michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Apr 8, 2006 15:16:19 GMT 4
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Apr 14, 2006 12:31:39 GMT 4
The red pillThe metaphor of the red pill, borrowed from the Warner Brother’s film, The Matrix, refers to waking up from illusion—suddenly realizing that everything is quite different than how you always thought it was.
Each chapter of this book offers it’s own red pill. Our civilization is based on a great many illusions, and each chapter attempts to dispel one of these, peeling one more layer from the onion of deception. Below is a brief description of each chapter’s red pillThe MatrixThe consensus reality that we see portrayed on television and in school history books is a fabricated illusion. The lies of politicians are repeated in the media and then become the basis of histories, the fabric of the Matrix. The war in Iraq provides an excellent current example: in the Matrix we read about bringing democracy to the Iraqis while in reality the US is seizing control of petroleum resources and establishing a permanent military outpost in the Middle East. A brief history of humanityThe history we are taught in school is not the story of humanity, but rather the story of hierarchical civilizations. Our species has been fully human for about 100,000 years, and only the last 10% of that—a brief episode for our species—has been characterized by hierarchy and centralized governance. We are presented with the Hobbesian myth that early humans lived a short and brutal life, and the Social Darwinist myth that our evolution has been driven by dog-eat-dog competition. In reality, early societies were highly cooperative and egalitarian. Civilization is not a reflection of human nature, but is rather a system of domination and exploitation by ruling elites. We are like animals in cages: our behavior under these stressful conditions is not representative of our nature, just as the pacing of a caged cheetah does not represent the natural behavior of that beautiful animal. Our Harmonization ImperativeOur societies and political systems are characterized by competition and struggle among cultural factions and political parties. When we try to change this system by forming adversarial political movements we are playing into this game—a game rigged so that elites always win. If we really want to change the system, we need to learn how to come together as humans, moving beyond the ideological structures that have been created to divide us from one another. We are all in this together, and a better world for one is a better world for all. It’s not about winning, nor really even about agreement: it’s about working together in pursuit of our common interests. The dynamics of harmonizationOur usual models of discussion and deliberation reflect the adversarial nature of our society generally. We argue for our position over the other position: one side wins, the other loses, or we settle for a compromise—and the underlying conflicts remain unresolved. Harmonization is about a different kind of dialog, based on respectful listening, and aimed at developing solutions that take into account everyone’s concerns. This kind of dialog can be readily facilitated in any group of people, and it is an ancient human tradition, capable of transforming conflict into creative synergy. We the People are capable of working together wisely and harmoniously.Jim Rough’s media page provides inspiring audio and video material that illustrate harmonization processes in action, in the form of Wisdom Councils. Envisioning a transformational movementHarmonization provides the means by which we can overcome our differences and find our common identity as We the People. If we pursue harmonization in our local communities, on an all-inclusive basis, we can create islands of grassroots empowerment—of direct democracy—within our existing societies. Harmonization can become the basis of a community empowerment movement, transforming our adversarial cultures into cooperative cultures. When We the People have woken up on a society-wide basis, we will be in a position to transform our societies, replacing elite rule with grassroots democracy, based on the principles of harmonization and mutual-benefit exchange.Envisioning a liberated global societyThe core principles of a democratic society are local sovereignty and harmonization. Only at the local level is it possible for everyone’s voice to be heard, and harmonization is the means by which those voices can develop a consensus agenda. The residents of a local community share a common interest in the local quality of life, and are in the best position to manage their resources and economies wisely. Large scale issues and operations can be worked out by delegations from local constituencies, meeting together to harmonize their various agendas and concerns. There is no need for centralized governments, corporations, or institutions, which inevitably become vehicles for the usurpation of power by would-be ruling cliques.The transition processPolitical sovereignty is meaningless unless it also includes dominion over resources and economic affairs. In our transition to a democratic society, one of the first steps will be for each community to repossess its commons—assuming ownership of all land, resources, buildings, and infrastructures that are currently controlled by absentee landlords, banks, corporations, and government agencies. Under the control of local communities and workers, conversion plans can be worked out, gradually repurposing existing facilities toward sensible and sustainable uses. We can expect considerable variety in local economic practices—ranging from communal operations to market economies—as determined by local cultural traditions and the democratic process. Reflections on humanity’s futureWhich comes first, personal transformation or social transformation? This question, often debated, turns out to be much like the question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” That is to say, the question cannot be answered in its own terms. Humans are above all a social species, and it should not be surprising to realize that personal transformation and social transformation can be most readily achieved together. To a considerable extent, existing paths of enlightenment must begin with a rehabilitation of the individual, helping them find their own center in the midst of an oppressive and stressful society. When we create societies that liberate our spirits and involve us in our own governance, the path to enlightenment will be a much easier one.Source: escapingthematrix.org/red_pill.html
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Apr 18, 2006 17:03:55 GMT 4
Future By Design (Film) The Story Of Jacque Fresco -- A Modern-Day Da Vinci Imagine A World Where War Is Outdated, There Is No Shortage Of Resources, And Every Human Being Enjoys A High Standard Of LivingDirected by William Gazecki www.futurebydesignthemovie.comNote: Click on picture links for more info and film trailer Jacque Fresco: Resume and Accomplishments: Mr. Fresco’s background includes industrial design and social engineering, as well as being a forerunner in the field of Human Factors. Mr. Fresco has worked as both designer and inventor in a wide range of fields spanning from biomedical innovations to totally integrated social systems. The Venus Project and the non-profit organization The Venus Project reflects the culmination of Jacque Fresco’s life work: the integration of the best of science and technology into a comprehensive plan for a new society based on human and environmental concern. It is a global vision of hope for the future of humankind in our technological age. Professional PositionsDesign consultant for Rotor Craft Helicopter Company Served in the Army Design and Development Unit, Wright Field Dayton , Ohio Research Engineer. Raymond De-Icer Corp., Los Angeles , California Technical Consultant to the Motion Picture Industry, including Technical Advisor to Camera Eye Pictures, Inc., and the film, The Magic Eye, which won the Robert J. Flaherty Award for creative film documentary. Colleague and work associate of Donald Powell Wilson of Los Angeles , the noted psychologist who wrote My Six Convicts. Industrial Design Instructor at the Art Center School in Hollywood , California Creator of Revel Plastics Company Books AuthoredLooking Forward co-authored with Kenneth Keyes, 1969, A.S. Barnes & Company Introduction to Sociocyberneering, 1977 Sociocyberneering Presents Cities in Transition, 1978 Sociocyberneering Presents the Determinants of Behavior, 1978 Structural Systems and Systems of Structure, 1979 The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture, 1995 * World Future Society best seller And The World Will Be One 1997 The Best That Money Can’t Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty & War , 2002 Videos produced and filmed The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture, 1994 Welcome To The Future, 2001 Cities In The Sea, 2002 Self-erecting Structures, 2002 Inventions and Designs- many of which have been patented and have had wide commercial acceptance.Systems for noiseless and pollution free aircraft A new aircraft wing structural system, patented by the US Air Force An electrostatic system for the elimination of sonic boom Boundary layer control and electrodynamic methods for aircraft control that dispenses with ailerons, elevators, rudders, and flaps A three-wheel automobile consisting of only 32 parts “The Aluminum Trend House,” a prefabricated house designed and developed for Mike Shore and Earl Muntz, 1945 Designed and developed another prefabricated aluminum house for Major Realty Corporation in collaboration with Aluminum Company of America Developed numerous components and systems for architectural construction Developed equipment ranging from 3-dimensional x-ray units to electronic surgical instruments for the medical field Developed a technique for viewing 3-dimensional motion pictures without the use of glasses Designed and built a wide variety of reinforced concrete structures Periodicals, books, newspapers and magazines that have contained articles written by Mr. Fresco or written about Mr. Fresco: Feature contributing author to the book In the Shadow of War edited by Arthur Shostak Ph.D. 2004 Feature contributing author to the book Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping A Better World edited by Arthur Shostak Ph.D. 2003 Wrote the preface and was featured in the book Transforming The Global Biosphere: Twelve Futuristic Strategies by Elliott Maynard, Ph.D. 2003 Feature article in the 2002 January - February issue of The Futurist Feature contributing author in Utopian Thinking in Sociology: Creating the Good Society, an instructional text book published by the American Sociological Association 2001 Feature article in the 1994 May - June issue of the World Future Society’s magazine, The Futurist, where the editors compared his work with R. Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri. The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), The Miami Herald (Miami, FL,) News-Sun (Sebring, Fl) Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) , New-Press (Ft Myers, Fl), North Port Sun (North Port, FL), The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN), El Nuevo Herald (Miami, FL), Record (Hackensack, NJ), De Soto Sun (Arcadia, FL), Englewood Sun (Englewood, FL), West County Times (Pinole, CA), Standard Esquire Examiner (Ogden, UT), Valley Times (Pleasanton, CA), Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), San Ramon Valley Times (Danville, CA), FL Citizen, (Key West, FL), News & Record (Greensboro, NC), The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH). Western Flying, The Architectural Forum, Popular Mechanics, Saturday Review, Variety, Feedback Magazine, Gulf Shore Life, Lee Living, Predictions, Weekly Reader, Media Wave, Shift, Detour, UK’s FX Design, Business and Society, UK’s Locum Destination Review, Spain’s leading news magazine EPOCA, The Sun, National Hotel Executive, Exxon Mobil’s corporate magazine The Compass, GQ Magazine of Italy, Janas Magazine of France. Mare Magazine of Germany , Gantthead.mag Magazine, IE Industrial Engineering Magazine, The Irish Entrepreneur Magazine Walden Three a book written about Mr. Fresco by Jack Catran. Radio and Television Shows Feature interview for REDES a public television show of Spain 2003 Discovery Channel’s two hour special Engineering the Impossible, 2002 It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle, Philadelphia A Touch of Grey, nationally syndicated radio Several appearances on The Larry King Show radio and television Prime Time Weekend, Philadelphia , PA CHRW-CFM, “Science Girl , Ontario , Canada National Public Radio, KGPR-FM, Great Falls, MT JudiWorld with Judi Paparelli, New Orleans , LA KFMK-FM 105.9 Austin , TX KVON-AM, San Francisco WCUB-AM, Manitowoc , WI WLW-AM, Cincinnati , OH WLW-AM, Midday with Mike McConnell Long John’s Journal , WINK, Channel 11 Fort Myers, Florida In The Wild , Award winning children’s TV series Fox Television, Tampa , Florida All Things Considered, Public Radio, Tampa , Florida Free Speech TV, Boulder , Colorado N3TV, Space Channel , Canada Television Special in Japan , France , and England Chilean Public Television Special Talk show presentation in Brazil . WPBT Educational Television, Channel 2 WPLG, ABC Network Television, Channel 10 WIOD Radio, Feature Guest of Art Merrill WKAT Radio Feature Guest of Bill Smith Show Art Baker nationwide program, You Asked For It, as “The Man Of Tomorrow” Mr. Fresco has been a guest lecturer at many institutions of higher learning. He was an active participant in discussions at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara , California . Mr. Fresco has addressed students at the University of Miami, Princeton University, University of Southern California, Dade Junior College, Queens College, Presbyterian College, University of Southern Florida, Nichols College, Columbia University, Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico and others. He and Ralph Nader were featured guest lecturers at the University of South Florida . At Princeton University , Mr. Fresco addressed the Department of Sociology. His subject was Sociology of the Future. Along with the well- known scientist Margaret Mead, Mr. Fresco was extended an invitation to address the college environment conference in Washington , DC . He was a guest speaker for the Tenth Symposium for the Civil Engineering Department of TEC de Monterrey University in Monterrey, Mexico, Latin America’s top rated college. Mr. Fresco was a guest speaker at The Utopian Studies Conference in Orlando , FL and lectured at several World Future Society Conferences. We have all heard lectures that downgrade the present state of affairs. They speak of such social problems as lawlessness, poverty, racial tension and divorce. But how many of us can recall any of these lectures offering creative solutions to these problems? Mr. Fresco’s presentations reflect a serious attempt to illuminate the causes and outline a wide range of constructive alternatives. He does this by presenting a redesign of our culture, one that would emphasize the intelligent use of science and technology to enhance the lives of all people while protecting our environment. His subjects range from “New Dimensions in Human Stupidity” to “Imagineering The Future.” A video often accompanies the lectures where his ideas are vividly brought to life through animated models, illustrations and computer animation. His particular lecture technique enables uninformed audiences to grasp the significance of complex social and technical innovations He speaks dramatically and brilliantly about the urgent transitional problems facing our contemporary society. His audiences find their attention focused intensely and they closely follow his presentation from beginning to end. Mr. Fresco’s lectures have been consistently praised and enthusiastically received. Jacque Fresco is the founder of Sociocyberneering, Inc., now known as The Venus Project and the non-profit organization The Venus Project. With his associate Roxanne Meadows, he has designed and built the entire twenty-five acre research facility. The function of this project is to prepare approaches and solutions to the major problems that confront the world today. Television and magazine coverage on the project has been worldwide. Mr. Fresco is available for lectures. For more information fax, call or write to: Mr. Jacque Fresco • 21 Valley Lane • Venus, Florida 33960 Ph: 863-465-0321• Fax: 863-465-1928 e-mail: fresco@thevenusproject.com • website: www.thevenusproject.com
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Apr 26, 2006 19:57:40 GMT 4
Remembering Bill Coffin Bill Moyers April 21, 2006 From: TomPaine.com Bill Moyers is president of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy. The following remarks were delivered by Bill Moyers at the funeral service for William Sloane Coffin on Thursday, April 20, at Riverside Memorial Church in New York City.There are so many of you out there who should be up here instead of me. You rode with Bill through the Deep South, chasing Jim Crow from long impregnable barriers imposed on freedom. You rose with Bill against the Vietnam War, were arrested with him, shared jail with him, and at night in your cells joined in singing the Hallelujah Chorus with him. You rallied with him against the horrors of nuclear weapons. You sang with him, laughed with him, drank with him, prayed with him, grieved with him, worshipped and wept with him. Even at this moment when your hearts are breaking at the loss of him, you must be comforted by the balm of those memories. I envy your life-long membership in his beloved community, and I am honored that Randy, his wife, asked me to speak today about the Bill Coffin I knew. I saw little of him personally until late in his life. We met once in the early 1960s when he was an adviser to the Peace Corps which I had helped to organize and run. He spoke to the staff, inspired us to think of what we were doing as the moral equivalent of war, and told us the story of how as a young captain in the infantry following military orders at the end of World War II, he had been charged with sending back to the Soviet Union thousands of Russian refugees made prisoners by the Germans. Some of them he had deceived into boarding trains that carried them home to sure death at the hands of Stalin. That burden of guilt sat heavily on Bill’s heart for the rest of his life. He wrote about it in his autobiography, and raised it forty years later when we met in the waiting room of the television studio where I was about to interview him. That’s the moment we bonded, two old men by now, sharing our grief that both in different ways had once confused duty with loyalty, and confessing to each other our gratitude that we had lived long enough to atone—somewhat. “Well,” said Bill, “we needed a lot of time. We had a lot to atone for.” I had called him for the interview after learning the doctors had told him his time was now running out. When he came down from Vermont to the studio here in New York, I greeted him with the question, “How you doing?” He threw back his head, his eyes flashed, and with that slurred (from a stroke) but still vibrant voice, he answered: “Well, I am praying the prayer of St. Augustine: Give me chastity and self-restraint—but not yet.” He taught me more about being a Christian than I learned at seminary. His witness taught me—he preached what he practiced. But his writings taught me, too—Once to Every Man, Living the Truth in a World of Illusion, The Heart is a Little to the Left, Credo, Letters to a Young Doubter, and of course that unforgettable eulogy to his drowned son, Alex, when he called on us to “improve the quality of our suffering.” During my interview with him on PBS I asked him how he had summoned the strength for so powerful a message of suffering and love. He said: Well, we all do what we know how to do. I went right away to the piano. And I played all the hymns. And I wept and I wept, and I read the poems, like A.E. Houseman—“To an Athlete Dying Young.” Then I realized the folks in Riverside Church had to know whether or not they still had a pastor. So I wrote the sermon. I wanted them to know. They knew, Bill, they knew. This will surprise some of you: Not too long ago Bill told Terry Gross that he would rather not be known as a social activist. The happiest moments of my life, he said, were less in social activism than in the intimate settings of the pastor’s calling—“the moments when you’re doing marriage counseling … or baptizing a baby ... or accompanying people who have suffered loss—the moments when people tend to be most human—when they are most vulnerable.” So he had the pastor’s heart but he heeded the prophet’s calling. There burned in his soul a sacred rage—that volatile mix of grief and anger and love that produced what his friend, the artist and writer Robert Shetterly, described as “a holy flame.” During my interview with him he said, “When you see uncaring people in high places, everybody should be mad as hell.” If you lessen your anger at the structures of power, he said, you lower your love for the victims of power. I once heard Lyndon Johnson urge Martin Luther King to hold off on his marching in the south to give the president time to neutralize the old guard in Congress and create a consensus for finally ending institutionalized racism in America. Martin Luther King listened, and then he answered (I paraphrase): “Mr. President, the gods of the South will never be appeased. They will never have a change of heart. They will never repent of their sins and come to the altar seeking forgiveness. The time has passed for consensus, the time has come to break the grip of history and change the course of America.” When the discussion was over Dr. King had carried the day. The president of the United States put a long arm on his shoulder and said, “Martin, you go on out there now and make it possible for me to do the right thing.” Lyndon Johnson had seen the light: For him to do the right thing someone had to subpoena the conscience of America and send it marching from the ground up against the citadels of power and privilege. Like Martin Luther King, Bill Coffin also knew the heart of power is hard; knew it arranged the rules for its own advantage, knew that before justice could roll down like water and righteousness like a flowing river, the dam of oppression, deception and corruption had first to be broken, cracked open by the moral power of people aroused to demand that the right thing be done. “In times of oppression,” he said, “if you don’t translate choices of faith into political choices, you run the danger of washing your hands, like Pilate.” So he aimed his indignation at root causes. “Many of us are eager to respond to injustice,” he said, “without having to confront the causes of it—and that’s why so many business and governmental leaders today are promoting charity. It is desperately needed in an economy whose prosperity is based on growing inequality. First these leaders proclaim themselves experts on matters economic, and prove it by taking the most out of the economy. Then they promote charity as if it were the work of the church, finally telling troubled clergy to shut up and bless the economy as once we blessed the battleship.” When he came down from Vermont two years ago for that final interview, we talked about how democracy had reached a fork in the road—what Tony Kushner calls one of those moments in history when the fabric of everyday life unravels and there is this unstable dynamism that allows for incredible change in short period of time—when people and the world they are living in can be utterly transformed for good or bad. Take one fork and the road leads to an America where military power serves empire rather than freedom; where we lose from within what we are trying to defend from without; where fundamentalism and the state scheme to write the rules and regulations; where true believers in the gods of the market turn the law of the jungle into the law of the land; where in the name of patriotism we keep our hand over our heart pledging allegiance to the flag while our leaders pick our pockets and plunder our trust; where elites insulate themselves from the consequences of their own actions; where ”the strong take what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” Take the other fork and the road leads to the America whose promise is “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all. Bill Coffin spent his life pointing us down that road, in that direction. There is nothing utopian about it, Bill said; he was an idealist but he was not an ideologue. He said in our interview that we have to keep pressing the socialist questions because they are the questions of justice, but we must be dubious about the socialist answers because while Amos may call for justice to roll down as waters, figuring out the irrigation system is damned hard! He believed in democracy. There is no simpler way to put it. He believed democracy was the only way to assure that the rewards of a free society would be shared with everyone, and not just elites at the top. That last time we talked he told me how much he had liked the story he had heard Joseph Campbell tell me in our series on “The Power of Myth”—the story of the fellow who turns the corner and sees a brawl in the middle of the block. He runs right for it, shouting: “Is this a private fight, or can anyone get in it?” Bill saw democracy as everyone’s fight. He’d be in the middle of the fork in the road right now, his coat off, his sleeves rolled up, his hand raised—pointing us to the action. And his message would be the same today as then: “Sign up, jump in, fight on.” Someone sidled up to me the other night at another gathering where Bill’s death was discussed. This person said, “He was no saint, you know.” I wanted to answer: “You’re kidding?” We knew, alright. Saints flourish in a mythic world. Bill Coffin flourished here, in the cracked common clay of an earthly and earthy life. He liked it here. Even as he was trying to cooperate gracefully with the inevitability of death, he was also coaching Paul Newman to play the preacher in the film version of Marilynn Robinson’s novel Gilead. He enjoyed nothing more than wine and song at his home with Randy and friends. And he never lost his conviction that a better world is possible if we fight hard enough. At a dinner in his honor in Washington he had reminded us that “the world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.” But as we left he winked at me and said, “Give ’em hell.” Faith, he once said, “is being seized by love.” Seized he was, in everlasting arms. “You know,” he told me in that interview, “I lost a son. And people will say, ‘Well, when you die, Bill, Alex will come forth and bring you through the pearly gates.’ Well, that’s a nice thought, and I welcome it. But I don’t need to believe that. All I need to know is, God will be there. And our lives go from God, in God, to God again. Hallelujah, you know? That should be enough.” Well, he’s there now. But we are still here. I hear his voice in my heart: “Don’t tarry long in mourning. Organize.” Source: tinyurl.com/lp42e
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on May 16, 2006 16:20:22 GMT 4
Another World Is Possible (Music)by Stephan Smith tinyurl.com/kxl4p I need a break today, and so do you. I'm not posting any bad news today. Above I've given you some positive music to listen to while you contemplate the transformative power of these universal gifts of character. These virtues are spiritual life-skills that help us to live our best lives.....Michelle Acceptance Embracing life on its own terms. Acceptance allows us to bend without breaking in the face of tests. Accountability The willingness to take full responsibility for our choices. Appreciation Seeing the good in life. Freely expressing gratitude. Assertiveness Telling the truth about what is just, setting clear boundaries. Awe Reverence and wonder, deep respect for the source of life. Beauty A sense of wonder and reverence for the harmony, colour, and loveliness of the world. Calling on our creativity to add to the beauty in the world. Caring Giving tender attention to the people and things that matter to us. Listening with compassion, helping with kindness. Charity A giving heart, a generous way of viewing others and caring for their needs. Cheerfulness Seeing the bright side, looking for the good in whatever happens. Cleanliness Keeping our bodies, our thoughts and our spaces clean. An environment of order and beauty brings peace to our souls. Commitment Caring deeply about a person, a goal or a belief. Willingness to give our all and keep our promises. Compassion Deep empathy for the suffering of others. Compassion flows freely from the heart when we let go of judgments and seek to understand. Confidence A sense of assurance that comes from having faith in ourselves and in life. Confidence allows us to trust that we have the strength to cope with whatever happens. Consideration Giving careful thought to the needs of others. Holding a decision in a contemplative and thoughtful way. Contentment The awareness of sufficiency, a sense that we have enough and we are enough. Appreciating the simple gifts of life. Cooperation Working together for a common goal, calling on the different gifts each of us has to offer. Courage Transforms fear into determination. Embracing life fully, without holding back, doing what must be done even when it is difficult or risky. Courtesy Treating others with kindness, tact and graciousness. Creativity The power of imagination. Being open to inspiration, which ignites our originality. Decisiveness Firmness of mind in taking a stand, reaching a conclusion, making a decision. It requires both courage and discernment. Detachment Experiencing our feelings without allowing them to control us. Stepping back and thoughtfully choosing how we will act rather than just reacting. Devotion Commitment to something we care about deeply. Wholehearted service to our life’s purpose. Dignity Honoring the worth of all people, including ourselves and treating everyone with respect. Diligence Doing what needs to be done with care, concentration and single-pointed attention, giving our absolute best. Discernment Applying the wisdom of our intuition to discover what is essential and true, with contemplative vigilance. Clarity of the soul. Endurance Practicing perseverance and patience when obstacles arise hones our character and educates our souls. We welcome all that we are here to learn. Enthusiasm Being filled with spirit. Excitement about life and openness to the wonders each day holds. Acting wholeheartedly, with zeal and eagerness, holding nothing back. Excellence Giving our best to any task we do and any relationship we have. Fairness Seeking justice, giving each person their share, making sure that everyone’s needs are met. Faith A relationship of trust. Belief in the reality of Grace. Faithfulness Loyalty to our beliefs, regardless of what happens. Being true to the people we love. Fidelity Abiding by an agreement, treating it as a sacred covenant. Complete faithfulness in our relationships. Flexibility The ability to adapt and change amid the fluctuating circumstances of life. Going with the flow. Forbearance Tolerating hardship with good grace. Not allowing the trials of life to steal our joy. Forgiveness Overlooking mistakes, and being willing to move forward with a clean slate. Forgiving others frees us from resentment. Forgiving ourselves is part of positive change. Fortitude Strength of character. The will to endure no matter what happens, with courage and patience. Friendliness A spiritual essential. Reaching out to others with warmth and caring. The willingness to be an intimate companion. Generosity Giving fully, sharing freely. Trust that there is plenty for everyone. Gentleness Moving wisely, touching softly, speaking quietly and thinking kindly. Grace Openness to the bounties of life, trusting that we are held in God’s love through all circumstances. Reflecting gentleness and beauty in the way we act, speak and move. Gratitude Freely expressing thankfulness and appreciation to others and for the gifts of life. Helpfulness Doing useful things that make a difference to others. Taking time for thoughtfulness. Honesty Being truthful, sincere, open, and genuine. The confidence to be ourselves. Honor Living with a sense of respect for what we know is right. Living up to the virtues of our character. Keeping our agreements with integrity. Hope Looking to the future with trust and faith. Optimism in the face of adversity. Humanity Having an attitude of caring and mercy to all people. Humility Being open to every lesson life brings, trusting that our mistakes are often our best teachers. Being thankful for our gifts instead of boastful. Idealism Caring about what is right and meaningful in life. Daring to have big dreams and then acting as if they are possible. Independence Self-reliance. Making our own choices confidently without undue influence from others. Perceiving the truth, with trust in our own discernment. Initiative Daring to be original. Using our creativity to bring something new into the world. Integrity Standing on moral high ground. Keeping faith with our ideals and our agreements. Joyfulness An inner wellspring of peace and happiness. Enjoying the richness of life. Finding humor, even in the midst of hard times. Justice Being fair in all we do. Making amends when we have hurt or wronged others. Protecting everyone’s rights, including our own. Kindness Showing compassion. Giving tender attention in ways that brings others happiness. Love The connection between one heart and another. Attraction, affection and caring for a person, a place, an idea, and for life itself. Loyalty Unwavering faithfulness and committment to people and ideas we care about, through good times and bad. Mercy Blessing others with our compassion and forgiveness. Extending our tenderness beyond what is just or deserved. Mindfulness Living reflectively and meaningfully, with conscious awareness of our actions, our words and our thoughts. Moderation Being content with enough. Using self-discipline to create balance in our lives and to keep from overdoing. Healthy stewardship of our time and resources. Modesty Self-respect and quiet confidence. Accepting praise with humility and gratitude. A sense of respectful privacy about our bodies. Nobility Having high moral standards. Doing the right thing. Keeping faith with our true value as spiritual beings. Obedience Following what we know is right. Compliance with the law. Abiding by our deepest integrity and conquering our misplaced passions. Openness Willingness to consider new ideas. Listening to others with humility and sincerity. Being receptive to the blessings and surprises of life. Orderliness Creating an environment of peace and order. Planning step by step instead of going in circles. Patience Waiting peacefully. Quiet hope and faith that things will turn out right. Peacefulness Inner calm and tranquility. Giving up the love of power for the power of love. Resolving conflict in a just and gentle way. Perceptiveness Clarity of insight. Understanding that is intuitive, discerning and accurate. Perseverance Staying the course for however long it takes. Steadfastness and persistence in pursuing our goals. Prayerfulness A relationship of faith and gratitude with a power and presence greater than ourselves. A conversation with God. Purity A process of freeing ourselves day by day from influences and attachments that keep us from being true to ourselves and to what we know is right. Physical and spiritual cleanliness. Purposefulness Awareness of the meaningfulness of our lives. Living by a clear vision and focusing our energy on the goal before us. Reliability Being dependable. Being a promise keeper. Taking responsibility with trustworthiness. Respect An attitude of honoring oneself and others through our words and actions. Treating every person with dignity and courtesy. Responsibility The willingness to be accountable for our choices and also for our mistakes. Taking on what is ours to do with strength and reliability. Reverence An awareness of the sacredness of life. Living with wonder and faith. Having a routine of reflection. Righteousness Living by a code of spiritual rectitude. Impeccable integrity to what we know is right. Calling ourselves gently back when we go off track. Sacrifice The willingness to give up what is important to us for what we know is more important. Giving our all for our beliefs. Making our life a sacred offering. Self-Discipline The self control to do only what we truly choose to do, without being blown off course by our desires. Establishing healthy and ennobling habits. Serenity Tranquility of spirit, with trust and faith that all will be well. Peacefulness in the midst of trials. Service Doing helpful things that make a difference to others. Investing excellence in everything we do. The contribution we make is the fruitage of our lives. Sincerity Being open and genuine. Our words and actions reflect a truthful heart. Steadfastness Being steady, persevering and dependable. Having the strength to remain true to our purpose in spite of obstacles that arise. Strength The inner power to withstand whatever comes. Endurance in the midst of tests. Tact Telling the truth kindly. Thinking before we speak, aware of how deeply our words affect others. Discerning what to say, when it is timely to say it, and what is better left unsaid. Temperance Moderation in our speech and our appetites. Using self-restraint in the midst of temptation. Thankfulness An attitude of gratitude for living, learning, loving and being. Generosity in expressing appreciation. Focusing on the blessings in our lives. Tolerance Being open to differences. Refraining from judgments. Patience and forgiveness with others and ourselves. Accepting things that we wish were different with humor and grace. Trust Having faith. Positive expectation that all will be well. Having confidence that the right thing will come about without trying to control it or make it happen. Being sure, in the depths of our being, that there is some gift or learning in everything that happens. Trustworthiness Being worthy of the trust others place in us. When we give our word, we stand by it. Keeping our agreements faithfully. Truthfulness Truth is the bedrock of integrity on which we build all our other virtues. An ongoing commitment to live by what is most real and authentic in our own nature. Honesty in all our dealings. Understanding Being insightful in our perceptions of ideas and feelings. Listening with compassion and accuracy to others’ feelings. Unity Inclusiveness. Finding common ground in our diversity. Seeking peace in all circumstances. Uprightness Following what is right and moral. Standing up for honesty and justice. Living in integrity. Wisdom Having a discerning mind, based on experience and mindfulness. Making wise decisions based on our deepest intuition. Zeal Fervent enthusiasm for what we believe to be important. Living by a strong sense of the value of life and faith.
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on May 27, 2006 17:04:06 GMT 4
Call to Planetary Stewardship
The Earth Council is being formed to include planetary membership of all women, men, and children who want to honor the Earth by living in harmony with each other and all of creation.
When you become a member of the Earth Council, you step up into your role of steward of the planet. You take responsibility for your actions and declare your willingness to work with others for the highest good of all life on the planet. You declare your willingness to share your ideas, thoughts, labor, prayers, and resources in this effort.
You declare that you are willing to listen to others with respect, to relinquish all positions or considerations that some beings are higher than others and other begins are lower than others.
You declare that you are willing to change your ideas in order to change what is happening on the planet.
You declare that you are willing to cooperate with others to bring in equality, liberty, and goodwill for all people and life on the planet.
You acknowledge the Earth as a being with four bodies like yours: physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental, and that these bodies need to be healed, cared for, and balanced like your own.
You acknowledge that you are one of the aspects of this planetary being, as are all other people, elements, animals, fish, insects, plants, trees, rivers, mountains, seas, and land. You commit yourself to a process of bringing harmony and balance to the Earth, of loving, honoring, and cherishing all life and the creative force that imbues all life in the cosmos and in all dimensions.
You renounce all wars and killing of other people, including executions by governments. You renounce the use of torture and all forms of coercion and the use of force to control others and cause suffering. You renounce the use of weapons that destroy life. You no longer cooperate with people in positions of authority who force others to comply with their edicts when it is obvious that they are not serving the highest good of all. You no longer support governments that destroy life.
You embrace the credo, "Honor the Earth. Honor the Life force. Honor all creation." You accept your role as steward of the planet.
When you agree to take personal responsibility for stewardship of the planet, you will then become a member of the Earth Council and you will henceforward be called an Earth Councillor.
Earth Councillors are the meek who will inherit the Earth. Earth Councillors are lovers: lovers of peace, lovers of harmony, lovers of truth, lovers of all people and all forms of life. The planet and the future of humanity needs your commitment. Are you willing to step up on her behalf?
In love and light and laughter,
Daughter of the Earth,
Ariel Ky[/b]
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Jun 29, 2006 14:50:25 GMT 4
Mundane duties call for me today so, other than the hunger strike article at Iraq Heading.....All I'm posting today is the following. No doubt our Earth is in serious trouble and we, being the cause of all worldwide disaster, have been put in the position of facing possible extinction. Earthlings are a baby species; we did not grow enough spiritually to handle our technology. This is what the legends tell us happened to the continent of Atlantis. Can we survive our own mistakes? Will we WAKE UP to our dilemma and find the cure? I think so. The solution lies within each and everyone of us as individuals and as a collective....Michelle A message from . . .
the department of CRAZY WISDOM
Here’s what you should do to save the world by Wes “Scoop” Nisker Crazy wisdom always tries to tell the truth, so I’ll begin by saying that I don’t know what is going on here, in this life and in this world. I don’t know any more than anyone else about why we humans are here, or what we are supposed to be doing while we’re here, and I have no clue as to why we seem to be screwing things up so badly on our planet. My intuition is that we are being tested by the universe, (some god or goddess, Mother Nature, the great scientist in the sky, whoever or whatever) to see if we have the ability to override our instinctual programming and survive our own desires and fears. Maybe we are competing with the conscious life on other planets to see who can survive the longest, and the winner gets a big prize. If our Earth team is going to win, or if we simply want to survive for a little while longer, we humans had better wake up and smell the CO2. The wolf is now at the door, stopping by on its way to extinction. We are living in the middle of a biological disaster, the consequences of which make our current economic struggles and nationalist wars seem like petty diversions. When trying to convey the gravity of the situation, I usually cite research that says we are in the middle of the fifth or sixth largest species die-off in evolutionary history. The naturalists call it an “extinction spasm,” which conjures an image of the Earth itself shivering and convulsing from serious infection. Recently I read an article in the back pages of the San Francisco Chronicle under the headline “Humans’ Basic Needs Destroying Planet Rapidly.” (The front page of that day’s Chronicle was of course devoted to "more important stories"). The article cites the results of a four-year United Nations study “The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,” which found that humans have “ruined approximately 60 percent of Earth’s ecological systems to meet our demands for food, fresh water, timber and fuel.” We have discovered a problem --- and it is us. When I reflect on our predicament, I think: “We have to do everything in our power to stop the destruction of the Earth’s life support systems.” At the same time, part of me says, “We have to learn to let it all go.” It sounds paradoxical, but I live with that dilemma, just as I assume others do in this post-post-modern world. We are aware of the disaster that is taking place on Earth, and at the same time, we have knowledge of hundreds of billions of solar systems like our own. Are we over-dramatizing our human existence? The discoveries of Western science reveal that we are at the mercy of massive streams of cosmic and biological evolution, forces that couldn’t care less about our desire to survive as a species, let alone our hope of creating justice and peace. Can we expect to have any significant influence on the length of time that life will continue to evolve on this tiny little rock hurling through space? As the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu once asked: “Do you really think you can take over the universe and improve it?” What resolves the dilemma for us is Mother Nature herself, who boldly writes out directions for us in our DNA, the primary command being: “Survive!” We are built to struggle for survival, however we come to envision the necessary action, because that’s just the way we are built. You must try to save the world! Ironically, for all of previous human history our survival instinct had us spending our time and energy trying to protect ourselves from nature, and now suddenly we are called on to protect nature from us. (But of course, WE are nature, so who’s leading in this dance anyway?). Some would say we are lucky to have a planetary crisis like this on our watch. As my eco-Buddhist activist friend Joanna Macy says, “Rejoice! Opportunities to become a bodhisattva (a Buddhist saint of compassion) are extremely plentiful right now!” What else is there to do? I draw on a more mundane motivation, which concludes: “What else is there to do?” You can either try to keep yourself stimulated with the latest toys of the empire, or work to thwart the idiots in power and undermine the juggernaut of destruction, the “self-consumption” economy. The later activity is much more satisfying, because, in the process, you get to exercise your heart and learn how to love beyond the small circumference of self and family. So here’s what you should do to help save the world --- something! Each of us has our own temperament and talent and has to decide how best to use them, but everybody can do something. Just thinking subversive thoughts is a good start. Try to imagine other ways to organize an economy. Some of you might decide to picket in front of an oil company of your choice, while others will want to go to the ocean (the primal amniotic fluid) and chain themselves to an endangered coral reef. Since part of our challenge is to bring the divine back home again, you might want to get involved in some regular pagan ritual. Go ahead and hug a tree, or bow down and kiss the Earth. The age of cynicism is dead! A United States Department of Wisdom I have practical suggestions for the politicians in Washington, D.C. Over the past year or two, they have tried to create a new intelligence agency, with a “czar” who would coordinate whatever intelligence our agencies manage to find. But what the United States really needs is a Department of Wisdom, a government agency that would be staffed by philosophers, anthropologists, historians, some jesters, and even a few mystics; people who see the world in a different way than economists, generals, and senators. Although the political right may currently be in charge, our real oppressor is the “left-brain” government. A Department of Wisdom just might provide some critical balance of powers. If I were in the Department of Wisdom, I would call for an immediate moratorium on progress, to last at least a half-century. We had a whole lot of progress in the last couple of centuries and, although it brought us pain-killing drugs, space-telescopes, and Velcro, it appears that we can no longer keep up with our own ingenuity. We now race madly around in our individual boxes of steel, chasing after satisfaction, and, in the process, we are throwing the atmosphere out of whack by burning up 2 or 3 geological epochs worth of the sun’s stored energy in one great choking bonfire of the vanities! We spent the better part of our genius figuring out new ways to blow each other up or learning how to go faster, and in our fear and haste we forgot about who we are and where we are going. We need to relax deeply, and let our hearts and minds catch up with our tool-making ability, which has gotten way “out of hand.” What we need is a century of less doing and more “being.” The next revolution is a big slowdown. I also have some broad suggestions on how we might help heal our sick civilization and the ailing planet, based on the understanding of crazy wisdom: a long-running tradition of tricksters, saints, self-proclaimed fools, and other disreputable characters. Rather than practical solutions, crazy wisdom offers a stance, an attitude to carry with us as we proceed through these ominous days. (When the revolution comes, I am angling for a seat on the ambiance committee.) The Big Picture: A Reason for Optimism First and foremost, keep a big perspective in your pocket, ready to be unfurled in your head at a moment’s notice. The big perspective reminds us that nature is one tough mother, and that life has so far survived the collision of continents, mountain ranges erupting in volcanoes, murderously cold ice ages, the plague, Attila the Hun, and even Henry Kissinger. So there is reason for optimism. I also took heart the other day when a friend who is an expert on Hindu prophecy told me that there are only a few thousand years left in the Kali Yuga, the era of destruction. Whew! We’ve turned the corner. The big perspective also carries your intuitive understanding that you are part of it all, and so are they, the people who the Dalai Lama calls, “my friends, the enemy.” If your big picture does not talk about the "big love" then it won’t transform anything. My favorite big perspective is the epic of evolution, which offers us all forgiveness by revealing that we are a baby species, just getting started on our history. There were 100 million generations of dinosaurs, at least 10 million generations of mammals before humans came along, but there have only been 20 or 30 thousand generations of modern homo sapiens. We only recently acquired these big brains and still don’t know how to use them very well. From the perspective of biological evolution it is clear: humans should not be tried as adults. The story of evolution is also a good place to discover self-liberation. Contemporary biology tells us that we are all cells in a single living organism which is life on Earth: the Greeks called that being “Gaia,” the goddess. Your life is not about you so much as it is about life itself, and when we feel ourselves to be part of this grand earthbound experiment, then we can find meaning and purpose in working for its preservation. If we look at ourselves in evolutionary history we also find hope, because we can see that we are currently acquiring a new level of consciousness. Lao Tzu, Socrates and the Buddha appeared only 2,500 years ago a blink of an eye in biological time while Darwin, Freud, Jung, Einstein, and Hubble are virtually our contemporaries. We are just now waking up to a radically different understanding of ourselves in the scheme of things, and it is exciting to be alive to witness it. Of course, we are feeling the growing pains as we move through this transition period, but maybe we will soon find a way to adapt to our latest story about human life. Maybe we will even discover how to use our hearts and minds better, and finally learn how to be happy. Along with your big perspective, I suggest that you cultivate a hearty sense of humor and always keep it handy. As Wavy Gravy says, “If you don’t have a sense of humor, it’s just not funny.” Remember that nobody really knows what’s going on here, and that we are all at the mercy of the great mystery. So admit your basic foolishness, laugh as much as possible, and step lightly through this world. You will cause less damage that way. Of course, in the end, the most important thing is to learn to love yourself and to love life and the world, in all its fragile, fleeting, cruel beauty. If we don’t love it, then we won’t be able to find the energy to heal it. Finally, stay high but keep your priorities straight, and if you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own. Wes “Scoop” Nisker is an author, radio commentator, Buddhist meditation teacher, and performer. His bestselling books include Essential Crazy Wisdom and The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom. Mr. Nisker is the founder and co-editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Mind. FROM CONSCIOUS ENLIGHTENMENT dragonflymedia.com
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Jul 12, 2006 15:04:43 GMT 4
Creativity at Work in Consciousness: Dr. Edgar Mitchell and the Founding of IONS PART 1 of 2
Below Apollo astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell speaks of the nature of consciousness and mankind's ability to affect and change our reality. Our planet and her inhabitants are currently experiencing the largest shift in consciousness humanity has ever seen. This is in direct opposition to the stance taken by much of the scientific community and major religious institutions. Looking over our planet's history, there is no doubt that humanity has not been enlightened enough to use the power of their mind to change things for the better. However, we have become very good at drawing negativity to ourselves. I have had countless discussions in the attempt to explain that if we do not like the state of our world, the direction our leaders have taken us, etc., we can change our current reality. The trick is to change your belief systems. We also keep the current status flowing by giving world affairs negative intention. We expect the worst and that is what we draw to ourselves; we have drawn the worst most corrupt type of personalities to lead us. Action always follows thought, people. Don't like the world you're living in? Then change your thinking, change what you believe and join with we who work with the collective consciousness to rise Mother Earth and her inhabitants into a higher state of being. If you don't believe me, then perhaps you will accept the word of Dr. Edgar Mitchell a graduate of MIT with a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics........Michelle
Creativity at Work in Consciousness: Dr. Edgar Mitchell and the Founding of IONS Written by Jan Peterson
It is no surprise that a man with a pioneering spirit courageous enough to walk on the moon would eventually turn his sights to an endeavor that challenges mainstream science to ask the hard questions: “Who are we and how do we relate to the rest of reality?”
Dr. Edgar Mitchell, pilot of the Apollo 14 lunar landing module and the sixth man to step foot on the moon, says that even as a young boy in West Texas, he had a sense that something extraordinary was just around the corner, without knowing exactly what it was. And he was right.
In this article, Dr. Mitchell recounts moments in his journey from the incessantly curious son of a rancher to an astronaut who experienced first-hand an extraordinary state of bliss and universal oneness while rolling through space. His quest to understand his own profound experience ultimately led him to create the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), an organization that “maps consciousness” through credible scientific research.
Today, more than 30 years later, IONS continues as a thriving research and education organization that explores the frontiers of consciousness. It investigates extended human capacities such as meditation and ESP, integral health and healing such as distant healing and mind-body medicine, and emerging worldviews such as quantum holography and “dream sharing” among Amazon Basin peoples.
Back in the early 1970’s, as Dr. Mitchell explored the roots of his experience in space, he encountered other scientifically unexplainable phenomena that further propelled him to develop an organization like IONS. He wanted to know how a man without physically touching his mother could heal her glaucoma, or how a man could move matter with only his mind, and how ESP worked.
But, the seminal experience that moved Dr. Mitchell from curiosity into action was that particular moment during Apollo 14’s return to earth when he experienced a profound oneness.
c3: Dr. Mitchell, can you describe what you experienced in space as you returned from the moon?
Dr. Mitchell: First of all, let me say that I was the lunar module pilot. My major responsibility was with the lunar spacecraft and the lunar surface activities. When we were on the way home, the lion’s share of my work was complete. I had a little more time than my colleagues to look out the window.
We were oriented in what’s called a barbeque mode. Every two minutes, we rotated one full 360- degree turn, so the earth, the moon, the sun, and a whole panoply of heaven and stars came to the window.
Suddenly I remembered from my earlier training in astronomy that the stars in the universe are furnaces for all matter. That was good intellectual knowledge, but all of sudden it was personal knowledge. I began to see that the molecules of my body, and the molecules of the spacecraft, and the molecules of my partners’ bodies had all been prototyped in some ancient generation of stars. It was, “those are my molecules in those stars.” And those thoughts were accompanied by a state of bliss and ecstasy. It was visceral. It was wow. It hit me pretty heavy that, “It’s all interconnected.” I knew something powerful was going on and I wondered what it was. I didn’t have any idea at the time what it was all about, only that it was quite a powerful, powerful experience.
Later, after research when I got back to earth, I discovered the ancient Sanskrit description of that experience as Samadhi. It’s when you see things in their separateness but experience them viscerally in their unity, accompanied by bliss. That was the nature of my experience.
c3: I’m imagining myself in that situation, and what an amazing, amazing experience that must have been.
Dr. Mitchell: Yes, it was. When I came back this experience was profound enough that I started to look into it. I realized as I contemplated all of this, that humans forever had asked the questions about who are we, how did we get here, where are we going, what is this really all about, and how do we fit into it. It occurred to me that now that we are leaving the planet for the first time, maybe we needed to re-ask those questions.
It became clear to me that the philosophy of those questions was at odds with the science of those questions, and I realized that consciousness was the main issue. Idealist philosophies said that consciousness was fundamental stuff and that matter descended from consciousness. Just the opposite of what science said. Science said consciousness was an epiphenomenal result of a molecular structure banging itself against each other. So to me, bringing the philosophy and science of consciousness together was the ultimate challenge.
When I had a free moment, I pored myself into these questions. I also realized at that point that Apollo 17 would be the last lunar mission. I had agreed to back up Apollo 16. Presumably if there had been more missions beyond Apollo 17, I would have flown again as the commander and much of my attention would have remained on my work at NASA, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Furthermore, having done my ESP experiment in space, which got the same results as the experiments on earth, I realized here we had an anomaly associated with consciousness.
c3: I want to come back to the ESP experiment you conducted in space, but first I need to ask, “How would you define consciousness?”
Dr. Mitchell: Thank you for asking a very powerful and basic question, because most people take consciousness for granted.
You have to start with the English language definition. The first definition is simply to be awake and be aware. The second definition is more like what we Homo sapiens do, that is, being aware of being aware, a self-reflective awareness.
Being conscious is to be aware and be aware of being aware. However, one starts to ask: What is aware? Is there awareness besides what we humans experience? Descartes came to the conclusion that animals have no pain. They have no feelings because they have no soul. That’s dead wrong.
Delving into the nature of awareness and perception is pretty fundamental if you’re going to start to ask questions about the nature of consciousness. Of course, we understand here today, 35 years after my initial work, that consciousness is proactive, that intentionality counts for something. Consciousness does influence physical reality. Remote healing, for example, does and can take place and attitude and mindset have a great affect on health and well-being. Those were not even proper questions 35 years ago. c3: When you look back to 35 years ago, Dr. Mitchell, just before you conceived of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, do you recall some of the turning points in its creation?
Dr. Mitchell: Well, we’ll have to go back farther than 35 years ago. My parents once reminded me how often they had to tell me, “Quit asking all these crazy questions about everything!” I was always asking: why, why, why, and how. So my curiosity in exploration is a natural proclivity.
About the time I entered the astronaut program (in the 1960’s), I became interested in parapsychology and the ESP work of J.B. Rhine at Duke University. My interest was primarily as a scientist in the sense that in classical science ESP could not happen. In classical science, there was no way to explain it, so it must not exist. But I started to do some digging and found that the evidence says, “This (ESP) does exist.” It was simply a scientific challenge to explain. Explaining the unexplainable became a peripheral, secondary interest.
As I was training for Apollo 14, I met a couple of medical doctors quite serendipitously, who were also scientists looking for new solutions to problems. They asked me, “Think about doing an ESP experiment in space.” Well, we put that experiment together kind of at last moment, unbeknownst to NASA.
c3: Can you briefly describe the ESP experiment?
Dr. Mitchell: I used a table of random numbers to determine the order of five symbols (a square, circle, star, cross, and wavy line). I concentrated on each symbol for fifteen seconds. My colleagues on earth had the job of trying to record the symbols in the same order. I did this four times, twice on the way to the moon and twice on the way back. And it produced results. So that experiment, along with my epiphany in space, brought up the issue that there are anomalies in science that we don’t have explanations for. I realized I wanted to find explanations.
c3: What were some of the other turning points in creating the Institute of Noetic Sciences? Were there any “aha” moments?
Dr. Mitchell: My first year coming back from space seemed to be deluged with evidence to learn anything about consciousness. There wasn’t a moment. There was an idea.
There was quite a bit of preliminary research and digging going on. I very quickly realized that academia was probably not going to be receptive, so an extra-curricular approach outside of academia would probably be necessary.
I started to round up people. There was a lot of talking to people and testing the waters and seeing what would work and what wouldn’t work. Who would be supportive and how would I support it. Could I raise money? I came to realize that people seemed like they would support this idea of an independent organization. This was going on during my last year at NASA. I left NASA and the military in September of 1972, to go out on my own.
c3: Do you recall any synchronistic meetings during that period of time? Was there any person that you spoke with, or anything that felt like it was falling into place, pointing you toward the Institute of Noetic Sciences?
Dr. Mitchell: Yes, that happened frequently. The very first conference I spoke at was in Little Rock, Arkansas. Harold Sherman, an eminent psychic of years past who had done some experiments in telepathy in the 1930s, sponsored the conference. I was invited to speak about the ESP experiment we conducted in space.
At that conference was a healer named Norbu Chen. Being a skeptical scientist about all this, I questioned what healing was and how it worked. As it happened, my mother lived close by and came to that meeting. She had glaucoma and wore thick, coke bottle glasses. Without her glasses, she was legally blind. I conceived of the idea of getting mother together with Norbu Chen to see what would happen, and they agreed. Well, he completely healed her eyesight.
Although I need to add that as my mother began to question the fact that Norbu was not a Christian as she was, the healing began to reverse itself. The following week, my mother had to go back to using her glasses, although her eyesight had nonetheless improved. That was not only a powerful experience that taught me about healing, it also taught me about the power of belief systems.
CONTINUED
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Jul 12, 2006 15:09:57 GMT 4
Creativity at Work in Consciousness: Dr. Edgar Mitchell and the Founding of IONS PART 2 of 2My second speaking engagement was with the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship in Chicago. It was an organization founded by the late medium Arthur Ford. It was about survival, mediumship, and life after death. I spoke at that, and had a very unique, personal experience. The morning after my presentation, I got a phone call from a man named Amrit Desai who said, “I was in your audience and you’re in trouble. May I come up to your room?” I realized I couldn’t walk. I had to physically crawl through my sitting room to let him in. He said, “I watched you, and saw the audience drain you of every ounce of energy you had. You don’t know how to protect yourself.” He was right. I was absolutely flat on my back – totally zapped of strength and energy. He taught me how to use my mind and put a shield around myself, and how to hold an audience at a distance, instead of being sucked into their energy. About the same time, I was introduced to a man named Uri Geller. Uri wasn’t a healer, but he could do psychokinesis (moving matter or altering an expected outcome by mental concentration). I was asked to help sponsor tests of Uri’s capabilities at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute (SRI) laboratory. So, I went to New York and studied Uri Geller for a week and I was impressed. I started to raise some money to do the experiments at SRI with Uri Geller as the subject. My experiences with Norbu Chen, Amrit Desai, and Uri Geller all took place within a year of coming back from space. I’d witnessed a whole panoply of psychic events that science said could not happen, and witnessed them under conditions that were impeccable. Science is one thing and personal testimony and personal experiences are something different. And I had both. I seemed to be dealing with evidence of the strange-functioning, which had to be scientifically accounted for, if we were going to say anything about consciousness. That was all prelude to finding the sponsorship and the backing I thought I needed in order to launch an organization to study these events. It became very clear to me at this time that going into academia would never work. c3: Were there any moments as the Institute of Noetic Sciences came into manifestation where you thought you’d just have to give up? Dr. Mitchell: Oh yes. While I was beginning the experiments with Uri Geller at SRI, I’d pulled together the people who were interested in supporting the organization I had in mind at a conference near Monterey, CA in the late fall of 1972. A husband and wife that attended that conference promised me $600,000 per year. That was a lot of money back then. So, based upon that, I started moving myself and a couple people into place, rented office space, and opened the doors in Palo Alto, California in January 1973. At that same conference, by the way, I asked a colleague of mine, John White, to propose a name for the Institute. He came up with ‘Noetic,’ based on the Greek word meaning ‘mind’ so we agreed on the name “The Institute of Noetic Sciences.” But, when I went to collect the first of the money that was promised, I found that their parent company had gone bankrupt and they couldn’t honor their commitment. I was stuck. I nonetheless rolled up my sleeves – since so much was already in place -- and started going ahead, not knowing how I was going to do it. That was in January. In early April on a rainy Saturday, just as I was realizing we would have to close up shop, a lady drove up in an old Volkswagen van, came into the office and started asking questions about who we were and what we were doing. As she walked out the door, she handed me a check that turned out to be for $25,000. It was just enough to keep the doors open. c3: How were you able to sustain a belief that it was somehow going to work out, before the woman showed up with the check? Dr. Mitchell: All the synchronicities gave me the determination that I had to do this work. There was no choice in this matter. This is what I had to do. My task was to keep going and keep going, and it always worked that way. I had great problems and great issues, but whenever the chips were down something always happened to restore it. I had children to support who were in college. I was afraid I would have to close the doors when the woman with the $25,000 check showed up. That was a shot of B12. That was another synchronicity, along with Norbu Chen, Amrit Desai, and Uri Geller. And synchronicity is the right word. We don’t completely understand synchronicity or how to best utilize it, but that is what it is. c3: What role do you think intention played in bringing all the ingredients together to create the Institute of Noetic Sciences? Dr. Mitchell: I think it had a lot to do with it, absolutely. Without intention, you can’t have motivation. c3: How much of that intention do you think was conscious intention and how much of it was unconscious intention? Dr. Mitchell: I can’t answer that question for you. I simply don’t know. The unconscious area is far more powerful than we give it credit for. Of course, Carl Jung brought this to light, and helped us understand the unconscious a lot better. But, nevertheless, even with all of Jung’s insights, we still don’t have all the right answers. c3: Do you think we ever will? Dr. Mitchell: Oh yes. I think the universe is knowable. We can know what’s going on, and it’s a matter of continuing to press and to work at it. c3: In terms of consciousness research, what do you think the next frontier is going to be? What are your predictions about where consciousness research is headed? Dr. Mitchell: I’m working on that right now. The frontier is bringing quantum physics into this picture of consciousness, which we started doing about 10 years ago. It’s been known for some time, at least among those of us scientists working in this field, that ESP, psychokinesis, and intuition – what’s called psychic phenomena -- are all non-local phenomena. That throws us right into the class of stuff that quantum physics has to unravel. I’ve been working with colleagues in Europe on the “quantum hologram.” That is a quantum physical structure, information structure, and a non-local structure that is associated with all matter – all matter. It’s photons. We know that and we study it as a group phenomenon. (For further information on the quantum hologram, please visit: www.edmitchellapollo14.com/naturearticle.htm)We are very confident here that in working with the quantum hologram, we are opening a whole new window into physics and the cosmology of consciousness. It is fairly certain that evolution is not random mutation that is taking place in the universe. It is a learning mutation that is taking place in evolution. c3: You mean that on some level, we are directing our own evolutionary path by what we learn and how we use what we learn? Dr. Mitchell: Yes. And that is completely evident in the quantum hologram. Nature learns as it interacts with its environment, and that in turn changes the environment. Then we learn from the changed environment, and we in turn change it again, and so on. c3: In terms of people understanding the work of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and now the quantum hologram, are there frustrations in getting this information out there? Dr. Mitchell: The greatest frustration is that major scientific publications simply will not touch this subject matter. Only now are we able to start to get into prestigious scientific publications with the quantum information theory, but not as it discusses the relationship to consciousness and awareness. c3: Do you think the general public’s interest in consciousness is shifting?Dr. Mitchell: The Institute of Noetic Sciences now has active communities in 30 countries, and we have a very active constituency in the United States that continues to grow and become more involved in our work. c3: How did you define the mission of the Institute of Noetic Sciences at the time you founded it? Dr. Mitchell: It’s hardly changed at all in all these 35 years. It was to research and use the tools of science to understand the nature of consciousness and the relationship between science and spirituality. And that’s still the case now. It’s only our outreach efforts that have changed. We started out on a research mission on the nature of consciousness from a scientific point of view, and have now expanded to include education. We’ve moved to both a research and education mission. c3: What are some of the highlighted findings over the last 35 years that have helped address questions about the nature of consciousness? Dr. Mitchell: I think we have very well established that intentionality does influence reality. The work that IONS’ scientists Marilyn Schlitz and Dean Radin have done, and the work Robert Jahn at Princeton University has done, it’s very clear that attention and intention matter. It’s very hard to tell, by the way, where the effect of one stops and the other starts. Attention alone influences reality, and that is a non-local phenomenon. And there’s the research IONS is doing with healing. As an aside, I don’t know if you’re aware that I’ve had personal experiences healing both prostate and kidney cancer by non-traditional means, and I’ve recorded these experiences. So, we have made great progress, but there are still the mainstream naysayers. But the evidence – to any open-minded scientist -- is overwhelming. There’s still this clash between science and some individuals’ concept of religion. But if you go deep into every culture, the transcendent experience goes back to the aboriginal cultures, in every culture. c3: If you were to try to predict where the Institute of Noetic Sciences would be in another 20 years, what would you say? Dr. Mitchell: I’m hoping for a well-known, powerful change for peace, for moving us toward sustainability in civilization. That’s the outreach. That’s the best way to characterize our educational program now, is the whole notion of sustainability. The mission and focus of the institution has added sustainability to its core program. c3: I have a hypothetical question for you, Dr. Mitchell. If you were to view our world right now from the vantage point of returning from the moon, specifically placing the progress science has made in the area of consciousness studies alongside the enormous political and social challenges facing us from every direction, how would you characterize this moment in history? Dr. Mitchell: Historically, our evolutionary path has never been a constant moving toward greater awareness. It’s always been like the stock market. It goes up, it jumps back. It goes up, it jumps back. We’re in regression at this moment in time in civilization. I wrote a paper near the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, where I posed the question: How long can a democratic, capitalistic, free market system endure in the absence of an ideological opponent? I think we’re seeing the results of our own excesses doing the system in. We’re caught up in economic control, commingling the government with private economic interests and private religious interests. We need some ideology right now. c3: How would consciousness research contribute to that? Dr. Mitchell: I think part of the problem is not being able to answer the questions about our relationship to the rest of the cosmos and to each other. The cosmology – who are we and how do we relate to the rest of the reality -- to me that is the fundamental question. And I think if we all understood the answer, we would see enormous changes for the better. c3: And that is precisely the question that propelled you to start the Institute of Noetic Sciences? Dr. Mitchell: Yes, it was. c3: And it seems our interview has come full circle! Thank you so much for all your work, Dr. Mitchell, and for taking the time to speak with me. Your work has made, and is making, a tremendous difference for a lot of people – individually and collectively. For more information about Dr. Mitchell or to order an autographed copy of his riveting book, The Way of the Explorer, please visit: www.edmitchellapollo14.comFor more information about the Institute of Noetic Sciences, please visit: www.noetic.org Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a graduate of MIT with a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics, and is the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. As an astronaut, he flew in Apollo missions 10, 14, and 16, and was the lunar module plot for Apollo 14. He has spent over 30 years studying human consciousness and paranormal phenomenon in the search of a common ground between science and spirit. He lives in Florida. Source: www.consciouscreativity.com/1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=29&
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Jul 19, 2006 9:28:38 GMT 4
Being Masterfully Human Aluna Joy Yaxkin - 2/2002 "Life is not about being a master in a human body, but being a human masterfully!"Who said that if you lived consciously nothing bad or challenging would ever happen to you? Who told you would never get sick, have a lover leave you, have a loved one die, have a car accident, or make a bad choice, huh? Who ever said that walking the spiritual path would be a piece of cake, easy as pie? Come on now, stand up, and lets take a look at your life, because I could use a good example to follow. When a friend asks you how you are, do hide the fact that day you might feel miserable? Do you respond to your friends by saying "Hey I am great, its all perfect!" Why do we hide the truth and hide ourselves from each other. Why are we so afraid of being judged for being human, for having a down day. How often have you felt like eating a pint of ice cream and hid the carton at the bottom of the shopping cart away from the curious eyes? Why is it that we do not allow each other to be human with all our amazing qualities and frailties? Where is the non-judgment, the compassion, and why is having human vulnerabilities means your not on a spiritual path, not heading for spiritual graduation? Welcome everyone to HUMAN MASTERY 101. I’ll have to say that at times I felt I was not getting good grades in this class. In fact sometimes I felt like I was failing altogether and wishing I could drop the course. Guess I have been judging myself. But the fact is that if you and I are in a human body we are not getting out of this class without a few major challenges, illnesses and bad choices. And YES, we will get judged for these at the very time we need support. So what do we do, we try harder to be perfect and work harder to hide our human vulnerabilities. But soon the law called being human rears it ugly head and takes us down another peg, another wrung of the ladder, with the next challenge. Sometimes don’t you wish you could stick your head in the sand to avoid further persecution. But sadly we can not avoid persecution from ourselves. From the worlds major religions to New Age thought, we have bought into the subtle program that we must be perfect, live a balanced life to warrant a graduating degree in HUMAN MASTERY 101. The paradox is our world is a world of polarity, not neutrality. Being balanced 100% of the time in this reality really means you are stuck, not growing, or dead. If you think your life is balanced all the time, you are in denial, and running as hard as you can from the challenges chasing you down. But guess what? The conflict and challenge that we are embarrassed to have in our lives, or try to avoid, are the very spiritual fuel that makes us all grow stronger toward Mastery. So my big question here is how can we be super human, ascended masters and the pure embodiment of an angel while being human in a dualistic world? Now this is the test, the challenge, and the ironic joke the creator has given us to figure out. And I don’t have any answers myself yet. Well like I said before I need a good example to follow. If it is possible to be masterful in this dualistic world then surely there is some example of this happening is history. So I complied a quick list of those I felt are top shelf, got the Grammy, the Oscar, really did it right in their life. Off the top of my head I though of Jesus, the Dalia Lama, St. Francis, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Joan of Arc and Mother Theresa. I began at the top of my list with Jesus, a master teacher of love and compassion, buy didn’t he create a situation in his life in which a good buddy, one of his own disciples, betrayed him and this betrayal cost him his life and at the hand of his own people. Hummm. Wow he must have really been out of balance the day they hung him on the cross. Why did he attract that to his life. …. OK.. next one. His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, is a beautiful being with the purist of hearts and the most beautiful teaching of love and compassion. There is hardly anyone on the planet he has not touched thanks to modern media. But yet will all his sincerity, ceremony, sand mandalas, political clout, Nobel Peace Prize and a entire lineage of incredible power he could not save Tibet and still can not save his people from daily torture. Hummm…. Did he forget to meditate the day the Chinese took over Tibet, did he mess up one of those sand mandalas creating/attracting to himself such a horrible outcome. …. Next…. OK lets look at those who taught and lived non-violence, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. Oh yeah, they both attracted violent murderous deaths. Now how id that happen? Gandhi freed India and Dr. King freed the African Americans from racial segregation. But they both got a fatal bullet. Now that doesn’t seam right does it? Joan of Arc…granted she was a little strange, lead by intense visions from spirit, but she won great battles for France…. Oh yeah… they burned her at the stake as a witch. Mother Theresa, now how about her? She gave up all personal desires to heal the poorest of poor, but she got sick and died. And St. Francis gave up everything for peace and love and was never accepted for it in his life time and lost what little he did have and he was loose all over and over. So who said if you are a master you do not attract any bad, challenging or hard situations to you? I don’t get it. If we think these ones are saints, masters and great examples to follow then why do we judge our friends for having a frail moment, week or month? And why do we judge ourselves just as badly? Do you know what makes one a Master, an angel or saint? It is not the absence of challenge but the right reaction to challenge that makes us masters of our human existence. If we act using what we know is right, unconditionally in light of hard challenges, that is mastery. We honor Jesus, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, His Holiness and the rest for their enlightened behaviors based on their truth principles. This is why we honor them. Jesus taught love and non-judgment even while hung on the cross. Now that had to be a hard to do. The Dalai Lama still smiles and practiced non-violence and compassion even though the Chinese still today torture his people. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi both doubted their teachings, wondering if the world was ready for what they had to offer, but they kept on until someone judged them so much they took them out. They acted the best they could, with what they had to work with based on their truth principles. How could we live perfectly balanced when so much of the population is waging war, committing murder, suffering, starvation? If we think we can separate ourselves from the collective and become masters over the material world well I don’t think so, unless you are a monk in a cave in the Himalayas. Even then you would be challenged by yourself. I think we are all capable of AMAZING deeds and actions, but I don’t think we are being a little idealist and maybe not very authentic to think we can avoid the changes and challenges that happen in this crazy world. Maybe if we want to pass HUMAN MASTERY 101 it is as simple as reacting with love when faced with hate, when faced with anger react with peace, when their is judgment react with compassion. Life is not about being a master in a human body, but being a human masterfully! Maybe our challenges are masterful tests so we have the opportunity to put into action the truth principles we personally believe in. Maybe, just maybe, the greater the test we attract the stronger we are and the closer we are to passing final exams. So if you are having bad day, bad week, bad life. Hey get over it. Own it, and decide to act rightly to the best of your ability with what you have and learn from the experience. And if you mess up … again... FORGIVE YOURSELF and go on and remember no one out there is getting right all the time even though they would like you to think so. We are not superhuman, at least not all the time. We get tired, feel ill, get angry or sad. It is part of living in a dualistic world. On good days we are all heroes, masters, saints, and angels, and these are great days to be honored and celebrated. But remember to honor the courage it takes us everyday to face our lives when the picture is not so pretty. Celebrate the growth when we are sick, lonely, lost, angry and sad. Hey it IS all perfect, if you own the beautiful fact you are human and a master, a angel, a saint all wrapped into one very human body in a very wacky world. Oh and by the way, everyone passes HUMAN MASTERY 101 … because God never judges you. Aluna Joy Yaxk'in is an internationally known speaker, author, Mayan Astrologer, Clairvoyant/Clairsentient, and Sacred Site Essence Formulator and has been called a modern mystic and psycho-geographical healer. She is author of Mayan Astrology and her articles have been published worldwide. Aluna Joy Yaxk'in, PO Box 1988, Sedona AZ 86339 Ph: 928-282-6292
Webpage: www.1spirit.com/alunajoy
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Jul 25, 2006 20:17:26 GMT 4
I have spoken of Marianne Williamson before. She is spokesperson for THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE.....M
From: Marianne Williamson mariannewilliamson@app.topica.com> Subject: PRAYING FOR PEACE Date: 22 Jul 2006
PRAYING FOR PEACE
by Marianne Williamson
Like many people, I'm both glued to the news and horrified by it. My thoughts and feelings have been thrown out of order, into some kind of disarray that at times surprises me. We're all being challenged by world events to see just how deeply our convictions lie, and how and where we're ready to apply them to the realities of the world.
For myself, if I'm sure of anything I am sure of this: the mortal mind, as it is currently and commonly configured within human consciousness, is inadequate to the demands of the times in which we live. As Gandhi said, "The problem with humanity is that it's not in its right mind." We are being asked by history, by evolution, by God, to evolve beyond all thoughts of separation to see the unity of all children of God. Ultimately we will leave behind as quaint such notions as "national sovereignty." We will realize that all of us are one. Or else... No one has a monopoly on human suffering, and no child is more precious to God than any other. Only when we have learned to love as God loves will the world be uplifted to where it naturally belongs. It's one thing to say that, or to even believe it. But how do we apply it to such a moment of world crisis as confronts us now?
A Course in Miracles says that God does not give us victory in battle; rather, He lifts us above the battlefield. Our greatest spiritual contribution to this moment is to remember, in the words of the Course, that "beyond this world is a world I want." Beyond this three dimensional reality where the horrors of war are raging, there is another field of possibility alive in the Mind of God. Our work as individuals is to claim that world beyond this one, with passion and conviction; it is a world in which Jews and Arabs and Christians -- and everyone else as well -- are united not through the body but through the spirit. Close your eyes and see with your Inner Eye what the newspapers cannot show you. See the light withinn every Israeli, the light within every Palestinian and Lebanese, the light within every human heart, emerge from the center of their souls and then merge into One. See this, hold onto the vision, pray that it become a reality on the face of the earth, and then surrender it into the hands of God.
What the world needs now is a miracle, and it is miracles to which we are all entitled. For miracles occur naturally as expressions of love; they are in fact the natural order of the world when the mind is in its natural state. Our task, quite simply, is to love in a way that we have never loved before. Let us love even those with whom we do not agree, perhaps even those whom we might think we hate. Let us love them not personally, of course, but impersonally. Let us reach for the Love of God within us, that we might reach the Love of God within them. Let us all awaken to a higher truth, that we might be subconscious awakeners.
Neither Israel nor Lebanon need any of us to fall into this nightmare with them. What they need is for us to remain spiritually awake -- to the truth of their Oneness in the Mind of God. Because all minds are joined, our being awake will help them all to awaken. Their souls are making an ultimate sacrifice for each of us, showing what lies ahead for the world should we not remember who we truly are.
God bless Lebanon. God bless Israel. God bless every child of God. And God, please help us to live in peace. We need a miracle. And we need it now.
Amen.
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Aug 14, 2006 12:54:24 GMT 4
OUR SITUATION IS DIRE, AND THERE’S NO NEED FOR PESSIMISMby Paul Levy Things in the world seem really grim right now. Many people feel like we are on the verge of World War III. These are clearly apocalyptic, end-times we are living in. Many people are hopelessly pessimistic about the state of human affairs, feeling like there is nothing we can do to make a difference. It feels to some like we are descending into hell. It feels to others like we are on the verge of global collapse. Something seems terribly wrong. It seems like we are creating a living nightmare for ourselves. It is as if our planet has fallen under a demon’s curse. It is crucial that we shed light on the nature of the darkness that has befallen our planet. We need to understand the nature of the beast we are dealing with. One thing we can say for sure is that the darkness does not want us to become aware of it. To become conscious of how the darkness plays itself out in our world is the last thing the darkness wants, just like a vampire can’t stand the light of day. For to see the darkness is to take away its power over us, as it can no longer act itself out through our unconscious. Just like sunlight flooding into a room instantaneously evacuates the darkness in the room, when we shed the light of consciousness on the darkness that is both in our world and within ourselves, the power of the darkness is immediately dis-spelled. The darkness that is appearing in the outer world is not separate from, but is co-related to, the darkness within ourselves. The darkness that is manifesting in the outside world is simultaneously triggering a resonant re-action deep inside of ourselves. To the extent we are unconscious of what the darkness is triggering inside of ourselves, it enlists us as one of its unwitting agents, as the darkness feeds on our unawareness of it. If we become entranced by the very convincing display of outer darkness that is materializing in the world and fall prey to pessimism, we have fallen under the darkness’s spell and are then feeding, supporting and helping to create the very darkness in the world which we are reacting to pessimistically. Bewitched by our own darkness, we relate to it as if it is independent and outside of ourselves, thinking our pessimistic reaction is justified by the dark goings-on that are “objectively” happening in the outside world. In choosing to see pessimistically, we don’t realize that we are filtering our interpretation of events through a pessimistic lens which then provides us with overwhelming evidence to confirm our pessimism. To become pessimistic about what is playing out on the world stage is to become an unwitting instrument through which the darkness further incarnates and extends itself into our world. To become caught in pessimism is to fall victim to an infinitely regressing feedback loop: we wouldn’t be so pessimistic if our world wasn’t manifesting so darkly, and our world wouldn’t be manifesting so darkly if we weren’t so pessimistic. To become fixated in the point of view of seeing things pessimistically is to unwittingly become an ally of the very darkness that is inspiring our pessimism. This is to have fallen into a self-generating, samsaric feedback loop that is self-fulfilling in nature and will undoubtedly destroy us. Becoming pessimistic is a symptom that the darkness has insinuated itself into our very consciousness, and is manipulating our perceptions of the world so as to further propagate itself. Becoming depressed and pessimistic is what the darkness wants, as it thirsts for us to become seduced by its convincing display of seemingly overwhelming power so that we give up our own power to it as well and believe all is lost. Imagining ourselves dis-empowered, we dis-associate from our “True Self” as well as from each other, disconnecting from our individual and collective “brilliance” (which, interestingly, connotes “light”). To give up and believe there is nothing we can do is to unknowingly join forces with the darker power, becoming its secret agents, our secret being secret even to ourselves.To be pessimistic is to be arguing for our own impotence and limitation. If we win an argument about the truth of our pessimism, the “prize” we win is that we are screwed. There is something wrong with this picture. There is clearly something flawed and even perverse about our logic if it leads to such a self-defeating result. This flaw is like a red flag that can inspire us to self-reflect and look at what we are actually doing when we invest in a pessimistic world-view. Pessimism is a symptom that we are investing in our own decline and ultimately our own suicide.I am not saying that we should just put on a smiley-face and become “everything turns out for the best” optimists. To only identify, like some so-called “spiritual” people do, with the “celestial rainbow” point of view, believing that everything is perfect and not problematic is overly one-sided, as it is dis-associated from the part of our experience that is seemingly “damned,” “cursed,” and deeply problematic. To identify with only one side of a two-sided polarity like this is to be actively in denial of and contracting against its opposite. To only identify with the light in actuality supports and feeds the dark. Over-identifying only with the light, we marginalize the darkness, which secretly empowers it, as the darkness then becomes something of which we are afraid. We are then unwittingly investing our energy into the darkness by our one-sided identification with the light. We need to shed the light of awareness on how the darkness plays itself out both outside in the world as well as inside of ourselves, as the darkness can potentially seduce us to be either overly optimistic or pessimistic. To fall into an extreme view like this is to ultimately be part of the problem, rather than embodying the solution.I am not spouting some new age gibberish when I am urging us to not be pessimistic. I am simply pointing out that pessimism is not only unnecessary, but is actually dangerous, as it will help to actively create a self-fulfilling prophecy that will ultimately justify our pessimism. When I am saying not to be pessimistic, I am not marginalizing the darkness and saying that everything will turn out peaches and cream. I’m not talking about pretending the darkness isn’t really dark, and trying to imagine it out of existence by mindlessly affirming that everything is really OK, that everyone will live happily ever after. From one point of view, things are genuinely fucked. It is important not to marginalize that.Our situation is extremely dire, while at the same time there is nothing to become pessimistic about. Being able to hold this paradox is the “crux” of the matter. This involves being able to hold these seemingly contradictory opposites together as both being true simultaneously. Our apocalyptic situation is very dire, while at the same time it is (potentially) the highest blessing: If we recognize what the darkness is revealing to us, it can (potentially) wake us up. Interestingly, the inner meaning of the word “apocalypse” is something hidden being revealed.Our universe is manifesting as a genuine “coincidentia oppositorum,” a co-incidence of opposites, an auspicious coming together of the opposites where the opposites paradoxically reveal themselves to be both opposite and united at the same time. This holistic vision makes no sense and seems like pure nonsense as long as we are rigidly clinging to only one point of view and marginalizing another part of our experience. And yet, this more inclusive vision is itself the very expansion of consciousness which transforms the nature of our situation and empowers us to become genuine agents of change in the world.Instead of identifying with one of the opposites and projecting out the other (which is to “split”), if we recognize that both of the seemingly contradictory opposites are true simultaneously, we have re-joined ourselves and retrieved our soul. Healing our split with the outside world and within ourselves, we are an active and activating participant in the birth of consciousness into human form. Stepping into the open-ended, embodied form of our wholeness, we become an agent of healing for the universe. Shadows are an expression that light is nearby. Shadows are never found without light, which is to say that light and shadows are inseparably united into a deeper, more all-embracing whole. Paradoxically, hidden, in-coded inside the darkness is a light which (potentially) awakens (and is inseparable from) consciousness. Not being separate from the light, the darkness itself is an unmediated expression of and indivisible from the “light of consciousness” itself. This self-luminous light of awareness is a higher-order of light which embraces, unites and transcends the duality of light vs. darkness.How our universe will unfold from this moment on depends upon whether or not we “consciously” re-cognize what the darkness is revealing to us as it acts itself out through us. The darkness itself is the revelation of the light, as it is the light revealing itself in the hidden form of darkness.Shedding light on the darkness within us is a form of illumination. Once we become intimately related to and engaged with our own darkness, we become fluent in its language, coming to know how it behaves and operates within ourselves. We are then able to translate this familiarity with our own darkness in such a way so as to creatively illumine the darkness in the outer world. Once enough of us have made acquaintance with the darkness that exists within us, we are then able, like sunlight melting the morning dew, to collectively dis-spell the darkness that has seemingly enveloped our planet. Paradoxically, it is only by coming to terms with the darkness within ourselves that we are able to step out of our trance-like addiction to pessimism and become full-bodied representatives of the all-embracing light of consciousness. Uniting in collective “lucidity” (which, etymologically, refers to “light”), we reciprocally co-inspire each other as we empower ourselves to create a more grace-filled universe to co-inhabit. A radical, evolutionary idea whose time has truly come! Paul Levy is a spiritually-informed political co-activist. A pioneer in the field of spiritual awakening, he is a healer in private practice, assisting others who are awakening to the dream-like nature of reality. He is the author of The Madness of George Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis, which is available at his website www.awakeninthedream.com. Please feel free to pass this article along to a friend if you feel so inspired. If you resonate with the message of this article and want to help Paul spread this information, please contact him at paul@awakeninthedream.com, as he needs all the help he can get.SOURCE: www.awakeninthedream.com/dire.htmlYou can read more of Paul's essays at: www.awakeninthedream.comOur Situation Is Dire; and There's No Need for Pessimism NEW! Middle East Madness NEW! Shadow Projecting: The Fuel of War It's All in the Psyche Why don't we See our Collective Madness? Where is the Voice of Sanity? The Madness of George W Bush Article Library on Dreaming and Spirituality Article Library on George W. Bush's Insanity Click to order Paul's New Book, "The Madness of George W Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis" NEW! Read the Foreword by Mark Comings to Paul's New Book Listen to an online interview with Paul
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Oct 16, 2006 15:29:46 GMT 4
Truth or BustPosted by: Admin on Oct 03, 2006 - 07:31 PM This and That I thought last week was encouraging, with Chavez and Clinton and Olbermann and Woodward. Radical truth. That's what I think this world needs.
In the vein of radical truth, I'm passing along "Journey Through the Light and Back," which was sent to me by Samuel Kiwasz, who teaches about sacred geometry as the building block of the physical world. I was happy to be reminded of what is said in this piece, which impressed people when it was published some years ago, about the construct of reality that's beyond physicality. And to read the follow-up I didn't know about on Mellen-Thomas Benedict's site:
Since his near death experience, Mellen-Thomas has maintained his direct access to Universal Intelligence, and returns to the light at will, enabling him to be a bridge between science and spirit.
I had a program in my living room once with Dr. Kenneth Ring, a foremost expert on Near Death Experiences. This is what he says:Mellen-Thomas has the big picture. His story is one of the most remarkable I have encountered in extensive research on near-death experiences. It is very rare that those who have died and returned have seen into the future to the extent that Mellen has. His vision of the future is one of hope. He has participated in studies of a major university, where he contributed to understanding the structure of genes and chromosome coding for a genetic disease, while researchers puzzled over how he could have access to this information.What happened to Mellen-Thomas Benedict is what I think a miracle is, where it's not a person doing things that are superhuman but a reorganization of someone's inner landscape that encompasses the All. In my best of all possible worlds, accounts of experiences like this would be our sacred texts. This piece would be one volume in a library of works that would start with Cosmic Consciousness, William Bucke's classic book about what is beyond our third dimensional comprehension, that got "cosmic consciousness" into our vocabulary.
Of late, I've entertained some thoughts about the clubbing of each other that goes on in relation to what is primal for human beings. We all would like life to be good, really really really. Yet no one who has the world's attention is making a mass appeal to that core in all people. No great statesman or Nobel prize winner has made an impassioned plea for us to wake up to being creatures who want a good life. Here's something I wrote a couple of weeks ago:
Listening to TV in the background. It's "Meet the Press." Next is "This Week at War." Have this sense of non-reality. Like the soundtrack from a D movie, with a quaintness akin to "Reefer Madness."
Try listening to the sound of TV war talk for that. See if you get the same sense. Strategy is being discussed for how to destroy life. No one thinks there is anything untoward about the conversation. How can we be automatons in such a bad play?
Could you see all of humanity, in a collective groan, getting it that this has to change? I can. A deep reverence for life is in everyone. Couldn't we come to a realization that we have created an unworkable world? And that all together we can shed this skin where the acceptance of war lives?
How to spark an interest in making such a mass appeal? How could it become something to consider? I can see some auspice taking it on: getting power spokespeople, flooding the media, running ads. And I can see a bandwagon of grateful humanity getting behind a campaign to wake us up to who we really are.
For those who won't read all of the piece below, here's a don't-miss part:...the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. Now I came to this with my negative view of what has happened on the planet. So as I asked the light to keep clarifying for me, I saw in this magnificent mandala how beautiful we all are in our essence, our core. We are the most beautiful creations. The human soul, the human matrix that we all make together is absolutely fantastic, elegant, exotic, everything. I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of human beings in that instant. I said, "Oh, God, I did not know how beautiful we are." At any level, high or low, in whatever shape you are in, you are the most beautiful creation, you are. I was astonished to find that there was no evil in any soul. I said "How can this be?" The answer was that no soul was inherently evil. The terrible things that happened to people might make them do evil things, but their souls were not evil. What all people seek, what sustains them, is love, the Light told me. What distorts people is a lack of love.One more thing to have a look at, thanks to Paul Nugent who suggested I pass this along when I told him about this post, is something to stretch our capacity to accept alternative realities: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TibQ_1zH3UJOURNEY THROUGH THE LIGHT AND BACK MELLEN-THOMAS BENEDICT'S NEAR DEATHIn 1982 I died from terminal cancer. The condition I had was inoperable, and any kind of chemotherapy they could give me would just have made me more of a vegetable. I was given six to eight months to live. I had been an information freak in the 1970's, and I had become increasingly despondent over the nuclear crisis, the ecology crisis, and so forth. So, since I did not have a spiritual basis, I began to believe that nature had made a mistake, and that we were probably a cancerous organism on the planet. I saw no way that we could get out from all the problems we had created for ourselves and the planet. I perceived all humans as cancer, and that is what I got. That is what killed me. Be careful what your world view is. It can feed back on you, especially if it is a negative world view. I had a seriously negative one. That is what led me into my death. I tried all sorts of alternative healing methods, but nothing helped. So I determined that this was really just between me and God. I had never really faced God before, or even dealt with God. I was not into any kind of spirituality at the time, but I began a journey into learning about spirituality and alternative healing. I set out to do all the reading I could and bone up on the subject, because I did not want to be surprised on the other side. So I started reading on various religions and philosophies. They were all very interesting, and gave hope that there was something on the other side. On the other hand, as a self-employed stained-glass artist at the time, I had no medical insurance whatsoever. So my life savings went overnight in testing. Then I was facing the medical profession without any kind of insurance. I did not want to have my family dragged down financially, so I determined to handle this myself. There was not constant pain, but there were black-outs. I got so that I would not dare to drive, and eventually I ended up in hospice care. I had my own personal hospice caretaker. I was very blessed by this angel who went through the last part of this with me. I lasted about eighteen months. I did not want to take a lot of drugs, since I wanted to be as conscious as possible. Then I experienced such pain that I had nothing but pain in my consciousness, luckily only for a few days at a time. I remember waking up one morning at home about 4:30 am, and I just knew that this was it. This was the day I was going to die. So I called a few friends and said goodbye. I woke up my hospice caretaker and told her. I had a private agreement with her that she would leave my dead body alone for six hours, since I had read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to sleep. The next thing I remember is the beginning of a typical near-death experience. Suddenly I was fully aware and I was standing up, but my body was in the bed. There was this darkness around me. Being out of my body was even more vivid than ordinary experience. It was so vivid that I could see every room in the house, I could see the top of the house, I could see around the house, I could see under the house. There was this Light shining. I turned toward the Light. The Light was very similar to what many other people have described in their near-death experiences. It was so magnificent. It is tangible; you can feel it. It is alluring; you want to go to it like you would want to go to your ideal mother's or father's arms. As I began to move toward the Light, I knew intuitively that if I went to the Light, I would be dead. So as I was moving toward the Light I said, "Please wait a minute, just hold on a second here. I want to think about this; I would like to talk to you before I go." To my surprise, the entire experience halted at that point. You are indeed in control of your near-death experience. You are not on a roller coaster ride. So my request was honored and I had some conversations with the Light. The Light kept changing into different figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, mandalas, archetypal images and signs. I asked the Light, "What is going on here? Please, Light, clarify yourself for me. I really want to know the reality of the situation." I cannot really say the exact words, because it was sort of telepathy. The Light responded. The information transferred to me was that your beliefs shape the kind of feedback you are getting before the Light. If you were a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, you get a feedback loop of your own stuff. You have a chance to look at it and examine it, but most people do not. As the Light revealed itself to me, I became aware that what I was really seeing was our Higher Self matrix. The only thing I can tell you is that it turned into a matrix, a mandala of human souls, and what I saw was that what we call our Higher Self in each of us is a matrix. It's also a conduit to the Source; each one of us comes directly, as a direct experience from the Source. We all have a Higher Self, or an oversoul part of our being. It revealed itself to me in its truest energy form. The only way I can really describe it is that the being of the Higher Self is more like a conduit. It did not look like that, but it is a direct connection to the Source that each and every one of us has. We are directly connected to the Source. So the Light was showing me the Higher Self matrix. And it became very clear to me that all the Higher Selves are connected as one being, all humans are connected as one being, we are actually the same being, different aspects of the same being. It was not committed to one particular religion. So that is what was being fed back to me. And I saw this mandala of human souls. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I just went into it and, it was just overwhelming. It was like all the love you've every wanted, and it was the kind of love that cures, heals, regenerates. As I asked the Light to keep explaining, I understood what the Higher Self matrix is. We have a grid around the planet where all the Higher Selves are connected. This is like a great company, a next subtle level of energy around us, the spirit level, you might say. Then, after a couple of minutes, I asked for more clarification. I really wanted to know what the universe is about, and I was ready to go at that time. I said "I am ready, take me." Then the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. Now I came to this with my negative view of what has happened on the planet. So as I asked the light to keep clarifying for me, I saw in this magnificent mandala how beautiful we all are in our essence, our core. We are the most beautiful creations. The human soul, the human matrix that we all make together is absolutely fantastic, elegant, exotic, everything. I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of human beings in that instant. I said, "Oh, God, I did not know how beautiful we are." At any level, high or low, in whatever shape you are in, you are the most beautiful creation, you are. I was astonished to find that there was no evil in any soul. I said "How can this be?" The answer was that no soul was inherently evil. The terrible things that happened to people might make them do evil things, but their souls were not evil. What all people seek, what sustains them, is love, the Light told me. What distorts people is a lack of love. The revelations coming from the Light seemed to go on and on, then I asked the Light, "Does this mean that humankind will be saved?" Then, like a trumpet blast with a shower of spiraling lights, the Great Light spoke, saying, "Remember this and never forget; you save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have. You always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of the world." Continue reading at the Source: tinyurl.com/y853wf
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Nov 13, 2006 16:06:57 GMT 4
A Chicago activist burns him self alive for the cause of peace.What can I say about this but, "Wow!" This was not the act of a sick person; instead, it was a final self-sacrificing attempt to wake-up fellow humans. I have a brother who served in Vietnam, so even though I was somewhat young at the time, I was aware of the events happening and the anti-war efforts going on. My aunt put me on the path of opposing all war. My brother wrote frequently, we sent tape recordings to each other also. The nuns at the orphanages he visited continued to write for many years to my mother. I was also aware of how Americans began to wake-up after watching the Buddhist monks sacrifice themselves in protest Let's not allow this sacrifice to be written off as just another unfortunate tragedy. The tragedy is in Iraq, and Malachi Ritscher died to tell us all that. Malachi Ritscher is entitled to at least as much respect as those Buddhist monks in Viet Nam. MichelleMalachi Ritscher: A Martyr For Peace 07 November 2006 Summary: A Chicago activist burns him self alive for the cause of peace.During the Viet Nam War, Buddhist monks in Saigon set themselves on fire to protest the war. The whole world watched as these martyrs for peace went up in flames. Last Friday, a man approached the "Millenium Flame" sculpture on the Kennedy Expressway near the Ohio Exit, and set himself aflame, leaving a note stating: "Thou Shalt Not Kill." The local media just wrote this off as another unfortunate case of mental illness. But it wasn't mental illness. It was an anti-war protest. Malachi Ritscher was a martyr for peace. Here is his testament: My actions should be self-explanatory, and since in our self-obsessed culture words seldom match the deed, writing a mission statement would seem questionable. So judge me by my actions. Maybe some will be scared enough to wake from their walking dream state - am I therefore a martyr or terrorist? I would prefer to be thought of as a 'spiritual warrior'. Our so-called leaders are the real terrorists in the world today, responsible for more deaths than Osama bin Laden.
I have had a wonderful life, both full and full of wonder. I have experienced love and the joy and heartache of raising a child. I have jumped out of an airplane, and escaped a burning building. I have spent the night in jail, and dropped acid during the sixties. I have been privileged to have met many supremely talented musicians and writers, most of whom were extremely generous and gracious. Even during the hard times, I felt charmed. Even the difficult lessons have been like blessed gifts. When I hear about our young men and women who are sent off to war in the name of God and Country, and who give up their lives for no rational cause at all, my heart is crushed. What has happened to my country? We have become worse than the imagined enemy - killing civilians and calling it 'collateral damage', torturing and trampling human rights inside and outside our own borders, violating our own Constitution whenever it seems convenient, lying and stealing right and left, more concerned with sports on television and ring-tones on cell-phones than the future of the world.... half the population is taking medication because they cannot face the daily stress of living in the richest nation in the world.
I too love God and Country, and feel called upon to serve. I can only hope my sacrifice is worth more than those brave lives thrown away when we attacked an Arab nation under the deception of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'. Our interference completely destroyed that country, and destabilized the entire region. Everyone who pays taxes has blood on their hands.
I have had one previous opportunity to serve my country in a meaningful way - at 8:05 one morning in 2002 I passed Donald Rumsfeld on Delaware Avenue and I was acutely aware that slashing his throat would spare the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people. I had a knife clenched in my hand, and there were no bodyguards visible; to my deep shame I hesitated, and the moment was past.
The violent turmoil initiated by the United States military invasion of Iraq will beget future centuries of slaughter, if the human race lasts that long. First we spit on the United Nations, then we expect them to clean up our mess. Our elected representatives are supposed to find diplomatic and benevolent solutions to these situations. Anyone can lash out and retaliate, that is not leadership or vision. Where is the wisdom and honor of the people we delegate our trust to?
To the rest of the world we are cowards - demanding Iraq to disarm, and after they comply, we attack with remote-control high-tech video-game weapons. And then lie about our reasons for invading. We the people bear complete responsibility for all that will follow, and it won't be pretty.
It is strange that most if not all of this destruction is instigated by people who claim to believe in God, or Allah. Many sane people turn away from religion, faced with the insanity of the 'true believers'. There is a lot of confusion: many people think that God is like Santa Claus, rewarding good little girls with presents and punishing bad little boys with lumps of coal; actually God functions more like the Easter Bunny, hiding surprises in plain sight. God does not choose the Lottery numbers, God does not make the weather, God does not endorse military actions by the self-righteous, God does not sit on a cloud listening to your prayers for prosperity. God does not smite anybody. If God watches the sparrow fall, you notice that it continues to drop, even to its death. Face the truth folks, God doesn't care, that's not what God is or does. If the human race drives itself to extinction, God will be there for another couple million years, 'watching' as a new species rises and falls to replace us. It is time to let go of primitive and magical beliefs, and enter the age of personal responsibility. Not telling others what is right for them, but making our own choices, and accepting consequences.
"Who would Jesus bomb?" This question is primarily addressing a Christian audience, but the same issues face the Muslims and the Jews: God's message is tolerance and love, not self-righteousness and hatred. Please consider "Thou shalt not kill" and "As ye sow, so shall ye reap". Not a lot of ambiguity there.
What is God? God is the force of life - the spark of creation. We each carry it within us, we share it with each other. Whether we are conscious of the life-force is a choice we make, every minute of every day. If you choose to ignore it, nothing will happen - you are just 'less conscious'. Maybe you are less happy (maybe not). Maybe you grow able to tap into the universal force, and increase the creativity in the universe. Love is anti-entropy. Please notice that 'conscious' and 'conscience' are related concepts.
Why God - what is the value? Whether committee consensus of a benevolent power that works through humans, or giant fungus under Oregon, the value of opening up to the concept of God is in coming to the realization that we are not alone, establishing a connection to the universe, the experience of finding completion. As individuals we may exist alone, but we are all alone together as a people. Faith is the answer to fear. Fear opposes love. To manipulate through fear is a betrayal of trust.
What does God want? No big mystery - simply that we try to help each other. We decide to make God-like decisions, rescuing falling sparrows, or putting the poor things out of their misery. Tolerance, giving, acceptance, forgiveness.
If this sounds a lot like pop psychology, that is my exact goal. Never underestimate the value of a pep-talk and a pat on the ass. That is basically all we give to our brave soldiers heading over to Iraq, and more than they receive when they return. I want to state these ideas in their simplest form, reducing all complexity, because each of us has to find our own answers anyway. Start from here...
I am amazed how many people think they know me, even people who I have never talked with. Many people will think that I should not be able to choose the time and manner of my own death. My position is that I only get one death, I want it to be a good one. Wouldn't it be better to stand for something or make a statement, rather than a fiery collision with some drunk driver? Are not smokers choosing death by lung cancer? Where is the dignity there? Are not the people who disregard the environment killing themselves and future generations? Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country. I will not participate in your charade - my conscience will not allow me to be a part of your crusade. There might be some who say "it's a coward's way out" - that opinion is so idiotic that it requires no response. From my point of view, I am opening a new door.
What is one more life thrown away in this sad and useless national tragedy? If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country. I was alive when John F. Kennedy instilled hope into a generation, and I was a sorry witness to the final crushing of hope by Dick Cheney's puppet, himself a pawn of the real rulers, the financial plunderers and looters who profit from every calamity; following the template of Reagan's idiocracy.
The upcoming elections are not a solution - our two party system is a failure of democracy. Our government has lost its way since our founders tried to build a structure which allowed people to practice their own beliefs, as far as it did not negatively affect others. In this regard, the separation of church and state needs to be reviewed. This is a large part of the way that the world has gone wrong, the endless defining and dividing of things, micro-sub-categorization, sectarianism. The direction we need is a process of unification, integrating all people into a world body, respecting each individual. Business and industry have more power than ever before, and individuals have less. Clearly, the function of government is to protect the individual, from hardship and disease, from zealots, from the exploitation, from monopoly, even from itself. Our leaders are not wise persons with integrity and vision - they are actors reading from teleprompters, whose highest goal is to stir up the mob. Our country slaughters Arabs, abandons New Orleaneans, and ignores the dying environment. Our economy is a house of cards, as hollow and fragile as our reputation around the world. We as a nation face the abyss of our own design.
A coalition system which includes a Green Party would be an obvious better approach than our winner-take-all system. Direct electronic debate and balloting would be an improvement over our non-representative Congress. Consider that the French people actually have a voice, because they are willing to riot when the government doesn't listen to them.
"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government... "
- Abraham Lincoln
With regard to those few who crossed my path carrying the extreme and unnecessary weight of animosity: they seemed by their efforts to be punishing themselves. As they acted out the misery of their lives it is now difficult to feel anything other than pity for them.Without fear I go now to God - your future is what you will choose today.From: chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/74806/index.phpHis biography is here:www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htmMuch more also through chicago.indymedia.org/feature/display/70293/index.phpHis testament is also posted at www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Nov 17, 2006 13:52:36 GMT 4
THE PARADIGM SHIFT HAS ARRIVED! War, weather, weak signals, wild cards. Journal of a Futurist, 12 November 2006This moment in history is a bit like a Biblical epic, the forces of light rallying against the forces of darkness, with both sides thinking they are the forces of light. The stakes are high. The issues are clear. This month they reached critical mass. The dark forces are looking stupid and shifty and selfish, but they will fight back. This is where the danger lies.What has triggered the foggy hint of dawn? 1. The sudden widespread acceptance that human behaviour has screwed up the weather. 2. The growing acceptance that the Coalition has screwed up Iraq, and that those who ordered the invasion are complicit in the deaths of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of civilians and should be put in the dock. (The torturers are already being pursued: • www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html • edition.cnn.com/2005/US/11/20/torture/ ) In most cases, the warmongers not only exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq, they dismissed the threat posed to the environment by global warming. Like flat-earthers, they stuck to their falsehoods in the face of the evidence. Probably because the denial served to advance their careers and/or political agendas. It allowed world leaders to ignore the scientific warnings of death and destruction that lay in the wake of wild weather. The mishandling of war and warming at the highest level is the most catastrophic failure of leadership since 1938, when Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich, fluttering a scrap of paper and said "peace in our time". Six months later, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. RAGE OR TRANSFORMATION?Despite the extraordinary sea change of public opinion in the past weeks, the policies of George Bush and John Howard remain fossilised. Such leaders will continue to put their own interests above the wellbeing of people and planet. And continue to put "the national interest" above the interest of the world at large. Why is this? Because such types – still the majority - have not crossed the threshold into a new way of thinking. They are trapped in a dying paradigm, sinking in a Darwinian swamp, armed with a Newtonian worldview, spouting imperial claptrap. Us against them, etc. An attitude which infects my own prose (and may require therapy); an obstacle to growth, a curse on the world. Instead of spin, we need dialogue. Instead of hate speak, we need vision and a shared purpose. In a world where admired leaders come up with disgusting weapons, legalised torture and the race to dominate space, how can we create common ground? (Last year Washington spent $416 million on renewable technologies and $75 billion on military research). So many citizens are gearing up to save our eco-systems, yet so many politicians seem only to want to save their skin. (Polls show over 90% of Australians are concerned about global warming and over 60% are prepared to pay more in taxes help). The new paradigm has arrived, but the old guard are still out to lunch, slugging the last of the wine. And the oil. A LANDSCAPE OF 5 STAR FORTRESSESThe true motive for invading Iraq was to put a garrison on top of an oilfield – one of the biggest and purest fields in the world. Washington has long been aware that the reserves of oil are diminishing and that world demand is accelerating. According to energy investment banker Mathew Simmons, the current supply of 85 million barrels a day will shrink to almost a quarter of that in 13 yeas. As he told the US Department of Defense in June, "THIS IS A BIG DEAL!" Simmons urges the military to "plan, organize and fight to win the energy war". www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/Energy%20Conversation%20BW.pdfBut what kind of energy will be used to fight and energy war? As the era of cheap and abundant fossil fuel declines, hardly a government in the world has a blueprint for total sustainability. At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, a clue to US thinking was revealed by President Bush senior: "The American way of life is not negotiable". Meaning? Uncle Sam grabs the world's oil and everyone else lives off potato skins, wearing windmills on their hats. Whatever the Pentagon is planning, I do not believe the majority of citizens will accept an US/THEM world; a landscape of five star fortresses overlooking a global archipelago of gulags. Though fossil fuels are failing, the global brain continues to evolve. Connect, co-operate, create – this is the way to outwit neo balkanisation, immigration camps and state terror. (A scenario powerfully depicted in the latest futurist movie, Children of Men). This is a moment of awakening – of learning how to live lightly off the planet 24/7. When you think about it, how can the world have a massive change of climate, without a change of consciousness? The creation of alternative energy will also require an alternative way of thinking. Even our relationship with the wind, sun, crops and waves will become more intimate, interdependent, and productive. Maybe the hovering state of emergency can be transformed into a state of emergence. COMMUNITIES OF THE FUTUREThis triumph of the individual as heroic consumer is promoted relentlessly by the media, and seems to have resulted in the decline of a sense community. The income gap gets ever wider, both within nations and worldwide (587 billionaires now own more wealth than 50% of the rest of humanity, and it doesn't rate a headline). In a sustainable future, tomorrow's leaders will need to extend their horizons beyond winning the next election. In fact, to break the mindset that is largely responsible for creating today's deadly perils, they will need to embark on a journey "personal transformation". Yes, this sounds hopelessly hippie. But it is starting to happen in today's organisations that pursue innovation and social responsibility. "New leadership is about working in teams and building transformative capacities in colleagues" according to Communities of the Future (COTF), which describes itself as an "evolving network of people and organizations working in collaboration to develop new concepts of governance, economic development, leadership, and education/learning for a fast-paced, interconnected, and increasingly complex society". communitiesofthefuture.org. It's a fine sentiment and a vital goal, but time is melting away, like glaciers. New research shows the Earth's climate could change quickly, and violently - environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1860560,00.html. "Average sea-level rise has increased from two millimetres a year in the early 1990s to more than three millimetres a year now". Jim Hansen of NASA, predicts sea-level rise will be 10 times faster within a few years, as Greenland destabilises. In short, "scientists are panicky about the sheer speed" of disruptions. "Building an ice sheet takes a long time," says Hansen. "But destroying it can be explosively rapid." So what might be the qualities of community in a post carbon world? • A balance of materialism and spirituality. • Integrity...emphasis on wholeness...and the importance of family & friends. The focus is interdependency. •A new concept of the common good....helping each other succeed. • Collaborative individualism ... and connective listening. • Living systems as models for society. • Seeking to be self reliant, self empowered and "off the grid". • Accepting the future can no longer be taken for granted – it needs to be rescued. The choice is clear: evolve or regress, adapt or stagnate. Richard Neville has been a practicing futurist since 1963, when he launched the countercultural magazine, Oz, which widened the boundaries of free speech on two continents. He has written several books, including Playpower (71), the bio of a global serial killer (79), his sixties memoir, Hippie Hippie Shake (95) and his latest handbook of social change, Footprints of the Future. A social commentator and a professional futurist with a sharp tongue, Richard is based in Australia, where he continues to ?stir the possum?.Source: www.richardneville.com
|
|