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2 Dec 2003 @ 15:12, by mmmark. Spirituality
It is our shared purpose to co-discover and co-create a Healthy Society.
Through ongoing political and media references planet-wide, human society has become divided by labeling one segment of the population from another, based on any criteria that some people might share. We often reference the 'Poor,' 'Immigrants,' 'Communists,' Conservatives,' 'Scientists,' 'The Homeless' and the like, in a very long list of subgroups of human beings. This activity is useful on a superficial basis and yet it conditions our minds to believe that different groups of people have different basic needs, or that one group is not entitled to the same liberties as another group. This seeds prejudice, bias, segregation and war! It seems that we have set ourselves up in competition with one another, disconnected our global human family artificially, for special interests not associated with the general welfare. I believe it is important to understand and visualize that we are one family with the same basic needs for survival, no matter where you live, what religion you practice, how much money you have, your sex, age, or the color of your skin.
In order to govern ourselves equitably, it is vital that social and political agendas focus to provide infrastructure and resources to support human life consistently. The first meaning of life is to survive and so this is what we are trying to do. However, we have been making feeble attempts on a limited basis which are not sustainable. If we hope for a better future, we must identify and practice shared purpose in a way that preserves human diversity.
What we are looking for is the most basic form of Universal Philosophy that all people can relate to and participate in. This is a valuable goal. Let us not confuse the intellectual pursuit of meta-physical philosophy with this practical need to have a clear incentive for living and working together. Why do you get up in the morning?
The opening statement is designed for ALL people to comprehend, to be profound, truthful and trustworthy. It makes no judgements, but sets before us the core challenge that has always been and always will be our true path. It provides the primary goal of making a healthy society and instructs that we must learn what a "Healthy Society" is. The use of the word "Healthy" is the key governor to making responsible individual and group decisions in any situation. If this statement (or similar statement) is adopted and applied, it becomes difficult to argue or hold conflict against a healthy course. War is not healthy, nor is smoking, lying, or taking more than one needs from the planet.
To include context for our place in the cosmos and respect for the environment a variation on the statement would be:
It is our shared purpose to co-discover and co-create a Healthy Society co-existing in harmony with nature.
The Conscious Evolution Community of Santa Barbara made this statement of shared purpose on 29 April 2003:
"Our purpose is to be a habitat for conscious evolution. Recognizing our oneness with Spirit, we co-create with each other and Nature's Intelligence to discover and contribute our genius for self and social benefit."
I urge that we concentrate on the subject of shared purpose and place our energies on aligning our dreams and actions with the essential need to form a common, positive foundation for our evolution.
Mark Smollin - 2003.12.01 More >
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1 Dec 2003 @ 07:29, by charper. Spirituality
It was 2020, on a quite night where a few friends delighted in what they had achieved without an ounce of brick and zero mortar. A new religion started from a little idea - but one grounded in truth so its understandable that it easily flourished thoughout the world.
Now 15 years later peoples from throughout the world were actually taking time to honor its many tributaries - and the many souls that it had saved.
It's vision began in a website in the year 2003...when a dream was shared for the world to receive. It began something like this...
I had a dream that one day everyone would honor the one God of love at the altar of all great religions. In this acknowledgement everyone would agree - we are all children of God first...and as his children, we would start a new religion - one without bricks and mortar, one that only serves the one God of Love. It's purpose would be that it's members work only to honor every path people walk in their way to God, knowing that the key to finding God is found in desire to know him and a willingness to exercise it by walking a path to greater understanding. The rest of the process we knew God would provide...guiding each to his kingdom, via the path he saw fit at any moment in time.
This religion was called COG. It wasn't Christian based but Christian it was, it wasn't Islamic based but Islamic it was, it was Buddhist or Muslim, but both it was. It was none of these but part of all it was...for it was a religion like a river of love - that flowed without conflict, without judgement, embracing all that it touched.
This religion called COG became a centerpiece of trust for which the whole world could embrace - for it sang a truth that touched the sole of every human heart. Never had there been a single religion that was grounded in the word "religion’s" true meaning -which is "realization of our oneness with God."
Prior to the moment when this religion was discovered there as great conflict among its many paths. The Muslim God was seen as different from the Christian God, the Buddhist God or the Islam God - and as a result, each fought to convert the other to their God. Mother Earth cried as blood soiled her garments - saddened by the conflict that kept eclipsing her joy.
Little did they know that COG all started when a young lad named John questioned his father after school one day, asking, "Dad, what religion are we?" In his answer a new religion was born...when he replied, "son, we are Children of God first and foremost, and as Children of God, we can choose from many paths that will lead us to knowing him in our lives. So you might say we worship the one God of Love on the altar of all religions." To this his son replied, "but what religion are we?" "Children of God," his father replied. "But dad Children of God isn't a religion," I mean, are we catholic or something like that?" A little saddened at seeing that his son needed to be something...the thought came to mind that their religion could be called the Religion of COG, so he reply, "son, our religion is the "Religion of COG!"
"But let me explain," he quickly followed having seen the great puzzlement passing across this son’s face. "The religion of COG is the one religion over all religions. It's the one common purpose of all religions. What it teaches is that every religion out there is all about helping us to rediscover that we are in fact children of God. God is our creator, our Father and even Mother to some. Our God is the same God of Love at the altar of all religions. We are all a part of His one family. There is nothing that can separate us from Him - except our thoughts if we choose. And even if some believe they’re not His children doesn't change the fact that He created us all.
"You see son, he continued, "all religions are like different paths you can walk to get to you true home with God. God doesn't care which one you take. He only cares that you are walking back to the understanding that He Loves you just the way you are. This will never change for God’s Love never changes. So today you can say we walk a Christian like path - but tomorrow he might have us change if He thought it would help speed our journey back to him. See son, God doesn't care as long as we are walking a path that acknowledges that we are His children and His Love for us is without end."
"Do you see John?," he questioned his son. "Yessssss...dad, I see" he replied, still having a little frustration of not being something common with his other classmates perhaps."
A little saddened as well, his father later prayed, "God, why can’t everyone see that we are all your children, why such separation and frustration, all the darkness that's blinding so many eyes – when truly God, we are all your children?"
To this came God’s reply, "So start a new Religion called COG, that has no traditions, leadership, prophets, or edicts. It has no bricks or mortar, no books or bibles. There is nothing to donate to, support or dictate. It is to be something that everyone can be…without sacrifice or judgement coming from their current religious choices. They can be a COG Islam, COG Christians, COG Moslems – it matters not. It’s only purpose is to embrace one truth, and one truth only: “God is my Father and I am His Child.” ”
The rest became a movement from all over the world – when a simply story was written and God’s Love became better understood - and embraced by His children one heart at a time.
God’s children the world over heard the story, read it from emails, web sites and words share from every language. People began standing in their truth first when asked, what’s your religion?…proudly responding, “COG!”
Before long COG became common ground for all great religions – creating a great honor for every path to God. The extremists from all path soon lost support for their conflicts – as adoption of COG released love held hostage – proving to all that there is only one final truth – that each and all are one common expression, all flesh and bones, all Children of God.
So the next time you’re asked, “What’s your religion?”…perhaps sharing the religion of COG would be a great new place to start.
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29 Nov 2003 @ 16:38, by craiglang. Spirituality
These are the dark days of November in the northern hemisphere. the days grow ever shorter as the winter solstice approaches. A cold wind bites from the north, often laden with flakes of ice and snow. It is a time of starkness, a time of gray. And there is the sense at this time of year, that life is at its most tenuous.
At this time of year, too, I find that healing is often the strongest. There is both the need for healing, and the calling up of the reservoir of inner strength that helps bring healing where it is needed. It is that inner resource that only comes when we "let go, let God". And in light of this, I often wonder about the state of things around me. Why are we so divided? Why is there so much acrimony - in the world at large, and even within our closer knit communities.
At this time of year, during healing work, or just while talking with neighbors, I notice confrontation, advocacy and resistance. It is a polarity between dark and light, progression and reaction, right and left, male and female, yin and yang. And in all of this, what seems to get lost is love. Repeatedly, I am reminded of the teachings of my teacher in the eastern tradition, which inspires the comments to follow.
On more than one occasion, I have noted people saying something like: "I get it, why can't [so-and-so] see it, too?" The idea that the person has is usually an extremely good one. It is generally a new idea, and with any new idea comes change - some form of transition (albeit, probably a very needed one). With advocacy of change comes resistance. Resistance brings counter-resistance: pushing and pushing back. Polarity deepens, and the issue becomes like two sides of a teeter-totter, both sides in opposition, yet also in balance. The harder we fight, the more energy we give to the opposition. Like a bar magnet, or like opposite charges, we attract the very forces we oppose.
How can we move beyond the gridlock? How do we get off the teeter-totter? How do yin and the yang combine to yield harmony?
A lot of ideas come up, but often what I am taught is that we are approaching the time for transcendence, the time when "the lion lies down with the lamb." This is the time when compassion for the souls of those opposed to you becomes more important than the reason for that opposition. When the two sides can combine views to reach a higher view, emergence has occurred.
Most often used seems to be the chakra metaphor. In this model, the biggest struggle in the present day, at least as I understand it, seems to be between the third and fourth chakra life-modes. The third chakra represents the ego-based, service to self world of the corporate cubicle. This is the world of business-success-oriented activity. It is the world of money, and it is also probably the world of military aggression. It is often associated with the west, but I suspsect that it is in most/all societies, at the present time. Growth at the expense of the Earth, self at the expense of others, etc... And so, the imperitive is to transition to at least a fourth-chakra level of awareness.
I am taught that, in the eastern tradition, The fourth chakra life-mode is generally one of service, a life of the heart. Volunteering and pacifism - both are powerful and noble ideals, and clearly superior to greed and service-to-self of the lower centers. Yet they are still ideals, and in advocating them, we generate opposition. Anti-war is still "anti", and such a noble progressivism implies that there is a regressive darker-side that it opposes. Struggle energizes the opposition, and the two sides of the teeter-totter balance out once again.
So, how can we transcend this? What is above the fourth chakra world? Perhaps the most immediate answer is "the fifth chakra world". In the eastern tradition, the fifth chakra is one of devotion, communication and life purpose. It is the life-mode in which we see transcendence of the polarity of struggle by the understanding that comes from God. It does not follow logic, but only love. It is not the love that comes from one's own heart, but that which comes from a greater heart. It is not service from one's self, but from a higher power through one's self.
Above all else, I am told, it is allowing one's self to see that the other side is human, too. And it is an incredibly difficult thing to do, especially in this time of economic, political and religious division. Yet it is at this time when understanding and harmony become the most important. Now, it is all the more imperative that the "lion lie down with the lamb".
In the words of the teacher who told me these words, this will be the time when enemies become friends, swoards become plowshares and war becomes peace. It is then that we will see the emergence. Then and only then will we (all of us) have won.
Beyond the fifth center, of course are the sixth and seventh - and presumably their corresponding life-modes will one day be realized. But for now, the struggle is to save ourselves and our world, and in the process, to come to know and love ourselves. It requires a devotion to a higher power and a compassion of and for all of us on the pale blue dot we call Earth.
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 28 Nov 2003 @ 16:58, by tsebastian. Spirituality
"The only full and authentic purification is that which turns a man completely inside out, so that he no longer has a self to defend, no longer an intimate heritage to protect against inroads and dilapidations. The full maturity of the spiritual life cannot be reached unless we first pass through the dread, anguish, trouble, and fear that necessarily accompany the inner crisis of "spiritual death" in which we finally abandon our attachment to our exterior self and surrender completely to Christ." (Thomas Merton) More >
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 29 May 2003 @ 22:33, by koravya. Spirituality
The scorpion is carved into Rock
Which serves as a throne
or chair of authority.
The tail is the symbol
Of the obsidian knife of sacrifice.
There are eighteen clusters
Of stalks, all of which save one
Is bound with a ribbon.
Within a cycle of eclipses,
Which may last for several hundred or a thousand years,
An eclipse returns every eighteen years,
to a place a third of the way around the planet,
and every fifty-four years,
returns to nearly the place of its previous occurrence,
with a small but noticeable shift in latitude.
The rope of continuity
Extends or emerges from
The body of this creature.
[link]
The symbol at the bottom is decidedly
Unbalanced, in motion,
Marking time. More >
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12 Apr 2003 @ 20:51, by nemue. Spirituality
Like many before me I became so embroiled in massing trophies, that I lost sight of what was really important in life. I cannot say in all honesty that I am still not a little too focused on the material side of life but I have come to appreciate the gifts that we receive daily.
The gift of a truly beautiful sunrise
The gift of an equally beautiful sunset
The singing of birds
The blue of the sky
The magic of clouds
The blessing of rain
The splendour of animals
The warmth of a hug from someone you love
The majesty of a beautiful tree
The struggle of a small sapling to grow tall
The blessing of flowers whose colour brightens even a grey day
The sounds of children laughing
No matter what befalls me these are gifts that are with me everyday. Gifts that money can not buy. Gifts that greedy corporations and governments can not take from me no matter how they try. They are gifts of love, of peace and abundance.
I treasure them more each day.
Written By Salama (April 2003) More >
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11 Apr 2003 @ 10:40, by sharie. Spirituality
The following edited reply was sent to an NCN member concerning my hope and vision for the world:
We have heaven on earth already provided for us here and now. It's just that people are mis-guided, and so busily clamouring for pseudo-prestige, pseudo-status, and a false power that they overlook the obvious. All the love and joy and truth and peace that we have ever wanted is within us, and our magnificent natural world offers us everything we need freely, without charge.
The mainstream culture is deluded by its many theories - most of which have no basis in nature or in fact, in humanity, or in spirit.
The many ludicrous theories of economics, for example, implore the greedy to exploit the health and well-being of the masses and to destroy our natural environment, our life-support system.
We cannot have a *healthy* economy when the people are sick and exhausted, drugged out on synthetic chemicals and eating toxic, poisonedd processed *food* ... while our Mother Earth is stripped of her trees, her water is polluted, and her air is poisoned... this is a recipe for disaster, not for a *healthy* economy. Those who pursue this self-destructive insanity are creating hell on earth... where heaven on earth naturally resides.
There is an alternative to that self-destructive mainstream culture. Numerous articles on this mutlit-faceted topic are posted on this newslog for you. I invite you to read them, to learn a way of life that works for you and all the world.
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 4 Apr 2003 @ 09:26, by craiglang. Spirituality
How many of us baby-boomers have said to ourselves: There must be more to life than this. But what is it? How do I find it? Where to from here - where does the path lead?
How many have found the answer? And how many of us know how to ask the question? Some interesting experiences over the last few weeks have helped me come to terms with the question, even if I haven't come any closer yet to the answer... More >
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 2 Apr 2003 @ 11:03, by craiglang. Spirituality
The recent events of the war, environmental degradation, and the endless scandals from human greed, recalls to mind a metaphorical journey I experienced a few months ago - an experience that occurred while in the deep trance of a hypnotic "Life-Between-Lives" session. More >
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1 Apr 2003 @ 17:15, by newdawn. Spirituality
The present world situation has stirred up a hornets nest within nations and within its citizens. This is certainly the time in humanities evolution that all our very core beliefs, especially the negative ones that have been fermenting are brought to the surface. "Spiritually minded" people, channelers, those who say they want to bring positive change into the world when faced with "being the change they want to see" revert to the old paradime of name calling, being defensive, "better than though" or rude and judgemental when a person says some thing that they feel is directed against them, even though all they are doing is mirroring back their own perception.
There are a number of voices on NCN who dare to see the truth not in terms of patriotism and imperialism but in terms of humanity. A lot of rhetoric goes flying about change and peace but the reality shown in the virtual page of the newslogs and their responses has the same reworded old paradime thinking behinded it.
Now is the time to "be the change you want to see".
There is no tomorrow to change. Today is it!
As you allow others their freedom of speech and being you allow your own freedom as well. So speak your truth with love, awareness and compassion and remember that perhaps next time the wheel of karma may drop you into just the situation that you are so judgemental about just so that you get a taste of what it feels like when the "shoe is on the other foot" More >
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