I am only speaking as a Mystic and a natural Seer the last 60 years and not as a Biblical or Koran scholar.
I ordinarily don't like to write about Mohammed because I have no wish to offend anyone whether they be Muslim, Christian, secular, humanist or Atheist. However, I was moved to write today for some reason so I am.
I was raised by my parents to believe in reincarnation. I was also raised a lacto ovo(milk and eggs) vegetarian and remained so until age 32 when I became a Tibetan Buddhist and hung out with Tibetan lamas in Oregon, California, Nepal and India. I still am, however, about 95% lacto ovo vegetarian. So, growing up my parents took this kind of thing very seriously.
I also became a seeker after truth like my parents before me. It did not matter where the truth was I would search it out in regard to God, spirituality, health both mental and physical, and science in all its forms.
So, I'm speaking as a Seer for 60 years who actually remembers his lifetimes in the past, present and future fairly well, I remember Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha.
My remembering I will put in a linear context even though it doesn't really belong there. This is to make it easier to understand what I say for people who believe time and space are actually real, which they are but only in a very relative sense.
Beings like Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha are not limited in any way by time or space or by any concepts about anything you and I might believe or even think. They can all go anywhere they want to and appear in physical bodies if they wish on this planet or any other or even in any dimension or heaven realm. This is just what they do and what they have done as long as I can remember knowing them, even though(remember) time and space are only dimensions and don't really limit beings as presently evolved as they are.
Though they would each be sad at all the violence that has come to so many of their adherents from people of differing points of view, still they would understand this is the way humans are. Each human has his or her path and if anyone is perceived to interfere with this path sometimes violence is elicited.
However, each of them also know that as humans evolve as souls they can then become like a Jesus, a Mohammed or a Buddha in time. In the meantime, each of them move on to a higher plane of existence and someone else will take their place. In time, all move to more and more evolved states of consciousness just like Kindergarten students might one day become PHD's(Doctorates)
They also would all say that what is happening on earth is about balance. If one looks at each culture, each nation as a wave on the ocean, each culture takes its turn crashing on the shore, so to speak and impressing the rest of the world. So, each nation has its time in the sun so to speak. The wave builds, the wave crashes, the wave withdraws back into the great ocean. It has always been this way and as long as earth exists with humans upon it it likely always will be this way.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Shamans and Druids
I was taking a Father's Day walk this Sunday along the Boardwalk on one of the Beaches near where we live. My 12 year old was asking me if I would rather be a large flying bird or ride on one. Since my 34 year old son had got her interested in World of Warcraft last summer I knew where this was going. I said, "If I could turn myself into a large bird and fly myself then I would rather do that but only if I could then turn myself back into a man." She said, "Oh. You're a druid." I said, "The real Druids and Shamans aren't what you see in games, Dear." She said, "Oh! But they are pretty similar." I said, "Maybe."
I told her we would research about the historical Druids and Shamans. Along the way I found out several things that I didn't know, for example, that Merlin is considered a Druid by several historical scholars, which might make Morgane, a Druid too, if they considered women Druids too. There appears to be a lot of historical debate about that, even though todays Neo-Druids consider women Druids equal to men.
The most compact version of worldwide Shamanism I found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism
And the site on Druids at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid
The site that talks about Merlin being a Druid is:
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/reviews/greendru.html
My first real introduction to the world of Shamans came when I was in my early 20s in college studying Cultural Anthropology. Since from what I have read today one could say that the Druids were and are a formalized specific type of cultural Shamanism. However, using this type of definition one could also say that all religions on earth are formalized cultural forms of localized Shamanism. However, I believe there would be no real argument among Cultural Anthropologist in regard to all Shamanism and Religion that ALL religions began at their root at some point as various forms of Shamanism before they became formalized into their present forms over thousands of years.
This is one reason why understanding how Shamanism and Druids are only one evolution of many many many different forms of formalized religions is so interesting to so many people.
I would now like to share some quotes from these sources. The first is from the Wikipedia shaman site I found above at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism
begin quote:
Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. Practitioners of shamanism are known as shamans. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:
* That spirits can play important roles in human lives.
* The shaman can control and/or cooperate with the spirits for the community's benefit.
* The spirits can be either good or bad.
* Shamans engage various processes and techniques to incite trance; such as: singing, dancing, taking entheogens, meditating and drumming.
* Animals play an important role, acting as omens and message-bearers, as well as representations of animal spirit guides.
* The shaman's spirit leaves the body and enters into the supernatural world during certain tasks.
* The shamans can treat illnesses or sickness; they are healers. endquote
Since this denotes what all Shamanistic religions both tribal and beyond base their beliefs on it is a good place to start. Next, let's look at Druids from this internet address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid
begin quote.
A Druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland. They were suppressed by the Roman government and, later, the arrival of Christianity.[citation needed] Druids combined the duties of priest, arbitrator, healer, scholar, and magistrate. Despite neo-druidic believers, it is unknown whether or not women were historically allowed to serve as druids.[citation needed] Evidence both for and to the contrary is cited by writers of the neo-druid revival. endquote
begin quote.
Overview
The earliest records of the name druidae (Δρυΐδαι) is found in the works of Greek writers such as Sotion of Alexandria, who was cited by Diogenes Laertius in the third century CE.[1]
The Celtic communities Druids served were polytheistic. They also show signs of animism, in their reverence for various aspects of the natural world, such as the land, sea and sky,[2] and their veneration of other aspects of nature, such as sacred trees and groves (the oak and hazel were particularly revered), tops of hills, streams, lakes and plants such as the mistletoe.[3] Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with cleansing. Purported ritual killing and human sacrifice were aspects of druidic culture that shocked classical writers.[4]
The druids looked for omens in the shapes of the clouds, and sought "signs and seasons" in the movements of the sun, moon, and stars.[citation needed] Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, vegetative and herding cycles.
The four main Gaelic holidays observed by Gaelic druids and their people included
* Imbolg (February 1), which marked the earliest signs of the coming spring
* Beltain (May 1), a time of community gatherings and moving of the herds to summer pastures
* Lughnasadh to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity Lugh
* Samhain to recognize the end of harvest, the time of sacrifice, and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead
The timing for these four festivals was determined by seasonal changes in the natural world, or possibly by combined lunar and solar calendar. In modern times, remnants of these festivals are still observed by the descendants of the ancient Celts, though often in a Christianised or secular manner.
Modern attempts at reconstructing, reinventing or reimagining the practices of the druids are called Neo-druidism. Endquote.
Similar studies could be made regarding the Shamanic roots of all major religions and sects. For example, to study the shamanic roots of Christianity you would have to trace back through Judaism which is a root religion for Christianity.
If you are tracing Buddhism back to its shamanic roots you would move to the root religion of Buddhism which is Bramanism(ancient Hinduism). The shamanic roots to Christianity would begin or end with Abraham(depending on your point of view) and go back 40,000 to 100,000 years into prehistory or more.
The next quote is a critique of sorts and fairly scholarly, so I'm putting this quote last as it may be a little to esoteric for most people. However, I found that the idea of there even being a possibility that Merlin was actually a Druid very fascinating.
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/reviews/greendru.html
begin quote.
Green's book is divided into ten short chapters, with much of the text contained in illustration captions and sidebars. Chapter subjects include "Finding the Druids," "The Celts and the Supernatural," "The Druids in Classical Literature," "Digging up Druids," Sacrifice and Prophecy," "The Female Druids," "Sacred Places and their Priests," "Druids in Irish Myth," and two chapters on recent neo-pagan druid history "Druids Resurrected," and "Druids Today." Much of what Green has to say is speculation, presented as fact or scholarly hypothesis, like her ruminations on druidic prayer: "Druids and their peers would have conducted solemn prayer rituals for the whole tribe or community on important occasions. Lesser priests might lead small communities in prayer, and the head of the household perhaps led private family prayers" (32). Unfortunately, there really isn't a lot of data one way or the other about druid praying in the pre-Christian era. Green asserts this and similar ideas without referring to sources or even using the resources of comparative religion as support. Later, next to a lurid engraving of Merlin that includes many of the romantic trappings of the druid revival, Green refers to Merlin as a druid, something that may have been the case, but makes me uncomfortable since neither the poetry attributed to Myrddin nor the Arthurian medieval corpus describe Merlin as a druid. In her chapter on female druids Green almost immediately moves from female druids to witches, writing "Both the early Irish and Welsh myths mention witches, who sometimes possessed the additional role of teachers of war craft to young heroes" (93). No medieval Irish or Welsh text mentions witches. None. Witch is a modern English word, and has very different (though related) meanings from its ancestral medieval relatives. The figures Green refers to are presumably women like Scathach, who tutors Cu Chulainn. Scathach is specifically referred to as both a flaith (prophetess) and a druid. Scathach is not called a witch, and using the word witch in reference to her and similar figures brings Germanic and contemporary associations into a discussion of ancient Celtic practices. Later in the same chapter (98) Green does discuss the concept of witchcraft in a broader context, but then creates a worse problem, in my opinion, by inserting Fuseli's engraving of the witches in Macbeth. The caption attempts to draw a link between the Macbeth witches, and the Morrígan of medieval Irish literature. Aside from the fact that they are both sets of three, there is no relationship between the two female triads. The Morrígan, remember, was a shape-shifter, and the descriptions of the three members of the triad vary. Shakespeare was emphatically not drawing on Irish myth in Macbeth. endquote.
Like I said, it is pretty esoteric and relatively unfathomable unless one has read the book being reviewed or unless one intended to read the book with a very critical historical eye.
For most of us regular people it is just sort of fascinating to see how all relgions sprang up from various shamanic forms over thousands and thousands of years into what they are now. So, the next time you are travelling and visit local shamanic rituals in progress, think about how your religion, too, began at one time in this way.
I told her we would research about the historical Druids and Shamans. Along the way I found out several things that I didn't know, for example, that Merlin is considered a Druid by several historical scholars, which might make Morgane, a Druid too, if they considered women Druids too. There appears to be a lot of historical debate about that, even though todays Neo-Druids consider women Druids equal to men.
The most compact version of worldwide Shamanism I found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism
And the site on Druids at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid
The site that talks about Merlin being a Druid is:
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/reviews/greendru.html
My first real introduction to the world of Shamans came when I was in my early 20s in college studying Cultural Anthropology. Since from what I have read today one could say that the Druids were and are a formalized specific type of cultural Shamanism. However, using this type of definition one could also say that all religions on earth are formalized cultural forms of localized Shamanism. However, I believe there would be no real argument among Cultural Anthropologist in regard to all Shamanism and Religion that ALL religions began at their root at some point as various forms of Shamanism before they became formalized into their present forms over thousands of years.
This is one reason why understanding how Shamanism and Druids are only one evolution of many many many different forms of formalized religions is so interesting to so many people.
I would now like to share some quotes from these sources. The first is from the Wikipedia shaman site I found above at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism
begin quote:
Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. Practitioners of shamanism are known as shamans. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:
* That spirits can play important roles in human lives.
* The shaman can control and/or cooperate with the spirits for the community's benefit.
* The spirits can be either good or bad.
* Shamans engage various processes and techniques to incite trance; such as: singing, dancing, taking entheogens, meditating and drumming.
* Animals play an important role, acting as omens and message-bearers, as well as representations of animal spirit guides.
* The shaman's spirit leaves the body and enters into the supernatural world during certain tasks.
* The shamans can treat illnesses or sickness; they are healers. endquote
Since this denotes what all Shamanistic religions both tribal and beyond base their beliefs on it is a good place to start. Next, let's look at Druids from this internet address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid
begin quote.
A Druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland. They were suppressed by the Roman government and, later, the arrival of Christianity.[citation needed] Druids combined the duties of priest, arbitrator, healer, scholar, and magistrate. Despite neo-druidic believers, it is unknown whether or not women were historically allowed to serve as druids.[citation needed] Evidence both for and to the contrary is cited by writers of the neo-druid revival. endquote
begin quote.
Overview
The earliest records of the name druidae (Δρυΐδαι) is found in the works of Greek writers such as Sotion of Alexandria, who was cited by Diogenes Laertius in the third century CE.[1]
The Celtic communities Druids served were polytheistic. They also show signs of animism, in their reverence for various aspects of the natural world, such as the land, sea and sky,[2] and their veneration of other aspects of nature, such as sacred trees and groves (the oak and hazel were particularly revered), tops of hills, streams, lakes and plants such as the mistletoe.[3] Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with cleansing. Purported ritual killing and human sacrifice were aspects of druidic culture that shocked classical writers.[4]
The druids looked for omens in the shapes of the clouds, and sought "signs and seasons" in the movements of the sun, moon, and stars.[citation needed] Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, vegetative and herding cycles.
The four main Gaelic holidays observed by Gaelic druids and their people included
* Imbolg (February 1), which marked the earliest signs of the coming spring
* Beltain (May 1), a time of community gatherings and moving of the herds to summer pastures
* Lughnasadh to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity Lugh
* Samhain to recognize the end of harvest, the time of sacrifice, and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead
The timing for these four festivals was determined by seasonal changes in the natural world, or possibly by combined lunar and solar calendar. In modern times, remnants of these festivals are still observed by the descendants of the ancient Celts, though often in a Christianised or secular manner.
Modern attempts at reconstructing, reinventing or reimagining the practices of the druids are called Neo-druidism. Endquote.
Similar studies could be made regarding the Shamanic roots of all major religions and sects. For example, to study the shamanic roots of Christianity you would have to trace back through Judaism which is a root religion for Christianity.
If you are tracing Buddhism back to its shamanic roots you would move to the root religion of Buddhism which is Bramanism(ancient Hinduism). The shamanic roots to Christianity would begin or end with Abraham(depending on your point of view) and go back 40,000 to 100,000 years into prehistory or more.
The next quote is a critique of sorts and fairly scholarly, so I'm putting this quote last as it may be a little to esoteric for most people. However, I found that the idea of there even being a possibility that Merlin was actually a Druid very fascinating.
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/reviews/greendru.html
begin quote.
Green's book is divided into ten short chapters, with much of the text contained in illustration captions and sidebars. Chapter subjects include "Finding the Druids," "The Celts and the Supernatural," "The Druids in Classical Literature," "Digging up Druids," Sacrifice and Prophecy," "The Female Druids," "Sacred Places and their Priests," "Druids in Irish Myth," and two chapters on recent neo-pagan druid history "Druids Resurrected," and "Druids Today." Much of what Green has to say is speculation, presented as fact or scholarly hypothesis, like her ruminations on druidic prayer: "Druids and their peers would have conducted solemn prayer rituals for the whole tribe or community on important occasions. Lesser priests might lead small communities in prayer, and the head of the household perhaps led private family prayers" (32). Unfortunately, there really isn't a lot of data one way or the other about druid praying in the pre-Christian era. Green asserts this and similar ideas without referring to sources or even using the resources of comparative religion as support. Later, next to a lurid engraving of Merlin that includes many of the romantic trappings of the druid revival, Green refers to Merlin as a druid, something that may have been the case, but makes me uncomfortable since neither the poetry attributed to Myrddin nor the Arthurian medieval corpus describe Merlin as a druid. In her chapter on female druids Green almost immediately moves from female druids to witches, writing "Both the early Irish and Welsh myths mention witches, who sometimes possessed the additional role of teachers of war craft to young heroes" (93). No medieval Irish or Welsh text mentions witches. None. Witch is a modern English word, and has very different (though related) meanings from its ancestral medieval relatives. The figures Green refers to are presumably women like Scathach, who tutors Cu Chulainn. Scathach is specifically referred to as both a flaith (prophetess) and a druid. Scathach is not called a witch, and using the word witch in reference to her and similar figures brings Germanic and contemporary associations into a discussion of ancient Celtic practices. Later in the same chapter (98) Green does discuss the concept of witchcraft in a broader context, but then creates a worse problem, in my opinion, by inserting Fuseli's engraving of the witches in Macbeth. The caption attempts to draw a link between the Macbeth witches, and the Morrígan of medieval Irish literature. Aside from the fact that they are both sets of three, there is no relationship between the two female triads. The Morrígan, remember, was a shape-shifter, and the descriptions of the three members of the triad vary. Shakespeare was emphatically not drawing on Irish myth in Macbeth. endquote.
Like I said, it is pretty esoteric and relatively unfathomable unless one has read the book being reviewed or unless one intended to read the book with a very critical historical eye.
For most of us regular people it is just sort of fascinating to see how all relgions sprang up from various shamanic forms over thousands and thousands of years into what they are now. So, the next time you are travelling and visit local shamanic rituals in progress, think about how your religion, too, began at one time in this way.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Be the Change you want to See
I was watching No Gas: We were warned on CNN. They seem to be playing it again because it is even more poignant now than when the special was first made. Almost everyone recognizes the problem that oil is creating on earth and no one wants the wars and problems that it will inevitably create if it stays the standard any longer for earth energy.
One way to create change is to form Energy Co-operatives worldwide. Just people helping people to survive energy wise by creating innovative energy co-operatives. Though at first this may by-pass big companies and corporations who tend to move much more sluggishly like old battleships, people by being innovative worldwide and joining together in experimental business ventures can create enough real options of different types of fuel sources and energy sources to help prevent a real oil calamity from getting any worse than it already is.
The oil problem combined with the Global Climate change problem is much more serious than World War I or II combined with the Cold War. Only by mobilizing world wide like we did for World War II is there likely to be even a relatively good outcome for the human race this century. Alternative sources of energy can be developed by all who wish to actually survive this century on earth. This will be necessary for any of us to survive this century or the next few centuries here on earth.
One way to create change is to form Energy Co-operatives worldwide. Just people helping people to survive energy wise by creating innovative energy co-operatives. Though at first this may by-pass big companies and corporations who tend to move much more sluggishly like old battleships, people by being innovative worldwide and joining together in experimental business ventures can create enough real options of different types of fuel sources and energy sources to help prevent a real oil calamity from getting any worse than it already is.
The oil problem combined with the Global Climate change problem is much more serious than World War I or II combined with the Cold War. Only by mobilizing world wide like we did for World War II is there likely to be even a relatively good outcome for the human race this century. Alternative sources of energy can be developed by all who wish to actually survive this century on earth. This will be necessary for any of us to survive this century or the next few centuries here on earth.
Father's Day: My father and Grandfather
Time Russert's death inspired this article.
It is difficult to say whether I loved my grandfather and Father more than I was terrified of them as a child. If they were on your side you always won. If you were in the wrong man or child God help you.
My Aunt, my favorite Aunt and the last of my father's brothers and sisters passed on last month. She was a beautiful blonde haired actress with blue eyes but God help you if you crossed her.
My father and grandfather were from another era than now, so to apply any of the rules people live by now really has no meaning. I understood a little because I was born in 1948 and saw some of the harshness in the 1950s growing up that was a remnant of their much harsher lives than mine.
My father once said that he had seen his father take on 13 men and win in a fistfight over a dispute on a job. (My grandfather was an electrical contractor). When I saw the movie recently, "There Will Be Blood" it traumatized me for a while. The Daniel Day Louis character reminded me of my Grandfather as an Electrical Contractor, except my grandfather had a wife and 5 kids.
My father grew up during the 1920s and the 1930s. Once when they lived in Breckenridge Texas, Bob the oldest son, born in 1912, kept getting beat up because it was a tough town and Dad's family was new in town(then a reason to be mercilessly beaten every day by bullies). Bob was told by Grandad, "Son, you've got to stop them from beating you up any way you can. If you can't beat them up because they are just too big then get a 2by4 building stud piece of wood and wait for him and knock him out with it." Bob did as he was told and waited for the boy at a corner fence. When the boy came around the corner he knocked him unconscious with the hefty piece of wood. No one ever beat up Bob again(or his brothers or sisters).
My father's life made him into a workaholic and a perfectionist at building. One time on a job they laid off 300 electricians and kept only him. That's how fast he was and how efficient he was at being an electrician. His father taught him well but he wouldn't let his boys go to college, only his girls, Eloise and Dorris. The boys hated their Dad for this slight. Only in my thirties did I realize why my Grandfather did this. He sent the girls to college to get educated husbands who would be successful. He didn't send the boys to college because it was the Great Depression. Grandpa knew many of the homeless people without jobs were highly educated white collar workers and teachers who were always the first to go in hard times. But if you know electrical work, plumbing, or carpentry you will always be needed by someone even if it is as a handyman. This was especially true during the Great Depression.I realized that Grandpa knew exactly what he was doing even if his boys didn't and hated him because of feeling like Grandpa's slaves during the Great Depression.
My father and his brother were gunners in Hellcat biplanes in the U.S. Marine Air Corp. Dad said they used to practice dive bombing the beach and laugh when all the sunbathers scattered. Bob, got out to fix the cowling that had come loose on the biplanes engine but forgot to latch his seatbelt. So when then were doing loop de loops he was almost falling out of the plane. Dad was watching and laughing at this, knowing Bob had a parachute on and even if he fell he would likely be okay.
Bob, and Dad got out of the Marine Air Corp. Reserves in 1937. So since they had a trade the government put them to wiring Liberty ships in Seattle Harbor during World War II. Tommy died in a plane crash in 1942 which devastated the family.
My father got married when he was 21 and his wife 17. Bob got married when he was 19. Bob was born in 1912 and Dad 1916 so they were 4 years apart. Dad got divorced in 1946 and married my Mom. I came along in 1948. Dad didn't want any kids but my mother tricked him into having me by saying she was already pregnant.
My father was a very intense, focused, self disciplined man and extremely intelligent. My mother was a very intuitive common sensical woman from a very well educated father who was a minister and his wife was a lot like Mom.
When I was born we lived for my first 4 years on my Grandad's 2 1/2 acres of land with Cherry trees, apple trees, bosenberries, raspberries etc. It was a fun place to be there in Lake Forest Park, Washington except for the dreary weather. When it was sunny there was no place more beautiful than living there. (When it was sunny)
Grandad took a liking to me as he saw himself in me. I was always very determined like him. However, when I got whooping cough and almost died it knocked me down a peg.
My father because he didn't want children did not want to be in charge of disciplining me. Being intelligent he didn't want to beat me like he was beaten and so left all discipline to my mother and her mother who lived with us. So my experience of my father was strange in that if he criticized me it hurt much worse than anyone beating me. I can only remember once when I put airplane glue in a girls hair when I was 9 that he publicly flogged me on the front lawn with my own belt. In some ways I was glad to be beaten by my Dad even for once. That time I really deserved it. There was a clarity and finality to it all that was nice.
My Dad finally accepted me as a friend and compatriot when I was about 10 years old. Before that he didn't play with me much other than to teach me how to ride a bike. So becoming proficient at riding a bike was everything to me. He took me camping and hiking a lot from age 9 or 10 and after so being an excellent woodsman and camper and climber became important to me for a lifetime. His Mother, gave me his 22 rifle when I was 8 years old, a Remington, 17 shot pump 22 rifle. As soon as possible I became a crack shot with it because I was following in Dad's and Grandads footsteps just like Country Americans since the 1600s and my relatives since 1720 who arrived in Philadelphia Harbor from Germany and Switzerland on my fathers side.
I think what I most experienced from my father and grandfather was a quality that could best be expressed, "We're going to survive no matter what!" I was always taught
"Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best". It was how all my relatives had made it even when others didn't in America since 1720. My Dad and Grandad are my most unforgetable and terrifying people I have ever met, I love them both and miss them greatly now. The world is a very empty place without them.
It is difficult to say whether I loved my grandfather and Father more than I was terrified of them as a child. If they were on your side you always won. If you were in the wrong man or child God help you.
My Aunt, my favorite Aunt and the last of my father's brothers and sisters passed on last month. She was a beautiful blonde haired actress with blue eyes but God help you if you crossed her.
My father and grandfather were from another era than now, so to apply any of the rules people live by now really has no meaning. I understood a little because I was born in 1948 and saw some of the harshness in the 1950s growing up that was a remnant of their much harsher lives than mine.
My father once said that he had seen his father take on 13 men and win in a fistfight over a dispute on a job. (My grandfather was an electrical contractor). When I saw the movie recently, "There Will Be Blood" it traumatized me for a while. The Daniel Day Louis character reminded me of my Grandfather as an Electrical Contractor, except my grandfather had a wife and 5 kids.
My father grew up during the 1920s and the 1930s. Once when they lived in Breckenridge Texas, Bob the oldest son, born in 1912, kept getting beat up because it was a tough town and Dad's family was new in town(then a reason to be mercilessly beaten every day by bullies). Bob was told by Grandad, "Son, you've got to stop them from beating you up any way you can. If you can't beat them up because they are just too big then get a 2by4 building stud piece of wood and wait for him and knock him out with it." Bob did as he was told and waited for the boy at a corner fence. When the boy came around the corner he knocked him unconscious with the hefty piece of wood. No one ever beat up Bob again(or his brothers or sisters).
My father's life made him into a workaholic and a perfectionist at building. One time on a job they laid off 300 electricians and kept only him. That's how fast he was and how efficient he was at being an electrician. His father taught him well but he wouldn't let his boys go to college, only his girls, Eloise and Dorris. The boys hated their Dad for this slight. Only in my thirties did I realize why my Grandfather did this. He sent the girls to college to get educated husbands who would be successful. He didn't send the boys to college because it was the Great Depression. Grandpa knew many of the homeless people without jobs were highly educated white collar workers and teachers who were always the first to go in hard times. But if you know electrical work, plumbing, or carpentry you will always be needed by someone even if it is as a handyman. This was especially true during the Great Depression.I realized that Grandpa knew exactly what he was doing even if his boys didn't and hated him because of feeling like Grandpa's slaves during the Great Depression.
My father and his brother were gunners in Hellcat biplanes in the U.S. Marine Air Corp. Dad said they used to practice dive bombing the beach and laugh when all the sunbathers scattered. Bob, got out to fix the cowling that had come loose on the biplanes engine but forgot to latch his seatbelt. So when then were doing loop de loops he was almost falling out of the plane. Dad was watching and laughing at this, knowing Bob had a parachute on and even if he fell he would likely be okay.
Bob, and Dad got out of the Marine Air Corp. Reserves in 1937. So since they had a trade the government put them to wiring Liberty ships in Seattle Harbor during World War II. Tommy died in a plane crash in 1942 which devastated the family.
My father got married when he was 21 and his wife 17. Bob got married when he was 19. Bob was born in 1912 and Dad 1916 so they were 4 years apart. Dad got divorced in 1946 and married my Mom. I came along in 1948. Dad didn't want any kids but my mother tricked him into having me by saying she was already pregnant.
My father was a very intense, focused, self disciplined man and extremely intelligent. My mother was a very intuitive common sensical woman from a very well educated father who was a minister and his wife was a lot like Mom.
When I was born we lived for my first 4 years on my Grandad's 2 1/2 acres of land with Cherry trees, apple trees, bosenberries, raspberries etc. It was a fun place to be there in Lake Forest Park, Washington except for the dreary weather. When it was sunny there was no place more beautiful than living there. (When it was sunny)
Grandad took a liking to me as he saw himself in me. I was always very determined like him. However, when I got whooping cough and almost died it knocked me down a peg.
My father because he didn't want children did not want to be in charge of disciplining me. Being intelligent he didn't want to beat me like he was beaten and so left all discipline to my mother and her mother who lived with us. So my experience of my father was strange in that if he criticized me it hurt much worse than anyone beating me. I can only remember once when I put airplane glue in a girls hair when I was 9 that he publicly flogged me on the front lawn with my own belt. In some ways I was glad to be beaten by my Dad even for once. That time I really deserved it. There was a clarity and finality to it all that was nice.
My Dad finally accepted me as a friend and compatriot when I was about 10 years old. Before that he didn't play with me much other than to teach me how to ride a bike. So becoming proficient at riding a bike was everything to me. He took me camping and hiking a lot from age 9 or 10 and after so being an excellent woodsman and camper and climber became important to me for a lifetime. His Mother, gave me his 22 rifle when I was 8 years old, a Remington, 17 shot pump 22 rifle. As soon as possible I became a crack shot with it because I was following in Dad's and Grandads footsteps just like Country Americans since the 1600s and my relatives since 1720 who arrived in Philadelphia Harbor from Germany and Switzerland on my fathers side.
I think what I most experienced from my father and grandfather was a quality that could best be expressed, "We're going to survive no matter what!" I was always taught
"Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best". It was how all my relatives had made it even when others didn't in America since 1720. My Dad and Grandad are my most unforgetable and terrifying people I have ever met, I love them both and miss them greatly now. The world is a very empty place without them.
Friday, June 13, 2008
OIl is no longer a solution
If this was 1960 to 1970 then oil would still be a solution. However, no big oil fields have been discovered on earth by anyone since 1967. All oil fields in the world have already peaked as of today except maybe Saudi Arabia.
Don't let anyone tell you that oil is the solution. Thirty years ago oil would have done it. Now, oil is basically over if we don't want worldwide revolution. We must begin to shift away from oil based fuels in order to not have one of the worst experiences on earth in recorded history. Already as a psychic I potentially have predicted a loss of 3 billion people to the present population level by 2100. This doesn't have to happen though if people wake up and change fuels NOW the way Brazil has done. If every country's primary fuel is not oil then we will all be relatively okay. But if people are so stupid that they off anyone with another idea competitive to oil then my prediction of a loss of 3 billion to the world population level by 2100 is likely to happen and all the work of those of us who can actually see potential futures and what will actually happen given different variables will have been in vain.
Don't let anyone tell you that oil is the solution. Thirty years ago oil would have done it. Now, oil is basically over if we don't want worldwide revolution. We must begin to shift away from oil based fuels in order to not have one of the worst experiences on earth in recorded history. Already as a psychic I potentially have predicted a loss of 3 billion people to the present population level by 2100. This doesn't have to happen though if people wake up and change fuels NOW the way Brazil has done. If every country's primary fuel is not oil then we will all be relatively okay. But if people are so stupid that they off anyone with another idea competitive to oil then my prediction of a loss of 3 billion to the world population level by 2100 is likely to happen and all the work of those of us who can actually see potential futures and what will actually happen given different variables will have been in vain.
Genepax shows off water-powered fuel cell vehicle
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/13/
genepax-shows-off-water-powered-fuel-cell-vehicle/
Genepax in Japan has developed a direct water powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. They say that as long as you have a bottle of water, sea water or even tea that it will run.
There is a video at the above internet address.
genepax-shows-off-water-powered-fuel-cell-vehicle/
Genepax in Japan has developed a direct water powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. They say that as long as you have a bottle of water, sea water or even tea that it will run.
There is a video at the above internet address.
Become a Buddha
The first part is easy. It is said that everyone is already enlightened they just have to realize it. So, I say to you, believe you are enlightened and you are. In the end any two people could be experiencing literally anything and one of them could be a Buddha. The only real difference would be the perception of the Buddha. The Buddha would know that he or she was the same being as all other beings in the universe and that would give the Buddha peace in knowing this. The Buddha would know and experience all beings as his or her cherished relatives and bless them in his or her mind and heart. The Buddha would know how best to help all in whatever situation was going on at the time. The Buddha would see the past and future and understand all the life connections with all other beings throughout all time, past,present and future.The Buddha would know all this but also know that only this moment was important. All other moments had already happened or would happen. The Buddha would know he or she could go to any other being or beings in any time or space as needed. However, the Buddha would know that perfect being in this and every moment was his or her calling or duty and pleasure in each moment. Being around this Buddha all would feel drawn to become just like him or her. Understanding what the universe is all about comes from being around one becoming or living as a Buddha.
This is my experience.
This is my experience.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Milarepa:Magician, Murderer, Saint
http://milarepamovie.com/drupal-5.1/
One of the epic beings and lives I have studied is the life of Milarepa. He was a man born in Tibet in I believe the 1100s somewhat near Mt. Everest in Tibet.
His story inspires Tibetans more than any other, historically. Though born well off his mother and sister and he become enslaved by his uncle who treats them as slaves and steals their inheritance. Milarepa's mother wants revenge and so arranges for young Teenage Milarepa to study with a Magician of the Black Arts to kill the uncle and his family. Milarepa returns home after a couple of years and causes a hailstorm and lightning to descend upon his uncle and a family wedding killing several dozen people. After that the whole village fears Milarepa and leaves his mother to die alone several years later. Milarepa after causing the deaths of all these people as his mother wished feels great remorse after their deaths and leaves to study with a good Master called Marpa. However, Marpa has to have Milrepa work off his bad karma first and makes him build and rebuild a multistory stone house. This takes several years and Milarepa's back is oozing pus from carrying stones and placing them for years. Finally, Marpa's wife takes pity on Milarepa to receive the teachings he so earnestly desires. Marpa is furious but sends Milarepa into a cave on retreat eventually for several years. Most of Milarepa's life is spent Meditating in Mountain caves alone attaining realizations. He is reported to have had the ability to fly among other things. He taught through singing his enlightenment a capella to his students when they visited him.
Because he was rich son, slave, Magician, murderer and then Saint, all Tibetans and all humans who suffer can relate to his story and feel hope for themselves.
One of the epic beings and lives I have studied is the life of Milarepa. He was a man born in Tibet in I believe the 1100s somewhat near Mt. Everest in Tibet.
His story inspires Tibetans more than any other, historically. Though born well off his mother and sister and he become enslaved by his uncle who treats them as slaves and steals their inheritance. Milarepa's mother wants revenge and so arranges for young Teenage Milarepa to study with a Magician of the Black Arts to kill the uncle and his family. Milarepa returns home after a couple of years and causes a hailstorm and lightning to descend upon his uncle and a family wedding killing several dozen people. After that the whole village fears Milarepa and leaves his mother to die alone several years later. Milarepa after causing the deaths of all these people as his mother wished feels great remorse after their deaths and leaves to study with a good Master called Marpa. However, Marpa has to have Milrepa work off his bad karma first and makes him build and rebuild a multistory stone house. This takes several years and Milarepa's back is oozing pus from carrying stones and placing them for years. Finally, Marpa's wife takes pity on Milarepa to receive the teachings he so earnestly desires. Marpa is furious but sends Milarepa into a cave on retreat eventually for several years. Most of Milarepa's life is spent Meditating in Mountain caves alone attaining realizations. He is reported to have had the ability to fly among other things. He taught through singing his enlightenment a capella to his students when they visited him.
Because he was rich son, slave, Magician, murderer and then Saint, all Tibetans and all humans who suffer can relate to his story and feel hope for themselves.
The Bloodless Global Resource War
There has always been a struggle over resources down through history. When any resources become scarce or cost too much like oil and food do now, it is inevitable that there will be trouble. Since the cost of oil and food is totally out of control worldwide it seems, those in countries with the most money and influence will tend to come out on top.
Strangely enough, one of the countries that is best positioned worldwide right now is Brazil. They decided in the last 10 years or so to completely convert over to sugarcane based ethanol as a fuel. So, as a result they are not having the kinds of problems that most of the rest of the world is because they grow almost all their own fuel. So as long as they are consuming food grown in Brazil they don't have to pay the extreme prices for fuel or food paid elsewhere. Because of this they might not go into a major recession like the rest of the world appears to be now because of seemingly uncontrollable fuel and food costs.
Maybe there is a lesson here for the rest of the world. Countries that prepare for the inevitable survive well and those who don't don't survive well or maybe not at all!
As I mentioned in another article "Truth" is the most valuable survival commodity in the world. Since there appears to be so little of it in the world press anywhere, the most likely people to survive all this in the end will be the ones who are able to find out the real truth and to act on it so they and their families can survive whatever comes!
Strangely enough, one of the countries that is best positioned worldwide right now is Brazil. They decided in the last 10 years or so to completely convert over to sugarcane based ethanol as a fuel. So, as a result they are not having the kinds of problems that most of the rest of the world is because they grow almost all their own fuel. So as long as they are consuming food grown in Brazil they don't have to pay the extreme prices for fuel or food paid elsewhere. Because of this they might not go into a major recession like the rest of the world appears to be now because of seemingly uncontrollable fuel and food costs.
Maybe there is a lesson here for the rest of the world. Countries that prepare for the inevitable survive well and those who don't don't survive well or maybe not at all!
As I mentioned in another article "Truth" is the most valuable survival commodity in the world. Since there appears to be so little of it in the world press anywhere, the most likely people to survive all this in the end will be the ones who are able to find out the real truth and to act on it so they and their families can survive whatever comes!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Global Gridlock
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080611/bs_afp/worldinflationprotestenergytransport
The above internet article talks about truckers blocking roads in countries like Spain, Portugal, France and soon Thailand to protest the end of their livelihoods because of ever rising gas and diesel prices. The truckers have absolutely nothing to lose, their livelihoods and even their lives may be over if something isn't done. This is a battle they see as a battle for survival. Many are willing to die to prove how serious they are in this.
This sort of thing will continue to escalate I believe until everyone has to take all this more seriously than it has been so far. It is the end of the world as we know it.
It is the likely permanent end of cheap oil. Yes. It is mostly caused by speculators but it is important to realize that if speculators were removed from the mix, the price of a barrel of oil still would only reduce about $50 in value.
Oil is a sinking ship. What is happening is a good thing. It tells us that oil is a sinking ship. It's time to change to new fuels we won't run out of. Oil is ending. That's all.
The above internet article talks about truckers blocking roads in countries like Spain, Portugal, France and soon Thailand to protest the end of their livelihoods because of ever rising gas and diesel prices. The truckers have absolutely nothing to lose, their livelihoods and even their lives may be over if something isn't done. This is a battle they see as a battle for survival. Many are willing to die to prove how serious they are in this.
This sort of thing will continue to escalate I believe until everyone has to take all this more seriously than it has been so far. It is the end of the world as we know it.
It is the likely permanent end of cheap oil. Yes. It is mostly caused by speculators but it is important to realize that if speculators were removed from the mix, the price of a barrel of oil still would only reduce about $50 in value.
Oil is a sinking ship. What is happening is a good thing. It tells us that oil is a sinking ship. It's time to change to new fuels we won't run out of. Oil is ending. That's all.
Government Disinformation Campaigns
If you are a logical, intelligent and reasonable person, it doesn't really matter what government or even what muli-national corporation that funds disinformation. It is enough that it is being done at all.
Any thinking person knows that when disinformation campaigns on any subject begin that something is being hidden, something is being obstructed, something is being obscured.
When any government, or company puts out millions or billions of dollars to create misinformation, suffice it to say something is very wrong.
The average person gets a hint of this kind of thing worldwide right now with oil and gas and food going up and people dying. Many people are talking about solving these problems but little is being done. Why is this?
One of the reasons is that so many people have been sold untruths regarding oil, food production and even sold untruths regarding Global Climate Change not being real that most people on earth aren't sure what to believe anymore.
There is one truth foremost in my mind regarding all of these things and more worldwide, "WITHOUT ENOUGH TRUTH THE PEOPLE OF EARTH PERISH!"
That is all I have to say right now about deliberate misinformation worldwide.
Any thinking person knows that when disinformation campaigns on any subject begin that something is being hidden, something is being obstructed, something is being obscured.
When any government, or company puts out millions or billions of dollars to create misinformation, suffice it to say something is very wrong.
The average person gets a hint of this kind of thing worldwide right now with oil and gas and food going up and people dying. Many people are talking about solving these problems but little is being done. Why is this?
One of the reasons is that so many people have been sold untruths regarding oil, food production and even sold untruths regarding Global Climate Change not being real that most people on earth aren't sure what to believe anymore.
There is one truth foremost in my mind regarding all of these things and more worldwide, "WITHOUT ENOUGH TRUTH THE PEOPLE OF EARTH PERISH!"
That is all I have to say right now about deliberate misinformation worldwide.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Leisure to Practice 2
What is Important? I suppose this question would be answered slightly differently for each of us. And even then this question might be answered differently depending on what day of the week or year of ones life.
For me the desire for the leisure to practice evolved slowly. As a young man I found myself somewhat internally different than many of my peers. Though I was always an adventurer and fairly intelligent and had very good parents that never divorced I also experienced life somewhat differently than most other people. At the time I thought it was because I was raised in a very unusual religion that I didn't talk about publicly much and because I had had whooping cough, sunstroke and then childhood epilepsy all before I was 10 and didn't get over the epilepsy until I was 15. And even then it only ended because I invoked God directly into my body to live with me here on earth.
All these experiences made me pretty unique from my friends even though you might not know any of this to look at me, for I was always a tall white dark haired green eyed boy, fairly quiet but always intelligent and extremely observant of all people both externally and internally. I could always look through people and see who they were inside. I was always a very quick study of all people. Within about 5 seconds of meeting or seeing a person I knew everything I needed to know about them. Anything I learned after that would just be entertaining for me.
As I grew up and got jobs and went to school I found that following orders was hard for me. I slowly realized that I was not really a follower. I could more easily be described as a leader or as a very independent thinker. I just found that I tended to be much more aware of things than most people were. At first I thought this was just a quirk that I thought this. But no, I actually was aware of more than most people. I found that people, in general were much more superficial than I was. What I found strange was that I was as deep as most people were superficial. This began to make me feel uneasy that I was so deep and different and had a much more highly developed depth and caring for all life on earth than most people seemed to.
I didn't know what to do with my deep deep conscience in regard to all beings. At first I began to get upset that other people couldn't seem to experience what I did.
At the other end of the spectrum women seemed to get who I was and often fell in love with me as a deep and caring and intelligent man. Though I loved them all I wasn't necessarily in love with them the way they were with me. I saw them all as God loving me. I experienced them all as God as my wives loving me. I knew this didn't fit within the basic structure of a patriarchal monogamist society so I made sure that I was a serial unmarried monogamist in my relationships during the 1960s and 1970s until I married in 1974 and had a son.
However, I still began to question what was going on in regard to work and career. I finally came to the conclusion that I was a householder yogi and not a celibate monk or priest since I was married with a son. When I read Autobiography of a Yogi I read about Lahiri Mahasaya, who was a married householder Yogi with children and students. Later, I learned about Marpa, Milarepa's teacher, who was also married with a son, who had gone from Tibet into India to get teachings from I believe Tilopa and an Naropa and who brought them back to Tibet and to his foremost student, Milarepa.
As I began to reach age 28 I started my first business and realized that being an entrepreneur and businessman suited me best. So after I was 28 I owned my own businesses for the most part and ran them myself or with my wife. This worked best for me. However, even then I wanted more time to devote myself to spiritual practices. By age 30 after trying to be a part of several religions I knew I didn't actually fit very well inside of religious organizations. About this time I found Native American Medicine Men and Tibetan Lamas at about the same time. They were the first people I had met in my life that accepted me with all my intuitive gifts. They seemed to value me as a part of their spiritual processes. I felt at home both with the demeanor of native American Medicine men and women and Tibetan lamas and later the Tibetan Anis (nuns) that I met both in the U.S. and Nepal and India.
After my wife and three children spent 4 months in India and Nepal, much of it with tibetan lamas, monks and Anis(pronounced Annies) I realized that westernized Eastern concepts were just that, westernized eastern concepts, and really had very little to do with how people in Tibetan Buddhism actually think and practice Tibetan Buddhism.
For example, new age thought is westernized new age thought and really has very little at all to do with Eastern thought because it is in a completely different cultural continuum. However, Tibetan lamas, monks and anis all understand this who come from Asia to the U.S. and Europs and are very polite about not blowing western peoples minds with the truth of all this.
Unless one grew up in an Asian culture one wouldn't have the slightest idea of what I'm talking about. However, it is important for me to tell you that what American Tibetan Buddhists believe and practice is slightly different than what Tibetans in Tibet and Asia believe and practice. The main difference would be the two different cultural experiences of what life actually is, which is very different.
However, as young Tibetans choose to be westernized over the last 40 years all this is changing drastically over time. So within 10 or 20 years the differences might not exist except for older Tibetans and Westerners.
So after I came back to the U.S. after my 4 months with my family in Nepal, India and Thailand, I was fairly horrified at first of my experience back in the U.S. It is difficult to explain this as I didn't expect this to happen as powerfully as it did to me.
Though I was overwhelmed by India and Nepal, I was more overwhelmed by how unrealistic life in the United States was compared to Asia. It was literally like returning to live in Disneyland, only the people living here in the U.S. tend to believe that all the Disneyland stuff is real when it actually isn't. The experience would be like watching a TV program and then going and returning to live where that TV program was reality. It was a very unsettling experience.
However, I had to go back to work and support my family so I did. I just knew I literally lived in a Disneyland kind of country where people believed in Disneyland fairy tales. On the one hand this is good but on another, if anything really bad happens in the world that affects people in the U.S. it could lead to a very bad disconnect with reality and many people wouldn't be able to cope with all the reality, death and mayhem that could result here.
Finally, I went through a very bad breakup during my 40s. Though I tried to get custody of my then 5 year old daughter, even after spending a lot on legal fees the best I could do was to get joint legal custody and only to see my daughter 10 weeks a year. At age 49 because of my deep anger at not being able to get full custody of my daughter I got a heart virus and almost died. However, this forced me to retire by age 50 and I had finally reached what I had been praying for, the leisure to practice. Though my life was completely different than I had ever expected, I had reached a point in life where I could literally pray and write and help in a profoundly deeper way all beings than I had ever been able to before.
I can vouch for you that one of the most useful and powerful things we can ever aspire to or to do is to reach and actuate as those who have the leisure to practice.
The Leisure to practice simply means that you have been blessed to have the time to pray and to help everyone full time. Those of us who have this are blessed indeed to help and to pray for everyone and for all life on earth. In this way life on earth can continue and not go extinct. Blessings to you All.
For me the desire for the leisure to practice evolved slowly. As a young man I found myself somewhat internally different than many of my peers. Though I was always an adventurer and fairly intelligent and had very good parents that never divorced I also experienced life somewhat differently than most other people. At the time I thought it was because I was raised in a very unusual religion that I didn't talk about publicly much and because I had had whooping cough, sunstroke and then childhood epilepsy all before I was 10 and didn't get over the epilepsy until I was 15. And even then it only ended because I invoked God directly into my body to live with me here on earth.
All these experiences made me pretty unique from my friends even though you might not know any of this to look at me, for I was always a tall white dark haired green eyed boy, fairly quiet but always intelligent and extremely observant of all people both externally and internally. I could always look through people and see who they were inside. I was always a very quick study of all people. Within about 5 seconds of meeting or seeing a person I knew everything I needed to know about them. Anything I learned after that would just be entertaining for me.
As I grew up and got jobs and went to school I found that following orders was hard for me. I slowly realized that I was not really a follower. I could more easily be described as a leader or as a very independent thinker. I just found that I tended to be much more aware of things than most people were. At first I thought this was just a quirk that I thought this. But no, I actually was aware of more than most people. I found that people, in general were much more superficial than I was. What I found strange was that I was as deep as most people were superficial. This began to make me feel uneasy that I was so deep and different and had a much more highly developed depth and caring for all life on earth than most people seemed to.
I didn't know what to do with my deep deep conscience in regard to all beings. At first I began to get upset that other people couldn't seem to experience what I did.
At the other end of the spectrum women seemed to get who I was and often fell in love with me as a deep and caring and intelligent man. Though I loved them all I wasn't necessarily in love with them the way they were with me. I saw them all as God loving me. I experienced them all as God as my wives loving me. I knew this didn't fit within the basic structure of a patriarchal monogamist society so I made sure that I was a serial unmarried monogamist in my relationships during the 1960s and 1970s until I married in 1974 and had a son.
However, I still began to question what was going on in regard to work and career. I finally came to the conclusion that I was a householder yogi and not a celibate monk or priest since I was married with a son. When I read Autobiography of a Yogi I read about Lahiri Mahasaya, who was a married householder Yogi with children and students. Later, I learned about Marpa, Milarepa's teacher, who was also married with a son, who had gone from Tibet into India to get teachings from I believe Tilopa and an Naropa and who brought them back to Tibet and to his foremost student, Milarepa.
As I began to reach age 28 I started my first business and realized that being an entrepreneur and businessman suited me best. So after I was 28 I owned my own businesses for the most part and ran them myself or with my wife. This worked best for me. However, even then I wanted more time to devote myself to spiritual practices. By age 30 after trying to be a part of several religions I knew I didn't actually fit very well inside of religious organizations. About this time I found Native American Medicine Men and Tibetan Lamas at about the same time. They were the first people I had met in my life that accepted me with all my intuitive gifts. They seemed to value me as a part of their spiritual processes. I felt at home both with the demeanor of native American Medicine men and women and Tibetan lamas and later the Tibetan Anis (nuns) that I met both in the U.S. and Nepal and India.
After my wife and three children spent 4 months in India and Nepal, much of it with tibetan lamas, monks and Anis(pronounced Annies) I realized that westernized Eastern concepts were just that, westernized eastern concepts, and really had very little to do with how people in Tibetan Buddhism actually think and practice Tibetan Buddhism.
For example, new age thought is westernized new age thought and really has very little at all to do with Eastern thought because it is in a completely different cultural continuum. However, Tibetan lamas, monks and anis all understand this who come from Asia to the U.S. and Europs and are very polite about not blowing western peoples minds with the truth of all this.
Unless one grew up in an Asian culture one wouldn't have the slightest idea of what I'm talking about. However, it is important for me to tell you that what American Tibetan Buddhists believe and practice is slightly different than what Tibetans in Tibet and Asia believe and practice. The main difference would be the two different cultural experiences of what life actually is, which is very different.
However, as young Tibetans choose to be westernized over the last 40 years all this is changing drastically over time. So within 10 or 20 years the differences might not exist except for older Tibetans and Westerners.
So after I came back to the U.S. after my 4 months with my family in Nepal, India and Thailand, I was fairly horrified at first of my experience back in the U.S. It is difficult to explain this as I didn't expect this to happen as powerfully as it did to me.
Though I was overwhelmed by India and Nepal, I was more overwhelmed by how unrealistic life in the United States was compared to Asia. It was literally like returning to live in Disneyland, only the people living here in the U.S. tend to believe that all the Disneyland stuff is real when it actually isn't. The experience would be like watching a TV program and then going and returning to live where that TV program was reality. It was a very unsettling experience.
However, I had to go back to work and support my family so I did. I just knew I literally lived in a Disneyland kind of country where people believed in Disneyland fairy tales. On the one hand this is good but on another, if anything really bad happens in the world that affects people in the U.S. it could lead to a very bad disconnect with reality and many people wouldn't be able to cope with all the reality, death and mayhem that could result here.
Finally, I went through a very bad breakup during my 40s. Though I tried to get custody of my then 5 year old daughter, even after spending a lot on legal fees the best I could do was to get joint legal custody and only to see my daughter 10 weeks a year. At age 49 because of my deep anger at not being able to get full custody of my daughter I got a heart virus and almost died. However, this forced me to retire by age 50 and I had finally reached what I had been praying for, the leisure to practice. Though my life was completely different than I had ever expected, I had reached a point in life where I could literally pray and write and help in a profoundly deeper way all beings than I had ever been able to before.
I can vouch for you that one of the most useful and powerful things we can ever aspire to or to do is to reach and actuate as those who have the leisure to practice.
The Leisure to practice simply means that you have been blessed to have the time to pray and to help everyone full time. Those of us who have this are blessed indeed to help and to pray for everyone and for all life on earth. In this way life on earth can continue and not go extinct. Blessings to you All.
Mixed races
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/09/btsc.obama.race/index.html
The above internet article is on the question of whether Obama is of mixed race because his mother was a white lady from Kansas or black because his father was a highly educated Black African from Kenya.
I started thinking about this and remembered something I had read over the years that if someone was more than 2 or 3 generations in America that they likely were part native American or black even if it is 1/32nd each. This might not make someone look like they are native American or black but suffice it to say most Americans who have lived in America for more than 2 or 3 generations are "multiracial" whether they look it or not.
For example, though I'm 60 years old my hair is not solid grey which is a native American characteristic, for example. My ancestors on my father's side came from Switzerland and Germany in the 1720s to Philadelphia Harbor and then Pennsylvania, Ohio, and then to Kansas.
Though my mother's parents were both born, one in Philadelphia and one in Boston to solid Scottish born parents on both sides, my grandmother's house burned down and she and her 12 brothers and sisters returned to the Glasgow, Scotland area to grow up. My Grandfather's father died getting pneumonia from getting my grandfather medicine one winter in Boston, so my Grandfather's mother moved back to Scotland. However, after my grandfather and grandmother grew up in Scotland, both they and ALL their brothers and sisters came back to America since they were already citizens by birth and lived the rest of all their lives here in America in Nebraska and Washington and California.
So though my mother's ancestors were all Scottish in ancestry, my father's ancestors were here since 1720 from Switzerland and Germany. So I figure on my father's side I'm Swiss-German by last name but also English, French, Scandinavian, likely native american somewhere in there as well as most European nationalities and who knows what.
The important thing is we all survived strong and tall. We're still here when others didn't make it.
Whether Obama is Multi Racial or Black, he fits right in in America. We're international, all of us Americans. What can I say?
The above internet article is on the question of whether Obama is of mixed race because his mother was a white lady from Kansas or black because his father was a highly educated Black African from Kenya.
I started thinking about this and remembered something I had read over the years that if someone was more than 2 or 3 generations in America that they likely were part native American or black even if it is 1/32nd each. This might not make someone look like they are native American or black but suffice it to say most Americans who have lived in America for more than 2 or 3 generations are "multiracial" whether they look it or not.
For example, though I'm 60 years old my hair is not solid grey which is a native American characteristic, for example. My ancestors on my father's side came from Switzerland and Germany in the 1720s to Philadelphia Harbor and then Pennsylvania, Ohio, and then to Kansas.
Though my mother's parents were both born, one in Philadelphia and one in Boston to solid Scottish born parents on both sides, my grandmother's house burned down and she and her 12 brothers and sisters returned to the Glasgow, Scotland area to grow up. My Grandfather's father died getting pneumonia from getting my grandfather medicine one winter in Boston, so my Grandfather's mother moved back to Scotland. However, after my grandfather and grandmother grew up in Scotland, both they and ALL their brothers and sisters came back to America since they were already citizens by birth and lived the rest of all their lives here in America in Nebraska and Washington and California.
So though my mother's ancestors were all Scottish in ancestry, my father's ancestors were here since 1720 from Switzerland and Germany. So I figure on my father's side I'm Swiss-German by last name but also English, French, Scandinavian, likely native american somewhere in there as well as most European nationalities and who knows what.
The important thing is we all survived strong and tall. We're still here when others didn't make it.
Whether Obama is Multi Racial or Black, he fits right in in America. We're international, all of us Americans. What can I say?
Monday, June 9, 2008
ANWR and the Continental Shelf oil
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/
The above internet article describes how drilling for oil in ANWR in Alaska would make little difference. In a previous article I compared drilling in ANWR to trying to bail a sinking ship with a spoon. It is just too little too late. The continental shelf I believe is also too little too late.
NO. The only long term solution has nothing at all to do with oil at all. Oil brings wars, unsolvable untractable and suicidal wars. Oil puts money in the pockets of the new people who want to bury us Americans and Europeans. Solar, wind, grown fuels and fuels like hydrogen made from water and leading to hydrogen fusion eventually like miniature suns running our homes and cars is the ultimate solution to energy not oil.
Just like we moved from kerosene and oil lamps during the first part of the 20th century, we need to now en masse move away from oil as a fuel. In this way we can still use oil for plastics and stuff like that in the future. But oil for all intents and purposes is over if the human race is to survive and not extinct itself fighting over a continually shrinking commodity from now on. If you don't believe me watch "A Crude Awakening", a documentary about oil available from netflix to rent. If you see this documentary you will understand that oil is basically over and wars over it are completely counterproductive to the ongoing survival of the human race.
Just accepting this as a fact will prevent an earth killing war over oil that in actuality is running out very quickly. Other fuels must now be used. Let's not fight over a ghost. OIl is becoming a ghost very quickly. We must switch to new energy sources quickly before it is too late for humans to survive!
The above internet article describes how drilling for oil in ANWR in Alaska would make little difference. In a previous article I compared drilling in ANWR to trying to bail a sinking ship with a spoon. It is just too little too late. The continental shelf I believe is also too little too late.
NO. The only long term solution has nothing at all to do with oil at all. Oil brings wars, unsolvable untractable and suicidal wars. Oil puts money in the pockets of the new people who want to bury us Americans and Europeans. Solar, wind, grown fuels and fuels like hydrogen made from water and leading to hydrogen fusion eventually like miniature suns running our homes and cars is the ultimate solution to energy not oil.
Just like we moved from kerosene and oil lamps during the first part of the 20th century, we need to now en masse move away from oil as a fuel. In this way we can still use oil for plastics and stuff like that in the future. But oil for all intents and purposes is over if the human race is to survive and not extinct itself fighting over a continually shrinking commodity from now on. If you don't believe me watch "A Crude Awakening", a documentary about oil available from netflix to rent. If you see this documentary you will understand that oil is basically over and wars over it are completely counterproductive to the ongoing survival of the human race.
Just accepting this as a fact will prevent an earth killing war over oil that in actuality is running out very quickly. Other fuels must now be used. Let's not fight over a ghost. OIl is becoming a ghost very quickly. We must switch to new energy sources quickly before it is too late for humans to survive!
Life is maintained through balance
The primary thing humans haven't figured out yet is "balance". If they as a group looked together at what they are en masse doing to Earth and could agree somehow then some kind of balance could be struck.
If there was any one thing that humans need to figure out it is how many people can live long term without destroying the ecology of earth.
This one question answered and then acted upon properly would solve 90% of humanities problems within 300 years if all humans or (enough) could agree what to do.
However, without this agreement, the sentient being, Earth, will do what she has to to create balance again.
Either humans grow up and create balance or it will be done for them. I don't think nuking the planet out of existence is going to be allowed by anyone, even God.
NO. The human platform of existence will be maintained. Religions and philosophies may come and go but what do they really have to do with the real God and the real Earth? Maybe nothing at all. What if all religions are seen by both Earth and God as fairy tales that the uninformed tell their children so they can sleep at night? What if all religions are nothing more than old wives tales? What if both Earth and God exist but don't believe in any religions or philosophies simply because their IQs are basically unlimited while humans IQs at most are about 200. What if Earth's or God's IQs are a billion or more each? We would have almost nothing in common with a being that intelligent would we? Think about it!
If there was any one thing that humans need to figure out it is how many people can live long term without destroying the ecology of earth.
This one question answered and then acted upon properly would solve 90% of humanities problems within 300 years if all humans or (enough) could agree what to do.
However, without this agreement, the sentient being, Earth, will do what she has to to create balance again.
Either humans grow up and create balance or it will be done for them. I don't think nuking the planet out of existence is going to be allowed by anyone, even God.
NO. The human platform of existence will be maintained. Religions and philosophies may come and go but what do they really have to do with the real God and the real Earth? Maybe nothing at all. What if all religions are seen by both Earth and God as fairy tales that the uninformed tell their children so they can sleep at night? What if all religions are nothing more than old wives tales? What if both Earth and God exist but don't believe in any religions or philosophies simply because their IQs are basically unlimited while humans IQs at most are about 200. What if Earth's or God's IQs are a billion or more each? We would have almost nothing in common with a being that intelligent would we? Think about it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)