Fascinating post. It resonates interestingly with an incredible short story by the Brazilian author, Clarice Lispector, "The Egg and the Chicken" (full English text is available online). But in contrast to turning inward, Lispector seems to suggest that spiritual seeking itself, even authentic inner work, might be exactly the kind of ego grasping that interferes with essence. Her narrator discovers that living badly, staying distracted, and forgetting the sacred work entirely might BE the work - that our apparent spiritual failures could be precisely what allows the "egg" to form safely. Rather than gnosis through conscious practice, she points toward a more unsettling possibility: that "liberation" happens through remaining unconscious surface-dwellers, but doing so consciously. It's a much more radical uncertainty than transcendence, as it suggests we might already be perfectly positioned for transformation precisely because we think we're failing at it.
The philosopher Iris Murdoch also speaks to this in "On 'God' and 'Good'", arguing that self-scrutiny itself usually just strengthens "the fantasy mechanism" we're trying to escape. She suggests that practices like the Diamond Approach you mention are like a "refined sado-masochism," sophisticated spiritual self-examination that produces plausible imitations of what is good while keeping our attention fascinated with the self's "machinery." For Murdoch, liberation comes instead through "attachment to what lies outside the fantasy mechanism, and not a scrutiny of the mechanism itself." But focusing on other people's mundane needs is not as exciting as constant inner work.
I feel like this perspective needs to be heard more often in psychedelic spaces, which tend to cultivate just this kind of infinite inner searching, while leaving the insidious fantasy mechanism intact!
Awesome, looking forward to reading that, it’s a great take and I largely agree - I think inner work is good overall but not when it’s too inward focused :D
My take from the original post is that balance must be restored- feminine/masculine, inward/ outward. As I read it i imagined ourselves as wash or a sieve, that as we take the outside world in, we can cleanse and create something pure and beautiful with our inner essence and turn that back out to the world.
This is so clearly written that I am able to share with friends and loved ones that have never delved into these topics yet (the gnostics/ nag hamadi or Jung) so this is great for me. Much appreciated ☺️
Thank you Alex. I heard your humble admission that you felt Leviathan had fallen short of fully communicating your deep message. And I experience this as a further effort to communicate that message. I like and appreciate the Gnostic reference, the telling of the myth and the offering of a path. I'm inspired by the thought that the false cannot create.
I was also perturbed by your statement, "No one is interested in art about the beauty of corporate policy or the ins and outs of property law." I find this a false dichotomy. These things are evolutions of people building society together. My sense is that from the outset, the best and the worst of human nature has been a part of that evolution. I completely agree that where that evolution has ended up is fucking us collectively. But the initial impulse was the same impulse you are advocating. To build social structure that work. I do find a lot of beauty in corporate policy and property law. When I feel back to their origins, I feel people trying to make society work. And sure, the best and the worst of human nature was at play. My concern is if we split off the worst as we newly engage in exactly the same endeavor, if we pretend that we aren't carrying the best and the worst with us as we attempt to correct and begin anew, we'll be less likely to succeed.
This is a great point - it makes for a less pithy line but I think you’re right that it’s a false dichotomy to deem the trappings of society and bureaucracy to be ‘bad’ - if we place it in this framework, they are also an expression of the divine in their own way. I’m actually working on a piece about bureaucracy and started getting interested in the hidden beauty within it, your comment is a good reminder to keep searching :)
Excellent, there truly is a part of Us who have all the Answers. Each one of us must have an experience of ourselves that shifts our own perspective of ourself. It's a natural process, once you have that experience you nolonger are the "seeker" of the truth , you become Truth. What is most needed now is an entirely new narrative of what it means to be Human in a very Human sense. That sense of ourselves we are blind too. What is the narrative that needs to be created that is so moving with intelligence and emotion that when heard it instantaneously shifts one's perspective. There are millions upon millions of people today who know that other self within them , it's those Individuals who need to collectively assemble, might only need 20 million enlighten individuals coming together around the essence of ".U."....U R A W a Double You
I too thought of Paul Levy's writings on wetiko when reading the article, it felt like wetiko and Yaldabaoth share many characteristics such as not having any creativity of their own. Levy's writing of course draws from the Gnostics and Jung.
Thank you Alison 😊 for seeing and Acknowledging. All of these forces are the same , only shrouded around different discourses, even all of the different ways of attainment of our own higher realms of attainment. We all have our own shrouded narrative that allows us to break free. Or our shrouded narrative doesn’t move us to higher perspectives and we stay stuck.
I guess this is that time when people see the world really isn't flat. That there is another reality of my self which I don't see. It takes a certain amount of time for you to nurture your inner sense of yourself in order to begin to feel its effects . For it to become one with that essence. It doesn't develop on its own . We have senses that develop on there own, However, many senses need the help from others to be fully nurtured. If we don't get fully nurtured as a baby within our first 7 years it becomes more difficult to navigate, I believe this is one reason why more autism, our sense of ourselves aren't fully awake. It only makes it more difficult to fully bloom .
Hopefully within these conversations a new understanding of ourselves can emerge and shape the way we become .
Part of autism is heavy metals, many of which are found in the environment in and around babies… I’ve seen videos of parents curing their children of autism by doing a heavy metal detox and/or parasite detox on them. Autistic people usually have a buildup of heavy metals in their brain, some parasites are known to feed on heavy metals. Zeolite, which can be added to some heavy metal detoxes, is gentle for children.
While it might be true what you're saying wasn't the point of what I was saying in relationship to Alexander and Alison. My point being, if we aren't fully human, meaning if we haven't fully developed all of our 5 senses we aren't healthy enough to ward off these forces of evil. How we fully develop into fully realized human beings is what is at stake. Knowing how to elevate ourselves into a higher awareness of ourselves is what is paramount.
Thanks Ali. I've recently watched Leviathan and feel much aligned with what you're sharing. But I've also a "but" or two that I hope aren't just petty quibbles!
One for now is that there was a cleavage in ancient gnosticism that has grown clearer as the rediscovered texts have been examined, that I think isn't just an academic matter but relevant.
Roughly speaking you can say that some ancient gnostics thought the material, separated world couldn't be redeemed and so would go to destruction. Witness, say, the Gospel of Judas.
Others - who became the majority even, dare I say it, the orthodox - felt that the material world could be redeemed. Witness, say, Saint Paul, who frequently discusses gnosis.
I think this matters now, partly because it shows that ancient gnosicism wasn't what it is often taken to be: persecuted truth vs persecutor orthodoxy, which is a rather modern kind of dualism. And therefore one, I dare say, that Leviathan would be glad of perpetuating.
Thanks Mark! I actually had a whole bit about whether Gnosticism is actually as dualistic as it’s presented and there’s much to be said about the different schools of thought within it - to my mind the word ‘Gnostic’ is a bit like ‘Celtic’ in that it says a lot and nothing at the same time. Would love to discuss this more deeply together soon :)
I just finished reading and notice a sensation moving through me, like the whoosh of flame when wood catches and surges upward. There’s more I’d like to say, but verbal language comes slowly for me, so for now I just wanted to share the felt sense impact this piece had 🔥🙏
Yes very very well written. I will share with family who are totally new to these concepts.
I have written recently about how I feel AI replication of 'yaldaboath's reflections' may be the final straw that causes people to turn back to only trusting their inner authority. As you say :"We grow tired of a world made of empty signs and symbols and ideas and products and void of true beauty and feeling."
However the challenge I see is that the "playing of the game" goes deeper than what you depict here. It is totally reasonable to believe that the people benefitting the most from the deception of the egoic world are fully aware that is what is going on, and thus they know what strings to pull to keep the majority of people in psychological positions that will prevent them from realising non-duality. This is a consideration I see left out of integral theory very often.
Divisive social manipulation, impoverishment, seeding delusion through technologies, and pure violent repression are regularly doled out to those who attempt to challenge the status quo. The more pointed the challenge the more swift the repression. This is why action over Palestine is being so harshly dealt with by Western governments, because it is an extremely symbolic conflict that carries the seeds of world-centric solidarity and unity we have not known in centuries.
I do acknowledge that 'plots' to control people can also come about through the collective shadows of all of those playing egoic games, however the history of the religious class' collusion with economic and political elites points to a very well constructed system to prevent awakening. You referenced it yourself in the Catholic church's to alternate Christian frameworks. If you even just took the Western intelligence apparatus' research into mind control throughout the 20th century, it asks for a more gritty assessment of the opponent in the game.
The answer remains the same, but more nuanced, in that we must work very diligently, and very cautiously in the pursuit of collective awakening so that we can safely outpace dark intelligence.
In the past elites at the top of the game recognised when the system was getting so stretched that it may spark awakening and used several tactics to relieve pressure in the system. Our elites seem to have bet their stakes on AI being an unbeatable surveillance and repression tool that would allow them not to make any concessions.
How we out-wit that will heavily rely on turning away from the abstractions of technology, and redeveloping an inner knowledge tied to our real selves.
Awesome work, I just bought it and looking forward to reading - I spent years writing a Gnostic sci-fi Western in my twenties and one of the protagonists was Simon Magus :)
Also, I highly recommend this video of Isabella Green stumbling (via astral travel) on to what she would later come to understand as this Yaldabaoth being. https://youtu.be/ec71kyHe02c?si=eZRua-5d5ySDK09c
Also, Miguel Conner's Aeon Bytes radio podcast goes into this subject alot. Here is the interview he did with me for the Divine Spark book (the long intro is kind of intense...).
That's awesome Alexander! The idea of the Deep Christ is one to look at with soft eyes, staying open to the idea that there is more to Christ than how he has been passed down to us. It is in the broader mystical story that is so relevant to our times.
I too am very grateful that you chose to retell Gnostic myth. And I am appreciating the nuanced distinction between seeing ourselves under the grip of Moloch and understanding ourselves through the paradox of being the children of Yaldabaoth. It is a potent way to account for our condition.
I also appreciate your ongoing effort to see how we can apply all that we have learned about turning within as individuals to the possibility of looking inwards as a culture.
There is something potent and synchronistic about your assertion that:
“This is why art and music are such vital tools in making it through the metacrisis. They have no point outside of themselves, and as such incomprehensible to Yaldabaoth. Deep expressions of the human experience speak to our shared essence.”
Their is definitely something in the air today helping us to see why there is so much chaos in our world right now.
Earlier I had thought the world is absolutely manifesting perfectly because most are operating from their mental cases personality and I/we have no control over that.
Time to be and think as The Gnostics teachings guided us
Have you seen Apokalypsis, Alex? It's somewhat relevant here and I feel you'd receive a lot from it, as I did. It's a film that also touches on Yaldabaoth but in a very unique way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTBDrrHl5V0
Thanks for this piece — nice use of mythology as an access point for illuminating the way home to essence.
Almost 40 years ago I read books about the Gnostic Gospels. I read Joseph Campbell, and was on a journey to awakening, but got side tracked. In my 30s I found the teachings of yoga philosophy that helped to steer me in a more positive direction than I'd been on. I continued those studies and ventured into Vedanta, the Upanishads, Bagavad Gita, etc. And, more recently, I'm connecting with quantum phyisics and those who are makign the links between science and spirituality. I can't thank you enough for sharing this. I'm grateful to the Universe for dropping it in my path (she's always looking out for me), and for knowing that others out there who share and believe we can (and must) do better as a species. Just think, 2000+ years ago these brilliant minds were so much more advanced than we are today. Hopefully, we'll catch up. but there will be much more destruction before a turn around occurs.
Great post. I'll share it with a freind, who responded to my previous sharing of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRUNPl7yZ2U ('Why the lack of beauty is destroying society' - Very good video, and I have to say, GETS BETTER AS IT GOES ALONG! :).
Sometimes sharing these things (containing whole expositions about myths...) is way better, including as they do very many interrelated metaphors far easier to see the connections in than most of us can create through language. Thanks, Ali.
Fascinating post. It resonates interestingly with an incredible short story by the Brazilian author, Clarice Lispector, "The Egg and the Chicken" (full English text is available online). But in contrast to turning inward, Lispector seems to suggest that spiritual seeking itself, even authentic inner work, might be exactly the kind of ego grasping that interferes with essence. Her narrator discovers that living badly, staying distracted, and forgetting the sacred work entirely might BE the work - that our apparent spiritual failures could be precisely what allows the "egg" to form safely. Rather than gnosis through conscious practice, she points toward a more unsettling possibility: that "liberation" happens through remaining unconscious surface-dwellers, but doing so consciously. It's a much more radical uncertainty than transcendence, as it suggests we might already be perfectly positioned for transformation precisely because we think we're failing at it.
The philosopher Iris Murdoch also speaks to this in "On 'God' and 'Good'", arguing that self-scrutiny itself usually just strengthens "the fantasy mechanism" we're trying to escape. She suggests that practices like the Diamond Approach you mention are like a "refined sado-masochism," sophisticated spiritual self-examination that produces plausible imitations of what is good while keeping our attention fascinated with the self's "machinery." For Murdoch, liberation comes instead through "attachment to what lies outside the fantasy mechanism, and not a scrutiny of the mechanism itself." But focusing on other people's mundane needs is not as exciting as constant inner work.
I feel like this perspective needs to be heard more often in psychedelic spaces, which tend to cultivate just this kind of infinite inner searching, while leaving the insidious fantasy mechanism intact!
Awesome, looking forward to reading that, it’s a great take and I largely agree - I think inner work is good overall but not when it’s too inward focused :D
My take from the original post is that balance must be restored- feminine/masculine, inward/ outward. As I read it i imagined ourselves as wash or a sieve, that as we take the outside world in, we can cleanse and create something pure and beautiful with our inner essence and turn that back out to the world.
This is so clearly written that I am able to share with friends and loved ones that have never delved into these topics yet (the gnostics/ nag hamadi or Jung) so this is great for me. Much appreciated ☺️
Thank you! That’s my eternal quest so it means a lot to hear that
Same! I sent this to many loved ones as well.
Thanks! 🤩
Thank you Alex. I heard your humble admission that you felt Leviathan had fallen short of fully communicating your deep message. And I experience this as a further effort to communicate that message. I like and appreciate the Gnostic reference, the telling of the myth and the offering of a path. I'm inspired by the thought that the false cannot create.
I was also perturbed by your statement, "No one is interested in art about the beauty of corporate policy or the ins and outs of property law." I find this a false dichotomy. These things are evolutions of people building society together. My sense is that from the outset, the best and the worst of human nature has been a part of that evolution. I completely agree that where that evolution has ended up is fucking us collectively. But the initial impulse was the same impulse you are advocating. To build social structure that work. I do find a lot of beauty in corporate policy and property law. When I feel back to their origins, I feel people trying to make society work. And sure, the best and the worst of human nature was at play. My concern is if we split off the worst as we newly engage in exactly the same endeavor, if we pretend that we aren't carrying the best and the worst with us as we attempt to correct and begin anew, we'll be less likely to succeed.
This is a great point - it makes for a less pithy line but I think you’re right that it’s a false dichotomy to deem the trappings of society and bureaucracy to be ‘bad’ - if we place it in this framework, they are also an expression of the divine in their own way. I’m actually working on a piece about bureaucracy and started getting interested in the hidden beauty within it, your comment is a good reminder to keep searching :)
Excellent, there truly is a part of Us who have all the Answers. Each one of us must have an experience of ourselves that shifts our own perspective of ourself. It's a natural process, once you have that experience you nolonger are the "seeker" of the truth , you become Truth. What is most needed now is an entirely new narrative of what it means to be Human in a very Human sense. That sense of ourselves we are blind too. What is the narrative that needs to be created that is so moving with intelligence and emotion that when heard it instantaneously shifts one's perspective. There are millions upon millions of people today who know that other self within them , it's those Individuals who need to collectively assemble, might only need 20 million enlighten individuals coming together around the essence of ".U."....U R A W a Double You
Excellent Essay!
Also Alexander from the American Indians
Wetiko in a Nutshell https://share.google/TGBJ2lqAa2IWJVDzn
I too thought of Paul Levy's writings on wetiko when reading the article, it felt like wetiko and Yaldabaoth share many characteristics such as not having any creativity of their own. Levy's writing of course draws from the Gnostics and Jung.
Thank you Alison 😊 for seeing and Acknowledging. All of these forces are the same , only shrouded around different discourses, even all of the different ways of attainment of our own higher realms of attainment. We all have our own shrouded narrative that allows us to break free. Or our shrouded narrative doesn’t move us to higher perspectives and we stay stuck.
What is my point ?
I guess this is that time when people see the world really isn't flat. That there is another reality of my self which I don't see. It takes a certain amount of time for you to nurture your inner sense of yourself in order to begin to feel its effects . For it to become one with that essence. It doesn't develop on its own . We have senses that develop on there own, However, many senses need the help from others to be fully nurtured. If we don't get fully nurtured as a baby within our first 7 years it becomes more difficult to navigate, I believe this is one reason why more autism, our sense of ourselves aren't fully awake. It only makes it more difficult to fully bloom .
Hopefully within these conversations a new understanding of ourselves can emerge and shape the way we become .
Part of autism is heavy metals, many of which are found in the environment in and around babies… I’ve seen videos of parents curing their children of autism by doing a heavy metal detox and/or parasite detox on them. Autistic people usually have a buildup of heavy metals in their brain, some parasites are known to feed on heavy metals. Zeolite, which can be added to some heavy metal detoxes, is gentle for children.
While it might be true what you're saying wasn't the point of what I was saying in relationship to Alexander and Alison. My point being, if we aren't fully human, meaning if we haven't fully developed all of our 5 senses we aren't healthy enough to ward off these forces of evil. How we fully develop into fully realized human beings is what is at stake. Knowing how to elevate ourselves into a higher awareness of ourselves is what is paramount.
Thanks Ali. I've recently watched Leviathan and feel much aligned with what you're sharing. But I've also a "but" or two that I hope aren't just petty quibbles!
One for now is that there was a cleavage in ancient gnosticism that has grown clearer as the rediscovered texts have been examined, that I think isn't just an academic matter but relevant.
Roughly speaking you can say that some ancient gnostics thought the material, separated world couldn't be redeemed and so would go to destruction. Witness, say, the Gospel of Judas.
Others - who became the majority even, dare I say it, the orthodox - felt that the material world could be redeemed. Witness, say, Saint Paul, who frequently discusses gnosis.
I think this matters now, partly because it shows that ancient gnosicism wasn't what it is often taken to be: persecuted truth vs persecutor orthodoxy, which is a rather modern kind of dualism. And therefore one, I dare say, that Leviathan would be glad of perpetuating.
Thanks Mark! I actually had a whole bit about whether Gnosticism is actually as dualistic as it’s presented and there’s much to be said about the different schools of thought within it - to my mind the word ‘Gnostic’ is a bit like ‘Celtic’ in that it says a lot and nothing at the same time. Would love to discuss this more deeply together soon :)
“The next revolution will be a walk-out.” So said a wise being somewhere along the way….
Amen
I just finished reading and notice a sensation moving through me, like the whoosh of flame when wood catches and surges upward. There’s more I’d like to say, but verbal language comes slowly for me, so for now I just wanted to share the felt sense impact this piece had 🔥🙏
That embodied description says more than lots of words, good to hear!
Yes very very well written. I will share with family who are totally new to these concepts.
I have written recently about how I feel AI replication of 'yaldaboath's reflections' may be the final straw that causes people to turn back to only trusting their inner authority. As you say :"We grow tired of a world made of empty signs and symbols and ideas and products and void of true beauty and feeling."
However the challenge I see is that the "playing of the game" goes deeper than what you depict here. It is totally reasonable to believe that the people benefitting the most from the deception of the egoic world are fully aware that is what is going on, and thus they know what strings to pull to keep the majority of people in psychological positions that will prevent them from realising non-duality. This is a consideration I see left out of integral theory very often.
Divisive social manipulation, impoverishment, seeding delusion through technologies, and pure violent repression are regularly doled out to those who attempt to challenge the status quo. The more pointed the challenge the more swift the repression. This is why action over Palestine is being so harshly dealt with by Western governments, because it is an extremely symbolic conflict that carries the seeds of world-centric solidarity and unity we have not known in centuries.
I do acknowledge that 'plots' to control people can also come about through the collective shadows of all of those playing egoic games, however the history of the religious class' collusion with economic and political elites points to a very well constructed system to prevent awakening. You referenced it yourself in the Catholic church's to alternate Christian frameworks. If you even just took the Western intelligence apparatus' research into mind control throughout the 20th century, it asks for a more gritty assessment of the opponent in the game.
The answer remains the same, but more nuanced, in that we must work very diligently, and very cautiously in the pursuit of collective awakening so that we can safely outpace dark intelligence.
In the past elites at the top of the game recognised when the system was getting so stretched that it may spark awakening and used several tactics to relieve pressure in the system. Our elites seem to have bet their stakes on AI being an unbeatable surveillance and repression tool that would allow them not to make any concessions.
How we out-wit that will heavily rely on turning away from the abstractions of technology, and redeveloping an inner knowledge tied to our real selves.
Great comment, thank you!
Thanks for helping to unpack this ancient gnostic mythos. Here is my attempt at that as well. https://www.sophiaproject.net/post/overview-of-the-divine-spark-book
Awesome work, I just bought it and looking forward to reading - I spent years writing a Gnostic sci-fi Western in my twenties and one of the protagonists was Simon Magus :)
Also, I highly recommend this video of Isabella Green stumbling (via astral travel) on to what she would later come to understand as this Yaldabaoth being. https://youtu.be/ec71kyHe02c?si=eZRua-5d5ySDK09c
Also, Miguel Conner's Aeon Bytes radio podcast goes into this subject alot. Here is the interview he did with me for the Divine Spark book (the long intro is kind of intense...).
https://youtu.be/3VbDOY41w2s?si=SaRCuZToFhckUA17
That's awesome Alexander! The idea of the Deep Christ is one to look at with soft eyes, staying open to the idea that there is more to Christ than how he has been passed down to us. It is in the broader mystical story that is so relevant to our times.
I too am very grateful that you chose to retell Gnostic myth. And I am appreciating the nuanced distinction between seeing ourselves under the grip of Moloch and understanding ourselves through the paradox of being the children of Yaldabaoth. It is a potent way to account for our condition.
I also appreciate your ongoing effort to see how we can apply all that we have learned about turning within as individuals to the possibility of looking inwards as a culture.
There is something potent and synchronistic about your assertion that:
“This is why art and music are such vital tools in making it through the metacrisis. They have no point outside of themselves, and as such incomprehensible to Yaldabaoth. Deep expressions of the human experience speak to our shared essence.”
Because I just had one such encounter with art and music right at the margins of the empire. And I'm still integrating both the experience and its possibilities: https://gibranrivera.substack.com/p/what-is-bad-bunny-doing
Thanks, Ali. In a beautifully synchronistic way, I had just finished an article about how we can shift the game when your piece was posted. https://immediacyforum.substack.com/p/the-god-within
It's in the air! Thanks Claudia, looking forward to reading this.
Their is definitely something in the air today helping us to see why there is so much chaos in our world right now.
Earlier I had thought the world is absolutely manifesting perfectly because most are operating from their mental cases personality and I/we have no control over that.
Time to be and think as The Gnostics teachings guided us
I will endeavour more
Have you seen Apokalypsis, Alex? It's somewhat relevant here and I feel you'd receive a lot from it, as I did. It's a film that also touches on Yaldabaoth but in a very unique way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTBDrrHl5V0
Thanks for this piece — nice use of mythology as an access point for illuminating the way home to essence.
Thanks Jordan, good to hear from you :) I haven’t heard of it, will check it out, looks interesting
Almost 40 years ago I read books about the Gnostic Gospels. I read Joseph Campbell, and was on a journey to awakening, but got side tracked. In my 30s I found the teachings of yoga philosophy that helped to steer me in a more positive direction than I'd been on. I continued those studies and ventured into Vedanta, the Upanishads, Bagavad Gita, etc. And, more recently, I'm connecting with quantum phyisics and those who are makign the links between science and spirituality. I can't thank you enough for sharing this. I'm grateful to the Universe for dropping it in my path (she's always looking out for me), and for knowing that others out there who share and believe we can (and must) do better as a species. Just think, 2000+ years ago these brilliant minds were so much more advanced than we are today. Hopefully, we'll catch up. but there will be much more destruction before a turn around occurs.
I’m happy you found it useful, thanks for sharing your journey
Beautifully written confirmation of the state of play. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Thanks Phil :)
🦁🐍✍️👌
Great post. I'll share it with a freind, who responded to my previous sharing of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRUNPl7yZ2U ('Why the lack of beauty is destroying society' - Very good video, and I have to say, GETS BETTER AS IT GOES ALONG! :).
Sometimes sharing these things (containing whole expositions about myths...) is way better, including as they do very many interrelated metaphors far easier to see the connections in than most of us can create through language. Thanks, Ali.