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13 Jan 2004 @ 11:21, by sharie. Spirituality
From the time I was a baby, I've had to survive a life-threatening illness, a near drowing, nearly bleeding to death (twice), a snow blizzard, overcome brain damage, outlive a broken heart, find my way past a doctor's death sentence, endure the agony of being eaten alive, make my way through a hell hole, swim a sewer, sidestep death threats, and overcome a poisoning...
I've danced through an obstacle course that...
when I look back on it...
I see as proof that I can do anything...
I have turned stumbling blocks to stepping stones...
Whatever the barrier, I get through it...
or over it...
or under it...
or around it...
whatever it takes.
The important thing to me is Heaven on Earth...
the magic and the mystery...
Everything I've lived through has prepared me for this momentous truth.
I have a vision of what to do, and I'm doing it.
And life is beautiful.
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 12 Jan 2004 @ 23:06, by ashanti. Personal Development
A friend of mine, Robin Opperman, works at a special school for mentally disabled children, the Ningizimu School. He really is an angel, doing fantastic work with these kids. He works with them through Art, and together they use old waste, and turn it into magically beautiful African creations. Alliance Francaise have been so impressed by the stunning work the children produce, with Robin's gentle encouragement, that they have commissioned a series of banners. They are currently on exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery, and will eventually be on display in Paris later this year. Photos of the work are unfortunately not yet available, but having seen them myself, I can assure they are truly beautiful. It is just amazing what the power of Love can do - transform waste into beauty, and give purpose, fulfilment, empowerment and income to children who are disabled, and who would have otherwise been thrown away by society. More >
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 12 Jan 2004 @ 14:28, by bkodish. Death & Dying
Robert P. Pula, our close friend and teacher, died at the age of 75 yesterday (1/11/04) after a bout with double pneumonia. Until his death he remained the world's foremost living general-semantics scholar and one of the most important continuators of Korzybski's work.
Bob served as the Institute of General Semantics' lead lecturer for many years. He also edited the General Semantics Bulletin from 1977-1985 and served as the Director of the Institute of General Semantics from 1983-1986. He wrote the "Preface to the Fifth Edition 1993" to Korzybski's Science and Sanity
A polymathic poet, painter, pianistic composer, Polka historian, Polish culturalist, cartoonist and extraordinary teacher (only a short list of his many talents), Bob will be sorely missed by his children, family, students and friends More >
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 11 Jan 2004 @ 13:51, by scotty. History, Ancient World
Joseph Campbell, in his epochal book 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces,[link] emphasizes that the essential trait of a hero in the making is his restlessness. Not at ease with his immediate environment and circumstances, a constant unease gnaws at his heart, prompting him to question the very nature of his existence.
Well ! That's me alright ! And these feelings are getting stronger and stronger too !
This inner strife is the first inkling that a greater destiny lies ahead of the potential hero.
WOW ! A Great destiny awaits me - who'd have believed it !
Campbell divides the evolution of the hero into five distinct phases:
1). The Call to Adventure
2). Crossing of the Threshold (Entering the Unknown)
3). Trials and Tribulations of the Journey
4). Attainment of Enlightenment
5). Return of the Hero
Hmmmm ! I'm not sure about all of that ! Makes me feel like Bilbo did the first time that Gandalf came to call - and then all these dwarfs kept turning up at the door !!
So - as I don't seem to have much choice in the matter (heh heh heh ) I must try to remember this in times of need ...
"As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow.
We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom.
It happens in its own time."
(Denis Waitley)
. More >
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 11 Jan 2004 @ 07:42, by ming. Philosophy
There are quite divided opinions about what consciousness is and where it comes from. Arguments mostly arrive from quite divided assumptions about what the Universe is and where it comes from. One way I would simplify the views would be as follows.
You could assume that there's an external entity, which you can call God or something else, which intervenes in order to make things happen inside the universe. So that if something new happens, it is because God decided it was a good idea and introduced it.
You could also assume that the universe is a closed system. I.e. what is there is what is there, and when it evolves into new things it is because it is in its nature to do so. If hydrogen and oxygen turn into water, even the first time it happens, it is only because they have the emergent property to do so.
In my own somewhat controversial view of all this, I think there are many people who are confused about which camp they're in, or who really assume something different than what they think they do.
Let's look at consciousness. It is observable that there are entities here who have awareness, consciousness, the ability to think about things, including self-reflexively and abstractly. According to the first view, it would be because God suddenly one day said "Hey, I now decree that this mud henceforth will be conscious". According to the second view it would be because it would be perfectly logical, that the component parts merely evolved such a capability, based on the way they're put together, based on their pre-existing properties, and based on a natural sequence of events.
But many people who believe the latter will also try to deny that the consciousness is in fact an emergent property. If I say it a little differently: consciousness can only emerge if it has been there all along. Just like hydrogen and oxygen only can turn into water because they've been able to do that all along. If we use a controversial word for it, their design includes the capability to transform in such a manner.
Water can only happen because the universe possesses a water-ness. If you believe that such a capability suddenly happened and wasn't there before, you're a subscriber to the first worldview above, that there's an external agent who shows up and makes it happen.
Likewise, the universe can only manifest consciousness if it already possesses the capability for consciousness. Consciousness can only emerge if it all along has been an integral quality of the universe. We can discuss whether it was a latent quality or a continuously expressed quality, but it has to have been there, unless it suddenly came from the outside.
If the universe is a closed system, it of course gives some major problems of trying to explain where that came from. Even if we accept that there's no outside interference, but everything in the universe is just doing what is its nature to do, over billions of years, and that happens to have lead to human consciousness and MTV and the Internet and other interesting things, you can not avoid coming up with an answer to where such a brilliant evolutionary engine came from in the first place. If we assumed that the Universe actually evolved from a Big Bang 12 billion years ago, and everything that happened emerged naturally from the qualities inherent in whatever it was that exploded, it still does absolutely nothing in explaining how that something happened to be so exquisitely designed that extremely complex lifeforms would develop which would be self-aware and capable of developing advanced technology. Despite that it supposedly is a natural law that physical matter does the opposite, moving towards increased entropy.
The explanation that most often is used to avoid admitting that the universe possesses inherent intelligence is to invoke Randomity. I.e. to show how random events will carry along evolution. There are some big problems with that, however. What is called "random" usually just means that it is too hard to calculate which exact interactions between what produced what, and it is never just simple cause-effect relationships when one gets down to it. Some people think that Quantum Mechanics show that the universe is basically random. But it really just talks about uncertainty. Because you basically have to include all sub-atomic particles existing in 12 or so dimensions, in a possibly infinite number of parallel universes, in order to calculate what exactly will happen. Which is rather impractical at this point, so the actual outcomes of events, particularly very small ones, are for our purposes uncertain. To our limited view they seem "random" because we're incapable of understanding the whole system at one time at this point.
"Randomness" as such is essentially a variation of the external "God" in the first worldview at the top. I.e. believing in "randomness" influencing the universe in arbitrary ways has much of the same structure as believing in "God" influencing the universe in arbitrary ways. The difference is only in the labels people attach to it and to themselves. E.g. whether one thinks one's view is based on science or religion. Either way, we're in the field of religion if your model requires miraculous outside influences in order to hold together.
Ultimately the better model is probably some kind of synthesis. It isn't ultimately satisfying to just delegate the hard problems to some magical entity you can never understand, or to just deny that they even exist. Assuming that the Universal Intelligence is either entirely outside the universe, or that it doesn't exist at all - both fail to explain a lot of what we can experience here, and either one produces pretty depressing prospects for the future.
The more simple answer, to me at least, is that there's an infinite Omniverse there, and you're an integral part of it. It has the inherent capability to do everything that ever happened and ever will happen, and the scope of what can happen is infinite. Some of the inherent qualities are self-reflexive consciousness and the ability to evolve. It is vast, complex and mysterious, but ultimately completely logical and coherent. You can learn about it and understand it as deeply as you want, and it will readily divulge its secrets, but everything in it is connected with everything else, and all of it is continously evolving, so you'll probably never be done. And that's what makes it an infinitely continuing and expanding game. More >
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 10 Jan 2004 @ 14:39, by spells. Sexuality
Ecstatic Trance-formation
(The Cosmic Tao of the Sexes)
The purest outpouring of love between the sexes, is as a miniature super-nova of ecstatic union. Reciprocating pleasure becomes the engine that feeds the fires of passion. Passion becomes dynamic fuel for love. It is an engine that runs with the force of a solar furnace, ablaze with the eternal power of Yin and Yang combined. True love is a spiritual hurricane that sweeps away any obstacle in its path, as the ultimate cleansing storm. The spiritual union of male and female is a mutually empowering, self-perpetuating, psychic feast. The only reason that many relationships today are no longer mutually empowering, is because they have forgotten about the real nature of enthusiastic oneness with each other. They have in fact, simply forgotten the ways of nature. It is often overlooked that the mutual will for spiritual growth, fed by passion, can become a singular rapture in the Supreme. Male and Female are in the cosmic sense, the opposite poles of the same magnet. They are the ancient passage of galactic spirals in their motion through the heavens, and the subtle whir of electron and proton. They are the flow of creative forces, one to anotherÂ…a reflection of all the passions of Creation in Nature. Man and woman are the opposite charges of the energy of God. They are the strike of lightning, the motion of wind in fragrant blossoms and the dual strands of all DNA. Unity of man and woman is the Cosmic Tao of the sexes, provoking a spiritual process with no limitations. Through recognizing the Tao of female and male, or in other words, Yin and Yang, two people may raise up together in spiritual ecstasy without bounds or barriers. This is an ultimately potent spiritual path, and a ready engine for mutual ascension.
When we look at the symbol of the Tao, (Yin/Yang) we find two opposite colors merged into a singular, flowing, circular motion. There is a dark half and a light half of the Yin/Yang; representing equal and complimentary forces for all time. Man and woman are equally powerful! They both embody the Cosmic aspects of creation, in ways which are mutually complimentary. Each side of the Tao symbol contains a small portion of its polar opposite, just as there is a small portion of the opposite sex within each of us. This means we each possess the qualities of both sexes, (it is just that certain qualities are emphasized by our Yin or Yang polarity). Yang is known to be more will-oriented, and dynamic in nature. It is eternal motion and cosmic action. Yin on the other hand is receptive, supportive and magnetic. It is eternally stabilizing and of cosmic potentiality. Both Yin and Yang possess the needed qualities for creation and evolution.
In terms of natural law, no sex is above the other. Whenever one is generally overemphasized, the natural harmony is thrown out of balance. This is still the case today in the Western male, (Yang) dominance of society. This excess of Yang on a global level, is a cause for much of the worldsÂ’ problems today. The same would be true of an excess of Yin energy. Both of these forces and their associated qualities must stay in perpetual balance.
Another factor in human misery is the so-called “battle of the sexes”, which is nothing more than a symptom of collective insanity. This self destructive insanity runs deep in Western culture. We are infinitely more than social labels or pathetically limiting roles. The “battle” is entirely fictional, because it is learned behavior. It is our modern task to unlearn it without hesitation. Social, sexual discord is ideological. Our own limited images about what it is to be a man or a woman, do injustice to one another, on the battlefield of our collective unconsciousness. There is no such thing as a naturally occurring battle between the sexes, other than what society has mistakenly created. This is yet another reason we must return to nature and observe natural laws, to maintain our sanity. There is also no such thing as “gender roles” either, other than those dictated by biology. We create these divisions and roles between the sexes at our supreme peril, and to heal the world we must look to the cosmic Tao of male and female. We must do this in remembrance of the natural and cosmic potentials of relationship. When relationship again becomes a place for mutual ascension rather than antagonism, our entire species will be revived into its natural aliveness. This will be paradise re-gained.
There is nothing about the merger of male and female that is not deeply mystical in nature. For in nature, that which is called mystical is simply the daily reality. Mysticism is that quality of consciousness, which is capable of directly perceiving and receiving Truth from the universe. The wise take example from the life-affirmative philosophies of the world, to access their natural mysticism. Like the philosophy of the Tao in ancient China, the age-old practice of Tantra originates from the Vedic texts of India some 6500 years ago. These philosophies owe their merit to a recognition of natural/cosmic principles. Both Tantra and Tao rely on the same universal laws, the foremost of which is the mystical and omnipresent union of Yin and Yang. Some believe that the practice of Tantra is designed for the enhancement of sexual pleasure. Many hold the view that it is merely the use of certain physical postures, or even breathing and awareness practices, that make sex more stimulating. In its true and higher form however, Tantra is not just about the enhancement of orgasms. Having more intense and sweet orgasms with onesÂ’ counterpart, is only a bi-product of right spiritual focus. Even more rewarding are the benefits gained from actually helping each other find higher levels of consciousness. Because the male and female are Cosmic forces, they can aid each other in deeply profound ways, simply through the Intent to do so.
Tantra is actually a form of mutual Kundalini Yoga. In Kundalini the sexual energy at the base of the spine rises to the higher chakras. In so doing it manifests itself as the creative force of greater inner strength, revelation in higher love, symbolic understanding, clarity and spiritual rapture. Spiritually focused sex can accomplish the same thing automatically, with the only difference being that both personsÂ’ energy rises to the higher chakras together. The true and highest focus of Kundalini Yoga, like Tantra, is the gaining of spiritual revelation and personal Mastery. In this way we become more like the Buddha or the Christ. These intentions are given strength through sexual/polar attraction, which is why Tantra is so powerful. Anyone who can have sex can begin to practice Tantra, or in other words, mutual ascension. Anyone who has ever experienced pleasure can transform sexual knowledge beyond mere sensual enjoyment, into the wisdom of spiritual unfoldment. That is not to say that the power of the Tao or Yin/Yang can only be accessed through sex. It is just that sex is a very accessible path, a graphic example of what potentials await with onesÂ’ counterpart. Also there is no great need to understand the chakras to do Tantra, though this experiential knowledge helps a great deal. All one needs to begin is a reverence for their polar opposite, and a high respect for the cosmic nobility inherent in the opposite sex. With this respect in place, the cosmic Tao of Yin and Yang begins to be accessed.
Kundalini Yoga notes the fact that the first chakra, or sexual energy at the base of the spine, is the basis for all our other expenditures of energy. Sexual energy is the foundation for love energy, communication, mental stamina and spiritual stability. Sex creates what we call pleasure, but pleasure is actually first chakra energy resonating at a higher frequency or vibration. Having pleasure is thus a way to raise the vibration of body, mind and spirit. Having sex is the sharing of pleasure, (high vibration) as a mutual alignment or resonance of the first chakras. It is also a trading of energy, mutual awareness and Intent. The same may be said of love at the level of the heart or fourth chakra. As a spiritual rule, each of the seven chakras or energy centers of the body, are founded upon the preceding chakras, and their related functions. All the chakras are based upon the first at the base of the spine, (which includes the legs, sexual organs, and hips) in a way that can be visualized as a pyramid. The first chakra is the pyramidsÂ’ broad and strong base, and each of the six chakras above are as the smaller steps built upon it.
The following table reflects the location of all the chakras in the body. All of these are centered upon the spine, or are in direct alignment with it:
CHAKRA PHYSICAL LOCATION
First feet, legs, hips, sexual organs, tailbone
Second lower back, intestines
Third lower back area, stomach
Fourth Upper back, heart, lungs, including the arms and hands
Fifth Throat, neck, upper shoulders, base of head, lower brain
Sixth Forehead, and mid-brain/occipital lobe, (back of head)
Seventh Crown and upper region of the back of the head
A truly wholistic relationship with ones counterpart implies relating to them at all levels, sexually, lovingly, mentally and spiritually. To put this in a more esoteric way, would be to say that a holistic relationship includes the exchange of positive energy, awareness and intent through each chakra. The chakras are psychic transmitters and receivers. As a general rule, whatever we feel in any part of the body, (chakra) is transmitted psychically to the corresponding area or chakra in the people around us. Upon entering a relationship with another, particularly a loving and/or sexual one, there is a great amount of psychic exchange going on. This is easily felt. ALL PEOPLE WITHOUT EXCEPTION have felt such psychic effects from others. This means that in sex our pleasure is psychically transmitted to our counterpart and vice versa. This is also true of any other feeling or state of consciousness. Love is also transmitted, (which is commonly known) but what is not commonly realized, is that all the chakras constantly send and receive every state of being imaginable. The human being is like a seven-band radio tower, which broadcasts on each band simultaneously.
Tantra then, usually starts at the first chakra or the base of the “chakra pyramid”. Practitioners of this art aim to increase sexual pleasure with each other, and to amplify their sheer mutual attraction. Few people will deny that intense sexual feeling is not desirable. But when it is used with spiritual progression in mind, pleasure then becomes a doorway into higher states of being. In this view, sex is seen as a vehicle for greater things. Pleasure becomes like a booster engine, to propel two people into the higher altitudes of spiritual love and rapture. As with all things in life, Intent is the primary key to generate this magickal event. In the case of most people, their Intent while having sex, is just to enjoy stimulation or perhaps mutual pleasure. But if one uses the intent to be loving while having that enjoyment, not only is the pleasure increased, but the love focused upon is also empowered by the already high, pleasure-vibration. In this sense, the Tao of sexual union becomes a mutual meditation, upon both pleasure and love simultaneously. This is as simple as feeling pleasure in the first chakra, and love in the fourth chakra at the same time, and is truly not a very esoteric act. For those couples with even higher aspirations, a third element or Intent can be added, which is spiritual rapture, felt in the seventh chakra, or crown of the head. Again, this crown chakra focus is similar to the raising of chi in Kundalini Yoga, and can have identical or even greater spiritual effects. The seventh chakra is also the one which is most closely attuned to the soul. This is where we most commonly receive messages and influence from the soul, or true/higher self. When two people focus upon each other while holding an awareness of their seventh chakras, they begin to experience what may be called a “soulic communion” that can be most exquisite. So in essence, sex need not only be for the sake of first chakra exchange or pleasure. It can also be a way to align psychc energies and Intent with one another, at the levels of pleasure/orgasm, love/reverence, and rapture/soulic communion, (first, fourth and seventh chakras respectively). This is but one good approach to a Taoistic union of man and woman.
The observant person will notice that pleasure during sex increases or decreases according to the thoughts one is having. Behind every thought there is also a corresponding intent. For every intent we hold, there is a corresponding psychic effect created. So for the sake of our own pleasure, and also the pleasure of our counterpart, Intent is a consideration that is very relevant. It is always worthwhile to prove this point to yourself by watching how enjoyment, or any other condition of life, is profoundly influenced by the intent held each moment. The Intent used by the modern person during sex is very often a selfish one. This is to say they seek pleasure only for themselves, even at the expense of their partner. Another common Intent used during sex is what might be called “psychic vampirism” which is also seen in ALL other social circumstances as well. Psychic vampirism is the practice of taking energy from others, just as a parasite takes energy from the host creature it lives within. In truth this is to be rightly considered a relatively hostile act, because it can render very damaging physical, mental and emotional effects on the victim. Because sex is an extremely dynamic exchange of energy, it is also an excellent opportunity for the psychic vampire to draw away energy from the unsuspecting. Such acts constitute poor intent and a general ignorance of what a focus on unity and mutual empowerment is capable of. Psychic vampirism is the opposite of the intent of spiritual progression. A more appropriate intent is one which is simply neutral and not psychically aggressive. Sex under such an Intent is also fairly common, and its benefits are “hit and miss” or random, depending upon the “mood” of the participants. The most progressive intent however, is one which seeks the greatest enjoyment and benefit for each person, without limit. With this intent in place, especially in a spiritual context, there is literally no limit to the level of enjoyment and consciousness that can take place between female and male. This is the mutual ascension of Yin and Yang as One.
Mutual, progressive Intent creates correspondingly higher and higher states of consciousness. When this intent is employed during sex, it becomes what might be described as a form of mutual worship. In this way, one approaches the opposite sex with reverence, as one might enter into a truly sacred temple in which only the purest thoughts and feelings in the adoration of God are to be formed. When this Intent is mutually held, a psychic reciprocation of a very high vibratory level is set up. Pleasure, love and rapture travel back and forth with increasing tempo. As a woman is raised by a mans spiritual adoration, her state of consciousness is elevated. This can be particularly true during sex, because sex tends to opens all of the chakras and encourages strong energy flow. From this raised position, a woman can then raise her mansÂ’ level of consciousness even more. When this occurs he gains even more personal power. With greater personal power he raises her again, and so forth, without limitation. With disciplined focus, such a technique can be used to proceed to higher and higher levels of consciousness, or in other words, degrees of mutual enlightenment. [Naturally, such things can also be done without the sexual act.] This process may also be known as mutual ascension and is among the more noble of the Tantric practices. Sex under these conditions need not necessarily include orgasm, or it may delay orgasm for long periods until a glorious finale is achieved together. The very spiritually minded may choose the no-orgasm form of this practice even while having sex, and simply keep increasing each othersÂ’ vibratory and energy levels indefinitely. In this practice a great deal of physical movement is not generally encouraged, and it may take the form of group-mind meditation and deep, subtle, mutual feeling. Such practices may also include very dynamic sex and a great deal of physical movement, for the sake of increasing the intensity of pleasure, or it may alternate between these two extremes. But regardless of the technique, the higher focuses of love, rapture and mutual raising should always be a strong consideration, in order to gain the best Tantric benefits.
The practice commonly known as “sex magick” also functions upon the same psychic principles as Tantra and certain Kundalini focuses. Very often orgasm is used to “send” an intention out into the environment, (or to another person/group locally) with the effect of rendering the desired results. This is one form of what is commonly known as a “spell”, (or the casting thereof). A couple may Intentionally “cast a spell” on each other in this way for mutual benefit. Any strong feeling such as orgasm can be used as an ideal “carrier wave”, (which transmits an intention) and this fact is made particularly potent when a visualization is also held at the same time. A couple may send their orgasm to each other simply by the intent to do so. A visualization of surrounding ones’ counterpart with pleasure and spiritual benefit at the peak of pleasure is even more useful. [Visualization founded upon an Intent is known as a thoughtform, which then becomes a psychic/occult force that moves to the destination the sender was focused upon, at the moment of its creation] Interestingly, orgasm can also be sent out to the entire world, (with the globe being visualized as seen from space). The intent employed can be that the sexual peak, (high vibration) be used to raise world consciousness. A couple using this intent is employing a very beneficial and advanced level of sex magick! In most cases though, a couple will want to simply raise each other to unknown heights.
In all intimate relations, there exists a high degree of vulnerability, particularly at the psychic level. To accomplish high Tantra, each person must open themselves completely to the other without reservation. This makes them suseptible to not only positive vibration and Intent, but also potentially damaging feelings of pain or fear, even though every desire is in place to make the “Taoistic fusion” work. Each person must be prepared to release pain and fear in this practice, and to absorb such vibrations from their counterpart. The greater mastery involved here, is to not be overwhelmed by these destructive emotions, and to transmute or transform them into love, clarity and ecstasy. Thus, psychic alignment with another can not only be rewarding, but also require a good deal of patience and spiritual work. It is therefore useful to employ the intent of spiritual ministry when aligning with another in this way, which is essentially no different than extending positive feelings or council to someone in pain. To accomplish this we must also be able to transmute our own pain and fear into higher vibrations/intentions. It is useful to mentally prepare ourselves for the necessary state of being, that is open and freely giving. If we are not capable of this, then how can we expect it from another? So let the thought of High Tantra motivate you to do some inner transformation and spiritual preparation. The more we raise our individual vibration and Intent, the more we have to offer our sacred counterpart.
In the modern context the phrase, “making love” is a bit misleading to say the least. In this context the usual case is not the making of love, but the making of pleasure and sheer sensation. But in Western culture this trend is not particularly surprising, since love and pleasure are no longer distinguished from one another. Most assume that love is the feeling that results from the gratitude of the body, (cells) as a result of sexual pleasure and polar balancing. But this should not in any way be confused with love. When “making love” the focus should be in honest fact, exactly that, a mutual, inner focus on the unified enhancement of higher and higher love states. Even better is “making rapture”, a mutual focus on the communion of souls in bodies, whose primary Intent is the merger of Cosmic Forces, (yin and yang). Again, all of these “rewards” are gained by the right focusing of Intent. The intent to gain spiritual communion with another is essentially the same as the intent to gain pleasure, in that each are only a matter of decision. When we decide to take on a spiritual focus, this conscious universe in which we live rewards us with the sweet fruits of truthful living. This is what is known as “living in accord with natural law” because spiritual progress is evolutionary, just like nature.
Thus, the most lasting and satisfying relationships are based upon a spiritual intention, first and foremost. By focusing on the spiritual together, we serve a higher cause than the mere satisfaction of small, personal aims. Spiritual cause becomes the source of mutual unity and action, providing greater empowerment at all levels of body, mind and spirit. Such a focus tends to preclude the usual emotional leaning upon one another, in the ignorant hope that onesÂ’ counterpart can take up the slack in onesÂ’ own life. This attitude is the most common recipe for disaster and disappointment. As responsible spiritual practitioners, we do not take our weaknesses to our mate like a begging bowl is presented for alms. We take our strengths and aspirations to our lover/friend, in the wise knowledge that what is given, is also received. This is the Karma of relationship, and it is an unavoidable principle of natural law.
A spiritual lover is not a refuge from the world in which to hide. They are an opportunity for growth and sheer bliss in the unity of progressive intent. Our love for another can be as the fresh thrill of awe, during a clear spring day in the deepest woods. Our mutual adoration is as the stirring of deep celestial energies in the midst of the creation of all things. Our counterpart can be the very presence of God incarnated, in a passion-filled, spiritual alliance.
In mutual pleasure we are filled with ecstatic life. In mutual love we begin to radiate a signal of pure, crystalline grace to a world in pain and need of spiritual ministry. In mutual rapture, we are raised together into the bliss of angelic realms, and the abode of the Masters of all time. We become the seers and prophets of cosmic design, and can speak therefrom with experience. Such perspective adds clearer meaning to the term “soulmate”. Let us not underestimate this opportunity in the Tao! Let us seek only the highest in ourselves and each other, thereby fulfilling the very Plan of Creation!
Matthew Webb visionquest@eoni.com
The World Mind Society [link]
More >
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 10 Jan 2004 @ 05:11, by scotty. Philosophy
Jeff said "watch your mind at all times"
hmmm ...he of course has never had a peek inside my head - thank goodness - for him!
He got me thinking though - and I thought - and I thought and ...I found myself in a maze !
hmm Now I know where amazed comes from - heh heh heh!
I got to thinking about mazes - and then I thought about a labyrinth.............
In contrast to a maze (a puzzle of choices and dead ends), a labyrinth is a circular, spiraling walkway with a singular path — you reach the center and return on the same path.
Modern labyrinth walkers often speak enthusiastically of heightened senses, renewed spirit, and awakened self-awareness.
The labyrinth is a "right brain" activity and to walk it, you shut off reasoning and welcome contemplation.
There are three basic phases to a labyrinth walk.
The first is moving toward the center - this is a journey inward.
The second is standing in the middle - this is for reflection.
And finally - emerging from the labyrinth - this is about letting go.
Easier said than done methinks ! More >
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9 Jan 2004 @ 16:10, by sharie. Spirituality
I saw this title on the Events Calendar:
"Meeting the Planetary Challenge"
and I thought, "What *is* the Planetary Challenge?"
We all know about Global Warming, we know our air is polluted, our water poisoned...
some of us know the global drinking water supply has dwindled about 40% in the past 40 years, and that the world's ocean economy has plummeted over 50% over the past 40 years...
and then there's the Nuclear waste, and toxic waste, and depleted uranium, pesticides... and bovine spongiform
all getting into our water supply and our foods...
but what *really* is the Planetary Challenge?
What?
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy?
In our water?
Oh... they didn't tell you that?
... Ya see, after cows are slaughtered, there's a clean-up... with a waterhose, so all that cow fat and bones and stuff goes down the drain... into our rivers and oceans...
Let's see where was I?
Millions of different perspectives on this question of "Meeting the Planetary Challenge"... and perhaps thousands of different solutions to be offered...
So I'll offer my perspective on the problem and my solution:
The Planetary Challenge, as I see it, is to look at the problem from the Planet's perspective... and then to offer a solution based on the Planet's perspective.
I'm one from the growing crowd of believers in the unrefutable evidence that our Planet Earth is a sentient being, an intelligent life form.
I'll *prove* this very simply.
I know many people believe the Earth is just a dumb rock orbiting the sun.
But the Earth is not lifeless, the Earth is not stupid, the Earth is not without intelligence, and I will prove it.
Those who stand in judgment and proclaim the Earth to be stupid, I *challenge* you to *try* for 10 minutes...
*try* ...
living without the Earth's air...
*try* ...
a few days without the Earth's water or food...
*try*
a few weeks without any of the Earth's rocks...
without minerals...
without iron, magnesium, and other essential minerals...
then come back and tell me just how *stupid* the Earth is...
tell me the Earth hasn't a clue about *life*.
The truth is: We can't live without the Earth.
We haven't figured out yet how to do that.
But the Earth manages to provide us with what we need...
so we can live.
Because of this, we are not *separate* from the Earth.
I see myself as being ONE with the Earth.
And because of this...
I have insights into the perspective that Earth has on us.
I see the Planetary Challenge from Earth's perspective.
And I'll tell you what that is:
Earth demonstrates to us the way of life.
There are many errors in our cultural beliefs.
The scientific theories, and scientific laws of the mainstream culture have totally missed the mark.
If the experts had the answers, would we be in such a mess?
The economic theories are such hogwash... created by the morally and spiritually corrupt for the benefit of the morally and spiritually bankrupt.
The economic theories do not work for the people or for the planet.
Don't believe in the teachings of the mainstream culture. They are resulting in a sewer, a self-destructing society.
Allow Earth to teach what is true, and what does she demonstrate:
She freely gives.
Her very healthy economy is based on giving.
She demonstrates a Gift Economy...
of Freely Giving...
with a replenishment and healing...
rejuvenation and nurturance...
year after year after year.
Earth teaches many things but it is most rewarding to learn directly from her...
Begin by acknowledging the truth, appreciating all that you are, all that the Earth is, all that the universe is, and then ask deep within your soul, and out to the farthest star to *know* the truth.
And you will know.
"Love with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength... Love and you will know."
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9 Jan 2004 @ 10:23, by mikenight. Natural Health & Healing
Jewish Penicillin-Chicken Soup Recipe
Half a pot of water
throw in Fresh dill
A hand full of fresh parsley
Choped celery
1/2 of an avg size onion -Leaf type slices not choped
Choped carrots or use baby carrots
Chop 'parsnip' size the same as carrot slices
Kosher Chicken pieces or whole (skin and bones and all)
If not Kosher using regular chicken makes the soup weak and you might need chicken bouillon powder to make the soup more yellow and stronger in flavor.
Start on medium to low heat then when ready to boil a bit set on between simmer and number 2 for 2 or more hours. You can skim the specs of skin and debris floating to the top but try to keep the greens intact as they are delicious and healthy for ya.
Refridge FOR A FEW HOURS if you want it to gel so you can skim all the faT OFF THE TOP EASIER.
tHEN YOU can reheat through the Microwave or stove whatever portion.
Serve with rice in the bottom of the bowl, the soup chicken melts off the bones and makes a meal in itself.
I don't know how to make Matzah Balls but Kreplach is easy:
preheat oven 400
1/2 cup of boiling water with
1/4 cup butter/imitation butter then after it boils remove off stove and pour quickly stiring little over 1/2 cup of sifted flour
Mix till smooth then add 2 eggs and stir until the lumps are gone and the mixture is smoother.
Use spoon and make small spoon balls (if to runny to make a glob ball out of add slightly more flour then mix thoroughly again) on a coated cookie sheet place in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and they will puff up.
These can be added to your soup or you can
make larger size ones
cut the top gut the ball to mix them them with shreaded soup chicken and spices pepper, garlic and onion powder soul seasoning, soft onion from the soup choped, etc. stuff the hollowed Kreplach ball with this shreaded chicken stuffing and place that in soup or use soup to make chicken gravy over the big Kreplach and you have an excelent appetizer or even meal.
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 9 Jan 2004 @ 06:24, by ming. Communication
Cleve Backster is a pioneer in research demonstrating how plants, or for that matter, any live cells have some surprising abilities to respond to thoughts and feelings and communicate in ways they wouldn't traditionally be expected to."My plant read my mind!" On February 2nd, 1966 this realization forever changed the life of the FBI and CIA's then foremost polygraph researcher, and reintroduced modern science to the sentient nature of our universe. On that date the brilliant and disciplined mind of Cleve Backster conceived an irrefutable paradigm-busting scientific protocol. With straightforward electronics that a student or garage-level scientist can replicate, he proved to humans that their thoughts and emotions affect the behavior of their own and other living cells.
For millennia traditional peoples have known that all life forms-plants, animals and even single cells-are not only sentient and intelligent, but that they communicate with one another. This fact got lost a few centuries ago between the mechanistic focus of industrial science and the modern human view of reality that ascribed consciousness only to the human brain. A few 20th century scientific pioneers, like Chandra Bose in India and the Kirlians in the former Soviet Union, had earlier developed technology to demonstrate energy fields and basic emotional responses in plants and animals. Backster's experimental work took the next step and documented a heretofore unrecognized cellular level of interspecies biocommunication.
At the bottom you can find a review of Backster's new book by Paul von Ward. Now, Cleve Backster wasn't particularly the first person who experimented with this subject matter using galvanic skin response meters. For example, Ron Hubbard was playing with this in the 50s, and was generally ridiculed for it. Backster is a more respectable and mainstream character, being essentially the father of modern polygraph testing, so his message has a better chance of getting anywhere. Not that it particularly has.
Now, I know about this not just because I've listened to Clive Backster talking about it, but because I did some experiments of my own. It is very easy to do, and any skeptic ought to check it out for themselves. It is just that you need some kind of galvanic skin response meter. Like this. Which is essentially just an electronic instrument that measures resistance and that is very sensitive. A regular ohm meter isn't good enough as it isn't nearly sensitive enough. It takes something like a wheatstone's bridge, which gives large and fast readings on minute resistance changes. Or some more modern equivalent. And it needs to be attached to some suitable electrodes. For humans that would be something similar to a pair of tin cans. For a plant, the clips that otherwise would attach to the cans would do it.
So, now, for the simple and interesting experiments. You attach the clips to some plant you have standing around the house. Any plant will do, but a big leafy thing would be good. The meter will just show the needle standing rather still. If you cut off a leaf of the plant, the needle will give a sizable reaction. Not very surprising. But the surprising part is that if you take your scissor and approach the plant, intending to cut a leaf off of it, it will also react in a similar fashion, without you having touched it. It seems to react to your intention somehow. Likewise if you have several plants, maybe of the same kind. Put them in different rooms, to rule out that they can, eh, see each other. Attach the meter to one of them and have somebody watch it. Then go to the other plant and either treaten to cut one of its leaves off, or actually do so. Either way, the plant in the first room will react as if it was happening to itself.
Very simple to do. And it should certainly raise some questions in the mind of anybody who believes this would of course be impossible. And you can of course do this more scientifically and systematically, trying to exclude all sorts of other factors. And you can take it much further. And that is the kind of work that Cleve Backster has been doing.
Unfortunately, the scientific community in general has not paid much attention. As, of course, this is all impossible according to the theories that draw the most consensus, so why even bother to check it out. More >
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