Our Motherly Source

When we meditate, the main purpose is to put us in touch with our Source, Self, True Nature, God, et al. This is the safest and most incredible "place", or state of mind, to be. This is where we all came from and where we all return as we journey through this unending cycle of birth and death as long as we are caught in the web of Karma. As we meditate, our Source bathes us in Love and always leaves us feeling invigorated and just a little bit wiser. I said in my introduction to this blog that I would occasionally share a personal spiritual encounter and I would like to share this one now.


Quite a few years ago when my TimberShepherd, Heidi, a very special wolf-hybrid, my loyal companion, my protector, and my soulmate was still a young adolescent, I was calmly sitting in an open area behind my house meditating. It was mid-Summer in the middle of a severe drought on a very calm, hot, and sunny day. There had been no rain for a long time and being caught under a huge high pressure system, there was not a cloud to be found within hundreds of miles. This is what we call the Summer doldrums here in South-Central Texas - a very monotonous and boring time for the local weathermen. They can pretty much leave the same forecast up for weeks and just go on vacation. It was in the high 90's and the air was dry and crisp. I had let Heidi out of her temporary pen so we could play and wrestle around for a while and she could continue getting used to running free. This was also part of her off-leash training but to her, it was just fun. After rolling around in the short, brown grass for a period of time, she went into her pen for some water, shade, and a nap. I took this opportunity to relax into my Center and meditate. I was without thought, living in the Present, and feeling so wonderfully One. After some time, my peace was interrupted by the realization that I was hot. As soon as I became aware of the heat, I felt something moist land on my forearm - then again and again. I looked up and out of nothing a very tiny grayish cloud had started forming directly overhead. I thought it must be a dream but then it started to sprinkle on me as a wave of coolness enveloped my entirety. I was beside myself but remained in my calm state as I observed this tiny cloud continue to form in the very middle of a completely clear blue sky. It was so beautiful! I felt like I was surrounded by this sphere of exhilarating cool mist. I looked around in all directions and not a drop was falling outside of a radius of twenty feet or so. This lasted only three or four minutes as I watched this welcome visitor dissipate just as quickly as it had formed. I was no longer hot now.


I have examined this event in ever way possible and gave up on finding any kind of rational explanation long ago. This was a gift. This was exactly what I had needed at exactly the instant I had needed it. Was this a miracle? If I was a religious man, I would say it was. Being a spiritual man instead, I know exactly what it was. I was One with Source in my meditation and when that connection was threatened by my realization of being hot, our Source, my Source, "wanted" me to stay home a little bit longer. Just as a Mother looks after her child's every need, Source came to my rescue with exactly what I needed. A miracle? No........just a "Mother" looking after "her" child.

Namaste'

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Finding the Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Our lives have become very demanding these days especially with the economy forcing so many to work extra hours or extra jobs just to meet the monthly expenses. Many are stressed out from the possibility of losing their jobs, the worry from not-knowing. And so many have already lost everything and are just struggling to survive from one day to the next. In times like these, we need to find something, anything, to relieve the pressure, if only for a while. In this Ego-driven chaos there is really no respite, no place to go, so the stress takes it's toll. We then must find a place to escape our Ego. There is such a place of peace and calm where these everyday stresses can not follow and it is nearby to all. This place is our Source, our True Nature, our calm Center, where the Ego can not follow. This is where we all must eventually go if we are to ever find our Path with Heart, so why wait. There are simple methods all of us can use to find this wonderful place and many have been around since ancient times. The principles are ageless but in some cases, additional tools are more easily accessible today. Let us take a look at three techniques and find some genuine calmness in this stormy sea.


"If we train our mind to become peaceful we shall be happy all the time, even in the most adverse conditions."
~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso




Mindfulness Meditation (Focused Meditation)


- Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff.

- Try to put aside all thoughts of the past and the future and stay in the present.

- Become aware of your breathing, focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel your belly rise and fall, the air enter your nostrils* and leave your mouth. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different.

- Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hope. When thoughts come up in your mind, do not ignore or suppress them but simply note them, remain calm, and use your breathing as an anchor.

- If you find your inner voice beginning to run it's usual commentary, observe where your mind went off to, without judging, and simply return to your breathing. Remember not to be hard on yourself if this happens. Just try to gently redirect your attention away from it, and back to your breath.

- As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Get up gradually.


* A technigue used in Zen meditation is to visualize the air entering in a stream at the very tip of the nose. This will help you to focus better.

Note: You can also focus on something visual, like a statue, or something auditory, like a metronome, a recording of ocean waves or of a gentle stream flowing.



Mantra Meditation


Set aside a few minutes and get into a comfortable position.

At first, it's best to have a quiet room, free of distractions. With repeated practice, you may find yourself able to practice mantra meditation anywhere and under more chaotic circumstances.


Choose a mantra for meditation

A mantra is a word or phrase that you repeat to yourself. It can be a non-sensical sound like 'Om,' or it can be a word or phrase like, 'Calm' or 'I Am'. The words or sounds you choose are not important as long as they are simple and comfortable for you to repeat.

Close your eyes and repeat your mantra to yourself

As you do so, try to focus only on the sound and feel (vibration) of your mantra and nothing else. If you find other thoughts creeping into your head, thank yourself for noticing, and gently redirect your attention to your mantra.

Continue for several minutes

That is it. Just continue to repeat your mantra and focus on the sound and the way it feels to make the sound. Redirect your attention away from distractions, and back to your mantra. You can start with 5- or 10-minute sessions and work up to 20 or 30; with mantra meditation, any practice time is better than none.


Tips:

- Try to practice mantra meditation anywhere from several times per week to twice a day.

- You can repeat the sound silently in your head if you are more comfortable with that.

- You can also do mantra meditation while walking to combine exercise with meditation. Just use your mantra rhythmically as you step.



Bath Meditation


Make Time

Block off at least 15 minutes where you will not be interrupted. That means creating a few extra minutes in your schedule, putting the phone straight to voicemail, telling others in your household not to disturb you unless it is an emergency.

Use Aromatherapy Bath Products

As you run the bath, you may want to incorporate some of the benefits of aromatherapy by using bubble-bath or bath oils scented with lavender (shown to be relaxing), peppermint (if you want to feel more alert), or sage (for cleansing abilities).

Get In and Relax

Let your breathing become slower and deeper, allowing your belly to rise and fall with each breath (instead of your shoulders or chest). This type of breathing is more natural, and can help turn off your stress response if it was still triggered from earlier in the day.

Focus on Sensations

Now just focus on the sensations you feel in your body - the warmth of the water on your skin, the pressure of the tub against your back - and let go of all thoughts. Try to keep your mind quiet and your attention focused on only the present moment.

Stay In The Present

If you find thoughts of the past, the future, or any form of internal dialogue happening, gently redirect your attention to the present moment. Continue for several minutes, and you should feel soothed and relaxed quickly.


Tip

- You may also want to try adding something auditory, such as a recording of ocean waves or of a gentle stream flowing. Use something relaxing and without lyrics.



These basic meditation techniques are easy to do but stopping your internal dialogue for very long will take practice. Just be consistent and patient in your practice and you will one day find yourself naturally relaxing into this peaceful, calm, and refreshing place amidst the chaos of everyday life. In time, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to deal with life's problems and will find yourself automatically going there where your Awareness and Clarity guide you effortlessly past the obstacles you encounter. Peace!

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The Second Attention

We go through our daily lives relying upon our five senses to interpret the world around us and our relationship to it. This is absolutely necessary for us to function in this material realm because these senses send input from our surroundings to the brain where it processes and stores this information forming our perception of Reality. This reality, though, is just one definition, our own, and therefore it is different from everyone else's. In order for individuals to form a culture, and a society in general, we must come to an agreement about our collective definition of this reality so we can interact and function together. Without this consensus, there would be complete chaos. When groups of us encounter the same situation, though, the differences in our perceptions, or definitions, of this event become clear. Such is the case when several people witness an auto accident or say a robbery and give their individual reports to the police. If you were to read every report and compare the stories, you would be very surprised at the inconsistencies between them. Take the robbery for example. The descriptions of the robber alone will vary greatly as to height, weight, color of hair and eyes, type and color(s) of clothing, and even ethnicity. It is truly a wonder that the police ever catch a criminal based solely upon their witness reports. There is, however, usually enough matching information running through the core of the collective descriptions to create a general consensus of the event - enough to go on. But can anyone say for certain what the One Reality was?


The answer is no because no one actually "saw" the true Reality. We do, however, manage to get through our daily lives with a minimal amount of death and destruction - at least on a very localized level. So is this all there is? Most people would answer yes and they would be wrong. Our five senses are so very limited and therefore only a negligible view of Reality is available to us at best. To ever "see" even the smallest amount of what is truly real requires us to let go of this "First Attention" which is confined and limited to our five senses and discover the most important "sense" we have. This "Second Attention" is very rarely even noticed and then it can only be understood by those individuals who have Awakened from the Sleep of the masses. Even then, to actually use this ability of our True Self in any meaningful way may take many years or even a lifetime. You hear stories about people whose lives were saved because for some reason, they listened to this unknown sense. For example, there is the story of a man who purchased an airline ticket, waited for his flight, but as he was walking to board the plane, he felt an uneasy feeling in his gut, his Center, a feeling that something was not right about this situation. He was so disturbed by this feeling that he turned around and left. He later heard that the plane he had decided not to get on had crashed and all of the passengers and crew were dead. He had listened to his Intuition and by doing so had avoided a certain death. This gut-level knowing is the Second Attention and when listened to, is never wrong. How many times have you been heading out the door to work or some place else and felt like you had forgotten something? You stop for a moment, take a mental inventory, and realize that you had forgotten a package you had planned to mail or something more important. Maybe you had forgotten to unplug the iron you used on your shirt and it could possibly cause a fire. We are always One with our True Self, our True Nature, but the interference from our noisy Egos hides us from our Source. We are Aware of everything but our extremely limited five senses, the subsequent perception or interpretation, and the many filters our input goes through before being sent to our conscious mind, leaves us literally blind to the infinite realm of Reality. It is a very good thing too because if we ever got a glimpse of full Reality and were not prepared to deal with IT, our brains would short circuit and leave us emotionally damaged, insane, or dead. Thankfully, once Awakened and later "introduced" to our Second Attention, this "Seeing" or better yet, this "Knowing" is gradually expanded and incorporated over time.


All of the true Sages throughout the ages have taught this in their own way. Though the terminology in the teachings be different because of the differences in language, culture, and times, this great Truth has been a crucial key to accessing our True Nature, Self, God, what have you. For example, when the disciples ask Jesus what they were supposed to say as they were sent out to spread the Truth, he responded by telling them to quit worrying about it because the words would come to them at the proper time and that there was enough to do in this moment. Another perfect example is when Carlos Castaneda ask don Juan, a Yaqui Indian Man of Knowledge, what he would do in a certain situation. Carlos set up this scenario for don Juan: "You are walking through this valley on your way to gather your medicinal herbs and unknown to you, there is a sniper well-hidden along your route. He has studied your routine, knows exactly when and where you will be, and his sole purpose is to kill you. This sniper is the best there is, armed with the finest scoped assassin's rifle made, and he never misses. How will you stop him from killing you?" don Juan calmly replies, "I just won't be there." In the internal martial arts, say Aikido for example, when the Master is attacked, he is always moving ahead of his attacker's movements so that he is never where his opponent is striking. In fact, the Aikido Master is always in the perfect position to use his opponent's energy against him and to redirect it back at his attacker. I have always referred to this as, "the Art of not being there". This Aikido Master is operating completely on the level of Intuition and has his Second Attention fully focused. We go through our daily lives letting our Egos be in "control" when the entire time, we are literally out of control. This is the blind leading the blind! If we will just relax, clear the mind, and let our True Nature be in control, we will always be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. This is who we really are, how we are supposed to be, and understanding this is the first step on our Path with Heart. Life happens only when we are completely in the Present. In this state, we are impeccable warriors invulnerable to harm and "listening" to the Wisdom of the Universe. This time here in this dangerous material realm is our real school and we are constantly surrounded by "teachers" screaming Wisdom at us. All we have to do is to let go of the Ego, it's illusion of power and control, and start "listening" with our Second Attention. Class has started! Are you paying Attention?


"Duality is only an illusion so
"see" what is not there by
grasping it with your intuition!"
~ Wolf

"If my adversary does not move, my center remains calm,
if my adversary moves, I move first"
~ Sun Tsu




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Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I recently discovered this Awakened author who writes beautifully about our True Nature. She has been writing prose poetry that touches your very soul for many years and has quite a few wonderful and highly-rated books on the market. I hope you enjoy this very brief sample of her work and appreciate the Wisdom contained within.


The Call

I have heard it all my life,
A voice calling a name I recognize
Remember what you are and let this knowing
take you home to the Beloved with every breath.

Hold tenderly who you are and let a deeper knowing
colour the shape of your humanness.

There is no where to go. What you are looking for is right here.
Open the fist clenched in wanting and see what you already hold in your hand.

There is no waiting for something to happen,
no point in the future to get to.
All you have ever longed for is here in this moment, right now.

You are wearing yourself out with all this searching.
Come home and rest.

How much longer can you live like this?
Your hungry spirit is gaunt, your heart stumbles. All this trying.
Give it up!

Let yourself be one of the God-mad,
faithful only to the Beauty you are.

Let the Lover pull you to your feet and hold you close,
dancing even when fear urges you to sit this one out.

Remember- there is one word you are here to say with your whole being.
When it finds you, give your life to it. Don't be tight-lipped and stingy.

Spend yourself completely on the saying.
Be one word in this great love poem we are writing together.

~ Oriah



The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

~ Oriah

Cultivating Body Awareness

This is an excellent explanation of the natural state of Oneness that our mind and body are actually in every moment of our lives. Most people, however, never stop their thoughts long enough to become aware of this blissful state of being. This is our home, our True Nature, our natural state of being that the Ego separates us from, and hides from most of us, our entire life. I first became aware of my hidden Self during my short years of studying and teaching Kenpo. In 1990, I learned to do a simplified 24 step form of Yang Style Tai Chi to help me stay centered, mindfull, and to live in the Present as much as possible. This short moving meditation called the Peking Form is a far cry from the life-long and intense training required in the two following martial arts but nevertheless has been very effective in cultivating Chi and calming my center to this day. Clearing your mind of thought, relaxing your body, and sinking your intrinsic energy, or Chi, into your center or Dan Tiem, is the cornerstone of mastering the martial arts, particularly the internal arts such as Tai Chi Chuan and Pa Kua. This mindfulness, or Oneness of mind and body, removes you from the chaos of the Egoistic realm and puts you in touch with your True Nature or Source. It is only in this state of Being that we are truly alive and living life as it was meant to be. I hope you enjoy this well-written and insightful blog from a wise individual named Oudam.




We seldom ponder about being present in our own bodies because we already know that we are. Therein lies the problem. So many aspects of our lives have been put on automatic pilot that we have come to rely on habituated thought patterns to sustain a stable, predictable world. We know that we are in our bodies so that we do not have to be aware of being in them. While daydreaming, planning, speculating, and so on, we effectively have an "out-of-body experience" as our minds are projected away from our bodies into the realm of thought.


In reality the mind and body are inseparable and, to a large extent, indistinguishable from each other. We normally think of the body as the physical, tangible "stuff" of which we are made, and the mind as the nonphysical faculty of consciousness, perception, thought, emotion, and memory. In reality, every thought or emotion arises from an electro-chemical change in the brain or nervous system. That is, every mental event is made possible by a physical event involving bodily components– without the body, there can be no mind. Vice versa, the mind contains the cosmos of information that directs every aspect of the complex biological machinery that is the body– without a mind, there can be no body.


In fact even an inanimate object, such as a rock or kitchen table, needs some sort of "mind" to exist. We normally think of a kitchen table as a lifeless, mindless physical body. However, the atoms of the table are held together by the same electrostatic forces that hold the atoms of our bodies together. These electrostatic interactions are not random; they follow certain patterns that ultimately impart structural integrity to the table. We may call the body of information that is responsible for the table's shape and form its "mind". Granted, the "mind" of a table is far less complex than that of a human being. But without the nonphysical organizing intelligence that makes a table a table, there can be no table.


Buddhism maintains "oneness" of mind and body, which is not to say that the mind and body are identical and synonymous. By "oneness" we mean that the mind and body are merely two aspects of the same reality. In a similar manner that light exhibits both particle-like (physical) and wave-like (nonphysical) qualities, human beings exhibit both body (physical) and mind (nonphysical) qualities. Thus, mind and body come from the same source and are different expressions of the same reality. The mind-body duality, the root of many of our persistent struggles, is largely an artificial separation that arises from conditioned ignorance of one's true nature.


The oneness of mind and body may be better appreciated through the cultivation of body awareness. Like the breath, the body is an obvious object of attention. Our bodies are always available to us; we just have to remember to be aware of them. The mind has a tendency to wander away from the body as it attaches to thoughts, feelings and impulses. Mindfulness tethers the mind to the body, keeping the mind from straying too far. When we sit, we should be mindful of our posture and general mental state. When we walk, we should be aware of the movements of our limbs and of being present in our bodies as we walk. In anything we do, we should make a point to deliberately inhabit our bodies and have a sense of bodiness as we do it.


Unless our minds and bodies are linked together in this way, we have no reliable frame of reference from which to perceive reality as it unfolds in the present moment. Our present state of being is ordinarily defined by our current mental preoccupation– we are what our minds are doing at the moment. When I am thinking, I am thought itself. When I am remembering, I am memory itself. When I am angry, I am anger itself. While my mind is preoccupied with thinking, remembering, and feeling angry, there is one aspect of me that gets shoved into the background: my AMness. My amness is who I really am. It lends my presence to my mental processes. The mind has a tendency to become so consumed by a mental preoccupation that it forgets who is doing the mentation. The goal of mindfulness is not to suppress thoughts and feelings, but to bring the amness back into the forefront of consciousness. When I am thinking mindfully, I am not merely my thoughts– I really am thinking. Mindfulness connects the mind to the body as we think, endowing our mental activity with our Presence.


Tethering the mind to the body leads to expanded awareness. It may seem counter-intuitive to speak of expanding awareness in terms of restricting the mind's freedom. However, we must not confuse expanded awareness with mental hyperactivity. Expanded awareness is the sublime quality of being alive. The only way to be alive is to become one with that which is living. The body is a living reality. By consciously anchoring our minds to our living bodies, we become more alive. Mindfulness is the practice of vitality.


To deliberately inhabit the body is to make it our home, our habitat. The living body is the true home for the mind. Warmth, comfort, security, and tranquility are the qualities that we associate with home. It's no wonder that these are the same qualities that we experience when we are mindful. Through this process of homecoming, we appreciate the wholeness that is the source of all dualities and separations. ~ By Oudam

A Conspiracy of Ignorance+

I have needed to write this blog ever since I watched the two-hour NOVA, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial", and I am very pleased to finally offer this important subject for any and all who are on their Path with Heart. At any given time, there are three categories of individuals residing in this material realm. The vast majority are Asleep. All of the rest except a very few are Awakened. Then there are the very few who are Enlightened and living as impeccable warriors. The next step is beyond the reach of Karma. When ask of Jesus, "who shall go to "Heaven"? He replied, "many will try, few will make it". The great Wisdom of Jesus and the others who have "made it" is within each of us, is everywhere around us, and is clearly explained in The Bible, The Tao Te Ching, The Quran, and the many other great spiritual texts in existence. This One Truth has been passed down in stories from ancient Elders in Native American cultures and shared by all cultures throughout history. This blog entry is not meant to demean religions in any way but to show the inadequacy of their Egocentric and superficial origins. Most churches, as organizations, do perform many critical services to society such as providing for the needy, acting in a support role for those whose life's problems have become overwhelming, and giving purpose, hope, and structure to the Sleeping masses. Another very important purpose they serve is to bring people together in prayer for the good of others - a very powerful tool, indeed. They do not, however, understand and teach the true Wisdom of Jesus but only skim the surface and unknowingly miss the entire point of his teachings, called The Way. Do I believe in God? Absolutely! However, I know that God is not some judgemental, overbearing, entity sitting on a throne somewhere rewarding some while punishing others. In fact, God is Not like that at all but is something infinitely greater, completely objective, and far, far beyond our comprehension. The closest concept that I can think of comes from Gestalt psychology, ie, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. God can not be describe because "It" is beyond description, or ineffable. I do know, however, that God is pure Love! Love me or hate me, here is part of what I know to be the Truth. Enjoy!



The Truth has been the same since the beginning of time - long before any man interpreted It from his perspective and turned It into a religion. This Truth can be found at the core of all ancient spiritual philosophies, beliefs, and religions if one can discard all of the Egocentric and ornamental nonsense each has added based upon their particular culture and perspective. We are here for two reasons (Our Path with Heart):

1) To master ourselves in order to live completely in the Present where we gain the Wisdom to overcome Karma and this material world;
2) To selflessly help others and do no harm as we travel our Path.

Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, Lao-tse, and many others throughout the world and throughout history have shown us The Way but most people have not the "eyes" to "see" nor the "ears" to "hear". Once one's "eyes and ears" awaken, our Path with Heart begins. Once begun, do not look back. Unfortunately, since the majority of people at any given time can not understand this one Truth, most are drawn into various religions such as Christianity where their Egos take up arms in "defense" of their particular perspective and judge those who believe differently in sometimes harsh, if not deadly, ways. This is how it has been ever since we lost "Paradise" when our Egos took over and created the illusion of separation from our Source or God. Our True Nature became hidden under all of the superfluous descriptions of this new "reality" and the path back home disappeared. The reason or reasons why a fairly constant and small percentage of people are able to understand this flaw is far beyond my understanding, however, ancient spiritual teachings, philosophies, and texts are rather clear on this matter. For example, when Jesus said, "forgive them "Father" for they know not what they do" as he endured his execution for teaching this one Truth, "The Way" as he called it, he made it very clear that it was literally impossible for the masses to understand who he was, why he was here, and most importantly, what he was teaching. This condition is not their fault anymore than the number of fingers on each of their hands is. I can only speculate as to the reason and currently believe it to be involved with the evolution of the Spirit within the rules of Karma. This explains the ancient saying of, " those who say do not know, and, those who know do not say". Untold numbers of Awakened souls who chose to say have ended up being put to death by the masses out of fear and ignorance. This is so evident in our recent history when many so-called "witches" were hung for their abilities to heal others, for their different ways of being spiritual, and ultimately out of fear of the unknown. Little did they know that these "special" people were actually much closer to God, our Source, Self, or our True Nature than those doing the killing. This has been the case from the beginning of our "fall from Grace" eons ago and this persecution continues to this day. More unconscionable torture, death, and destruction has occurred throughout the history of mankind from this ignorance than from all other reasons combined. One just needs to study The Crusades and The Spanish Inquisition, for example, to understand this fact. Today, at least in America, people are not executed for having different beliefs but wars are still fought over differences in religion. I lay this foundation constructed from religious-generated ignorance in order to describe a true threat, a real conspiracy of ignorance that exists today that I feel compelled to comment upon. This conspiracy of ignorance is a movement to interfere with the knowledge of life's beginnings here on earth that is fueled by the same superficial beliefs that caused the execution of Jesus and others along with the persecution of the multitudes of the Awakened throughout history. I speak of the current crusade to stop the teaching of Darwin's Theory of Evolution in science classes to explain how our material existence started here on earth and to substitute "Intelligent Design", or better known as Creationism, in order to justify this illusion of the separation of us from all other life here. My how big some people's Egos can get!

This secret scheme to turn Christian Mythology into accepted science and use it to discredit Darwin's theory came to light in the case of Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. In 2004, the Dover, Pennsylvania school board established a policy that science teachers would have to read a statement to biology students suggesting that there is an alternative to Darwin's Theory of Evolution called Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design, or ID, claims that certain features of life are too complex to have evolved naturally, and therefore must have been designed by an intelligent agent. The Dover high school science teachers refused to comply with the policy and refused to read the statement. Parents opposed to the school board's actions filed this lawsuit in federal court. During the six week trial, it was revealed through their "expert" testimony and a hastily edited internal manuscript that this was a blatant attempt to force the teaching of Creationism as an alternative scientific theory to that of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. In 1987 in the case of Edwards versus Aguillard, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to teach Creationism in public school science class. This 2004 case involved the same group of people from the 1980's, and in their haste to edit out Creationism after that ruling, they made a major mistake. "In cleansing that manuscript, they failed to replace every word properly. It showed the word "creationists." And instead of replacing the entire word, they just kind of did this, and got "design proponents" with the "c" in front and the "ists" in the back from the original word. This transitional form is "Cdesign proponentsists." And everyone now refers to this as the "missing link" between Creationism and Intelligent design." It was now clearly evident that Intelligent Design was just another name for Creationism. In fact, in their own documents from the 1980's, they had written and said, that they themselves knew that this was not science*. Needless to say, this attempt to replace science with mythical ignorance failed yet again.

Throughout history, the teachers of Truth, have been attacked by the church with so many being tortured and murdered. Just look at what the church did to Copernicus and Galileo when their discoveries went against current religious teachings. Thankfully, today these matters are handled in a far more civilized manner, at least here in America. Even though this blatant attempt to quash the Truth and force ignorance onto the masses was prevented in 2004, this conspiracy of ignorance is very much alive and well today. Once Awakened, there will be countless obstacles to overcome on one's Path with Heart but the wise will not be deterred nor distracted and will continue to flow in the river of harmony and Oneness onward on the journey back home to our Source, our True Nature, Self, or God. We are One with everything and everyone in the Universe and can no more separate ourselves from this Reality, this Truth, than we can stop the sun from rising. Following The Way as taught by Jesus, The Way and it's Virtue(Tao Te Ching) as taught by Lao-tse, and this One Truth as taught by others throughout history is our only task in this material realm. Once begun, there is no turning back. As Jesus said, once one gets behind the plow, do not look back! How are your "eyes and ears"?

Namaste'


*http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3416_id_10.html

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