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7 Sep 2002 @ 17:39, by craiglang. Spirituality
What is a sacred space?
As I watched the evening news, one story was about the current discussions on what to do with the site of the former WTC. Some want to leave it as an open air shrine. Others want to rebuild the towers, but most want it to be a sacred space of some type.
So, what is a sacred space? It has a different meaning to each person. But to me, it is a place with special meaing - a spiritual location where, to me, God is reflected in place. It is a place that we make, but God enhances.
It asks for love. And it softly, forgivingly requests that we respect it. Our sacred spaces are us, and they are God. More >
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 6 Sep 2002 @ 00:06, by koravya. Personal Development
September 5, Thursday evening. Second whole day in a row without a cigarette. Third consecutive night. Like that is a major accomplishment. Last art class was tonight with Lawrence and Sergio, then Curtis and Robert and Johnny. Everyone has turned in their research papers, except Matthew, for this class.
Learn to reflect upon the day, as I once did in so much detail with the material I lived through for two years in India. I burned all those diaries from India in ‘77 or ‘78, when I was living on Franklin St. in Madison, in the apartment upstairs from Bobby Jo and his family. That was where I drew out my first set of drawings for The Gathering, and where I painted that old wooden door with a textured and terrained map of the American continents on one side and an image of the central American peninsula around the Yucatan on the other.
I painted my symbol on that door, and that door was given up around the fall of ‘87 when I moved into that warehouse in Madison. One set of destructions after another. There have been some nice things that I have made that have been lost along the way. It seems that certain sacrifices must be made along the way in order to open gateways leading to newer realizations. The gospel of detachment is the path of liberation.
I can come up with some good stuff if I set my mind to it and practice. There also needs to be some sort of motivation, driving force, or vision. Lately, I have been motivated to attempt communication with a handful of people at the NewCiv.org web site. I bumped into it about two months ago and joined this group of Newsloggers. What I have to communicate is a book of poetry I composed 20 years ago, which has undergone a couple of revisions since then, but it is essentially the same. The audience for this material has always been microscopic, and I wonder what I can do to create a wider readership. It occurs to me to use this website, whose Newsloggers provide various forms of political, spiritual and artistic content, and are all directed towards visionary approaches towards solving our planet’s ecological problem, which along with the threat of a conflagration in warfare, are the problems that today’s and tomorrow’s generation must face.
Most of what passes for news in the newspapers does not deal with these issues in any meaningful or effective way. The problem solvers and the problem creators are living on two different worlds, all on the same planet, and it is the creative visionaries like those who inhabit the various rooms of the NewCiv Newsloggers who contribute to the solution, which will emerge as we participate together in the growth of our individual and mutual awareness.
My personal approach is formulated in my book of poetry. I dropped, for the most part, the first person singular from this narrative of a journey along the pathways of my neural connections, and the images they evoke. Depersonalizing it Universalizes it. This is my personal little version of 21st century mythology looking into a hypothetical future for our planet according to my perception of present trends. I am looking into tomorrow and I am looking into the world of generations to come for as far as I can see.
What will there be left to believe in?
Where will direction and guidance through mystery come from?
As I began posting the pages of my ancient contemporary poem in the Newslog grand central station, responses and comments emerged through that pixilated universe, and I realized that communication was in fact, occurring here,
and that my own current explanations, commentary, and active participation were going to be an integral part of my intention to share my universe.
Ever try to write your own myth, the story that puts all of your beliefs, contradictions, dreams, and everything else in your real and imaginary universe into a coherent framework of images, and depersonalize it? That’s my little story.
This is a rare and special opportunity for me to be sharing this material with the Newsloggers and visitors of NewCiv.org. I’m old enough to still be rather amazed at the idea that I am finding real friends behind these keyboard characters and pixilated images, but the reality of it all speaks for itself, and it is impossible to doubt that what is going on here is real.
So members come, and members go, just like in real life, every day and every year. We speak our words for the part we play, and move on, as the voice we hear and speak tells us which way to go.
Tells me. Tells us. Tells you. Tells the Listener. More >
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3 Sep 2002 @ 15:42, by cosmicday. Spirituality
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
What do we expect from this New Myth that we seek? In my opinion, in an environment of tribal awareness – as the earth is now – the Hero of every myth eventually becomes a religious figure, usually evolved from an existing one. There are more than 10,000 practicing religions worldwide, and the numbers are increasing every day. More people have perished in religious conflicts than in any other type (economic/political). Every religion is based on a small number of heroes. Do we want a new religion?
Just as Joseph Campbell said, I feel that the only myth that will be worth thinking about in the near future will be one that talks about the planet, and I think that in this myth everyone must be the hero. Earth is our only home. We all must be Heroes if We want to survive. In becoming heroes, we can heal the planet that others neglected.
In a society of tribal awareness, inherited fears become conditions to maintain security. Technological progress was inevitable, but the spiritual evolvement of the human being has been very slow. In every generation we keep on saying that children are the future, and as a result very little changes. Biologically speaking, our children are indeed our future. But, how can a child know what to create if we (adults) teach them our worst fears? How can a child know what to create if the adult role models are irresponsible toward other human beings and the planet? We have to take responsibility for the future.
We as adults have the power to teach our children by being loving, compassionate, and responsible members of the society. Isn’t that a reflection of all the Gods of earthly religions? We can also teach our children that the terrors of the past are not conditions in designing the future. Justice is not revenge, but reform. We, the people of the present, must be the change we wish to see. The Future should not be based on the phobia of neglect – wars, starvation…. I feel that our children and their children will love us even more if we give them a loving future in which to create and play. Otherwise, societies based on blame and shame will continue.
To me, the Planetary Myth could be referred to as the Collective Human or Global Human. In a self-centered conditional society, the Vision of the Planetary Human seems like a paradox. But, the idea of Collective Consciousness is not an elusive Vision; we can achieve this state of awareness within our own lifetime, and our children can continue to perfect it in generations to come.
This Planetary Myth can be real if we acknowledge that Heaven is everything this Universe has to offer and not a condition for worthiness. In this way, the concept of the Collective Human will be based on an entirely New Thought that encompasses the spirituality of every person – with no conditions. To some people, this might sound like a dream. Risk is the infinite possibility of success, as the Creator cannot lose. How real is the Vision of the Planetary Human? The answer is as real as we want it to be – NOW.
www.astraltraveler.com More >
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3 Sep 2002 @ 06:09, by satorius. Children, Parenting
Please come visit us :) More >
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2 Sep 2002 @ 08:58, by craiglang. Violence, War
The events of 9/11 bring to mind a dream which I had four years ago. I didn't note the date but I think that it was approximately 9/11/98. I never considered it prophetic at the time, but after 9/11, my perspective changed. Could it have been prophecy? I wonder...
Still, rather than being predictive, I wonder if it's purpose could have been to tell us more about the lessons from 9/11. To me, the formemost lesson is that war is not the answer. The lesson of 9/11 is peace! More >
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31 Aug 2002 @ 09:34, by ming. Environment, Ecology
Day six of the Summit. The leaders from around the world cannot agree on how to move forward on global environmental policy, which IÂ’m sure, is apparent in the news. Yet if you spend any time with the non governmental organizations (NGOs) it is clear there are 100,000s of global environmental citizens represented here, and their projects are the blueprints for the environmental clean up needs of today. The Summit only confirms by sense that there is new renaissance is a foot on this planet. ItÂ’s just a matter of time before the world leaders catch on to how much is being accomplished at the ground level in their own countries. More >
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29 Aug 2002 @ 03:02, by alchemist. Philosophy
Do schemata control the world? What are schemata anyway?
In the centre of the page, a 10 year-old boy is pictured looking down the sights of an AK-47 rifle. This marks the start of the 'World' section in a throw-away copy of the Sydney Morning Herald dated Wednesday July 24th, a newspaper considered to be one of Australia's most intelligent broadsheets. More >
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 27 Aug 2002 @ 01:46, by ming. Communication
The NCN public News Log at [link] was accessed 143146 times in the past 5 weeks. That's the most popular place across newciv.org and worldtrans.org. 20% of all traffic. A big thank you to Richard Carlson who's the person who selects the postings that make it there.
Lotus Notes was the leading edge collaboration tool for corporations in the 80s. Steve Gillmor says that Notes is Dead. Well, the online world has changed. Ray Ozzie was the guy who created Notes. 15 years later he created Groove which is a very cool peer-to-peer collaboration platform. And, as you can see, he has a weblog, and encourages his employees to have weblogs too.
Tara Sue Grubb is the first candidate for U.S. Congress with a weblog. Libertarian from North Carolina. I think I like her.
Apparently Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation trilogy of science fiction books were translated into Arabic under the title "Al-Qaida" and there's some serious speculation that it might have been an inspiration for Bin-Laden's Al-Qaida. Farout, but rather intriguing. More >
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 26 Aug 2002 @ 23:27, by ming. Social System Design
I think the legal fiction of a "corporation" is probably the biggest roadblock on the way towards a free society and a free market.
A corporation is largely a construct used to scam many people into giving their power to the very few, who will use it for their own gain. More >
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 21 Aug 2002 @ 23:17, by quidnovi. Politics
JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT
26 August - 4 September 2002
Johannesburg, South Africa
Anyone remember that song from the Cadets?
"Meanwhile in the jungle: ...
When I woke up and my head started to clear
I had a strange feeling I was cooking gear
I smelled something cooking and I looked to see
That's when I found out they was cookin' me
Ooga booga, lemme outta here!"
"Meanwhile, back in the States:
Baby, baby, let's make romance
You know your old-time lover hasn't got a chance
He's stranded in the jungle sad as he can be
So come on pretty baby just you and me"
"Meanwhile back in the jungle:
So I jumped in the ocean and started to swim
My chance of surviving was gettin' slim..."
More >
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