New Series No. 7

Chris Ott Hub

New Series No. 6

How RDR2 Leaves Players Feeling

Game reactor LuminEska narrates over the end credits of Red Dead Redemption 2 and does a beautiful job describing her feelings.

The Evolution of Perception

The Evolution of Perception & The Cosmology of Substance: A Simpler Theory of Everything – June 24, 2004.

Chris Ott considers our current philosophical problems to be the tragic result of psychological fallacies as old as Plato. He offers a new explanation for the universe that relies simply on an evolution of perception. His theory succeeds at accounting for the physical as well as the psychological--including mathematics, natural law, concrete objects, language, thought, and culture. A spellbinding journey to the roots of our assumptions. 

Download for Free

A nice photo of me taken by my girlfriend at the time, Alison Fowler, right about the time I started writing The Evolution of Perception in 2003. Alison also took the photo on the book's cover.

Alison was not very supportive of my occupation with philosophy and we broke up shortly after. She did, however, graciously give me permission to use the photo for the cover.

Composite song

 

Composite of Joan Osborne singing One of Us and Mason Jennings singing I Love You And Buddha Too, both recorded around the year my daughter was born in 1995.

New Series No. 5

John Marston avenges the death of Arthur Morgan

Jolene

Arthur's Confession to Nun | Red Dead Redemption 2

One of the most famous scenes near the end of Red Dead Redemption II and one of the best turning-point scenes ever made. It is the point in the game where the story earns its title -- often only seen after a year or more of playing when players are most immersed. Many people have said playing Red Dead Redemption II changed the way they live their lives. 

Eralia

Hi, I'm Eralia! 🌸

I keep everything on one channel! I am a creative spirit at heart; I always have a lot of ideas and energy to send out into the world. You might find gaming, movies, TV, music, my podcast (The Eralia Show), my own music and/or art someday here... the possibilities are endless, and don't forget, you are limitless!

– Eralia

Original site

New Series No. 4

Full Series

New Series No. 3

Full Series

Wim Wenders on Yasujiro Ozu

Wim Wenders considers Yasujirō Ozu "a sacred treasure of cinema" and his greatest master. He has frequently described Ozu's films as representing a "lost paradise" of pure cinema, noting that no filmmaker has ever shown more tenderness, love for their subjects, and love for life.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us

Cello Music

A Hendyamps Studios Production

With Aimee Norris

“Beginning to End” Act II

New Series No. 2

I talk about the history of the tradition of mystic schools and how they undergird the religions. And I talk about EOP in this light. Shot on June 19, 2026.

Full Series

Angelina Jordan - I Have Nothing

Angelina Jordan at llsang på Grensen (Sing at the Border) event in Halden, Norway on July 22, 2022. She was 16 years old.

Adele - Someone Like You

Gesu Bambino - Amira Willighagen

In February 2023, on a trip to Europe, Amira Willighagen, along with her father Gerrit and her boyfriend DJ entered a church. Her father sat at the organ as DJ filmed Amira sing this spontaneous rendition of the Italian Christian carol Gesu Bambino on his cell phone.

A few months later, I had the privilege of meeting Amira in a small cafe in Rutledge, Georgia. The cafe was called Tomorrow Cafe. There I shot this two minute clip of her conversing with some people there about an upcoming performance as we waited for our food. She was 19 years old. She definitely had a vibe about her.

And here is Amira with her boyfriend at the time, DJ, who took the video of her singing in the church. She has a new boyfriend now.

Always Remember Us This Way ('A Star is Born')

K-Pop : LE SERAPHIM

THE SERAPHIMS

March 17, 2025

Visual Creative Team Leader : Yoon Cho

Content Production : Yurok Jang, Haerin An, Jiwon Choi, Seoyoon Lee

Style Directing : Soo Lee, Jay Kim, Hye Lin Im

Brand Experience Design : Yoovin Baek, Hyemin Yoo, Myungryol Shin

A&R : Kyu Kim, Jerry Kim, Ann Park, Jennie Lee

Choreography : Soyeon Park, Yunji Park

Performance Director : Soyeon Park

Assistant Director : Yunji Park, Yejin Lee

Director : GEEEEMBO, Yurok Jang

Assistant Director : Jiwon Choi

Producer : Hong Youngpyo (Sometimes Lucky)

Line Producer : Lee Kwanhyung, Ahn Yuha

Production Assistants : Park Mingyu, Lim Chaehoon, Yang Jeongryeol, Kim Junsu, Jo

Geonyul, Choi Jiyoung

Director of Photography : Seo Giung (Line of Sight)

Focus Puller : Lee Seungjong

2nd AC : Yang Hyukjae

DIT : Jun Juhwan

3rd AC : Cha Junsung

Gaffer : Yoon Seungnam

Lighting Assistants : Hong Inkuk, Kim Taeyoung, Kim Minjoon, Seong Woojin, Kim Siyoung,

Son Juyong, Kim Jaeyeon, Park Sangwoo

Electrician : Hwang Inman

Jimmy Jib Operator : Kim Kitae

Jimmy Jib Assistants : Bing Junghyun, Lee Jaesung, Kim Hyungmi

Art Departments : RE.KINDLE, ABR

Art Director : Jeon Minkyu

Art Team Leaders : Kang Minwoo, Lee Subin

Art Team : Kim Hantae, Eom Yejin, Park Hyunbin, Lee Jinseo, Ji Sunghee, Park Inbeom

Colorist : Jeon Hwadong (LUCID COLOUR)

DI Assistant : Lee Minkyung

Beauty Compositing : Go Moonyoung (Emotion Creative)

Production : Sometimes Lucky

Seraph, Seraphim (plural) : an angelic being, regarded in traditional Christian angelology as belonging to the highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity.

New Series No. 1

A Tribute to Dr. Richard Lee

Dr. Richard N. Lee was my thesis director for my master's in philosophy in 2000 and 2001. He suggested the title for my thesis, "Refutations of Idealism," which you can download here. Dr. Lee had his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

My thesis was largely on George Berkeley and G. E. Moore. Lee had written a paper prior on Berkeley titled "What Berkeley’s Notions Are," published in Volume 20, Issue 1 of Idealistic Studies in 1990. So I felt confident he was well-suited for the material I wanted to focus on. I cited his article in my paper.

This photograph of me was taken about that time by my friend Carla Gray outside Carlson Terrace. I was 42 at the time. Looking back, those were stressful but happy times.

Since that time I have written six books and a myriad of papers on the subject of idealism, and develop my own theory which I call the evolution of perception. None of it would have been possible without the help of my many professors, especially Richard Lee.

EOP Trilogy : The three original books on the evolution of perception concept

Chris Ott with a proof copy of EOP Trilogy

Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2025
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8308474951
386 pages  Available on Amazon

EOP Trilogy is a collector's edition of the original three books by Christopher Ott on the concept of an evolution of perception. Included in this collection are The Evolution of Perception and the Cosmology of Substance (2004), Evolution of Perception Re-Explained (2021), and Further Reflections (2024). The idea of an evolution of perception succeeds at accounting for the physical as well as the psychological--including mathematics, natural law, concrete objects, language, thought, and culture. 

Meher Baba's Theme of Creation

Meher Baba's Theme of Creation, sometimes called The Advancing Stream of Life, was one of his greatest works, and is explained in full in his 1955 book, God Speaks: The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose.

"Like Beads on One String." Meher Baba, Paramount Newsreel, 1932

Meher Baba was filmed for this Paramount Newsreel clip in London on April 8, 1932. The first screening was in London on September 14, 1932. Paramount Studios screened the newsreel in 500 cinemas in England and more than 3000 in America. 

Meher Baba previews the edited newsreel segment at Paramount before release.

Immersion Compilation

"Baby One More Time"

Britney Spears at 17 singing "Baby One More Time" on the Dini Petty Show four days after the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. She had just become a star. It was 1999.

God in a Pill

Timothy Leary lies about what Baba said about mind altering drugs like L.S.D. For Baba's actual words see God In A Pill (1966). Footage was shot by Dutch company Spectrum Film in Millbrook, New York in 1967. 

Selected Essays 2nd Series

Thirty eight essays by Christopher Ott, author of The Evolution of Perception and the Cosmology of Substance. Essays on causation, the Soul, God, philosophy of mind, science, perception, motion pictures, and the teachings of Meher Baba. Available on Amazon.

Selected Essays: Second Series

Publication date 06/08/2026

ISBN: 9798180512468

Softback

354 pages

INTRODUCTION TO 2ND SERIES 

ABOUT MYSELF & THE GENESIS OF EOP 

SUPERSTITION HAUNTS RELIGIONS AND SCIENCES ALIKE 

TWELVE PRINCIPLES OF EOP 

WHY THINGS FEEL SOLID 

HOW I THINK IDEAS ARE DISPENSED TO THE WORLD

WHAT WILL PROFESSIONAL PHILOSOPHERS THINK OF EOP? 

THE ONLY REALISTIC WAY MEHER BABA’S THEME

COULD BE SPREAD TO THE WORLD & BE ACCEPTED

MEHER BABA’S MOVIE 

“YOUNG PEOPLE THESE DAYS” 

WHAT IS REAL? 

FREE WILL 

THE TWO-WORLD VIEW 

SELECTED ESSAYS

A RETURN TO CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES AND THE

END OF GASLIGHTING 

BEWARE OF THEORIES 

EXPLAINING WHAT EOP IS ALL 

AN INTERPRETATION OF MEHER BABA’S 1958 UNIVERSAL MESSAGE 

WHERE DOES MEHER BABA’S TEACHING FIT INTO

THE LARGER PICTURE OF RELIGIONS AND MYSTICAL

SCHOOLS AND WHERE DOES EOP FIT INTO IT?

WILL A RELIGION FORM AROUND THE TEACHINGS OF MEHER BABA? 

REFLECTIONS ON ‘THE EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTION’ 22 YEARS AFTER 

EVIDENCE 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VEIL 

THE UNFOLDING HUMAN FORM 

THE FACTOR OF TIME 

DIMINUTION OF MIND 

DIFFERENT WAYS THE WORD “MATTER” IS USED

SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY 

MYTH AND MENTAL STRUCTURES 

OPERATIONS OF THE MIND 

ROLE OF THE EGO 

SPIRITUAL DEATH AND SPIRITUAL LIFE 

HEAD AND HEART 

SELECTED ESSAYS

POSITIVE SKEPTICISM 

GOD SEAKS HIMSELF 

ESSENTIALS OF A SPIRITUAL METAPHYSICS 

SPEAKING PLAINLY 

SEEING THROUGH AND SEEING AS 

THE HOLY BOOK OF SCIENCE 

THE DEEPER ASPECTS OF FORM 

Selected Essays

Selected Essays
Hardback
Published March 12, 2026
288 pages
ISBN: 9798251806427

Forty seven essays by Christopher Ott, author of The Evolution of Perception and the Cosmology of Substance. Essays on causation, the Soul, God, philosophy of mind, science, perception, and the teachings of Meher Baba. Available on Amazon.

INTRODUCING MY WRITINGS

EOP EXPLAINED SIMPLY 

WHAT I MEAN BY LENSES

HISTORICAL FALLACY

THE IMPLICATIONS OF SANSKARAS

HOW SANSKARAS OBVIATE MUCH OF POP

PSYCHOLOGY

MEHER BABA’S MESSAGE & MISSION

BABA’S TEACHING IS UNIQUE

IS BABA GOD?

CLARIFICATION REGARDING “FURTHER REFLECTIONS”

A NEW EXPLANATION OF DUAL SEXES IN EVOLUTION

THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION ACCORDING TO MEHR BABA

EOP THE ONLY NEW METAPHYSICAL IDEA

HOW EOP HELPS US UNDERSTAND MEHER BABA’S TEACHING

BEWARE OF IDIOMS

PROJECTION OF INTERNALITY & EXTERNALITY

HOW PROJECTION LEADS TO POORLY THOUGHT–OUT PHILOSOPHY

WHY INTELLIGENCE HAD TO PRECEDE THE UNIVERSE

THE PERSONAL GOD ACCORDING TO MEHER BABA

THE ILLUSION THAT SUSTAINS REALITY

THE MATTER PARADOX

GOD SPEAKING MAY REFER TO GOD REVEALING

THREE SENSES OF GOD OVER HISTORY

IS THE BIG BANG REALLY A PROCESS?

SOLVING THE SOCRATIC PARADOX

QUESTIONS IDEALISTS DON’T EVEN TRY TO ANSWER

DISTINGUISHING EOP FROM WRONG CONCEPTIONS OF IT

IMMINENCE IN HINDUISM VS. EOP

ETHICS IN THE ADVANCING STREAM OF LIFE

WE DON’T HAVE KARMA; WE ARE OUR KARMA

DARWIN VS. MEHER BABA ON EVOLUTION

SOME MINOR DETAILS ON SOULS

THE SOUL VS. THE SUBTLE BODY

HOW LIFE BEGAN

WHERE IS BABA NOW?

LANGUAGE, REASON, & SOPHISTRY

WHY I FOLLOW MEHER BABA

THE PROBLEM WITH POSSIBILITY & WHY IT MATTERS

THE PROMINENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN MEHER BABA’S SYSTEM

THE VOCABULARY & MEANING OF THE PSYCHIC EMERGENT UNIVERSE

WHY MATERIALISM DOESN’T WORK

PERCEPTUAL ALGORITHMS

INDUCTION IS AN INTUITION & WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS ARE

WHY I HARP ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS

WHY EOP MATTERS

FULL SUMMARY

The other side of the veil

In the Middle East women have sometimes worn veils. In the West there is the same tradition of women at weddings or when mourning a loved one. These traditions are mostly in the past. But from them we get an analogy often used in mysticism. This is the analogy of not seeing reality as it really is due to a veil that separates us from it. 

But this analogy is unfortunate, for it has led to many misunderstandings about the nature of reality, and even led to superstition. It is from this analogy that we get the notion of crossing over to "the other side," "portals," and "other dimensions." The Doors sang a song that people mistook as being mystical where the title and chorus was "break on through to the other side." People took drugs thinking they were lifting their consciousness and seeing through the veil. They weren't. They were simply mucking up their neural sense apparatus and having hallucinations with no meaning whatsoever. 

It is not that a veil prevents you from seeing higher aspects of reality and finally reality itself, but that distortions caused by your own perceptual schemas do. Perceptual schemas refers to your conditioning or sanskaras. So it is the removing of your own conditioning that reveals reality. That reality is all around you and you are not separated from it by any veil.

This concept is captured in a quote by William Blake that I continually quote. 

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern."

LSD promoters changed this meaning. Blake meant that spiritual and artistic clarity allows humans to see the divine truth already present in the ordinary world. Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and others shifted the meaning from a metaphor for spiritual purification into a literal description of drug-induced experiences. Obviously no drug in your brain can cleans your conditioning. It can only cloud it further. It becomes the veil.

Hippies "tripping" on acid in the 1960s

In Meher Baba's teaching there are not two worlds with a barrier standing between them. This is shear superstition. Reality is not that kind of thing. It is eternally present. You veil yourself from it by your own thinking. The veil in real mysticism means the veil of ignorance.

"You yourself are your own veil, Hafez. Remove yourself!" – Hafez

The Unfolding Human Form According to Meher Baba

Meher Baba described the evolution of forms (shapes) from the atom form to the human form in an unusual way. He described the series of forms that we see in evolution as an unfolding of the human form, which was latent from the beginning. For Baba, evolution of forms is actually the story of the human form being unpacked. This does not appear to be an analogy by Baba, but an actual case of ‘as above, so below.’ The increase of consciousness is reflected in the changing forms. Sources where Baba describes this unfolding of the human form can be found in Lord Meher, 1986 print edition, p. 976, and Intelligence Notebooks, p. 208.

Before describing this unfolding, let me preface this by making a couple of points. First is that the word “evolution” literally comes from Latin meaning ‘unfolding’ or ‘the unrolling of a book.’ Second, Baba often referred to the human form as the perfect form, and the only form in which one can be God-realized.

The idea that the human form is perfect is not new. It is a major theme in sacred geometry. For example, the famous Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci is meant to show the perfect proportions of a man. This is demonstrated by showing that with arms and legs diagonally protruded a perfect circle can be drawn while placing the focus of a compass on the navel. And with arms held horizontally and legs held straight a perfect square can be drawn. The perfect circle and perfect square are symbolic of heaven and earth (or oneness and duality) in sacred geometry, making the human form a representation of the idea of the meeting of the sacred and profane, or where earth meets heaven. This perfection of geometry found in the human form is not found in any other form in evolution.

So this is the unfolding and turning over of the form in evolution according to Baba:

The first form is bound up in a ball like a stone, though it really contains the human form latently within it. 

Next this unfolds as a plant standing erect, but it is upside down of the human form. The stamen and pistol (sex organs) face up toward the sky and are between its petals - as that of a man’s are between his legs and face down toward the earth.

Likewise, as our arms are near the top of our form and reach around us for sustenance, the “arms” of a plant are its roots reaching down into the soil for sustenance. It is as if the plant’s legs are in the air and its arms reach downward into the earth.

This form then falls down and becomes recumbent again, though now as a worm or bug crawling horizontally on the ground. 

From this position, the changing form begins a slow rise from its horizontal position to a more and more vertical one as it moves gradually toward full erect stance. At last as an ape it is nearly upright, although in the opposite direction from a plant.   

Finally, in human form, it has become fully upright, reflecting that it is fully conscious.

This could seem preposterous to a contemporary educated person conditioned to believe the human form is the accidental result of billions of random mutations over time and natural selection by a series of untold accidents. But this is what Meher Baba said.

Note that this evolution described by Baba still took place over millions of years. This has nothing to do with creationism.

Pray For Lebanon

Goodbye Tel Aviv

Prophesies by Meher Baba that could be about the present time

All countries will suffer untold disaster, but America will survive a little more than the rest of the world. I will then break my silence, after which there will be my Universal Manifestation and the world will come to know Who I am. (Lord Meher Online Edition Page 5157, said in 1965)

Sixty years after I drop my body [Next presidential inauguration, 2029], you will find what wonderful changes take place in the world and how many people will take my name. There will be thousands who will sacrifice their very life in my name. But how fortunate you are that I am in your midst, that you are sitting before me and I am telling you to take my name when about to pass away! There will be no one to tell them to take my name after 60 years. (Lord Meher Online version p. 3832)

Sixty years after my body drops, people in the thousands will come here and will collect even the very dust of this Meherabad because I have trod on it. They will pay me homage and reverence." (Lord Meher Online version p. 3812)

Meher Baba taught that humanity will only give up war and conflict when collective suffering and exhaustion from fighting make everyone "sick of wanting and sick of fighting out of hatred". He described this global fatigue as the natural conclusion to the cycle of human egocentricity. He stated that greed and hatred would reach such intense, explosive levels that mankind will eventually become totally weary of them. In describing the outcome of this weariness, He explained that everyone will go "half-dead" and exhausted, leading to a point where "no one wins, no one loses; all will be half-dead". Once humanity reaches this breaking point and is "simply sick of it all," the only alternative left will be to "stop hating and to love, to stop wanting and to give, to stop fighting and to be at peace".

https://www.avatarmeher.org/they-must-get-sick-of-it-all/

These latter short excerpts are from 1940. Yet, many now believe we have been in one long war since 1914 to today. Hence, these quotes may still apply.

Stand With Gaza

Eleven Chronological Stages in the Progress from the Original State of God, to after the dropping of the body of a Perfect Master

1. (State 1 in TSOG) God in the Beyond Beyond State. God’s original state. Same as Sound Sleep. This state is entirely beyond any human conception. In this original state of God, even the prospect of consciousness is inconceivable.

2. (State 2A in TSOG) God in the Beyond State. God state before the Creation, before the soul (which is God) begins its journey. In the Beginning, when the Whim surges, both the unconscious and the conscious substates manifest simultaneously. It doesn’t matter that there is no realized “inhabitant” yet in the conscious substrate. The laws and the forms they create are latent in this Beyond State and when the Whim surges, they become attributes of the Universal Mind. According to these laws the subtle and the gross take form. In EOP they appear as lenses that are formed after Time and Space condition Perception. But Time, Space and Laws are just conditioning of Perception, they do not take any form. But when they manifest they form the percept. My colleague Stelios Karvias correctly points out that it is important to keep 2A, 2B, and 2C as one whole state because it is the tension of A towards B that brings about State 3. See The Ten States of God. It is this state that asks "Who Am I?"

3. (State 3 in TSOG) God as Emanator, Sustainer and Dissolver.

4. (State 4 in TSOG) God experiences Itself as the first three semi-gaseous, not quite physical, forms. “It is so very infinitely shapeless and substanceless, matterless and formless that it cannot lead one even to imagine that it is gross. Yet this form is the very first gross form that emerges simultaneously as if in three prongs, as the first three of the foremost seven "gas-like" forms.” This three-pronged semi-gaseous form is what scientists term the Quark. These first three forms have no evolution. Evolution begins with the fourth gas-like form in State 5 below.

5. 
   (State 5 in TSOG): God experiencing Itself in Evolution, from the fourth gas-like form (hydrogen atom is the seventh) up to monkey, whereby God as soul acquires consciousness. Baba has it that consciousness starts very gradually from the first gaseous states. In atom form it is almost nil. “Evolution begins with the fourth gas-like form.” Hydrogen is the 7th gas-like form and is the first to have an electron.
   

6. (State 6 in TSOG): God experiencing Itself as a human being in reincarnation, fully conscious but not yet on the spiritual path – trapped entirely in Maya with entirely material interests.

7. (State 7 in TSOG): God experiencing Itself as a human being on the spiritual path, still with a physical body, but with exotic internal experiences beyond ordinary gross experience. Less Maya, but still Maya.

8. (State 8 and 2B in TSOG):  Majzoobiat. In this state only God (or Self) is experienced, and not the Illusion. Maya is wiped out for that soul. This is the same as State 2B below.(State 9 in TSOG):  A person experiencing a state between Majzoob and Salik.

9. (State 2C and 10 in TSOG) State of God experienced by the living embodied Perfect Master or the Avatar while he is in a physical body on Earth, who takes experience of Reality and the Illusion at the same time in order to help emancipate souls.

10. 
    (2B and State 8 in TSOG) Fourth Journey, Vidnyan or Shambhala. State that the Avatar and all God-realized souls pass away into when they die. 4th Journey. Eternal Bliss. Power, knowledge, bliss but not used. God experiences Himself, but not the Illusion. For perfect masters substate 2B comes chronologically after substate 2C. It is the resting place of the masters, the Gray Havens in LOTR. Same as Majzoob State. From the point of view of the Majzoob, even in a body, there is no time and no journey. (Source)
    
    

"He returns to the door from which he first came out, although in his journey he went from door to door." (GS, p.170)

Seeing, experiencing, and thinking in I.I.

Seeing, experiencing, and thinking are all the same thing in the Intelligence Notebooks. 

Jamshed (Infinite Intelligence) is in the most seeing (thinking) state.

Intelligence Notebooks, p. 116

Jamshed (Infinite Intelligence) having received the Infinite enformed subtle and gross body opposite his eye (thinking) sees (experiences, thinks) his Infinite enformed shadow (universe, Imagination) through that from.

Jamshed's eye sees means Infinite Intelligence's mind thinks. Jamshed, his eye, and his seeing, are all one and the same. 

Intelligence Notebooks, p. 119

Only the one who is thinking, the one who is seeing, is real. 

Intelligence Notebooks, Folio 2, p. 7

 

Red Dead Redemption 2 Ruined Gaming Forever

The Folk Religion of the Meher Baba Followers in America

A folk religion is a set of spiritual beliefs and practices particular to a community and not affiliated with any major religion or religious institution.

Baba lovers deifying each other

The Meher Baba community in America is currently a classical case of a folk religion. Here I wish to itemize its principal beliefs and practices that can only be explained in terms of folk religion, as they are not found anywhere in Baba’s own teaching — and in fact he spoke against many of them.

The motivations of a folk religion are psychological. Practices and beliefs emerge from a community because they satisfy some basic psychological need or because they are carried over from past traditions. Folk religions have no centralized authority, they arise from the community naturally and are based on repetition and imitation.

Some of the psychological needs that motivate folk religions in general, and the Meher Baba folk religion in particular, are the need for blessings, for a sense of belonging, for a sense of protection, and a desire to know the future to prevent harm to oneself.

These needs are met in the Baba community by:

1. A focus on astrology, palmistry, and reference to psychics
2. A focus on dreams and visions
3. Channeling, also known as theurgy
4. Thoughts of death of loved ones in terms of ‘joining Baba’ in an afterlife
5. Belief in Baba as an ascended master that can be contacted to give blessings and protect you
6. Performing Dhunis and other rituals
7. Habitually using phrases picked up from Indians and normalized, such as saying “kindly” before a request
8. Adamantly not teaching their children what Baba taught, and usually not knowing themselves
9. Ranking people according to money
10. Obsessing on dead mandali
11. A belief in Atlantis and forbidden archeology
12. Hating Christianity and Islam
13. A naive insistance on Bible conspiracies
14. Obsessing on their own members

Am I implying there is something wrong with a folk religion. No. It is inevitable that folk religions evolve where there is no strong central authority -- as in the Baba world. 

But it explains the practices and beliefs that don't come from Baba's teachings or suggestions. And so it solves a mystery.

It also answers the question of why the above things don't interest me. I tend to focus on what Baba taught, on his teachings. I get pleasure from that. I can't even imagine following the practices and beliefs of a group that is inventing beliefs and rituals as it goes along and expecting people to follow out of ordinary herd instinct, or out of anxieties or desires they are expected to have. I don't share those anxieties or desires.

There are two alternatives to fitting into a folk religion. One is joining an organized religion and the other is to become a mystic. I have always approved of religion for what it tries to do, but could never personally belong to one. Just like I don't think I could fit into any large corporation. I'm kind of doomed to follow the personal path of a mystic. One could say it picked me more than I picked it. I fell into it by default because my interest in truth was greater than my interest in local approval. But most people will never feel that interested in truth. This leaves religion and folk religion as the only choices for most. And then there are people who aren't drawn to either and simply pursue ordinary things of the world.