Saturday, November 2, 2013

Welcome to The Human World Order


January 2, 2012 | By  2 Replies
To welcome the most anticipated year in human history, we are pleased to unveil The Human World Order, a project that celebrates our magnificent lives on planet Earth and shares ideas about rediscovering our humanity in a world of deepening tension.
Photo credit - NASA
An evolution in mankind is indeed taking place as many people wake up to the shocking reality that our governments, institutions and social systems have created a complex scheme of psychic, financial and technological slavery that subjugates the natural spiritual capacity of the human race and short circuits our natural tendency to express love over fear.
A total revolution against fear-based physical and psychic tyranny is presently sweeping the globe and it is now clear that the people of the world have grown overly weary of conflict, destruction and disrespect for nature and its indigenous peoples.
This revolution is occurring as part of a deeper process of evolution that is simultaneously taking place in the human race as well as throughout the cosmos. A deepening of our intuitive powers, a shift in our consciousness, an expansion of our awareness to now include limitless possibility for cooperation and positive outcomes.
For many people today this shift is something that con be physically felt as well as intuitively understood, yet this idea continues to escape the logical Western mind because it relies on the metaphysical capacities of man, largely ignored by our materialistic culture.  It relies on our ability to sense the subtle energies of the universe through either physical practices, direct spiritual experience, Eastern philosophy and medicine, or even ancient Shamanic rituals.
For people who properly tend to the needs of the body with careful nutrition, exercise and energetic practices like meditation, Yoga or Qi Gong, this shift very real and quite tangible.  For modern physicists studying how the mind affects physical reality, this expansion of our understanding of human potential is wildly exciting.
Yet by simply placing one’s intention on aligning with the more creative and humane qualities in man, anyone can easily realize this internal revolution/evolution which affects how a person views the world, thus changing for the better the way an individual interacts within the world. By healing and transforming individuals, the human race slowly but surely heals itself and the earth along the way.
We wish to support and amplify the positive possibilities for this transformation.
And so, with such high and ambitious intentions set for The Human World Order, we say hello to 2012 and offer our support in helping mankind to shed its various masks and abandon the illusions that enslave us to a system fueled by self-destruction.
We will focus on ideas, knowledge and philosophies that make life better and work to reunite us with our natural heritage and nobler patterns of living. Finding abundance in simplicity, renewal amidst pollution and peace amongst chaos. We will speak of behalf of the truest form of liberty, the freedom from fear and it’s infinite illusions.
Welcome to the Human World Order. May your heart and mind be open to the greatest possibilities imaginable in this most auspicious year.

The Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules For Living

December 16, 2011 | By  Reply

At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama issued eighteen rules for living.
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: 1. Respect for self 2. Respect for others 3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

6 Ways Parents, Society and the Educational System Foster Psychopathic Behavior in Kids


December 26, 2011 | By  Reply
Wiki Image
Brennan Browne
Human World Order
Each day around this nation, and indeed the world, one can find endless stories of horrific animal cruelty—torture and murder so vile it defies imagination—conceived of and carried out by kids as young as 3 years old. There appears to be a proliferation of fresh-faced psychopaths, spawning faster than the poisonous spores of a Frankenstenian experiment gone awry. Why and how does such evil take root?
The problem is pervasive and multifaceted, but the most obvious cause for such blatant disregard for life is a lack of compassion and empathy passed on from parent to child. Generations of individuals perpetuating cruelty toward non-humans based on a multitude of flawed and erroneous notions, including the following:
Religious bias — The mainstream and exceedingly rancorous belief that animals were put here to [ab]use, objectify, murder and consume based on twisted religious doctrines which purportedly give mankind “permission” to do so predicated on his so-called “superiority.”
Tradition — The mindless argument that because generation upon generation have perpetuated acts of barbarism, these acts are somehow justified, and therefore should be unquestioningly accepted and permanently sanctified.
Culture — As with tradition, cultural biases institutionalize brutality towards non-humans to the point of rabid glorification. Whether it be the Spanish with their bullfighting and the torture and murder of animals for religious festivals; the Faroese who make an annual holiday out of the mass butchery of cetaceans, encouraging their children to participate in the frenzied stabbings of whales they systematically strand; or the Canadian seal slaughter in which hundreds of thousands of helpless babies’ skulls are crushed or which are skinned alive or shot; every culture has its atrocities. The logic behind such ingrained savagery is as expendable as the animals themselves.
Pseudo-scientific propaganda — the deceptive, fraudulent, belief that humans require animal testing and experimentation for our benefit, yet, an ounce of common sense will lead one to the very real conclusion that the only legitimate “testing” begins in earnest, the first day these drugs and medical devices are released to the public. Hundreds of thousands of humans die or are irreparably damaged by animal-tested, FDA-approved drugs/medical devices/procedures every single year–statistics which the public is never allowed to access.
Inferiority — a general acceptance that non-humans are “lesser” beings and thus deserve whatever demonic behavior we decide to impose upon them. Another unfounded bias propped up by the ubiquitous dominion/superiority theory, which even secularists conveniently use as an excuse to abuse and murder non-human animals.
Ignorance — the fact is, few studies have ever been done which place emphasis on the intrinsic value of non-humans, themselves. The overwhelming majority of studies conducted using animals as subjects, are based solely on how they can be exploited for man’s benefit. Given this reality, how can human beings state with unequivocal certainty that animals do not function on a level equal to—yet different from ours? Should animals continue to be forced to suffer myriad indignities due to man’s own selfish, speciesist, ineptitude at being unable or unwilling to decipher their intellectual capacities, emotional and psychological depth, complexities and needs?
These glaring societal prejudices easily become facts in the minds of children when they remain unchallenged by parents, teachers, clergy, government officials and peers. The same deep-seated, nefarious habits of “culture’ and “tradition’ consistently take preference over compassion, common decency and basic logic. Our society condones and perpetuates these backward attitudes as kids move through the educational system and are further continuously indoctrinated by an uninformed, violence-mongering, callous media.
A five-year old has the ability to subconsciously process this perverted belief system, and thus accepts the actions of the majority as the truth if s/he is not taught otherwise. When there is no healthy, altruistic, non-violent model of societal behavior for kids to draw upon, then the consequences should be obvious—a child who eventually acts out what s/he has been taught—VIOLENCE. Yet, in our society, this connection is totally overlooked. Why? Because the sickest parts of ourselves as human beings go completely unrecognized by us.
Parents and other authority figures have taught the child how to successfully compartmentalize violence based on his/her own “level of consequence.” S/he immediately understands, by observation, that certain living beings can be victimized and murdered without repercussions, while others are off limits. This facilitates confusion in a society which continues to descend into widespread psychopathy, where there is increasing evidence that those lines—between good and evil—have not only been erased, but reversed. We are a species constantly convincing ourselves that whatever we do to those who are powerless against us is justified, and that justification becomes the license to conduct ourselves in the most monstrous ways possible.
Instead of learning our lessons from the tragic events of Columbine, Virginia Tech and multiple other graphic displays of perverse behavior our kids are engaged in, we are unable to draw a connection between our own sickness and theirs. We scratch our collective, clueless heads, and while it becomes fodder for discussion immediately after disturbing events occur, unfortunately the REAL problem is never addressed. Instead, the media fuels the exact same insanity when it panders to the most disturbed, hostile segments of our society. One which promotes hunting programs for preschoolers–gun-toting toddlers void of the capability to fully comprehend suffering and death; preteens in 4-H programs, taught that non-humans are nothing more than meat to be sold to the highest bidder, where greed continuously takes precedence over empathy or ethics and sentient beings are objectified as “products.’ And school systems which have hit rock bottom by introducing a new obscenity, so-called “survival” classes, teaching impressionable minds that it’s acceptable for both teachers and students to partake in the torture and killing of fully complex beings–TOGETHER. Legitimizing even further, the invisibility of non-humans, as unlimited in their individuality and capacity for suffering as any human.
As if this despicable behavior isn’t generating enough moral ambiguity, it is the very individuals which younger kids often admire and want to emulate–their teachers–who are guiding them toward reprehensible, sociopathic, murderous behavior.
Programs which promote cruelty and cheapen life have absolutely NO business within a school curriculum or anywhere else for that matter. If society is to survive and advance, it is imperative that Humane Education programs become part of every child’s schooling. We must work toward completely ridding society and the educational system of programs and behavior designed to desensitize kids to the suffering of non-humans. Unless and until this happens, we will continue churning out monsters devoid of all feeling—and hastening our own destruction in the process.

Learning to Sit Alone, in a Quiet Empty Room


January 22, 2012 | By  1 Reply
‘All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.’ ~Blaise Pascal
Wiki Image
Think about some of the problems of our daily lives, and how many of them would be eased if we could learn to sit alone, in a quiet empty room, with contentment.
If you’re content to sit alone quietly, you don’t need to eat junk food, to shop on impulse, to buy the latest gadget, to be on social media to see what everyone else is talking about or doing, to compare yourself to others, to make more money to keep up with the Joneses, to achieve glory or power, to conquer other lands or wage war, to be rude or violent to others, to be selfish or greedy, to be constantly busy or productive.
You are content, and need nothing else. It solves a lot of problems.
Can you sit alone in an empty room? Can you enjoy the joy of quiet?
Most of us have trouble sitting alone, quietly, doing nothing. We have the need to do something, to check our inboxes and social media, to be productive. Sitting still can be difficult if you haven’t cultivated the habit.
I’ve been learning. In the morning, as my coffee is brewing, I sit. Even for a few minutes, at first, it is instructive. You learn to listen to your thoughts, to be aware of your urges to do something else, to plan and set goals. You learn to watch yourself, but to just sit still and not act on those urges. You learn to be content with stillness.
You learn to savor the quiet. It’s something most of us don’t have, quiet, and it takes some getting used to. When we’re driving our cars or out exercising or eating or working, we have music playing or we talk with people or we have the television on. Quiet can be amazing, though, because it helps us calm down, contemplate, slow down to savor the emptiness.
An empty room, too, is a luxury. I try to empty my room of clutter, so that it’s fairly bare. That leaves only me, and the room is a blank slate ready to be filled with me, my creativity, my silence. I love a spartan room.
Being alone is another pleasure we too often neglect. When we are alone, we go on the Internet or TV to see what else is going on, what others are doing or saying, instead of just being alone. This isolation is a necessary thing, that allows us to find ourselves, to learn to be content with little instead of always wanting more.
Can you practice being alone, being still, being quiet? Just a little at first, then perhaps a bit more. Listen, watch, learn about yourself. Find contentment. Need nothing more.

5 Simple Steps to Take Control of Your Life


January 23, 2012 | By  7 Replies
Wiki Image
J.P. Hicks
Waking Times
With all the negativity happening in the world, it can feel nearly impossible to thrive in such an environment. Each day seems to bring more challenges to survive, more enemies to despise, less freedom to savor, and less money to go around. We face a bombardment of things to fear, which limits our existence.
Indeed, the negative forces may appear to be prevailing.
World events seem quite real, especially if they touch our lives in some significant way, but they are really just happening “out there”. They only affect us if we let them affect us.
The same goes for fear. The fear we feel may seem warranted, but it’s only a feeling happening inside us. Understand that fear prevents us from escaping the cycle of control, and it keeps us paralyzed in the cycle of failure. Yes, there are real monsters with guns, laws that take away freedoms, and genuine economic difficulties. But fear of them is an illusion.
All of the things we complain about that are happening “out there” are out of our control until we can control what’s happening inside us. That starts with controlling our feelings and reactions to outside events. Thus, the only power we have to change these events is by changing ourselves. As such, we each possess immense power.
And it’s simple. It’s just a choice. Will it be economic despair or prosperity for you? Will you be strong and independent, or scared and dependent? It’s your decision, not someone else’s. And it’s time to decide.
Here are five simple steps to regain control of your life:
1. Overcome Fear:  As soon as you feel fear, recognize it as only a thought and consciously ask yourself why you’re afraid. Is the cause of fear an immediate threat to your safety or well being? If not, then it is completely illusory and should be discarded. More times than not, we fear things that may happen in the future, but haven’t yet actually happened to us. If we allow this fear to persist, we will likely attract the very things we fear. Push past these thoughts and concentrate, in fact meditate, on exactly the positive things you wish to occur instead of the outcome you dread.
2. Get Educated: They say “Ignorance is bliss.” Well, they’re wrong. Everybody suffers in their own way, but the ignorant tend to complain about more superficial gripes than the informed. Your quest for knowledge may reveal some disturbing truths, but you must understand what you’re up against. The unknown is fearful, but recognizing the pitfalls is empowering. Focus on information that allows you to improve yourself. Become an expert in what you’re passionate about and master the art of capitalizing on your expertise.
3. Get Healthy: You will always be fearful, weak, and dependent if you don’t get healthy. This doesn’t mean you need to become a body builder. And getting healthy isn’t rocket science. We all know what is good or bad for us. The key to getting healthy is to decide to be healthy, commit, and never stop improving. Start by being conscious what you eat and everything you put into your body. When you move your body, move powerfully. Stand up tall. Everywhere you walk, walk briskly and on your toes. Then, keep improving.
4. Set Goals: So many people feel like a victim of circumstance, but when you ask them what their goals are, they give you a blank stare. Goal setting is so vital to taking control of your life. If you don’t know what you want in life, there’s a 100% chance you won’t get it. Again, decide what you want. Write down your goals. Meditate or pray about them. Imagine your life with your goals achieved. Develop a tangible plan to achieve them. When someone asks you what your goals in life are and there is no hesitation in your response, you’ve already gotten them even if they haven’t fully manifested yet.
5. Take Action: Once you’ve shed your fear and decided what you want, taking action only requires one small step forward. Then follow your blueprint toward your goals every minute of every day. When you do this, the universe will bend and cave to your demands and desires. This is the power we all possess if we choose to take control of our lives. Start today!

Elevating Consciousness – A Primer for Beginners


January 31, 2012 | By  1 Reply
The purpose of this primer, is to help people begin the journey towards higher consciousness. It suggests several exercises which assist in establishing habits and skills that will lay the groundwork for self-development of consciousness. Although the journey is not a short one, the long-term rewards are priceless.
One definition of consciousness, is the ability of a system to respond to stimuli.
Consciousness can also be thought of as awareness. So as it relates to these exercises, consciousness can be thought of as a person’s awareness of, and ability to respond to stimuli. The starting process for raising or expanding one’s consciousness is to increase their alertness to what is happening in any given moment. In the early stages, this means becoming more mindful of the thoughts and feelings going on inside oneself. As consciousness is raised, the additional layer of increased awareness of one’s environment is added.
Love and help are constantly coming our way. All we have to do is tune into it.
Few people recognize that the universe is constantly at work, trying to help each of us live the most fulfilling life possible. The reason so few people recognize this reality, is that they are unaware of the help that they are constantly being sent.
Love is the life-blood of our souls, which constantly work to guide us to the richest most satisfying life we can experience. It won’t always be the easiest route, but it will be the most gratifying. To help each of us on this quest, our soul continuously sends us loving guidance, using the wisdom it has gained over many, many lifetimes. If we miss out on this treasure trove of blessings, it is only because we don’t hear the messages.
Unfortunately, few people have invested the effort to expand and elevate their consciousness. Consequently, they are unable to receive and act on the guidance they are sent. This situation is like a person who wants more money, but instead of cash they keep getting rocks thrown at them. They know they’re not getting any money because there are no dollars coming their way. What they don’t realize is that the “rocks” all around them are actually gold. Because they have it in their mind that they need CASH, unless it comes in the form of dollar bills, they don’t recognize what’s happening. They don’t recognize that what they are getting is exactly what they want. Once they realize they can exchange the gold for cash, all their problems are solved.
One of the most obvious observations is that the “money” most people really want is happiness. What good would it do to be a millionaire and very unhappy? Most of the things people want, are desired because it is believed that those things will bring them happiness. This type of approach rarely works, because the source of happiness lies within who we are, not in what we have. And so the most important and critical activity we can engage is coming to a thorough understanding of who we are. This means understanding ourselves on both a physical and spiritual level.
Most people think of themselves a physical body, and the mind supported by that body. But that is only half of who we are. The other half of us is spiritual. Unfortunately, many people go their entire lives without ever developing an awareness of the spiritual side of themselves. They may believe that they have a soul, but they’ve never felt its activity within them. So they have no awareness of their soul as being distinct or different from their physical bodies. The exercises in this primer help set the stage for a realization of one’s soul and its influence on their life.
In the initial stages, elevating consciousness is a two-part process.
In organizing the initial approach to elevating consciousness, it is helpful to think of it in two parts:
1. continuously observing what you are feeling,
2. continuously observing what you are thinking.
Elevating consciousness begins with paying close attention to what happens within you. Every minute of every day, you should be keenly aware of the feelings that are going on in your body, and the thoughts that are going through your head. For the vast majority of people, these things run in the background and they are only aware of the product of these processes.
Part One: Sharpen your awareness of stimuli that influence your feelings.
Many people are aware of feelings they have, but are not aware of exactly how those feelings arose. For example a person may realize that they are angry. However, that anger may only be the end result of a complex internal process. The anger may be only a portion of what they are feeling. And while there may be many other feelings below the surface, the anger is the only one that grew strong enough to actually surface in their conscious awareness. Without stopping and thinking about it, the person may not know EXACTLY what made them angry. They may be aware that they were angered by a conversation they just had, but they don’t know which specific words rubbed them the wrong way. Nor do they know what feelings were initially triggered that led to their anger. Perhaps it was just one sentence that made them feel insulted, and bruised their pride. Perhaps it was one small comment that triggered one of their insecurities. Perhaps something came across as a threat which caused fear.
A person who is consciously aware of their feelings, will recognize the instant someone says something that upsets them. They will be aware of exactly which words irritated them and why. They will also be aware of what feelings and thoughts arise within them as a result. Because of this, they can observe the chain of reactions that follow. This kind of awareness, is called source awareness. The person is aware of the source (or trigger) of the flow of thoughts or emotions that they experience. Once a person achieves source awareness they gain control over their reactions. They can control or break the chain of emotional and mental reactions that would otherwise automatically occur outside of their awareness.
Source Awareness gives us control, and opens the door to our soul.
In addition to gaining control over their reactions, people who have source awareness gain familiarity with how external events affect their thoughts and feelings. Once they have achieved this, when they encounter energy or feelings that have no apparent external source, they know the origin is likely deep within themselves. It could be arising out of their subconscious, or it could be messages coming from their soul. Having this awareness and understanding enables them to recognize the messages and guidance their soul sends them, always with the aim of helping them experience the richest and most fulfilling life possible.
Part Two: Sharpen your awareness of your assumptions, beliefs and the flow of your thoughts.
The second part of raising/expanding consciousness is expanding one’s frame of reference. This process is primarily mental and has to do with the way a person thinks and the assumptions and beliefs they hold. It involves continually expanding the points of view that one takes into account when making decisions. The more information a person has, the better a decision they can make. Likewise, the more points of view a person is capable of drawing from in evaluating a situation, the better the understanding they will have.
Elevating the mental aspect of consciousness is a process of continually expanding the frame of reference within which one operates. One example comes from the school-age years. Most people are familiar with the intense pain experienced by some “crisis” they experienced during their years in school. At the time the crisis seemed monumental. But when later viewed in the context the person’s entire life, it was really a minor occurrence. The same is true when considering present life events. When viewed from the perspective of this one life, they may seem major or even devastating. But our souls live many, many lifetimes. And when we view things from the perspective of our souls, the significance of these events shifts significantly. Likewise, viewing life from the perspective of the soul, drastically reduces fear and anxiety. The “worst” that can happen in this life (death), is of little significance to the soul.
Four Practices For Elevating Consciousness
The following practices may be helpful in forming habits that will cultivate one’s awareness and elevate one’s consciousness:
1) Solitude Time
The best way to begin raising one’s consciousness is to observe solitude time. In order to do this, it is vitally important to set aside 15 minutes each day. This time should be considered and treated as sacred time that you devote to yourself. Find a quiet place and arrange your schedule so that you will have no interruptions. Some people find it helpful to burn a candle or incense in order to set the mood. Some like to play soothing music in the background. If you choose to play background music, it should be soft, relaxing and without words. However, if you find the music distracting, complete silence would likely be a better approach for you.
Another aid to effective solitude time is selecting the right place. Ideally you should find a corner of your home or at least a chair, that you will ONLY use during your solitude time. By specifically limiting the space or chair that you use, to those periods of time when you are in solitude, it helps train your mind. You take advantage of the habitual and frequently subconscious associations your mind attaches to the things you interact with on a regular basis. You become more quickly accustomed to focusing on your inner processes.
Place yourself in a comfortable seated position. Relax completely and close your eyes. Closing your eyes helps you focus internally, within yourself. Be consciously aware of all the thoughts and feelings you experience during this time. The more continuously and clearly you can be aware of what is going on within you, the better. Building this internal awareness will prepare you for the other exercises.
2) Clearing the Hamper
During solitude time you will become more aware of the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing within yourself. As you sit quietly, thoughts will arise that often don’t surface during the active times of the day when your attention is focused on other things. Frequently things occur that trigger certain reactions that we don’t have time to deal with right then. So the mind stuffs them into what I call the mental laundry hamper for later processing. This enables the mind to focus on what is at that moment, higher priority issues. The feelings and thoughts that get stuffed in the hamper, sit there until they are processed or forgotten.
During solitude time, we have a quiet, uninterrupted space in which we can focus on subtler things. When we relax and open our minds in solitude, things in the hamper tend to “bubble” up to the surface of our consciousness where we can think about and process them. In order to help us remember important issues, our subconscious minds have a tendency to fixate on those issues until we have dealt with them. Once the demands on our attention diminish and the opportunity arises, our subconscious will remind of us of these “back burner” items.
Keeping a notepad handy during solitude time is very useful. On it, we can write down the back burner issues that arise out of our mental hampers. As our skill at utilizing solitude time increases, we are able to dig deeper and deeper into the mental hamper. In doing so, many different issues will surface. Some will be deep, personal issues that impact how we view and experience life. We will also uncover issues which are mundane. And while these mundane issues may be important or even urgent, they don’t really relate to understanding who we are. For example, during solitude time, we may remember that we need to purchase a get well card for a friend who is ill. While this may be important, it is not the type of issue we want to focus on during solitude. But because it is important, our subconscious will tend to keep bringing it up until we get it done. However, if we write down a note to ourselves on our notepad, we recognize and preserve the concern. Knowing that this issue has been physically preserved for later processing allows our subconscious to move on to other more subtle issues.
If we regularly “dig into our hamper” and process what is in there, over time we will travel deeper and deeper within ourselves. Separating out the mundane issues and writing them on the notepad, frees us to concentrate on those issues that will actually change our lives.
3) Quieting The Mind
During your solitude time, clear your mind of all distractions. Empty it of any thoughts of responsibilities at work and home, and other chores you need to do. Write these on your notepad, as one by one you empty your hamper. Focus completely on quieting your mind and so that you are able to maintain a quiet, relaxed state of inner silence.
When first attempted, quieting the mind is difficult for most people. Without conscious attention the mind tends to produce a constant flow of mental “chatter”. Learning to quiet this chatter is an invaluable skill. If you feel your mind wandering, just gently redirect it towards quiet stillness. As your skill improves, you gain a greater ability to filter out distractions. It is like turning down the volume on a loud radio, so you can hear the quieter, more subtle sounds. Once you have the ability to quiet your mind, you can easily focus your attention on exactly what you want to. You are also able to hear the deeper, subtler messages your subconscious mind and your soul send you.
4) Journaling
Journaling is similar to the process of clearing the hamper. Except that instead of writing down the mundane things, you write down the important things. Journaling focuses on the issues that lead to a better understanding of yourself. It serves as a log of important ideas and trains of thought on a given subject. As you wrestle with things about yourself that you want to better understand, change, or control, your journal is your record of where you have been.
Journaling serves two important functions. First it helps break circular thought patterns. It is the nature of the mind to continually work on unresolved problems until they are solved or go away. What often results is somewhat obsessive or compulsive thinking, repeating the same thoughts over and over again. Journaling entails thinking through an issue as thoroughly as possible, and then writing down all your significant thoughts on the subject. Once we do this, our mind is able to let go of it, at least until the facts of the situation change. This happens because the subject matter has been memorialized, as has every possible approach to the situation that we can think of. After this, going back to the subject and rehashing the thinking we already worked through and committed to paper, feels like beating a dead horse. As a result, our mental energy is directed to new approaches and new ways of looking at things, rather than just rehashing the same old stuff.
The second important function of journaling is to record the course of our progress. Many times, journal entries contain wisdom and insights that don’t surface until later readings. What may seem like an insignificant side comment when written, can turn out to be the exact key to solving a situation that arises weeks or months later. Additionally it records the evolution in our thinking and spiritual growth. Many people don’t realize how far they’ve come until they go back and read their journal entries from the previous year. Often times they are surprised at how “primitive” their old approaches seem. And finally, as one compiles a journal over time it creates a map of sorts. This “map” provides markers showing where you have been and the route you have taken to get to where you are. Seeing this trail often serves as a pointer, giving you a powerful hint of where you are headed in the future.
Because a journal is intended to hold the most personal and significant thoughts and feelings of an individual, it should be treated with respect. Invest in a nice writing journal that symbolizes the importance of the information it will contain. Ideally, the type and style of the journal should have personal meaning to you.

Taoism 101


February 9, 2012 | By  1 Reply
Wiki Image - Lao Tse
Tao Te Ching  #1
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and
unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and
unchanging name.
(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven
and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all
things.
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development
takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them
the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that
is subtle and wonderful.
Wiki Image
Lao-Tse is considered the first philosopher of the Taoist school. The Te-Tao Ching, attributed to Lao-Tse, is one of the most sacred texts of Taoism. His writings teach the philosophy of the Tao, or the Way, which is reality that naturally exists prior to and gives rise to all other things such as the physical universe and all things in it. Te, which means virtue, is the life energy in things and a sense of morality which constitutes theWay. The Tao can be found by experiencing the oneness in all things – fulfilling life as one with nature and as one with the inner self. The speaking of Lao-Tse’s wisdom is what attracts people to follow him and make him the teacher of Taoism.
Eighty percent of Lao-Tse’s teachings are devoted to man’s function and his role in society by means of virtue. He finds courage, generosity, and leadership to be three virtues involved in all ethical systems. However, he wants the truly virtuous man to spontaneously do good out of what he genuinely feels without being aware and concerned of other people’s approval. He believes people should “act without acting” by spontaneously saying and doing what is genuinely felt rather than putting on a show for others. This is to avoid hypocrisy, the result of people acting in ways they think others will approve of and value.
From the Taoist point of view, Confucian virtues of humanity, righteousness, knowledge, and wisdom are seen as bridges to hypocrisy. This is because these virtues make distinctions between right and wrong, a concept which is absent and unnecessary in Taoism. In further comparison with the teachings of Confucius, Lao-Tse emphasizes peace of mind and tranquility of the spirit, whereas Confucius emphasizes moral perfection and social adjustment. In addition, Lao-Tse nourishes a person’s nature, while Confucius fully develops it. Therefore, Confucius hopes for his followers to become one with heaven, and Lao-Tse opens himself to become one with the nature of the universe. However, both teachers share a common interest to avoid extremes and to live by the Golden Rule.
Moreover, Lao-Tse stresses how important it is to be one with nature because it provides positive character. He regards genuineness, sincerity, and spontaneity to be “natural” characteristics which people are born with and possess. Yet, he claims these qualities are destroyed through education and cultural influences. In addition, he explains how a person is able to dismiss all authority except for the authority of self and a personal God. In this case, God is understood to be everything in nature. Thus, people who know and respect the authority of their inner nature know where they belong.
Consequently, Lao-Tse longs for life to take place in a small, united community where deceit, selfishness, and evil are non-existent in order to pursue a life of single and simple community. He glorifies simplicity by encouraging people to live without desires, knowledge, competition, and things of the senses. Therefore, he also teaches how to live the simple life, the one which is free from cunning and cleverness and not devoted to the pursuit of profit. As a result, Lao-Tse opens himself up to the universe and demonstrates how to live a life full of the beauty of nature, which allows people to follow in his path and take his teachings to heart.

The Law of Attraction – How Thoughts Become Things


February 18, 2012 | By  2 Replies
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We are where we are because of what we have thought about in the past. Thoughts become things. We are consciously or subconsciously always thinking about something. The problem is that we usually think more about the things we don’t want than about the things we do want. It doesn’t matter if we want or don’t want something; we get what we mostly think about.
Try to observe your thoughts for a day or two. Do you mostly think about the things that you worry about, that you don’t want to happen or that you are afraid of, or do you mostly think about pleasant and wonderful things? If you mostly think negative thoughts, you will attract more negative things in your future. Think pleasant thoughts and you will attract a pleasant future.
Your present situation is the result of your predominant state of mind in the past. And you are creating your future right now. Your future will be as your predominant state of mind is now.
The past is gone. You can’t change it, but if you are dwelling on any unhappy past thoughts now, you will feel unhappy, and you are creating an unhappy future.
Because you’re creating the future now, only the present is important. By having a predominantly happy and positive state of mind now, you’re creating a happy and positive future. It’s one of the fundamental principles of the law of attraction. You can attract whatever you want in your life: happiness, wealth, perfect health, love and wonderful relationships.
But you can also attract things and situations that you don’t want. Actually we do it sub consciously all the time.
Because you are energy, you are like a magnet. Everything is energy; you, your mind and your body. But as you can control your body, you can also control your mind. Instead of dwelling on lack and poverty, think thoughts of wealth and abundance. Instead of worrying that you will become ill, think thoughts of health and vitality.
Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you don’t control your mind and allow it to dwell on negative thoughts and feelings, it’s your worst enemy, because it creates your unhappy future. If you can control your mind it’s your best friend, because it will create your great future.
Of course most peoples’ lives are a mixture of happiness and unhappiness because of their flickering states of mind and the conflicting thoughts they are experiencing. Now, because of knowing and understanding the law of attraction, you can start deliberately taking control of your thoughts to create your happy future and get what you want in life.
People like Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein and many others knew of the law of attraction and lived according to its principles, but until fairly recently it was a secret for most people. Now we are all learning about this secret- the law of attraction and the science of manifestation. It’s time to take control of your thoughts and make the secret work for you.

Meditations on Ego and Enlightenment


February 25, 2012 | By  Reply
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Eric Allen Bell
Global One TV
Over a long enough period of time, the survival rate for your body is zero. Contained within the body is the brain and one of the functions of the brain is the ego. The ego is the self concept of the brain-body organism and it does not like what was just said one bit.
And there are different states of consciousness than just ego. The ego is like a dog you bring with you on a journey. Untrained, it will run off, bite others and come back to bite you. But trained and disciplined it knows its place. It can sense things, warn you of danger, protect you. As the saying goes, “Ego is an excellent servant and a horrible master”.
On the journey, to confuse yourself with being the dog that runs alongside you, is to be lost in a profound hallucination. Such is the nature of the egoic mind. It knows nothing of the true self and is driven only by its need to survive. No reason to make it feel bad though. Better to pat it on the head and every now and then – throw it a bone.
Demonization of the ego is the result of ignorance. This idea that we must smash the ego comes from those who do not understand the ego – their only understanding is that they fear it. As the world becomes more and more afraid of itself, this brand of so-called “spirituality” becomes ever more popular.
Smashing the ego makes about as much sense as removing an eye or cutting off your arm. It is barbaric, not necessary and in fact very harmful. And insofar as the brain-body organism is concerned, as the body navigates through material space, a self concept is better than no self concept. Ego is that branch of self concept that concerns itself with the survival of the brain-body organism that often thinks it is you. It is only harmful when it is misunderstood or when it’s forced to go underground in order to survive. Take good care of it and it will serve you well, but never allow yourself to serve it. This road goes in circles and leads to a certain kind of madness that passes for normalcy in our society today. The insanity of ego identification is still the social norm at this early stage of our evolution.
In the human state we experience the full range of human emotions. We are having the human experience. To be captured entirely by the human experience is to lose site of the reality that this human vessel is a very small fraction of who and what you are. It’s part of the ride, it won’t last, and there is really no sound reason not to get all of the action out of it that you can. In retrospect, when one leaves the body, it will likely be remembered as a crazy day at the carnival, looking at the fun house mirror. To believe that what you see in that fun house mirror is you, is to forget who you are and where you are.
There are teachers, teachings, books, seminars – so much available to tell you who you are. And one can incorporate these teachings into a belief system. But a belief system is a cheap substitute for direct experience. A belief system is a map and compass that one can never be sure is reliable until you are truly lost. Only then does one find out that the treasure map you were sold was at best, only a rough estimation of where you are and where you are going. If your belief system came from the religious establishment, then it was purchased at a novelty shop.
When we are not misidentified with the ego, belief systems lose their importance as one turns to an inner voice, the voice of the Soul.
As with all words, when speaking of spiritual matters, the word “soul” is only a rough approximation of what we mean. Incidentally, all matters are spiritual matters and the word “soul” refers to that which transcends the limitations of ego, but contains the higher dimensions of self.
So what is Enlightenment? There is certainly no shortage of charlatans out there, auditioning for the role of being the one who can answer that question for you. As it turns out, there are “enlightenments” along the journey. As the awareness of Self expands and expands, these are enlightenments. The many merchants of so-called “enlightenment” would have you believe that enlightenment is a finish line that you will arrive at if you follow their treasure map, their belief system. For many of us it takes falling for this hoax over and over before we are willing to take the responsibility and find the courage to look within.
I can tell you that what it means to be a “spiritual person” is to know that you are everything and everywhere. You are the world; you are every person you meet. You are the moon and stars and galaxies and the universe and the multi-verses and you transcend space and time. And if you take my word for it, and incorporate this into your belief system, it is not the same thing as seeing it directly. It won’t work to hitch a ride on someone else’s experience. And besides, what if I am blissfully walking off the edge of a cliff, looking up at the sky? Don’t settle for hand-me-downs. Seek the experience with more passion and commitment than anything else in your life.
If anyone tells you that in order to find God you must turn away from the world, they are speaking out of ignorance – more than likely parroting words from a belief system which their ego found comfort in. After all, it is the greedy ego that seeks to find and seize upon “abundant bliss” and then be acknowledged and respected and praised for it. That which is truly you already knows bliss to be its true nature. So to turn away from the world is to find God, but also to turn towards the world is to find God. How can God be missing? God is all that is and all that is not. That which seeks to find God is only suffering from a self-induced state of Amnesia. Simply put, you are that which you seek. But don’t take my word for it.
Pay close attention to nature and you will see that nothing really dies. It merely changes form. The only thing that dies, when a tree falls and rots, is the mental concept of a tree. In fact what is taking place is merely change. Every part of that tree becomes something else. All of existence is in flux, expanding and retracting, evolving. That which looks out through your eyes is part of this evolution.
As you move from Amnesia toward God Realization, the Soul evolves. Your perception broadens. Your experience deepens. To memorize anything that has been said here will only serve as a form of imitation. To hold up any word choice to careful scrutiny will only reveal that none of these words can be relied upon. Everything I have told you here is a complete and absolute lie. And hidden within each lie contains the jewel of enlightenment.
That which does not evolve – dies. But even that which dies serves a purpose. It becomes the fertilizer of new life which seeks to evolve. Nothing is wasted on the journey, nothing is lost. And in that circle you find yourself, you lose yourself, but what remains constant is self.
Even in the deepest darkest depths of human emotional experience, when one really goes into the darkness deeply, you will find illumination. It is everywhere you seek it, always hidden in plain sight. Whether you are chanting a mantra or explaining to the landlord why you do not have the rent, every act is holy when done consciously with conscious intent.
What you have just read is a letter, that you wrote to yourself and asked me to hand deliver to you when you are ready. The light switch is on a dimmer. It’s in your hands now.
Peace,
Eric Allen Bell