<![CDATA[Bring4th - Bring4th Guidelines & Principles]]>

<![CDATA[Bring4th - Bring4th Guidelines & Principles]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/ Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:18:23 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Community Stewardship Mission & Principles]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=19034 Mon, 29 Mar 2021 23:31:09 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=19034 Community Stewardship Circle - Mission and Principles

Our Mission: To steward Bring4th with impartiality, humility, integrity, and compassion, fostering a sanctuary for individuals from all walks of life to share inspiration, love, and wisdom through the lens of the Law of One.

The Community Stewardship Circle (CSC) is a community-sourced and community-run circle of stewards who lovingly serve Bring4th’s online community. The CSC is made up of regular Bring4th members who have shown love of Law of One study, alongside a deep and enduring sense of responsibility and care for the Bring4th membership.

The CSC is dedicated to fulfilling Bring4th’s designed purpose of providing space for the greatest range of free expression, while also ensuring that our collective agreement to adhere to the guidelines is honored.

CSC stewards act as representatives of L/L Research’s (L/L's) mission and vision in the Bring4th ecosystem. By working towards this goal, the CSC will naturally extend and amplify the reach of L/L’s service to seekers and wanderers.

The CSC wishes to facilitate open communication between stewards and the Bring4th membership to encourage feedback and active participation in the cultivation of our community. Together we can foster a culture which aims to:
- take greater responsibility for its environment
- be friendly and respectful to all those who wander this way
- work through disagreement in good faith and with sincerity
- offer service to each other
- energize the forums with service-to-other intentions
- help lighten planetary vibrations

The CSC works collaboratively through a process of discovery, deliberation and reaching consensus. The CSC has autonomous agency to build and conduct its own procedures in the following:
- terms and eligibility of roles
- division and rotation of duties
- eligibility for stewardship, as well as policy for on/off-boarding stewards
- how to interpret and enforce community guidelines
- how to communicate to members
- how to care for the needs of the community

The CSC works in partnership with L/L to ensure alignment with their mission and vision. This relationship allows the CSC to request or advocate for changes to:
- guidelines, principles and moderator documents
- forum structure, including the organization of sub-forums
- membership registration procedures
- expanding the size of the moderator circle

L/L will take on an advisory role while maintaining the financial and technical support of Bring4th’s infrastructure. L/L will continue to offer counsel, support and action whenever needed, as well as helping the Bring4th community in every way it can.]]> <![CDATA[Directory of Bring4th Staff]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11937 Sat, 17 Oct 2015 14:58:33 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11937 Directory of Bring4th Staff

---------------Community Stewardship Circle-----------------------

Aion: A highly committed dilettante of the arcane and mundane arts, pursuing both nothing and everything because, hey, it's all One anyways.

Diana: Fringe dweller. Claims to know nothing but has endless fun speculating about the nature of existence. She haunts, rather than explicates.

Flofrog: A really silly painter, but totally in love with her little Ra material.

Louisabell: Student of mystery, solver of problems, systems thinker, navigates ambiguity in the balance between the known and the unknown, but is mostly just a nerd.

Patrick: Spiritual scientist, programmer and not exactly sure how he landed on this planet, but he's enjoying the ride.

Spaced: Player of games, part-time mystic and know-nothing-know-it-all.

---------------Webmaster----------------------------------------------

Bring4th_Steve – Webmaster of L/L Research. Best person you've never met. Tells good stories with pipe, robe, slippers, and fireplace. *If you need something of Steve, please contact Austin or Steppingfeet (Gary).

---------------L/L Directors---------------------------------------------

Austin – Co-Director of L/L Research, can help with questions pertaining to L/L Research, the forums, or the next octave. Favorite band: Queen. Favorite distortion: the first one.

Steppingfeet – Co-Director of L/L Research, can help with all L/L Research-related questions. The mystic in him calls him to silence as his feet call him to the national parks in his love of natural beauty and need for nature on the grand scale. Also has consumed life in quest for unlimited cache of peanut butter rumored to exist deep in the mountains.

---------------Somewhat Sentient Life-------------------------------

Bring4th_Stewardship – Impersonal Website Steward account, it is the portal through which energies from other dimensions move into our own. Also used by the stewardship circle for moderator purposes.

Bring4th_Admin – Impersonal Website Admin account, it is a social memory complex consisting of every great mind who ever lived. Also used for Bring4th superstructure and announcements.

---------------Founders------------------------------------------------

Bring4th_Jim – rock and president of L/L Research, Carla's husband, and scribe for the Ra Contact. Does not physically age, believed to be seven hundred years old.

Bring4th_Carlalisbeth – co-founder of, primary channel for, and the inspirational heart at the center of L/L Research. Indomitable spirit which cannot be stolen to negative time/space. Carla passed away in April, 2015.

Click here to send a message to one or all of the staff members.]]> Directory of Bring4th Staff

---------------Community Stewardship Circle-----------------------

Aion: A highly committed dilettante of the arcane and mundane arts, pursuing both nothing and everything because, hey, it's all One anyways.

Diana: Fringe dweller. Claims to know nothing but has endless fun speculating about the nature of existence. She haunts, rather than explicates.

Flofrog: A really silly painter, but totally in love with her little Ra material.

Louisabell: Student of mystery, solver of problems, systems thinker, navigates ambiguity in the balance between the known and the unknown, but is mostly just a nerd.

Patrick: Spiritual scientist, programmer and not exactly sure how he landed on this planet, but he's enjoying the ride.

Spaced: Player of games, part-time mystic and know-nothing-know-it-all.

---------------Webmaster----------------------------------------------

Bring4th_Steve – Webmaster of L/L Research. Best person you've never met. Tells good stories with pipe, robe, slippers, and fireplace. *If you need something of Steve, please contact Austin or Steppingfeet (Gary).

---------------L/L Directors---------------------------------------------

Austin – Co-Director of L/L Research, can help with questions pertaining to L/L Research, the forums, or the next octave. Favorite band: Queen. Favorite distortion: the first one.

Steppingfeet – Co-Director of L/L Research, can help with all L/L Research-related questions. The mystic in him calls him to silence as his feet call him to the national parks in his love of natural beauty and need for nature on the grand scale. Also has consumed life in quest for unlimited cache of peanut butter rumored to exist deep in the mountains.

---------------Somewhat Sentient Life-------------------------------

Bring4th_Stewardship – Impersonal Website Steward account, it is the portal through which energies from other dimensions move into our own. Also used by the stewardship circle for moderator purposes.

Bring4th_Admin – Impersonal Website Admin account, it is a social memory complex consisting of every great mind who ever lived. Also used for Bring4th superstructure and announcements.

---------------Founders------------------------------------------------

Bring4th_Jim – rock and president of L/L Research, Carla's husband, and scribe for the Ra Contact. Does not physically age, believed to be seven hundred years old.

Bring4th_Carlalisbeth – co-founder of, primary channel for, and the inspirational heart at the center of L/L Research. Indomitable spirit which cannot be stolen to negative time/space. Carla passed away in April, 2015.

Click here to send a message to one or all of the staff members.]]> <![CDATA[Navigating the Forums]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11934 Fri, 16 Oct 2015 19:20:24 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11934 Category Divisions
You’ll find the primary forums divided into three different sections, each with their unique purpose. While the guidelines apply to all forums, there are more nuanced posting requirements for each section which we ask members to consider.

Bring4th Studies
The Studies portion of Bring4th is a space of intentional and focused discussion. Threads posted within the forums under the Studies category are posted with the purpose of really digging into a topic and exploring it from varying perspectives. Because of this focus, posts are moderated in a slightly stricter fashion than in the Community portion of the forums. Each post should be contemplated and crafted carefully and intentionally. Posts may contain a wide variety of differing perspectives informed by unique experiences, so long as each perspective contributes something meaningful and relevant to the discussion.

Members should avoid posts such as:

offhand comments
drastic shifts in topic
simple agreement or disagreement
funny pictures or memes
or anything that doesn’t contribute a new idea or perspective to the discussion.

While there is no minimum word length requirement for each posts, members are encouraged to thoroughly contemplate and consider a topic before posting.

This is not to discourage anyone from sharing their opinion or perspective! Every seeker has a unique path and something meaningful to contribute to discussion. The higher standard for posts in this section are meant to give greater focus to the study at hand, and to avoid topics being overrun by short one-off comments or side-discussions.

However, if this style of study isn’t your desire, have no worries. There is an equally important section of the forums for people to relax a bit and simply connect with other seekers without the focus on intensive spiritual study: Community!

Bring4th Community
This section of the forums will be moderated a bit more laxly. That is not to say that this is the Wild West of Bring4th. The general guidelines still apply every bit as much as they do in all other places in the forums. Posts should still be on-topic, considerate, and respectful of the discussion at hand. Comments of a more jovial nature are fine, so long as the discussion doesn’t become completely derailed by short quips, silly comments, pictures of cats (except, of course, in the cat picture thread), or any random thought that pops into your head.

This section is meant to help seekers and wanderers connect and bring our community together. It’s where we can discuss things of a light-hearted nature with our friends and get to know each other in a more personal sense, rather than focus on spiritual study.

Bring4th Meta
This collection of forums is regarding the forum and the community itself, from guidelines, to moderator documents, to discussion about interpersonal relationships within the community itself. If it’s about Bring4th or its members, it likely belongs somewhere in this section. Topics for this section may include: bug reports, technical questions, forum announcements, member suggestions, moderator information and documentation, interpersonal discussion, culture analysis, and more.

Specific Forums

Despite each forum’s description on the main forum page, there may be some confusion around which forum is appropriate for a particular thread. Here is a basic breakdown of some of the trickier forums:

Spiritual Development & Metaphysical Matters
This forum is intended for discussing topics regarding one’s personal spiritual development (a yellow-ray chakra blockage, a relationship question, your meditation practice, etc.) or to discuss specific topics about spiritual metaphysics (reincarnation, energy centers, spiritual systems, etc.).

Discussion should be slanted towards the spiritual side of all things discussed, delving beneath the surface and digging into the spiritual heart of the topic at hand. Threads and posts should be geared towards open discourse and expounding from one’s own personal perspective, knowledge, or experience of the subject. Simpler, more light-hearted threads that don’t lend themselves to this type of discourse have a safe home elsewhere on the forum, such as the Olio forum.

Olio
The word “olio” essentially means a collection of miscellaneous things. The broad scope of the definition is intended to imply that this is sort of a “catch-all” forum. Chances are if you don’t feel like a thread you would like to post belongs in any other forum, this is the place to put it. There are no topics that are necessarily improper to post in Olio (given alignment with the guidelines). A thread may have a general theme that may be fit for another forum, but perhaps the discussion is intended to be as focused as in other areas of the forum.

Treehuggers’ Treehouse
This forum is a bit more freeform than the rest of the forums. While it’s not necessarily an “anything goes” space, it is a place to just hang out, be silly, play games, and just discuss random topics with anyone who wants to join in. The guidelines are still in effect, but if you’d like a focused and full-fledged discussion about any specific topic, this is probably not the right place. Goofy pictures and funny things you see on Facebook are encouraged.

Art, Media, and Entertainment vs. Artistic Endeavors
The simple difference between these two forums is in the source of the art being shared.

Art, Media, and Entertainment
This forum is intended for sharing and discussing works of art from sources other than the self. Movies, music, TV shows, poetry, paintings or drawings: if you found a piece of art or entertainment you like and would like to share, this is the place to do so.

Artistic Endeavors
This forum has a more personal slant, where members can share their own personal creations, rather than anything they found.

Posting Etiquette

offhand comments
drastic shifts in topic
simple agreement or disagreement
funny pictures or memes
or anything that doesn’t contribute a new idea or perspective to the discussion.

Specific Forums

Posting Etiquette

There are some posting behaviors that help make everyone’s experience on the forum more pleasant and easy, but aren’t necessarily proper to codify within the guidelines. Here are some tips and requests to help make Bring4th a more pleasant community for everyone:

Quoted Text
When quoting another member in your post, please keep the experience of the reader in mind. If you’re only responding to a single point of many from that member’s post, it is best to remove all irrelevant material so any member reading it understand precisely what you are replying to. Further, if there are multiple embedded quotes, please attempt to keep things tidy and only leave in those parent quotes which are still relevant and useful to the discussion. I tidier post is simply easier to read and keeps the thread looking sleek and streamlined, ensuring anyone wishing to catch up on the topic will not have to navigate through unnecessary text to get to the heart of the topic. For instructions and tips on how to handle the quote function, see the posting guide below.

If you are replying to somebody without quoting their content, or if the quote box does not contain their name, it can be helpful to identify who precisely you are replying to so as not to confuse other participants in the discussion.

Linking Sources
When referencing a source that has available material on the internet, try to include a link to this material so any seeker can do more investigation or find the proper context of what is being discussed. When discussing the Law of One, www.lawofone.info is a great resource for finding and referencing specific passages. A link can be made directly to a specific session or question number by simply clicking on the number next to the relevant passage and copying the URL from your address bar. When discussing any other L/L Research material, please try to include a link to the material itself, whether it is a transcript from the archives or a book from the library.

Editing Posts
While not always necessary, it can be helpful to include a reason for the edit at the same time. This helps people keep track of what was changed and why, and how the post may have been relevant before the edit.

Editing the overall sentiment and heart of a thread after others have engaged in the discussion, it can be confusing and frustrating for those who invested in the discussion based on the previous post’s content. Please be considerate of other members when making fundamental edits to your words.]]> <![CDATA[Moderator FAQ's]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11933 Fri, 16 Oct 2015 19:08:18 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11933 Moderator FAQ’s
From the Bring4th Guidelines, to the Moderator Handdocument, to the Role of the Moderator, to the Bring4th Principles, one may gain a very clear sense of how the Bring4th website is run and moderated.

As an additional measure of clarity, some FAQ’s of moderating:

     This person got moderated but this other person who acted similarly did not. Why?

There are good reasons for occasional inconsistencies. For starters, moderators often use a random number generator to determine whether or not a person gets moderated. Other factors that determine whether moderation action is taken include, but are not limited to: the phase of the moon, the positions of the constellations, the local weather, the performance of the NASDAQ, and on what side of the bed the moderator awoke in the morning.

To be sincere: we do strive for consistency. Absolutely. We track our decisions, we are mindful of precedents, we question each other, and we actively desire to moderate as fairly and equally as possible. We demand the best from ourselves in our own spiritual evolution, and we demand even better when representing this incredibly unique and precious thing that is L/L Research.

Each situation is unique, though. We often cannot apply cookie-cutter approaches that are the exact same for Person A as they are for Person B. The actual factors that come into play when choosing whether or not to take action, and subsequently what action to take, include: the member’s history, their past interaction with the moderators and whether or not they’ve been previously warned for similar, the severity of the guideline infringement, the nature of the action, etc. (See “Balances” below.) In our eight years of experience thus far, very seldom are any two cases exactly alike.

      Do you moderate with personal bias?

We’d love to say “no,” we don’t. However, we recognize that, as humans, we cannot escape bias, no matter how much we meditate. It comes with the package of being human.

However, we are conscious of our own biases, and attempt always to moderate without significant bias. Let’s clarify that. We are, of course, biased toward the principles and guidelines of the community. We attempt, then, to remove all bias which may be inconsistent with the Bring4th Guidelines and the Bring4th Principles.

That established, there have been many times when we’ve preserved and protected the right of members to share opinions that we don’t particular like or agree with. Conversely, there have been many times when we’ve regretfully had to take moderator action in response to: a member whose opinions we do agree with and enjoy, or a member toward whom we simply feel a personal affinity.

One factor which helps to mitigate against personal bias is our policy of operating as a team. In hashing out our individual viewpoints together, blind spots can be checked, limited viewpoints can be expanded, and whatever personal biases may exist can be harmonized.

     Is the moderator role important in the community?

Yes and no. As we’ve said many times in the past, it is primarily the daily contributions of each who lends their energy to this dynamic community that form the bulk of the Bring4th experience.
There are certain instances, however, that can only, or at least most effectively, be met by the moderator function.

For the most part the moderator tweaks and fine tunes around the edges. Their principal contribution to the community happens the same way that each member contributes: through the love and the light they freely share with the community.

      Is your work a service, and do you enjoy it?

In the largest sense, Ra says that we cannot not serve the Creator. In the more specific sense, moderating is indeed a service. And we perceive it as such.

Is it enjoyable? It is, shall we say, very catalytic. While some moderator actions have received widespread community support, others have received the opposite. Invariably someone isn’t pleased with a decision the moderators have made. And, at times, moderators can be the recipients of unwarranted criticism. This is not helped by the fact that most members remain unaware of the great quantity of time, energy, and consideration that moderators have put into a given situation.

To be clear, criticism (preferably of the constructive variety) is perfectly valid and even healthy. Moderators don’t ask for unqualified support. However, some members seem to react to moderators simply on the basis that the moderator has become a face of authority, however small that may be. Some members arrive in the community with deep biases against any one in a position of authority.

On the flip side, when we are able to help seekers, the work is highly fulfilling. When we are able to serve the needs of the collective, the work is very meaningful. And when we collaborate with one another, the work is always rewarding. One of life’s great joys is to be a member of a common-purpose team and to work toward a shared goal.

Simply put: we love the spiritual seekers who lend their energies to the forums. We’re fascinated by the different personalities, the depth of thought, the variety of queries, and the mutual support each seeker shows one another. It is a a great honor to serve a community such as this one.

     You’ve mentioned “balances” the moderator must achieve. What do you mean?

Each third-density being must, of course, strike a balance every time they make a decision. Mods are no different. Ours are a weird complex of balances. We not only have to balance the individual against the whole, and our own thinking against the guidelines, but we must also balance against an amazing philosophy that—so far as words can carry the responsibility—reaches to the Creator.

Some but not all of the balances that play into each and every one of our decisions include:

Assessing the member’s action in light of the guidelines, and understanding the full scope of the situation
Assessing the member’s participation history
Determining whether or not to take action. e.g.:
—If we take action, we could adversely affect the balance, upset members, interfere with the operation of free will, and hinder processes that, left to themselves, may find their own resolution.
—If we do not take action, guideline-violating behaviors may be perpetuated (including by other members), the forum may become detuned, precedents for negative behavior may be set, new and existing members may be driven away, etc.
Balancing the individual’s rights, responsibilities, and needs against the collective’s rights, responsibilities and needs
Balancing the needs and the work of the L/L Research organization and the community’s place within it
Anticipating how the community will respond to any given action
Fostering at atmosphere of safety and trust, warmth and love
Determining how to communicate to a particular member based upon their own needs and situation
Balancing our own internal dynamics in reaching consensus and determining who will take on the majority of the work in drafting our consensus opinion/decision
Balancing our efforts against the very real limitations of our own time and energy
And most importantly, honoring the philosophy of the Law of One in all that we do, including balancing our desire to serve with our understanding of the positive polarity and the preservation/promotion of the free will of all other selves

Assessing the member’s action in light of the guidelines, and understanding the full scope of the situation
Assessing the member’s participation history
Determining whether or not to take action. e.g.:
—If we take action, we could adversely affect the balance, upset members, interfere with the operation of free will, and hinder processes that, left to themselves, may find their own resolution.
—If we do not take action, guideline-violating behaviors may be perpetuated (including by other members), the forum may become detuned, precedents for negative behavior may be set, new and existing members may be driven away, etc.
Balancing the individual’s rights, responsibilities, and needs against the collective’s rights, responsibilities and needs
Balancing the needs and the work of the L/L Research organization and the community’s place within it
Anticipating how the community will respond to any given action
Fostering at atmosphere of safety and trust, warmth and love
Determining how to communicate to a particular member based upon their own needs and situation
Balancing our own internal dynamics in reaching consensus and determining who will take on the majority of the work in drafting our consensus opinion/decision
Balancing our efforts against the very real limitations of our own time and energy
And most importantly, honoring the philosophy of the Law of One in all that we do, including balancing our desire to serve with our understanding of the positive polarity and the preservation/promotion of the free will of all other selves

Can you describe your perspective with regard to the basic balance between where and how boundaries are drawn?

The online community is still an ongoing experiment for L/L Research. We hope that Bring4th is an oasis from the dryness of the world, and a place of rest for the weary traveler, and a place where people feel free and inspired to share themselves as they are.

However, Bring4th is not a place on the moon. It happens here, on Earth, and is filled with other people who also have histories that include enormous levels of suffering, pain, confusion, loneliness, and misunderstanding; other people who have been traumatized by this world, and have become correspondingly distorted.

We cannot keep Bring4th completely free of the muck and grime of this planet. The elements of physical life invade all buildings on this planet, and the more open those buildings, the more susceptible they are to having mud tracked in, or rain, or temperatures not to one’s liking.

Bring4th is one such place. We cannot, nor do we want to, make it a sterilized room that filters out the dirt of human experience. That is not in keeping with our understanding of the positive polarity’s interpretation and application of free will. Further, we have to acknowledge that the dirt and grime are that out of which some of the greatest learning and growth occur. We would not do well for our own path to seek its avoidance at all costs, and we would do worse for others to attempt to rid the environment of all disharmony.

Within reason, of course. Some lines to have to be drawn, and we want to make every effort within our power to encourage and foster a place of harmony, trust, and safety, but, again, Bring4th happens on planet Earth, and we cannot indefinitely avoid the challenges of this place. But those challenges, it must be said, represent another reason why wanderers are drawn to this planet: the opportunity to accelerate their progress is much, much more intensive here than in the easy realms of harmony, peace, and love.

We hope that where Bring4th doesn’t meet ones hopes, that it can be a platform for service, where the member shifts from being focused on what they are receiving, to asking themselves how they can serve others; how they can serve those who irritate, or offend, or hurt. This is not to suggest that one should martyr themselves for the sake of attempting to serve those that don’t want to serve. Wisdom is a helpful ally. Just that this fundamental shift in attitude can transform the entirety of one’s experience.

Do you look forward to the day when moderators become obsolete because all is automatically harmonized due to the outwardly visible love and light of the one infinite Creator?

Yes. Eagerly. : )]]> <![CDATA[On the Role of the Moderator]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11932 Fri, 16 Oct 2015 18:56:24 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11932 On The Role of the Moderator
An essay by Austin Bridges

A Distillation
Defining the role of the moderator has been, in essence, a years-long process for the Bring4th moderator team and even a longer process for me on my journey in moderating internet communities. My personal history of moderating online forums is rather extensive. At the peak of my history, I was the sole administrator for a forum with hundreds of active users and a moderator team in the dozens. Other experiences did not carry as much responsibility, but gave me a wide variety of experience through the broad spectrum of topics and purposes of the forums I found myself moderating.

It was not until joining the Bring4th mod team that I really started to reflect on the position I was in. Not only was it the first experience I had in moderating after finding the Law of One, a material which gives us great tools to gain insight into our mental and emotional processes and offers an intricate ethical framework for how we relate to others, it was a forum which was dedicated to this material and its study. Whereas previously I was able to take authoritative action in communities without many second-thoughts or hesitations, I suddenly became acutely aware of how each of my actions affected individuals and the community as a whole. Needless to say, it was (and is) a great source of juicy catalyst in my life.

The concept I hold in my head for the role of a moderator is not one that I have come to on my own. The moderator team on Bring4th collaborates a lot. I have stated multiple times before, there could be an encyclopedia published with the amount of discussion that has gone into the appropriate way to moderate Bring4th in accordance with the principles upon which this forum was founded. Through this essay, I am merely a distiller of the thoughts, actions, and emotions shared by fellow Bring4th moderators, albeit subjective and personally biased distiller. Due credit must be given to Gary Bean, the community’s primary architect; Steve, L/L’s webmaster responsible for building Bring4th; and other friends who have given their volunteer efforts completely to moderating, including Garry (Plenum), Aaron, and Monica. (Though I was not on the moderator team with Monica, I looked on at her dedication to the forums in the role of moderator with great awe, and learned much from watching her navigate this tricky task.)

A Challenging Task
To consider the role of the moderator, it is difficult to not first see the challenges that come with this role. Moderating Bring4th is a challenging task for various reasons, one of the greatest being the great variance in perception and interpretation of the ideals upon which this forum stands. Things like free will, love, compassion, respect, spiritual evolution, harmony, free expression, trust, support: these are all vague ideas that I think we all resonate with and that attract members to this community. However, when a group of seekers come together with the highest and best intentions to uphold these concepts, it becomes clear that each individual may be resonating with and moving towards the same ideals, but each individual’s implementation and manifestation of these ideals may be considerably different.

Herein lays one of the greatest challenges of this role. It becomes increasingly difficult to perform in this role through various social situations in ways that a) honor the principles of the Law of One, b) uphold the guidelines, c) serve the greater community, and d) make everyone satisfied with such a variance of perceptions in how the mod team handles things. In other words, we can’t please everyone despite a great desire to do so.

To simplify this for the sake of discussion, we can see the varying viewpoints as falling on a sort of spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is an idea that a community built on the principle of respecting free will should not have anyone acting in such a role as the moderator, a role which holds a certain ability to curtail the exercise of other-selves’ free will. On the other end of the spectrum is an idea that there should be swift and strict moderation in any case where it seems any individual member is influencing the community in any way which may be incongruent with this principle and others. There are naturally many gradations between these two poles.

The actual dynamics are obviously much more complex and intricate than a two-sided spectrum. This complexity is the stage upon which the moderators operate. The various demands that each component in that intricate mix place upon the role is a source of great catalyst, and has precipitated massive discussion in many places on and off this forum, and internally by the moderators.

To any who seek to understand the moderators’ role in this community, I can, on behalf of the mod team, assure you of one thing: the creators and moderators of this forum have an overwhelming and abundant desire to fulfill a certain vision that Don, Carla, Jim and L/L Research have for a community; that is, to provide a positive space for wanderers and seekers to come together and share in love, and discuss this philosophy that is so dear to all of our hearts.

That strength of desire to serve the community in the highest and best way, and to create for the community a supportive environment that facilitates seekers connecting with each other for shared study and seeking, is also manifested in the amount of effort we sink into nearly every issue that comes to our attention as moderators. And naturally, when we receive any feedback which indicates that we have failed at this effort of love, it can generate some emotional catalyst. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing; catalyst, seen through the lens of spiritual evolution and utilized properly, is a positive thing. And we gain much from it, including a great sense of honor at being able to serve in this way.

In the role as moderators of such a community, however, the placing of the feet is a careful act as the ground beneath our feet is an always evolving, changing, dynamic dance. The culture shifts and changes along with what people desire or expect out of the community. We often feel like we’re aiming at a moving target while, at the same time, keeping ourselves pointed towards the stable and consistent ideals around which the community gathers.

Tending the Garden
And it is upon this basis that I begin to form a picture of the role of the moderator. The mod team understands the need for there to be a firm respect for the relationships and dynamics formed by the individuals within the community, while at the same time ensuring that the environment facilitates their path as seekers of truth and love. This balance can be elusive and any analogy will fall terribly short in conveying the complete picture, but we have considered a few different analogies in our own deliberations on our role in various situations.

One analogy which has come up and seemed to be fitting was comparing the role of a moderator that of an umpire. An umpire does not interfere with the game until there is a deviation from the established rules or guidelines. The umpire goes to great lengths not to affect the ability of the players to play the game. These aspects in particular seem fitting for how we wish to allow the community to operate, but a closer examination of the umpire analogy shows that it falls somewhat short.

An umpire is handed a list of rules to enforce. Each situation an umpire may is codified. A ball is either in bounds or out of bounds. A player is either safe or out. The ball is foul or it isn’t, etc. The Bring4th moderators play a larger role than the umpire because we are determining the rules of the game, not working with predetermined rules. An umpire’s rulebook is not open to interpretation. We decide the merit of each rule within each situation. And how do we decide what the rules are, and how they should be enforced? A member may clearly violate the guidelines and it is clear that the ball has been kicked out of bounds. Then our task is as simple as that of an umpire. But not all situations are that simple.

As this forum is both formed and moderated by L/L Research, we have to determine the whole point of the game. What sort of community do we want? Do we want the community to be any particular thing, or simply a community for the sake of it? What goals should be establish for the community? Is it enough to simply write some rules and then allow the game to be played however the players will play it? What if the game begins to be played in a way we, as the creators of the game, did not intend? Umpires would not decide whether the game is being played as was intended. They say a rule is broken or not, and apply the codified judgment. Experience in moderating Bring4th has certainly revealed that simply enforcing rules will not create any type of desired environment. The culture of the posters plays a larger role than the rules enforced by moderators.

So the moderators ask ourselves if we want to simply be umpires and allow the culture of the forum to go in whatever direction naturally arises, or do we want to play the active role of trying to create a forum with a purpose? If we want Brign4th to be a certain type of community for a certain type of person with a certain type of purpose, it necessarily requires some cultivation of a culture which promotes these goals. We will have to weed out those things which act against these goals and support and feed those things which act towards these goals.

In this sense, the analogy of a gardener may be more apt. The moderators, through any action we take on the forums, hope to cultivate an environment in the community similar to how a gardener hopes to cultivate a balanced ecosystem in their garden.

The gardener cannot force the garden to grow in any certain way. The gardener may till the soil, plant the seeds, pull the weeds, and do their best to guess how the ecosystem will develop, but nature is dynamic and, through self-determination, will find its own way. There will always be unexpected challenges that in and of themselves help to form the ecosystem—in fact, they are an inevitable part.

And much like cultivating a garden, attempting to exact too much control over the ecosystem results in a sort of stale, artificial feeling product. For sake of a fleshed out and colorful analogy, it is the difference between food grown in monoculture with use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers versus food grown organically and in partnership with the ecosystem.

Our best approach is to help ensure some of the basic environmental conditions and inputs, but to otherwise get out of the way.

Garden chores for the moderator include a wide variety of tasks; from detecting and deleting spam; to ensuring threads are placed in their proper category; to ensuring distinct discussions have their own threads; to responding to interpersonal dilemmas and fulfilling the needs of requests placed upon us; to ensuring that members are acting respectfully and not against the greater interest of the community. This last task is the source of much interpersonal catalyst, which is another one of the Bring4th moderators’ greatest challenges.

Interpersonal Management
It is folly to think that this type of catalyst can (or should) be avoided in 3rd density. It is completely natural that any group of people gathering together for a common purpose will experience some difficulty in the meshing of personalities together around that purpose. Through this forum we wish to offer a place of study, community, and support, but recognize that all of who seek these things are still operating from veiled personalities with infinitely unique distortions. It is the nature (and perhaps purpose) of these distortions that they will creation friction with each other, and so any number of people seeking together will continually be confronted by this friction.

As moderators, we realize that this type of confrontation is just as useful for growth as the sharing of knowledge and ideas. But to allow this type of interaction to become the primary focus of the community would be detracting from the ultimate purpose of what we wish to offer through Bring4th. In other words, it would not cultivate the type of crop we wish to grow in our garden. So the task of the moderator is then to find a balance which allows the greater purpose to shine while still allowing the inevitable interpersonal catalyst to serve its purpose. What is the purpose of interpersonal conflict? Growth, learning, self-discovery, deepening awareness, opening the heart, practicing acceptance and forgiveness, etc. These are the ends toward which this community is pointed.

This purpose cannot be served without the shared goal of eventual harmony and reconciliation. Not everyone will have these goals, and not every discussion will maintain those goals. Thus the moderator attempts to always keep discussion oriented towards these goals, which sometimes requires direct intervention. We approach each situation attempting to recognize its unique nature and context. Whether to implement a harder or softer touch is always the ultimate question, and we don’t always succeed at choosing the best option, but every effort is made in attempt. We cannot please everyone, but at the end of the day, we can hopefully cultivate a community which does please most people who are drawn to it.

Honor and Love
These challenges and analogies described in so many words are a meager attempt at expressing the nature of this role. There are many aspects that simply evade any words capable of description. If there is a point to drive home about how we operate within this role, it is that at the end of the day, we are always fueled by our desire to maintain the vision for Bring4th. To see a weary wanderer comforted, to see a seeker reach a new level of understanding, to understand ourselves more deeply, to gain insight into a metaphysical concept, to hear stories of how the Law of One and Bring4th have helped seekers in their lives, to see a healthy debate unfold and various perspectives being shared in a positive space, to witness just how passionate people can be in their spiritual seeking—the responsibility of this role becomes ever lightened by the sense of honor and fulfillment found in these things. This opportunity to serve in this role truly is a great honor, and we do so with great love.]]> On The Role of the Moderator
An essay by Austin Bridges

A Distillation
Defining the role of the moderator has been, in essence, a years-long process for the Bring4th moderator team and even a longer process for me on my journey in moderating internet communities. My personal history of moderating online forums is rather extensive. At the peak of my history, I was the sole administrator for a forum with hundreds of active users and a moderator team in the dozens. Other experiences did not carry as much responsibility, but gave me a wide variety of experience through the broad spectrum of topics and purposes of the forums I found myself moderating.

It was not until joining the Bring4th mod team that I really started to reflect on the position I was in. Not only was it the first experience I had in moderating after finding the Law of One, a material which gives us great tools to gain insight into our mental and emotional processes and offers an intricate ethical framework for how we relate to others, it was a forum which was dedicated to this material and its study. Whereas previously I was able to take authoritative action in communities without many second-thoughts or hesitations, I suddenly became acutely aware of how each of my actions affected individuals and the community as a whole. Needless to say, it was (and is) a great source of juicy catalyst in my life.

The concept I hold in my head for the role of a moderator is not one that I have come to on my own. The moderator team on Bring4th collaborates a lot. I have stated multiple times before, there could be an encyclopedia published with the amount of discussion that has gone into the appropriate way to moderate Bring4th in accordance with the principles upon which this forum was founded. Through this essay, I am merely a distiller of the thoughts, actions, and emotions shared by fellow Bring4th moderators, albeit subjective and personally biased distiller. Due credit must be given to Gary Bean, the community’s primary architect; Steve, L/L’s webmaster responsible for building Bring4th; and other friends who have given their volunteer efforts completely to moderating, including Garry (Plenum), Aaron, and Monica. (Though I was not on the moderator team with Monica, I looked on at her dedication to the forums in the role of moderator with great awe, and learned much from watching her navigate this tricky task.)

A Challenging Task
To consider the role of the moderator, it is difficult to not first see the challenges that come with this role. Moderating Bring4th is a challenging task for various reasons, one of the greatest being the great variance in perception and interpretation of the ideals upon which this forum stands. Things like free will, love, compassion, respect, spiritual evolution, harmony, free expression, trust, support: these are all vague ideas that I think we all resonate with and that attract members to this community. However, when a group of seekers come together with the highest and best intentions to uphold these concepts, it becomes clear that each individual may be resonating with and moving towards the same ideals, but each individual’s implementation and manifestation of these ideals may be considerably different.

Herein lays one of the greatest challenges of this role. It becomes increasingly difficult to perform in this role through various social situations in ways that a) honor the principles of the Law of One, b) uphold the guidelines, c) serve the greater community, and d) make everyone satisfied with such a variance of perceptions in how the mod team handles things. In other words, we can’t please everyone despite a great desire to do so.

To simplify this for the sake of discussion, we can see the varying viewpoints as falling on a sort of spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is an idea that a community built on the principle of respecting free will should not have anyone acting in such a role as the moderator, a role which holds a certain ability to curtail the exercise of other-selves’ free will. On the other end of the spectrum is an idea that there should be swift and strict moderation in any case where it seems any individual member is influencing the community in any way which may be incongruent with this principle and others. There are naturally many gradations between these two poles.

The actual dynamics are obviously much more complex and intricate than a two-sided spectrum. This complexity is the stage upon which the moderators operate. The various demands that each component in that intricate mix place upon the role is a source of great catalyst, and has precipitated massive discussion in many places on and off this forum, and internally by the moderators.

To any who seek to understand the moderators’ role in this community, I can, on behalf of the mod team, assure you of one thing: the creators and moderators of this forum have an overwhelming and abundant desire to fulfill a certain vision that Don, Carla, Jim and L/L Research have for a community; that is, to provide a positive space for wanderers and seekers to come together and share in love, and discuss this philosophy that is so dear to all of our hearts.

That strength of desire to serve the community in the highest and best way, and to create for the community a supportive environment that facilitates seekers connecting with each other for shared study and seeking, is also manifested in the amount of effort we sink into nearly every issue that comes to our attention as moderators. And naturally, when we receive any feedback which indicates that we have failed at this effort of love, it can generate some emotional catalyst. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing; catalyst, seen through the lens of spiritual evolution and utilized properly, is a positive thing. And we gain much from it, including a great sense of honor at being able to serve in this way.

In the role as moderators of such a community, however, the placing of the feet is a careful act as the ground beneath our feet is an always evolving, changing, dynamic dance. The culture shifts and changes along with what people desire or expect out of the community. We often feel like we’re aiming at a moving target while, at the same time, keeping ourselves pointed towards the stable and consistent ideals around which the community gathers.

Tending the Garden
And it is upon this basis that I begin to form a picture of the role of the moderator. The mod team understands the need for there to be a firm respect for the relationships and dynamics formed by the individuals within the community, while at the same time ensuring that the environment facilitates their path as seekers of truth and love. This balance can be elusive and any analogy will fall terribly short in conveying the complete picture, but we have considered a few different analogies in our own deliberations on our role in various situations.

One analogy which has come up and seemed to be fitting was comparing the role of a moderator that of an umpire. An umpire does not interfere with the game until there is a deviation from the established rules or guidelines. The umpire goes to great lengths not to affect the ability of the players to play the game. These aspects in particular seem fitting for how we wish to allow the community to operate, but a closer examination of the umpire analogy shows that it falls somewhat short.

An umpire is handed a list of rules to enforce. Each situation an umpire may is codified. A ball is either in bounds or out of bounds. A player is either safe or out. The ball is foul or it isn’t, etc. The Bring4th moderators play a larger role than the umpire because we are determining the rules of the game, not working with predetermined rules. An umpire’s rulebook is not open to interpretation. We decide the merit of each rule within each situation. And how do we decide what the rules are, and how they should be enforced? A member may clearly violate the guidelines and it is clear that the ball has been kicked out of bounds. Then our task is as simple as that of an umpire. But not all situations are that simple.

As this forum is both formed and moderated by L/L Research, we have to determine the whole point of the game. What sort of community do we want? Do we want the community to be any particular thing, or simply a community for the sake of it? What goals should be establish for the community? Is it enough to simply write some rules and then allow the game to be played however the players will play it? What if the game begins to be played in a way we, as the creators of the game, did not intend? Umpires would not decide whether the game is being played as was intended. They say a rule is broken or not, and apply the codified judgment. Experience in moderating Bring4th has certainly revealed that simply enforcing rules will not create any type of desired environment. The culture of the posters plays a larger role than the rules enforced by moderators.

So the moderators ask ourselves if we want to simply be umpires and allow the culture of the forum to go in whatever direction naturally arises, or do we want to play the active role of trying to create a forum with a purpose? If we want Brign4th to be a certain type of community for a certain type of person with a certain type of purpose, it necessarily requires some cultivation of a culture which promotes these goals. We will have to weed out those things which act against these goals and support and feed those things which act towards these goals.

In this sense, the analogy of a gardener may be more apt. The moderators, through any action we take on the forums, hope to cultivate an environment in the community similar to how a gardener hopes to cultivate a balanced ecosystem in their garden.

The gardener cannot force the garden to grow in any certain way. The gardener may till the soil, plant the seeds, pull the weeds, and do their best to guess how the ecosystem will develop, but nature is dynamic and, through self-determination, will find its own way. There will always be unexpected challenges that in and of themselves help to form the ecosystem—in fact, they are an inevitable part.

And much like cultivating a garden, attempting to exact too much control over the ecosystem results in a sort of stale, artificial feeling product. For sake of a fleshed out and colorful analogy, it is the difference between food grown in monoculture with use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers versus food grown organically and in partnership with the ecosystem.

Our best approach is to help ensure some of the basic environmental conditions and inputs, but to otherwise get out of the way.

Garden chores for the moderator include a wide variety of tasks; from detecting and deleting spam; to ensuring threads are placed in their proper category; to ensuring distinct discussions have their own threads; to responding to interpersonal dilemmas and fulfilling the needs of requests placed upon us; to ensuring that members are acting respectfully and not against the greater interest of the community. This last task is the source of much interpersonal catalyst, which is another one of the Bring4th moderators’ greatest challenges.

Interpersonal Management
It is folly to think that this type of catalyst can (or should) be avoided in 3rd density. It is completely natural that any group of people gathering together for a common purpose will experience some difficulty in the meshing of personalities together around that purpose. Through this forum we wish to offer a place of study, community, and support, but recognize that all of who seek these things are still operating from veiled personalities with infinitely unique distortions. It is the nature (and perhaps purpose) of these distortions that they will creation friction with each other, and so any number of people seeking together will continually be confronted by this friction.

As moderators, we realize that this type of confrontation is just as useful for growth as the sharing of knowledge and ideas. But to allow this type of interaction to become the primary focus of the community would be detracting from the ultimate purpose of what we wish to offer through Bring4th. In other words, it would not cultivate the type of crop we wish to grow in our garden. So the task of the moderator is then to find a balance which allows the greater purpose to shine while still allowing the inevitable interpersonal catalyst to serve its purpose. What is the purpose of interpersonal conflict? Growth, learning, self-discovery, deepening awareness, opening the heart, practicing acceptance and forgiveness, etc. These are the ends toward which this community is pointed.

This purpose cannot be served without the shared goal of eventual harmony and reconciliation. Not everyone will have these goals, and not every discussion will maintain those goals. Thus the moderator attempts to always keep discussion oriented towards these goals, which sometimes requires direct intervention. We approach each situation attempting to recognize its unique nature and context. Whether to implement a harder or softer touch is always the ultimate question, and we don’t always succeed at choosing the best option, but every effort is made in attempt. We cannot please everyone, but at the end of the day, we can hopefully cultivate a community which does please most people who are drawn to it.

Honor and Love
These challenges and analogies described in so many words are a meager attempt at expressing the nature of this role. There are many aspects that simply evade any words capable of description. If there is a point to drive home about how we operate within this role, it is that at the end of the day, we are always fueled by our desire to maintain the vision for Bring4th. To see a weary wanderer comforted, to see a seeker reach a new level of understanding, to understand ourselves more deeply, to gain insight into a metaphysical concept, to hear stories of how the Law of One and Bring4th have helped seekers in their lives, to see a healthy debate unfold and various perspectives being shared in a positive space, to witness just how passionate people can be in their spiritual seeking—the responsibility of this role becomes ever lightened by the sense of honor and fulfillment found in these things. This opportunity to serve in this role truly is a great honor, and we do so with great love.]]> <![CDATA[The Moderator Handdocument]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11931 Fri, 16 Oct 2015 18:53:21 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=11931 How the Enlightened* Moderate

1) The moderator interprets, applies, and enforces the Bring4th Guidelines. The moderator will have a working knowledge of the guidelines. And operate according to the spirit of the Bring4th Principles.

The guidelines distill down to two broad concepts: How we relate to one another. And the content of our posting. Respect/kindness/compassion defines the former. The focus on the spiritual principles of the L/L-Research philosophy, and staying on the thread’s topic, defines the latter.

2) The moderator always attempts to walk the high road. May not be successful in the walking by relative measures, but the attempt is always present. How to walk high road? This is variable. Key is to honor the first guideline: treat all members, regardless of their outer behavior, with respect, gentleness, and compassion, seeing them, as Carla would say, at the soul level. Use no negative energy toward another member. And if knee-jerk reactions get the better of the moderator, he or she will seek to restore harmony and make amends.

3) The moderator seeks to keep their cool at all times, especially in situations of community dispute and conflict resolution. If anger/irritation/postal-like-rage builds, vent with other moderators, never resort to pettiness or personal antagonism or confrontational energies as a moderator.

4) Though impossible to perfectly achieve, the mod will strive for impartiality and neutrality in all situations, always attempting to see all sides of the situation and weigh all perspectives.

5) The moderator will promote values of acceptance of other members.

6) The moderator will attempt to communicate most (but not necessarily all) of their housekeeping actions to the affected community members. If a thread is moved or split or merged, the mod will send a note to the members involved, or leave a note in the thread itself. A simple note will do. Or perhaps an e-card of a cute animal with a notification that a thread has been moved.

7) The moderator will keep in mind that they are not a moral authority who possesses answers that other seekers don’t. The work will be undertaken with humility and without condescension.

8) Moderating is at times not dissimilar to weeding a garden. Certain posts and certain threads, and in some rare cases, certain individuals, act as weeds in the garden, inhibiting the vitality, health, and beauty of the overall garden. The moderator helps guard the tuning of the forums knowing that negative energy, if left unchecked or unprocessed through the heart, begets negative energy—it tends to create and invite more of itself, perhaps even from external sources.

9) The mod attempts to preserve the greatest range of free expression possible within the limits of the guidelines. When in doubt, it’s generally (though not always) better to err on the side of accomodation. Though the moderator must also consider how certain types of expression affect the culture, coupled with the needs of new members and how certain posting may or may not be welcoming therein.

10) The moderator doesn’t steer the ship of the community by personal vision and willpower. Rather the moderator tweaks, tunes, and refines the existing energies of the community. It is a partnership with the community that often helps to set the tone and direction of the overall Bring4th experience. This is accomplished by helping to keep energies from straying into the red, the untuned, and the negative.

11) The moderator goes about the work lightheartedly and with joy, attempting to lighten the mood with humor and playfulness when and where possible. Have funny images on hand. : )

12) The mod recognizes that the guidelines cannot spell out each and every situation, so great discernment, sensitivity, and creative interpretation will often be necessary. However, the moderators do not wish to extend beyond the scope and the spirit of the guidelines.

How Enlightened Beings Work Together as a Team

1) General housekeeping tasks (e.g., moving, splitting, merging threads) don’t need to be discussed as a team. These can be executed at the discretion of the individual moderator.

2) Larger decisions—such as putting a member on moderated status, banning a member, deleting a substantial thread, sending a warning to a member, etc.—need to be discussed between all active moderators if timing and availability permits. (Some moderators may unavailable due to circumstance.)

3) Throughout Bring4th’s storied history, the moderators have made the larger decisions using multi-party dialoguing until consensus is reached and all parties agree on a course of action. This often involves one of the moderators drafting up the moderator message and sending it to the other mods for peer review and ruthless editing, refining the end product until all mods can sign onto it as being representative of their perspective, each learning when to yield and when to push.

Whoever heads up the moderator team will, however, reserve the right to spearhead action if consensus is not reached, and veto something he or she deems not in alignment with the mission of L/L Research. However, both scenarios are hoped to be avoided 100% of the time.

4) The moderators will strive to maintain unity of purpose and vision, and keep in mind that they are moderators first, members second.

5) As general procedure, when a member deviates from a guideline, we send a gentle reminder about a) what exactly the guidelines say, b) where they are deviating from the guidelines, and c) how they may return to full compliance with the guidelines. If reminders/requests fail in their purpose, then, after discussion, the moderators may have to resort to the revocation of the member’s permission to post on the forums.

6) When a moderator communicates with a member in an official capacity (not in the course of personal correspondence), the other moderators are expected to be given a BCC.

This is helpful because each on the team would know if a particular user had already been contacted by the moderation team regarding their activity on the forums. Consequently the user would not receive repeat moderator email and, in the event of repeated offenses on the user’s part, the mod team, being on the same page, can put the heads together to reach a consensus regarding the appropriate response to the user in question.

The moderator may still reserve the right to keep a communication to a member private if circumstances require. A summary of the situation to the other moderators would be helpful here if possible.

Handy Tips for Moderating - Whether Enlightened or Not

1) When a mod sends message to the forums or to a member that typifies a certain dynamic (e.g., a message about staying on-topic, or a welcome note to the community with a request to review the guidelines, etc.), it is handy to hang onto those message as templates for future use so that messages don’t have to start from scratch but can be modifications of an earlier copy.

2) Keep links to posts you may want to make future reference to for whatever reason, including and especially those that may require moderator action.

3) There is a nifty moderator option called “Unapprove” post or thread listed below each thread. If something is questionable and requires further discussion among moderators and consideration, simply take it offline by clicking “Unapprove”. This can be later reversed, whereas deleting a thread or post cannot be reversed.

4) Some moderating is best done invisibly (in terms of not being publicly visible). Some is best done visibly (in terms of being done via PM). Good to know the difference.

5) A lot of moderating is general housekeeping, including merging, renaming, splitting, and moving posts and threads.

a. Merging: Where very similar threads are noticed, they can be merged into one. In most cases try to keep the title of the earlier thread, but feel free to be creative and rename altogether.

b. Renaming: We prefer that thread titles reflect their content as closely as possible.

c. Splitting: There are often multiple sub-threads in a given thread. Using your discretion, feel free to split off sub-threads into their own thread.

d. Moving: We like to keep socks in the sock drawer and pants in the pants drawer. Threads that have better homes in another forum can be moved. Often it is helpful to leave a redirect in the thread’s place for a day or two, but this is to the individual mod’s discretion.

The four most difficult forums to determine whether a thread belongs or not include Olio, Life on Planet Earth, Strictly Law of One Material, and Treehouse. Here’s a general rundown:

i. Strictly Law of One Material: Should make substantial reference to and use of the actual material of the Law of One. Some discussions do refer heavily to Law-of-One-Material concepts without actually using direct quotes. Also anything pertaining to the Ra Contact itself has a home here.

ii. Spiritual Development & Metaphysical Matters: This is a forum for personal spiritual development and the many catalysts that arise in ones life, along with study of other metaphysical subjects that may or may not be personal in nature. Ex: “I’m experience a yellow-ray blockage” on the “Spiritual Development” side; and“Studies of the Kabbalah” on the subjects side.

iii. Art, Media, & Entertainment: This is a forum for all non-personal sharing and discussion of, as the title says, art, media, and entertainment. This includes movies, books, video games, painting, graphic art, Broadway plays, artists themselves, etc. Ideally any AME discussion will still happen through the lens of spiritual evolution.

iv. Artistic Endeavors: This is a forum for the sharing of personal artistic creations, whatever their medium.

v. Olio: This is not a sub-forum for “everything”. Threads in Olio are still expected to be positively oriented and in alignment with the spiritual principles of the Law of One. It serves as a catch-all for that which doesn’t quite fit into the other categories. A miscellaneous drawer, if you will.

vi. Treehuggers Treehouse: This is the social chat-room and goofing off area of the forumFor the most part, energies in here are not focused on anything of great significance except joking around and having a good time. Basic rules of respect still apply but otherwise it’s a free-for-all. Any thread in another forum can be relocated here if it consists mostly of lighthearted banter and less on focused discussion.

*Moderators not actually enlightened. Just dumb enough to take the job.]]> How the Enlightened* Moderate

How Enlightened Beings Work Together as a Team

Handy Tips for Moderating - Whether Enlightened or Not

How we relate to one another.
The content of our contributions.

Respect, kindness, and compassion, aka: the path of service to others, define the former.

The focus on the spiritual principles of the L/L-Research philosophy defines the latter.

For a shortened version of these principles, stick to the bolded text. For the longer version, read the cream filling in between.

How We Relate to One Another

Service to others
L/L Research and its community are, to be clear, biased. We are consciously and unapologetically biased toward what in the Confederation philosophy is called service to others. We seek to enhance, increase, and deepen that bias; to pursue the path of service-to-others as far as it may lead.

We are not here to get beyond polarity, or to transcend polarity. We are here to polarize. To know our polarity. To understand our polarity. To become even stronger upon the positive path. Indeed, the more we polarize, the greater our capacity to do work in consciousness.

What does that mean and how does that manifest? The following principles do not authoritatively capture or define service to others through an online community, but they point in the general direction.

Respect
The first and cornerstone guideline of the forums asks that we treat each other with respect. Ideally each would take that even further and love all others as part of the self, but that all-encompassing love is the fruit of great spiritual discipline, whereas “respect” is a frequency and attitude to which we can more rapidly and consciously calibrate our vision.

What is the greatest way to respect another member? Simple. To respect and honor their exercise of free will, wherever it may lead them. That doesn’t mean to be without personal or collective boundaries (more on that below), just that the member consciously recognizes that the other member has a sacred right and duty to form their own point of view, and no matter how seemingly skewed, the other self’s point of view is right for them.

One specific way to exercise respect on this particular forum is to assume a context of positive polarization for all who participate here.

Tolerance and Acceptance
In continuation of the previous principle but with different emphasis, the backbone of the Bring4th culture is one of tolerance for a diversity of views—aka: views that are not your own—within the larger context of spiritual evolution.

This is not to say that we make other views our own with which we disagree, or that we rush to embrace an opinion that is at odds with our own. It means rather that we offer each person the space to form and express their point of view (within liberal and reasonable limits, of course); we refrain from making a personal attack of the author, or belittling their viewpoint, or treating their idea with any form of judgment, derision, or scorn.

While the information we all share with one another is certainly very important, and a great source of catalyst and continuing education, the greater lesson of Bring4th is simply learning to get along with, accept, and even genuinely love one another.

We are here first and foremost to learn to serve one another, and to see the other and the self as the Creator; secondarily to learn information.

Working in harmony
By tolerating and accepting a diversity of viewpoints, and respecting each other, we naturally magnetize ourselves to work together in harmony, in concert, in that magical way of proportion, rhythm, and balance that brings separate individuals notes into relationship in order to make music.

We understand that the greater the compassion with which we treat each other, even and especially when disagreeing, the greater and more beautiful the collective song of Bring4th; the greater the harmony that sends its energetic waves into a considerably disharmonious planetary environment.

Our goal is harmony, our means of achieving the goal is harmony, and when disharmony inevitably strikes, our efforts are bent upon restoring harmony—with patience and the light touch.

Supporting one another
Being service to others in nature and purpose, we naturally seek to support one another. While nurturing and expressing the self is critical, we recognize that we are here for others as well, which sometimes means that we must set aside our need for self-oriented expression, and put the other-self at the center of our intention and communication.

It may seem that posting to forums, or sharing communication through digital mediums, is a limited and ineffectual tool to help others. That is emphatically not the case. A simple expression of love, a little word of encouragement—anything that in any small way expresses an intention to help—is registered by the other self, and has the potential to radically uplift and heal. We are consciousness affecting consciousness, people affecting people; energy moves between us, impacts us, changes us, pushes us away from each other or brings us close together.

The forums, the keyboard, and the internet connection are simply the vehicle or medium for the movement of something greater and deeper: each other. We recognize that we are ultimately here to be here for each other.

We recognize that life on this planet is difficult for most who live upon the surface, including those with seemingly pleasant outer circumstances. We seek to be actively sensitive to each other’s needs, to be a safe refuge to each other, to listen to one another, to give humble counsel where needed, to offer to each other possibly even therapy—not through clinical therapeutic techniques, necessarily—but simply by doing our utmost to create an environment of unconditional love.

Conflict Resolution
Despite the best of our intentions, and the sincerity of our hearts, as Forrest Gump undeniably first said, s*** will happen. We will hurt one another. We will step on one another’s toes. We may even lose self-control and lash out at another.

But what distinguishes this community is that we attempt not to dwell, linger, and energize that disharmony overly long. Instead, after the scuffle has taken place, we dust ourselves off and reorient our vision to resolving conflict through multi-party, open, honest but compassionate dialogue that makes no victims and works to unblock the stuck energy.

We seek to turn the battle into a discussion, a discussion aimed upon restoring the harmony that was temporarily lost.

Honest but compassionate discussion
Our ideals of love needn’t translate into an overly sensitive, shall we say, fluffy environment where we are not honest with ourselves and each other. Ra’s is an advanced philosophy, according to our measure. It speaks of the possibilities of adepthood that necessarily require the most stringent honesty.

We thusly seek to tell our truths as clearly, as precisely, as poetically, as beautifully, as truthfully, as honestly as possible.

But we do not use honesty to justify being consciously negative to someone because such is our “honest” feeling. True honesty exercises deep consideration for the needs of others and the context of the situation. True honesty uses the listening, discerning ear to determine whether the other self is in a position to even hear one’s truth.

This level of honesty is a function of activating the blue-ray, or throat chakra. Its full working necessarily depends on the activated and open heart that immediately precedes the blue ray in the sequence of chakras. Indeed, the more activated and open the heart, the greater the energy for the shining honest truth of blue ray.

We therefore seek always to communicate our truths through the energy and framework of loving-kindness. It is amazing how the “truth” is transmuted and beautified, even a difficult truth, when it passes through unconditional love.

We also seek to emphasize the overlooked aspect of blue ray, which is the listening ear. Maybe it’s not always so much in what we say, but in how well we listen to one another.

Welcoming new members
As is probably true with the majority of online communities, the majority of the website’s readers don’t actively participate. Whether from their ranks or from people discovering the website for the first time, Bring4th gains new members each and every week.

This community seeks never to shun new members, but always to actively welcome them into the community.

Anyone who has been new to a group at some point in their lives—which should be 100% of everyone—knows the value of being welcomed into the group with a smile and warm embrace. This is especially critical for the spiritual seekers attracted to this information who tend to feel alienated or isolated from others, often painfully so.

The Focus of the Forums

What we’re here to discuss, share, and study
As Ra says, the self is the material for study. We are ultimately here, therefore, to share, express, and learn about the self.

That is a very broad statement, though. It could reasonably be invoked to describe every possible form of interaction on this planet, from enslavement to enlightened exchanges. The qualification which narrows that statement into a meaningful and coherent focus is this: We are here to learn about and share the self through the lens of the Confederation philosophy.

Ours is not a general spirituality forum. We want to offer the largest possible tent that we can offer, but for the structure to have any meaning, it must have a focus and parameters, exclusions and boundaries.

What are the exclusions and boundaries?

Not completely egalitarian
Every entity on this planet has a right to their own point of view. It is indeed the sacred, inalienable duty of each to create and form their own point of view, and can only be done by the self for the self. Bring4th can neither allow nor disallow one to have and form their own inherent perspective.

Everyone does not, however, have the right to express whatever point of view they may want in the community. The system has boundaries, boundaries that—as hopefully this document, the guidelines, and the moderator material makes clear—are as liberal, open, and reasonable as possible, but boundaries nevertheless.

To zoom out for a moment: Everyone is the Creator. Yes? Everyone is the self. Bring4th seeks the consciousness where this is obvious. But we keep in mind that, while fundamentally we are one with all beings, there are infinite expressions of that one in infinitely various relationship to one another:

Quote:67.11 Ra: You do not have merely two opposite requests for service. You will find an infinite array of contradictory requests for information or lack of information from this source if you listen carefully to those whose voices you may hear. This is all one voice to which you resonate upon a certain frequency. This frequency determines your choice of service to the One Creator. As it happens this group’s vibratory patterns and those of Ra are compatible and enable us to speak through this instrument with your support. This is a function of free will.

A portion, seemingly, of the Creator rejoices at your choice to question us regarding the evolution of spirit. A seemingly separate portion would wish for multitudinous answers to a great range of queries of a specific nature. Another seemingly separate group of your peoples would wish this correspondence through this instrument to cease, feeling it to be of a negative nature. Upon the many other planes of existence there are those whose every fiber rejoices at your service and those such as the entity of whom you have been speaking which wish only to terminate the life upon the third-density plane of this instrument.

All are the Creator. There is one vast panoply of biases and distortions, colors and hues, in an unending pattern. In the case of those with whom you, as entities and as a group, are not in resonance, you wish them love, light, peace, joy, and bid them well. No more than this can you do for your portion of the Creator is as it is and your experience and offering of experience, to be valuable, needs be more and more a perfect representation of who you truly are.

We recognize the “vast panoply of biases and distortions, colors and hues,” appreciate it, and love it. We try to open our own frequencies to accommodate as wide a range of biases and distortions, colors and hues as possible, but at the end of the day, we are not completely egalitarian—we are not a community that feels every viewpoint has an equal place here.

Each viewpoint is “equal” in terms of it being right for he or she who generated the viewpoint—as no entity is more Creator than another—but each viewpoint is not “equal” in terms of, say, a harvestable degree of service-to-self perspective being equal on the Bring4th Forums with an opened green-ray perspective. One of the two is outside of, and dissonant with, our frequency.

As expressed above, we have a bias, and seek to pursue and enhance that bias. Not just for service to others, but for harmony, for growth, and for focus.

Not promoting, pursuing, or promulgating service-to-self philosophy or practices
No one on the forums, include the website founders, are pure angels made with 100% service-to-others organic milk. We are all a mix of light and shadow. We all have vibrations within us that might be classified as service-to-self.

While we seek to reduce the negative vibrations though self-knowledge and self-acceptance, and increase that within us which is vibrating service to others, we each may be susceptible to occasionally doing or saying something that has a flavor of service to self to it. That is inevitable.

However, the Bring4th Forums are not a place for energizing that polarity by promoting, pursuing, or promulgating service-to-self philosophy or practices. Where the boundary between the two is, is not easy to codify into a one-size-fits-all rule.

Generally speaking, philosophies and posting which exhibits elements of deception, manipulative thinking, or generate fear, or reject or discourage universal love, or encourage or promote control of self or others, are those containing characteristic hallmarks of service-to-self philosophy, and are considered to be not in alignment with the principles of spiritual evolution espoused by Confederation sources.

Of course, so much depends upon context. Some threads or posts may meet that criteria in some way without crossing the line. Some threads or posts may not fully meet that criteria but may still be crossing that line. Likely whoever is crossing that line is conscious of the act, and, though they will be met with love, their posting, and perhaps even their account, will not find a home at Bring4th.

This is not to make service to self a boogeyman in response to whose utterance we must create a cross of our index fingers to dispel the evil energy. We of the positive polarity are of the positive polarity precisely because of the existence and operation of those of the negative polarity. Thus to have a greater understanding or grasp of the negative path is to better understand our own path.

Consequently there is space to discuss the negative path and its interaction with the positive path. In fact, the topic of polarity is one of the most central for any student of the Law of One, and ought to be continually revisited for any seeking to polarize.

No sacred cow
Many respect and revere the information. Why? Because it resonates profoundly with them. It has moved them to tears, illuminated various if not all quarters of their life, informed their worldview, and, in many cases, had an absolutely transformative effect upon their incarnations, often enduringly so.

It is okay to love the material. To study it. To uphold it as a standard. To apply it. To scrutinize it. To question it. To test it. To give it a place of special significance and meaning in one’s heart. It is okay to wear that love upon ones sleeve. If there is any place on the internet to do so, this is the place!

But we don’t turn the material into a sacred cow, infallible and objectively true in every case. We look to it as a credible and awesome source of information, perhaps stemming from a broader point of view than our own, but we always recognize that it is we who have the final authority to determine what is true for us, to apply the material in unique ways to the synthesis of our own experience, and to determine how we will interpret the information.

No single interpretation trumps all others in all cases
The community recognizes that there are often a multiplicity of interpretations of the material.

Certain statements can be made about the Law of One which are objectively true (within its own context, of course). For instance, “There are eight densities, with the eighth being the gateway density.” “There are 106 sessions in total of the Ra Material.” “Ra is a sixth-density social memory complex.” But outside of statements about the material for which there is no possible dispute, much is open to subjective interpretation. The path of seeking is a path of subjective exploration and creation, and Ra could often only offer generalities, unable as they were to speak to the utter uniqueness of each and every creation.

It is very helpful to have intensive discussions that seek to hash out the meaning of words, phrases, and concepts—some interpretations are better than others in grasping the intention and nature of the information—but we refrain from becoming dogmatic in insisting that there is ever only one way to interpret this body of information.

Who Are These People?

People who are ethical
With exceedingly rare exception, each who is attracted to this material has a strong ethical framework of perception and action, the cornerstone of which is the desire and capacity to respect the free will of others through honest, loving-kindness, and the desire to be to others of service.

People who love this material
This is what you might call a no-brainer, but it’s sometimes helpful to articulate the obvious. Members of the larger Law of One community, whether or not participating at Bring4th, come from a great variety of demographics and temperaments. The desire to seek and serve the One Creator is that which, ultimately, unites us, but in the relative world of shape and form, it is this unique body of philosophy that has brought us together from a diverse range of starting points across the globe.

People who are service-oriented
Nearly everyone attracted to this philosophy—regardless of whether they consciously recognize the theory and practice of “polarity” as valuable—is what we could call a service-to-others oriented person.

Essays could be made to describe what that means. In short, positively oriented seekers simply want the highest and best fulfillment for others, preferably full of joy and free of suffering. They actively work to help the other self achieve their own stated ends, serving the other self as the request is made and only in proportion to the request. For the positively oriented entity, this means non-proselytizing, withdrawing if there is no request, and offering even the comforts of sleep if that is what the other-self desires. It means simple radiance from the open heart.

People who often feel they are wanderers
A discussion ripe with interesting speculation, we feel that those who are naturally attracted to this information are, in the main, wanderers. Though Bring4th does not issue any wanderer badge, nor are distinctions or classifications ever made to categorize or separate, nor is being a wanderer meaningful to any but the seeker itself, we note it here simply because there is a sub-culture on this planet who genuinely feel that their souls are from elsewhere, and that they are on this planet to serve others. This demographic also shares certain broad traits across their spectrum.

Knowledge of being a wanderer can be profoundly healing and transformative to he or she who has suffered in their attempts to adjust to and understand a world that may, in various ways, seem alien and even threatening.

Among those who consider themselves wanderers, along with those who have embarked upon the path of spiritual seeking in general, there often exists a great loneliness and profound sense of alienation. Significant, sometimes crushing pain can be a major debilitating theme of the wanderer and spiritual seeker.Bring4th seeks to meet the need by promoting community among this and associated demographics to help alleviate the isolation.

Again, however, at the end of the day, no tally is kept as to who believes or knows they are a wanderer or not, and no distinctions are ever recorded. Each who participates is obviously and undeniably human, with human lessons, human fears, and human hopes.

People who are spiritual seekers
Whatever the soul’s proximate origin in the universe, here or elsewhere, what most defines those who participate on Bring4th is their hunger for the truth. That hunger manifests in many, many ways, in varying intensities, but it is often visible in the way that each lights up in response to a gem of metaphysical thought, an insight into the deeper nature of experience, or another puzzle piece that reflects the truer/greater nature of the self and the universe within which the self dances.

Whether or not consciously realized or expressed, the Creator has begun to awaken within each who participates at Bring4th. The spiritual seeking is a manifestation of the Creator desiring to know itself, though us. It is that inner light which guides our journey to this particular nexus of energy known as Bring4th, and many others beyond.

Closing

We want to be together. We want to know each other. We want to merge with each other.

We need each other.

Above all, this particular website wishes to facilitate that connection—both for the benefit of the reading and participating individuals, and for the planet itself which receives the byproducts of our interactions on Bring4th, including:

Love

Light

]]> Bring4th Principles
The website, Bring4th.org, was made with three parts spirit, one part technology, and eight parts heart, with a colored donut sprinkle, or two, of wisdom. It was constructed, designed, and put into motion on the basis of principles intended to guide its evolution and shape its journey.

The principles stem from, and are articulated by, the channeled material and general work of L/L Research, the vision of the organization’s founders, the vision community’s founders, and the daily interactions of each who contributes their energy—whether silently or vocally.

In short, those principles divide into two broad categories:

How we relate to one another.
The content of our contributions.

Quote:67.11 Ra: You do not have merely two opposite requests for service. You will find an infinite array of contradictory requests for information or lack of information from this source if you listen carefully to those whose voices you may hear. This is all one voice to which you resonate upon a certain frequency. This frequency determines your choice of service to the One Creator. As it happens this group’s vibratory patterns and those of Ra are compatible and enable us to speak through this instrument with your support. This is a function of free will.

A portion, seemingly, of the Creator rejoices at your choice to question us regarding the evolution of spirit. A seemingly separate portion would wish for multitudinous answers to a great range of queries of a specific nature. Another seemingly separate group of your peoples would wish this correspondence through this instrument to cease, feeling it to be of a negative nature. Upon the many other planes of existence there are those whose every fiber rejoices at your service and those such as the entity of whom you have been speaking which wish only to terminate the life upon the third-density plane of this instrument.

All are the Creator. There is one vast panoply of biases and distortions, colors and hues, in an unending pattern. In the case of those with whom you, as entities and as a group, are not in resonance, you wish them love, light, peace, joy, and bid them well. No more than this can you do for your portion of the Creator is as it is and your experience and offering of experience, to be valuable, needs be more and more a perfect representation of who you truly are.

Closing

Love

Light

]]> <![CDATA[Bring4th Forum Guidelines]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=63 Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:37:49 +0000 bring4th_admin]]> https://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthread.php?tid=63 Bring4th Guidelines

Thank you for joining the Bring4th Forums!

The purpose of our forum is to provide seekers like you a safe meeting place conducive to conversation regarding the fascinating and inexhaustible field of spiritual evolution as understood through the eyes of the Law of One material, the Confederation philosophy, and the work of L/L Research.

These forums represent a sacred meeting place where people from a wide range of backgrounds, temperaments, and orientations converge to share themselves on the common ground of service to others, love, light, unity, and joy. In order to better facilitate and safeguard this incredible and rare environment, we have established guidelines (below) and principles of Bring4th. This forum is private and participation requires acceptance of the guidelines and the Community Stewardship Circle's ability to enforce them.

1) The Cornerstone: Mutual Respect
The key governing principle is the request that all members treat others with respect, especially when disagreeing. The participant may disagree with an idea without personally attacking the author.

'Specific Boundaries’ Wrote:The following behaviors are subject to moderation:
- Behaving as though others must hear and accept or are dependent upon our wisdom offerings.
- Engaging in critical personal analysis of another member.
- Insulting the character of another member.
- Harassing other members by following them into various threads in order to continue an argument.
- Excessive profanity or name calling.
- Conducting interpersonal disputes in public. (See Guideline #16 for more.)
- Excessive use of capitalized text for impact as this is commonly interpreted as "shouting."

Members are encouraged to:
- Be sensitive to the request/need for service.
- Be careful about assessing the (often difficult-to-discern) intentions of others.

2) Service to Others
The Bring4th Forums are designed to facilitate and encourage the increase of the positive polarity. While this leaves plenty of room to discuss the negative polarity, we ask members to examine all subjects from the perspective of service to others.

3) On Topic
We ask that members of the forums keep their posts on topic. Please endeavor to:

- Create threads in alignment with the intended purpose of the forum or sub-forum
- Make posts in alignment with the intended purpose of the thread
- Maintain the bulk of discussion through the lens of the L/L Research material

4) Focus & Source Material
Because Bring4th’s principal focus is the Law of One and the Confederation philosophy, members are expected to have read some of these sources and to share their thoughts on that basis. To access this material, please visit L/L Research’s free online Library at http://www.llresearch.org/library.aspx.

5) Negative Philosophies
Promotion of negative philosophies is prohibited, which may include but not be limited to:
- Deceptive or manipulative language
- Fear mongering
- Rejection of universal love
- Promotion of control of self or others
- Black magic texts, rituals or channeled information claiming to be from STS sources.
- Practices or theories which promote the subjugation of other people and/or deny universal love.
- Messages which speak of spiritual doom

‘A Note About Proclaiming Oneself as STS’ Wrote:The words we use are important in an online forum. Service to self (STS) was a phrase used in the Law of One many times and it has a very specific meaning that denotes a choice centered on separation, control and manipulation of others.

We understand that not every person uses the term STS to mean those things, but we ask members to be considerate of the audience that they are speaking to when being in this environment. Having shared definitions of words is important for productive communication. Therefore, making the statement that you are an STS individual is akin to proclaiming that your philosophical position and the way you relate to others diverges far from the principles to which this community is grounded in. We are not making a judgement on anyone who makes this choice, but Bring4th is simply not the right place for you.

6) Self-Promotion
We ask that members do not promote/showcase themselves, their own websites, philosophies, products, services or other unrelated teachings. Embedding a commercial link in your signature is prohibited.

It is acceptable to recommend and/or promote a product or service within certain limits in The Corkboard, a forum designed specifically for this purpose. Please refer to The Corkboard's posted guidelines.

7) Impermissible Speech
Discussions that promote or endorse racial / sexual / national intolerance, hate speech, politically subversive acts or planning, will not be tolerated.

8) Discussing Sexuality
Sexuality and our sexual natures represent very important, foundational, and profound portions of our evolutionary experience. At all times please attempt to discuss sexuality—whether anecdotal or abstract—with the aim of understanding it in terms of spiritual evolution, polarity, self-knowing, and self-accepting. If such topics are relevant to your post, please be as sensitive as possible to all forum members, exercise the highest discernment, and use respectful terminology.
Sharing pornography or other NSFW content for its own sake is prohibited. Moderators may remove any explicit content they feel is inappropriate.

9) Drugs
We ask that the following guidelines be honored when speaking about drugs:

- The means of creating, obtaining, or distributing any illegal substance will not be allowed.
- That discussion of drug use be placed within the larger context of spiritual evolution.
- That use of illegal drugs never be promoted to other members as a means for evolving, healing, growing, improving, etc. Members may report of their own experiences, but are not permitted to suggest that such experiences may be replicated. It will always remain to the reader’s discrimination whether any particular drug is worthy of further consideration.

‘Commentary’ Wrote:Many if not all of us have had—or know someone who has had—experience with drugs. We have likely seen at first hand both the joys and the sorrows of drugs: the memorable moments of communing in the open heart with others; the destruction of self and/or others caused or exacerbated by drugs; and, at its best, the spiritual insight and understanding that variably result from non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by chemical substances.

Notably, in the dozen or so instances where the Confederation has been questioned in channeling sessions at L/L Research through the years, their answer has always been that there are unintended negative consequences that may accompany the use of drugs. They suggest progressing naturally.

10) Mental health and medication
Please practice extreme caution and sensitivity when addressing mental illness, atypical psychology or neurology, and psychiatric medication. Do not attempt to offer unsolicited feedback or advice about mental health, psychiatric issues, and other aspects of neurodiversity. Do not dissuade members from their current psychiatric treatments.

‘Commentary’ Wrote:It is possible to share your personal experiences, or your general philosophies, without directly prescribing, diagnosing, or discouraging another member from their own treatments or approaches. Also, the Confederation has expressed the importance of remembering that allopathic healers are, indeed, healers.

11) Politics and Conspiracy Theories
We ask that discussions of politics and conspiracies arise only when they are a natural outgrowth of the larger spiritual perspective that Bring4th is intended to cultivate. In other words, please do not create threads or posts intended to focus only on political discussions surrounding current events, places, people, and conspiracy-oriented content.

12) Multiple Accounts
Owning multiple accounts is prohibited. Any Bring4th member who creates more than one account will be subject to immediate account deletion, and potentially banning.

13) Sharing Links
When sharing a link to a webpage (including to something within llresearch.org), please either:

a) provide a short description of the page in your own words, or:
b) provide an excerpt of the material (one to three paragraphs) along with the link.
Doing this rather than posting a "blind link" prevents confusion and saves time for readers.

Likewise, when posting outside material to the forums, limit the amount of text posted to one to three paragraphs along with a link to the material, if possible. This avoids readers having to scroll through massively long posts.

14) ID Theft
Revealing your identity is not required for participation on Bring4th. However, intentionally misrepresenting your identity in order to manipulate or deceive is prohibited and may result in an immediate ban.

15) Applying Guidelines to the CSC & Website Owners
Moderation is conducted by the CSC, all long-term community members who enjoy participating in the forums. They are supported by the website owners. These guidelines not only guide their online participation, but they also apply to how they are to be treated. It has been found that having a policy of allowing open public criticism of moderator decisions and owners has led to circumvention of the guidelines and impairment to the mental health of those freely offering their service here, therefore we ask that any queries or complaints be directed to this inbox instead of made publicly.

16) Member Issues & CSC Support
In order to avoid public dispute, we encourage discussing issues with other members using the PM system if all parties are in agreement, with the understanding that PMs are not monitored or moderated. If you require mediation with another member then contact a CSC member. If you feel that another member has targeted you, then please contact the CSC or report the post.

Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read Bring4th’s guidelines, which are intended to help members participate on the forum with the least possible degree of difficulty. They cannot define or measure each and every situation. The moderators will do their utmost to interpret and apply these guidelines to the unique situations that arise.

Always feel free to contact the Community Stewardship Circle with questions and concerns.

[Do you have any ideas for refining the guidelines? Please send them our way using the Contact Us page.]]]> Bring4th Guidelines

Thank you for joining the Bring4th Forums!

The purpose of our forum is to provide seekers like you a safe meeting place conducive to conversation regarding the fascinating and inexhaustible field of spiritual evolution as understood through the eyes of the Law of One material, the Confederation philosophy, and the work of L/L Research.

These forums represent a sacred meeting place where people from a wide range of backgrounds, temperaments, and orientations converge to share themselves on the common ground of service to others, love, light, unity, and joy. In order to better facilitate and safeguard this incredible and rare environment, we have established guidelines (below) and principles of Bring4th. This forum is private and participation requires acceptance of the guidelines and the Community Stewardship Circle's ability to enforce them.

1) The Cornerstone: Mutual Respect
The key governing principle is the request that all members treat others with respect, especially when disagreeing. The participant may disagree with an idea without personally attacking the author.

'Specific Boundaries’ Wrote:The following behaviors are subject to moderation:
- Behaving as though others must hear and accept or are dependent upon our wisdom offerings.
- Engaging in critical personal analysis of another member.
- Insulting the character of another member.
- Harassing other members by following them into various threads in order to continue an argument.
- Excessive profanity or name calling.
- Conducting interpersonal disputes in public. (See Guideline #16 for more.)
- Excessive use of capitalized text for impact as this is commonly interpreted as "shouting."

Members are encouraged to:
- Be sensitive to the request/need for service.
- Be careful about assessing the (often difficult-to-discern) intentions of others.

‘A Note About Proclaiming Oneself as STS’ Wrote:The words we use are important in an online forum. Service to self (STS) was a phrase used in the Law of One many times and it has a very specific meaning that denotes a choice centered on separation, control and manipulation of others.

We understand that not every person uses the term STS to mean those things, but we ask members to be considerate of the audience that they are speaking to when being in this environment. Having shared definitions of words is important for productive communication. Therefore, making the statement that you are an STS individual is akin to proclaiming that your philosophical position and the way you relate to others diverges far from the principles to which this community is grounded in. We are not making a judgement on anyone who makes this choice, but Bring4th is simply not the right place for you.

‘Commentary’ Wrote:Many if not all of us have had—or know someone who has had—experience with drugs. We have likely seen at first hand both the joys and the sorrows of drugs: the memorable moments of communing in the open heart with others; the destruction of self and/or others caused or exacerbated by drugs; and, at its best, the spiritual insight and understanding that variably result from non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by chemical substances.

Notably, in the dozen or so instances where the Confederation has been questioned in channeling sessions at L/L Research through the years, their answer has always been that there are unintended negative consequences that may accompany the use of drugs. They suggest progressing naturally.

‘Commentary’ Wrote:It is possible to share your personal experiences, or your general philosophies, without directly prescribing, diagnosing, or discouraging another member from their own treatments or approaches. Also, the Confederation has expressed the importance of remembering that allopathic healers are, indeed, healers.