How many times have you said, “If only I could go back and do __________ again”?  Well, the thing is, if you could go back and do it again, you would do it exactly the way that you did it.  The only way that you could have done it differently would have been if you had advance knowledge of the outcome.  Since we are not given advance notice of the outcomes of our decisions, we make the only appropriate decision or choice.

When we are babies, we make our decisions based upon our natures.  Do I take that?  Do I try this?  Do I stick this thing in my mouth?  Our inner natures are as unique to us as our fingerprints, or a zebra’s stripes.  Then, we make our next tier of decisions based upon the outcomes of the last.  Did it hurt?  Did it incur disapproval?  Did it taste like #$%^?  The outcomes of those natural impulses guide our next level of choices. 

Later, as children, we begin to make choices according to our natural instincts, tempered by the outcome of our prior choices and now, further tempered by the norms established in our home environment.  Steps, one step leading to the next, and to the next, and so on, always following a natural order.

Then, we go to school and encounter peers.  They add a new layer to our decision making process.  Any decisions that we make at that time, are based upon the progression of each of the previous steps.  Each of those steps colors our perception of the world of choices and decisions that we face each day.  And each step adds a tint to the world that we perceive. 

I don’t know where it came from, but, as far back as I can remember I felt an overwhelming sense of duty and responsibility.  As a child, I was to ‘good’ one.  This was not the one that I wanted to be.  Clearly, I envied the ‘bad’ ones, they had so much more fun.  But I felt compelled to be good.  And it was a thankless choice.  I was like the brother who stayed home and did his chores while the Prodigal Son had a ball, blew his inheritance and then was thrown a party for coming home broke (that one was my sister). 

After escaping my Cinderella childhood, my mother and my grandmother both lost their ability to walk and so, I bought a house and moved them in.  One day I was complaining about how horrible it was reliving my childhood in spades, at 33 years old my friend said to me, “Well, it was your choice!”  Never for one minute, during the entire process of inviting them to live with me, did I consider it to be a choice.  For me, for who I was and my perception of the world, it was not a choice it was what I had to do. 

Now, I could say that if I had it to do over again, I would have done it differently.  But that is not true.  There are only two possible ways that I would have made a different choice.  One way would have been if I had known how badly it was going to turn out.  The other, would have been had I been born someone else, and raised by other people.  I made no choice.

You see as much as we believe that we make choices, in retrospect, it has to be clear that we do not.  Whether we know it or not, we are doing what is the only clear thing to do based upon our perception of the issue.  It is just like voting.  We choose to vote for a candidate who best represents what we perceive as the right things.  Humans do not make choices.  We take the next logical step based upon who we are and the life that we have lived.  If we had it to do all over again, with no future insight and no additional input from some new sources, we would do it all over again in exactly the same way that we did it the first time.

This means, that we act in accordance with who we are, and what we believe is the best way to act within the options that we perceive available.  We never make the wrong choice, we never make a mistake, we act, at all times, appropriately.  We make our decisions in a manner that is completely consistent and appropriate.   If a fiction writer is good, he or she will develop a character that is complete enough, that we believe his choices and can foresee the direction that he will take.  A good writer will give a character believability – which means that his or her actions will be consistent with that character.  This means, that in real life, unless we are crazy, our decisions will also follow a consistent path, a path that is true to who we are and how we have incorporated the outcomes of prior actions into ourselves.

Understanding this, understanding that I will always follow a path that is true to who I am, and where I believe that I fit in my perceived world, means, that I do not make choices.  I do not make mistakes, my actions reflect who I am and what I see – through the eyes of who I am.  Today, I would not make all of the choices that I made yesterday – only – because I know how they all turned out, only – because the way that they turned out has given me new experiences from which to draw and grow into who I am today. 

So, don’t buy into failure, don’t buy into mistakes.  Believe, that each step appears before us to lead us to the next – no errors – no missteps – only lessons.  The outcome of each step is  not the result of our choices but the next step that Spirit places before us.

It would be very easy to say that based upon the nature of man as he has shown himself throughout history, the only destination is self-destruction.   We are in an escalated time of war, hatred, greed, and all of the things that spell disaster. 

I see things symbolically.  When I was working for the man who would later become my partner, for a business in New York, I remember walking down the halls feeling as though the file cabinets on either side of the hallway were falling in on me.  I felt the same urgency as Chicken Little in the story saying “The sky is falling, the sky is falling”.  It was this sense of urgency that caused me to push my boss into opening our own business, and we did.  Not a month later, the company that we worked for went bankrupt. 

During George W’s second term as president my friends would complain that he was going to get away with everything, it seemed that everything was working out for him.  Yet, my vision this time, was of a dam with a hole, and like the story of the little Dutch Boy, he had his finger in the hole.  However, in my vision the holes kept coming – more and more until the entire dam collapsed.  This was, to me, what began with Bush and would continue with whoever became president after him.   The impression that I was left with was that there was no system, not corporate, not governmental, not environmental, not social and not religions that would be sustainable for much longer.  What we needed was not just change, but transformation from the ground up.  The dam could not be salvaged or patched, it had to be demolished and rebuilt.

I used to paint furniture.  As an artist, I would use furniture as my canvas.  One day I found this perfect desk.  What I should have done was sand it down to the bare wood, then prime it and begin painting.  But that was too overwhelming a task, so I just primed it.  The paint was not holding, so I would pile on another base coat.  I kept putting paint on top of paint and although it looked beautiful when I was done, I could not sell it – or even use it because I had added too much good paint to the bad.  Some things need additional coats, and others need to be stripped down to the bone and built up from scratch.  This is where we are.

Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. “  Regardless of a new administration in the White House, the solutions to our economic problems are being sought at the same level of consciousness that created them, which has been – take care of the corporations and they will take care of the people.  Make sure that the banks have money and they will spread it down to the people.  I guess it is just a continuation of trickledown economics.  What would constitute change – real change?  It would be working from the bottom up.  You see, even if the banks are willing to give people credit cards again – the people are not going to be so willing to take them.  We are becoming debt phobic. 

Between the years of 1988 and 2006 the average wage in this country rose a total of about one percent.  During that same time period the average cost of living rose over ten percent.  How was that gap supposed to be filled?  I know, credit!  Credit that we could not pay because of the gap, if we could not afford, on the average wage to life, how could we afford to pay a credit card with growing interest rates?  Why did no one look at these figures and anticipate a problem?  The answer is greed.  And it is that greed that prevents the kinds of change that we need now to guarantee the future.

The government should not loan money to investors to buy the bad debt from banks, the government would take the bad debt itself, declare a moratorium of up to two years on foreclosures and renegotiate the loans so that the people could catch up.  The government would focus all of its attention to creating jobs and keeping people in their homes.  Nothing would stimulate the economy more than for people to have disposable income, not more credit.  Nothing would improve consumer confidence more  than to feel safe within their homes and with their healthcare.   We are giving the thieves who stole the cookies from the cookie jar, money to replace the cookies.  There is no change here, just a new twist to an old knot.  With the number of homeless and unemployed expected to continue to rise, I wonder who the economy is picking up for.  But it doesn’t matter. 

There is something else happening that is an deeply difficult issue to tackle and therefore an issue that is not addressed.  People have paid money into social security and into their pensions in the belief that these were up there with death and taxes in terms of things that we could count on.  Today people are reaching retirement age with nothing, social security that is not enough to live on, Medicare that is not enough to keep one healthy, and a pension that has been stolen by the same corporation that promised it. 

We have no trust, we have no reason to trust.  A terrorist attack is only one of many threats to our lives that we live with, losing our homes, our ability to feed our families, our ability to provide the education that will safeguard our children’s future, and the healthcare to keep them alive should they become ill.  Keeping the homeland secure should be much more far reaching.

The only thing that the people are able to count on is that they have the power, the right and even the duty to change the system.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.-

We are a skyscraper that is on fire on the first two floors, the occupants of those floors are dying, but the people in the penthouses are feeling safe and secure.  But soon the fire will eat its way up to the top, and although some people on the lower floors are close enough to jump to safety – that can’t be said for the high income floors.  But we won’t address the basement until those in the penthouse are affected, which of course will be too late.

Add to this we have a growing climate emergency, which the huge coal and oil industries do not see that it can be addressed adequately for at least a few decades.  The scientists tell us that we don’t have one decade if we don’t start transforming our way of life today. North Korea is desperate to attack someone and prove itself  as a major military power.  Israel is desperate to bomb Iran.  And all of the fundamentalists of all religions are excitedly awaiting Armageddon.

If this were a novel, no one would be anticipating an happy ending.  But there could still be one, a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a new generation of Senators and Congressmen.  President Obama was not just elected by those who were of voting age.  He was elected because of the hard work of many young people who were not yet old enough to vote but will be not only old enough to vote, but interested enough to run for office in the year 2012.  Those who will be voting in that election will have a different agenda and enormous power over communications through the internet. 

The generation of the sixties had great promise and hope of a world in which there was peace, brotherhood, and an end to war.  Sadly, their hopes were dashed and their faith was shattered when their candidate for President lost the election.  They became cynical believing that they were up against a system that they could not, with all of their work and enthusiasm – defeat.  Some just withdrew, some decided that if you can’t beat them, join them.  This is not the case today.  The young people of today did win, and they did change the face of the country.  They are empowered. 

Seeds are being planted now in every area of life.  The technology exists to end consumption of fossil fuels.  These young people are growing up in a time where greed is not good.  They have a voice and they will use it loudly. 

Things change, the world changes, and it is very hard, even in our own personal lives to know the exact date that it happens because we are not aware of the change until we are well within it.  From there we look back and say, “yes, it was around that time that….”

Monopolies were one banned because they inhibited free competition.  We decided free competition was not really necessary.  The next generation of law makers will rid the world of monopolies, not because of their impeding competition, although that will always be a part of it, but because by their sheer size they threaten the global economy, as is being proven today.  They will create the kinds of far reaching changes that will pave a new path for the world, a path to sustenance.  It will be a world where everyone having some, is more acceptable than some having everything.   I see the new government supporting education, healthcare for all and self sustaining communities.  Where fossil fuels with be the alternative and fuel created by the Sun, the Water and the Wind will be the norm.  The new leaders around the world will come to see that if everyone has the same size guns, they become a useless weapon.  Then a handshake and a helping hand will be the weapons that end hostility, instead of life.  After the darkness of path that we have set before us, I see a new path, and I see the first steps on that path coming in 2012.

2012, Age of Aquarius, Changing Times

It would be very easy to say that based upon the nature of man as he has shown himself throughout history, the only destination is self-destruction. We are in an escalated time of war, hatred, greed, and all of the things that spell disaster.

I see things symbolically. When I was working for the man who would later become my partner, for a business in New York, I remember walking down the halls feeling as though the file cabinets on either side of the hallway were falling in on me. I felt the same urgency as Chicken Little in the story saying “The sky is falling, the sky is falling”. It was this sense of urgency that caused me to push my boss into opening our own business, and we did. Not a month later, the company that we worked for went bankrupt.

During George W’s second term as president my friends would complain that he was going to get away with everything, it seemed that everything was working out for him. Yet, my vision this time, was of a dam with a hole, and like the story of the little Dutch Boy, he had his finger in the hole. However, in my vision the holes kept coming – more and more until the entire dam collapsed. This was, to me, what began with Bush and would continue with whoever became president after him. The impression that I was left with was that there was no system, not corporate, not governmental, not environmental, not social and not religions that would be sustainable for much longer. What we needed was not just change, but transformation from the ground up. The dam could not be salvaged or patched, it had to be demolished and rebuilt.

I used to paint furniture. As an artist, I would use furniture as my canvas. One day I found this perfect desk. What I should have done was sand it down to the bare wood, then prime it and begin painting. But that was too overwhelming a task, so I just primed it. The paint was not holding, so I would pile on another base coat. I kept putting paint on top of paint and although it looked beautiful when I was done, I could not sell it – or even use it because I had added too much good paint to the bad. Some things need additional coats, and others need to be stripped down to the bone and built up from scratch. This is where we are.

Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. “ Regardless of a new administration in the White House, the solutions to our economic problems are being sought at the same level of consciousness that created them, which has been – take care of the corporations and they will take care of the people. Make sure that the banks have money and they will spread it down to the people. I guess it is just a continuation of trickledown economics. What would constitute change – real change? It would be working from the bottom up. You see, even if the banks are willing to give people credit cards again – the people are not going to be so willing to take them. We are becoming debt phobic.

Between the years of 1988 and 2006 the average wage in this country rose a total of about one percent. During that same time period the average cost of living rose over ten percent. How was that gap supposed to be filled? I know, credit! Credit that we could not pay because of the gap, if we could not afford, on the average wage to life, how could we afford to pay a credit card with growing interest rates? Why did no one look at these figures and anticipate a problem? The answer is greed. And it is that greed that prevents the kinds of change that we need now to guarantee the future.

The government should not loan money to investors to buy the bad debt from banks, the government would take the bad debt itself, declare a moratorium of up to two years on foreclosures and renegotiate the loans so that the people could catch up. The government would focus all of its attention to creating jobs and keeping people in their homes. Nothing would stimulate the economy more than for people to have disposable income, not more credit. Nothing would improve consumer confidence more than to feel safe within their homes and with their healthcare. We are giving the thieves who stole the cookies from the cookie jar, money to replace the cookies. There is no change here, just a new twist to an old knot. With the number of homeless and unemployed expected to continue to rise, I wonder who the economy is picking up for. But it doesn’t matter.

There is something else happening that is an deeply difficult issue to tackle and therefore an issue that is not addressed. People have paid money into social security and into their pensions in the belief that these were up there with death and taxes in terms of things that we could count on. Today people are reaching retirement age with nothing, social security that is not enough to live on, Medicare that is not enough to keep one healthy, and a pension that has been stolen by the same corporation that promised it.

We have no trust, we have no reason to trust. A terrorist attack is only one of many threats to our lives that we live with, losing our homes, our ability to feed our families, our ability to provide the education that will safeguard our children’s future, and the healthcare to keep them alive should they become ill. Keeping the homeland secure should be much more far reaching.

The only thing that the people are able to count on is that they have the power, the right and even the duty to change the system.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.-

We are a skyscraper that is on fire on the first two floors, the occupants of those floors are dying, but the people in the penthouses are feeling safe and secure. But soon the fire will eat its way up to the top, and although some people on the lower floors are close enough to jump to safety – that can’t be said for the high income floors. But we won’t address the basement until those in the penthouse are affected, which of course will be too late.

Add to this we have a growing climate emergency, which the huge coal and oil industries do not see that it can be addressed adequately for at least a few decades. The scientists tell us that we don’t have one decade if we don’t start transforming our way of life today. North Korea is desperate to attack someone and prove itself as a major military power. Israel is desperate to bomb Iran. And all of the fundamentalists of all religions are excitedly awaiting Armageddon.

If this were a novel, no one would be anticipating an happy ending. But there could still be one, a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a new generation of Senators and Congressmen. President Obama was not just elected by those who were of voting age. He was elected because of the hard work of many young people who were not yet old enough to vote but will be not only old enough to vote, but interested enough to run for office in the year 2012. Those who will be voting in that election will have a different agenda and enormous power over communications through the internet.

The generation of the sixties had great promise and hope of a world in which there was peace, brotherhood, and an end to war. Sadly, their hopes were dashed and their faith was shattered when their candidate for President lost the election. They became cynical believing that they were up against a system that they could not, with all of their work and enthusiasm – defeat. Some just withdrew, some decided that if you can’t beat them, join them. This is not the case today. The young people of today did win, and they did change the face of the country. They are empowered.

Seeds are being planted now in every area of life. The technology exists to end consumption of fossil fuels. These young people are growing up in a time where greed is not good. They have a voice and they will use it loudly.

Things change, the world changes, and it is very hard, even in our own personal lives to know the exact date that it happens because we are not aware of the change until we are well within it. From there we look back and say, “yes, it was around that time that….”

Monopolies were one banned because they inhibited free competition. We decided free competition was not really necessary. The next generation of law makers will rid the world of monopolies, not because of their impeding competition, although that will always be a part of it, but because by their sheer size they threaten the global economy, as is being proven today. They will create the kinds of far reaching changes that will pave a new path for the world, a path to sustenance. It will be a world where everyone having some, is more acceptable than some having everything. I see the new government supporting education, healthcare for all and self sustaining communities. Where fossil fuels with be the alternative and fuel created by the Sun, the Water and the Wind will be the norm. The new leaders around the world will come to see that if everyone has the same size guns, they become a useless weapon. Then a handshake and a helping hand will be the weapons that end hostility, instead of life. After the darkness of path that we have set before us, I see a new path, and I see the first steps on that path coming in 2012.

2012, Age of Aquarius, Changing Times

By Denise Gibel Molini

One day as I was driving my car I had a vision of the future.  It was a future that seemed to me to belong to those who will be here perhaps thirty to fifty years from now.  I saw young people living with each other in an environment of peace and cooperation.  I did not feel any remnants of the world that we live in today, in fact, I felt very strongly that they had built their world on the ashes of ours.  The ability to communicate using ESP and all forms of mental powers was very strong.  The only feeling that I had of that time which was negative was their memory of what mankind had to endure in order to get to where they were.  I sensed that there had been much suffering before that point was reached.

This time is very clearly approaching.  It is led by compassion.  I had seen a video on you tube about the bond between a dog and an elephant.  A while back I saw one on the bond between a turtle and a hippo.  I watched on video where a man and women went into the wild to reunite with the lioness that they had released back when she became of age.  The lioness ran and jumped into the arms of the man who raised her.  I had seen a story a couple of years ago about an Orangutan in Africa who adopted abandoned kittens and a pig who adopted puppies Today I watched a story about a dog who nurses abandoned tiger cubs, and cheetah cubs,  and a cat who brought an abandoned baby rabbit and nursed it with her kittens.  I saw a nine year old hippo in South Africa lying in bed with her human owners, kissing and loving them – nestled next to the family dog.  Then there is the remarkable video of the lioness who took care of a baby antelope, and after that one was taken by a lion she went on to care for five more.  The natives named her, Blessed.  Every instinct in her would tell her that this animal was food – but her heart took over.

The underlying energy of this planet that we live upon was for thousands of years, that of dog eat dog, survival of the deadliest – a giant food chain.   It was violent; that which was wild, was by instinct savage.  Not anymore.  The animals that we see are exhibiting what must be called basic compassion.  This is coming from their connectedness with the earth – they immediately incorporate into their instinctual behavior the energy that comes from the earth.  We, as humans have lost our connected with the earth, we are slow to respond to the changes in her energy fields that arise.  We are slow; we are closed off by our belief systems.

We advanced very quickly from the printing press to the industrial age, to the technological age and now the information age because all we had to do was modify what already existed in order to move to the next step – we did not have to reinvent the wheel.  I felt as I experienced this vision that this generation had to reinvent the wheel.  Whatever we built, it seemed that we had either destroyed or used up the resources necessary to maintain.  I felt saddened by what we had done, but happy knowing that the future was so beautiful.

All of the ancient prophesies declare a coming era of peace.  One in which as the Bible states in ISAIAH 2:4 “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”. This is the destiny of the New Earth and her inhabitants.  Our challenge is not to create it, it has been created and it is waiting for those who can come out of the desert and enter the Promised Land. Our challenge is to be willing to let go of our golden idols, and our selfish ways.  The future is by any description – Heaven.  Mankind will reach it, perhaps not us, but the human race will.  Even the worst case scenario ends in the knowledge that only through cooperation, understanding, acceptance, compassion, equality and peaceful co-existence can we, as the human race, hope to survive through this millennium.

We have knowledge.  We have information.  What we lack are wisdom and foresight.  We are a “crossed fingers society”.  We react to the inevitable crisis that we will face with our heads in the sand and our fingers crossed.  Katrina is an example of how we handle everything.  It was well known that the levies in New Orleans and Mississippi would not withstand that eventual category 5 hurricane.  But instead of building levies that would, we crossed our fingers and hoped that they would not come down on our watch.  When it was very possible that they would fall, there was still no forced evacuation – there were, however, many fingers crossed.  It was known that the levies were not in the best shape, and nothing was being done about it.  Had we been prevention oriented would we not have made sure that  there was a plan in place to evacuate all of the surrounding areas.  But as usual, our plan was more cost efficient – we crossed our fingers.

The Bush Administration entered into a war in Iraq with no exit strategy – no strategy at all, except of course – crossed fingers.  I have recently read articles by economists at the beginning of the sub-prime boom promising that it would bring us to where we are today.  So, many knew what the likely outcome of what we were doing was.  Instead of forcing a change in course – we crossed our fingers.  We have become a society that has an enormous aversion to the cost of prevention.  We know in our hearts that one day our actions will have severe consequences, we just prefer to cross our fingers and hope that they come when we are gone.  This crossed fingers thing, it isn’t working well for us lately.  But we still cross our fingers in hopes that this is just a glitch and not a new paradigm.

I believe that life is like dominoes.  There are moments in our lives when the road that we have been traveling on reaches a fork.  On each path of the fork are rows of dominoes.  This is as much free will as we are going to get.  Once we push down one domino, we are on that path until the next fork and whatever lies in front of us cannot be changed.  There are destiny points in our lives that we will reach regardless of what we do.  These are where we either learn the lessons our collective and individual journeys were meant to teach us – or – we begin new journeys.

There are these moments in which we have choices to make.  What we choose, which domino we push, will be based upon what, if anything, we have learned thus far on our journey.  It is like a train station with many trains leaving, trains that will each take different tracks, yet all end up at the same station where we either leave, and end our journey, or get on a different train.  Once we get on a train, we are on it until it stops, and whatever happens, happens from that point on.  No more choices.  We get on the train, or push down the domino – we have created the point of no return.

We know that every species plays a role in the balance of our ecosystem.  We have no way of knowing the effect of the mass extinctions that we are causing.  We can guess, what the outcome could be if we continue to lose our bee populations.  It is clear that our plants don’t pollinate themselves.  One of the reasons that I find the prophesies of these ancient peoples such as the Maya so valuable is because they did have access to the history that preceded them.  When Christianity spread throughout the world, so did the mass destruction of any records that preceded its existence.  We have scant information to piece together; however, I believe that we have been left with enough.

There is no way of knowing which straw will break the camel’s back.   I remember a few months before September 11^th I wrote an article for a local magazine in which I stated that I felt that the feelings of anger, inequity and hatred in the atmosphere (emotional atmosphere) had reached critical mass and something had to happen – somewhere it had to blow.  There is always a point when everything reaches critical mass, like a storm cloud hanging in the air waiting for that last molecule of moisture to hit it and the water pours out.

The moment that patient zero contracted AIDS was a point of no return for an epidemic that continues to kill millions of people.  There is one ash, one spark that floats into the brush and smolders for hours before turning into a fire that wipes out thousands of homes and kills countless people.  The moment that the ash touched the dry brush was a point of no return even though no one saw it or its results for hours or perhaps days.  Perhaps it was the day a butterfly flapped its wings in South America, leading to hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  It could be an election.

The world is not going to end.  We will plunge ourselves into a period of painful darkness, death, and suffering.  In the end, we will understand that hatred is the most dangerous terrorist and as long as hatred exists – no one will ever be safe.  We will understand that greed is the one greatest toxin in our environment, and so long as we cling to it, we doom ourselves and our children to inevitable disease and starvation.  In revelation the Bible talks about 144,000 souls.  The Mayan long count of 144,000 days is coming to an end.  In numerology that number equals 9.  Nine is the number of endings, but more of seeding the future with itself.  Something is happening – now.  Something bigger is going to happen soon, but if we look for it with narrow lenses we will miss it.  It is in the big picture.  When we focus all of our attention on one hole in the dam, we can become too sure that we don’t really have to worry.  But if we look up and see all of the holes in the dam, we will act now.  The action that we need now is to become wise.  We need to evolve into the people able to do what must be done.  And we need to do this now.  I found this in an essay written by Ervin Laszlo and it best describes how we must transform our living now.

TEN BENCHMARKS OF AN EVOLVED CONSCIOUSNESS

1. Live in ways that enable all other people to live as well, satisfying your needs without detracting from the chances of other people to satisfy theirs.

2. Live in ways that respect the right to life and to economic and cultural development of  all people, wherever they live and whatever their ethnic origin, sex, citizenship, station in life, and  belief system.

3. Live in ways that safeguard the intrinsic right to life and to an environment supportive of life for all the things that live and grow on Earth.

4. Pursue happiness, freedom, and personal fulfillment in harmony with the integrity of nature and with consideration for the similar pursuits of others in society.

5. Require that your government relate to other nations and peoples peacefully and in a spirit of cooperation recognizing the legitimate aspirations for a better life and a healthy environment of all the people in the human family.

6. Require business enterprises to accept responsibility for all their stakeholders as well as for the sustainability of their environment, demanding that they produce goods and offer services that satisfy legitimate demand without impairing nature and reducing the opportunities of smaller and less-privileged entrants to compete in the marketplace.

7. Require public media to provide a constant stream of reliable information on basic trends and crucial processes to enable you and other citizens and consumers to reach informed decisions on issues that affect your and their lives and well-being.

8. Make room in your life to help those less privileged than you to live a life of dignity, free from the struggles

9. Encourage young people and open-minded people of all ages to evolve the spirit that could empower them to make ethical decisions of their own on issues that decide their future and the future of their children.

10. Work with like-minded people to preserve or restore the essential balances of the environment, with attention to your neighborhood, your country or region, and the whole of the biosphere.

It is my belief that December 21, 2012 will be an important date for the future of mankind – but I don’t think that anything noticeably dramatic will occur on it.  I believe that it is simply the point of no return – the quiet falling of the first domino.  It could come in any form, such as, a bill that does or does not pass Congress.  It could be a new disease – or new form of an old one.  It could be a high school chemistry major who could not take being bullied one more day and creates an airborne chemical weapon which he unleashes in an airport.  It could be an act of war, or the last pollutant entering the atmosphere which will cause, at a later date, the natural disaster that changes everything.  We know what we have to do.  But, then again, we can just cross our fingers.

If you fill a balloon with air

The air never becomes the balloon

And you never see the air

If the balloon pops does the air die?

No, it simply becomes a part of the air

from which it came

Until it is time

In a little while

to enter another balloon.

So it is with the Spirit and the body

So it is with me

I fill this body with my spirit

I do not become this body

as the air

does not become the balloon.

I see an image In the mirror

I do not see me

I see the body within which I travel this life

I see a body age

While I do not age

I see a form

While I am formless

This body may weaken

with time

But like the air

I do not

But like the air

I do not

Like the air 

I return

To the Spirit

From which

I came

Like the balloon

This body may have a different color

a different size

But like the air

I do not

I cannot see me

In a picture

My race, or religion

my education or social status

are not me

They are materials

like the materials that forms the balloon.

I cannot know me through your judgment

of this form

of this life

not even through my own

No one can see the air

if only focused on the balloon

No one can see the Self

if only focused on the body

or how high it rises in status

- in power

To know myself

I must close my eyes

and follow the air

as it turns into the breath

that fills my lungs

and focus on its journey within

I must follow the air to the place

deep inside where I am found

And to know you

I must also close my eyes

and follow the air as it flows

as breath

to the place where you are

All other seeing

all other knowing

Is not of me

It is not of you

But of a balloon

that today encloses

Tomorrow releases

But never,

never

describes the inexpressible

Spiritual Beauty

of who we truly are

I remember walking down the street in my fur coat a few years back and having someone ask me if I knew how many minks died for my fur. I stopped wearing fur. I stopped because I did not need it, it was a luxury, it was a sign that I had made it – it was ego food. I understood the question. Now, with the world so small, and the suffering so great – so unavoidable – I wonder if we should not feel the same sense of responsibility that we feel for helpless animals, for helpless humans.

There was a time when your choices were beautiful sparkling diamonds or dull glass. It made some sense, if even in a superficial way, to want a diamond. But today, there are faux diamonds that cost a fraction of the cost and sparkle with equal brilliance – so one has to ask oneself why buy the diamond? What is it’s value in our world today? What if you have a ten thousand dollar diamond, trade it in for a one thousand dollar cubic zirconium and give the nine thousand dollars that you have left to buy mosquito nets for children in Africa? Then your diamond would have value., it would show much more than what you can afford to have, it would show what you are willing to give. Wouldn’t it be cool, rather than wearing a five thousand dollar blouse that says you are filthy rich, wearing a five-dollar tee shirt that says, “The money I planned to spend on a blouse is feeding a village in India”. How cool would you be?

Bling says to the world, “I am wearing this because I can afford it and I have nothing better to do with it than waste it on show”. Yes, it just does. No one can watch the homeless and displaced, the diseased and dying in this country and around the world and then spend thousands of dollars on things, which announce, “It’s about me”. Not today. Today we don’t need to spend thousands, millions of dollars on precious gems in order to sparkle. We can spend a fraction of that on semi-precious gems, give the rest to those in desperate need and not only sparkle from the gems, but glow from the heart. I believe that today it would be much more satisfying to wear something that doesn’t say “I have made it because I can afford to drip in diamonds” but something that says, “I have made it because I can afford to feed a village”. The oohs and ahhs are much greater today and much more long lasting when you show what you give rather than what you wear.

If our success in a profession is measured by the amount of money that we are paid, that is ok, if we understand that our true worth is measured by what we give. The point is that there is no need for bling today, it doesn’t look better than faux bling, but trading that bling in for heart does look better. We cannot outlaw bling anymore than we can outlaw fur, but it would be nice to ask someone dripping in bling, “How many children’s bellies could be filled by those earrings?” “How many villages could be educated against AIDS with that ring?” And perhaps, while we are at it, we should ask ourselves how much does it cost to make a house a home, and how many children can we give a home to for the price of a ten million dollar house?

I am not advocating ego denial. I am advocating a sense of satisfaction that not only feeds the ego but also feeds the soul. Trust me, it feels better to give to give to children in Somalia than it does to give to salespeople in Harry Winston, Proving to a child that faith has reason, God is alive and that there are angels is so much more gratifying than the stares you get from sparkling down the street in jewels. And who could honestly say that a tour of a mansion you built could hold a candle to a tour of the hospital you built in a village that has not even seen a doctor. Save a mink, don’t buy fur, Save a child, don’t buy bling.

I am living

between

If you stay

or

If you leave

I am surviving

between

with

or

without you

I face two paths

and travel

none

For you are still in my life

but not really

And you are out of my life

but not quite

I am an Astrologer, and among Astrology we speak our own language.  We say things like, “Saturn is conjunct the Sun”, and we need say no more because within our community we all understand what that means.  When I first began doing readings I would say, “Such and such is happening to you, because Saturn is conjunct your Sun.  I found that people became so caught up in thinking that they had to understand the meaning of that phrase that they lost the message that I was trying to convey.  So I learned to give the information that was needed and leave out the information that would only create a distraction for someone who did not understand the language.  I am neither scientifically or mathematically oriented.  I have a very difficult time understanding anything that is explained using scientific terms or mathematic formulas.   They are languages that I just can’t wrap my mind around.  I need someone to convince me that something works using a language that I can readily understand.  So, when I read that quantum physics or quantum mechanics is responsible for the microwave, the internet, nuclear energy, etc., I am convinced enough that it works to be able to accept whatever else it has to tell me, just as I only need to drop a ball from my hand and watch it fall down to trust the things that are explained by gravity.

In the beginning what we call God today was considered incomprehensible.  All ancient belief systems saw God as being so great that we could never name or even begin to conceive of it as anything but an awesome mystery.  The best that we could do was to acknowledge that God was in all that existed in the world around us and attempt to worship aspects of God through the different natural examples around us.  All of the religions that we considered to be polytheist were not, they were worshipping the unnamable Source of the Universe through its aspects.  There had been, since the ice age and awe and fear of the Unnamable because it could not be defined or named but could be experienced in everything in our Universe.   But with the formalizing of religion we lost the awe and mystery of our Source because contrary to what we knew – we named It and believed It to be contained in whatever name we chose – even god with a capital “G”.  We gave It names, Yahweh or Jehovah, Allah, Jesus, etc.  In essence, with each new name, we created a new god that only a chosen group could access.  Although we say that there is only one true God, that one true God is Allah if you are a Muslim, Yahweh or Yod-He-Vav-He, if you are Jewish, Jesus if you are Christian.  In truth, we have numerous one true Gods.

What was not understood was that anything that has a name has limits and boundaries.  It becomes something to understand, to figure out.  So, through our formal religions we became accustomed to gods that we have limited within names, thereby given a material quality to – thus, offered to science something to disprove.  In order for each religion to distinguish their one true God from all other one true Gods was by giving them different names.  This was something that would not have even been considered before.

We relate to time through clocks and calendars.  Neither is not time, and neither can explain our experience of time – how it seems to move faster when we are running late, and move slower when we are anxiously waiting.  During all of this the hands of the clock seem to move at the same pace.  Although the clock can never express time as we perceive it, therefore time is much greater than the systems that we use to measure it.  And, any name or label that we give to the Source of all that is, describes it as much as a grain of sand contained on the beach describes the earth that contains all beaches.  With each name and character that we ascribe to our Source we distance ourselves further from Its true awesome power and glory which was felt, honored, loved and feared by our ancient ancestors.

Science and Spirituality once were one in the same.  They described the movement of the clock and honored with awe the essence of time as one whole.  There was a completeness that gave peace to our understanding of the world in which we lived.  Science contained an awe and acknowledgment of Spirit.  It contained the understanding that the world is made up of an understandable how – and a mysteriously incomprehensible why.  With the formalizing of the Institution of Religion, science was evicted and Spirituality was left like time without the clock to contain and express it.

With the separation of Science and Spirit we were forced to make a choice that either discounted our spiritual beingness or our material beingness.  We have lived a disjointed life in a disjointed world, fractured, fragmented and unable to reconcile itself.  This is because the spirit of the Life and the form of life were separated by a fork in a road where neither path led anymore to wholeness.  God became a name representing something superhuman that was real only in relation to its connection with a specific religion.  In my mind, God, by each name, became no more than the Spiritual Leader of each religion – each religion contained a God, rather that all religions being contained within the One Source of All that Is – the eternal I AM.  In truth, It is beyond comprehension, beyond description, and therefore – beyond name.  When we say God – with or without a capital “G”, we are not referring to That which is nameless.  We do not fear God because we have not only give God a name, but a gender – something that is only assigned to the things of earth.  We have made our Source into a man, albeit a superman, but a man nonetheless.  Therefore, science has scoffed at God, each religion has turned God into its own mascot – and mankind has ceased to evolve, living like the fish symbolizing Pisces – connected, yet swimming in opposite directions and going nowhere.

Now there is this new science.  It is real, because it is through this science that we have, as I mentioned above, nuclear energy, microwave ovens, television, and the internet and on and on.  However, this new science tells us that everything in the Universe consists of atoms, and atoms are not “things”.  Atoms are comprised of 99% space.  According to science, as much as we consider ourselves solid forms, we consist of formlessness.  It tells us that the world in which we live is the world that we collectively and individually perceive.  Its journey is taking us Home – returning us to the wonder, awe and mystery of God.  Reading about the discoveries of Quantum theory and quantum mechanics is like reading an ancient mystical text.  Science and Spirit are returning to the point of oneness.  Form and Spirit are reuniting and we are returning to the connection with the Unnamable Source of all that is.  The Quantum Sciences are mysterious and meta-physical; however, we can no more live without them today than we could live until this time without Newtonian physics.  Albert Einstein, one of its fathers said,

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of delusion of consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us t our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievements is in itself a part of the liberation, and foundation for inner security.”

The world of quantum physics is not solid, it is not a world of things but a world of the “no things“.   These “no things” are what the entire universe is made up.   They are energy and that energy is consciousness.  The Source of all things, spreads itself through the universe as consciousness, as atoms…as “no things”.   This is the science that will be the foundation for the future description of our world.  In this context, the origins of the world and of the species are then placed in what can only be viewed as a spiritual context.  There is no avoiding a new paradigm.  It is one that begins where our most ancient ancestors left off. The ancient wisdom that the Mayans claimed would be resurrected is being resurrected through scientific discoveries, the uncovering of ancient texts, and the sudden spiritual inspirations that many are having now.  The science that will take us through the 21^st century and the New Age, is one in reverence for the Source of all that is.  It is one that resonates with the earliest mystical traditions.

Through science, we will come to understand that the world is a Spiritual Universe that appears to be a physical one.  This will open up new ways of understanding every aspect of our lives, the meanings hidden in the scriptures that we study, and our connection with each other and with all life on earth.  From the fourth century CE., until less than two hundred years ago, the world was flat and the Sun, Moon, and stars revolved around it.  We were certain that disease was caused by evil spirits and the use of herbs for healing was witchcraft.  All of this began to change slowly with the Enlightenment.

Although we see the world today in a radically different way, many of the other superstitions and beliefs are still tucked comfortably under the guise of religion.  We have opened a new cycle with the entrance of quantum physics into our everyday lives.  It is not real, so we will be forced to listen to what it has to teach us.  It will become a part of our consciousness and form the foundation for the new age that we are entering.  The Hopi say that we are leaving the cycle of the animal and entering the cycle of the human.  This coincides with the fact that Aquarius, the age that we are poised to enter, is the only sign in the zodiac represented by a human.  It is the water bearer – the bringer of wisdom, and the glyph that is used to represent Aquarius is › a symbol that could be seen as two quantum waves moving together through the Universe.

Here in the material world what matters is what we do, not our intent.  It is all about the results.  Because we are judged by our actions, the temptation is obtain a certain result, and often by whatever means possible.  “The ends justify the means” is something often said.  This is the consequence of living in an apparent world.  We are not punished for violating the law, we are punished for getting caught.

We create rules and laws so as to maintain order in the material world.  The benefit of creating the rules is that we can amend them to fit our desires.  After time, we equate what is legal with what is moral and ethical.  More often than not, honesty is motivated by fear rather than a need to live by Spiritual truths.   Ultimately we seek material security and we see this as best achieved through wealth and power.  We are like babies, who play peek-a-boo.  They think that if they can’t see you, you can’t see them.  A desire to feel significant motivates us to meet or exceed whatever society currently deems the standard for being valuable.

If Society applauds charity, we will be seen as charitable, if it is money, we will appear to have money.  If it is beauty, we will do whatever we must do to look beautiful.  We seek to look good.  When the light shines on us, we want to be viewed as special.  Most of us judge ourselves by the judgment of others.  Someone can go to church or to Temple every week, and be certain to tithe the appropriate amount to be seen as a charitable church going person.  Monday, that same person can lay off hundreds of workers in order to avoid having to deal with a decrease in his or her lifestyle – unfazed by the lives being destroyed in order to maintain a level of opulence.

A knife can be used to cut the food that we eat, and it can be used to kill.  We have found that almost everything that we create can be used to enhance lives or destroy them; the choice is dependent on our free will.  So, we have been given the ability to use logic, reason and creativity to make the world into a Heaven, or to justify why it is not our responsibility.  If there were a Satan, then the extent of his power would be to present us with an opportunity to make a choice.  Everything in our lives creates a choice.  And as a race, as inhabitants of this planet earth we have all participated in making the choices that have led us to where we are today.   It is very easy to see that the problems that we face are the result of greed, greed we attribute to the comparatively few who control the greatest amount of the world’s wealth.  But that is the easy answer.  It is easy to blame them because they are sitting on piles of money while we are waiting for the crumbs that will no longer be flowing downward – but we are all, or the majority of us are equally to blame.

The system that ensured that the wealth of the world would eventually settle in the hands of a privileged few has been fought for and protected by us, we the majority who hoped that if we fought to maintain the system – we too would one day be on top of that mountain and reap the rewards of that system.  Those who have are no greedier than those who want.  The difference is positioning – not intention.    The Capitalist system that has evolved – as it naturally would is by its design exclusionary.  It is a pyramid by continued design and fortification.  Most of us have not fought for an auto executive’s right to make $50,000,000.00, we fought so that, the right to make that money will be waiting if we get there.   Capitalism was never unfair until it became unfair to us.  We don’t follow the obviously – built-in trail of Capitalism that leads to poverty unless it leads to us.  Everything that is a reality becomes so because there is enough emotional energy behind it to raise it from the unmanifest realm to the manifest.  We have fought to defend a system that only works because the bottom is heavy enough to support the top.

The system is wrong.  It is not open and it is not fair.  It is not built to be fair, and that is why we have liked it, because if and when we rise to the top, we too, want the ability to block all the entrances so that none of the wealth slips out.  It seems impossible to imagine that anyone with a High School degree could not figure out that if we keep milking all of the resources from the bottom of the pyramid, thereby shrinking it, and pulling all of those resources to the top of the pyramid, thereby grossly enlarging it, it would become an inverted pyramid and fall.  The only possible explanation for how we could have reached this point is that we have, in great numbers, become consumed with lust for the things of the world at the expense of our ability to see where this would take us all.

There are four basic rights which form the foundation of Capitalism.   The four basic rights are:  the right to private property. The right to keep all profits made after taxes, the right of choice and the right to compete with other business’.   As with all rights, there is no limit to the extent to which one may go to defend those them.  If I come up with an idea for a new kind of car, the major auto makers have the “right” to use their considerable wealth and power to make sure that my car never reaches the market.  Capitalism eliminates the possibility of a free market.  I don’t have a lobby.  If a corporation chooses to pay all of the earnings to the upper management, while eating through the pensions of the employees, they have that right.  However, under this system, the only right that I have as an employee is the right to quit.  It has become almost the equivalent of being anti-American to criticize the Capitalist system, as though it has somehow replaced Democracy in our minds – somehow we have come to see the two as one, when in reality the fulfillment of one nullifies the other.

It is the Capitalist system that has spread like a cancer throughout the world and is eating us alive.  Capitalism is not Democracy.  Democracy is harder to spread.  Equality is only popular with those who believe that they are not being treated equally.  We are only at the beginning of the suffering that this cancer is causing in the world.  We are like diabetics who are looking for another cause for our diabetes because we can’t face giving up sugar.  I think that we all know how that turns out.  We need to give up our search for happiness in money.  People with money are not happy because of the money, they are happy in spite of it, and we need to stop buying the whole appearances thing.  It is time for us to revision the American Dream.  It should be the dream where everyone is able to have enough, enough food, enough shelter, enough love and therefore, enough happiness.  Those of us, who are not on the top of the material food chain need to seek joy in what we can all share, seek entrance into the club with open membership.  And those of us who are hiding behind our golden gates, need to open those gates and find ways to share what we have that we will never need with those who need but will never otherwise have.  This is a moment of choice.  It is a time to reach into all of our hearts and light them up with generosity, and a desire for equinimity, or wait, just a little while longer and it will all be taken away as our world crumbles around us.  At this time, it no longer matters what other people think about us based on what they see.  Now we are being carefully monitored by the One who sees what no one else does, the One who sees into our hearts and watches what we do.  It will never again look as good to have more as it does to give more.

My first introduction to Astrology came at a very low time in my life.  A man with whom I worked asked me if he could do my chart.  I was curious, although I did not really believe in it, so I said yes.  It was a day that forever changed my life.  The first reason was that I had spent many years in therapy trying to uncover and heal the problems that seemed to constantly plague my life.  We had made breakthroughs; yet, the resolution for each of them seemed connected to my parents.  I was encouraged to confront them in order to somehow fix myself.  However, confronting my mother only made my feelings of unworthiness increase because of her refusal to accept any responsibility for the things that were not working within me.

As I sat with this Astrologer watching him look at this circle with strange symbols on it I became amazed with the clarity and understanding that he seemed to find within this chart.  He began with describing my parents and the influence that they had on me.  He described my feelings of inadequacy.  He exposed the things that I knew about myself but did not readily share for fear of judgment.  There was, I remember one prediction in his reading which only alluded to the fact that in a few months, or rather by my next birthday the dark cloud that I felt hovering over my life would finally pass – nothing more detailed than that, but it was fine for me – even if it did not happen because something much greater had transpired than the illuminating of some future event.  My life, and the characters who played such major roles in it, were all neatly laid out in this map.  This map, which was created at the moment of my birth belonged to me and me alone.  It was, so to speak, the owner’s manual of my life.

No longer did I have to see myself as defective or my choices as wrong, or myself as simply jinxed, no, for some reason, one that I could discover, my life was unfolding according to plan, according to God’s plan.  And as it said in Genesis:

¹⁴And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: ¹⁵and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. ¹⁶And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. ¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Like many Astronomers I questioned this portion of the Bible, it was just wrong.  The Sun is a star and it happens to be the star that the planets of our galaxy revolve around – including the earth.  So, literally – God just would not have said this.  But what if it were symbolic, spiritual and not literal?  After all, the astrology that has been used for tens of thousands of years is earth centered.  Just as described in Genesis, and the stars (lights) have been, since the beginning of time as we know it and probably before, used to divide the sky into signs . They do give light – the light of knowledge – upon the earth.  They do rule over the day and night, and divide our times of darkness from our times of light.  The Sun represents the day, what is visible, it lights our path in this lifetime while the moon represents our emotions, our feelings, our subconscious motivations that for us live in the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.  So, when I saw my chart and understood that the rejection of my mother, was there, written by God in the stars of my life.  I knew that it was all good.  My journey now was no longer to try to fix my parents, or gain my mother’s love or attention, no my journey was to understand what the purpose was for God to choose these experiences for me.  I was empowered.  I knew that ahead there would be difficult times as well as easy times but they would not depend on my making the right or wrong choices, they would be determined by the ‘seasons’ of my life.

By gazing at the stars and reading the signs, I may know what season I am in and do the best that I can do within that season, give the most that I can give and learn the most that I can learn.  I have been reading charts for many years since that first time I sat down before that wheel.  Each time that I do, I do not seek to tell a person’s fortune, other than, perhaps, ‘This too shall pass”.  No, the gift that I try to give each person that I read is the gift that I was given.  That is the truth that none of us are defective, nothing that we do is a mistake, we all have a spiritual purpose of being on the planet at this time and what we do, how we live, and what we learn all contributes to our gift to the world.  It is a spiritual tool for understanding why we have been chosen to take up this space on the earth, and where we will find our greatest joy while we are here.  Perhaps astronomically the Sun, Moon, and stars do not revolve around the earth, but spiritually, they do revolve around man.

We speak about thinking outside of the box, but what we don’t think about is that there is no amount of “Outside of the box” that is outside of God.  When we have an idea – it is God’s idea.  When we think of a new form of worship – it is God’s thought.  Regardless of what we do or what we think of – ultimately, it comes from God.  Even war was not a product of man but of God.  There are many paths to becoming one with God.  Most of these paths have nothing to do with religion, they have to do with gaining understanding, and faith.  One path is fear – through fear we learn that there is nothing to fear in God.  Through the path of loss we learn that there is nothing that can be lost because all is One in God.  Through hatred – we learn that there is nothing and no one to hate because we are all One in God.  Through war and killing we learn the value of life and living.  Through prejudice we learn acceptance.  Through betrayal we learn forgiveness.  All of these paths are paths and lessons created by God with the only intention that we find our way to the truth of what we are and what we have always been.

Once there were two villages that had established a very prosperous trade between themselves each growing the crops that the other needed.  They were wealthy villages because they had the benefit of an abundant stream of water.  Yet, with time both villages began to get greedy, charging higher and higher prices for their goods each trying to outdo the other.  After time passed and this greed escalated, crime ensued.  Each village began hating the other and refusing to sell to them.  This hurt both villages because they needed what the other had, but their pride had grown too great.

They did not notice that while they were entrenched in the battle over their egos, the stream was drying up.  Soon the crops that could be grown could barely feed the people, let alone the livestock and it seemed that all were destined to die out. After generations of only the water that could be caught from the little rain that fell was now taken by a total drought.  One night as the leader of each village slept, there appeared to each, an angel.  The angel told each of the leaders that there was a miraculous healing stream only seven miles from their villages.  Each was told to journey to the stream early because the stream only filled with water at a certain time.

Each man protested to the angel saying that there had been no water in that stream for generations it was now mo more than a barren waterbed.  The angel told the men that God had heard the prayers of the villagers and answered them by filling the waterbed with a healing stream that would not only heal the people, but would provide such nutrition to the fields that their crops and livestock would grow beyond anything ever seen before.

Early the next morning, unbeknownst to the other, each man began his journey to the stream.  As the stream came into sight, each man watched in awe as the water quickly filled the once barren bed to the brim.  Yet, the water was murky and did not look fit for crops, and in no way did it seem fit to drink.  Even worse than that, when they finally reached the stream, they were astounded to see the water already draining back into the ground through the same opening that it had entered.  Seeing the other, each man ran back to his village to gather the villagers so that they would arrive before the other and be ready to fetch all what they needed before the other village could take all of the water.

However, the peasants from both villages arrived at the same time and as the water began to fill the stream, a fight broke out over the water with the inhabitants of each village pushing, shoving and hitting the other.  By the time they noticed the water again, the last drops were already draining from the streambed.  Filled with anger and frustration, the villagers returned home with their buckets and their hopes empty.

That night, the angel returned to the dreams of the village leaders.  This time the angel told them that instead of pushing and shoving each other they should throw stones.  The angel told them that God had placed stones on their side of the stream.  The next morning as the villagers once again reached the stream as it was filling up, they looked down, each saw the stones at their feet and began to hurl them at the other villagers.  To their surprise, the stones never hit anyone but all seemed to land in the stream.

When there were no more stones to throw, the exhausted villagers noticed that the water had become so clear that they could see every stone lying on the bottom of the stream.  Even more miraculous than this, was the fact that water no longer emptied.  Just then a little boy from one of the villages cried out, “Mommy, mommy, the stones…they look like hearts”.  And just at that moment all of the villagers felt their anger, and their hatred drain from their souls.  They each drew from the stream all of the water that they needed and resumed their trading and sharing of resources with a new sense of gratitude.

Once upon a time there was a very religious community.  The members gathered everyday to worship God under the guidance of their wise spiritual teacher.  The people were truly God fearing and followed all of Gods’ Laws.  But their leader had a son whose actions troubled the group.

One day the boy, who was four years old, lost his dog.  After searching all day, he sat down in a field crying and as he cried, he noticed a leaf on the ground near his feet.  He happened to be staring at the leaf while he was crying and for the safe return of his dog.  Two days later the dog was returned healthy and happy.  The boy attributed this miracle to the leaf and ran out to the field to find it.  Once he found the leaf he began praying to the leaf every day and carrying it with him wherever he went – he even brought the leaf to bed.

The congregation became concerned by the actions of this child and spoke to his father.  The father simply replied, “It is his path”.  And the congregation went away disappointed.

Soon, the leaf became worn and dry and it crumbled.  The boy was devastated and cried to his father.  His father simply took him back to the field where he found the leaf and said, “Son, look there, that is the tree from which your leaf came, see the thousands of other leaves it also bears, if not for the tree, you would not have had your leaf.  The boy was overcome with awe at the sight of the tree full of leaves and began to worship the tree, going to it and praying everyday with love and thanksgiving for the life of his dog.

Again, the congregation became concerned by the actions of this child and spoke to his father.  The father simply replied, “It is his path”.  And the congregation went away disappointed.

A few months later the tree became diseased and had to be cut down.  And once again the child was distraught beyond consolation.  His father again led the boy to the field and said, “You see this field, this is the field from which your tree and all of these others have come, and it is the field from which your tree grew, from which your leaf grew that saved your dog.  So the boy, once again in awe of the expanse of trees and leaves produced by this field began to lie in the field on the dirt and the grass and pray every day in love and thanksgiving to the field.

Once again, the congregation became concerned by the actions of this child and spoke to his father.  Once again, father simply replied, “It is his path”.  And the congregation went away disappointed.

Shortly after this, the field was sold to a developer who dug up all the trees and covered the field with concrete and buildings.  Now the boy was beyond himself with loss and desperation, there was no more field, so there would be no more trees, no more leaves and no more miracles.  His father calmly took him out into the road and said, “Son, look around you, the earth is covered with fields of trees, with leaves – all come from the earth and the earth comes from God, the Bible says, in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth”.  God is the Source from which all things are born.  It is God who created the earth upon which your field grew, from which your tree grew, from which your leaf grew.  All things come from God and all things contain God in the form of His messengers.  You prayed to the angel in the leaf, who sent your message to the angel in the tree, who sent your message to the angel in the field, who sent your message to the angel in the earth – who whispered your prayer to God – and because God heard your prayer from  the leaf, your dog was returned.  So the boy said, “From now on I will honor God and His Angels by giving thanks to everything and everyone on earth, but I will send my deepest prayers to God who is the eternal Source of all.”

The boy grew up to assume his father’s role as teacher, but his congregation expanded greatly because his journey taught him to understand and therefore teach, that all paths were created by God to lead us Home.

God created the world with enough diversity that every being on it could find something or someone to believe in.  God knew that there is nothing on earth, whether it is a blade of grass, a human being, a mosquito, or a brick of gold that does not contain God.  That there is nothing that man can worship in, in which he does not worship in God.  Knowing all, God knows that all things on earth will pass, all form will give way, and everything with a beginning will also have an end.  But what has no beginning and no end is our search for union with our Source, and no end to our need to know ourselves and from where we have come.  In the same way that God created us to know and experience Himself.  So God places before us a leaf – in which He is, and then a tree – in which He is, or a statue or a book – in which He is, knowing, that so long as we seeking signs and forms of Him in the world that is wholly of Him, we will continue to seek until we find Him – who is in every atom of the Universe and within whom, the entire universe is but a tiny atom.   So when you criticize the beliefs of others as not the right belief, remember that there is no belief that is not created by God and so there is no belief, except a belief in God.  Just remember the leaf.

One of the most important phases of maturing is that of growth from self-centering to an understanding relationship to others. A person is not mature until he has both an ability and a willingness to see himself as one among others and to do unto those others as he would have them do to him.Sir Walter Scott

The earth is a growing field. Imagine a seed planted deep within the soil, a seed having to journey through layer after layer of packed earth, finding its way around rocks and other objects until it finally breaks through to the sun—and break through, it will. Yet what apparent insurmountable odds it faces there, deep within the soil. Still, the same soil which seems intent upon blocking its way, contains the nourishment needed for its survival on the journey.

Here, on earth is where the soul comes to learn its greatest lessons. Yet, what is the earth? Live spelled backwards is evil—and on earth what we consider evil is what the earth is made of. It is a wild, dangerous, greedy, and most of all, insatiable planet—a place where every organism large or small seeks one thing—survival. God said to all life, “Be fruitful and multiply”. To survive, each species knows that it must multiply. Microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, grass, weeds, plants, and flowers—all life on earth fights for the same limited space. The less man interferes with a species, the more instinctively and aggressively intent it is on fulfilling what we, as a species, have labeled ‘manifest destiny’. It is the basic driving instinct of all species on earth. Survival is of the fittest. Weeds, trees, and bushes all grow anywhere and everywhere when not checked. Even concrete cannot arrest their growth. Wild animals fight to maintain and then to expand their territory as they seek to expand their herds. Wars are fought on earth over lines drawn in the sand by every species and every organism on the earth. Each species survives at the expense of at least one other species. The earth is one large hungry, greedy, food chain. This doesn’t make the earth less beautiful, but it is necessary to understand the energy of the earth to understand the energy of the body with its instincts and desires —the body into which we each incarnate.
For some species, survival is for the swiftest, and for others, it is the strongest that survive. For yet other species, it is for those that who are best able to scavenge, or appear threatening—and yet, for others—to hide and appear invisible. Yet for some species, such as ants, or bees, survival is in the inborn ability to know what they have to offer their species and to offer it selflessly and without question. Insects seem to be much better prepared to survive than most species—they appear to have mastered the requirements for survival—united we stand divided we fall.

Man is neither swift, nor physically equipped to adapt to the harsh and changing climate of the earth. He has been given the mental and physical agility necessary to manipulate his environment. Man has also been gifted with the heart and the compassion to manage it with benevolence. We have been given the earth to live on, to grow on and to care for, but not, despite what we believe, to master and destroy. She is not ours.

In nineteen seventy-seven there was an object discovered in space. It was difficult to identify—a comet, an asteroid, a planet. No one was sure at first. Finally it was called a centaur, the first of many objects in its category that would be discovered. This first centaur was called Chiron. Chiron was, as all of the centaurs, half man and half horse. With each new discovery in space, some new door is opened here on earth—some new direction taken—some knowledge finally comprehended or information finally received by man. With the discovery of the centaur, Chiron, came the age of holistic medicine treating the mind, body, and the spirit as a whole—understanding that to cure a part of the whole without addressing the whole—ultimately cures nothing.

In mythology, Chiron was a master of all forms of art, of learning, of philosophy, of self-defense and of combat. Chiron turned each hero who passed through his cave into a true hero—a whole; a hero is not simply the one who can defeat the greatest or strongest foe, but the one who can recognize the greatest foe. This is often within the self. He did not simply give them techniques, he gave them appreciation, value and honor. Chiron did not only train the greatest fighters, he trained the greatest healers, musicians, scholars, physicians, and rulers. To teach these things, he had, in some way, embody them.

Chiron was an exceptional centaur according to legend. There were a few, who, like him, were healers, or philosophers; the majority of centaurs could not really be trusted for they were too susceptible to their desires when they became intoxicated. When intoxicated, they were robbers, murderers, and rapists, simply put, they were untamed animals. One day, as one of the legends goes, a group of centaurs became drunk and went on a killing spree. Chiron went out among them trying to bring peace and was accidentally wounded by Hercules, his dearest student, who mistook him for one of the wild centaurs. However, unlike the other centaurs—Chiron could not die—he was immortal, and as such, he faced an eternity of suffering. In spite of his pain, he continued to teach, he continued to love, and he continued to share his wisdom. In the end, Chiron made the ultimate sacrifice—he sacrificed his immortality to end the suffering of Prometheus who was being punished by Zeus for bringing fire to mankind. Because of Chiron’s selflessness and willingness to sacrifice his immortality to end the suffering of another, Zeus took Chiron up to the heavens and gave him his own constellation.

Since the discovery of Chiron we have all become more and more aware of our lower nature. All that we consider evil—all that we consider vile is nothing more than the natural inherent tendencies of our physical nature—our earthly nature. The earth is void of conscience. We, as spiritual beings, are the conscience of the earth—man brings that conscience from God. Conscience is not natural to our environment—not natural to our physical bodies—and not natural to the spiritually unevolved ego. The earth tests the spirit within each of us. To fulfill our destinies, we must not destroy the earth herself, but the world that man has built on the earth by his egos need to be better than its Creator. Man has built a false world and in seeking to become its master, he has become its slave.  In ancient times the donkey or “ass” was a symbol of man’s lower animal nature, just as the body of Chiron.  In the Bible, Jesus finds it necessary to enter the gates of Jerusalem riding an ass.  However, the spiritual meaning of this is somewhat different than the biblical one.  The city of Jerusalem, at the time was a representation of all that is unholy, nowhere did greed not exist.  It was in essence ruled by the lowest part of man, his greed and his desires.  Even in the Temple money was changed.  And the temples did not permit entrance to everyone who wanted to worship regardless of economic status.  It was a city where all catered to the wealthy.  This was why the disciples were astonished that Jesus said that a camel would pass through the eye of a needle easier than a rich man enter the gates of Heaven.  It seemed at the time that wealth was a gift from God because it was the wealthy who seemed to gain the closest audience with Him.  So Jesus rode into the city on the ass, showing all that his spiritual nature was superior to the animal nature – that he mastered the animal in man.

The Ancient creators of the zodiac set the Heavens into a circle with twelve divisions, each one represented by an animal that to them symbolized an aspect of God, or, perhaps the aspect of God capable of controlling the represented aspect of nature.  Jesus came in with the age of Pisces, called by ancients, the age of the fish.  Note the references to fish during the time, however, simply coming up with ideas of the meaning of these references to fish gives us nothing.  The view of fish in ancient times was that they were a species where the large always gobble up the small.  Before language, before writing, this was what was symbolized by fish. In essence, fish was the sign-language for the strong eating up the weak.  Jesus was the fisher of men, because he came to save the small fish from the mouths of the larger fish.  Has this not been the greatest underlying theme of the age of Pisces?  It was so clearly exemplified by the Catholic Church gobbling up all of the smaller Christian groups, destroying their wealth of scripture in order to create their own.  It continues with small businesses gobbled up by larger business, homes taken away to build high-rises, this is the age of the fish, in which the fisher of men appeared, not to eradicate our sins, but to lead us away from being fish.

We are not truly human until we conquer the beast and become humane. Until we do this we are no more than centaurs, no more than fish. For most of us, the intoxicant is not alcohol it is money and the wealth and power that it affords us. And, like the centaurs, once intoxicated by money, our higher selves are consumed by the lower nature, unless we are strong and able to resist the temptation to indulge ourselves in that taste for money. We are driven to consume just as every other organism on the earth—we become predators because it is natural to do so.

In the Gospel of Thomas or the Secret Sayings of Jesus, Jesus said,
Blessed is the lion that the human consumes so that the lion becomes human, Cursed is the human that the lion consumes so that the human becomes the lion. When the human eats the lion—devours the beast—it is the soul which has conquered the beast to become humane. The beast, once conquered, serves the soul and thus serves God. The things of the soul are attended to with the aid of the beast that is now lovingly serving the soul. In the twelve labors of Heracles, one of the labors was that he had to kill a lion that had, up to that point, been indestructible. Once Heracles had managed to slay the lion, he kept those parts of the lion that gave it its strength, and wore them as armor. Thus, taking the power of the beast and adding it to his own, he protected himself as he went on his quest. This is man consuming the lion. If the lion consumes the man, however, and becomes human the soul becomes enslaved by the passions and desires of the lower self—the animal self which is of the earth.

I have heard it said that man is the only animal who kills without necessity. I am not sure that this is true. I once had a cat that spent a great deal of his time outdoors. Regularly, we would find dead birds or dead mice that he proudly brought into the house, and presented to us as gifts with no intention of or desire to eat them. He carried his conquests with what appeared to be great pride. Perhaps he was showing us his skill as a hunter—who knows—but what is certain, is that he did not hunt for food—he hunted because it was natural to his species to do so. Perhaps for the cat, like for man himself, the reason for the hunt has been lost in the cans of cat food and bags of crunchy tasty nuggets that he had grown accustomed to eating. But his instincts as a predator were too deeply ingrained in the cellular memory of his body—in the genetic memory of his species since it is born of the predatory earth. My cat, like many other domesticated animals, collected the trophies of his kills because, as an animal, he was a killer. A man mounts his kills on his walls—a tribute to the animal within himself which he has not as yet conquered.

Here on earth there is no evil—there is only the earth. What we call evil is only nature. It is the opposite of spiritual but that does not make it evil. We just need to realize, without judgment, or labels, that we are not this.
Fear is the prevailing emotion on a planet where survival entails eating or being eaten, conquering or being conquered. All that we consider as sins are but the outgrowths of fear; fear of not having enough to survive; fear of not being strong enough to survive; which, ultimately, is fear of death. As we evolve spiritually our fear diminishes because it is replaced by faith. It is faith which raises us above our fears. Faith, affords us the security that we need to rest in the knowledge that there is nothing to fear in God’s universe.

Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations —Delivered October 25, 1985 by Leon Shenandoah, Tadodaho, Haudenosaunee

Listen to the words of the Creator given to the first United Nations—the Haudenosaunee—over 1,000 years ago:
The Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee shall be mentors of the people for all time. The thickness of their skins shall be seven spans which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive action, and criticism. Their hearts shall be full of peace and good will, and their minds full of a yearning for the welfare of the people. With endless patience, they shall carry out their duty.

Their firmness shall be tempered with a tenderness for their people. Neither anger nor fury shall find lodging in their minds, and all their words and actions shall be marked by calm deliberation. In every nation there are wise and good people. These should be appointed Chiefs. They should be the advisors of their people and work for the good of all the people, and their power comes from the “Great Peace.”

A chief must never forget the Creator of mankind; never forget to ask the Creator for help. The Creator will guide our thoughts and strengthen us as we work to be faithful to our sacred trust and restore harmony among all peoples, all living creatures, and Mother Earth.

We were instructed to carry a love for one another and to show a great respect for all the beings of this earth. In our ways spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics. When people cease to respect and express gratitude for these many things, then all life will be destroyed, and human life on this planet will come to an end.
These are our times and responsibilities. Every human being has a sacred duty to protect the welfare of our Mother Earth, from whom all life comes.
In order to do this we must recognize the enemy—the one within us. We must begin with ourselves. We must live in harmony with the Natural World and recognize that excessive exploitation can only lead to our own destruction.

We cannot trade the welfare of our future generations for profit now. We must abide by the Natural Law or be victims of its ultimate reality. We must stand together, the four sacred colors of humans, as the one family we are, in the interest of peace.

We must abolish nuclear and conventional weapons of war. When warriors are leaders, then you will have war. We must raise leaders of peace.

We must unite the religions of the world as the spiritual force strong enough to prevail in peace. It is no longer good enough to cry, “Peace.”

We must act peace, live peace, and march in peace in alliance with the people of the world. We are the spiritual energy that is thousands times stronger than nuclear energy. Our energy in the combined will of all people with the spirit of the Natural World, to be of one body, one heart and one mind for peace.

We propose, as a resolution for peace, that October 24th be designated as a Day of Peace, and a world cease-fire take place in honor of our children and the Seventh Generation to come.

Suppose you and I have had an argument. If you have beaten me instead of my beating you, then are you necessarily right and am I necessarily wrong? If I have beaten you instead of your beating me, then am I necessarily right and are you necessarily wrong? Is one of us right and the other wrong? Are both of us right or are both of us wrong? If you and I don’t know the answer, then other people are bound to be even more in the dark. Whom shall we get to decide what is right? Shall we get someone who agrees with you to decide? But if he already agrees with you, how can he decide fairly? Shall we get someone who agrees with me? But if he already agrees with me, how can he decide? Shall we get someone who disagrees with both of us?… But waiting for one shifting voice [to decide for] another is the same as waiting for none of them. Harmonize them all with the Heavenly Equality, leave them to their endless changes, and so live out your years. What do I mean by harmonizing them with the Heavenly Equality? Right is not right; so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument. If so were really so, it would differ so clearly from not so that there would be no need for argument. Forget the years; forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!

Taoism. Chuang Tzu 2

Around the age of nine, I found my need to find the “right” path to God overwhelming most other things in my life.  So while attending a Yiddish school on Saturdays, I reserved Sundays to attend as many different churches and Sunday schools that I could get to and also gain entrance.  It seems now to have been a young age for such a quest, but at the time, the world in which I lived seemed so chaotic and unjust, that finding the way to God felt to me to be the only journey that could in anyway offer me peace.  My Jewish upbringing taught me to question and so, of all the churches that I attended, my shortest stay was in the Catholic Church where, because of my insistent questioning, I was asked to leave and not return.  I think that my Jewish experience, on a whole was the most enriching in my life, yet, at the same time, the words that I learned were spoken by the Christ resonated profoundly in my heart.  As I went from church to church, somehow I found it difficult to feel that I had found the home that I was seeking.

Yet, even when I ran out of churches to attend, Jesus stayed with me insisting that I find a way to accept Him into my life.  Part of my problem was I felt that to embrace Jesus was to betray my Jewish heritage, which I so deeply valued.  The other problem that I had was that it seemed a contradiction to say in one statement that we were all children of God and then in another that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God.  I spent many hours in silence asking God to help me find a way to make peace with this contradiction.  Other times I just wished that he would go away and leave me alone.  I debated the concept of Christ for hours on end with my Christian friends but never mention it to my Jewish ones.  Inside I had no peace.  My intense questioning and debate caused one Catholic Priest to actually come to my door and ask me to stay away from the Catholic friends that I had who were members of his church.  It was not my intention to cause them to question their faith, only to seek a way for them to convince me.

Then there finally came a time when my life was so consuming that I did find a way to push the entire question away from my conscious attention.  I did this for some years, although during the whole time I heard myself time and time again quoting something that Jesus had said.  And then one day, I simply felt the Christ consciousness within my soul, without explanation, without intellectual understanding, and contrary to popular belief, without invitation.  From that moment on, not only did I have a new vision and understanding of the Christ, but of God and the Universe.  My level of comprehension was lifted above the world of form and shape to a world of essence and consciousness.  I began writing things that I thought were my own words to only later find out that they were in fact his.  What was even more profound was that these words of his, were spoken by Krishna, and the Buddha before him – I was expanding.  I started to rise above the judgments and classifications that were once in my mind to a place of wholeness and acceptance which had no real words to explain.  And this was only the first step on my journey.

Each scripture is written by the same hand.  Each one is speaking in a different symbolic language.  Each different scripture resonates for the souls who vibrate to that language.  We each vibrate to different symbols, and God, in all His Wisdom, comes in the shape and speaks in the symbols understood by all.  Still, as I read through the scriptures and the mythology of various peoples, the characters may seem different but they are basically the same.  The exact description of their experiences may differ, but the underlying message is the same.

So, when someone begins to speak in the language of their religion, and I feel the urge to correct them and explain the “right” way – I push myself past that impulse and find that regardless of what the differences are in our spiritual convictions, we can always meet in the common area, called Love.  It is my belief that God would not have created us with such diversity if it was His intention that we look, think, live, or believe in exactly the same way.  I also don’t believe that He meant for us to be repelled by our differences or to see them as conflicting differences of better or worse, but simply enhancing differences, each offering a new shade of beauty – a different level of experience.  Just as we have seven major charkas, each one vibrating to a different color, between each of the seven are many smaller ones in varying shades of the colors that they lie between.  Throughout our many lives, each one of the charkas is dominant in our experience of ourselves and of our lives, until we finally reach the crown chakra.

Just like different sizes of shoes, each size fits different feet, but no one fits “better” feet than the other.  They are just different.  Each is a joyous expression of God.  And He experiences Himself through us and through our experiences.  The more varied we are the more varied His joy.

Like everyone in the world today, I have been seeking an answer to why we have arrived at this difficult place in history.  The most simplistic reason is that we really are not able to share this planet – we have not learned the true meaning of being a neighbor, and so we have not learned the meaning of brotherhood, because if we had, than sharing would come naturally. If we knew the meaning of brotherhood, no one would WANT to have more than anyone else – not more things, or more land, or more food, friends more status or a more sacred knowledge of God.  We would want, to have enough, and to be sure that our brothers had enough.  It was Cain who questioned being his brother’s keeper and we all know how that worked out for him. Jesus was not the first to mention the idea of brotherhood, and He taught it 2000 years ago.  The Initiates of the Eleusinian mysteries between 1500 and 1425 BCE were called adelphoi, which means brothers, a Philadelphian was someone who practiced “Brotherly Love”, which is where the name of the city comes from.  The So why is it that we have since traveled to the moon, but not journeyed one step closer to true brotherly love.  Certainly, we know how to say it better now than before and we create stories and books showing the joys of brotherhood, but the concept is as much science fiction as the movies showing the year 2520 with desolate nuked out cities run by mutant robots chasing the five humans left who haven’t killed each other – or is the latter more realistic?

“Do unto others as you would have other do unto you”, why is it that the simple things are the most difficult to grasp?  We can communicate over distances thousands of miles in a matter of seconds, but we can’t “Do unto others as we would have other do unto us”.  I know in my heart that God doesn’t make mistakes, so the fact that it is easier to wrap our legs around our necks and act like a pretzel than it is to love our brothers like ourselves must be a sign along the path.  There must be a real message there for us.  Have our brains grown at the expense of our hearts?  Or did we have to master the easy stuff first, like colonizing Mars before we could be ready to tackle the difficult tasks, like learning to share a planet that we have lived on together for tens of thousands of years.

I believe that thirty percent of the people in the capitalist countries hope that there is a God, and thirty percent fear that there might be a God, and another thirty percent hope that there is a God but that either He is too busy to look at what they are doing, or that He has left much more room to maneuver in His Commandments than meets the eye.  This leaves ten percent who truly believe in their hearts that there is a God.  However even of that ten percent who believe that, there is a God, five percent believe that in the end we will find that He did not give us Ten Commandments but the Ten Suggestions.

If everything in the Bible was meant to be taken literally, few of us alive today would make it through the 613 commandments without passing directly to the down elevator.  It is difficult to believe that after thousands of years of floods, plagues and pestilence, God finally grew so frustrated with man that He decided that the only way to secure mankind’s entrance into Heaven was to beget a son, send him to live a life of the highest form of unconditional love for all, and then have him publically tortured and killed.  I believe with all of my heart that God Almighty, All knowing, All seeing, creator of Heaven and earth could find another way.  And I believe that the other Way is through the experience of our lives on earth.  We have been given Teachers, Jesus being one of them, but not the first, nor the last to show us the Way. In Isaiah 13:15-16 the way to Heaven is stated clearly:

15He that walketh righteously,

and speaketh uprightly;

he that despiseth the gain of oppressions,

that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,

that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood,

and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

Then later in Isaiah: 56:1, the 613 commandments are summed up further this way:

1Thus said Jehovah:

`Keep ye judgment,

and do righteousness,

For near [is] My salvation to come,

And My righteousness to be revealed.

The Way is again made clear by Jesus in Matthew:

19 matt16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17″Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
18″Which ones?” the man inquired.
19Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’[4] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[5] “
20″All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This is really one of the foundations for my belief in reincarnation.  It seems I have believed in it as early as I could imagine anything, but it really began to make sense when it dawned on me that God is always looking and that fact doesn’t seem to have any impact on most people.  I mean – we can justify our actions to ourselves, and we can allow ourselves an ‘E” for effort, but it seems to me that in actuality God does not really ask much of us considering what we receive.  And I don’t think that He is really all that vague on His Commandments, but being a Loving God, I do believe that what He does give us is time, and He gives that to of us in the form of reincarnation.  After all, God knows that we can’t make the leap from colonizing Mars ALL the way to “Loving our neighbors” in one lifetime.  It takes many lifetimes, with frequent rest periods in between to stretch that far from human to humane.  Each incarnating class doesn’t have a really high number of graduates at a time, but we all do, in our own time, make that final leap off of the wheel of incarnation.

One thing that is very clear, from Osiris, to Horus, Dionysius to Jesus, and from the Buddha, to Krishna is that the first and most difficult step is non-attachment to the material.  God tells us not to make idols out of gold and silver, but we forget that we are also told not to make gold and silver into idols.  We must begin that journey of separation from our very closest traveling companion, the ego.  We have a lot of history with our egos and they have served us well.  What makes it even more difficult is that at no other time in history has the climate been so perfect for an ego.  All the toys – all the battles – and all those big, big, guns.  It was a great deal easier to make a clean brake a few centuries ago when we were too busy needing each other to give the ego that much room to move and groove.  Now, it seems so hard to hurt the egos we love, the egos, which aid in serving us the world on a silver platter.

The spark of God lives within all of us.  The journey towards that spark is one that every living being on the planet shares, and, with or without knowing it, we need each other to complete that journey.  Life, what is really life, is God.  That life which is within each of us also connects us one to the other.  It guides all of us, loves all of us and creates the one common thread that unites each living being to each other and to the Source of Life itself.   For just as we each have a body with many parts, but just one soul, all of creation is also one Body with just One Soul, and that soul is God.

35And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.  Leviticus 25:35 (King James Version)

7If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:  8But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.  9Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.   10Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

11For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land  Deuteronomy 15:7 (King James Version)

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

2 Those whose walk is blameless,
who do what is righteous,
who speak the truth from their hearts;

3 who have no slander on their tongues,
who do their neighbors no wrong,
who cast no slur on others;

4 who despise those whose ways are vile
but honor whoever fears the LORD;
who keep their oaths even when it hurts;

5 who lend money to the poor without interest
and do not accept bribes against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.

“Look at yourself, Look at what you are and measure it against what you imagine you are and what your conscience tells you, you must be. Be shocked, America! Be stunned, be overwhelmed by what you see, and feel at the center of your being the purifying fire of remorse.”  Frederick Douglass

This is a small world.  And perhaps it is the shrinking of the world that will ultimately bring us the era of peace that has been prophesied; it is, after all, this small world which has brought us to the entrance of war.

“This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?”

Frederick Douglass

You see, this shrinking world, has dragged the poor, the slaves, and the under privileged into the ‘grand illuminated temple of  ‘liberty’, a temple into which they may only enter carrying a tray of food to serve, a broom to sweep, a new brick to lay, or through the medium of television.   While the wealthy are spared constant images of poverty flashing into their homes over the airwaves -the poor are not afforded the same courtesy.  The wealthy have claimed ownership of the world’s resources.  Lush fruit trees grow in the back yards of the poor but they may only labor in the fields collecting the harvest, they may not eat of it.  The poor go hungry and children die of starvation even in the wealthiest country in the world.

The ability to communicate and to see what goes on in every country affords the oppressed a view of lives which they would not have otherwise known, and it is through those images of wealth that the poor are faced with the clear reflection of their own poverty.  The world is overburdened by mans inequity and mans psyche is overburdened with pain.  People see that there are opportunities they do not share, and yet, those opportunities are advertised as basic human rights.  They see that all they need to advance in life is a good education, but they will almost never be afforded that education.

Now, the technological advances that have turned an entire planet into a neighborhood where to wealthy unknowingly parade their wealth before their neighbors who have nothing.  Every revolution on the planet has been seeded by this.  I have heard many people who had grown up poor, before the world became so small, say that they did not feel poor or feel badly about being poor because everyone else was in the same position. It is when the poor must endure not only their suffering but the constant exposure to those who are greedy and wasteful that the poor, feeling a loss of value, rebel against those who hoard the wealth.  Without a sense of self-worth, without a sense of value, man finds little left to live for and often is vulnerable or unconsciously seeks out a cause to die for that in some way will give value to their having lived.

We live in a world of uncomfortable neighbors who, were it not for technology, would not be so forced into acknowledging the circumstance of the other. Along with creating animosity that had not existed before, between nations and people who really would not have known each other in such intimate terms, it has also created a way to kill each other with a minimum of effort and a maximum of emotional detachment.  Yet, there is something else, something much more important that the shrinking world has made manifest.  It has forced mankind to come face to face with its own hypocrisy.  This hypocrisy is no less evident in a country whose Declaration of Independence states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

This country can state this in its declaration of independence while at the same time supporting slavery and the annihilation of its native peoples.   In an industrialized and technologically advanced world it is necessary to have a workforce that is at least minimally educated.  Because of this necessity, those who once suffered oppression without the education which would awaken their awareness of being oppressed, are now informed of the inequity in which they exist.

The ignorance which once shielded the division of classes is being technologically erased and so society can no longer sustain the division.  We live in the information age, the age of knowledge and knowledge breeds discontent.  What you know can hurt everyone.  Without ignorance, the hypocrisy of inequality is exposed.  Without knowledge, those with vision can only dream, but, with knowledge, those with vision can and do change the world.  Ignorance veils the truth, but once exposed, the truth does set us free.

We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want . . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear . . . anywhere in the world.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is an inevitable truth that whatever we use to selfishly build ourselves up, will one day be used to tear us down.  At whatever moment we make the choice to use any of God’s gifts to advance one over another, we have secured the weapon of our own demise.  What goes around comes around, what is sent out will return.   The technology that the few have used to covet the resources of the earth that belong to all, is that same technology that is exposing this misuse and forcing mankind to look at what we are, as Frederick Douglass said, and measure it against what we imagine ourselves to be.

Technology has made secrets more difficult to keep and it will slowly but surely make abuses more difficult to profit from.  Those who we have elected to govern us have used our trust to place themselves in positions that transform them from representatives of the people to representatives of only themselves.  Ours has declined into a government that represents the interests of those who govern and not those who are governed. If our representatives in congress voted for the people to have the same health insurance and pensions that they themselves enjoy, we would have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  At present, in the United States, we have a government of those in power, by those in power and for those in power.   In the coming lean years, it will be advisable to remember the next paragraph of the Declaration of Independence which states:

“That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security-Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.”

It is foolish to underestimate history.  We study history so that we do not repeat it.  And yet, repeating it is all that we ever do – new set same play.  When will we come to the understanding that we own nothing, we are entitled to nothing above that which every other human being on the planet is entitled.  We are permitted the use of the earth’s resources so long as we understand and accept the responsibility of that use. When resources are limited they must be equally shared.  History has shown us over thousands of years of wars, revolutions, and natural disasters that what we do not share will inevitably be taken away.

When AIDS was used to judge the lifestyles of homosexuals, it was loosed upon those who judged.  We are waiting for Judgment Day, unable to see that it has been here for many years.  The world looks more and more like a comic in the New Yorker magazine depicting Big fat pigs with cigars stepping on little ant sized people.  Those who are the guiltiest of the injustices greed are distorting religion, particularly Christianity to justify their actions.  Greed today, calls itself Capitalism, but it is what it is regardless of what we choose to name it.  It is the worship of mammon, and we can’t dress it up to be anything else, God sees what it does to the little people and calls it what it is.  How can anyone call themselves Christians and not live as Jesus Christ lived?  During his 40 days in the wilderness he was given a test.  It is a test we are all given, particularly in the country. He could have had mansions and servants traveling the world in luxury but that was not the wealth that he chose, who could choose that wealth today and call themselves a Christian, maybe a Christian wanabe in some lifetime, but not a Christian.  The basic tenet upon which almost every religion is built is that we are to love our brothers as ourselves, do unto other as we would have others do unto us. I have to believe that only by losing everything will those who hoard everything ever learn.  That they do not see what they are doing because if they saw, they might change only to save what they have and not learn the lesson of giving.

“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.” .”  Isaiah 6:9-10

Many individuals on earth who share the dream of One World are joining together to reach out and aid those who are still in the dark.  We are learning that our survival is intricately connected with the survival of everyone else on the planet because they are our neighbors, we are no longer a world-we are a neighborhood.  One person cannot have a net worth of several billion dollars, while millions of children around the world starve to death.  The world is now a neighborhood and those children are our neighbors’ children.  If we do not protect our neighbors’ children, eventually it will be our children who need protecting, and we will be alone.

“A certain heathen came to Shammai and said to him, “Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” Thereupon he repulsed him with the rod which was in his hand. When he went to Hillel, he said to him, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah; all the rest of it is commentary; go and learn.”  Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 31a

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”  Albert Einstein