but even they have exceptions to the rule."

I cannot stress enough: I don't believe in absolutes, merely points of balance that become increasingly dangerous as they become increasingly imbalanced.

"What if perceived gluttony is actually a genetic malfunction? If we say that a person is a glutton, and a sinner, then we may be making a judgment that is dead wrong." Why would I be judging someone as a sinner at all? Their punishment is automatic and enforced by the universe. It isn't my job to be damning anyone, and why would I want it to be?

"I think I am getting a feeling for your way of perceiving reality; you have been deeply hurt and influenced by your upbringing. Am I wrong? If so, then your judgments may be flawed because they are based on your personal experience instead of what is ACTUALLY and REALLY true. I admire your erudition. I admire your great intelligence. Please think about the logic of your beliefs. Not all religions people are judgmental or bad...I am not judging you; I am only trying to show you the flaws in your thinking."

I am addressing this point a second time because much of what I discuss above being aimed at religion. I do not believe in stereotypes, as that is a type of bigotry. I absolutely do not believe all religious people are as judgemental as the Bible / Quaran / other totemic writings encourage. Similarly I don't believe all 'godless' people are bad. Quite the contrary, I believe in the common good, I think it is humans natural instinct to be good, but they are corrupted by the influences from others.

Well that was quite an excursion. Lots of proofreading... lol.

Any questions, thoughts, opinions, or comments are always welcomed and strongly encouraged. If my perceptions are ever misinformed it is very important to me that I correct them.