First of all, generating compassion is a decision one makes like the decision to go to college or to go out and drive in a car on a long journey. One assesses the needs of life and one responds to those needs.
Also, there is idiot compassion and there is wise right mindful compassion. Idiot compassion often will get someone killed or maimed. Right mindful compassion is figuring out the most efficient way to help someone or a group of beings so the most compassionate benefit to all beings occurs almost automatically.Wise Right mindful compassion usually keeps the one being compassionate alive, healthy and sane as well.
Then there is crazy wisdom compassion. Crazy wisdom compassion is being evolved enough to almost die while saving people, especially children, for example, saving a child or unaware person from being hit by a car or other serious calamity in the nick of time.
I am a practitioner of wise right mindful compassion and crazy wisdom compassion as well. However, I would say wise right mindful compassion is being ultimately practical and crazy wisdom as being ultimately efficient but still practical so that everyone survives.
The easiest place to start with all this is to first learn to generate compassion for your family and friends. Most of the time this is easy to do. Then one can generate compassion for their city or area and then their country and then the whole world. I decided about 30 years ago or more to generate compassion towards all beings in the universe in all time and space. If you live in a dualistic reality this might be hard for some of you who define all reality as good and bad. I tend to look at beings as infinite shades of gray. All beings are sort of like the weather. It rain, snow, wind, hail good or bad? It depends upon the circumstances mostly. The same is true of all beings. So why not have compassion for all the trillions of beings somewhat like us throughout the known universe? We all live here together. We may all meet each other one day so let's get ready now. Also, since it is my experience now that all time and space is connected here and now in my heart and mind I do experience the union of all like minded compassionate beings in the universe in all time and space. This is not theoretical. It is more real than my living in a body here on earth. This alliance with all compassionate beings in all time and space makes me stronger as a compassionate being than I ever thought possible as a human on earth.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
The Mummy:Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
I went to see the new Mummy movie tonight. I enjoyed it because of all the special effects and the now familiar Brendan Frazier in the lead part. If you like Yetis mystically called, ancient Chinese Emperors and their armies and Shangri-La in Tibet in the Himalayas, then this is the movie for you.
I had been talking with someone today about how the Tibetan Buddhist Kalachakra Initiation is related to Shamballa. While watching this movie I also wondered about the connection to the world of Shamballa and King of Shamballa. Then I wondered about Shangri-La in popular culture since the 1930s. Though the movie is obviously fictional there are legendary elements to the movie. And since legends tend to have some basis in fact it only makes the movie that much more entertaining.
I had been talking with someone today about how the Tibetan Buddhist Kalachakra Initiation is related to Shamballa. While watching this movie I also wondered about the connection to the world of Shamballa and King of Shamballa. Then I wondered about Shangri-La in popular culture since the 1930s. Though the movie is obviously fictional there are legendary elements to the movie. And since legends tend to have some basis in fact it only makes the movie that much more entertaining.
Juvenile Offenders
All children need attention to survive. The only real question is: "Will they receive enough positive attention to thrive?" So what happens in real time is that if children don't get enough positive attention they will get any attention they can. And if it is not positive attention then it is negative attention.
Positive attention creates eagle scouts, honor students, star athletes, college students and college graduates. Positive attention creates people who care about themselves and others in useful positive ways. Negative attention creates abused children or unloved children or criminals or all three. Negative attention creates children in jail, children stealing, children doing drugs, children dying, children killing each other or their parents, children going crazy.
In the early 1990s I chose to work counseling male juvenile offenders ages 12 to 17. I had had a good life and one of the ways I chose to give back was to help young offenders retrain as positive young men moving into adulthood and moving away from the future candidates for real life "Pulp Fiction" the movie.
At the time I was counseling male juvenile offenders who had more than 7 felony convictions(non gun related) ages 12-17 years of age. It was a very difficult assignment. First of all, these young men were hostile in that when you met them they would do things like call you a m-f- and other colorful phrases vehemently. However, as an adult counselor I was not allowed to respond with swearing or violence in return. So, the first job was to try to move these boys individually toward positive attention and positive actions. Since they all had been so abused by life in general they did not trust me or anyone else. I guess the best way to define them would be paranoid in the extreme. However, if you had been shot at multiple times in your life, and beat up or stabbed you might be paranoid too.They didn't trust anyone. They tended to bond together like in a gang and the best I could hope for was to be viewed as a helpful uncle type of figure and hopefully they wouldn't kill me or injure me.
My job was to try to save the 25% of them that hadn't already embarked on a life of crime. Many of them didn't even see choosing a life of crime as a choice. It was just what everybody did in their neighborhood and in order to survive there, it is what one did to stay alive. For a middle class guy like myself, this was a lot to take in for me. It was hard to believe that for many crime was a way of life from cradle to the grave as normal for them as breathing. Trying to recondition the thinking of these youths was very difficult. I found I had to become extremely pragmatic in my thinking in regard to them all.
It became easy for me to spot someone who could be saved from a life of crime. They vacillated more in their decision making than hardened criminals. I found there was an order to the thinking of hardened criminals, even in their teens. Many of these boys couldn't ever be saved, and some would only be saved by a good woman, whether it was a girlfriend, a wife, a mother or a grandmother. And some others were past hope and others I could see wouldn't ever live to see 20 or 25 because of their thoughts and actions. I was around 40 years old at the time and so these young men saw me either as a do gooder like a minister or priest or they saw me as an uncle. I earned their respect because they didn't want to go to CYA(California Youth Authority) where they knew they would be very harshly treated and where all the murderers between 12-17 go as well as other serious gun related felonies tend to wind up. They were all terrified of having to go there and become someones girlfriend and get AIDS or TB or worse. So, one of the reasons they treated me with respect was terror and fear of a potential worse situation.
I did what I could for all the boys there. I tried to be as fair and as helpful as I could to them all. However, when I took 6 shanks(knife like objects) away from one boy during the course of one day and then he put a butcher knife up against my back and laughed and I had to disarm him I knew it was time for me to quit this job before I died there or had to kill someone to survive. We were not allowed any weapons to defend ourselves as counselors. So when things got out of hand(and they often did) it got pretty scary at times.
After I resigned my post, my replacement was threatened by the same boy with a broken off broom handle and called the police. He was fired for this. Within 6 months, 2 counselors were murdered by juvenile offenders in San Jose where I worked then, one was beaten to death and the other stabbed to death with a shank. I'm glad I trusted my instincts to get out when I did.
At the time I was going through a bad divorce. I probably wouldn't have taken this job if I hadn't been a little self destructive at the time looking back now. Maybe I had a slight death wish because of that awful divorce and child custody battle. However, I learned so much through this experience that books could never teach. I learned that people who are criminals want respect more than anything else and whether you think they deserve it or not if you don't give them respect they might kill you.
Also, the things most suburban people worry about from criminals are mostly all false. There is an honor among thieves and they don't usually steal from poor people, only the youngest and craziest do that. Adult criminals think of themselves more like Robin Hood. Steal from the rich and give to the poor.
So in the end the middle class and the rich in many ways try to protect themselves in ways that aren't really useful because they don't understand the criminal mind. Criminals are only trying to survive any way they can. They still have to live with themselves.
In the end all humans are the same. If anyone does something they can't live with then they don't live very long.
Positive attention creates eagle scouts, honor students, star athletes, college students and college graduates. Positive attention creates people who care about themselves and others in useful positive ways. Negative attention creates abused children or unloved children or criminals or all three. Negative attention creates children in jail, children stealing, children doing drugs, children dying, children killing each other or their parents, children going crazy.
In the early 1990s I chose to work counseling male juvenile offenders ages 12 to 17. I had had a good life and one of the ways I chose to give back was to help young offenders retrain as positive young men moving into adulthood and moving away from the future candidates for real life "Pulp Fiction" the movie.
At the time I was counseling male juvenile offenders who had more than 7 felony convictions(non gun related) ages 12-17 years of age. It was a very difficult assignment. First of all, these young men were hostile in that when you met them they would do things like call you a m-f- and other colorful phrases vehemently. However, as an adult counselor I was not allowed to respond with swearing or violence in return. So, the first job was to try to move these boys individually toward positive attention and positive actions. Since they all had been so abused by life in general they did not trust me or anyone else. I guess the best way to define them would be paranoid in the extreme. However, if you had been shot at multiple times in your life, and beat up or stabbed you might be paranoid too.They didn't trust anyone. They tended to bond together like in a gang and the best I could hope for was to be viewed as a helpful uncle type of figure and hopefully they wouldn't kill me or injure me.
My job was to try to save the 25% of them that hadn't already embarked on a life of crime. Many of them didn't even see choosing a life of crime as a choice. It was just what everybody did in their neighborhood and in order to survive there, it is what one did to stay alive. For a middle class guy like myself, this was a lot to take in for me. It was hard to believe that for many crime was a way of life from cradle to the grave as normal for them as breathing. Trying to recondition the thinking of these youths was very difficult. I found I had to become extremely pragmatic in my thinking in regard to them all.
It became easy for me to spot someone who could be saved from a life of crime. They vacillated more in their decision making than hardened criminals. I found there was an order to the thinking of hardened criminals, even in their teens. Many of these boys couldn't ever be saved, and some would only be saved by a good woman, whether it was a girlfriend, a wife, a mother or a grandmother. And some others were past hope and others I could see wouldn't ever live to see 20 or 25 because of their thoughts and actions. I was around 40 years old at the time and so these young men saw me either as a do gooder like a minister or priest or they saw me as an uncle. I earned their respect because they didn't want to go to CYA(California Youth Authority) where they knew they would be very harshly treated and where all the murderers between 12-17 go as well as other serious gun related felonies tend to wind up. They were all terrified of having to go there and become someones girlfriend and get AIDS or TB or worse. So, one of the reasons they treated me with respect was terror and fear of a potential worse situation.
I did what I could for all the boys there. I tried to be as fair and as helpful as I could to them all. However, when I took 6 shanks(knife like objects) away from one boy during the course of one day and then he put a butcher knife up against my back and laughed and I had to disarm him I knew it was time for me to quit this job before I died there or had to kill someone to survive. We were not allowed any weapons to defend ourselves as counselors. So when things got out of hand(and they often did) it got pretty scary at times.
After I resigned my post, my replacement was threatened by the same boy with a broken off broom handle and called the police. He was fired for this. Within 6 months, 2 counselors were murdered by juvenile offenders in San Jose where I worked then, one was beaten to death and the other stabbed to death with a shank. I'm glad I trusted my instincts to get out when I did.
At the time I was going through a bad divorce. I probably wouldn't have taken this job if I hadn't been a little self destructive at the time looking back now. Maybe I had a slight death wish because of that awful divorce and child custody battle. However, I learned so much through this experience that books could never teach. I learned that people who are criminals want respect more than anything else and whether you think they deserve it or not if you don't give them respect they might kill you.
Also, the things most suburban people worry about from criminals are mostly all false. There is an honor among thieves and they don't usually steal from poor people, only the youngest and craziest do that. Adult criminals think of themselves more like Robin Hood. Steal from the rich and give to the poor.
So in the end the middle class and the rich in many ways try to protect themselves in ways that aren't really useful because they don't understand the criminal mind. Criminals are only trying to survive any way they can. They still have to live with themselves.
In the end all humans are the same. If anyone does something they can't live with then they don't live very long.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Purpose of Life
The purpose of life is not to work yourself to death. That is just ignorance in action.No. The purpose of life is wherever possible to meditate, to think about life, to contemplate the meaning of life(not just what someone else thought but have those realizations yourself on your own time). Each one of us who can even for a few days or months at a time break free from the rat race and who can actually think and help create solutions that might just actually prevent the long term extinction of the human race and maybe just maybe create a utopian heaven right here on earth or on out into the universe. That is the Real Purpose of Life on Earth---To become truly enlightened like a Jesus or a Buddha. THAT IS OUR REAL PURPOSE. Even if everyone doesn't do that a few of us must so that the human race doesn't just exist and then go extinct but really live!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
25 to 30% of children are abused
Though this is true worldwide and always has been, I guess, it all depends upon the degree of abuse and the kind(s) of abuse and whether the child or children in question can stay sane and alive and healthy through it all or not.
I can remember being in a University of California class on Child Psychology. There were about 500 of us attending. The professor spoke of this fact and asked for a show of hands of those in the class who were physically or sexually abused growing up and over a quarter of us raised our hands. I remember how amazed I was at the level of abuse illustrated even among those of us who had the intelligence and resources to make it into the University of California system. I haven't forgotten that experience.
One girl choose to share an instance of her father getting drunk and stabbing and nailing her hand to a table through her hand. She showed the scar but luckily it had been between the tendons and the bones so she still had good use of her hand and there was only a little scar still visible. The kinds of things even resourceful and intelligent people have to go through in life are mind boggling to even consider.
In my case I was 8 years old at a church camp and my 13 year old cousin took me into the pump room where the huge hot water heaters and heating system was located. However, I didn't know a man in the church had been molesting my cousin regularly. So my cousin said, "Lay down on this insulation." I said, "That doesn't look very comfortable." At the time I knew about men and women and babies sort of but I had no idea about men and men or women and women. At age 8 you might have just as well told me that we breathed water and drank air at that point so far those kinds of ideas were from me at the time. I was reading Batman comics at the time and it was 1956. It wasn't until I became a full adult that I started to get angry about this incident.
I can remember when I visited him and his wife when I was 29 with my 4 year old son. I mentioned this incident in front of his wife and they soon broke up. I guess that was a bad idea mentioning it in front of his wife. But I was still young and didn't always think that far ahead then. At 29 I had already been married and divorced and was raising my son by myself.
I think one of the worst places for sexual child abuse is in regard to all organized religions. I have watched how people in religious organizations and communities want so much to trust their fellow parishoners that they have blinders on and children get molested by seemingly nice people. Many people prey on children and women worldwide through the cover of religion. I find this pretty sad. I think this is why though I am spiritual I choose not to be a churchgoer. I guess it makes sense after what happened to my cousin and I.
I can remember being in a University of California class on Child Psychology. There were about 500 of us attending. The professor spoke of this fact and asked for a show of hands of those in the class who were physically or sexually abused growing up and over a quarter of us raised our hands. I remember how amazed I was at the level of abuse illustrated even among those of us who had the intelligence and resources to make it into the University of California system. I haven't forgotten that experience.
One girl choose to share an instance of her father getting drunk and stabbing and nailing her hand to a table through her hand. She showed the scar but luckily it had been between the tendons and the bones so she still had good use of her hand and there was only a little scar still visible. The kinds of things even resourceful and intelligent people have to go through in life are mind boggling to even consider.
In my case I was 8 years old at a church camp and my 13 year old cousin took me into the pump room where the huge hot water heaters and heating system was located. However, I didn't know a man in the church had been molesting my cousin regularly. So my cousin said, "Lay down on this insulation." I said, "That doesn't look very comfortable." At the time I knew about men and women and babies sort of but I had no idea about men and men or women and women. At age 8 you might have just as well told me that we breathed water and drank air at that point so far those kinds of ideas were from me at the time. I was reading Batman comics at the time and it was 1956. It wasn't until I became a full adult that I started to get angry about this incident.
I can remember when I visited him and his wife when I was 29 with my 4 year old son. I mentioned this incident in front of his wife and they soon broke up. I guess that was a bad idea mentioning it in front of his wife. But I was still young and didn't always think that far ahead then. At 29 I had already been married and divorced and was raising my son by myself.
I think one of the worst places for sexual child abuse is in regard to all organized religions. I have watched how people in religious organizations and communities want so much to trust their fellow parishoners that they have blinders on and children get molested by seemingly nice people. Many people prey on children and women worldwide through the cover of religion. I find this pretty sad. I think this is why though I am spiritual I choose not to be a churchgoer. I guess it makes sense after what happened to my cousin and I.
I See Dead People
The title is from the movie "The Sixth Sense" 1999. I always thought this statement was funny in the many jokes it inspired at that time and since. However, this is also my experience in real life just like the little boy of the movie. And like the little boy when I was young this was not fun, it was just scary. However, like that little boy I always tried to help the dead and so they always became my friends and have helped me ever since. Just like the people you help become loyal to you and help you in the living world the people I have helped in the Dead world became loyal to me and have helped me in the living world and the dead world whenever they could.
This is not for everyone. Either you have these abilities or you don't. I wouldn't even recommend trying to develop these abilities as it is a very tricky thing even for those of us with these abilities. The reason for the difficulties, first of all should be obvious to everyone. Even though I have always lived in both worlds all my life, being a natural shaman isn't always fun. It can be wonderful in that I live when others die because I am needed to be alive to help all those living and dead beings who need me alive in the physical. So beings both living and dead make sure I stay alive to be a spiritual helper to help more and more people over to the angelic and heaven realms when they pass.
Recently, a very close relative of my wife's passed. When he passed in the hospital I was driving back from Orange County as my son's car had blown its radiator and so we didn't have time to fix it so I just went to pick him up to take him to the hospital far away. On the way (several hours) to the hospital my wife's relative passed on. She called me on my cell in tears. Within one half hour he came to me having died and not really expecting an afterlife. Because I was trained until I was 21 to be a minister of my church I had been trained to deal with this kind of situation. So I invoked sacred fire to cleanse his fears away by the Grace of God. After about ten minutes of this he had returned to looking like and 18 to 20 year old from someone almost 90. At this point his parents turned up to take him to one of the heavens. I was very surprised that I was able to see into the heaven he and his parents went to. There he met his dog from childhood and in the large meadow with many flowers he cavorted happily with his long lost dog of childhood. There also were both of his wives as young women who had predeceased him. He being a newbie in heaven did not know who they were yet.
I was in the car driving with my 3 children(two grown) while this all happened and began to sob in overwhelm of the experience. Though this was all incredibly positive it was also overwhelming for me. I asked my children to pray for me and for him. They did. At first I worried about being able to drive a car like this but soon realized that my personal covenant with God and his Angels and Grace would protect my children and I driving in the car on the freeway. I was right. I was amazed and overwhelmed that God had Graced me with seeing a heaven realm once again. I hadn't been allowed to see into a heaven realm since my 20s. I felt very blessed and honored. By witnessing this to you it is my hope it will bless your lives too.
This is not for everyone. Either you have these abilities or you don't. I wouldn't even recommend trying to develop these abilities as it is a very tricky thing even for those of us with these abilities. The reason for the difficulties, first of all should be obvious to everyone. Even though I have always lived in both worlds all my life, being a natural shaman isn't always fun. It can be wonderful in that I live when others die because I am needed to be alive to help all those living and dead beings who need me alive in the physical. So beings both living and dead make sure I stay alive to be a spiritual helper to help more and more people over to the angelic and heaven realms when they pass.
Recently, a very close relative of my wife's passed. When he passed in the hospital I was driving back from Orange County as my son's car had blown its radiator and so we didn't have time to fix it so I just went to pick him up to take him to the hospital far away. On the way (several hours) to the hospital my wife's relative passed on. She called me on my cell in tears. Within one half hour he came to me having died and not really expecting an afterlife. Because I was trained until I was 21 to be a minister of my church I had been trained to deal with this kind of situation. So I invoked sacred fire to cleanse his fears away by the Grace of God. After about ten minutes of this he had returned to looking like and 18 to 20 year old from someone almost 90. At this point his parents turned up to take him to one of the heavens. I was very surprised that I was able to see into the heaven he and his parents went to. There he met his dog from childhood and in the large meadow with many flowers he cavorted happily with his long lost dog of childhood. There also were both of his wives as young women who had predeceased him. He being a newbie in heaven did not know who they were yet.
I was in the car driving with my 3 children(two grown) while this all happened and began to sob in overwhelm of the experience. Though this was all incredibly positive it was also overwhelming for me. I asked my children to pray for me and for him. They did. At first I worried about being able to drive a car like this but soon realized that my personal covenant with God and his Angels and Grace would protect my children and I driving in the car on the freeway. I was right. I was amazed and overwhelmed that God had Graced me with seeing a heaven realm once again. I hadn't been allowed to see into a heaven realm since my 20s. I felt very blessed and honored. By witnessing this to you it is my hope it will bless your lives too.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Possibilities of Wealth
Though the possibilities of wealth for some of you might be only for yourselves, I believe the real possibilities of wealth should be for everyone. However, getting from point A here and now to point B where everyone benefits from wealth is another story. Many have attempted this and all have miserable failed because of one reason or another. For example, those that once believed in "To each according to his or her needs and from each according to their ability" failed miserable because this sort of thinking though sweet in the abstract does not work in the real world. It failed miserable simply because people, "mostly only do things when they have no other choice". So if people have a choice often they will either do nothing or do whatever they want which has absolutely nothing to do with "To each according to his or her needs and from each according to his or her ability". It is my belief that the only present reality that this could work in would be if robots were programmed to serve humans. Then robots could provide the needs of humans and animals according to their programmed abilities. One sees this in the the space luxury liner in the movie WALL-E with all its good and bad ramifications. So, obviously there is no perfect solution to sharing the wealth yet devised for mankind here on earth.
So, then we turn to the possibilities of wealth for each person on earth. For me, wealth is not just money. It is intelligence, wisdom, experience. Add to that intuition, friendship, spirituality, humanism and altruism and then you really have something valuable. But in order to achieve all these things the right opportunities and intelligence and mental and physical health are necessary.
In my life money hasn't been my first consideration. I think this has been because I had two parents growing up that I was biologically related to and we were fairly happy as a family. My mother, father and I and my and then live in Scottish Grandmother all lived together and this worked to make me feel secure and stable when I grew up. So, for me, family and friends were always my priority since my life has been lower middle class to middle class as I grew up. My parents always had at least one car and sometimes a truck as well for Dad's business or for weekend jaunts or both.
So, since I always had enough cars, bicycles, toys, relatives and friends I didn't see money the way most people do. This gave me time to become philosophical and to ask questions about everything as many in my generation did during the 1960s. Since we were all very well educated compared to our parents and predecessors we saw many of the problems in the 1960s and began to change things for the better. In our idealism and relative inexperience in the world we both succeeded and failed in a multitude of ways the way all generations do. What we had was enthusiasm, intelligence but little experience at the time. This created many solutions as well as many new problems that the human race is still dealing with now. This is always true of innovative times and generations and ideas.
The next thing I'd like to mention is how many people who win lotteries lose all their money and even go bankrupt within 5 years. The main reason for this is that they treat their money like many middle and lower class people do their paychecks. When what really needs to be done is a rethinking of all their money ideas.
The way to keep their new wealth or lottery winnings is to begin to understand that, first of all a house or car is not a good investment if you are making payments on it. And on top of that a house is only a good investment if it's paid for. I suppose if one bought an antique or rare car that might be a good investment if it was stored and maintained properly. The point I'm trying to make is that if one wants to have wealth and to keep it, to maintain it and to grow it, then one has to view wealth as investments and dividends or interest. Investments are usually left as investments in order to earn you money in the form of dividends or interest or equity on your house. So one does not ordinarily spend their investments unless they have to or want to be poor. One does at times reinvest but that is a different thing than liquidating investments and spending the money.
There is a saying, "It takes money to make money". My addition to that would be, "It takes money to make money and it takes invested money to get interest and dividends to say wealthy." Getting wealth people do in all sorts of ways. However, staying wealthy is done by investing and living on dividends and interest or working at whatever job you choose worldwide and supplementing your income with dividends and interest. One can even choose to work while reinvesting dividends and interest and watching it compile over the years. Though the housing and mortgage industry are having problems at present, one can also study history and see how people found ways to survive those times too. This might be a good time to study that now.
So, then we turn to the possibilities of wealth for each person on earth. For me, wealth is not just money. It is intelligence, wisdom, experience. Add to that intuition, friendship, spirituality, humanism and altruism and then you really have something valuable. But in order to achieve all these things the right opportunities and intelligence and mental and physical health are necessary.
In my life money hasn't been my first consideration. I think this has been because I had two parents growing up that I was biologically related to and we were fairly happy as a family. My mother, father and I and my and then live in Scottish Grandmother all lived together and this worked to make me feel secure and stable when I grew up. So, for me, family and friends were always my priority since my life has been lower middle class to middle class as I grew up. My parents always had at least one car and sometimes a truck as well for Dad's business or for weekend jaunts or both.
So, since I always had enough cars, bicycles, toys, relatives and friends I didn't see money the way most people do. This gave me time to become philosophical and to ask questions about everything as many in my generation did during the 1960s. Since we were all very well educated compared to our parents and predecessors we saw many of the problems in the 1960s and began to change things for the better. In our idealism and relative inexperience in the world we both succeeded and failed in a multitude of ways the way all generations do. What we had was enthusiasm, intelligence but little experience at the time. This created many solutions as well as many new problems that the human race is still dealing with now. This is always true of innovative times and generations and ideas.
The next thing I'd like to mention is how many people who win lotteries lose all their money and even go bankrupt within 5 years. The main reason for this is that they treat their money like many middle and lower class people do their paychecks. When what really needs to be done is a rethinking of all their money ideas.
The way to keep their new wealth or lottery winnings is to begin to understand that, first of all a house or car is not a good investment if you are making payments on it. And on top of that a house is only a good investment if it's paid for. I suppose if one bought an antique or rare car that might be a good investment if it was stored and maintained properly. The point I'm trying to make is that if one wants to have wealth and to keep it, to maintain it and to grow it, then one has to view wealth as investments and dividends or interest. Investments are usually left as investments in order to earn you money in the form of dividends or interest or equity on your house. So one does not ordinarily spend their investments unless they have to or want to be poor. One does at times reinvest but that is a different thing than liquidating investments and spending the money.
There is a saying, "It takes money to make money". My addition to that would be, "It takes money to make money and it takes invested money to get interest and dividends to say wealthy." Getting wealth people do in all sorts of ways. However, staying wealthy is done by investing and living on dividends and interest or working at whatever job you choose worldwide and supplementing your income with dividends and interest. One can even choose to work while reinvesting dividends and interest and watching it compile over the years. Though the housing and mortgage industry are having problems at present, one can also study history and see how people found ways to survive those times too. This might be a good time to study that now.
Optimists and Idealists
My wife is an optimist and I am an idealist I realized today. There is a saying on a piece I read today that went like this. "Optimists refuse to acknowledge reality. Idealists remind us that it isn’t fixed." Though this saying isn't kind to optimists, I could also see its validity. Also, by reading this saying I realized how much of an idealist I am. I tend to be very pragmatic, very compassionate, but I am always also aware of how unfixed everything is. I am always aware just how much all people and situations could change for the better. And whenever I see an opportunity I begin those changes as much as I am able in all people and all situations. Mostly, it is about being aware of opportunities to create positive change in my life and others. So being an optimist my wife saved my life and hers(in the long run) by marrying me. And since I am a pragmatic idealist, I can move myself and all beings to better lives whenever I sense opportunities for doing so.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
What it's like to be born psychically gifted
The story I like to tell is in regard to truth as humans express it. At two years of old and less I wondered a lot about why humans didn't ever tell the complete truth, but only shades of it. It took me until 12 to 15 years old to ascertain that politeness kept people alive and that complete truth was a sword that often killed unnecessarily.
So I learned to disregard what people were actually thinking and feeling if they told me something different. So that I would not confront them about what they thought in their minds or they felt if they didn't want to talk about that. I honored them by what they actually said even if it was the complete reverse of what they really felt or thought. I guess it reminds a lot of growing up and being a boy and having to do what girls said rather than what they actually wanted or thought in their minds but instead having to do what they were conditioned to say by their mothers. So, even in this way all things are codified for communication verbally without honoring peoples intuitive gifts.
However, I always use my psychic gifts to sense whether people are safe or not or whether they are crazy dangerous or crazy confused. There is a big difference here. Also, I try not to talk to people who live in a non psychic or spiritual or religious world of thought and being as speaking this way might make them faint or cause them to have a break with their normal reality and I don't want the responsibility for that unless they are threatening my life or someone else's life. If lives are at stake I have no problem doing whatever is necessary to save the lives of whoever is present or involved in whatever the situation.
However, most of the time I live according to the ethic of, "Everyone needs their own relationship with God and the universe because without that people don't usually survive well or at all. So because this is my experience of life I try to let people have their own experiences with God or the universe unless they are directly or indirectly harming or trying to harm me or my family or my friends.
I see or meet other psychically gifted people all the time. We instantly know each other because of the kinds of fields of energy we run in our auras. Some are threatened that I exist and some are spiritual like me and some are not. I am aware that I might seem frightening to other psychics because I am unafraid because of my alliances with trillions of other compassionate beings throughout all time and space and have entered into the most extremely powerful alliance I have ever experienced with them throughout all time and space. This direct experience has existed since it manifested in the early 1980s in my life. However, trillions of beings throughout the universe are also conscious members of this infinitely compassionate and infinitely powerful brotherhood, sisterhood and beinghood of all compassionate beings that ever have existed or ever will exist everywhere and everywhen.
So I learned to disregard what people were actually thinking and feeling if they told me something different. So that I would not confront them about what they thought in their minds or they felt if they didn't want to talk about that. I honored them by what they actually said even if it was the complete reverse of what they really felt or thought. I guess it reminds a lot of growing up and being a boy and having to do what girls said rather than what they actually wanted or thought in their minds but instead having to do what they were conditioned to say by their mothers. So, even in this way all things are codified for communication verbally without honoring peoples intuitive gifts.
However, I always use my psychic gifts to sense whether people are safe or not or whether they are crazy dangerous or crazy confused. There is a big difference here. Also, I try not to talk to people who live in a non psychic or spiritual or religious world of thought and being as speaking this way might make them faint or cause them to have a break with their normal reality and I don't want the responsibility for that unless they are threatening my life or someone else's life. If lives are at stake I have no problem doing whatever is necessary to save the lives of whoever is present or involved in whatever the situation.
However, most of the time I live according to the ethic of, "Everyone needs their own relationship with God and the universe because without that people don't usually survive well or at all. So because this is my experience of life I try to let people have their own experiences with God or the universe unless they are directly or indirectly harming or trying to harm me or my family or my friends.
I see or meet other psychically gifted people all the time. We instantly know each other because of the kinds of fields of energy we run in our auras. Some are threatened that I exist and some are spiritual like me and some are not. I am aware that I might seem frightening to other psychics because I am unafraid because of my alliances with trillions of other compassionate beings throughout all time and space and have entered into the most extremely powerful alliance I have ever experienced with them throughout all time and space. This direct experience has existed since it manifested in the early 1980s in my life. However, trillions of beings throughout the universe are also conscious members of this infinitely compassionate and infinitely powerful brotherhood, sisterhood and beinghood of all compassionate beings that ever have existed or ever will exist everywhere and everywhen.
WALL-E Revisited
My oldest daughter, 19 is visiting and she wanted to go to WALL-E so I promised to take her even though I had already seen it once. My younger daughter decided to go too.
As I was watching it keyed me into past life memories of the survivors of Mars and the planet that is now the Asteroid belt waiting a lot like these survivors for the pieces of the planet, Maldek to impact the Earth which they knew would kill the larger dinosaurs which would have eaten humans trying to colonize here on earth. Since there were only about 500 survivors from Maldek and around 10,000 from Mars after the Thermonuclear war on Maldek destroyed the planet and also blew most of the atmosphere off of Mars. So only those living underground on Mars stayed and the rest immigrated to earth after waiting for one of the larger asteroids from the planet exploding to reach earth and to kill the dinosaurs. The Mars and Maldek survivors did not like each other but after colonizing earth intermarried at some point. We are descendants of the Maldek survivors and Mars survivors genetically enhanced with Ape DNA mixed with Galactic Humanoid DNA. We don't live as long as our Mars and Maldek ancestors but we are much physically stronger and generally bigger and stronger. Maldekians and Martians live each about 1000 years on average.
Someone said when I grew up that there have been at least 7 times that earth has had a civilization as developed as now in the past. However, ice ages tend to thin out the human race as well as times of high winds, droughts and Noah type floods.
If there are any left of them I don't know where they are now. It is possible that they just died off after creating the present cross breed of Humanoids and Apes to be their caretakers and servants which are our ancestors.
As I was watching it keyed me into past life memories of the survivors of Mars and the planet that is now the Asteroid belt waiting a lot like these survivors for the pieces of the planet, Maldek to impact the Earth which they knew would kill the larger dinosaurs which would have eaten humans trying to colonize here on earth. Since there were only about 500 survivors from Maldek and around 10,000 from Mars after the Thermonuclear war on Maldek destroyed the planet and also blew most of the atmosphere off of Mars. So only those living underground on Mars stayed and the rest immigrated to earth after waiting for one of the larger asteroids from the planet exploding to reach earth and to kill the dinosaurs. The Mars and Maldek survivors did not like each other but after colonizing earth intermarried at some point. We are descendants of the Maldek survivors and Mars survivors genetically enhanced with Ape DNA mixed with Galactic Humanoid DNA. We don't live as long as our Mars and Maldek ancestors but we are much physically stronger and generally bigger and stronger. Maldekians and Martians live each about 1000 years on average.
Someone said when I grew up that there have been at least 7 times that earth has had a civilization as developed as now in the past. However, ice ages tend to thin out the human race as well as times of high winds, droughts and Noah type floods.
If there are any left of them I don't know where they are now. It is possible that they just died off after creating the present cross breed of Humanoids and Apes to be their caretakers and servants which are our ancestors.
Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear arms probe
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_re_mi_ea/nuclear_iran
And so Iran kicks out UN inspectors searching for any evidence of Iran developing Nuclear Weapons. There is no longer doubt in anyone's mind around the world that Iran is now developing or has already developed one or more nuclear weapons.
And so Iran kicks out UN inspectors searching for any evidence of Iran developing Nuclear Weapons. There is no longer doubt in anyone's mind around the world that Iran is now developing or has already developed one or more nuclear weapons.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Om Mani Padma Hung
This Sanskrit Mantra invokes the jewel in the center of the lotus, Avaloketesvara, a physical manifestation of which is the Dalai Lama who is supposed to be the Deity of Compassion incarnate in a physical body on earth. Often Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhists will carry pictures of the Dalai Lama and touch it to their foreheads to invoke compassion, protection and blessings upon themselves and friends and loved ones in dangerous situations while trekking in the Himalayas or anywhere on earth.
My direct experience with all this began for me around 1980 when I met my first Tibetan Lama in Ashland, Oregon. This sequence of my life grew and prospered until I was initiated by the Dalai Lama, along with 500,000 other Tibetan Buddhists into the Kalachakra initiation in Bodhygaya, India, near where Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree over 2500 years ago there. In 1980 I was a Christian mystic and constantly searching for the truth and for God in everything everywhere I physically went or thought about. The idea of having compassion for all beings in all time and space throughout the universe appealed to me. For, you see when I grew up in a Christian cult I was told only about 10,000 people in my cult were going to heaven. I always felt upset about this growing up. So as an adult I wanted to include all beings in all time and space in my prayers of compassion for all beings. In this way I could facilitate the end of suffering for all beings eventually beginning right now by consciously moving toward Buddha hood like Buddha and I believe Jesus also did through becoming enlightened and helping all beings toward compassion, enlightenment and the permanent end of suffering.
This mantra facilitates the end of suffering of all beings on earth and beyond. Tibetan bracelets have this carved into them in either Tibetan or Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the root language of both Tibetan and Hindi just like Latin is the root language of all romance languages like French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese etc.
About 20% of all Buddhists worldwide or more also believe in God and I am one of them. Though I consider myself to be what I would call a universalist in that I believe in the 49,000 correct paths to enlightenment as talked about by Tibetan Buddhists which include all compassionate religions and philosophies, I also consider myself to be a Tibetan Buddhist, Catholic and mystic. So, for me, God is where I find him, her, the being. Wherever I look I see God even in your eyes. Namaste. (which means, "I bow to the God within you".
My direct experience with all this began for me around 1980 when I met my first Tibetan Lama in Ashland, Oregon. This sequence of my life grew and prospered until I was initiated by the Dalai Lama, along with 500,000 other Tibetan Buddhists into the Kalachakra initiation in Bodhygaya, India, near where Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree over 2500 years ago there. In 1980 I was a Christian mystic and constantly searching for the truth and for God in everything everywhere I physically went or thought about. The idea of having compassion for all beings in all time and space throughout the universe appealed to me. For, you see when I grew up in a Christian cult I was told only about 10,000 people in my cult were going to heaven. I always felt upset about this growing up. So as an adult I wanted to include all beings in all time and space in my prayers of compassion for all beings. In this way I could facilitate the end of suffering for all beings eventually beginning right now by consciously moving toward Buddha hood like Buddha and I believe Jesus also did through becoming enlightened and helping all beings toward compassion, enlightenment and the permanent end of suffering.
This mantra facilitates the end of suffering of all beings on earth and beyond. Tibetan bracelets have this carved into them in either Tibetan or Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the root language of both Tibetan and Hindi just like Latin is the root language of all romance languages like French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese etc.
About 20% of all Buddhists worldwide or more also believe in God and I am one of them. Though I consider myself to be what I would call a universalist in that I believe in the 49,000 correct paths to enlightenment as talked about by Tibetan Buddhists which include all compassionate religions and philosophies, I also consider myself to be a Tibetan Buddhist, Catholic and mystic. So, for me, God is where I find him, her, the being. Wherever I look I see God even in your eyes. Namaste. (which means, "I bow to the God within you".
Fathers and Mothers of the Future
Many people will tell you we live in difficult times. After living 60 I can say in complete honesty, "Times are always difficult, just in different ways." I think a good way to look at all this might be to study 1908, for example. If you study how people looked at things then and compared it to now you might get some interesting similarities. If you lived in the United States in 1908 you likely would not have a car or motorcycle or definitely not a plane. A car had just been invented as an evolution of a horse drawn wagon. In fact, they were called "horseless carriages" at first.
What I'm trying to get at is that most people have no idea what is coming and those of us who do see more than most cannot see everything and all the infinite details and ramifications of everyone and every beings thought and actions as it relates to earth and the whole universe. So, the single most important thing if you want to survive all or a part of this century is to not be a victim of any person or news in the way you look at things. Even during the Great Depression people made incredible amounts of money and wonderful relationships between people existed.
Some of the most wonderful times in my whole life were when I literally had nothing but a good relationship with a girlfriend and my friends. Often when you have everything later in life one longs for ones youth and those very free times when one has freedom of both thought and movement and dreams and hope of a good future. Whether those dreams are completely realistic or not, one at least has a hope of a future or a good future.
In order to survive to even be a father or a mother of the future one must not allow oneself to be victimized in their minds and emotions by the media by friends or by relatives. Getting angry and saying to myself, "I would rather die than be a victim of this job, this person, this company often created a much better future for me both in relationships and as an entrepreunneur. Learning how to harness ones anger at injustice not to hurt anyone but simply to create a better future for oneself and ones loved ones and friends is actually the real key to success. The first step is usually anger at something really stupid in ones life and a choice not to be a victim of a stupid person, company or situation. This is how the whole human race moves forward. Yes. Love is all you need. But to get to this place one often needs to know how to harness ones righteous anger in a positive useful way in order to get there.
Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained. That's life. C'est la vie!
What I'm trying to get at is that most people have no idea what is coming and those of us who do see more than most cannot see everything and all the infinite details and ramifications of everyone and every beings thought and actions as it relates to earth and the whole universe. So, the single most important thing if you want to survive all or a part of this century is to not be a victim of any person or news in the way you look at things. Even during the Great Depression people made incredible amounts of money and wonderful relationships between people existed.
Some of the most wonderful times in my whole life were when I literally had nothing but a good relationship with a girlfriend and my friends. Often when you have everything later in life one longs for ones youth and those very free times when one has freedom of both thought and movement and dreams and hope of a good future. Whether those dreams are completely realistic or not, one at least has a hope of a future or a good future.
In order to survive to even be a father or a mother of the future one must not allow oneself to be victimized in their minds and emotions by the media by friends or by relatives. Getting angry and saying to myself, "I would rather die than be a victim of this job, this person, this company often created a much better future for me both in relationships and as an entrepreunneur. Learning how to harness ones anger at injustice not to hurt anyone but simply to create a better future for oneself and ones loved ones and friends is actually the real key to success. The first step is usually anger at something really stupid in ones life and a choice not to be a victim of a stupid person, company or situation. This is how the whole human race moves forward. Yes. Love is all you need. But to get to this place one often needs to know how to harness ones righteous anger in a positive useful way in order to get there.
Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained. That's life. C'est la vie!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Mamma Mia
I went to see Mamma Mia with my family. Meryl Streep really nailed this one and held it together. All the other older male and female actors were veterans and made this whole thing fly. I would have to say that this was the most delightful movie thus far this year, even though it is kind of for the 10 or 12 years or older croud because of the subject matter. (three fathers?) bawdy humor etc. However, only you will know if your child is okay to see this. For me, my older kids would have loved this even at 6, 8 or 10 during the 1980s when things were different than now. I find people much more uptight since AIDS and Herpes became a problem(25% of New York City has herpes for example.)
Anyway, for a good time, and the feel good movie of the year for us old ABBA fans, go see Mamma Mia. It is a must see for those of us who came up during the 60s, 70s and even into the 80s. Good fun. Good humor!
EVen those born as recently as 5 years ago might find it interesting! Good movie!
Anyway, for a good time, and the feel good movie of the year for us old ABBA fans, go see Mamma Mia. It is a must see for those of us who came up during the 60s, 70s and even into the 80s. Good fun. Good humor!
EVen those born as recently as 5 years ago might find it interesting! Good movie!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
1/3 of flights in U.S.
Since April, several airlines have gone out of business in the U.S. In addition those airlines staying in business are cancelling about 1/3 of their flights to mostly small airports. For air commuters to work this is very bad news.
I recently found out it is now cheaper to travel by Amtrak than even by bus most places within the U.S. Amtrak now provides train or if there is no train tracks, buses to most larger cities in the U.S. So traveling does not have to just be by train to get the great fares. Though it might take in some instances longer to get some where, still one can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in plane or bus tickets and still get there safely while not worrying about burning up more diesel or gas in a less efficient way than on the trains.
For example, a friend of mine was able to travel from oregon to southern California recently for $90 recently one way. Even in a Prius, just paying the gas bill would likely have been much more than that. I checked the plane fare one way and found around $550 for a one way ticket. I was amazed how much the airfares have gone up in that time. I think it's time we built high speed trains accross the western United States too.
I recently found out it is now cheaper to travel by Amtrak than even by bus most places within the U.S. Amtrak now provides train or if there is no train tracks, buses to most larger cities in the U.S. So traveling does not have to just be by train to get the great fares. Though it might take in some instances longer to get some where, still one can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in plane or bus tickets and still get there safely while not worrying about burning up more diesel or gas in a less efficient way than on the trains.
For example, a friend of mine was able to travel from oregon to southern California recently for $90 recently one way. Even in a Prius, just paying the gas bill would likely have been much more than that. I checked the plane fare one way and found around $550 for a one way ticket. I was amazed how much the airfares have gone up in that time. I think it's time we built high speed trains accross the western United States too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)