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18 Jan 2004 @ 14:38, by craiglang. Articles
An interesting article appears in the upcoming February 2004 issue of Popular Mechanics, entitled "When UFOs Arrive". In it, they talk about the possibility of First Contact (which they state is in the future), and what human reaction will be.
It is interesting to note two main classes of reactions considered by the article. One from the scientific community, and the other from the US Government/Military.
The article initially describes how there will be "obvious signs of their approach", presumably radar or radio contact. Then it goes on to describe the SETI Declaration of Principles regarding first contact, which could roughly be described as "be absolutely sure, then tell everybody".
The most interesting thing in this reaction-scenario is the assumption that the scientific (e.g. SETI) community would somehow be the leaders in a contact scenario. The article then goes on to demolish this assumption, describing what would probably ACTUALLY happen - government/military takeover of the contact scenario, and a heavy handed treatment of the Visitors.
A hint of this can be gleaned from the Brookings Report of 1960 - which describes many of the implications of open first contact, as envisioned at that time. It suggests government responses to contact, and suggests that contact would be harmful to humanity. The resultant government policy appears to be one of heavy-handed hostility towards any E.T. Visitors that are unlucky enough to fall into the hands of human (at least U.S.) officialdom.
On page 57, The PopMech article section entitled "State of Emergency" reads as follows: "If ET Turns up at NASA's doorstep, bearing that invitation [CL Note: from Pioneer 11], it is in for a surprise. Instead of getting a handshake from the head of NASA, it will be handcuffed by an FBI agent dressed in a Biosafety Level 4 suit. Instead of sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom at the WHite House, the alien will be whisked away to the Depertment of Agriculture's Animal Disease center..."
This appears to be the description - probably accurate - of what US policy would actually be in the event of open contact with ETI. This appears to have been the case during the recovery of whatever came down in the 1965 UFO Crash at Kecksburg PA. According to descriptions, in a very short time, the military had thoroughly secured the scene, and had recovered the object, which was never again to be seen by anyone without a (very, very) high security clearance.
This suggests that the mainstream scientific community would probably be in about the same boat as the UFO community - locked out by the military powers-that-be, and subject to the same apparent coverup which has bedeviled UFO research for the last 50-plus years.
So what does this suggest would be the most likely contact scenario. Would E.T. simply walk into a situation such as this? Presumably, they would be well aware of the situation on the world they were contacting (e.g. us). And therefore, presumably they would not walk into the ugly situation described in the PopMech article. We can assume that, being at least as smart as we are, they would instead choose some means of contact that would be under their control, and on their terms. And this leads us to the question - is this not already occurring?
The primary assumption that the article, and presumably the scientific community also makes, is that contact hasn't happened yet. But given the massive amount of evidence, and reports such as the Sturrock Report, and the Cometa Report, I think we can pretty much conclude that some form of contact has already occurred. This very conservative conclusion does not even begin to include the vast number of people (including several on NCN) who have described close encounter experiences. So, from that point of view alone, I think it is safe to say that the "long-awaited" first contact has already begun. (for a good report on Alien Abduction read the book "Alien Discussions, an account of the M.I.T Abduction Study", in which there was a very credible study of the abduction phenomenon led by David and Andrea Pritchard)
James Deardorff in his article "Possible ExtraTerrestrial Strategy for Earth" (included in the book "Alien Update" by Timothy Good), describes how there would probably be a gradual process of acclimation by the more advanced E.T. society. This would probably include contact at the individual, grass-roots level, long before any kind of open, official contact was made.
So in the end, the one scenario that is most likely - and indeed, is probably occurring at the present time (See the posting "The Day the Earth Stood Still: Thoughts on Why They're Here"), seems to be the one which is completely overlooked by the PopMech article. One wonders, is this due to oversight or denial? Is it simply arrogance? Or is there some other reson that we haven't - or perhaps don't want to talk about?
Whatever the answer, the complete lack of the present-contact scenario in the article speaks volumes about the authors, and in all probability about human officialdom, as well. Read More
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18 Jan 2004 @ 14:09, by craiglang. Dreams
I had an interesting experience last night - a dream that I was part of a group outing in the winter wilderness. The group seemed to be in some way, associated with our church. We were staying at a lodge or something similar, which was set way out in the forest. Yet the next day, it seems that we were going to venture out into the woods - I think to do some winter camping. (Note: the temperature as I write this is in the neighborhood of Zero degrees F).
I remember that in the dream, I was very focused on preparing for this adventure. I kept feeling tremendous uncertainty about what to bring, and how to prepare. It was later in the dream that I realized that the trip was led by a friend of mine, who is a retired minister - someone I deeply respect.
What I decided was that this dream symbolized uncertainty in the face of change - somehow of a spiritual nature. A forest or wilderness frequently symbolizes uncertainty, mystery or challenge. The sense of uncertainty very much reinforces this interpretation.
Our life path is taking Gwyn and I in some interesting new directions - some new ventures in life that take us into unfamiliar territory (the woods). The need to prepare, and the sense that I wasn't sure just how to do that, is very telling - as I am not entirely sure where this new path takes us.
What was most interesting was that this dream-outing was associated with spirital activity. And in the end, my comfort was in the fact that the whole thing was led by a deeply trusted spiritual figure. To me this indicated that the change is/will-be spiritual in nature - a new venture related to spiritual activities. Given the nature of recent events in Gwyn's and my life, this would be accurate.
And so the message that I take from the sense of both challenge/uncertainty and of comfort is that it is to important trust in the Spirit. Conscious ego-based preparation can do little when venturing into these new "forests". Only our trust in the guidance of Spirit really works at times like this.
I really don't know if this event is a smaller-scale personal change for us, or if it is a larger-scale challenge which affects many - or perhaps even all of us. But at its core was the sense of travelling deep into the uncharted forest, and the need to rely on God to guide us.
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14 Jan 2004 @ 09:49, by craiglang. Diary
We just got an upgrade to our cable service - and last night, just before going to bed, I was channel surfing on some of the newer upper-band digital cable channels. One channel (one of the few, actually) that really seems to be worth it's bandwitdth is the Science channel. It has refreshingly little editorialism, relatively few commercials, and alot of very interesting content. It does an excellent job of describing some of the leading edge topics in science.
Last night, what captured my attention was a documentary on some of the current questions in cosomology. How did we start? And where are we headed? The effect it had on me was to get my mind into a beautiful "searching mode". This was the state of mind I was in just before I went to sleep. And in the morning as I awoke, I found this "searching" sensation continuing.
I can only describe it as the compelling sense of there being so much more beyond what we know now and the powerful desire to somehow be a part of that. It is a feeling that I can only describe as a yearning for the sky - to opening to the something beyond. I felt as though if I opened or expanded my mind, I could sense the presence of something just beyond the known.
I imagine that this is the sense that all through history, has driven explorers, scientists and mystics. It moves us to push the envelope, to look over the next hill, to allow our minds to "boldy go" beyond the boundaries of our world. It is the compulsion to explore, the need to see, experience and understand just a little bit more.
This morning I also read some more in the newspaper about the possible US plans for a rejuvinated space program (which I think is fascinating, regardless of political views), and the latest photographs from the Mars rover. Checking my e-mail in the morning, I noted that there was another report of something fascinating that another UFO witness had observed in the sky (the Minnesota skies have been somewhat busy as of late). The effect was to fill me with a great sense of mystery, wonder and hope.
As I continued through the day, I again thanked God for the sense of curiosity and questing, the love of mystery, and the joyous feel of "something beyond" the known. And I can only rejoice in this wonderful property of the mind and soul that helps make us so uniquely and beautifully human. Read More
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12 Jan 2004 @ 11:08, by craiglang. Thoughts
An experience over the last few days has rekindled my interest in Alvin Toffler's book Future Shock. Making some adjustments to the day-to-day business of life again brought home to me just how complex our civilization has become.
For example, we don't just have a telephone anymore. Now we have the landline, the cell phone, the fax, the DSL, and probably several others that I'm not thinking of.
Another example: getting a bank statement - you have your choice of doing your entire banking online, getting on-line statements, etc. No-longer does one just get one's cancelled checks and statement once a month.
Each information channel seems to add a layer of complexity. Although I can't actually state that this is the case, the complexity of information channels in modern life seems to me to follow a Moore's law progression. That is that there is a doubling every 18 months.
This morning for some reason, I was struck by the magnitude of this complexity. It was sort of an overwhelming feeling, as I realized just how much information each of our minds has to keep track of. My question is, does this increasing volume of information really add value to our lives? If none of these channels of information existed, would our lives have any less quality to them?
Something to think about as you pick up your combined PDA and cell phone and start punching buttons... Read More
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7 Jan 2004 @ 12:54, by craiglang. Diary
An interesting series of questions passed through my mind in the last week or two - mostly relating to the ups and downs of the corporate environment - what I lovingly call CubeWorld.
I had a couple of weeks off for the Christmas holiday, so I was able to spend much of my time writing, seeing clients, and spending time with Gwyn enjoying things that we wouldn't normally be able to do. It was a delight spending the day at the Science Museum, seeing alot of movies, etc... It was an enjoyable break, and best of all, I had no thoughts about the current goings-on at the company. Not a thought of corporate politics passed through my brain.
I talk about how I enjoy working in the design engineering of healing technology. Yet with the next breath I grouse about working in CubeWorld. Anyone notice a duality there?... :-)
Like anything else, CubeWorld has both advantages and disadvantages. Many of the disadvantages are obvious - politics, a power and ego orientation, schedule pressure, a hierarchical food chain, and all of the foibles that go along with it. And it was this that I so much enjoyed being away from. For two weeks, I got to live for me - no boss(!!!) It was wonderful to work with clients without any agenda of a company getting in the way. I could concentrate on writing and service.
But the other thing I noticed was that when you get away from the world of the workplace and start to work for yourself, your overall people exposure drops way off. Being a bit of an extrovert, I find that I need alot of people contact on a daily basis. That's probably what I like most about the day-job, and why I'm still there. It's the people I work with.
During the days that I spent working on my book and writing articles, I found myself going from one end of the day to the other, hardly seeing a soul. It was clear to me that if this became a regular thing, depression might not be too far off. The people-outlet problem is described by quite a few work-at-home'ers and telecomuters, and by therapists who are in private practice. While CubeWorld has some very clear disadvantages, it does at least provide you with an automatic people-outlet.
As I contemplate the coming changes, I can imagine myself at some point possibly going into private practice as a healer, hypnotherapist, and maybe a freelance programmer. And last week I concluded that it will be a challenge to restructure life such that there is sufficient regular people contact to prevent the sense of isolation. Clearly, when going it alone, some other creative type of people-outlet will be needed to replace that aspect of CubeWorld.
So, chalk this up as a little lesson that I learned from a tiny little dry run of the freelance life - two weeks of time off from CubeWorld. Read More
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1 Jan 2004 @ 17:42, by craiglang. Thoughts
Heidi makes a very interesting point in her newslog entry "Anybody Home?". It is a question I have found myself exploring alot in the last month or two as challenges and stresses have come and gone. The biggest question is, as we travel the road of enlightenment, how do we deal with challenge, conflict and anger?
There will always be things which honk us off. And when we encounter them, how do we deal them in a way that is true to ourselves and eachother? How do we keep disagreements constructively win-win, so that we do not lock ourselves in a flame-war with those with whom we disagree?
We will not always agree, so how do we disagree constructively, with growth and synergy? In short, in a post-Awakening age of peace an enlightenment, as we enter a new psychic/spiritual society, how do we handle conflict? I believe that this question is of the most important ones of the current age. Read More
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1 Jan 2004 @ 17:07, by craiglang. Articles
We just got home from seeing Return of the King. For Gwyn it was the first time she had seen it. For me it was the second. In the last couple of days, we had re-watched the first two movies, and I also looked up a few websites that talked about some of the ideas portrayed in the movie. One of the best is Jay Weidner's website: "Tolkien at the End of Time". It discusses a lot about the history behind the rings, and Tolkien's thinking about the current cycle of history where we presently reside.
In seeing the movie several times, particularly in the context of having just seen the first two again, alot of interesting connections fell into place - some of which had long escaped me. On his site, Jay Weidner discusses the idea behind the third and fourth ages of Middle Earth. In Lord of the Rings, Tolkien presents the tale of the close of the third age (the Bronze age), and the beginning of the fourth age (The Iron age, the age of Men, Power and Machines).
Jay states that this is the age of technology, when the mechanical and technological would be very much dominant over the spiritual and magical. It is the cycle known in Hindu mythology as the Kali Yuga. This age has lasted for the last 6000 years (recorded history), and is the final age of this great-cycle or maha yuga.
In the astrological lore of many cultures: Mayan, Babylonian, Indo-European, etc, the close of the present age occurs at the winter solstice of 2012. At this point, the cycle begins again with the Satya Yuga, or Golden Age. This is the time when Heaven and Earth become close together - and I suspect that it is at the core of most new-age thinking. At this time, humanity again lives as one in a deep spiritual communion with both Earth and Sky. It is the beginning of a long time of peace for all on the Earth.
The time at the close of each age, and especially the boundary between the Kali and Satya Yugas is said to be a time of tremendous upheaval - wars and cataclysms being their main characteristic. And based upon this model, we can imagine that the time of 2010 to 2012 will be an entertaining time, indeed.
In that time, I can imagine that the polarities that make up the Kali Yuga will intensify, until they come to a head at the close of the age. At the end of that time, or at some time around then, the transcendence or enlightenment occurs. Is this the time of the second coming? The time when all humanity (at least all that remains) Awakens? Perhaps. But how many will be here to see the answer?
Many of the prophets have described a fork in the road at about that time. On one path is the path of darkness - which many will choose to take. On the other path, is the road that leads to the light - which others will follow. And in the end, at the close of the age, the two paths diverge, with the path of light leading into a new world.
The Return of the King portrays a fascinating picture of Tolkien's composite of modern/western mythology, from Norse, Germanic and Celtic tribes, as well as a heavy influence from Hindu/Vedic cosmology. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, how accurate this model of history is, as we approach the end of the Kali Yuga - the Iron Age - the age of Machines and Power. Read More
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28 Dec 2003 @ 10:32, by craiglang. Dreams
Just a note: I awoke this morning with the sense that there was something very large and very coherent going on "out there". It is a very monolithic thing that is occurring, a focus of the mass consciousness of humanity. Not sure what it is, but I get the sense that it is a truly big event - just around the corner. It is already in the human collective unconscious, but has not yet broken through to awareness.
Another one of those predictions for the PSI scoreboard?
. Read More
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28 Dec 2003 @ 04:20, by craiglang. Diary
In the last couple of days, for many reasons, I have spent quite a bit of time re-studying the material in "The Power of Now" (PON, for short). Some events on NCN, including the recent dialog regarding "evil medical companies" (to quote a friend on this topic) has caused me a bit of spiritual grief. Grief often fosters growth, and these events have seemed to "invite" me to return to Tolle's lessons. What can we learn about human nature, human affairs, peace studies, etc...? How can we live in the Now, in the face of political, economic and moral strife?
I spent some time over Christmas and the days surrounding it, going back into PON. And in doing so, I recognized some interesting things about human nature. According to Tolle, we all want to feel better about the past. Too often we let the past and the future define us. We want to "expose the lies", "speak the truth", "fight for justice", "balance the scales", and numerous other initiatives in our relations with others. Usually, this involves "us and them", and we always want a future where "we" triumph over "them". For to fail would mean a scenario where we were in some way "defeated", "enslaved" or somehow have a negative change in our future status.
But, from PON, I discern that the "lies", "truth", "justice", etc. are all manifestations of our views of "our" relationships with "them". We create our own reality, so therefore, for those relationships to be real, they must be created by us. They are in fact, based upon our beliefs about events in the past and our anticipation of events in the future. Tolle reminds the reader that in reality, we live NOW, and unless we choose otherwise, these past/future threads need not bind us. In fact, for us, they need not even exist.
Tolle speaks of more - asking us to step back and observe our thoughts. He suggests that when we are told that we are wrong, or that we see things that annoy us, to witness the anger, to ask "what am I experiencing at this moment?" What he states is that we quickly discover that we are more than that anger, more than the need to correct this particular wrong, more than the ties to the past and future. Simply put, we ARE.
He suggests observing, then stepping back even further, to observe the observer. What is occurring? Tolle suggests that all thoughts and emotions are simply patterns - or as another author, Steven Wolinski puts it: simply "condensations in the zero-point mind-field".
Tolle suggests stepping back even further, observing the relationships between patterns, observers, and the space between them. For in that space between is the truth. In the void is where enlightenment can be found. In the gaps between thoughts is pure consciousness - the still, small voice of God.
Several PSI events I have been involved in - readings that I have recieved, and one or two perceptions that I have had myself, have involved percieving someone walking along an edge. On one side is smooth sailing, an uncomplicated table top, maybe a golden time of prosperity. On the other side is chaos and the abyss. And in between is a balancing act - as one travels along the edge, moving from past to future. That edge is the present moment, and it is a delicate balance: to be involved in the world, while not being fully identified with it. We are not the affairs of the world - they are of the past and future. In fact, as we move along the edge, we simply "ARE".
Another metaphhorical vision that kept coming to mind all of yesterday was of something detached or disconnected - like a branch separated from a tree, or a rock removed from a mountain. As part of the greater whole, the smaller thing is a functional part of that whole. It was part of the flow of energy, and the consciousness of that whole. Removed, it is simply an inert bit of "stuff".
I had earlier been considering backing off from some engagements, perhaps even including NCN. What I realized was that in a number of cases, while this might remove a little bit of pain, it also would remove a great source of joy and wisdom, because the flow of life contains both. In the flow of life - being in the now - we are like part of the river - experiencing the vitality of life. And it is something that each of us needs in order to fully experience life in the world.
With truth often comes pain - and then wisdom and light. And just for a moment we "get it" - as I realized, just a little bit, while spending time with Tolle's book. And then, as another sage (not sure who) said, we must return to chop wood and carry water. We once again look through the the glass darkly. Life goes on - one struggling breadcrumb at a time. Read More
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22 Dec 2003 @ 11:44, by craiglang. Experiences
Over the last few months, I have noticed the degree of polarity that has shown up in many spiritually-oriented groups. I have seen this on NCN, as well, and until recently, I did not really understand how it could come about. Then something happenned that showed me that the only way to truly understand something is to experience it yourself. And so I did...
A little background: Over the last year or so, I had been casting about trying to regain my career direction (as many readers of my newslog will note...:-). In the last few months, that direction has been reaffirmed. It is the development of healing technology, and bridging the gulf between the material and the spiritual. But one effect of this is that I have become much more involved in my day job, working in the development of medical technology.
Several experiences I have had in this arena have brought tears of joy to my eye. To see someone's quality of life improve to the point where life is again liveable. Where a previously unbearable pain-filled life is replaced by one in which the old joy has returned. I literally get a tear in my eye as I think about it.
And now I am again part of a team of deeply dedicated workers - engineers who live their work day in the world of healing technology. I don't think I have ever met a more dedicated group of people. And when I think of the mission we are involved in, somehow the fact that I sit in a "Dilbert" cube somewhere in Corporate CubeWorld seems to fade away. At this moment, this effort has meaning...
And then I saw a post a few days ago which was very critical of medical companies. Suddenly what little progress I had made on the road to enlightenment was eclipsed by anger and a general sense of orneriness. While I don't believe that the intent of the post was to criticize the intentions of myself or my coworkers, in some ways that is what it felt like. In many ways our work-team is very close, and so it was as if someone had dishonored my family. Up went the "home guard" defenses... :-)
So what does that tell me? It tells me that when something challenges that which we hold dear, there is a big danger that the gains of the new civilization can be erased in a moment. At the core of each of us is the primitive reptile, the territorial animal. Or, looking at it another way: along with our higher chakras, we all have a very active first chakra - the center of polarity and survival, agression and defense.
And so for just a moment, the warrior came out. I felt the shadow cast by the dark side - that chill wind which has so often carried us into war, and has been the casue of so much pain and struggle throughout history. The dark side lives within each of us - the other end of the teeter-totter, the counterweight to enlightenment.
We all disagree on many things, and this will always be true. And what this tells me is that there is a fine art to disagreement that one must learn in order to preserve the harmony of civilization. Disagreement needs to be a proactive, win-win process. In this dangerous time, such a process becomes increasingly important.
As we approach the Awakening, my sense is that we will see ever more turmoil, disagreement and polarity. I believe that the Awakening will only occur when we suddenly reach a critical mass of understanding, and can transcend the polarity - to see it for what it is, two views of the same question. And now, I have just a little bit more understanding of what this really means and just how important it really is... Read More
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Exploring the emerging consciousness, the Universal Mind and the coming changes - as well as other general stuff... |
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I had been looking for some time for an on-line forum and collaboration site, and I think that at last I have found it. My hats off to the innovators, creators and maintainers of this site. This e-place is wonderful. |
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