Hurdling Through Our Lives

Peace sign + UWGB Environmental Sciences Building now/then: uwgb admissions

By ANAGARIKA EDDIE ROCK

Why can’t my neighbors be nice people instead of idiots? Where have all the intelligent people in America gone? When I move out of here things will be better. If only I can stay here, things will be alright. Why can’t she see how controlling she is. Why can’t he keep a job, like other husbands? If only my kids could come around and start doing things right. If only the government would make my life easier, and make me richer.

You get the point: Life is a series of hurdles. And we think that if only things were different, if we could somehow make our lives better than they are, we would be okay. We can never wait to get somewhere, and then we can’t wait to leave, and we always feel that we are not okay now and have never been okay, except for very fleeting moments.

Can we stop all this insanity? It seems as if when one problem is solved, another either pops up immediately somewhere else, or we create one.

This is what we call stress. And it is incorrigible. We keep thinking that if we organize our lives around some kind of an ideal, everything will be fine. But it never is. Even if we seem to get it all together, miraculously for a moment, our friends and relatives can’t, and aren’t we forever entangled in everyone else’s problems? Even the government’s! There is no end to where we stick our noses because in a convoluted way, we like problems. Problems makes us feel alive, keep us busy so we don’t have to think about our final destiny, which is a hint about the root cause of our constant worries.

Life just will not permit us to control it, regardless of how diligently we try. Life is a wild card, and we can never know what the deck will face up next. It’s a constant worry, a noose around our necks, like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And we don’t like it one bit (even though we thrive on it).

Anyone who says that they are in control of their lives is living a temporary dream. Controlling life is like herding cats; life tends to be all over the place. No matter how conservative we are, how much we hold on to what we have, we can never keep things from changing. So why not relax and enjoy the ride downstream without even a paddle. Isn’t it only when we have to get somewhere that we paddle furiously upstream?

Relaxing and enjoying life involves a philosophical outlook called equanimity. We have to see that one thing is not better than another. One person is neither superior nor lower in rank than another. We have to understand that, because that’s the way it actually is, that’s a fact whether we agree or not. We have to live this very moment, because only in this very moment is the possibility of free will. The past and the future are merely a cause and effect journey which keeps us on track for a predestined destination. Only this moment is where we can alter that course that we have set ourselves on. But to be free in this moment is not easy.

Being in the moment, which is our ultimate freedom, provides our wormhole, our escape from the known, which is all the past baggage in our heads. Only when we shake loose from this can we appreciate the unlimited potential of life, which has nothing to do with hurdles or trying to make things better. It is only the acceptance of this present moment; the understanding that this present moment is always perfect in its results when considering what has led up to it, that can free us. If we don’t accept this moment and instead fight it, we will never cultivate the insight to end the hurdles, and they will continue on for eternity.

So relax, let it all happen and enjoy the ride. And in that relaxation, in that compassionate aloofness, life will begin to be lived at a different level, free from wanting and grasping and lived to the fullest where it is no longer about what we want, but what we are, and no longer reactive, but receptive.

Then, miracle of miracles, the one who is hurdling through life disappears, and there is only life, beautiful life with no hurdles, no wanting it our way – just life. And whatever happens, it’s now okay. We can handle it, because we no longer have such a great stake in our future. We now know that the future is only a fantasy, the past but a thought, and this very alive moment is all we really have.

Anagarika eddie is a meditation teacher at the Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation Retreat Sanctuary www.dhammarocksprings.org and author of “A Year to Enlightenment.” His 30 years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Thervada Buddhist monk.

He lived at Wat Pah Nanachat under Ajahn Chah, at Wat Pah Baan Taad under Ajahn Maha Boowa, and at Wat Pah Daan Wi Weg under Ajahn Tui. He had been a postulant at Shasta Abbey, a Zen Buddhist monastery in northern California under Roshi Kennett; and a Theravada Buddhist anagarika at both Amaravati Monastery in the UK and Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand, both under Ajahn Sumedho. The author has meditated with the Korean Master Sueng Sahn Sunim; with Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia; and with the Tibetan Master Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. He has also practiced at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the Zen Center in San Francisco.

Evidence of Spirit (Part 3): Picking Up the Trail

Dove of the Holy Spirit: hops_76 / Nils

Author: Evette Gardner

Only when you feel (to some degree) your Spirit’s closeness to you, your Spirit’s nearness to you, Its inseparability from you, may you then be guided by It. It’s an indescribable feeling which is actually more than just a feeling; it may more aptly be defined as a knowing-feeling. And learning to identify it when it occurs enables you to filter out the illusions which normally obscure your indissoluble connection to that higher part of yourself, your Real nature, your Spirit. When you journey through your inner world having cognizance of this knowing-feeling, your steps begin to become ordered. Through this higher sense you begin to be able to discern what, within yourself, you need to teardown; and what, within yourself, you need to nurture in order to condition yourself to allow greater and greater degrees of Spiritual illumination to flow through you. And the greater the amount of Spiritual illumination flowing through you, the stronger do you sense this knowing-feeling; and the stronger your sense is of this knowing-feeling, the more ordered your steps will become.

This knowing-feeling is indeed always with you to a greater or lesser degree. However, conscious recognition of this knowing-feeling comes when you begin to feel some sense of “where” within yourself your Spirit resides. However “where,” in this context, is not a place (as in location) but a state of being.

Your Spirit is that part of you which bears witness. It is that part of you which observes and considers your thoughts; observes and considers your emotions; observes and considers your body; observes and considers your experiences; observes and considers every event that is brought to your awareness, and every morsel of information you are exposed to. The Spirit is the witnesser. You (as Spirit) observe the fluctuations and changes going on around You, but You are not these fluctuations or changes. You are above change. You are above everything temporary or transitory. Life is change, but You (as Spirit) are more than life; You are beyond life. Life emanates from Spirit.

Life is the dance of change and transformation driven by the insatiable inner urge or desire of the Spirit. It is the Creative Will of the Spirit always at work. Life is the perpetual cycle of birth, growth, decline, dissolution and rebirth which is ever at work; the circle of life (as it were). Life is everywhere. There is no such thing as death. Death is merely the destruction or dissolution of a form as that particular form; however, the essence (the Spirit) which permeated the form remains “unchanged in its inner aspect, notwithstanding the countless apparent changes to its objective forms.” “As in the case of the human body after the soul passes out… (the Spirit is untouched, unchanged by this transition and goes on to assume a new form; and even the body itself, after the soul has departed it…) is as much alive after death as during the life of the person, the activity of the parts being along the lines of dissolution instead of construction in that case.” – Yogi Ramacharaka’s Gnani Yoga. Look where you will, life is present everywhere. There is no place in the Universe devoid of life. Nothingness does not exist; everything IS and can never cease being – this is Spirit. Life is the kaleidoscope of forms assumed by the Spirit. The Spirit is the well from which every expression of life springs, and is the sole witness to all such expressions.

Stop now and take a moment to go within yourself and give your consideration to something. Pick any subject you want, the only criteria is that it not be an upsetting subject for you. Perhaps you’ll want to consider a nearby object, a peaceful memory, your breathing. Anything you want, just take a few moments to think about it, then come back.

You’ll see that as you consider your consideration, thoughts will emerge; possibly even emotions born out of those thoughts, and physical sensations born out of those emotions. But notice that you are in a position to observe all of these occurrences (your thoughts, your emotions and your physical sensations). You hold them apart from yourself as you give them your attention. It is comparable to looking in a mirror in that you cannot be both that which is reflected, as well as the reflection. You cannot be both the Observer and that which is observed. You cannot be both the Consider and that which is considered. You cannot be both the Witnesser and that which is witnessed. Think about it, when you move your consideration onto something else and your thoughts change, and your feelings change, and the physical sensations you experience change – won’t you still be the same You then that you are now? Aren’t You the same You regardless of the particular thought that you give your attention to, regardless of the particular emotion you may be feeling at any moment, regardless of how your body changes. If You are the same You regardless of these variables, then You must exist independent of these variables; You must be above them. You must be and are above your thoughts, above your emotions, and above your physical sensations and physical body.

Henry Reed in his book Edgar Cayce on Channeling the Higher Self suggests a similar meditation / contemplation exercise in helping to facilitate Spirit recognition. I offer it here as well because oftentimes it can be helpful to express the same idea, in a different way. Sometimes this makes understanding easier. It is the I AM Awareness Meditation and the instructions are as follows:

“Pick a word or a simple image that you feel comfortable with having in mind. When you decide upon this focus, concentrate on it, and nothing else. If you pick the word “happy,” simply think of that word over and over again. If you picked the image of a balloon, simply picture that in your mind, keep looking at it, and nothing else.

After you’ve done this for a few minutes, you’ll realize that it’s not easy. Other thoughts and pictures come to you. Your mind distracts easily. That’s okay, keep trying. Whenever you find yourself thinking of something else, simply return your attention to your focus…

Now reflect upon what happened. You repeated (or looked at) your focus in your mind. From time to time you would be aware of other thoughts and images. They seemed to spring from a mind of their own, regardless of your desire to keep focused. You’d return your attention to your focus and the renegade thought would pull you away again. It was almost like a tug of war…

You were aware of your efforts to keep focused, the persistence of the stray thoughts, and the frustration you felt. You may have also noticed the mental commentary about the process that ran through your mind.

Now that you reflect upon those moments, realize that you were aware of all of it as it happened. Note, then, that somewhere in the back of your mind there was a witness. It was a silent witness. It simply observed. Although your inability to observe may have frustrated you, the witness experienced no such emotion; it simply observed everything. It took no sides in the struggle, made no commentary; it simply was aware.

Does that awareness seem somehow familiar? Isn’t it the same awareness that’s always with you in the background…? We usually don’t pay much attention to its presence in the background. We’re busy with our experiences, doing this and doing that. Our sense of ‘I’, of who we are, is created from our experiences of thinking and doing. Yet it’s really only a little i compared to the silent I AM in the background. In fact this silent witness is often called the awareness of the I AM, or the I AM awareness. It’s the first level of consciousness of the higher self. It’s the doorway to experience the truth of the biblical statement, ‘Be still and know, I am, God.’”

Your Spirit is that steady presence behind all of the changes going on around you; your thoughts (which are always evolving or moving from one subject to another), your emotions (which perpetually fluctuate), and your body (which is constantly changing). At the centre of all these fluxes is You witnessing it all play out. Therefore You are not your body, You are not your mind, You are something more. And that something more is what we call Spirit.

Do you not feel the truth of this, that you are the same You today that You were at six years old? Your body has grown. You’ve experienced a myriad of emotions over the years. Many thoughts, preferences and desires have passed through your mind since you were a child. Your understanding is more mature (one would hope); you are wiser. But in spite of all this shifting You are fundamentally the same You now that you were then. To feel this truth, is to feel and connect to your Spirit. To feel this truth acutely is to know that You are an eternal being, to know that You are invulnerable to any real (as in actual, lasting or permanent) harm. In actuality, You are untouchable.

If your Spirit were something incidental to your body or to your mind, then your Spirit would be subject to the same variability which is inherent to both the body and the mind. But your Spirit is not subject to such instability. Your Spirit is that constant factor which bears witness to these variables. Your thoughts, your emotions and your body are all instruments, or better still – appendages – of your Spirit. To confuse your Real nature with that of an appendage would be like declaring, “I am my arm,” or “I am my pinky toe.” And just as it is impossible to command authority over your body from the location of your arm or the location of your pinky toe; it is impossible to command any Real authority over your life from anyplace other than that of your Spirit. The Spirit is the source of your freewill.

Reflect on this:

“Try to set aside (your Spirit) for consideration! You may try from now until the passing away of infinites of infinities, and you will never be able to set aside (your Spirit) for consideration. You may think you can, but a little reflection will show you that you are merely setting aside some of your mental qualities or faculties. And in this process what is (your Spirit) doing? Simply setting aside and considering things. Can you not see that (your Spirit) cannot be both the considerer and the thing considered – the examiner and the thing examined? Can the sun shine upon itself by its own light? You may consider the (Spirit) of another person, but it is your (Spirit) that is considering. But you cannot, as a (Spirit) stand aside and see yourself as a (Spirit). Then what evidence have we that there is a (Spirit) to us? This: that you are always conscious of being the considerer and examiner, instead of the considered and examined thing – and then, you have the evidence of your own consciousness. And what report does this consciousness give to us? Simply this, and nothing more: ‘I Am.’…

And so in the final analysis, you will find that there is something that refuses to be set aside and examined by the (Spirit). And that something is the (Spirit) itself…

If you were able to set aside the (Spirit) for consideration, who would be the one to consider it? Who could consider except the (Spirit) itself, and if it be here, how could it be there?” – Yogi Ramacharaka’s RajaYoga.

Oftentimes we get so wrapped up in our thoughts, in our inner musings, in the emotions we feel, in the physical sensations we experience that we effectively entangle ourselves in these manifestations of the Spirit and lose sight of who we truly are. We lose ourselves in the unrest intrinsic of these ever-changing manifestations. And the longer we stay wrapped up in our thoughts, emotions or physical sensations, the more disoriented we become. We confuse ourselves with the personality we express which is by no means our Real nature because the personality is variable. It’s the ultimate identity crisis. When so much of our time is spent entangled in our thoughts, in our emotions, in our physical sensations, we lose sight of our eternal nature, of our invulnerability, of our indestructibility, of our magnificent power, of that divine spark at the centre of who we are. Feelings of powerlessness, fear, unworthiness and other such negative emotions, are all symptoms of a soul suffering from an identity crisis (which is pretty much most of the world’s population).

If you make a commitment to be more mindful of your life experience you will notice that your moments of clarity coincide precisely with those moments in which you were able to step back within yourself and bear witness the turbulence which surrounds you; in which you were able to center your conscious wholly within the present moment. Whether you’re stepping back is an instinctive impulse or a deliberate decision doesn’t matter. Moments of clarity come when you are not allowing yourself to be carried away with your thoughts, emotions or physical sensations. And moments of clarity come when you embrace a non-judgmental witness perspective, when you center yourself in your Spirit. It’s like centering yourself within the eye of storm.

Your Spirit is the peace which resides at the core of all unrest, it is the unmoved mover. It is that part of you which is Real and thus untouchable, constant, eternal and unchangeable for it is above the ebbs and flows intrinsic of what we call life. The evidence of these inherent qualities of the Spirit is made self evident through deliberate inner reflection and consideration. But before we move on to some of those considerations, it needs to be noted that recognizing that witnesser within you is only the first step in learning to ground yourself in your Spirit. Beyond simple recognition there is knowing. Simple recognition is somewhat cold and impersonal. It’s difficult to stay connected to a perspective which merely stands by and watches. Standing apart from one’s thoughts, emotions, experiences, physical sensations, etc. is all well and good for a few moments, but sooner or later we have to get on with the business of living. And living involves movement and action, and “getting our hands dirty” (so to speak). This is where knowing your Spirit helps you stay centered in It even when you’re not holding the perspective of the staunch observer. To know your Spirit is to be so in tuned with who you are that you are guided by your inner light at all times, regardless of the circumstance you’re in or the perspective you are holding. Because to be sure, embracing your Spirituality does not mean that you then become uninvolved in life. It simply means that you look at and approach life with the understanding of what is Real and what is unreal, what is lasting and what is transitory, what will pass and what will remain.

[i] Yogi Ramacharaka, Gnani Yoga. Chicago, IL: Yogi Publication Society

[ii] Reed, Henry. Edgar Cayce on Channeling the Higher Self. New York, NY: Warner Books; 1989

[iii] Yogi Ramacharaka. RajaYoga. Chicago, IL: Yogi Publication Society; 1906

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/mysticism-articles/evidence-of-spirit-part-3-picking-up-the-trail-869162.html

About the Author

Evette Gardner is the author of the self realization / advaita ebook Divine Heritage. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. You can read more of her articles on her web site and blog.

ESP in sports: Watch ‘sixth sense’ in Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday Crystal Ball: circulating / Iris Shreve Garrott

By Steve Hammons

This year’s Super Bowl might show us examples of ESP in sports.

It is well known that constant practice in sports, “situational awareness” and natural athletic gifts can all combine to allow an athlete to perform “on instinct.”

Intense focus in the here and now in the middle of multiple rapidly-occurring events in a sport contest can combine to create an environment where athletes can experience “anomalous cognition,” meaning unusual or unconventional perception and awareness.

Many people have read about ESP in fields like intelligence (U.S. Project STAR GATE) police work and martial arts, but the frequency of anomalous cognition in sports may not be as widely recognized.

What do we mean by the word instinct? Some researchers believe that instincts are also related to a “sixth sense” that can transcend our normal view of perception. That is, we can perceive in ways in addition to, complementary to, though slightly different than, our five senses of sight, touch, hearing taste and smell.

Some researchers suspect that ESP and anomalous cognition are not unusual at all. Rather, this is a natural part of human consciousness. It is not paranormal – it is normal. We might even call it “complementary cognition” or “integrative cognition.”

TWO RECON PIONEERS

When the book Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy was published in 1972, many people interested in sports had not fully considered the impact of unconventional consciousness in athletics. His 1992 book The Future of the Body also addresses related subjects.

Murphy was co-founder of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where many elements of the human potential movement and expanded human consciousness were explored. In his younger days, Murphy had served in the U.S. Army as a psychology specialist.

The interests and perspectives of Murphy and many of his colleagues involved in the human potential movement were recently explored in the movie The Men Who Stare at Goats.

A close associate of Murphy, President Emeritus of the Esalen Institute George Leonard, also wrote the 1975 best-selling book related to ESP or expanded consciousness The Ultimate Athlete.

A fifth-degree black belt in Akido himself, Leonard also explored these topics in the book The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei (1999). Leonard was a former Army Air Corps attack pilot during WWII, serving in the southwest Pacific theater. He served as an analytical intelligence officer during the Korean War.

Leonard passed on recently, on January 6, 2010.

STAR GATE AND SPORTS

Perhaps some of the most useful research on the topic of unconventional awareness and perception comes from the U.S. joint-intelligence effort known as Project STAR GATE, conducted during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

This activity explored the ability of individuals to perceive things, places, information and situations they know nothing about from a remote location. They were able to gather important intelligence using only their consciousness.

In fact, a Navy SEAL officer wrote in a researcher paper for the Marine Corps War College that Project STAR GATE reflected a concept he called “transcendent warfare” – using advanced and emerging understanding in new ways regarding defense and intelligence.

Project STAR GATE activities also noted a key element that dovetails with sports and athletics: It seemed that the ESP impressions came to “remote viewers” through their bodies in a somewhat unconscious or subconscious way.

The people involved in the specific technique and protocol named “remote viewing” in Project STAR GATE found that letting impressions bubble up from their subconscious, and not using the conscious mind to try to interpret the information, led to more successful results.

They typically relaxed their minds and used various techniques to attempt to acquire information, then let their body express these perceptions by making sketches and notes in a spontaneous way.

Here we see the connection with sports and other activities. When the task at hand is partially a physical one, and we are using our body as much as, or more so than our conscious thinking mind, we may be more prone to accessing our sixth sense.

In this year’s Super Bowl, we might see examples of this if we look closely. And, if we open our minds to these possibilities, we might see expanded perception in our own lives.

These aspects of human development and education are relevant to not only sports and athletics, but a broad range of human activities in many fields.

And what is fun and interesting about the situation is the fact that we can look inside ourselves and explore these fascinating and transcendent elements of human consciousness, tapping into our own sixth sense.

Steve Hammons writes on many topics. For more information, visit these websites: Joint Recon Study Group, Transcendent TV & Media and American Chronicle.

Beatle Paul McCartney finds vegetarianism “most enjoyable”

McCartney and Pachauri: "Less Meat = Less Heat" ©European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari

Special to Earthpages.org

Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, who has been a vegetarian for over 30 years, finds vegetarianism “very simple, tasty, and most enjoyable.”

Writing in the latest newsletter of Oscar winner Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s (Shakespeare in Love) blog “GOOP—nourish the inner aspect”, McCartney advocated “Meat Free Monday”,  urging readers not to eat meat at least one-day a week. He wrote: “…there are so many great alternatives, for instance, in Italian cooking, so many of the dishes are vegetarian already and Thai and Chinese cuisine are the same.”

McCartney points out: “…livestock industry as a whole was responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the whole of the transport sector put together…The Livestock industry produces gases that are extremely dangerous for the future of our environment…Livestock production is the largest source of water pollutants.”  Former United States Vice President Al Gore is listed as one of the supporters of “Meat Free Monday” initiative.

McCartney further says that number of schools in United Kingdom, town of Ghent in Belgium, and Sao Paulo (Brazil) have already done this. “…we cannot leave this important issue to the politicians of the world… it is once again left to us, the people, to do it ourselves”, he argues and adds, “Next Monday – don’t eat meat and do your bit to save this beautiful planet of ours.”

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, pointed out that Hinduism promoted strict vegetarianism insisting on ahimsa (not harming living creatures) and non-killing, and renouncing animal slaughter and meat eating. It suggested taking of sattvik (vegetables, fruits, etc.) and avoiding rajasik (eggs, etc.) and tamasik (meat, intoxicants, etc.) foods, Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued.

Paltrow suggested few vegetarian recipes in this newsletter—“Vegetarian ‘Squab’ with Lettuce”, “Vegetarian Fried Rice”, “Bok Choy in Oyster Sauce”, “Babycakes” ; listed favorite vegetarian cookbooks—“How to Cook Everything Vegetarian”, “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, “The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook”, “Get Cooking”, “The Kind Diet”, “Veganomicon”;  and “Eating Animals” (about novelist Jonathan Safran Foer’s decision to become vegetarian).

GOOP is said to be a name carved from 37-year old Gwyneth Kate Paltrow’s initials, who is also sometimes known as “part yogini.”

Review – Paul Tillich’s Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions

Tillich Park - new harmony indiana: paparutzi / christina rutz

I just finished reading Paul Tillich’s Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions (1963).

Although it seems Tillich is somewhat confined by his particular conceptual categories and dialectical mode of thinking when speaking of the complexities of life and spirit, I found some of his observations interesting.

Perhaps most noteworthy is his assertion that a religion must adapt and change in order to survive. It must “negate itself” (can you hear Hegel clapping?) to continue to live and breathe the Holy Spirit.

This is very much like Carl Jung’s argument, but I wasn’t too surprised to see no reference to Jung in this book (up until about 1990 it was common in the humanities and theology to ignore or discredit Jung’s thought).

Consider this quote, appearing near the end of the book:

We know today what a secular myth is. We know what a secular cult is. The totalitarian movements have provided us with both. Their great strength was that they transformed ordinary concepts, events, and persons into myths, and ordinary performances into rituals; therefore they had to be fought with other myths and rituals—religious and secular. You cannot escape them, however you demythologize and deritualize. They always return and you must always judge them again. In the fight of God against religion the fighter for God is in the paradoxical situation that he has to use religion in order to fight religion (pp. 93-94).

In The Undiscovered Self Jung said, several years before Tillich, “You can take away a man’s gods, but only to give him others in return” (1958, p. 63).

When speaking of the fight of “God against religion” Tillich is talking about movements such as Communism, Fascism and those ossified, oppressive structures that apparently no longer communicate the Holy Spirit (for Tillich, this includes the Catholic hierarchy and sacraments).

It seems he’s pointing to the idea that we cannot escape two main elements in the human adventure: Power and belief. Whether or not the powers and beliefs we encounter are truly in line with God’s will is a question that any mature person will always want to carefully examine.

And yes, it takes belief in God and God’s power to overcome elements that are not from God. On this point I fully agree with Tillich.

However, as I’ve indicated, there’s much in this work that I found limited by his personality structure, Protestant beliefs and historical position.

Of course, a similar charge could be leveled against me. And to his credit Tillich points to this concern in his discussion on dialogue vs. conversion, and the related idea of non-Christian criticisms of Christianity being positively transformed into healthy Christian self-criticism (Tillich is speaking on a group level here, but the same dynamic could be applied to individuals).

Still, I found the book’s overall approach a bit stiff and it contained not a few sweeping generalizations. At times it seems that Tillich is just playing a little philosophy game with a lot of general intellectual ideas. And then suddenly he’ll come back to being relevant and make a good point or two.

In fairness, the fact that I’m taking the time to write this indicates that I found this book far more accessible and meaningful than most of the dry bones theological works I’ve encountered.

While some readers at amazon.com see Tillich’s conclusion as a sort of syncretic cop out, I find it somewhat optimistic, if perhaps simplistic:

In the depth of every living religion there is a point at which the religion itself loses its importance, and that to which it points breaks through its particularity, elevating it to spiritual freedom and with it to a vision of the spiritual presence in other expressions of the ultimate meaning of man’s existence.

This is what Christianity must see in the present encounter of the world religions (p. 97).

I say simplistic because it seems there are many different kinds of spiritual presences, ranging from quite impure (i.e. spacey, gloomy and self-obscuring) to exceedingly pure (i.e. holy, uplifting and self-affirming), a point Jung also touches on in his discussion of numinosity (as did Rudolf Otto and others).

Now, Tillich does talk about differences concerning the idea of individuality (and problems in defining it) earlier in the book with his comparison of Christianity and Buddhism. So it’s not as if he overlooks this point completely.

But it remains unclear why in his conclusion he glosses over the central issue of different spiritual presences.

These shortcomings aside, Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions is a good little book and certainly worth the dollar I paid for it at the used bookstore.

–MC

Evidence of Spirit (Part 2): The Inner World (Your Journey Begins Within)

Spirit: 29cm

Author: Evette Gardner

You may have often heard it said that your Spirit is “within you.” This is an absolute truth, but what does it mean exactly? By within you, does it mean that your Spirit is somewhere inside your body? Well, yes and no. If the mental image which comes to mind when you think of your Spirit being within you is like unto that of any of your internal bodily organs such as your kidneys or intestines or even your heart, then no. From a literal sense, your Spirit is not actually anywhere inside you materially; yet you have to go within yourself to find it. I know this sounds like a bad riddle, but unraveling this paradox is the key which unlocks the first of many doors you’ll have to open along your journey to discover your Spirit. The apparent contradiction of this paradox is reconciled by putting the word “within” in its proper context.

To go within yourself means to shut yourself off from the bombardment of external stimuli. Perceiving your Spirit through all the “noise” which continually beats upon your physical senses is just shy of impossible when you have only a vague idea as to what exactly it is you’re supposed to be looking for in the first place – an intangible something called your Spirit. The evidence of Spirit is verily all around you, but the only place it can be touch is within you. And as a matter of course, all outward evidence of the Spirit’s existence will go unnoticed by your consciousness until such contact is made. The more you connect with your Spirit, the more cognizant you will be of its illumination centered not only within you, but in everything around you.

Imagine a person who is blind, deaf and unable to smell, taste or tactilely feel anything. Such a person is locked within themselves wouldn’t you say? They are not locked within any particular place inside their body such as their kidneys or bones. However, lacking the capacity to interact with outside stimuli forces such a person’s focus to turn in on itself and explore those things which are generally unseen, unheard and not sensed through any physical organ. That which your physical organs can sense is considered external. So going within yourself, exploring what is internal, means exploring those things about you which are unseen, unheard and not sensible by means of any physical organ. This is not to suggest that you have to subject yourself to total sensory deprivation in order to go within yourself and discover your Spirit, such a course of action would not only be extreme, but wholly unnecessary. Simply withdrawing your attention from the information you are receiving through your physical senses is all that’s required to go within yourself. Why madden yourself with the impossible task of trying to block every source of external stimulation when you can quite simply cultivate the art of just ignoring such stimuli? Whether you realize it or not, you are actually quite adept at doing this. Every time you drift off to sleep, you are going within yourself.

Still, consciously withdrawing your attention from external stimuli while you’re in a “waking state” takes practice, but such effort will be rewarded countless times over. It is part of some practices of meditation. There have been multitudes of meditative techniques crafted over the centuries which are available for you in your efforts to make use of. The best meditation technique is the one that’s right for you. Whichever meditative technique best helps you withdraw your attention from those things happening outside yourself, is the meditative technique you should use. The natural result of withdrawing your attention from those things outside yourself is that your focus turns to those things within.

You can examine every corner of this Earth from now until eternity and you will never come across your Spirit. It is only when your focus turns in on itself that a whole new world opens up to you. And it is here, on this internal landscape, that your journey to discover your Spirit can now begin. “Eden” is within you. It was the ego which was cast out from this garden of paradise; your Spirit never left.

Article Source: articlesbase.com

About the Author

Evette Gardner is the author of the self realization / advaita ebook Divine Heritage. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. You can read more of her articles on her web site and blog.

Review – The Philadelphia Experiment: Invisibility, Time Travel and Mind Control (DVD)

Reality Films

Is time travel possible?

Saints, seers and mystics often talk about transversing the corridors of time. Sometimes they claim to enter into eternity and other times they speak of encountering far away places, past and future.

Some authors, musicians and artists also hint at the idea of the psyche transcending our everyday sense of reality. One only has to think of H. G. Wells, Ravi Shankar and Salvador Dali for three good examples.

But rarely do we hear serious talk about embodied time travel. Mystics and insightful artists normally talk about psychological or spiritual travel. They don’t usually claim to disappear and reappear in the flesh. Not very often, anyhow.

The Philadelphia Experiment: Invisibility, Time Travel and Mind Control – The Shocking Truth goes one step further. Here we find something that, for all intents and purposes, sounds like intelligent sci-fi purporting to be cold fact.

For an outside observer it’s hard to know what’s what, but this doesn’t take anything away from some of the stimulating ideas forwarded in this video.

The video kicks off with some still photos and voice-over as a sort of build up and explanation to the lengthy interview that follows. The interview itself is avowedly homemade. But whatever this film lacks in production values is more than compensated by its originality.

One doesn’t have to be a genius to follow the discussion, but at times it can be challenging. This is mostly because the nature of the discussion goes way beyond our everyday notions of time, causality and being.

It’s sort of like a Jane Roberts “Seth Book” in living color, but with real people (instead of a channeled entity) actually claiming to have time traveled.

Not only that. They also claim to have been victims of a severe kind of mind control and memory erasure that defies anything we’ve ever heard of. And perhaps the scariest thing of all—the perpetrators were not extraterrestrials but human beings, just like us.

Other fascinating aspects of the interviewees’ claims include the notion that it’s dangerous for someone to get too close to him or herself. That is, if you were to travel 10 minutes into the past and meet up with yourself, there’s a high probably you’d be destroyed.

And as the title suggests, the film claims that actual invisibility has been achieved with an entire US Navy vessel, the USS Eldridge.

Both of these ideas are sheer Star Trek (and the countless sci-fi TV shows and movies that followed) and, again, it’s hard to know what’s what in this film.

Skeptics will likely think they’re watching a sincere group delusion or, perhaps, crafty con job. Enthusiasts will probably find the conspiracy theories, metaphysics and allusions to 2012 enthralling.

Regardless of what one makes of this film, one thing’s for certain–The Philadelphia Experiment is not your run of the mill New Age fluff. These guys are smart. Whether they’re spinning tall tales or relating hard fact is something each viewer can decide for him or herself.

–MC

Trailer:

Evidence Of Spirit (Part 1)

Spirit (2): TheDreamSky 꿈꾸는 하늘 / Dhilung Kirat

By: Evette Gardner

Contemplate and complete the following statement, “I am…”

If you didn’t come up with an answer, try to give the matter some more thought before moving on.

So what’s the verdict? What did you come up with? Were you able to narrow your assessment down to just one attribute, or did you come up with a whole list of things that you believe yourself to be such as: I am (my profession); or I am (my body). Or I am (this particular quality, such as stubborn or adventurous). Or I am (my relationship to this particular person – mother, wife, father, husband, etc.) Or I am (how this group of people sees me). Or I am (my social status). Or I am (my preferences, tendencies or proclivities)…

However you completed the statement of, “I am…,” it answers the question of how you regard yourself. So who exactly have you concluded that you are? And are you satisfied with this conclusion? Does it reflect the complete image of who you feel yourself to really be? Does it reflect the image of yourself that you want to see?

Take a moment to assess how these statements feel to you:

I am wise…

I am eternal…

I am powerful…

I am indestructible…

I am invulnerable…

I am free…

I am worthy…

I am a child of God…

I am Spirit.

Actually that last statement encompasses all of the preceding declarations, and much more. How did you feel as you considered these statements? Did it feel awkward or uplifting to you? Unbelievable or resonantly truthful? To the degree that these statements felt authentic and proper, is the degree to which you are aligned (or misaligned) with who you really are (which is Spirit). Despite the fact that proof of your Spirit defies physical sense detection; and despite the fact that there is no machine known to man capable of registering the Spirit to corroborate its existence, the evidence of your Spirit’s existence is definite, compelling and absolutely appreciable if you know where to look; and if you’re willing to have faith. Every Soul’s consciousness can be awakened to the realization of what it really is. The degree of this awareness is in direct correlation to the Soul’s Spiritual unfoldment.

Spirit, in relation to the Soul of a person, “is the Soul of the Soul” – as it were. The Spirit is the essence of who you are. The Spirit does not change, it cannot die for it was never born. Your Spirit always was and forever will be; the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Your Soul, on the other hand, is your personality, your tastes, your tendencies, likes and dislikes, attractions and repulsions. Your Soul is your developing self, that part of you which is evolving, unfolding. The Spirit shines through your Soul, animating it. Your Soul has no existence apart from your Spirit. Take a moment to digest this distinction.

Those of you who read this article may do so for many motives. Some because you are yearning for answers about the Real nature of things, where we all come from and what it all means, and you have been unsatisfied with the explanations presented to you thus far. Others of you because you’ve been feeling this inexplicable Something within yourself for some time now, and for which you have no words to describe, and so begins your quest to comprehend what this Something is. Still others may be feeling some unrest within there adopted religious theology and are looking to either open up or corroborate their beliefs.

There may be many reasons why you’re here. Where along the spectrum of motives do you fall? Do you believe in the existence of your Spirit? Are you convinced of its reality, or are you unsure or skeptical? Do you already feel the presence of your Spirit within you? In point of fact, the evidence of your Spirit’s existence is at the core of your being, and it is readily apparent when you understand what to look for. But in order to bring stark clarity to who you fundamentally are at the center of your being, it is necessary for you to be able to identify who you are not. You have to be able to stand in the center of yourself, so to speak, and set aside those aspects of you which are merely your expressions, your appendages. You have to be able to distinguish between those aspects of you which are transitory and those aspects of you which are enduring. The more you are able to make these distinctions with greater and greater clarity, the more you grow in your ability to commune with your Spirit and hold yourself apart from the turbulence of life, from any unrest or uncertainty. It is a self discovery well worth your while to realize. Making this discovery, however, will be an extended journey, not a quick culminating event. All of the Universe is on this journey, the only distinction is some are still completely unconscious of this fact, while others are only abstractly aware of it and still other are very mindful of this Universal trek. All are on the Path. The purpose of all life is Spiritual unfoldment. Still the process of consciously unearthing your Inner Self, and making this journey with full awareness of your end-game, will be the greatest adventure you ever embark on. It is, after-all, your life’s fundamental purpose to know your true nature. Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to go about making this discovery in a wakeful state? What do you think?

About the Author

Evette Gardner is the author of the self realization / advaita ebook Divine Heritage. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. You can read more of her articles on her web site and blog.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Evidence Of Spirit (Part 1)

Global Water Crisis

Free Happy Rainbow Water Droplet on Green: Pink Sherbet Photography / D. Sharon

By: Courtney Shipe

USA Today recently ran an article which claims “more than half of humanity will be living with water shortages, depleted fisheries and polluted coastlines within 50 years because of a worldwide water crisis.”  The report, which cited the United Nations as a source, is flat out wrong.  Here’s why.

The report says the “rise of coastal waters because of climate changes” will cause freshwater sources to be contaminated and unusable.   However according to Swedish geologist and physicist Nils-Axel Mörner, this is “nothing but a colossal scare story.” Dr. Mörner is the former chairman of the INQUA International Commission on Sea Level Change and for “35 years has been using every known scientific method to study sea levels all over the globe.”

“Despite fluctuations down as well as up, the sea is not rising,” he says.  ”It hasn’t risen in 50 years.”  If there is any rise in the next century it will “not be more than 10cm (four inches), with an uncertainty of plus or minus 10cm”.  The London Telegraph claims “the reason why Dr Mörner, formerly a Stockholm professor, is so certain that these claims about sea level rise are 100 per cent wrong is that they are all based on computer model predictions, whereas his findings are based on ‘going into the field to observe what is actually happening in the real world’.”

Another part of the report cites “the deterioration of coral reefs” due to global warming.  First of all, how does this have anything to do with water supply?  Secondly the data that global warming is causing coral reef decay comes from a Greenpeace report titled “Pacific in Peril.”  Greenpeace is known for their not-so-factual sensationalism more than scientific research.

The report goes on to complain about the decline in size of the Aral Sea, Lake Chad, and Iraq’s marshlands.  The Aral Sea has been slowly shrinking for the last several years.  Scientists claim global warming is the cause.  However, local chief Youssouf Mbodou Mbami says, “Little by little, the lake has fallen away. Our grandparents told us the problem is a cyclical phenomenon, that every 30 or 40 years, the waters shrink and then come back.”  Climate change is also blamed for the shrinkage of Lake Chad.  However National Geographic researchers have found that human activities are at fault.  “The one thing for sure, it is not currently, lack of water. Even the BBC admits that “other factors” include “irrigation and the damming of rivers feeding the lake for hydro-electric schemes.”  As for Iraq’s marshlands, although they suffered a decline under dictator Suddam Hussein due to calculated draining by his regime, a CBS 60 minutes team found last year that “the region is coming back to life since Saddam fell in 2003,” says Jenny Dubin, producer of the show.

Although water shortages is a major issue for many states, on a global level, we are not going to run out of water any time soon due to global warming.

About the Author

For more information about water supply crisis please visit www.centralbasin.org

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Global Water Crisis

What Are The Capabilities Of Brainwave Entrainment?

Positron emission tomography image of a human brain: BlatantNews.com

By: George Colle

Humans and their brains have always had the capability to set them apart from any other creature in this world. Now; with the capabilities of brain wave entrainment we are able to achieve even higher goals. Our brains have enabled us to practically rule this world even though we are physically weaker than the majority of all the other animals in this world. We have done this only using an estimated 10% of our brain power; just imagine what could be accomplished by using the capabilities of brainwave entrainment to increase that percentage?

We all know that by being relaxed and stress free we can enhance our brain capacities. This can be done through meditation and other relaxation techniques. Brainwave entrainment using binaural or monaural beats and even visual stimulation can be a much easier way to be relaxed and stress free. The human brain responds to various frequencies in different ways and depending on the results you are looking for it will determine what method is best to use.

Here some of the capabilities of brainwave entrainment:

• Helps to treat depression

There are rhythms that you can listen to that will put you into a happier state of mind. By using this method you won’t need to take anti-depressant drugs to improve your frame of mind

• Helps with insomnia

Insomnia is one of the worst states that a human mind can find itself in. You can’t sleep no matter what you try and the harder you try the more frustrated you get and the more restless you get. Brain entrainment can help you to sleep without the need to take sleeping pills.

• Help with physical ailments

All the things that are the result of stress, tension and anxiety: headaches/migraines, high blood pressure and panic attacks can all be just something that you use to suffer with.

• You can even boost your IQ, memory and learning power

All these things depend on how efficient your brain processes things, and by having your brain in synch will boost your it’s capabilities massively.

• It will help you get rid of many terrible addictions

Things such as smoking, drinking, illegal drugs and even over-the-counter drug addiction are some of the worst things that you can make your body endure. Once you have formed an addiction it is very difficult to get rid of them. You can learn how to control your mental facilities better which will give you more control over yourself and your addictions.

• It can help overweight people lose weight

Yes, it is even possible to lose weight if you entrain your brain to have the extra willpower to resist over eating and learn to eat only when you need to.

As you can plainly see the capabilities of brainwave entrainment can be a tremendous help to anyone who would like to try and gain improvement in both their physical and emotional selves. Anybody, with a little bit of work, should be able to vastly improve lives just by using the capabilities of brainwave entrainment.

About the Author

To obtain a greater understanding of Capabilities of Brainwave Entrainment and have a better understanding of your life and also to get your FREE sample binaural recordings, please take a moment and visit: http://www.Binaurals.info you will be amazed at what you discover.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – What Are The Capabilities Of Brainwave Entrainment?