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

Related articles by Zemanta

• NOVA: Intelligent Design on Trial (milkandcookies.com)
• Florida Stealth Creationism Bill Filed (littlegreenfootballs.com)

A Personal Encounter with my Karma

I promised that I would share some of my special spiritual experiences from time to time here when I wrote the introduction to this blog. Here is a very special one that evokes strong emotions from me every time I think about it. This is Karma at work. Imagine the astronomical odds of this ever occurring and you will understand that this was meant to be. What an incredible lesson and gift this was and always will be! Enjoy!



After experiencing extreme trauma, having two "near-death" experiences during a six hour emergency surgery to put me back together, and one of several years of rehab, I would return to the hospital to visit the amazing nurses who cared for me during my months of acute care there. They always seemed to have at least one severely injured person who had given up the fight to live that they would ask me to talk to in hopes my example would help to motivate their patient to at least try to survive. I always gladly honored their request. There was one young man who was severely injured from a motorcycle wreck as I had been so I visited with him awhile. I never knew what to say so I just told him my story and that he had only two choices now. He could lay there in self-pity and surely die or he could choose to try to live and work like never before to rebuild his life. I ask him to please choose life and let these incredible professionals take his hand and help him through this daunting challenge. I left feeling very sad that he may just lay there and die but I had to stay focused on my chosen path to live. I managed to pull myself together well enough to continue on my lifelong path of daily challenges and moved 600 miles away to go to college. Nine years later I was having a beer in a little biker bar on a side street off of the courthouse square in this small college town when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see a man looking intensely at me but I had no idea who it was. He then ask me if I remembered talking to a young man several years ago in a hospital in my home town that had been severely injured in a motorcycle wreck and who had given up trying to live. My neck hair started standing on end and a wave of intense emotion started rushing from the center of my being as I heard his words. I managed to get out a yes when he said, "that was me and you saved my life".

One never knows the effect that their words and actions have on the vast majority of people they encounter during their life and few ever stop to consider the effects. I had tried to help many such patients at "my" hospital during my visits back there but I never thought for a second that my words to these strangers would mean anything. That night, though, in that tiny bar in that little town everything came full-circle and I experienced the power of my words and actions. My life has never been the same since that moment. In fact, I am reliving that incredibly emotional moment again as I tell my story here... and the feeling is wonderful beyond description!

Namaste'

Poems of Love for Our Oneness

Here is a selection of thoughts and poems on Love and Oneness for this Valentine's Day. Peace, Love, and Joy to the Oneness of us All!

Namaste'
____________

The significance which is in
unity
is an eternal wonder.



We try to realize the essential unity of the world
with the conscious soul of man;

we learn to perceive the unity held together
by the one Eternal Spirit,whose power creates the earth,
the sky, and the stars,

and at the same time irradiates our minds with
the light of a consciousness

that moves and exits in unbroken continuity with the outer world.

~ Tagore



What is Love??


Love is the scent with the lotus born.

It is the silent choirs of petals

Singing the winter's harmony of uniform beauty.

Love is the song of the soul, singing to God.

It is the balanced rhythmic dance of planets -

sun and moon lit

In the skyey hall festooned with fleecy clouds –

Around the sovereign Silent Will.

It is the thirst of the rose to drink the sunrays

And blush red with life.

'Tis the promptings of the mother earth

To feed her milk to the tender, thirsty roots,

And to nurse all life.

It is the urge of the sun

To keep all things alive.



Love is the unseen craving of the Mother Divine

That took the protecting father–form,

And that feeds helpless mouths

With milk of mother's tenderness.

It is the babies' sweetness,

Coaxing the rain of parental sympathy

To shower upon them.

It is the lover's unenslaved surrender to the beloved

To serve and solace.

It is the elixir of friendship,

Reviving broken and bruised souls.

It is the martyr's zeal to shed his blood

For the well-beloved fatherland.

It is the ineffable, silent call of the heart to another
heart.

It is the God-drunk poet's heartaches

For every creature's groans.



Love is to enjoy the family rose of petal-beings,

And thence to move to spacious fields -

Passing by portals of social, national, international
sympathy,

On to the limitless Cosmic Home –

To gaze with looks of wonderment,

And to serve all that lives, still or moving.

This is to know what love is.

He knows who lives it.



Love is evolution's ameliorative call

To the far-strayed sons

To return to Perfection's home.

It is the call of the beauty – robed ones

To worship the great Beauty.

It is the call of God

Through silent intelligences

And starburst of feelings.



Love is the Heaven

Toward which the flowers, rivers, nations, atoms,
creatures – you and I

Are rushing by the straight path of action right,

Or winding laboriously on error's path,

All to reach haven there at last.

~ From: Songs of the Soul,
by Paramahansa Yogananda.



The Power of Love

When the power of love
Replaces the love of power
Man will have a new name: God.


A moment's love
Can and shall
Make the world perfect.


My Lord,
Do teach me only one thing:
How to love the world
The way You love me.


When my peace - heart dreams,
My bliss life sings.


Yesterday I was clever.
That is why I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise.
That is why I am changing myself

- Sri Chinmoy

Our Quantum Reality

What a fantastic universe we live in! Sometime around fourteen billion years ago there was nothing and then in an instant, there was this unfathomable universe containing all of the matter that makes up our night sky, every kind of energy known, more types of matter and energy yet to be known, and, so important to us, everything needed for life to develop. At the instant the Big Bang occurred, everything in the universe was One. Now as we exist in this very moment, there is still this Oneness that unites all of us with each other and also with everything else in this incredible universe. How else can it be? We are as much One with the stars, the planets, the galaxies, the yet-to-be-discovered, and the unquestionable multitudes of life teaming throughout this material expose', in this moment, as we were One in that moment billions of years ago. So why do we think of ourselves as separate and is there any proof of this Oneness today?

We come into this world at the moment of birth in a state of blissful perfection and completely without any identity. Psychologists agree that most infants do not establish a separateness or identity until around the age of two. During this time, especially early on, infants believe that their thoughts are instantly "heard" by everyone around them - our natural state. This may very well explain the frustration and crying when an infant wants or needs something. Why do we not "hear" their wants and needs? A very logical question if only we could relive that period with our current understanding. So what happened to us? Why are we separated now? Well, somewhere around the age of two our Ego starts to take "control" and eventually assumes the position of "I". This "separate entity" has now seized the "ship" and sits comfortably in the Captain's chair. This new leadership position is heavily reinforced from the moment of it's creation to it's last breath and has long ago forgotten and abandoned the realm of One. This is our hidden curse, our "ball and chain", and the original "sin" (Cause) that got us caught in the net of Karma. We will go through endless lives, birth to death, and back to birth over and over and over until we gain the necessary Wisdom to overcome Karma, and thus, this material world. Back to our Source, back to our True Nature, back to the Oneness that is our home. But is there any evidence of this Oneness beyond the Wisdom of those Awakened individuals who follow in the footprints of Jesus of Nazareth, Lao-tse, Buddha, et al?

Actually, there is now! In the race to achieve Absolute Zero, minus 273.15 Celsius or minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, physicists discovered a level of material existence that defied the laws of everyday physics. Atoms appeared as individual points, as expected, but as temperatures fell within two degrees of Absolute Zero, the atoms started changing from separate points into waves. As the temperature continued to fall, the waves interlocked in such a way that every atom was everywhere at the same time. This new state of matter is called the Bose-Einstein Condensate* and is sometimes referred to as the "God Particle". The individual atoms have returned to their natural form, Oneness, just as it was at the instant of the Big Bang. This is our Quantum Reality - a reality science is just now discovering and far too complicated to explain here. The important point here is that science has discovered this state of Oneness and can prove that one atom can be here and at the "edge of the universe" at the same time. If scientists can recreate a facsimile of the conditions at the instant of the creation of our material universe, how difficult can it be to believe that "we" become One again when we return to our Source, Self, True Nature, or God. I believe, without a doubt, that technology is our feeble attempt to regain our natural abilities lost at the moment of our separation from this Oneness. We experience our Ego-ruled lives in a constant search for what we lost by trying to fill that void with technological tools that faintly mimic our lost abilities. This deep-seated longing is what drives us to create substitute means of transportation, communication, et al. Many seek our natural state of euphoria through the use of mind-altering drugs which actually inhibit the very thing we seek and divert us from our Path with Heart. Oh to be One again so we could instantly communicate across town or across the universe. So we could instantly be anywhere, see anywhere, hear anywhere, all at any time because time and space have no meaning in our spiritual realm or True Nature. We all still have these natural abilities but we have let our Egos hide who we really are. We do not need to go anywhere or Do anything to get back home. We never left! We can reconnect just by letting go, having the Faith to let our True Nature control everything, and then by this Non-doing, we are One.



* Predicted in 1924 by Albert Einstein, who built on the work of Satyendra Nath Bose, the condensation occurs when individual atoms meld into a "superatom" behaving as a single entity at just a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero. The
71-year quest to confirm Bose and Einstein's theory was likened by many physicists to the search for the mythical Holy Grail.
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/BEC_background.htm


"The wise man Knows without going, Sees without seeing, Does without doing."
~ Lao-tse

Related articles by Zemanta

• Absolute Zero (physics-history.suite101.com)
• Glimpse Before Big Bang Possible (space.com)
• Mystery Cosmic Static May Cast Light on Formation of First Stars (sciam.com)
• Mysterious Dark Matter Might Actually Glow (space.com)
• Antimatter Eludes Search Efforts (space.com)
• Dark Energy Stunts Galaxies' Growth (nytimes.com)
• Billions Of Particles Of Anti-Matter Created In Laboratory (lockergnome.com)
• Quantum memory in the cloud - a cold, metallic gas cloud (arstechnica.com)

The True Meaning and Power of Faith

Faith is a word that is used extensively when people talk about religion and, in particular, Christianity. This commonly used word is also understood by very few, if any, of these same people. I rarely venture into the realm of religion because of the infinite perspectives surrounding this hot-button, emotionally-sensitive subject so I will deal with it here and now. Christianity and all of the mainstream religions are necessary social structures that serve the masses well and do a lot of good for society as a whole, however, they all fail miserably when it comes to interpreting the various teachings of the true sages throughout history. For this essay, I will stay strictly on point and describe their gross misinterpretation of the concept of Faith and why understanding it's true application is crucial for those awakened individuals starting on or already on their respective Paths with Heart. First, Faith is not just believing in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, for instance, or just believing that Jesus came here and took your "sins" away, or just believing that Jesus is your "savior", and you go to "heaven". This is indeed the basic belief behind establishment Christianity. This is referred to as having Faith and you are therefore a person of Faith. This is all fine and well and does help to direct people to try to be good to others and to generally follow a well-meaning direction in life but, unfortunately, this "Faith" has absolutely nothing to do with the reason Jesus came here, says nothing about who he is, and definitely is not how one gets to "Heaven". This practice of Faith is strictly superficial and only serves to satisfy the desires of the Ego. Real Faith is the cornerstone of the Truth - the very Truth that Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Lao-tse, and many other true sages throughout time and throughout the world have come here to teach. So if this is not what Jesus meant when he spoke of Faith, then what is?

True Faith is the "tool", the methodology, and the only means we have to communicate with and to become One with our True Nature, our Source, Self, or God. Faith, in the strictest terminology, is the ability for one to completely give up "control" of everything in one's life and to Believe that there is a "Power", an automatic pilot, if you will, that will take over and run everything in your life perfectly. Not for just a moment or two, but for each and every moment one is in this material world. In this state of complete Faith, the "I", the "Me", the "We" do not exist and the Ego is just quietly along for the ride - and what an incredible ride it is! All of us have experienced brief moments in this natural state where everything just flows perfectly in harmony without pause, or obstacle, or care. Generally speaking, one is "in the Flow" and just effortlessly moves through time and space without a care. In fact, one feels euphoria and a calmness beyond description during these brief encounters with our True Nature. As soon as even the smallest thought interrupts this perfect bliss, the chaos and frustrations of everyday "life" return and one is back trying to control everything. Most people never give these blessings, these brief reminders of Paradise lost, another thought and continue on with their day as if nothing unusual or special had occurred. People like this are what is generally referred to as "Asleep". The vast majority of people at any point in time are "Asleep" and are incapable of awakening. This is the realm of the "righteous" religious church-going people of "faith" who seriously believe that overcoming this material world is as simple as one, two, three...."Heaven". Well, as Jesus of Nazareth said, " forgive them for they know not what they do". Religion plays an important role in their lives, nevertheless, because it helps to guide their thoughts, words, and actions (Causes) toward doing good to and for others - Good Karma. Although not necessary, the basic tenets of religion are mostly good and should be respected for this reason. The next stage arises when one realizes that there is so much more to life and that those fleeting periods of euphoria and ineffable calm are actually who we really are.

These people are referred to as "Awakened" - duh! Now, everything begins to change and one avidly seeks the knowledge of ways, techniques, or systems of training that help them to gain the Faith to stop trying to control everything and to consciously start experiencing our True Nature. It is at this point that one is driven to gain this knowledge and they put their heart into chasing this goal. This is the beginning of one's "Path with Heart". Sooner or later, though, this knowledge has served it's purpose of revealing "The Way", "The Way and it's Power (Virtue)", and now the knowledge is transformed into Wisdom. As Wisdom grows, knowledge becomes useless and diminishes. Faith becomes the means, the "vehicle" that delivers one back to Self, Oneness, our True Nature, or God. This is our Home, where we came from and will return time and time again, where only Love, Empathy, Serenity, and blissful Euphoria exist.......................................but also Power!

I have experienced this Power a few times in my life, first revealed to me during my short years in martial arts study and instructing. When my training was triggered by a surprise attack from behind, Faith took control, time and space were suspended in total calm and slow-motion until one 3 inch strike stopped my attacker cold, severely bleeding, and completely incapacitated. I never used this Power again to harm another because I had only touched him with my ability and it scared me. Jesus said that with the Faith of a mustard seed, one can move a mountain. He was speaking literally. Every cubic centimeter of "empty space" contains 10 to the 38th power ergs* of energy - electromagnetic energy. This mustard-seed-sized bit of space does indeed contain far more Power than that required to literally move any mountain on earth and more. Thankfully, as Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated many times through his "miracles", it is our True Nature that has use of this unfathomable and universal Power, and, our True Nature is one of pure altruistic Love. Faith is the key that opens the door leading back to our True Nature, our Source, Self, Oneness, or God, where one is also plugged into the Power of the Universe. This is who we are and we are One. Have Faith!

Namaste'



And Jesus said unto them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
~ Mathew 17:20



* The thermonuclear model for gamma-ray bursts

Why Do We Love?

Love is eternal and is a pervasive, integral part of our True Nature, Source, Self, or God. Everything, including us, springs forth from this infinite Source to enter this material existence. Once here, the Law of Opposites comes into play to create the contrast necessary for everything to assume it's respective definition or form. Without this contrast, nothing would make any sense and our world would appear as an ever-changing chaos overwhelming the senses and causing complete panic from the perception of our Egos. Therefore, Yin and Yang, permeate our entire physical existence and our perception of the material realm. For example, "what would left mean if there was no such thing, or definition, as right?". The same is true with up and down, high and low, light and dark, and on and on and on... In fact, "I' or "Me" could not exist without "you" or "it" or "them" or "that". This contrast between each of us and everything else is the creation of the Ego or "self" and has existed ever since we became self-aware. This occurrence eons ago was the birth of imperfection, the birth of "I', the birth of judgement, and, unfortunately, the birth of evil. Books have been written about this moment in time which, by the way, was also the birth of "time". As tempted as I am to pursue this infinitely important moment of our existence, neither time nor space allow me to follow that subject right now. Maybe another time, or lifetime, so onward with the question at hand. "Why do we love?"

These two scientists set out to investigate what, if any, communication exists between plants. They entered into an experiment designed to test if plants that were completely separate from each other could somehow communicate between "themselves". They set up a very large room where conditions such as temperature, airflow, and other environmental factors could be completely controlled and they then went off to gather their test subjects. They chose to use trees of the same species that were growing in large commercial pots - ready to sell and be planted. Each was approximately the same height at around 10' - 12' and in good health. They filled their environmentally-controlled room with dozens of these trees while maintaining a substantial enough space around each one so none of them were even close to touching another. The conditions were calm with room temperature in the 70's, normal humidity, and the room's fluorescent lights turned on. One scientist was in one corner of the room while the other was in the diagonal corner across the room. At a predetermined time, one scientist applied a small flame to a leaf on the tree in his corner while the other scientist observed the tree in his corner for any reaction. The instant the flame was applied to the leaf and it curled in response to the heat, the leaves on the tree on the other side of the room all curled too. Not only did the one other tree respond but all of them responded in kind! Somehow these completely separate trees not only communicated with each other but actually reacted as if the flame had been applied to each of them at the same time. This was an empathic response that clearly proved a connection between these trees far beyond any form of communication. They behaved as if they were one plant or organism. Whether or not these scientists realized the enormous implications of their discovery, only their remarkable discovery that plants demonstrated empathy toward each other was documented in their final report. So what does this have to do with our question at hand?

Well, let's see here...In the beginning, there was a void. In the next instant, a material realm appeared from our Source. Somewhere far down this new path of time and matter, life arose into a state of perfection - no identity, no separation, just complete harmony. Then one very, very important moment farther down this time line, self-awareness appeared and really screwed up our perfect world. This Ego, this illusion of self or separation, has been keeping us "apart" from our Source, our True Nature, the collective Self, or God. You see, it is only the Ego that separates us from one another and everything else in this universe. It is this interference of the thinking egotistical self that blinds our vision of, and creates the static that interferes with us hearing or tuning into, our Source, our True Nature, Self, or God. Before this Ego arose, "we" were not separate. "We" were One! When we stop the thoughts, stop the ticking of time, and ease into the Present, we are One again. We are empathic and feel the suffering of others. When we love another, we have tuned out the static and tuned into the other. We have come together again and opened the door to the love we share. This is why it hurts when you are apart from those you love. A longing, a need, a burning desire to be with them again. The Ego shut this door a long time ago and has left us longing for that Oneness, that security and warmth, that pure Love that is Self, our True Nature, our Source, God. So, why do we love? We love because we are Love!