Andrew Cort's Blog, page 40

"I Have a Dream"

Martin Luther King, Jr.
 I could not think of a better way to conclude this series of Guest Posts on "All Traditions, All Faiths, All Cultures", or to prepare the way for our "Celebration of Spiritual and Religious Unity, Wisdom and Friendship" that begins here tomorrow, than with a tribute to Dr. King.

This extraordinary statement about human decency, freedom, harmony and peace, certainly needs no introduction, and its message is as pertinent today in a world filled with bigotry and antagonism as it was when first given.

This is just an excerpt. If you are too young to have heard it live, or if you just wish to have your soul refreshed and inspired once again, you can you can hear the entire address here:  http://www.archive.org/download/MLKDream/MLKDream_64kb.mp3

 
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today. 
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
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Thanks to all my August Guests!
Andrew Cort








COME BACK TOMORROW AS WE BEGIN THE CELEBRATION OF SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS UNITY, WISDOM AND FRIENDSHIP

Sacred Sex

The Universal Experience of Suffering and its Universal Remedy; The Secret Teachings of Jesus and Moses; The Tree of Life: Kabbalah; The Tree of Knowledge: Alchemy-Daath-Tantra; The Duality of the Serpent: Kundalini and Kundabuffer. Temptation. The serpent. The expulsion from Paradise.

Archetypal stories that have moved millions of human beings: but who has understood their real meaning? Theories abound, but humanity remains suffering in the wilderness. Now, the esoteric doctrine upon which all the world's great religions are grounded is revealed. Behold the Great Arcanum: the tremendous secret fiercely protected for centuries. Behold the true heart of all great religions and mystical traditions: the path of the razor's edge, the exact science to awaken the consciousness and free the soul from suffering. Discover the Alchemy, Tantra, and Kabbalah hidden in the mysteries of Adam and Eve. The road to return to Eden is revealed; it is time for man and woman to rectify their mistakes and return to their true home.

This video contains no lewd or graphic imagery and is illustrated entirely by the world's heritage of art. The knowledge and wisdom presented is the synthesis of the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Padmasambhava, the Dalai Lama, Samael Aun Weor, and many more. -- This film is a rich tapestry of sacred sex symbolism from around the world. The narrative weaves various traditions into its account, including the Kabbala, Western Europeans alchemy symbols, Tantra, Mayan carvings, Tibetan Buddhism, and various Christian gospels. It is inspiring to see the parallels between these traditions , even if they have been interpreted radically differently over the years.

Let us Embrace The Razor's Edge, for the beginning of Wisdom is Knowing how little We Know, ergo, there are many paths to Knowledge, but only one path that leads to Truth. -- For The Matrix (The World) is a System (Our Enslavement)... As The Christ stated, If your Eye be Single (In Meditation), your body shall be filled with Light (One with Christ)... So get Unplugged (Be in the World not of It), for the Kingdom (Salvation) of God is Within You! (The Key to true Knowledge and Eternal Life)
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Thanks,
Andrew Cort








(Tomorrow: Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Prayers for Peace

By Carol Parrish
Excerpt from The New Dictionary of Spiritual Thought


THE BAHA' I PRAYER FOR PEACE



Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home for the stranger. Be eyes to the blind, and guiding light unto the feet of the erring.Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.


THE BUDDHIST PRAYER FOR PEACE



May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another. May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildernesses — the children, the aged, the unprotected—be guarded by beneficent celestials. And may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.

THE CHRISTIAN PRAYER FOR PEACE



Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be known as the children of God." "But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To those who strike you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from those who take away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you; and of those who take away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.


THE HINDU PRAYER FOR PEACE




O God, lead us from the unreal to the Real. O God, lead us from darkness to light. O God, lead us from death to immortality. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all. O Lord God Almighty, may there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on Earth. May the waters be appeasing. May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and plants being peace to all. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May thy Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world. May all things be a source of peace to us, and let thy peace itself bestow peace on all and may that peace come to me also.

THE JAINIST PRAYER FOR PEACE




Peace and universal brotherhood is the essence of the Gospel preached by all the enlightened ones. The Lord has preached that equanimity is the dharma. Forgive do I creatures all, and let all creatures forgive me. Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity. Know that violence is the root cause of all miseries in the world. Violence, in fact is the knot of bondage. "Do not injure any living being." This is the eternal, perennial, and unalterable way of (spiritual) life. A weapon, howsoever powerful it may be, can always be superseded by a superior one; but no weapon can, however, bee superior to non-violence.
 . THE JEWISH PRAYER FOR PEACE




Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High, and we shall beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall we learn war anymore. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.




THE MUSLIM PRAYER FOR PEACE



In the name of God, the mercy-giving, the merciful, praise be to the Lord of the universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other. If the enemy inclines toward peace, do thou also incline toward peace, and trust in God; for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things. And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in Humility, and when we address them, we say, "Peace."


NATIVE AFRICAN PRAYER FOR PEACE




Almighty God, the Great Thumb we cannot evade to tie any knot; the Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees; the all-seeing Lord on high who sees even the footprints of an antelope on a rock mass here on Earth: You are the oneWho does not hesitate to respond to our call. You are the cornerstone of peace.






THE NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER FOR PEACE




O Great Spirit of my Fathers, I raise my pipe to you, to your Messengers the four winds, and to Mother Earth, who provides for your children. Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other, so that they may grow with peace in mind. Let us learn to share all the good things that you provide for us on this Earth.





SHINTO PRAYER FOR PEACE



Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us, I believe, are all our brothers and sisters, why are there constant troubles in this world? Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us? I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the tops of the mountains.




SIKH PRAYER FOR PEACE



God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear; the truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living. Know that we attain God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequence of which no one is defeated.




ZOROASTRIAN PRAYER FOR PEACE



We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world: that understanding triumph over ignorance, that generosity triumph over indifference, that trust triumph over contempt, and that truth triumph over falsehood.






CHIEF SEATTLE'S PRAYER




Teach your children what we have taught our children—that the Earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know: The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. This we know: All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever wedo to the we do we do to ourselves.

EARTH DAY PRAYER



Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics, and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty, and violence, awaken the wonder of life, and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure.






Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.
— Mahatma Gandhi

                                        

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Ordained in 1971, Carol Parrish left a promising business career to devote herself to her ministry and lecturing in the human potential movement. Having directed the Villa Serena community of Sarasota, Florida, for several years, she was led by spiritual guidance in 1981 to establish the community of Sparrow Hawk Village in the foothills of the Ozarks near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. There she served as president of Light of Christ Community Church until 2009 and academic dean of Sancta Sophia Seminary until June 1, 2010.
Long recognized as an inspired spiritual leader, Carol has stimulated many people to rejoice in the oneness with God. Her presentation of the esoteric aspects of early Christianity, free of doctrine and adornment, reinforces our acceptance of the Christ.

Her website is at www.carolparrish.com .


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Andrew Cort










(Tomorrow: Sacred Sex)

What is Alchemy?

from The Alchemy Conference

The Alchemists tried not merely to change base metals into gold, but much more importantly to rejuvenate their bodies, integrate their personalities, and perfect the very essence of our souls. Although they spoke of retorts, furnaces, and chemicals, they were really talking about synchronous transformation taking place in their own bodies, minds, and souls.
Alchemy can be defined most simply as the "art of transformation." It is concerned with the underlying principles of how things change and the basic process of transforming one thing into another. The most popular reason for studying alchemy today is to reconnect with the fundamental spiritual realities in the universe. In this approach to alchemy, the gold of the alchemist is not the common gold but an inner spiritual gold, and the operations of alchemy are performed in the inner 'laboratory' of the spirit and soul.





Join us on September 16-18, at the Long Beach Convention Center for an amazing conference where East Meets West, Old Meets New, People from All Over the World Gather, and You Discover Practical Solutions for Improving Your Life. The largest collection of practicing alchemists in the last 500 years! We are revealing the secrets to an extraordinary life. Action is important step toward an extraordinary life and planet. We are offering abundant opportunities that will consciously transform life starting with you.



As a natural progression to growth and change, much thought and consideration has gone into the planning of the 4th annual International Alchemy Conference. With the expansion of the event and keeping with the vision of the Alchemy Guild, the conference committee (Dennis Hauck, Gudni Gudnason, Theresa Bullard, Duane Saari and Paul Hardacre) have researched and selected speakers whose work best represents the theme and vision of the conference. This year's conference will host presenters from around the world, with a delicate balance between the Traditional & Modern Tracks. All the speakers and their unique topics are available for viewing online at our website.  The conference is poised to deliver impactful workshops, informative lectures, interactive activities, and global networking with those who carry the alchemical spirit forward in modern times. Participating in the conference will most certainly strengthen your connection to the miracle of the transformation in body, mind, and spirit, and it will help participants discover practical solutions for improving your lifeSo please join us on September 16-18, at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA. Find out more at http://www.alchemyconference.com
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Andrew Cort






(Tomorrow: Carol Parish - Prayers for Peace)

Harmonies of Healing: The Vibrations of Forgiveness

by Lauren Lane Powell                          

When we talk about personal and global evolution, when we speak of awakening to our Spiritual potential, when we dialogue about healing our body, "forgiveness" comes up - front and center. In order to truly transcend, forgiveness is essential. All great Masters teach that forgiveness is the key to eternity. We need to forgive our parents, our teachers, our politicians, our clergy, our siblings, our condition, ourselves. We need to forgive to heal, to move on. "How do I forgive?" becomes the question.

Now I've been doing my work for over 25 years and forgiveness has always been a part of that. However in years of therapy - which was very valuable - my forgiveness work was mental, intellectual. When I started my Spiritual journey, forgiveness became more heart-centered. Now I know, through my work as a singer, how physical and active forgiveness can and needs to be for healing at depth. When I forgive from my body muscles, the same muscles I sing and speak with, I push the toxic emotions up and out of my body deliberately, through the very breath that held them trapped for so long!
Let's back up a bit. When we are traumatized as children we react like threatened animals. We breathe shallowly and produce the fight or flight chemicals in the brain. When we can't express, cry out or fight back, we stuff those feelings into our gut. We hold our breath so as not to feel the pain and we swallow our emotions. Part of us splits off for survival, just to cope! If we survive we grow into adulthood.

Now I'm a grown-up. The parts of me I lost as a child are still missing.  I am wounded and carry my woundedness with me. I am stressed and sick. I attract one bad job after another, one bad relationship after another. My counselor, my minister, my family and friends tell me to just get over it. "Forgive! "Move on!" "Let go of the pain. The past is past." "Everyone is only doing the best they can do." "You wouldn't know yourself without everything that happened to you." "There is nothing to forgive, it's in God's hands." Blah Blah Blah!
While ALL of that is true, that truth does nothing to release the cellular memory of past pain trapped in my cells. In fact my receptor cells are so used to receiving criticism, anger and fear that they look for, find and create scenarios that will support my core belief- that I deserve criticism, anger and fear. The issues are in my tissues.
So while there are a growing number of techniques to release and let go, and while there are many books that take us through exercises from role-playing to tapping, my favorite tool is one I lovingly call "The Primal Purge." Similar in nature to the old "primal scream" of the 1970s the purge comes from deeper inside the body, the gut, the abdominals, where the toxic emotions live…up until now!
In the primal scream we were encouraged to yell and scream at mom and dad in an empty chair to get to the pain. It looked good on paper but we repeated the same story over and over again, just louder. We embellished our stories and stayed embroiled in them and we lost our voice from the screaming.

As a voice teacher and vocal coach for over 20 years I have witnessed many an emotional breakthrough when students hear the richness and beauty of a voice they never believed they had. Singing on key is a Spiritual experience if you were told and believe you cannot! But beyond the breath, beyond the tone what starts to release are all of the stuck emotions that shut us up and shut us down in the first place. Singing from the muscles we were born to sing with starts the process!
The Primal Purge- I have to feel it to heal it.
When I feel less than perfect, when I experience lack or fear, when in any kind of stress I first find a space to be alone. My car works well for me. I then do some exercises that get me in my body. I breathe deeply by expanding my belly, pulling the diaphragm downward then push the air out through my teeth in a hisssssss. I hiss hard and fast a few times. Now I am light headed and more relaxed.
Next I do a few "motor-boat" raspberries with the lips. It requires so much wind to get the lips buzzing at all I feel my abs contract with every attempt, successful or not. I add sound to the buzzing. Babies do this naturally! I feel silly, my ego is gone and I have woken up my inner child.  Lastly I blow on my finger-tips just a few times to memorize the breath and to notice from where the breath comes…the abs again.  I add an "ooooh" to that breath still feeling the breath on the finger tips.
With those few exercises, hissing, motorboating and blowing an oooh sound, I am in my body, fully.  When I am in my body I am out of my mind! What a nice place to be to heal!  It's those very body muscles, my core, my intuition that will loosen and release emotion, ideas and beliefs I have no conscious awareness I still have in me! I ask the question - "Who can I forgive today to reach the next level of my awareness? Who can I forgive today to heal my body, my finances." Whatever my present challenge is, "Who can I forgive today?" becomes my first question. Then I listen.
Sometimes it's mom, dad, sister but most often it's myself and I think "AGAIN!?" But forgiveness comes in layers and layers. As much as I was willing and able to release before, each time I release from a deeper level. Finally that particular issue has no more charge. It feels like it's gone forever until divine discontent stirs me up again! Then it's off to another issue!
So here is where it gets curious. Personally, I can't release what I don't go through first.  So, I go into those feelings of self-doubt as a child, or of woundedness and trauma. I feel the pain I may not have expressed as a child. I allow myself to speak out loud those nasty words I was unable to speak as a child. The words that for me are: "I HATE YOU for" …fill in the blank.  Embracing and owning the hate and fear, pushing those emotions up and out of the body actively, as a tool, in a meditative state, on purpose forces me to excavate old wounds. So I rant and rave for a little while, in private, out loud, from the breath.
Next is the kicker! Now that I've gotten it all up and out I say out loud and from the breath "I FORGIVE YOU for"  …fill in the blank. For every "I hate you for leaving me!" there is an "I forgive you for leaving me." Generally I start crying all over again.  But as I release the person, situation, trauma in this way, I peel back the layers of pain stuck in my body, loosening them up and pushing them out!  I may need to address that same issue a few times, but each time I allow myself to go there, I get a deeper release and a deeper understanding.  Every time I allow myself to work this way, I feel lighter, happier, more fulfilled and healthier in every way! 
These are the less tangible results! The demonstrations of miracles that occur within a day or two are consistent and amazing. For every single Primal Purge I perform there are effects I couldn't even dream of, physical healing not with --standing! More money flows in, more opportunity to serve, healed relationships, reconnections with a positive past, more creativity, more energy-- the list goes on!
The Course in Miracles says: "I am never upset for the reasons I think I am." If that is the case, what if everything in my present world serves me as triggers for where I am to go next in my healing. If you push my buttons, they are my buttons! When I go within and ask "What is coming up for me to heal today?" or "Who can I forgive?" and I purge, this button pushing situation doesn't show up for me again!
When I allow myself to feel the anger on purpose, I embrace my human-ness. Working with my body muscles what comes up and out rarely makes any sense to my mind at all!  That is the beauty of working physically, actively! Then when I forgive, my center, my knowing, my Spirit shines through and provides answers to questions, solutions to challenges and peace prevails. Experiencing the dramatic payoffs this work provides, lends an air of eager anticipation each time. "I can't wait to see what comes of this purge!!"***************** 


Lauren Lane Powell has been in love with the human voice since before she could speak. She started teaching people how to sing in 1989, first in private vocal lessons in downtown South Bend, Indiana.  In 1992 Lauren earned a degree in Voice and Music Education from Indiana University,  Through her own vocal  adventures and further studies, she has rediscovered her own true authentic voice.  As she continues to study and grow, so does her work. When her voice students began to feel more relaxed and healthier she realized how important an instrument of healing we have within our own bodies! Lauren has been on the road, full time since September of 1999.  She reminds audiences world-wide, live and online, how to use their own authentic voice naturally-to sing, speak, tone and heal. Her website is www.harmoniesofhealing.com.


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Thanks,
Andrew Cort









(Tomorrow: Alchemy)

What Christian Dogma Can Still Say to Us

by John Backman


Does Christian dogma still have value in a world that bears the scars of its misuse?In too many cases, this dogma has been used to distinguish "us" from "them," faithful from heretic, giving license to exclusion, hostility, and sometimes violence. Even the church's most fundamental statements of faith, like the Nicene Creed. were born of the need to make distinctions. The irony is that many of the beliefs in the creed convey an entirely different, even opposite message to those who peek behind the veil and look at the inner wisdom therein.

Consider the doctrine of the Trinity: that God is both Three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and One. This is scandalous to faithful Jews and Muslims, for whom the utter Oneness of God is a non-negotiable truth. But aside from any discussion of factual accuracy, the idea of the Trinity conveys a compelling wisdom: it places the idea of relationship, of interconnection, at the very heart of God. If we Christians cannot even conceive of God outside of relationship—and the mission of our lives is to grow toward God—then connection and relationship must lie at the core of everything we are and do.
Then there's the Incarnation: the doctrine that, in Jesus, God became fully human. The inner wisdom of this belief takes the importance of connection one step further. God, with no need to enhance the Divine perfection and completeness, with no need of us humans at all, took the enormous risk of becoming human—not just to deliver a message, but also to live an entire life, even unto a painful and humiliating death. This is connection on an entirely different level: a self-giving to experience what it's like to be the other. It is, in one sense, the very definition of love.


St. Paul, the writer of many books in the Christian scripture, describes the Incarnation so eloquently: Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6-8).
What if we Christians—even better, we people—took this inner wisdom behind the dogma to heart? Perhaps we would hold relationships as the supreme good that they are. Perhaps we would follow the example of this God into self-giving love. With these doctrines as lodestars, perhaps we would relax our grip on the things that so easily distract us—like competitive advantage and the need to be "right"—and learn to reach across divides.

In my church on Sunday, as in so many Christian churches, we recite the Nicene Creed, with its grand and eloquent words about the Trinity, the Incarnation, and other treasures of the faith.  In my best moments, I am delighted to confess this creed, cherishing the profound reverberations its beliefs can have—the way they call us to love, to relationship, to connection—when we peer into the deeper meanings of the words.
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As a blogger for Huntington Post Religion and an associate of an Episcopal monastery, John Backman writes extensively on contemplative spirituality and its ability to help us dialogue across divides. His articles have appeared (or will soon appear) in numerous faith-based publications, both progressive and conservative, including Episcopal Life, Fellowship, Presbyterians Today, RELEVANTmagazine.com, and Prism. He maintains
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Thanks,
Andrew Cort

"Effortless Wellbeing": Meditation as Everyday Life

by Bob Weisenberg



Of all the meditation approaches I've experienced and studied, the one I keep coming back to in the end is a little out-of-the-mainstream book called Effortless Wellbeing, by Evan Finer.

Evan set out to discover and distill the essential elements of meditation that can affect our everyday sense of wellbeing.  Eventually he boiled it all down to three key skills, which can then be used in a rich variety of ways, tailored to you individual needs.

He has systematically removed anything that he doesn't think is essential.  So this book is not about yoga or zen or vipasanna or any other specific "denomination" of meditation.  But it is consistent with them all, since there are several simple common elements that make them all work:

1) Relaxing the body,
2) Learning to breathe smoothly and naturally, and

3) Calming the mind by learning to focus. It's this last skill, learning to focus, where the variety of meditation lies, and where meditation becomes a rich source of everyday wellbeing (not that the author treats the other two, relaxing and breathing, lightly).  For, as it says in the Yoga Sutra itself , once you learn to focus the mind, it can be focused on anything you choose. 
Evan talks about a number of specific kinds of meditation.  But there are few things in life which cannot be enhanced by relaxing your body, breathing more naturally, and gently focusing your mind.  

In short, anything can be turned into meditation.  Meditation can be not only something you go off and do as a separate practice, but something that can permeate your everyday life and create "Effortless Wellbeing".

Beyond this, each person's approach will vary.  In my case  I like to remind myself of the following variations (this is my personal list, not Evan's), each of which starts with relaxing the body, breathing naturally and smoothly, and focusing on :

1. The simple in and out of the breath itself. 

2. A mantra.  I happen to prefer A simple Sanskrit mantra, but Evan feels any words will do, since it's the focus that makes it work, not the words themselves.

3. A single object.  This is the traditional method of the Yoga Sutra , whereby one can become as one with any object.  A less obvious example–I focus entirely and exclusively on the ball when I play tennis, which turns it into an hour an a half of moving meditation.

4. A scan of the body or other body focus.  This is the method used by Buddhist whole-body vipasanna meditation and yoga nidra.  Chakra meditation also falls into this category.

5. A concept or idea or feeling.  It could be passage or principle from an ancient text, or a koan, or a wish, like loving-kindness or world peace, etc.  (This is a broad category that includes many variations.)

6. The details of performing a specific task.  This extends meditation to virtually anything–driving a car, cooking a meal, solving a problem, weeding the garden, washing the dishes, conducting a meeting, playing guitar, doing yoga poses.  Anything you do can be enhanced by treating it as an opportunity for meditative focus.
7. What I like to call ultra-awareness, whereby you tune in more acutely to specific sounds or sights or sensations or emotions.  Maybe it means noticing the shape of the clouds or the color of the trees or the distant sound of cars on the freeway, just paying close attention to some detail of daily experience you are usually oblvious to.

8. Visualization.  Picture yourself on a beach in the Caribbean, or looking out from the peak of your favorite mountain.  Relive an enjoyable mood or feeling you've had in the past simply by closing your eyes and imagining it.

9. Relaxed, non-judgemental focus on the present moment–whatever happens to be going on right now, at this moment, no matter what it is.

As you can see, this is meditation as everyday life, even though meditation as a separate practice is still certainly very important, too.  Evan Finer calls this broad-based approach to meditation Effortless Wellbeing .

If this sounds intriguing to you, get the book.  You'll love it.
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Bob Weisenberg: Yoga Editor, Elephant Journal / Author Yoga Demystified (free eBook) / Author Gita in a Nutshell: Big Ideas & Best Quotations / Co-editor
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Thanks,
Andrew Cort






(Tomorrow: Two Posts: John Backman and Lauren Lane Powell)

Evidence of a Designer's Purpose

by David Klinghoffer

Most of us find it annoying to be forced into a false dilemma. In a false dilemma, alternatives and gradations of belief are arbitrarily excluded as a technique of manipulation. Accept my version of orthodoxy or you're a heretic!

Jews and Christians employ this argumentative strategy, not least when conversation turns to emotionally charged subjects - like Darwinian evolution. And not least when it is those on Darwin's side who are talking.





But in explaining how life developed, aren't there just two alternatives? That's what we're always told in the media. Either life accumulated complex features through a purely Darwinian process of natural selection, or the universe was created in six literal, 24-hour days, less than six thousand years ago.
Actually, there are gradations between the extremes of Darwinism and creationism. That fact often gets lost.

Consider Rabbi Shlomo Brody who writes the Jerusalem Post's interesting "Ask the Rabbi" column. In a recent article ("Intelligent design?," October 31), a reader queried him: "Why don't more Orthodox Jews support the intelligent design movement against evolution?"Rabbi Brody, rejecting intelligent design as "pseudo-science," proceeded to state the case not against intelligent design at all, but against the very different doctrine of biblical literalist creationism.
He seemed unaware that intelligent design theory (ID) is a gradation of thought that may be identified neither with creationism nor with Darwinism. A scientific critique of Darwinian evolution, supported by the think tank I'm associated with, the Discovery Institute, ID finds positive evidence of a designer's purpose in the fossil record, in the nanotechnology at work in the living cell, in the origins of life itself. It entirely accepts paleontology's evidence that life changed and developed, with most animal body plans or phyla having appeared some 530 million years ago in the Cambrian Explosion. However, ID rejects Darwinism's insistence that evolution may be explained as unguided, purposeless, meaningless churning.

Yet, from Jewish Darwinists, you'll often hear the claim that, in the evolution debate, we must choose between enlightened science, which is no threat to Judaism, and scriptural literalism, which Judaism historically rejected anyway. "Judaism has never rejected science," we are frequently assured. This is wildly simplistic.

INEVITABLY, MAIMONIDES is brought forward as an authority. In the Guide for the Perplexed (II:25), he wrote that when a surface-level reading of the Bible is convincingly refuted by science or logic, then "the gates of interpretation remain open. But Jewish Darwinists often forget to read to the end of that chapter. In Maimonides's day, Aristotelians argued that the universe had no beginning, that it existed eternally. Maimonides responded that he rejected the Aristotelian thesis for two reasons. First, because it "has not been demonstrated." And second, because it made nonsense of Judaism: "If the philosophers would succeed in demonstrating eternity as Aristotle understands it, the Torah as a whole would become void, and a shift to other opinions would take place. I have thus explained to you that everything is bound up with this problem."Maimonides was not saying that any scientific theory can be reconciled with theistic belief, that our liberty to interpret has no limit, and certainly not when the science itself is wrong or unproven.
Another favorite authority of Jewish Darwinists is the 19th-century German rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. Again, Hirsch is presented simplistically as a supporter of evolution. Jewish Darwinists always forget to mention his explicit comment on "Darwinism" in the context of the idol, Baal Peor, worshipped in the most grotesquely animalistic fashion. To illustrate: "the kind of Darwinism that revels in the conception of man sinking to the level of beast and stripping itself of its divine nobility, learns to consider itself just a 'higher' class of animal" (Numbers 25:3).

ON EVOLUTION, Rabbi Brody is right in perceiving "widespread fear and ignorance." It can be observed in the Christian world as well. When Jews and Christians alike aren't being forced into false dilemmas, we are given alternatives to Darwinian theory that can be imagined as reconciling science and theology only if the whole subject is kept cloudy and confused.

Thus the two most recent popes have appeared to speak of the Church's comfort with "evolution" but without defining the term. Does it mean an unguided process or a guided one? One that gives scientific evidence of a Designer's purpose, or not? The ambiguity and hedging probably comes from a fear of putting their Church on the losing side of a historic controversy, and an unfamiliarity with the scientific details.Last month, Pope Benedict spoke to a conference on cosmic and biological evolution held by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. His words were beautiful but gaseous, taking no clear position. The invited scientists at the conference included cosmologist Stephen Hawking, whose work denies that the universe had a beginning as Aristotle's did, undercutting basic theistic belief. Scientists who perceive evidence of design in nature were excluded from the conference. No wonder Catholics are confused about what their Church believes.
Thanks to the prevailing murkiness, Catholic doctrine is often identified in the media with "theistic evolution." Theistic evolution is another gradation of belief between creationism and Darwinism, but an unsatisfactory one. It boils down to the proposition that life's history was guided by natural laws that God designed but in such a way as to leave no evidence of that fact.

One problem with theistic evolution is that natural laws are predictable whereas Darwinian evolution, according to its own theorists, is entirely unpredictable. Think of those laws that govern weather patterns or the formation of geological features. Not so with Darwinian evolution, which can take any of countless very different directions. How could such a purposeless process reflect divine purpose?

The question is far from merely academic. If we are the product of design, then the designer sets the moral order in which we operate. If we were cast up on the cosmic shore by a purposeless, unguided natural process, then every person can decide for himself what is right and wrong. Or maybe the idea of right and wrong is itself illusory. Darwin watered the seeds of modern nihilism.

To be sure, secular opinion has contributed mightily to constructing the false dilemma of evolution versus creationism, which well suits anti-religious purposes. What a pity that in religious circles, we are so easily intimidated or overawed by secularism's prestige, automatically surrendering to its deceptive framing of this important debate.
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David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute in Seattle and a contributor to Evolution News & Views. He is the author of many books, including,  How Would God Vote? Why the Bible Commands You to Be a Conservative , Why the Jews Rejected Jesus: The Turning Point in Western History, The Discovery of God: Abraham and the Birth of Monotheism, The Lord Will Gather Me In, Shattered Tablets: What the Ten Commandments Reveal about American Culture and Its Discontents , and  a new book with Sen. Joseph Lieberman,  The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath. He lives on Mercer Island, Washington, with his wife and children.


                             
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Thanks,
Andrew Cort







(Tomorrow: Meditation -- Bob Weisenberg)

Meditation as Prayer

 by Kathi Casey, ERYT, CPI



In today's fast paced society, many of the people I meet or work with are finding it difficult to bring prayer back into their lives. As children, we went as a family to religious services once a week, perhaps said grace before meals together, or gave a family blessing before bed. As adults, we've drifted away from these traditions and many of us no longer belong to the church of our childhood. I was brought up Catholic, but consider myself a spiritual person now and do not participate in the organized religious practices of my youth. When I "pray" it isn't the Hail Mary that I learned as a child, but more of a meditative conversation with God.A daily meditation is an excellent spiritual practice that can easily fit into our modern lifestyles. According to best-selling author and renowned therapist Dr. Brian Weiss, "Meditation makes our minds more sensitive to what's truly important." Now don't be afraid of the M word. Meditation doesn't mean that you have to sit for an hour with your legs in a pretzel shape and a completely blank mind. There are many ways to meditate, and meditation can easily become a prayer. It's a matter of personal choice. Here are some examples:

You can do a walking meditation. This consists of a slow, mindful walk where you focus your attention on placing each foot down directly in front of you and roll your foot from heel to toe. It's not an arm swinging, calorie burning, aerobic walk, but a slow walk with focus and concentration on the ground below your feet. Think of it as a sort of walking Tai Chi. It's more fun in a park or your back yard than on Main Street, but it can be done anywhere. I have done it on a sidewalk, and others have joined in; after several minutes we looked like a procession or parade. It was great!
Another technique that you could try is to repeat a "mantra" or a phrase that appeals to you, over and over, focusing only on your phrase. For instance, you could repeat "peace" or "Thank you God for my family" or "Let go and let God" or "I am grateful for mother nature's beauty ", you get the idea. As other thoughts try to creep into your mind, watch them come in and watch them go out. Try not to become engaged. After a week or so of practicing this, it becomes easier.
Visualization is another prayerful meditative technique. For instance, you can sit or lie down in a comfortable position, close your eyes for ten minutes and visualize yourself talking to God (or your higher power). What questions would you ask? Imagine yourself in this conversation and listen to the answers that you may hear. You may be surprised by the inspiration that comes to you at this time. Ten minutes will be up in no time and you'll feel so much better!
There are also many guided meditation recordings on the market. You can find them in all different lengths and styles. Most stores today let you listen to a sample track or two so you can test a few out and find one that resonates with you. Simply lie down or sit comfortably and listen to the meditation for ten minutes before you go to bed. Again, try not to become engaged with any other thoughts that attempt to interrupt your prayer and solitude. You'll find yourself sleeping more peacefully afterward.
I recommend starting a ten minute daily meditation practice now and in about a month it will be a wonderful new habit that satisfies the desire for bringing prayer back into your life. As a bonus, it reduces your stress level, so it's good for your physical health too!

To get you started, here is a link to an mp3 download of my favorite ten minute guided meditation. Enjoy!
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Kathi Casey is known as "The Healthy Boomer Body Expert". Her powerful yet easy techniques blend Western science with Eastern health practices for total mind/body programs that increase stamina and vitality, strengthen core body, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, and enhance the immune system. Kathi's tips include a simple breathing technique that helps you achieve a longer and more restful sleep and easy techniques to "fit" fitness into busy schedules. She is currently teaching, training, coaching and speaking all along the East Coast. She has also developed her own Golf Conditioning Program and her clients rave about the improvements in their game and their over-all strength! You can visit her website at www.kathicaseypilates.com and you can reach her at kcasey@boomer-living.com
                   
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Thanks,
Andrew Cort

Joscelyn Godwin on Edgar Cayce and Atlantis

     by Joscelyn Godwin

(Note: Joscelyn Godwin is the author of numerous excellent books on spiritual and occult traditions. This is an excerpt from "Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations" - Andrew Cort)

The gentle Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) was a fundamentalist when he began his trance channeling in 1901, and for a time he wrestled with doubts over what was speaking through him. He was more disconcerted still when the "Source" started talking about people's past lives, a concept repugnant to Christian orthodoxy, but with the Source's help he was able to reconcile even this with Biblical authority. Reincarnation also turned out to be his road to Atlantis.When people consulted Cayce for readings, the Source often mentioned former incarnations that were responsible for, or at least explained, their present difficulties. Beginning in 1923, Cayce gave the first of around 2,500 life readings. Over the next twenty years, no fewer than 700 of these mentioned a former life in Atlantis. Nor were these vague references. Cayce's son Edgar Evans, who was the subject of the first life reading, tabulates them according to whether the person lived at the period of the first, second, or third destruction.

Another path to Atlantis lay through Cayce's lesser known work for patrons who used his readings for stock market investment, treasure hunting, and oil prospecting. In 1927 he himself went to Bimini on a hunt for buried gold, and a reading from that period identified the island as the location of a temple of the "Poseidians," i.e. Atlanteans.

Finally in 1932, Cayce consented to give a series of thirteen readings specifically on the past. We begin by summarizing its version of anthropogenesis:

-The first ancestors of humanity were sexless spiritual entities, with the ability to project forms into the physical world.

-The physical world had already evolved as far as the animal kingdom. The spiritual entities, curious to experience physical life, projected physical forms that were monstrosities. This resulted in evolutionary chaos and alienation from God for the spiritual entities caught within those bodies.

-A being called Amilius (later identified as the Christ Consciousness) took matters in hand and projected a more suitable vehicle for spiritual entities to inhabit: the human one.

-Humans appeared on earth in five places simultaneously: the Yellow race in the Gobi, the White in the Carpathians, the Red in the Atlantean and American lands, the Brown in the Andes, and the Black in Africa. This occurred more than 10.5 million years ago.

One of the most impressive things about Cayce's Atlantean dicta is their consistency. It enables his followers and scholars to collate readings from years apart and reconstruct a coherent history from them. Drawing on these, we continue:

-The five races were the "Sons of God" mentioned in the Bible. The "Daughters of Men" with whom they made the mistake of mating were the monstrous forms left from the early projections. The result was a race of hybrids.-Early on in Atlantean civilization, a difference arose concerning these hybrids. One group, "Children of the Law of One," wanted to keep the human race pure but help the hybrids regain their position as creatures of God. The other group, "Sons of Belial," believed in sensual gratification alone and treated the hybrids as "things" or slaves.

-Atlantis became a great civilization with high technology, some of it in advance of our own. This included airships that could also become submarines, a "firestone" that gathered cosmic energy, and a crystal that used both solar and geothermal power.

-Lemuria, also called Mu, was a continent in the Pacific Ocean whose westernmost portion was the coast of South America. It disappeared before Atlantis in a series of cataclysms lasting 200,000 years.

-Atlantis itself disappeared in three separate cataclysms around 50,000 BC, 28,000 BC and 10,000 BC.

-The first of these followed the use of advanced technology for destructive purposes, in order to exterminate the enormous carnivorous animals that were overrunning the earth. These were the result of creations by the "sons of men," who had lost control over them. God changed the poles and the animals were destroyed, along with part of Atlantis.

-The second destruction was preceded by struggles between the two factions. Followers of the Law of One emigrated to Peru, the Yucatan, Nevada, Colorado, the Pyrenees, and Egypt. The cataclysm of 28,000 BC was caused by misuse of the firestone by turning its power up too high. It was probably accompanied, again, by a pole shift and a change in climate.

-During the last period of Atlantis, Egypt reached a high level of civilization. The Pyramids and Sphinx were built around 10,500 BC by Ra Ta (a past incarnation of Cayce), levitating the stones through the application of occult laws.
-On Poseidia, the last remaining island, the two factions continued in strife, and the Sons of Belial instituted oppressive government. Some of the followers of the Law of One, seeing the coming cataclysm, escaped, making the first transatlantic flights as well as sailing to various safe lands.

-As its end approached, Atlantis was a morass of violence and depravity. Crystal power was used for coercion and torture. There was human sacrifice, and the hybrids were used for sexual purposes. The third and final destruction took place through gigantic land upheavals and was complete by 9500 BC.

Not many people were aware of Cayce's Atlantean readings until the 1960s, when a wave of interest in alternative spiritualities drew attention to him. In 1940 his Source had said: "Poseidia will be among the first portions of Atlantis to rise again--expect it in '68 and '69--not so far away!" The discovery in 1968 of the "Bimini Road" seemed to fulfill the prophecy, and controversy continues over whether the underwater row of giant stone blocks is natural or manmade. Predictably, those studying Cayce's readings divided into the debunkers and the true believers.
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Joscelyn Godwin was born in Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, England on January 16, 1945. He was educated as a chorister atChrist Church Cathedral School, Oxford, then at  Radley College (Music Scholar), and Magdalene College, Cambridge (Music Scholar; B.A., 1965, Mus. B., 1966, M.A. 1969). Coming to the USA in 1966, he did graduate work in Musicology at Cornell University (Ph. D., 1969; dissertation: "The Music of Henry Cowell") and has taught for the Colgate University Music Department since 1971. Joscelyn is the author of numerous books, papers and articles on a variety of spiritual and occult matters.




                                                           
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Andrew Cort











(Tomorrow: David Klinghoffer on Intelligent Design)