This document is intended to clarify what is expected from community members here. Please read it and become familiar with it, as all members are expected to abide by these rules.

Community Mission

This community exists solely to aid those who are studying the Gnostic teachings and practices presented through the books of Samael Aun Weor and our websites (such as Gnostic Teachings and Gnostic Radio), and related sources. Users of this community should study those resources, use the search tools, and investigate their questions before posting in the forum.

The community and discussion forum are made available solely for the clarification of Gnosis. This is not an "open forum" where anyone can come and express their opinions, gather followers, or promote their products, whether material or spiritual. Posts and topics which are not concerned with the teachings of Gnosis will be removed.

Members of this community are expected to conduct themselves as if they are within a very holy temple or church. This guideline will be strictly enforced, in order to preserve the sanctity of this place.

Forum Rules

1. Members should engage in the community in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning. Constructive criticism is welcome, but insults and coarse language directed towards other users or the site administrators will not be tolerated.

2. Members are asked to not act as “back seat moderators." If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document, they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Moderating Team. Please use the “post report” feature to report posts. Do not respond to such topics yourself. Members who constantly “act” as moderators may be warned.

3. Members should remember that this board is aimed at a spiritual audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated at all, and will result in immediate banning.

Ask Questions the Smart Way

1. Members should use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. When choosing an appropriate topic title, try to summarize the problem briefly in the subject. An example of a bad subject would be, "HELP ME." A good subject might be, "What Are Good Practices for Astral Projection?" Please do not use a URL as a thread title.

2. Include as much information as you can when seeking help. In order to assist you, it is necessary that you present your questions clearly. Nobody will be able to help you if you don't provide sufficient detail.

3. Thank those who help you. Acknowledgment of a helpful suggestion not only assures those who helped you, it may also help others with a similar problem. All those who have been helped on this forum are invited to help other users by responding to their questions when they know the answer and/or to consider donating to the project.

Adding Content, Groups, and Forum Posts

1. All contributions, posts, and content must be in English, unless posted in a specific international forum. If posting in an international forum, please use the language of that forum, and not English.

2. Please read the forum descriptions before posting and place posts in the relevant forum. Users consistently posting to the wrong forum may be given a warning (see moderation below). Also, do not cross-post the same question to multiple places. We are always checking the entire forum for new questions in order that we may assist you.

3. Make sure you have read the parent article and post completely before posting a reply. Members who post without consideration of others, by replying to a subject without having read the parent article, may be subject to moderation.

4. Keep all posts on-topic. Posts that are not relevant to the parent article will be removed.

5. No useless posts please. This includes thread bumping, useless one liners, insults and irrelevant responses.

6. Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing". That is users should not post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or colored text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned.

7. Use your own words. If you wish to use the words of somebody else, please quote them, citing the source. Plagiarism is unethical and is illegal in many countries.

8. Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. Any posts deemed to be self-promotion, advertising, or spam can and will be removed. Posting excessive, inappropriate and unnecessary references to your products and websites is considered self-promotion.

Videos, Photos, Music, and Other Content

1. This community is focused on the development of the spiritual values described in the Gnostic teachings and all religions. Videos, images, and other content should reflect these values or relate directly to the divine, spiritual knowledge that we are studying. When considering submitting content to the site, ask yourself: does this image or video illustrate something about Gnosis? We respect your right to enjoy your music and videos in privacy, but this community exists in order to illustrate the Gnostic teachings, not your personal tastes. In other words, do not submit crude, materialistic, violent, or worldly imagery. Any user content - video, photo, or any other format - that does not relate to the sacred teachings will be deleted. To get an idea of the art, music, and videos we are interested in, study this topic in the forum: How Do Music And Art Affect The Consciousness?

Personal Problems

1. The Community Forum is not the place to resolve your personal problems. This is a place to learn about Gnosis so you can apply it to your problems. Personal problems are best resolved in private. The community is not a place to come for free counseling. The serious student of Gnosis learns how to turn to their Innermost for resolution of all problems. Some discussion of personal issues is understandable and acceptable. However, those who consistently indulge in discussing their personal issues may be restricted per the moderators’ discretion.

2. This is also not the place to settle disagreements or personal conflicts. Any posts deemed to be of this nature will be removed. Please settle your disputes in private.

3. These forums are centered on the practical and spiritual teachings of Samael Aun Weor. They are not a place to promote unrelated ideological, religious or political matters. All such discussions will be deleted or closed.

Moderation

1. The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to edit, remove or put on moderation queue any post at any time. Please note that currently any very first post is automatically placed in the moderation queue and will be approved or disapproved according to the present rules. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to Team Members and not users.

2. The Community Moderators always do their best to preserve the sanctity of this place. Users who flagrantly abuse the policies of the community will be immediately banned. Users who unknowingly abuse the policies may be warned. Continued abuses may lead to a user being banned. Understand that permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. While the Moderators may consider lifting permanent bans from time to time, this is a rare occurrence.

3. The forum rules also apply to private messaging. Abuse of the private messaging system may lead to warnings (as above), the revocation of private messaging, and/or banning.

User Accounts

1. Only one account per person is permitted.

2. Do not pretend to represent somebody else. Your account will be deleted if found to be in breach of this rule. This includes pretending to be a moderator or instructor.

3. Many community members use avatars or photos that do not contain actual photos of themselves or others. This is in order to encourage visitors and members to communicate with each other without the influence of the false personality, or any notion of race, sex, country of origin, culture, etc. Nonetheless, you are welcome to utilize photos or images of yourself, so long as they are appropriate and tasteful. We recommend that if you choose to use an avatar or "personal photo" that you choose artwork which inspires you or reflects your reason for participating in the forum. The moderators reserve the right to remove avatars and personal photos that are deemed inappropriate or which do not reflect the values of this community.

4. Users are permitted to utilize a gallery avatar or to link to one of their own. User defined avatars are to be no larger than 160 pixels square, contain no animation, and contain no image which attempts to portray the user as having an official status here (such as mimicking ranks or copying avatars of team members). Due to the forum software, avatars may not exceed 2 MB in filesize and must have a consistently high availability (i.e. links to images on slow servers or those prone to failure may be removed).

5. Avatars are subject to the same conditions as posts with respect to decency, and so forth. Users abusing these rules will be warned and/or may lose their avatar privileges.

Signatures

1. For the sake of organization and efficiency, signatures should be simple, without excessive smilies, links, colors, and fonts. Each signature may consist of a maximum of four lines. Signatures may NOT contain any images. Signatures that exceed these guidelines may be subject to moderation.

2. Self-promotion and campaigning are not allowed; this includes links to other threads, posts or personal products.

3. Any signature or avatar that is offensive or insulting to either us, our members, or our staff, are prohibited. We reserve the right to ask you to change and/or remove your signature or avatar at any time for violating these rules of conduct.

Other problems

1. All Gnostic Store issues should be directed to the Gnostic Store support team.

2. Issues with any other website should be directed to the Website Administrator.

3. Problems with community members, including inappropriate posts, private messages, or any related issue, should be reported to a Moderator. If you feel a post violates any of these rules, please use the ‘report to moderator’ link to notify the moderators.

Failure to abide by these rules may result in an editing, negative moderation or deletion of your posts or account. We reserve the right to ban abusers from the site. We reserve the right to change these rules at any time.

Thank you for your cooperation and support. We hope that you may reap the most benefit from our discussion forums and websites. May all beings be happy!