Spiritual Portal

It really made my day to see u r visiting here and became a member. I hope to share more with u here and at yoganandaji.org!

Hi Shannon!

Welcome to the forum  :)

'Mr.Waaang'

Ms. Shannon was kind to join our little tree hut here in Sherwood Forest. She has her own spiritual forum: yoganandaji.org
It is listed in our links section. (See above headings at the top of the forum.) mccoy is also a
moderator there!

Shannon

I often feel your presence not just here but at times when I am driving. i have felt the spiritual presence of others as well. Where does imagination and reality sepatate? Quite often for me-imagination is a physical reality or becomes one. But it is not always that way. The mind can just as easily create it's own desire and those desires may not be compatible with physical reality. It is something i have had to come to terms with over the years. ☆

Hi Steve,

my thoughts as of late...

Perception rules reality.

We often change our reality, for better or worse simply to entertain our desires.

Maybe this isn't so simple... Or maybe it is.

Yes I agree. Perception often paralyzes action. Because we never know for certain the perceptions of others. Sometimes when we find out... it is too late.

Reality and imagination, (or maybe correct spiritual thinking), and where they separate, is very intriguing.

An awareness of the wisdom that has been learned by the past and from all kinds of relationships weighs heavy on our lady of the hour. A decision was made before coming to this incarnation to work out various periodic changes in relationships that bring new insights into life.The rays of Saturn are symbolic of these deep emotions that now surface. The mother and 'home' may be of concern as matters slow in such areas, including finances. The Lord of karma now gives a birds eye view of how to live better and choose new found wisdom over old patterns of behavior that are no longer fitting for insights gained now and in recent years. This is a much more emotionally serious period in life. Things will be light and breezy again but at these times serious feelings weigh heavy while we pray for one such as this. Not only will people be taken out of her life but remembrance of past events grows. We all have these periods of reviewing our relationships with nostalgia and finding new ways of dealing with old emotional scars. This is a time of sentimental journey and adjustment to emotional setbacks that will ultimately be beneficial to Shannon.

Midnite Astrologer

I'm just curious, how do you come to know some of these things?

Thank you for the welcome - I did not see this until today! Steve, you mentioned saying hello in a 'welcome area' some time ago, but I did not realize it was called what it was. :-)

SpiritImage, I shared in another thread that I am going through an unexpected divorce, and Steve knows the date of my birth - surmised the rest through astrological readings and intuitions.  I cannot claim all is entirely accurate, but it is kind to be thought of.   :)

Shannon

This site is set up quite different then yours. If u look at the very bottom of the forum you can click 'most recent posts' and find out what people r presently talkng about. It would b under forum stats.

Yea we've  been talking behind your back all this time. The Hoot owls did a study of your chart after they were done singing a concert together. Would one such as yourself  be interested in what the mad moon has to say tonite?

I see, I've gone thru a few divorces myself, although each time I was not married, still has its downers.

Yes, please! That mad moon's been itching to tell me something, right? :)

SpiritImage, sorry to hear that - that you've had some downers, too.  You know, God likes to beat the BEST students most of all - lol!  Jus kidding, not really, but yeah - the image sort of makes me smile.  :)

Disbelief

I felt You as I fought from the womb,
barely formed, stunned to silence.
You warned me of a hard life,
but I didn’t believe You.

I heard You spew hatred from my
own mother’s lips, teeth bared,
eyes soaked with blatant loathing -
but I didn’t believe You then, either.

You appeared as mean children,
dirty little hands, teasing, mocking –
pointing out my shyness, throwing stones.
Did You think Your costume clever?

You’ve tripped me many times,
laughed as I landed on unsteady feet -
daring me to cry as I hissed in anger,
an indignant cat; unconvinced.

I recognized You in my darkest hours
when fear and blackness loomed,
threatening to drown me in confusion,
but even then I knew it was all a lie.

My tail wags though You beat me,
for each curse is but a test –
I believe only in Your boundless love;
and learn from all the rest.

Written March 24, 2003

I am very happy to see your faith increasing out of the dark and blue and into the lite and you. You are with us always and I hope to  remain true to our vision!

I find the poem realistic, rather than pessimistic.

Even though I'm not a scorpio!

Thanks McCoy! I don't find it pessimistic either.  :-). Not at all. And I am only a Scorpio when someone wants to give me that label.  I am an infinite being!   Ha ha.  I do not know who said it, but I love this quote: "I am not who you think I am.  You are who you think I am."  Brilliant!

Hello Shannon

As you may know we had a site crash in the last two days. during that period somehow your paintings were corrupted when that happened they were no longer at the top of the forum. Fortunately for me i was able to read the captions you spent time putting in although the paintings were gone. Soon i hope to find a way to get them back!

Steve

No biggie; honestly I did not want to ask you to take them down since you put them up on your own, but did feel a bit uncomfortable having them stare at me each time I visited.  Lol.  Sometimes we want a change of scenery, you know?  If you were trying to make me feel comfortable here, I appreciate the gesture.  Use them if you want, or not.  It is not a big deal.  :-)

P.s. Glad you got the board back.  Mercury in retrograde!  Lol.

They have your vibration all over them. It exudes from them. It is very comforting Shannon Leigh. i have pictures and paintings from friends. They have left part themselves with me. u probably can't even imagine. Or maybe u can.

i remember being at a friends house and reaching behind the couch to plug in a musical amplifier. What i saw i can never express the effect it had on me. It was a large picture behind the couch of an owl. A wonderful owl that gazed into the depths of your soul. People have often been very generous to me and have acted quite unusual to me in my life. Just out of the blue this friend said to me.... ' You really like that owl don't u?' i said 'yes Jon'. He immediately handed it to me with out a second thought in his mind and said 'U can have it. It is taking up space here.'

He just didn't realize. He just didn't realize what it meant. Being the representation of death and rebirth my friend suddenly got sick and in a few months made his transition. That painting goes everywhere with me. It has been across the country and back. Here it is. U can see a close up at the beginning of the video: Not me the painting behind me! That owl looks like it has gone thru some hardship by the surroundings but it has learned much and its wisdom is written in the eyes which r very soulful and human like. It looks into us as if to ask.... 'and what my friend r u doing with your life? In one unselfish moment. In one unselfish way. Tell me what you goina do with your life? Tell me what u goina say?'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-QU08uq_Lc 

Probably from all those post moves, pointers in the database being repointed all the time, killed the DBMS.  ::)

Maybe time to at least move the site to another host, get the data and the pages to a new host like godaddy or something, not really that expensive. When that is accomplished, then concentrate on layout/design and changes you want. Sounds like they almost lost it all. I might even donate time and money if you start being nicer.

i wonder though. Is it possible that we could combine and be one forum? Would anyone b interested in that idea? Like having two forums with different ways of getting to them. i notice Shannon has more than one page on Yoganandaji.org  The art work is quite beautiful there. Perhaps i am mistaken but i assume she is repsonsible for that.

Or is that too far fetched for everyone? Just an idea here. What i see is businesses constantly joining up together and becoming stronger doing so. i remember using a Nextel phone and suddenly it was now a Sprint phone because they merged. i also remember using Old Kent Bank suddenly it became Huntington Bank. Perhaps this business analogy is a bad one. But i can see myself changing. One can always ask is it for the better? Both parties can ask that.

Anything is possible, doing that would require a good bit of planning, and a lot of custom import script writing. Not sure that would be a great idea since it may turn out to be like other larger forums that attract problems. I would KISS it (acronym that a few dang smart teachers would say, Keep It Simple Stupid)

Jeff

It would b interesting to hear what Shannon thoughts are on this issue. Perhaps she will respond. When people do not respond i take it as an implicit way of saying: "i am not interested." That is a personal insight i have gained throughout the years.

It seems to me that it is nice to get to know one another better. It is very difficult for me to have administrators here on this forum without even being able to contact them and talk to them by phone. The main emphasis here is not business but rather spiritual affinity and divine friendship. i have seen people--even here--who seem to forget what the purpose is and engage in divisive activity. If we cannot agree to disagree it becomes a challenge. This issue goes beyond the current theme of this thread.

No; i don't think that is the case. Our host was also shut down as well.

I have given you my number more than once, if you lost it let me know. I agree the intent is spiritual. But again, I say the immediate need is to move this site to another host that is reliable, likely will have to pump the data into a different forum, not SMF, and then think about merges and features. Steps at a time, instead of one large one.

Just a joke. BTW I posted this twice the first time it vanished. I would be worried about data.

O.K.

About your other post...Thanks Jeff Yes i have your phone number programmed in my phone; it would b nice to connect again. You r welcome to phone me as well! Have a gig performing music tonite..... but we should connect soon again!

i am thinking out loud here. It might b that Shannon's art works 'expired' being from photo bucket. Is that possible Shannon?

i believe the scope of this discussion has gone beyond this thread so i will take it up at the top of the forum.

Hola! Not sure I understand the issue.  Do you mean sharing one photo repository between two boards?  The images at Yoganandaji are housed using a photo module for Drupal, and reside on the same dedicated server the board does.  The main site was actually built using Drupal (most people don't go through the main door, but there is an entire website on top of the board that has articles, photos, etc).   The board itself is using vBullitin.  The two work well together, and have been designed to be sympatico. I think you could link to images in that repository and have them appear elsewhere, but merging the two sites isn't really feasable. If you like, you could upload images there and have them appear in your header here.  Would have to look into that.  To be honest, I haven't touched my site since going to France.  I've forgotten even how to do basic things.  Need to refresh my own memory.

I began building websites and using the web in 1996. After that, my husband and I built a web hosting company with customers all over the world which we operated for the next ten years.  At one point we had over 1,000 customers.  All this to say, I have a lot of experience interacting with people on the web!  On my journey, I have found that when people don't respond to a post or an e-mail, it is best to assume innocence and not make assumptions.  There are dozens of reasons people don't reply immediately if at all; being disinterested in only one of them.  For instance, it is possible they did not see it, or if they did they did not have the time to reply at that moment, or perhaps they were choosing their words or contemplating what was written, etc.  Each person has their own unique communication style.  As for me, because of the business, I got a little burned out on the internet for awhile.  People, complete strangers, can send you long letters, ask questions, demand answers, etc - often without invitation.  At one point when I was an Admin on a poetry site I dreaded checking my inbox because I always had dozens of letters demanding a personal response.  Indepth getting to know yoou letters!  And that was supposed to be 'free' time!  In work, I had hundreds each day.  I also loathe the phone for that reason.  I still get an ache in my gut when I hear a phone ring, even now - because I had to be at beck and call 24/7 for so many years - usually for people who did not appreciate they were just one of many asking for something of me in my small world.  Ha ha.  I recentlly made a friend locally who is very nice, but she is a text-a-holic.  If I don't reply immediately to a text, her feelings get hurt.  I find that controlling.  I try to please her, but I have to be me, right?  Wonder if others have the same issues.

Peace out, s.

Shannon The only questions i found in your last post were about being u and the other one asking if others have the same issues. Yes i have had some of the same issues. Mostly related to communication with others. There r so many methods of communication these days;

1. phone
2. letter
3. text
4. email
5. personally being with someone
6. skype

This is to name a few. What i have found is that many of my friends will not communicate here on the Portal but like to text, text, text. They all have there excuses 'i don't do forums.' 'My computer is having problems.' 'Lost the password' etc. etc.  i will communicate the way other friends will communicate but isn't it fair then that they should do the same? Some do not feel the obligation to b fair. My God if i were to call or text all the people i know i would b on the phone nite and day. So forums r for me a good way of knowing more people. U can reach many more people. But if we want to be friends with others we need to respect their preferences in communication. If it does not work both ways someone will feel short changed.

Your opinion has been noted Shannon. However  would  u  also take mine into consideration? If u do not take the view that people r not currently interested u run a large risk of waking a venomous snake from a pit in the ground. i had one who even acted as though i was stalking her. When in fact i was simply being friendly as we had been for years in the past.

So i find it better to b safe then sorry. It is hard to know what lurks in the head of someone that isolates themselves or simply does not communicate. It is better to leave them alone until they show signs of interest and kindness.

Yes Jeff i have your number. In fact i called u last nite but the phone just rang and there was no voice mail. Your view here seems quite different then the view u held last time we talked. U had the view that we had a good thing going with SMF. This is an about face so i will most likely need to talk with u. Thanks.

Also it does not appear to me that this site has an SSL certificate, for logging in. Unless I'm not seeing some kind of module used when logging in. If not, passwords are being transmitted in the clear, which can easily be stolen. It also appears yoganandaji and yogananda.net do not either, as many of these forums do not. I guess they figure if the admin password is accessed, it's no big deal.

Example costs for godaddy:

$10 for domain transfer.
$48 per year for hosting for 3 years
$55 for 3 years SSL certificate.

Not bad really, but more than what you pay now I think. Also this SMF forum would have to be ported to a different forum engine, whatever that may end up being. My preference is something in .NET, not the standard PHP that is used for most all these forums nowadays.

Thank You for investigating. i have had many challenges with the gallery section of our forum. i am currently discussing this with SMF.: One of these is Shannon's paintings mysteriously disappearing. i was not too happy about that! Also limited space.

vbulliten (the software used for yoganandaji) hashes all passwords before submission.  Anyone trying to snoop would only see the hash.  Such is built into the software.  Perhaps the software here is similar, I don't know - am not familiar with it.  Encrypting the entire site when we collect no critical data (credit cards, etc) is overkill, methinks. SSLs are a lot cheaper now than they used to be, but I also believe in keeping it simple.  :-).

The password is hashed when inserted into the database, but the encryption of the password from my machine to the server during login is not, as far as I can tell, if so, I would like to see proof.

SSL is simple as can be. I have had no issues, slowdowns, or any problem. Stealing an admin password would be an issue, for me anyways.

And just to add my 10 cents...I agree with Shannon that SSL might be overkill but it wouldn't hurt if you want to pay extra. The SMF software looks to be built on ASP.NET not php. I assume you all aren't prepared to rebuild the software in php, so if you want to the SMF software the hosting plan will need to support running an ASP.NET application. Vbulletin, Shannon's site, is php software. I know what types of software these are because I have a chrome extension called 'BuiltWith' that tells you what kinds of things a site is built from.

(I have been learning web development for the past 2 years so it's funny to see y'all talking about all of this.) SpiritImage you are very knowledgable do you own a website?

Well while we wait for Jeff's answer. i just want to say that i thought you have learned quite a bit about the internet yourself Brock. Hope you will put up another scene here like you did before> It was great!

That's nice of you to say, Steve. I have learned some things but the internet is an overwhelming ocean of things to learn. It's amazing how complex it all is.

*catching up on previous posts*

Steve, the owl painting is really different - I've noticed it before.  The eyes are almost eerie.  You are blessed to have been given it.  I am sorry to hear the person who gave it to you died soon after.   :(

I am not sure what you mean about venomous snakes, but am guessing maybe you mean you attempted to continually contact someone with no response and they got angry at you for continuing to contact them?  I can see how such an experience would make one twice shy.  I've never lived that.  I have a cousin who cut me off ages ago.  I still have no idea why.  We were penpals for years and years.  I can't be angry with her - she must have a good reason even though I don't know what it is. She is a good person. I just give her space.  Maybe she will clue me in one day.  If that is the type of thing you are talking about, I get it.   :)

(http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad142/stevehydonus777/Mobile%20Uploads/20160124_125510_zpsgs32ofbm.jpg?1453693369467&1453693370424&1453693374033)

Shannon what can u tell me about the art work in this painting? Is it rather simple but somehow really grabs u?

It rather perplexes me that u seem to want to continue rather personal sentiments thru the public eye and not in a private context. i am not against it. It just seems difficult to know when i expose too much. It is rather a new way of communicating...these forums... we r developing discrimination and learning along the way...in all our communication.

You can apologize about comments made between u and someone u have known for sometime and try to understand another human being that u have been very close with... however sometimes it is not within them to accept this facet of your intentions. They remain determined to take you down. This kind of inner anger and unkind resentment... where does it originate? Can a human being that is making a conscious effort on the spiritual path really b responsible for another persons indignation??

It would b better if things were this way:

If you want to go
you can really go
Sent you
i sent you on your way

i saw here yesterday
She said that life was great
and everything was goin fine
she said " i wanna know"
Do you still go
and play every nite?
i said i understand.
You have a new man
and your with him
all of the time.
i guess we made a trade
and all that i can say
is our mistakes
turned out alrite

i said i wanna know
do you love me so?
Or am i just wastin my time?
i said u know me
i never disagree
with anything u have to say
i guess i need my space
a little time away
before i can say

SSL protects the password when transmitted over the wire. There is no overkill when it comes to security, but IME most folks do not understand, do not wish to understand, or simply do not care based on others' thoughts and based on many other sites that have "never had a problem". (famous last words).

This site I'm 99.99% sure it is PHP server side code. Most all these forums are. Why? Because it's also free. BuiltWith may show you the web server software used (which by the way can be obfuscated), in this case they may be using IIS which is Microsoft which might well imply .NET. However, it's simple to install PHP.exe on an IIS server.

No I don't own a website, and I hope I never do.

Also I would add that I wouldn't plan on rebuilding. Godaddy hosting accepts most any server side language you want to run, .NET, PHP, Java, etc.,

It's all about money though in the end for most folks. That's usually the case.

If you want a forum with nice features, flexible (meaning you can add custom code without huge hassle), no ads, etc., it will not be free. Either keep SMF and host it elsewhere, or host it elsewhere and port the data to a new engine. Some of the nicer ones I've seen lately use XenForo, for example.

Or leave it here and meditate for the best. This board and others like it are really small potatoes, they get a handful of posts each day, if that. You have to weigh the ROI.

Jeff i do not know why you say that this forum is free in one post and then in another that it isn't. It is not free. You have to pay for several things if you want it to look good and if you want memory for it's function. It would also help if you would use layman's terms instead of all the acronyms so we all could get a better grasp of whats goin down. Thanks.

OK cheaper than most, how's that?

Let me know what you dont understand. The abbreviations I used?

SMF  = this forum

.NET, PHP, Java = server side coding languages.

ROI = Return on investment.

XenForo = a forum software like this one, but more $$$

I had to drink my own medicine and refrain from using an admin account if I'm just posting. MS Windows suffered from this for years allowing everyone to log in as administrators, and when that account was compromise, of course they get admin permissions along with it.

 

Thanks.. sorry if i do the same when i talk about music. It would just b nice to b educated on somethings that quite frankly i knew very little about and just took a plunge.

You know, words are so powerful - more than most of us realize, I suspect.  They resonate and last - sometimes for years.  Some people let the words fly based on a passing emotion, especially when angry.  Later, when they realize how the power of those words may have impacted the other person, they might apologize sincerely... but the sting is still there.  It lasts.  Do that enough times, and the other person might believe in the power of the sting more than the power of the apology and stop responding.  The origin of the anger and the resentment depends on the rapport of the people.  Could be a clash of personalities.  Could be projections from childhood!  Could be someone is overly sensitive.  Could be someone is not sensitive enough. This is why it's better to assume innocence.  Might have nothing to do with you.  Might have everything to do with you.  Just because we believe we are spiritual doesn't mean we never behave like jerks!  Lol. 

On the other topic, I find that on the web, when one invites a stranger to correspond privately they sometimes feel at liberty to say completely inappropriate things - especially men.  Declarations of romantic love!  Unasked for advice based on not much! Temper tantrums, etc.   For some - not all - there is a sense of instant intimacy that is mostly imagined.   I don't like that.  Getting to know people takes time.  Not saying you personally would do such things, but it's sort of a habit I've developed. I prefer to get to know people out in the open first. I suspect I lived in Victorian times once - lol! Am kind of old fashioned. :)

The owl is beautiful - like you said, the eyes are very human-like.  Sensitive.  There is something lonely about it.  No, not lonely, raw.  Do you know who painted it?  The colors are washed out.  The focus is the eyes.  I think you nailed it in your description.  I see the same things.  :)

Look who snuck in the theater!  For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.

Nomaste Shannon

Sometime ago--over a month ago-- i wrote this in answer to your post. This is the "type of thing I am talking about" as you have mentioned above. Yes i agree with you; i believe we should 'allow people space'. Sometime ago i made this comment above:

"It rather perplexes me that u seem to want to continue rather personal sentiments thru the public eye and not in a private context. i am not against it. It just seems difficult to know when i expose too much. It is rather a new way of communicating...these forums... we r developing discrimination and learning along the way...in all our communication."

i do not always know the feelings of others and sometimes they do not express them until something has been said that offends or hurts  them. We often take precautions and ask but perhaps someone misinterprets our concerns or perhaps forgets. What ever the case; it is always best to qualify our statements by apologizing in advance for anything we may have said or done that we may not know about because we may have touched something in them that may be like a wound from the past. As you mentioned above we may not even know what we said or have done to cause people to "cut us off". i certainly am not always as sensitive as i could be to the feelings of others. It is a life long process i am learning along the way as i am sure we all are. Hope this makes sense.  :-[

What is hidden between the lines here is that retrocognition and precognition often fall into the very active presence of now with clarity and recognition.