Erik Davis writes for Reality Sandwich and has much of his own work...I've been reading his book Techgnosis: myth, magic + mysticism in the age of information and this what he has to say:
"As the authority of Greek rationalism waned, people began fretting over the perennial existential questions: what was the purpose of life, the value of the body, the fate of the earth, the future of civilization? Traditional answers tasted stale, and the power of the old prophets and Rome's state religion sputtered in the face of new (or renewed) religious forces trickling in from the margins of the empire - astrology, Oriental cults, Christianity, apocalyptic prophecies...Helenic Neoplatanism intermingled with Egyptian sorcery, Christianity won its first converts, and pagan philosophers swapped apocalypses with Jewish mystics. Gnostic rumors were whispered in the wings, and even a handful of Buddhist monks dropped some dharma into the stew...But it was the mystery cults centered around gods like Isis and Mithras that broke all attendance records with their promise of esoteric information and ecstatic revelation. These cults possessed many of the same selling points that have lured modern Western seekers to the East: exoticism, a promise of spiritual experience rather than dogma, and an opportunity for religious reinvention in a time of cultural dissolution."
Going back to what dozemay was saying about periods of change, or new ages...This is what occurred according to Davis at the end of the Roman empire....I can't help but feel we are in the same place different time...Who'd have thought this could get more interesting than the 60's... cheers :)
Also, to not create another post...I came across the maharishi university of management a few months back and haven't been back to their site till today...I highly recommend their video page...looks like an amazing place to learn
http://www.mum.edu/videos.html
Friday, November 9, 2007
RFID...in your meds
RFID is no fake: the adoption of radio frequency identification technology in the pharmaceutical supply chain
by David C. Wyld, Michael A. Jones
International Journal of Integrated Supply Management (IJISM), Vol. 3, No. 2, 2007
Abstract: This article examines the adoption of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the pharmaceutical supply chain to address the unique challenges this industry faces. Two major issues in drug distribution are medical errors in administration of drugs and the recent growth of counterfeit drugs. Due to its promise in addressing these and other issues, the pharmaceutical industry has become a leader in the adoption of RFID technology. Recommendations from Federal and state agencies and mandates from major retailers are discussed, which are influencing the adoption of RFID. The article provides a description of the role RFID technology can play in preventing counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain and in controlling pharmaceutical stocks in the retail supply chain, in health care facilities and in supplies of sample drugs. It is demonstrated that over the long-term, RFID will be the adopted by the pharmaceutical industry to promote security, safety and efficiency.
I looked this up after a friend told me that the generic aspirn an eastcoast pharmacy like Rite Aid has RFID embedded in it and was not digestable so they could monitor customers....weird
"they must find it difficult those who took the authority as truth as opposed to the truth as the authority..."
by David C. Wyld, Michael A. Jones
International Journal of Integrated Supply Management (IJISM), Vol. 3, No. 2, 2007
Abstract: This article examines the adoption of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the pharmaceutical supply chain to address the unique challenges this industry faces. Two major issues in drug distribution are medical errors in administration of drugs and the recent growth of counterfeit drugs. Due to its promise in addressing these and other issues, the pharmaceutical industry has become a leader in the adoption of RFID technology. Recommendations from Federal and state agencies and mandates from major retailers are discussed, which are influencing the adoption of RFID. The article provides a description of the role RFID technology can play in preventing counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain and in controlling pharmaceutical stocks in the retail supply chain, in health care facilities and in supplies of sample drugs. It is demonstrated that over the long-term, RFID will be the adopted by the pharmaceutical industry to promote security, safety and efficiency.
I looked this up after a friend told me that the generic aspirn an eastcoast pharmacy like Rite Aid has RFID embedded in it and was not digestable so they could monitor customers....weird
"they must find it difficult those who took the authority as truth as opposed to the truth as the authority..."
we are the jewels
The Jewel Net of Indra
"In 1976 during an LSD trip with my husband, Alex, I experienced my body turning into infinite strands of light that were both a fountain and a drain. As I lay meditating next to Alex, I could see that he too had been revealed as a fountain and drain, individual and distinct but connected to my 'energy unit.' I realized that all beings and things were 'blowing off' and 'sucking in' pure energy in an infinite field of confluent effluences. The energy was love, the unifying force. This changed both of our artwork as we felt that we had witnessed the most important thing: a revelation of the grid upon which the fabric of our material reality is draped. Sometime thereafter, I read a quote describing the Jewel Net of Indra. In the abode of Indra, the Hindu God of Space, there is a net that stretches infinitely in all directions. At every intersection of the net there is a jewel so highly polished and perfect that it reflects every other jewel in the net. This description related powerfully to the revelation that we had received while in our altered state. It has been my continuing intention to point to this experience in my artwork." -- Allyson Grey
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v10n3/index.html
Thursday, November 8, 2007
TED talks
there is a conference every year about everything futuristic. it is mostly based around technology, entertainment and design (hence T.E.D.). but it is a great forum for anything from al gore climate speeches to buddhism to space travel, seemingly nothing is left un-addressed (save for maybe LSD).
although this conference is mostly presented and attended by tech companies and big money venture capitalists, i was pleasantly amazed and suprised at their vision for a future which stresses personality, equality and education. these people may seem mainstream and buisnessy but are way out of the box (whatever that box is anyway...) and have some real power in our present world. philanthropic endeavors such as the $100 laptop, an inconvenient truth and google.org, have their roots in this conference.
for some reason i cant embed the videos directly here but the website is definitely worth checking out and consits of seprate speakers and thier topics (the talks are limited to 19mins by the way).
here is the website video page:
http://www.ted.com/talks/browse
here are two of my favs so far:
creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66
user created content
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187
"Drink deeply.
Live in serenity and joy.
The wise person delights in the truth
and follows the law of the awakened.
The farmer channels water in his land.
The fletcher whittles his arrows.
And the carpenter turns his wood.
So the wise direct their mind."
- the Dhammapada
although this conference is mostly presented and attended by tech companies and big money venture capitalists, i was pleasantly amazed and suprised at their vision for a future which stresses personality, equality and education. these people may seem mainstream and buisnessy but are way out of the box (whatever that box is anyway...) and have some real power in our present world. philanthropic endeavors such as the $100 laptop, an inconvenient truth and google.org, have their roots in this conference.
for some reason i cant embed the videos directly here but the website is definitely worth checking out and consits of seprate speakers and thier topics (the talks are limited to 19mins by the way).
here is the website video page:
http://www.ted.com/talks/browse
here are two of my favs so far:
creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66
user created content
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187
"Drink deeply.
Live in serenity and joy.
The wise person delights in the truth
and follows the law of the awakened.
The farmer channels water in his land.
The fletcher whittles his arrows.
And the carpenter turns his wood.
So the wise direct their mind."
- the Dhammapada
Did you feel that?
oh my goodness. I'm reading this new book called Wheels of Life. It is a 'user's guide to the chakra system.' I decided to read it to help me approach my yoga in a new and exciting way and just because I know so little about the chakras and I've always wanted to know more. I'm only in the first chapter, so i'm still a humongous amateur, but I just tried this suggested exercise and it seriously gave me tingles throughout my entire body. You should try it too! it's fun. Here's the excerpt:
"If you would like to experience what a chakra feels like, the following is a simple exercise for opening the hand chakras and experiencing their energy:
[oh, by the way, she discusses how there are 7 main chakras, but that Hindus have discovered many more. the hand chakras are just two of many.]
Extend both arms out in front of you, parallel to the floor with elbows straight.
Turn one hand up and one hand down. Now quickly open and close your hands a dozen times or so.
Reverse your palms and repeat. This opens the hand chakras.
To feel their energy, open your hands and SLOWLY bring your palms together, starting about two feet apart.
When your hands are about four inches apart you should be able to feel a subtle ball of energy, like a magnetic field, floating between your palms. If you tune in closely, you may even be able to feel it spinning.
After a few moments the sensation will subside, but it can be repeated by opening and closing the palms again, as above."
I think it helps if you close your eyes so you can really focus on what you're feeling.
Did you feel it?
"If you would like to experience what a chakra feels like, the following is a simple exercise for opening the hand chakras and experiencing their energy:
[oh, by the way, she discusses how there are 7 main chakras, but that Hindus have discovered many more. the hand chakras are just two of many.]
Extend both arms out in front of you, parallel to the floor with elbows straight.
Turn one hand up and one hand down. Now quickly open and close your hands a dozen times or so.
Reverse your palms and repeat. This opens the hand chakras.
To feel their energy, open your hands and SLOWLY bring your palms together, starting about two feet apart.
When your hands are about four inches apart you should be able to feel a subtle ball of energy, like a magnetic field, floating between your palms. If you tune in closely, you may even be able to feel it spinning.
After a few moments the sensation will subside, but it can be repeated by opening and closing the palms again, as above."
I think it helps if you close your eyes so you can really focus on what you're feeling.
Did you feel it?
For Love
I've done a lot of work with personal essay writing...sort of creative non-fiction work and what that does to us spiritually...i just found this thing I wrote last year that is pretty interesting and i don't really remember writing it which is also interesting...if anyone is interested in this type of work I have a short list of topics and exercises that go into this stuff and would be happy to share
What does it mean to bring my words to the page? What does it mean when I can stream thoughts, conscious thoughts, through my fingers onto the screen? If it flows uninterrupted, is it a clearer depiction of what I think and who I am? Or if I sit, and contemplate, run over different options and possibilities in my head, what does it mean then? Writing is a strange, sort of scary process. It is in a way like visual media and sound, but there are so many gaps in language, especially of the English kind. We cannot really describe what we feel; we cannot truly describe what we saw. Often what we say are mere articulations, or reason-induced speculations. In other words, what truly happened does not always make its way to the page and in that case, what’s the point?
I often find that song and smell bring forth what I see as unprecedented meaning in life. A song or a smell can send a chapter of my life into a new light, that when combined with the present circumstances or knowledge, in turn creates something permanent, like a bookmark in the timeline of earthly existence. I attribute these occurrences to the words of poet W.H. Auden who wrote, “Somewhere are places where we have really been/dear spaces/Of our deeds and faces/scenes we remember/As unchanging because there we changed…” Auden’s words also accomplish this feat, as I can remember distinctly when I first read them. A train started rolling through my mind, taking me back to all these places. Serious places these are in one’s mind, especially if we think too hard.
If I decide to write about such occurrences, the event can sometimes take on different meaning which trickles down into various areas of the life. Writing, unless the words are emitting from the depths of the interior, has become much formalized. We think about the past enough as it is and reflecting on it through analytical means is a difficult and sometimes painful task. Sometimes going back is necessary, but sometimes when we go back we can convince ourselves that it is necessary. If the words fly from the sparkling neurons in my brain, however, I feel as if something true is happening, a voice is coming through and presenting itself in language, because it must. Because it is trying to tell me something about myself and my life, about where the next step lies, and make a record of this divine intervention for a later time when I can look back and see. Nobody likes getting held up on things, but I think we do it to ourselves terribly
The essay can take me so many places, that I feel like it is like a weapon or a drug that can only be used responsibly. If sufficient effort is not given, especially when writing an analytic meditation, the consequence of possible hindrance in personal development can be grave. By sufficient effort I mean, the right basis for the piece, long enough time frame, and ability to revise and look at it when in different states of mind. It’s so strange what our minds can turn out. Our slightly schizophrenic society is a major contributor to this. But what if one could essay the unconscious life? Psychologist Carl Jung talked about the noble attempt of fusing the conscious and unconscious self while investigating our spiritual selves. This whole other world that is so dark and dimly lit in my mind, I think holds some of the greatest mysteries to the meaning of life. Let’s say we essayed an unconscious event, but did not speak of it is an unconscious event, giving it our full attention, and analytic powers in hopes to create some of the same revelations of waking essayist work.
I met a dog one night, a beautiful brown lab. She reminded me of Hershey, Chris’s dog that died a few years back. I was a little tipsy from the party we were having at Chris’s house earlier that afternoon, and this dog’s excitement was too much for me. She was so excited to see and play with me, pacing back and forth, jumping up and down as I got closer. I think it’s so funny how some dogs can smile. I always like those dogs a little bit more than others. Brown lab and I played for a while, smiling and laughing, until a profound compassion began to stir inside me. I suddenly felt like I was in Alaska and hadn’t seen the sun for three months, and now here it was, shining hard and fast from this dog’s big heart. But soon after this feeling arose, a cloud crossed over the sun and a voice came through, telling me she was sick, that she was dying. I grappled with this thought for a moment because she was so lively, so happy. I guess her death did not scare her. She was going to live and play until that moment came, or in other words, dance till the music is over. After this realization, I burst into tears like I hadn’t done since I was a child. With her face cupped in my hands, I looked in her eyes and still saw only joy even in the midst of such saddening news. As I cried, she licked my tears that had fallen from my eyes. Whatever I was experiencing at this moment, was the most powerful emotion I have seen to date, so I want to call it pure love. I’m missing something I realized, and whatever it is, is a truly beautiful thing.
As far as I will ever be able to tell, this dream was real in every aspect, and writing about it cast it in stone. Writing about it moved me forward in some sense, which is my biggest goal of all. Rather than dwelling on something of my past that I know happened, this event of neither past nor future, carried symbolic meaning like that of the song or smell or poem. In a certain sense, the power of this event and the reflection of it are ‘unreasonable’. I cannot use my intellectual strength to fully comprehend every aspect of it, but I can feel it, deep in my bones every time I recall that beautiful incident.
I think when writing in this nature, much more can be brought to light, but I am going to have to wait and see what life brings my way before I can make any conclusions. “I just don’t know,” I’ve grown to realize, through the writing process, is one of the most honorable answers there is. Either way, as wise woman once told me, “The art of the personal essay, this genre, is for love’s sake.” It seems this couldn’t be closer to the truth.
What does it mean to bring my words to the page? What does it mean when I can stream thoughts, conscious thoughts, through my fingers onto the screen? If it flows uninterrupted, is it a clearer depiction of what I think and who I am? Or if I sit, and contemplate, run over different options and possibilities in my head, what does it mean then? Writing is a strange, sort of scary process. It is in a way like visual media and sound, but there are so many gaps in language, especially of the English kind. We cannot really describe what we feel; we cannot truly describe what we saw. Often what we say are mere articulations, or reason-induced speculations. In other words, what truly happened does not always make its way to the page and in that case, what’s the point?
I often find that song and smell bring forth what I see as unprecedented meaning in life. A song or a smell can send a chapter of my life into a new light, that when combined with the present circumstances or knowledge, in turn creates something permanent, like a bookmark in the timeline of earthly existence. I attribute these occurrences to the words of poet W.H. Auden who wrote, “Somewhere are places where we have really been/dear spaces/Of our deeds and faces/scenes we remember/As unchanging because there we changed…” Auden’s words also accomplish this feat, as I can remember distinctly when I first read them. A train started rolling through my mind, taking me back to all these places. Serious places these are in one’s mind, especially if we think too hard.
If I decide to write about such occurrences, the event can sometimes take on different meaning which trickles down into various areas of the life. Writing, unless the words are emitting from the depths of the interior, has become much formalized. We think about the past enough as it is and reflecting on it through analytical means is a difficult and sometimes painful task. Sometimes going back is necessary, but sometimes when we go back we can convince ourselves that it is necessary. If the words fly from the sparkling neurons in my brain, however, I feel as if something true is happening, a voice is coming through and presenting itself in language, because it must. Because it is trying to tell me something about myself and my life, about where the next step lies, and make a record of this divine intervention for a later time when I can look back and see. Nobody likes getting held up on things, but I think we do it to ourselves terribly
The essay can take me so many places, that I feel like it is like a weapon or a drug that can only be used responsibly. If sufficient effort is not given, especially when writing an analytic meditation, the consequence of possible hindrance in personal development can be grave. By sufficient effort I mean, the right basis for the piece, long enough time frame, and ability to revise and look at it when in different states of mind. It’s so strange what our minds can turn out. Our slightly schizophrenic society is a major contributor to this. But what if one could essay the unconscious life? Psychologist Carl Jung talked about the noble attempt of fusing the conscious and unconscious self while investigating our spiritual selves. This whole other world that is so dark and dimly lit in my mind, I think holds some of the greatest mysteries to the meaning of life. Let’s say we essayed an unconscious event, but did not speak of it is an unconscious event, giving it our full attention, and analytic powers in hopes to create some of the same revelations of waking essayist work.
I met a dog one night, a beautiful brown lab. She reminded me of Hershey, Chris’s dog that died a few years back. I was a little tipsy from the party we were having at Chris’s house earlier that afternoon, and this dog’s excitement was too much for me. She was so excited to see and play with me, pacing back and forth, jumping up and down as I got closer. I think it’s so funny how some dogs can smile. I always like those dogs a little bit more than others. Brown lab and I played for a while, smiling and laughing, until a profound compassion began to stir inside me. I suddenly felt like I was in Alaska and hadn’t seen the sun for three months, and now here it was, shining hard and fast from this dog’s big heart. But soon after this feeling arose, a cloud crossed over the sun and a voice came through, telling me she was sick, that she was dying. I grappled with this thought for a moment because she was so lively, so happy. I guess her death did not scare her. She was going to live and play until that moment came, or in other words, dance till the music is over. After this realization, I burst into tears like I hadn’t done since I was a child. With her face cupped in my hands, I looked in her eyes and still saw only joy even in the midst of such saddening news. As I cried, she licked my tears that had fallen from my eyes. Whatever I was experiencing at this moment, was the most powerful emotion I have seen to date, so I want to call it pure love. I’m missing something I realized, and whatever it is, is a truly beautiful thing.
As far as I will ever be able to tell, this dream was real in every aspect, and writing about it cast it in stone. Writing about it moved me forward in some sense, which is my biggest goal of all. Rather than dwelling on something of my past that I know happened, this event of neither past nor future, carried symbolic meaning like that of the song or smell or poem. In a certain sense, the power of this event and the reflection of it are ‘unreasonable’. I cannot use my intellectual strength to fully comprehend every aspect of it, but I can feel it, deep in my bones every time I recall that beautiful incident.
I think when writing in this nature, much more can be brought to light, but I am going to have to wait and see what life brings my way before I can make any conclusions. “I just don’t know,” I’ve grown to realize, through the writing process, is one of the most honorable answers there is. Either way, as wise woman once told me, “The art of the personal essay, this genre, is for love’s sake.” It seems this couldn’t be closer to the truth.
weed good?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308258,00.html
according to the above link, marijuana use alone in switzerland is better for teens than abstaining, or using a combo of ganja and ciggies across categories like friendship, sports, and good grades.
an american doctor quoted tries to repeatedly throw the test results out of the story in the article tho... but the findings are interesting none the less (plus its an article in foxnews?)
More on Science
TLT's post about the synchronous universe website reminded me of something cool. The Global Consciousness Project is a program coming out of Princeton that studies how conciousness affects reality. Here is the website:
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
These guys have placed random number generators (not unlike slot machines and roulette tables in principle) all over the world. They take readings off of these generators and analyze the synchronicty between the numbers generated. During events like the OJ's verdict and 9/11, the generators just so happen to show more similarity; pointing towards the fact that when vast amounts of human consciouness are focused on one thing, the noosphere is altered. This is exactly what Dr. Swanson means when he talks about psychokinesis. On a related note, there is an annual event called Global Orgasm Day where the idea is to focus as much energy as posssible on positivity while enjoing the poetry of nature through sex or masturbation. Check out their website:
http://www.globalorgasm.org/
A quote from Robert Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorctcle Maintenance:
"The whole renaissance is supposed to have resulted from the topsy-turvy feeling caused by Columbus' discovery of a new world. It just shook people up. The topsy-turviness of that time is recorded everywhere. There was nothing in the flat-earth view of the Old and New Testaments that predicted it. Yet people couldn't deny it. The only way they could assimilate it was to abandon the entire medieval outlook and enter into a new expansion of reason...I think the present day reason is an analogue of the flat earth of the medieval period. If you go to far beyond it you're presumed to fall off, into insanity. And people are very much affraid of that. I think this fear of insanity is comparable to the fear people once had of falling off the edge of the world. Or the fear of heretics....But what's happening is that each year our old flat earth of conventional reason becomes less and less adequate to handle the experiences we have and this is creating widespread feelings of topsy-turviness. As a result, we're getting more and more people in irrational areas of thought-occultism, mysticism, drug changes and the like-becuase they feel the inadequacy of classical reason to handle what they know are real experiences."
This was written in the 70's. The topsy-turviness that Persig talks about is palpable. Mysticism will hold its proper place soon....
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
These guys have placed random number generators (not unlike slot machines and roulette tables in principle) all over the world. They take readings off of these generators and analyze the synchronicty between the numbers generated. During events like the OJ's verdict and 9/11, the generators just so happen to show more similarity; pointing towards the fact that when vast amounts of human consciouness are focused on one thing, the noosphere is altered. This is exactly what Dr. Swanson means when he talks about psychokinesis. On a related note, there is an annual event called Global Orgasm Day where the idea is to focus as much energy as posssible on positivity while enjoing the poetry of nature through sex or masturbation. Check out their website:
http://www.globalorgasm.org/
A quote from Robert Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorctcle Maintenance:
"The whole renaissance is supposed to have resulted from the topsy-turvy feeling caused by Columbus' discovery of a new world. It just shook people up. The topsy-turviness of that time is recorded everywhere. There was nothing in the flat-earth view of the Old and New Testaments that predicted it. Yet people couldn't deny it. The only way they could assimilate it was to abandon the entire medieval outlook and enter into a new expansion of reason...I think the present day reason is an analogue of the flat earth of the medieval period. If you go to far beyond it you're presumed to fall off, into insanity. And people are very much affraid of that. I think this fear of insanity is comparable to the fear people once had of falling off the edge of the world. Or the fear of heretics....But what's happening is that each year our old flat earth of conventional reason becomes less and less adequate to handle the experiences we have and this is creating widespread feelings of topsy-turviness. As a result, we're getting more and more people in irrational areas of thought-occultism, mysticism, drug changes and the like-becuase they feel the inadequacy of classical reason to handle what they know are real experiences."
This was written in the 70's. The topsy-turviness that Persig talks about is palpable. Mysticism will hold its proper place soon....
Winona Duke
Green Party/Native American spokeswoman...heightened consciousness...I been studying about natives a lot recently and I really think, as Xam once told me that we can be the new, new native americans if we want to be...enjoy
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Dr. Claude Swanson, PhD Physicist
so, I saw a flyer for this guy at my work. He gave a talk in the Lincoln center on "The Synchronized Universe and the Secret of Life" on october 19th and I unfortunately missed it. I was very sad, but looked up the website on his flyer and found out he's giving what I think is the same lecture on Wednesday, November 14th from 6:45-9:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder in the Sky Room.
Check him out:
The website on the flyer was: www.spre.org
this website has his event posted on the home page, but Dr. Swanson's actual page is www.synchronizeduniverse.com
If you go to his page, it overviews in a really really short way certain points that he is including in his new book, and, I'm assuming, in his lecture next week.
Anybody wanna go with me to his talk? C'mon, it's going to be interesting.....
Check him out:
The website on the flyer was: www.spre.org
this website has his event posted on the home page, but Dr. Swanson's actual page is www.synchronizeduniverse.com
If you go to his page, it overviews in a really really short way certain points that he is including in his new book, and, I'm assuming, in his lecture next week.
Anybody wanna go with me to his talk? C'mon, it's going to be interesting.....
intention
with clear intention and resolve, we can use our adverse situations to help us grow spiritually, emotionally, and even physically, which opens up a myriad of possibilities regarding how we choose to live our lives and how we relate to one another and the world...it is not so much about what comes to us in our life experiences, but rather how we respond to it
Nassim Haramein
Here is a video of a presentation given by pioneering theoretical physicist Nassim Haramein. It is very similar to the talk he gave at Horning's this year. Exciting stuff.
Go here for a bigger screen:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4907540922643918266
Go here for the Resonance Project:
http://www.theresonanceproject.org/index-flash-hi-res.htm
The construction of reality using science and the alternative methods to our current empirical system are topics that are of great interest me. Our society is driven to squeeze all the mystery out of nature in order to better understand our condition and in doing so, we completely ignore the role of consciousness in shaping reality. Also, we completely ignore the fact that our science does nothing but bring up more ambiguities and more questions. Quantum physics tells us that we essentially cannot know the "true nature" of anything because it is embedded within our understanding of it. The act of observation has a drastic and undeniable defining effect on the subject. The seemingly impenetrable empirical method has focused so much energy on defining the undefinable and so much weight has been put on those definitions that it is hard to see past the apparatus that is shaping our perception of the world. We need to realize that we are cocreating reality with consciousness. When things like love, imagination and creativity are unionized with scientific thought we will have a much more holistic view of the world that we create everyday. Truly realizing the nature of our oneness with each other and with the universe and wholeheartedly embracing the metaphysical aspects of existence are the only paths towards transcendence. Only when we appreciate and grasp the fact that we are all connected in a latticework of love and expression will we be able to rise above the blinding paradigm that we are currently pinballing around in. Ideas about sciences, philosophies, psychedelic experiences, ancient wisdoms, and life in general are starting to become more and more synchronous among the people who care enough to challenge the archetype of our existence. Brilliant ideas are "rip[ing] open a hole in the mythological framework of American society. Millions of minds are at this very moment pouring through the fissure." As I have expressed to Taka through our correspondence, I am overjoyed to be one of those minds. It is an awesome time to be alive.
It is in the norm shattering ideas of people like Haramein that the world will find itself. Embodying what resonates with you will open the eyes of the world.
I recently read this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It resonated with me so I will share it:
"A man's genius, the quality that differences him from every other, the suseptability to one class of influences, the selection of what is fit for him, the rejection of what is unfit, determines for him the character of the universe. A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like to him, wherever he goes. He takes only his own out of the multiplicity that sweeps and circles round him. He is like one of those booms which are set out from the shore on rivers to catch driftwood, or like the loadstone amongst splinters of steel. Those facts, words, persons, which dwell in his memory without his being able to say why, remain, because they have a relation to him not less real for being as yet unapprehended. They are symbols of value to him, as they can interpret parts of his consciousness which he would vainly seek words for in the conventional images of books and other minds. What attracts my attention shall have it, as I will go to the man who knocks at my door, whilst a thousand persons, as worthy, go by it, to whom I have no regard. It is enough that these particulats speak to me. A few antecdotes, a few traits of character, manners, face, a few incidents, have an emphasis in your memory out of all proportion to their apparent significance, if you measure them by the ordinary standards. They relate to your gift. Let them have their weight, and do not reject them, and cast about for illustration and facts more usual in literature. What your heart thinks great is great. The soul's emphasis is always right."
Go here for a bigger screen:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4907540922643918266
Go here for the Resonance Project:
http://www.theresonanceproject.org/index-flash-hi-res.htm
The construction of reality using science and the alternative methods to our current empirical system are topics that are of great interest me. Our society is driven to squeeze all the mystery out of nature in order to better understand our condition and in doing so, we completely ignore the role of consciousness in shaping reality. Also, we completely ignore the fact that our science does nothing but bring up more ambiguities and more questions. Quantum physics tells us that we essentially cannot know the "true nature" of anything because it is embedded within our understanding of it. The act of observation has a drastic and undeniable defining effect on the subject. The seemingly impenetrable empirical method has focused so much energy on defining the undefinable and so much weight has been put on those definitions that it is hard to see past the apparatus that is shaping our perception of the world. We need to realize that we are cocreating reality with consciousness. When things like love, imagination and creativity are unionized with scientific thought we will have a much more holistic view of the world that we create everyday. Truly realizing the nature of our oneness with each other and with the universe and wholeheartedly embracing the metaphysical aspects of existence are the only paths towards transcendence. Only when we appreciate and grasp the fact that we are all connected in a latticework of love and expression will we be able to rise above the blinding paradigm that we are currently pinballing around in. Ideas about sciences, philosophies, psychedelic experiences, ancient wisdoms, and life in general are starting to become more and more synchronous among the people who care enough to challenge the archetype of our existence. Brilliant ideas are "rip[ing] open a hole in the mythological framework of American society. Millions of minds are at this very moment pouring through the fissure." As I have expressed to Taka through our correspondence, I am overjoyed to be one of those minds. It is an awesome time to be alive.
It is in the norm shattering ideas of people like Haramein that the world will find itself. Embodying what resonates with you will open the eyes of the world.
I recently read this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It resonated with me so I will share it:
"A man's genius, the quality that differences him from every other, the suseptability to one class of influences, the selection of what is fit for him, the rejection of what is unfit, determines for him the character of the universe. A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like to him, wherever he goes. He takes only his own out of the multiplicity that sweeps and circles round him. He is like one of those booms which are set out from the shore on rivers to catch driftwood, or like the loadstone amongst splinters of steel. Those facts, words, persons, which dwell in his memory without his being able to say why, remain, because they have a relation to him not less real for being as yet unapprehended. They are symbols of value to him, as they can interpret parts of his consciousness which he would vainly seek words for in the conventional images of books and other minds. What attracts my attention shall have it, as I will go to the man who knocks at my door, whilst a thousand persons, as worthy, go by it, to whom I have no regard. It is enough that these particulats speak to me. A few antecdotes, a few traits of character, manners, face, a few incidents, have an emphasis in your memory out of all proportion to their apparent significance, if you measure them by the ordinary standards. They relate to your gift. Let them have their weight, and do not reject them, and cast about for illustration and facts more usual in literature. What your heart thinks great is great. The soul's emphasis is always right."
Maynard James Keenan is... (_________)
The Tool man is at it again. This time, sounding more like Nine Inch Nails if Raja Ram and Les Claypool dropped by Trent Reznor's recording studio. Maynard James Keenan's sideproject PusciferV is for Vagina was released on October 30th. Maybe because it would have been too scary if it actually dropped on All Hallows Eve. This album is dark. Not like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon. This album is dark like when you're walking down a dark alley and crackheads are trying to shank you with broken glass for your wallet (happens all the time in L.A., I swear). Ok, so maybe my analogies are a bit odd and far fetched--hopefully you'll get the idea when you listen to tracks like "Drunk With Power," "Indigo Children" or "Sour Grapes." While Puscifer's sound is evil and psychedelic, it's also fully danceable industrial at times. Enjoy some fucked up shit and let me know what you think.
*Rhapsody peeps can use the link at the top (click the article title). Everyone else has to suffer and find the album somewhere else, sorry.
music, us.. everything
this is a great quote, i think, from an article on Reality Sandwich..
"Perhaps I'm being romantic when I think of the writings of Sufi master Hazarat Inayat Khan: "Music is not only life's greatest object, but music is life itself." He talks about music one day becoming the "religion of humanity," yet I think he knew it already is. Poets of his country, India, had created the idea of Nada Brahma millennia ago: sound is the ever-present force expressing itself through the universe and linking the cosmos with humanity. The classical systems of North and South India were cyclically timed to tune into the patterns of nature, of winds and monsoons, star-rises and sun-falls. Music was played because it was an expression of life, not the salability of it."
http://www.realitysandwich.com/music_you_what_brand
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Like a well used, but never used up
- John Fire a.k.a. Lame Deer, Sioux Medicine Man
“The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
Filled with infinite possibilities.
It is hidden but always present.
I don’t know who gave birth to it.
It is older than God.[1]”
-Lao Tzu
The birth of Taoism, in a Machiavellian sort of way, came out of necessity. Taoism’s conception in the Axial Religious Age served as a vivid contrast to rigid Confucian doctrine that was dominating the minds and politics of ancient Chinese at the time. Its conception thus illustrates its main principle: balance. Taoist’s beliefs of balance, unity, peace and Tao (Great Spirit) pervade all elements of life on earth and represent a view of the world that transcends the common burdens of race, power, and politics. In order to ease these quandaries, the way of the Tao places the human soul in the upper echelons of philosophic importance, while at the same time placing the human physical being on an equal ground with all things on earth. In other words, the time we are given here should not be fraught with stress and worry over matters of money and politics, but our days should be lived out in peace and harmony with the environment that both surrounds us, and nurtures us. Proficient and prolific reverence then should be paid to all divine aspects of our lives in order to help guide us to the road of eternal bliss.
If we peer into the “ancient” history of
Earth
From the first words of The Great Binding Law (Great Law of Peace) evidence of the Native American earth-based religion permeating all aspects of life is visibly clear. Dekanawidah begins his work by planting the “Tree of Great Peace” in the Onondaga Nation, the nation of the Firekeepers. Under the Tree of Great Peace is where the Confederacy will meet and discuss all affairs while gathered around the Council fire.
“Whenever the Confederate Lords shall assemble,” Dekanwidah says, “the Onondaga Lords shall open it by expressing their gratitude to their cousin Lords and greeting them, and they shall make an address and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the streams of water, the pools, the springs and the lakes, to the maize and the fruits, to the medicinal herbs and trees, to the forest trees for their usefulness, to the animals that serve as food and give their pelts for clothing, to the great winds and the lesser winds, to the Thunderers, to the Sun, the mighty warrior, to the moon, to the messengers of the Creator who reveal his wishes and to the Great Creator who dwells in the heavens above, who gives all the things useful to men, and who is the source and the ruler of health and life” (The Great Law of Peace).
Even within the political realm, the Firekeepers address and give thanks to every way in which people interact with the earth and its inhabitants. These beliefs help carry the people along. Without any of these things, in the Native eye, there would be no sustainable or worthwhile existence for humans and neglecting them would be severely disrespectful to the Great Spirit. Similarly, Lao Tzu playfully writes,
“The Tao gives birth to all beings, nourishes them, maintains them, cares for them, comforts them, protects them, takes them back to itself, creating without possessing, acting without expecting, guiding without interfering. That is why love of the Tao is in the very nature of things.”
Endless balance in the world, it seems exists if humans can learn how to play their part.
Women
Not often are women called to duty in the modern civil service world. In the Great Law of Peace, however, women of Lordship families serve as critical elements of the Confederate system. The women are given specific powers which identify them as potentially more divine or spiritual beings. First, in the “Rights, Duties and Qualifications of Lords” section of the Great Law, Dekanwidah states that a certain number of shells (wampum beads) shall be given to each female family in which the Lordship titles are vested. This indicates the women have the right of bestowing the title. Depending on the situation, the women pass on Lordship usually to sons of the family, but when a Lord acts out of line with the Great Law, they must give it up to a sister family in which they then would possess the beads. Women also are responsible for conveying important messages to men of their families when times show that the Great Law is not being properly upheld. They are to be dutiful in reminding their Lord to always promote love, peace, and harmony, especially in the case of a transfer of Lordship to a new family.
“The gentlest thing in the world,” Lao Tzu writes, “overcomes the hardest thing in the world.”
Selflessness
The expectations of leaders of the people go far beyond the normal conceptions of politicians we have been so jaded by in the modern world. When Lordship is to be installed, the man will furnish four strings of shells, giving evidence of his pledge to the Confederacy. From this point he vows to live according to the constitution and effect justice in all affairs. As they crown the new Lord with the sacred emblem of deer’s antlers, they declare:
“Your heart shall be filled with peace and good will and your mind filled with a yearning for the welfare of the people of the Confederacy. With endless patience you shall carry out your duty and your firmness shall be tempered with tenderness for your people. Neither anger nor fury shall find lodgment in your mind and all your words and actions shall be marked with calm deliberation. In all of your deliberations in the Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self interest shall be cast into oblivion.”
These particular words encompass very much what it means to be a Taoist master. Lao Tzu notes:
“The ancient Masters were profound and subtle. Their wisdom was unfathomable. There is no way to describe it; all we can describe is their appearance. They were careful as someone crossing an iced-over stream. Alert as a warrior in enemy territory. Courteous as a guest. Fluid as melting ice. Shapable as a block of wood. Receptive as a valley. Clear as a glass of water. The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present and can welcome all things.”
Notice however, that the Master is referred to as female. As we have seen through these two texts, there is a connection among all things in this world and it all begins with the Great Spirit. It would seem foolish if the Great Spirit or Tao was simply male. As seen by all its creations, it is obviously beyond the rash distinctions of male and female and must encompass all things in the world.
In popular culture, the Taoists are most famous for their symbol known as yin and yang. The circular, ever-flowing symbol illustrates the balance between black and white forces, their constant pushing and pulling that creates a flow, like a river. The Haudenosaunee refer to the black and white forces as well. In the section of the Great Law of Peace regarding “Official Symbolism” Dekanawidah speaks of wampum shells on strings, “three spans of the hand in length, the upper half of the bunch being white and the lower half being black.” The black wampum symbolizes the power to execute, while the white symbolizes that “no evil or jealous thoughts shall creep into the minds of the Lords while in Council under the Great tree.” “White,” Dekanawidah says, “the emblem of peace, love, charity and equity surrounds and guards the Five Nations.” He also notes that the white portion of the shell strings represent the women and the black the men.
Peace
The most remarkable clause of the Great Law of Peace comes at the end of the section on symbolism and explicates the true nature of this doctrine. Everything else Dekanawidah has said it seems serves as a guide to lead us to this one declaration.
“I, Dekanawidah, and the Union Lords, now uproot the tallest pine tree and into the cavity thereby made we cast all weapons of war. Into the depths of the earth, down into the deep underearth currents of water flowing to unknown regions we cast all the weapons of strife. We bury them from sight and we plant again the tree. Thus shall the Great Peace be established and hostilities shall no longer be known between the Five Nations but peace to the United People.”
The Great Peacemaker courageously makes a stand of absolute non-attachment to anything that helps facilitate a path of violence. Lao Tzu stated it as, “By not dominating, the Master leads.” These statements serve not only as declarations, but revelations for the greater good as well.
lattice of existance
as i read Taka's beautiful discourse (post below) on his experiences over the last few months i had many thoughts course through my head. the synchronicities that he speaks of are something that i, and no doubt most of us, have experienced many times throughout our lives. whether it be in in the manifestation of a phone call, a friend, similar thoughts or situations, they seem very real. These synchronicities are always intensified and more viable while in the midst of a psychedelic journey. these amazing journeys have opened my mind and levels of understanding so staggeringly that i wonder what my life would be like without those mushroom trips in the woods while in high school, or those deep, intense, border-line-struggles during a 20 minute biscuit's jam, or the perplexing philosophical discussions with LSD and rainbows at dreamtime... they were all such markers in time and consciousness for me, as taka says: 'blast-offs.'
More and more i am attempting to reach these states without the aid of psychedelics. my belief is that these states exist and certain ethogens allow for quicker and more ready access to this realm of consciousness and interconnectedness. it has been key for me to get peeks into this world through these aids as it instills hope and faith based around a known destination. the new call, for me, then becomes searching for new and exciting routes/portals to this world and new perceptions to act as both questions and solutions.
i was just learning today about Buddhism's theory of dependent arising (yet another synchronicity). according the this theory, all things only exist based upon something else. this is not a extremely profound idea on the surface but definitely hits synchronicity on the head. in this idea, synchronicity is not just something that comes strongly at times, happens from time to time, or occurs under the influence of a drug, but IS inherent to REALITY itself. our world is totally reliant upon other things to bring anything into existence and is so interconnected that there is nothing that is independent of anything else.
in moments of heightened awareness we can understand and see this lattice of existence more clearly. it is incredible to come face to face with existence itself and see the world as it truly is, as Taka would no doubt attest.
i thank Taka for his wonderful entries into this blog that is our space in cyberspace.....
much love
Monday, November 5, 2007
Warhead Boogie
all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn't wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?
He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and with great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral..."
Tao Te Ching
“The major advances in civilization are process that all but wreck the societies in which they occur.” A.N. WHITEHEAD
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