De data asta orientându-se pe Firefox 3.5.5 în loc de Opera şi bazându-se pe Puppy Linux 4.3.1 (kernel 2.6.30.5) cu Enlightenment e17 (version .062) – Macpup Foxy 3 vine şi cu o temă "lemnoasă" care îl face să arate foarte bine .

My dear friend (whose initial I will leave anonymous,) is a very beautiful, special soul, who provides the world with her radiance even though it is tainted with sorrow.  Our paths crossed late in life, but we feel strongly connected, as if we have been together through many lifetimes.  Although our stories began differently, our lives are now synchronous in many ways.

Almost 18 years ago she embarked on a journey with her husband to grow their family.  She flew across the country to adopt a baby girl who was only hours old, a miraculous new life embraced in her arms, they were filled with hopes and dreams of a precious future.  But only a few short years into living their dream of a contented family, their daughter began showing signs of emotional distress.  Eventually her behavior became concerning and they were told their daughter’s vague but intense problems are biologically based and she could face mental challenges indefinitely. 

Their journey changed course and put them on a broken merry-go-round of difficulties that they ride every day.  They continually wonder about their daughter’s ability to successfully cope on her own in the world.  But they fight, they struggle, and they persevere to help their almost adult daughter learn to grow up and to maneuver her way through the challenges that plague her.

The following is an email I recently received from her late one night as she sat in her heartache: 

“This is the saga, the ritual for many years. ‘Will you please tuck me in?’  It doesn’t mean that literally. It means going up to bed with her, rubbing shoulders, back, head, neck then saying I have to go now, and having her say, ‘No just two more minutes please. I NEED YOU.’  I say, but you have the dog right here. Look out your window. There is a beautiful star in the sky. ‘But Mummy  I NEED you and I FEEL ALONE.’  The tears are rolling down my cheeks. I hope my jangling bracelets hide the sound. My bracelets are inscribed. One says Faith and one says Survivor.   I am definitely a survivor but I don’t know if I have faith. I know I love my daughter.  Okay, the truth is the stars don’t really do it for me either. So life goes on, but I hear her when she says I still feel alone….”   

Her agonizing words describe the reality of those who struggle raising children with special needs.  Alone is a very potent irony in our lives.  Our children feel alone no matter how hard we work to hold and carry them.  We feel alone living a set of circumstances that are interwoven in our lives that we cannot change or escape.  But we rely on endurance, turn adversity into strength, and we try to teach that to our children.  My friend does that magnificently, even in her darkest moments.

I think about her words every night now when I tuck in my children, and pray they do not feel alone.   My friend is not, and I hope she rests on that when she does not have faith or stars to comfort her.

It was only by investing no value in an experience that I was able to find out its truth or falsity. What is false never lasts; it falls away of its own accord, while what is true remains, because truth does not come and go — it is always there. So long as our experiences come and go and we are investing in them our own values, thoughts and emotions, we’ll never find out if there is any truth in them, for truth is what remains when there are no experiences left.

– Bernadette Roberts, from The Experience of No-Self

Recently I’ve become kind of obsessed with observation. While observation and awareness is essential to meditation, I have been observing a variety of things just for the fun of it! My observations include everything from nature, people, animals, their behaviors, you name it! Its not that I haven’t observed these things before, or haven’t experienced a profound sense of connectivity to life…but lately I don’t feel the need to label a sunset “beautiful”, or become irritated by individuals who are ignorant or cruel. In fact, integrating this practice in my daily routine, especially while at work and at school has become extremely beneficial, as it has allowed me to gain a deeper sense of patience, understanding, compassion and connectivity that is almost always disregarded when I become complacent with life, disengaged with others and in a complete and utter “rut”.

Oh yes, from time to time the unconscious self rears it’s ugly head. After all my psyche has to contend with 25 odd years or so of social conditioning! In any case, taking a more integral approach to all areas of my life is indeed a work in progress. However, it is a refreshing approach, one that I surrender to with humility and gratitude!

Here’s what’s going on in the world of Buddhism:

Fully Ordained Sister Dhammavijaya with Nepalese girls, from Dhamma Moli’s website

On October 22nd, 2009, in Perth, Australia, there was a controversial ordination of a number of Theravadin nuns (Bhikkunis). However, now, Thanissaro Bhikku, a semi-famous white Buddhist convert from the United States, has written a testy rejection of the ceremony according to his knowledge of the Pali vinaya. Whether or not his logic computes or not, I have to wonder how two particularly bold Burmese bhikkunis feel about the matter. Look at Dhamma Moli’s website to see what the courageous Bhikkunis Molini and Dhammavijaya (both holders of PhDs) are up to now-a-days. From their website: [The Dhamma Moli project provides] shelter and education in a Buddhist monastic environment to needy young Nepalese girls who may fall victim to human traffickers and child labor.
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In Bodh Gaya, there is still tension over the control of the sacred Mahabodhi temple. The tension began in the late 19th century when Anagarika Dharmapala (1964 – 1933), a Theosophist, visited Bodh Gaya and “spontaneously” decided to wrestle the site away from the controlling Hindus. He credited Sir Edwin Arnold’s “The Light of Asia” as inspiration. Dharmapala separated from the Theosophists later and established the Mahabodhi Society, a group that still exists. The group strives for Buddhist control of the Mahabodhi temple and urges its followers to create an awareness of Buddhism in India.
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Archaeology continues to be employed to deceive people about the truth and non-truths about ancient Buddhism’s antiquity. According to The Buddhist Channel, two terracotta figures were discovered in the Gujarat. The article dates the two Padmasana figures to the Third Century BCE. This “remarkable” discovery sounds sketchy, at best, as 1.) evidence for the existence of Buddha images before the 1st century CE is scarce if not entirely absent; 2.) what is Padmasana pose? Did they mean Bhumi-sparsha-mudra? If so, the development of the Shakyamuni bodhisattva is not until well into the Common Era — this stylistic fact would place these figures into the Common Era and not before it. However, historical skepticism aside, if these figurine truly are 3rd century BCE, then this changes everything we might know about early Buddhist art in India; 3.) who excavated this site? The article is remarkably barren of citations and a single reference to ASI State Director YS Rawat does not justify this so-called major discovery.

Moby Dick, or The Whale tells, among many other things, the story of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal pursuit of a great white sperm whale named Moby Dick.  The whale chewed off his leg some years past, and he is going to get even or die trying.  Who was Ahab?  As with almost everything else in the book, there are biblical overtones, usually Old Testament ones.

The Reign of Ahab
Kings 1: 16

And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo’am the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jez’ebel the daughter of Ethba’al king of the Zido’ni-ans, and went and served Ba’al, and worshipped him.

And he reared up an altar for Ba’al in the house of Ba’al, which he had built in Samaria.

Ahab married Jezebel, a foxy, pagan, princess from one of the neighboring non-Hebrew tribes that the Jews were always slaying and feuding with, and he was seduced into her ungodly ways.  He listened to false prophets, and imprisoned or executed the true ones, largely at the urging of Jezebel. The Lord was not pleased, and he dealt harshly with Ahab, his sons, and Jezebel, who ended up being shredded and devoured by dogs as predicted by Elijah.  Naturally, the crew of Captain Ahab’s ship, the Pequod, regarded him a bit warily.  Is he mad?  Money talks in the end:  Ahab nails a Spanish coin to the mast and gives the men a pep talk.

Whosoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke — look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!

Being many things, the book is a meditation on death, and life, and the relationship between the two.  The entire crew dies in the pursuit of Moby, who shatters the Pequod as the whalers pursue him at the end.  Only Ishmael survives to tell the tale, quoting the bible, in this case, Job:

… and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

In the midst of calm and peace, Melville can find chaos and terror, as in this passage about standing watch in the crow’s nest, high above the vast sea…

There is no life in thee, now, except that rocking life imparted by a gently rolling ship; by her, borrowed from the sea; by the sea, from the inscrutable tides of God. But while this sleep, this dream is on ye, move your foot or hand an inch; slip your hold at all; and your identity comes back in horror. Over Descartian vortices you hover. And perhaps, at mid-day, in the fairest weather, with one half-throttled shriek you drop through that transparent air into the summer sea, no more to rise for ever. Heed it well, ye Pantheists!

… and amidst chaos and carnage, he can find peace and the still point at the center of the universe, as in this passage where Ishmael describes being in the midst of a enormous pod of whales which the men are busily slaughtering – the water is remarkably clear, and looking down into it, he sees whales copulating, being born, nursed…

And thus, though surrounded by circle upon circle of consternations and affrights, did these inscrutable creatures at the centre freely and fearlessly indulge in all peaceful concernments; yes, serenely revelled in dalliance and delight. But even so, amid the tornadoed Atlantic of my being, do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm; and while ponderous planets of unwaning woe revolve round me, deep down and deep inland there I still bathe me in eternal mildness of joy.

But even so, amid the tornadoed Atlantic of my being, do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm. I like that line.  Amidst the torrent of events, there is a still center.  This leads us to today’s treat for you, oh reader!  A recovered fragment from the second known text, The Sailor’s True Binnacle, in the mostly lost series, The Wine of Life, authored by the the unknown thinker, Lichanos, from whom I have taken my blog nom de plume.

A binnacle is a casing for a navigation compass which is non-magnetic, and allows the compass to move freely and to point the way.  It is mounted on gimbals so that it can remain steady and horizontal despite the tossing and rolling of the ship, and always pointed to north.  Calm center, within the storm.

Pauvre reader!  O poor lecteur!

How our Souls are all pitched and tossed about like the frailest shallop or jerry-built wherry upon the boiling waves!  What Trials we have known struggling against current and headwind, seeking only to be Sturdy Helmsmen as we pass between the Devil and the deep blue sea!

The Sailor guiding his vessel is blessed with two articles with which he may ply his rudder:  his binnacle and his compass.

[text lost]…Yet still the Gnashing, the Lamentation:  “Where is our binnacle? Where is our compass? The Answer to these soulful queries has been the quest of many great men, both Good and Evil.

[text lost]… Bewilderment, begone! … [text lost]… The mystery of the True Binnacle stands revealed.  To the compass of our minds is the Body our Binnacle, standing in its organic fleshiness impervious to the Magnetism which seeks etermally to deflect our inner Director from its true course.  Be not skeptical nor materialist, for Mind/Body are one, and through our Binnacle/Bodies are we led and do lead.  Truth once again arises from out of unity of Mind/Body, so that pleasures owing to one are not denied to the other:  they work in tandem, a mighty engine of enlightenment propelling our dynamo sense onward to that final effulgent union with the ground of all …[text lost]

Hi-ho! me buck-o’s, through our skin we will absorb the World and revel in the Universe, sailing through the placid lake of the firmament to our own Safe Haven.  Our Compass shall rock on its Gimbals of Life, and we will dirnk, as sailors we all are and are all wont to do, aye! we will drink the Wine of Life.

-Lichanos

One of the most important things we can do to help revive the New Age movement in its original form is to educate people about what that original form is. People now think “New Age” and they think of things like crystals, channeling, tarot, astrology and other “flaky” (their word, not mine!) things. Because of this, people who are actually part of the New Age movement (and who included themselves in the early days of the movement), people who are working for peace, the environment, social issues, etc., have disassociated themselves from the term “New Age”. And people who are on their own personal spiritual paths are often proceeding alone, not aware that what they are going through is part of the process of the spiritual transformation of the world. We need both social and spiritual transformation to create a better world, this New Age on Earth of peace, justice, harmony, and co-operation.

So we need to remind people of the grand vision that the New Age movement really is, and ask them to join, or re-join, and help create this better world. Let them know how important each one of us is to this process.

There are so many ways we can reach out and inform people. Talk to people we know; talk to people at local New Age bookstores and New Age centers and ask them to help spread the word. Attend or hold gatherings of New Age people. Write to publications. Use the Internet lavishly! We can reach so many people now, in such a short time. Forums, groups, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, websites, e-newsletters, all are vehicles to reach other people and remind them of the meaning and intent of the original New Age movement and ask them to join in. Please feel free to share this blog with others as part of your reaching out, if you think it will help educate people.

It is up to us to help create the better world that is the vision of the New Age. And it is up to us to help spread the message of what that vision is. There is a large meaning and purpose for those of us on this path; let us invite others to join with us and share the vision and the joy of creating our better world!

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Guruphiliac – The Truth About The Guru-Bashing Blog Guruphiliac

Jody Radzik is the webmaster for the guruphiliac blog, whose purpose is stated as:

While we understand that gurus are held sacred by many, they are also public figures deserving of scrutiny. Our primary aim is to inject a little humor into what can be an excessively self-righteous enterprise, and to illustrate the primary truth that no matter how divine their devotees believe them to be, gurus poop on the same pot we do…Any self-respecting guru would understand this and make every effort to show his students that s/he poops on the same pot as they do…This site is dedicated to the truth. The truth that gurus are merely plain, old ordinary people just like us. They complain like us, shit on the toilet like us and most imagine they have special powers, just like a lot of the least mentally stable among us.

Jody Radzik also believes that followers essentially project “enlightenment”, “powers”, “holiness”, “purity”, etc. onto their “Gurus”, “Religious Figures” and/or “Religious Objects”. Fair enough.

Information About Jody Radzik, The Guruphiliac Webmaster
Jody Radzik is not an easy person to understand. One might easily assume that Jody Radzik is a free-thinker, a skeptic, a rationalist, a disillusioned ex-follower, a grumpy guy or a mixture of all of the above. However, the truth about Jody is rather surprising and is going to be disillusioning to Jody’s coterie of guruphiliac-ites. Jody is the webmaster to Atman.net, which provides links to an online book by Bruce Morgan, an article by Jeffrey J. Kripal about Kali’s Child, the NonDualLogicality Blog (where you can listen to Jody garble on non-duality) and a site dedicated to the Hindu Goddess, Kalika. Jody believes in tantric Shaktism and Advaita Vedanta (although Jody’s interpretation of these two are non-orthodox). Jody is also a devotee of the Hindu Goddess Kali Ma, whose picture he links to from his guruphiliac site. Whenever Jody refers to “Ma”, he is actually referring to Kali Ma. Jody is openly into Raves and psychedelic drugs (more on this later). After reading many of Jody Radzik’s postings on Google Groups (using the name “Jodyrrr”), it is abundantly clear that he has a compulsive need to be “right” and to trash and bash anyone who dissents with him: Reference. Jody often accuses others of “projecting” and that they have “uninformed opinions”. He often rants about realization (claiming he is realized), but then will break down into shrieking hissy fits, labelling (or is it “projecting”?) others as being “stupid and crass”! Apparently, those who have the greatest of self-realization, like Jody, tend to act just like ordinary human beings, with the same reactions and emotional outbursts. Jody endlessly preaches on “self-realization”, just as other Gurus do. Jody can rightly be called an “Anti-Guru Guru-Wannabee”. As if this isn’t enough, Jody also professes to having a Guru whose name he keeps secret (more on this later)!

Guruphiliac Blog Webmaster Claims Self-Realization:
On Google Groups (using the name “Jodyrrr”) Jody Radzik (the Gurphiliac Blog webmaster) claimed that he is self-realized, joining the ranks of Saints, Siddhas, Sages and Mahatmas. Jody said:

Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “But the lesson of the evening for me was that people who call themselves spiritual will never believe that I’m realized. I’m just way too out there for them. Ma has made me the counter example to all they’ve come to expect about spirituality and about realized folk.” (Reference)

After reading through Jody Radzik’s posts on Google Groups (under his name “Jodyrrr”), it became apparent to me that he has a compulsive need to be “right”. Jody trashed and bashed anyone who dissented with him and accused them of “projecting” and having “uninformed opinions”. Although Jody ranted about realization (claiming he is self-realized), he broke down into shrieking hissy fits, labeling (or is it “projecting”) others as being “stupid and crass”. Sri Sri Jodyrrr (the self-professed Saint and Mahatma) exhibited (and continues to exhibit) the behaviors of ordinary, over-emotional and non-realized humans. As if this is not embarrassing enough, Jody Radzik (the guru-basher-extraordinaire) admitted that he has a Guru whose name he keeps secret (in fear that others will “criminally libel” his Guru, as he does with other’s Gurus).

Believe It Or Not: Jody Radzik Has A Guru:
Some very amusing excerpts from a conversation between Jody Radzik and Greg Goode:

Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “The difference between them and myself is that I’ve always lived in and enjoyed the world, and that Mother has made it exceedingly clear to me that She will bestow realization on whomever She wants, despite their disposition as ascetic wannabes. Unfortunately, no one believes I know what I’m talking about, except my guru. In the interest of maintaining the status quo, he doesn’t enter the debate, even though he confirms my assertions as I’m making them. This isn’t to say that I don’t get along with them. I do for the most part. However, I’ve found myself in raging debates, the whole bunch of them vs. me. I find this situation quite enjoyable, but it seems to shatter their quaint ideas about what the center exists for, and so in deference to my guru I usually keep a lid on it…I’ve been blessed to have taken initiation from a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and I’m quite convinced he’s a bona-fide, yet successfully hidden saint.” (Reference)

Apparently, Jody Radzik converses with Mother Kali on a regular basis and hears her voice in his head. Sounds rather spooky, if you ask me. Imagine that, the Supreme Goddess of the Universe conversing with you? Some Gurus (and schizophrenics) claim they do the same thing. Jody also said he has a Guru (*gasp*) and that he took initiation from a monk of the Ramakrishna Order that he regarded as a saint (*another gasp*). I guess Jody never witnessed this monk pooping.

Jody Radzik has a Guru and sees nothing wrong with it. When it comes to others and their Gurus, however, Jody Radzik subjects them to ridicule, defamation, bitter sarcasm and bold-faced lies on his Guruphiliac Blog and Guruphiliac Yahoo Group. In Jody Radzik’s illumined world, the realized are indistinguishable from liars, deceivers and potty-mouthed extremists. Weird? Eh?

Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “My guru basically left me to my own devices with the mantra he gave. His advice is always the same. Pay your bills. Don’t party too much. Restrain yourself some. Meditate. Pray to the Lord and come every Sunday. He offers his time generously but keeps the personal relationship to a minimum. He always gives the same, somewhat boring lectures along with his gentle advice and admonishments. I’m convinced he’s a great bhakta saint, but to many he’s just a cute little village man from West Bengal presently living in California. His satsang is small because he doesn’t allow projection, and he doesn’t perform psychotherapy. That filters out everyone except the sincere who already have or develop a liking for the teachings of Ramakrishna and his disciples. He leaves the therapy to the therapists while he gently points you in the direction of understanding. In my book that makes him an ideal guru.” (Reference)

Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “My guru, a Ramakrishna Math swami, is about the most low-key and unassuming person I’ve ever met. His teaching is the same teaching his guru gave, which is the same teaching Ramakrishna and Vivekananda gave. I have many problems with some aspects of this teaching, and I expressed my opinions about them often in the context of my weekly discussions with him and his satsang. Not once, ever, did he have any problem with it at all. I’ve found some agreement with a few other members of the group, but the bottom line is that it doesn’t perturb my guru in any way at all.” (Reference)

Jody Radzik’s comments amount to nothing more than face-saving deceit and self-serving hypocrisy. Jody seems to live in an egocentric universe where his experiences, opinions and beliefs are tantamount and superior to everyone else’s. What about other’s convictions about the genuineness of their experiences with their own chosen Guru? What about other’s beliefs and ideas about an “ideal guru”? Apparently, no one else’s opinions or experiences matter except Jody Radzik’s.

Jody thinks he is perfectly entitled to criminally libel other’s Gurus (under the direction of voices he hears in head, which he attributes to Kali Ma), all the while ferventy protecting his own chosen Guru, sniveling that others are “criminally libeling my guru” (whom appears to be Swami Chetanananda from the Kali Mandir). Jody is essentially trying to argue that his Guru is better than all other Gurus. Consequently, all of Jody’s opinions, arguments and judgments about Gurus are deflated, irrelevant, superficial and just plain weird.

Jody Radzik’s Drug-Induced Experience Of Kali Ma:

Douglas Rushkoff: “Jody Radzik, for example, believes he once encountered the spirit of Kali directly. To him, there was nothing dark about it, he tells me as he makes a graffiti picture of the goddess onto a billboard at a construction site in downtown Oakland: ‘I can positively describe that experience as making love with God. I know that’s what it was. Nobody can tell me different. I will argue until the day I die that that’s what my experience was. It was a wonderful experience and it’s led me to greater opening. Every now and then I do Ecstasy again because it brings me back to that incredible experience that I can’t even begin to describe. It’s there. It’s there that I learned how to make love with God. It’s how I offered myself as a sex slave to God, through MDMA, and it’s brought me to really a wonderful experience of life.’ Several TOPYs who are walking by stop to watch Radzik paint. ‘Whoah!’ exclaims one girl. They stare in astonishment. ‘Better be careful, man!’ warns the largest of the guys, whose nose has at least three rings in it. ‘Kali is dangerous. She’ll get you really hard. She’s the Destroyer.’ The TOPYs shake their heads and walk on in horror and disdain. Radzik looks up from his work and shouts after them with a wide smile: ‘Kali has her fist up my ass up to her elbow and she loves every minute of it!’ (Reference)

When devotees attribute extraordinary experiences or visions to their Gurus (without the aid of drugs), it’s all “projection” according to Jody Radzik. But when Jody Radzik had a drug-induced experience (and re-induced the experience by using illegal psychedelic drugs), he claimed his sex-slave hallucinations were real experiences. This is the type of Anti-Guru weirdo who attempts to invalidate others spiritual experiences.

Jody’s Gospel of “Who” & Blurbs About “Brahman”
It is perplexing, amusing and highly entertaining to note that the Guru-Bashing addict, Jody Radzik, actually talks and preaches exactly like Gurus do! No kidding! Let us look at Jody’s cultish introduction of the concept of “who”. What? Yes, the concept of “who”. Haven’t you heard of it before? Before you start sounding like a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, let us allow Jody to explain (taken from his nonduallogicality archive, emphasis on “who” added: References: 01 – 02):

Jody Radzik: “It occurred to me that thinking of who as a quantity is a measure of realization’s effect on a life.

Before awakening, we are our who exclusively. When we decide to embark on a spiritual journey to find ourselves, we start out by adding to this who, sometimes greatly adding to it, with the materials we come across while being spiritual people.

As far as I can tell, much of spirituality seems to only add to who levels. Sure, it may turn you into a bliss bunny, and that’s certainly good consolation for some. But being a bliss bunny is only a different color of who. Many, many people get stuck right here. If they can feel bliss around their guru, they think they’re getting “it”. These folk spend their lives chasing experience, never really seeing the truth that lay just beyond, in plain view, the whole time they were looking for it.

There was just too much spiritual who in the way.

In order to reduce your who, you’ve got to turn your mind back on itself, and attempt to learn as much about your process as possible, and do so fearlessly. You’ve got to become an eater of who, processing the landscape of emotional complexes through your awareness of them. You’ve got to dive into your most fearsome nightmares. That is the only way to truly know yourself and get access to your deepest who.

And perhaps after a few decades or so, you’ll suddenly see that you are not this who at all. You’ll understand in a very clear and very real way, that you are ‘this’.

But, that doesn’t suddenly drain the who out of the mind. The who which was still there sticks around, and changes gradually in the awareness of ‘this’. This is what I mean about levels of who indicating the effect that realization has had on a life.

So start eating your who, slowly at first. A therapist can be really helpful here, but you should probably make an effort to find a good one. I’d recommend one trained at a transpersonal psych college. That’s no guarantee of quality, but at least they’ll be able to get their heads around your spiritual trip.”

Say what? Who is Jody trying to fool with this Guru Talk? Not only did the above comments make no sense, Jody is talking about realization as if he is realized! Oh yeah, Jody claimed he is realized! After eating through all his “who”, the end result is Jody’s disgust that Guru’s poo! Now that sounds like a realization worth striving for.

Jody Radzik: “Brahman is indivisible, and Atman is Brahman. Atman is not separated from Brahman to become a “drop,” it is the whole Brahman known to an individual life.

There was never any separation. There is only apparent separation. It’s a mirage, not a difference in location.

Seeing ourselves as these “drops” puts a layer of symbolic thinking between personal and impersonal awareness, keeping personal from opening up to see what’s always been present, the impersonal truth.

Breaking the bonds and opening awareness would be the trick. I guess that’s what spiritual practice is about. However, even with those bonds we think need breaking, we are always right here, in front of our noses, as Brahman.”

The BIG questions are: Is Jody self-realized? Is he enlightened? Why would Jody speak about Brahman if he has not realized Brahman? Why would Jody tell us that “breaking the bonds and opening awareness” is “the trick”, if he has not broke the bonds and opened his awareness? Essentially, Jody is setting himself up as some sort of Guru figure who lays claim to special wisdom about Brahman, Realization, the Atman and the Truth (claims that Gurus happen to make, by the way). Perhaps the reason why Jody makes special claims about realization is because he claims he is realized: Reference. Jody said, “But the lesson of the evening for me was that people who call themselves spiritual will never believe that I’m realized. I’m just way too out there for them. Ma has made me the counter example to all they’ve come to expect about spirituality and about realized folk.”

It is laughable when “non-dualists” attempt to express their non-dual “truths” by utilizing the vehicle of duality. As soon as non-duality is preached, five main things blossom into existence: 1) The speaker; 2) The spoken, 3) The means by which the spoke is spoken; 4) That to which the spoke is spoken and 5) The means by which the spoken is heard, understood, assimiliated, etc. As soon as Jody opens his mouth to talk about non-duality, he is affirming and preaching duality by utilizing the vehicle of duality. To whom exactly is the explanation of “oneness” for, if there is only the “self” and none other? Why is it that duality is easily perceived and validated in our everyday life, yet non-duality is unseen, difficult to grasp and is mummified in spiritual terms and philosophy? One would think that an easily validated “truth” is more meritorious than one not so easily validated. In Advaita Vedanta, the opposite holds true. I’m sure Jody has a good explanation for those who are gullible (some would say “brainwashed”) enough to believe him. Maybe I fail to understand these things because I haven’t eaten enough of my “who”? Then again, maybe non-dualists are “projecting” (Jody’s term) their inner emptiness, inner void, self-negation and denial onto the Universe? There’s a thought!

There is another perfectly good reason why we shouldn’t believe Jody. He poops! No matter how deep his insights, how vast his realizations, how profound his experiences, Jody (like other Gurus) is no better than anyone else because he poops in the pot just like everyone else! Jody should change his Gospel of “Who” to the Gospel of “Poo”. The only problem with Jody’s blurbs about “truth” the spiritual path and nonduality is that he poops. He is unbelievable for this reason alone. Enough said! After all, this is the logic that Jody generally uses against Gurus.

The Two-Sides Of Projection
Jody is no dummy. He knows how to weave thoughts and concepts that superficially appeal to those who are rational and logical. Jody rightly points out that followers (devotees) essentially project “enlightenment”, “powers”, “holiness”, “purity”, etc. onto their “Gurus”, “Religious Figures” and/or “Religious Objects”. I agree. However, I also believe that non-followers (ex/non-devotees) essentially project their negativity, hate, anger, fear, un-holiness, impurity, etc. onto “Gurus”, “Religious Figures” and/or “Religious Objects”. That’s right, this is a two way street. Jody bashes positive projections from followers but doesn’t say one word about his negative projections or the negative projections from non-followers!

Kali Ma & Solving The Pooping Issue
Jody has a big problem with pooping Gurus. The thought that Guru’s poop disgusts Jody so much he cannot fathom being devoted or eulogizing anyone that poops. Enter Kali Ma! Stone idols and paper pictures of Kali Ma don’t poop. Pooping problem solved!

Jody Radzik Dumps Nirvana For Ecstasy & Glorifies Drugs
Reference: E-volution

“You touch the darkness–the feminine, the gross, whatever you see as dark,” Jody Radzik explains to Diana as they hand out flyers in the street for a new house club. “When you’re on Ecstasy, the drug forces you to become who you really are. You don’t get any positive experience from a drug like cocaine; it’s a lie. But with Ecstasy, it can have a positive effect on the rest of your life!”

Jody and Diana are on their way to a club called Osmosis, a house event which occurs every Thursday night at DV8, a downtown San Francisco venue, for which Radzik serves as promotional director. Promoting house, though, is almost like promoting Ecstasy. The drug and subculture have defined and fostered each other. Osmosis is proud of the fact that it mixes gay, straight, glam, and house culture, and Radzik–a gamine, extremely young thirty-year-old with a modified Hamlet haircut and a mile-a-minute mouth–credits E with their success.

“There’s a sexual element to house. E is an aphrodisiac and promiscuity is big. In everyday life men usually repress their ‘anima.’ Ecstasy forces you to experience what’s really going on inside.” Diana (who runs her own house club down the block) is amused by Jody’s inclination to talk about taboo subjects. Jody goes on proudly, exuberantly, and loud enough for everyone else in the street to hear. Being publicly outrageous is a valued personality trait in E culture adapted from Kesey’s Merry Pranksters.

“E has a threshold. It puts you in that aahh experience, and you stay there. It might get more intense with the number of hits you take, but it’s not like acid, which, with the more hits you take, the farther you’re walking from consensus culture. With E, your ability to operate within the confines of culture remain. You can take a lot of E and still know that that’s a red light, or that there’s a cop here and you don’t want to fuck up too much. On acid, you can be completely out of your head, and walking in a completely different reality.”

“So E is not simply watered-down LSD. While acid was a ‘test’, Ecstasy is a ‘becoming’. Acid involved a heroic journey, while E is an extended moment. The traditional bell curve of the acid trip and its sometimes brutal examination and stripping of ego is replaced with a similar vision but without the paranoia and catharsis. By presenting insight as a moment of timelessness, E allows for a much more cyberian set of conclusions than the more traditional, visionquest psychedelics.”

“Rather than squashing personal taste and creating legions of Birkenstock clones, E tends to stimulate the user’s own inner nature. Hidden aspects of one’s personality–be it homosexuality, transvestitism, or just love and creativity–demand free expression. All this is allowed to happen, right away, in the E-nvironment of the house club. Reintegration on E is unnecessary because the E-xperience itself has an immediately social context. If anything, the E trip is more socially integrated than baseline reality. E turns a room of normal, paranoid nightclubbers into a teaming mass of ecstatic Global Villagers.”

To Radzik, the club lights, music, and Ecstasy are inseparable elements of a designer ritual, just like the campfire, drumbeats, and peace pipe of a Native American tribal dance. Arriving at the club in time for the sound check, Jody and Diana dance a while under the work lights. Jody’s diatribe continues as he demonstrates the new hip-hop steps he picked up in Los Angeles last week.

“The Ecstasy comes through the house music. The different polyrhythmic elements and the bass … this is current North American shamanism. It’s technoshamanism. E has a lot to do with it. It really does. I get a little nervous but I’ve got to tell the truth about things. But the system is probably going to react against the E element.”

Diana cuts in: “And then they’ll just shut you down like they closed our party last week.” She takes a cigarette from behind her ear and lights it. Jody still dances while Diana stands and smokes. Neither he nor the E culture will be taken down that easily. “E is an enzyme that’s splicing the system. E is like a cultural neurotransmitter that’s creating synaptic connections between different people. We’re all cells in the organism. E is helping us to link up and form more dendrites. And our culture is finally starting to acknowledge the ability of an individual to create his own reality. What you end up with, what we all have in common, is common human sense.”

The E-inspired philosophy borrows heavily from the scientific and mathematics theories of the past couple of decades. House kids talk about fractals, chaos, and morphogenetic fields in the same sentence as Deee-Lite’s latest CD. Jody’s cultural neurotransmitter” image refers back to James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, which is the now well-supported notion that planet Earth is itself a giant, biological organism. The planet is thought to maintain conditions for sustaining life through a complex series of feedbacks and iterations. A population of ocean microorganisms, for example, may regulate the weather by controlling how much moisture is released into the atmosphere. The more feedback loops Gaia has (in the form of living plants and animals), the more precisely “she” can maintain the ecosystem. Evolution is seen more as a groping toward than a random series of natural selections. Gaia is becoming conscious. Radzik and others have inferred that human beings serve as Gaia’s brain cells. Each human being is an individual neuron, but unaware of his connection to the global organism as a whole. Evolution, then, depends on humanity’s ability to link up to one another and become a global consciousness.

These revelations all occur to house kids like Jody under the influence of E. This is why they call the drug a “cultural enzyme” The Ecstasy helps them see how they’re all connected. They accept themselves and one another at face value, delighted to make their acquaintance. Everyone exposed to E instantly links up to the Gaian neural net. As more people become connected, more feedback and iteration can occur, and the Gaian mind can become more fully conscious. Jody and Diana both believe that house culture and the Gaian mindset literally “infect” newcomers to the club like a virus. As Osmosis opens, Jody watches a crowd of uninitiated clubbers step out onto the dance floor, who, despite their extremely “straight” dress, are having a pretty Ex-uberant time.

“This looks like a group of people that might be experimenting with Ecstasy for the first time. They’re going to remember this night for the rest of their lives. This is going to change them. They are going to be better people now. They’re infected. It’s like an information virus. They take it with them into their lives. Look at them. They’re dancing with each other as a group. Not so much with their own partners. They’re all smiling. They are going to change as a result of their participation in house. Their worldview is going to change.”

Indeed, the growing crowd does seem uncharacteristically gleeful for a Thursday-night dance club. Gone are the pickup lines, drunken businessmen, cokeheads, and cokewhores. The purposeful social machinations–getting laid, scoring drugs, or gaining status–seem to be overrun by the sheer drive toward bliss. Boys don’t need to dance with their dates because there’s no need for possessiveness or control. Everyone feels secure–even secure enough to dance without a partner in a group of strangers.

Whether that carries into their daily life is another story. Certainly, a number of new “cyberian converts” are made each evening. But the conversions are made passively, as the name of the club implies, through Osmosis. “Unlike acid, which forces users to find ways to integrate their vision into working society, E leads them to believe that integration occurs in the same moment as the bliss. The transformation is a natural byproduct–a side effect of the cultural virus.
As club regulars arrive, they wink knowingly at one another.” Jody winks and nods at few, who gesture back coyly. The only information communicated, really, is “I am, are you?” The winkers are not so much the “in” crowd as the fraternity of the converted. They’re all part of what one T-shirt calls “The E Conspiracy”. These are the carriers of the cultural virus. No need to say anything at all. The E and the music will take care of everything (wink, wink).

“The sixties went awry because they wanted a sweeping cultural change to go on overtly,” explains Radzik, nodding to two girls he’s sure he has seen before. They wink back. “And that didn’t happen. What’s different about house is that no one’s trying to ‘spread the message.’ It’s more like, we’re into it because we love it, but we’re not out to convert people. ‘Groove is in the heart’ [a Deee-Lite lyric]. We just want to expose people to it. People decide that they’re into it because they respond to it on a heart level. I think the bullshit’s going to come apart of its own accord.”

“So is this a dance floor filled with socially aware, fully realized designer beings? Certainly not. It’s a dance floor filled with smart kids, sexy kids, not-so smart kids, and not-so sexy kids, but they do seem to share an understanding, in the body, of the timeless quality of bliss and how to achieve it through a combination of dance and E. Even the music, playing at precisely 120 beats per minute, the rate of the fetal heartbeat, draws one into a sense of timeless connection to the greater womb–Gaia. The lyrics all emphasize the sound eee.” “Evereeebodeee’s freee,” drones one vocal, in pleeesing gleeeful breeezes, winding their way onto the extreeemely wide smiles of dancing boys and girls. It’s just the E! Likewise, the way in which E infiltrates society is much less time-based and confrontational than was the case with acid. E infiltrates through the experience of bliss, so there’s nothing to say or do about it. The meta” agenda here is to create a society with no agenda.”

As Jody screams over the din of the house music, “Fuck the agendas. We just have to manifest our culture. You have to trust your heart. That’s what Jesus really said. And that’s what E does. It shows people they have their own common sense. They realize, I don’t need this!”

Bruce Eisner shows up at about midnight, exploring the house scene and its relationship to Ecstasy for the second edition of his book Ecstasy: The MDMA Story. A veteran of the sixties and just a bit too old to fit in with this crowd, he almost sighs as he explains to E-nthusiastic clubbers how E’s preservation of social skills and ego make it a much better social transformer than the psychedelics of his day.

“In the sixties, we were sure we were going to have this revolution that would change everything overnight. And it never came. We got the seventies instead.” A few girls laugh. They were born in the seventies. Bruce smiles slowly. He’s got a dozen stoned kids hanging on his every word, when in fact he’s trying to understand them.

“With E, you don’t get so far out, like on acid, where you lose touch with the physical world. It allows you an easier time to bring the insights back in. Huxley talked a lot about the importance of integrating the mystical experience with the worldly experience. He had that one trip where he decided, ‘The clear light is an ice cube. What’s important is love and work in the world.’ And love and work in the world is what Ecstasy shows you. It’s a model for enlightenment, and the challenge is bringing that into the real world.”

So maybe revolution has become evolution as house culture awakens to the fact that there is method behind Gaia’a madness, and that Darwin wasn’t completely right. Life naturally evolves toward greater self-awareness, and we don’t need to push it anywhere. The universe is not a cold sea of indifference but the warm, living waters of an oversoul composed of waves of love–Gaia’s morphogenetic fields. The mock self-assuredness of the “me” generation gives way to the inner wink-wink-say-no-more knowing of the E generation, as the sixties bell curve finally touches down, and ego fully reintegrates into a postpsychedelic culture.

Interesting Links & Stuff About Jody Radzik

• Ape Man Exposes Godmen
• Guruphiliac Jody Radzik Blog
• Jody Radzik’s Pictures Of A Rave In Sante Fe
• Jody’s Yahoo Profile
• Jody’s Wikipedia Profile
• Some Of Jody’s Postings On The “Ammachi Free Zone” Yahoo Group
• Some of Jody’s Postings On The “Nonduality Salon” Yahoo Group
• Some of Jody’s Postings On The “Meditation Society Of America” Yahoo Group
• 1,600 posts for “JodyR” on Google Groups
• Guruphiliac Can’t Find A Date
• View A Poem That Jody Posted In Praise Of Kali Ma
• Douglas Rushkoff stated:
  

  Rushkoff: “My good friend Jody Radzik – the guy who first introduced me to raves, actually – started up a blog this year. Jody is about the most loving and optimistic person I’ve ever known. That’s why I was surprised that instead of touting a new spiritual or cultural phenomenon, Radzik had decided to bash one.”

• Click Here to read one of Jody Radzik’s posts on Google Groups defending the use of marijuana.
• Click Here to read how Jody said:
  

  Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “If Adi Da is a regular user of marijuana he’s just gone up 50 points in my book!”

• Four months after this page was published (exposing Jody Radzik’s shameless use and promotion of illegal drugs) he posted the following comment on a blog:
  

  Guruphiliac Jody Radzik: “Yeah. I need to be stoned ALL the time.” (Reference)

• Click Here to read the following post:
  

  “Jody Radzik, identified in a Rolling Stone feature on smart drugs and rave culture as ‘one of the [rave] crowd’s resident gurus,’ believes that ‘[t]he planet is waking up…Humans are the brain cells. The axons of the nerve cells are the telephone lines.’”

• Click Here to view the archive to HarshaSatsangh and where Jody said:
  

  Guruphliac Jody Radzik: “Fortunately, we have the shelter of the Great Saints and Sages to take refuge with. When we come to be blessed with sincere aspiration their grace will manifest in a myriad of ways, assuring us an appropriate course of action in our spiritual practice no matter what role we are playing in the world.”

  I didn’t know there were Great Saints and Sages who didn’t poop. Is it possible that Jody changed his views? Don’t you just hate when people flip-flop, willy-nilly, from one extreme to the other?

• Click Here to read an amusing thread where Radzik, Jody goes all out of his way to defend his systematic bashing of Gurus, all the while praising and defending his belief in the Hindu Goddess, Kali Ma. Jody doesn’t realize that he is projecting power, holiness and divinity onto his concept of Kali Ma (ironically, a behavior he bashes with devotees of Gurus). Jody acts exactly like devotees, constantly referring to “Ma” and whatever she wills for him. Jody acts (or tries to act) like a realized person who knows “The Truth”. The big question is: Are you willing to let your son or daughter get addicted to Ecstasy and Psychedelics to find “The Truth” that Jody is pushing through drug-induced hallucinations?

In Conclusion
In a nutshell, the guruphiliac blog bashes Gurus because they poop and their followers project stuff on them. Period. That’s really what this blog is all about. Jody also attempts to inject some humor into his posts (which he does with some success) but at the cost of truth (Jody mixes truths with untruths; or more bluntly, truths with bold-faced lies). Jody is doing all this stuff because he believes he is realized (Reference) and is being guided by the Spirit of the Hindu Goddess Kali Ma! Those who dissent with Jody are usually retaliated against using five primary tactics:

1. Name-calling.
2. Accusing the other person of “projecting” (although Jody doesn’t “project” at all).
3. Bringing up the “E” word (“ego”, not “ecstasy”).
4. Publicly divulging other’s emails and then encouraging his entourage of anonymous and potty-mouthed “followers” to e-mail them with complaints.
5. Accusing others of being funded or being “paid shills” (let’s not bring up the issue of who supplied him with club drugs, funded his purchase of club drugs and is funding his Anti-Guru campaign : Ouch). I also surmise, in private, Jody might also accuse others of not eating enough of their “who”.

Hopefully, now that you understand Jody Radzik and his guruphiliac blog better, enjoy, laugh and take everything you read with a grain of salt. It doesn’t get much weirder than this folks!

Click Here For Pictures Of Guruphiliac Jody Radzik

saisathyasai.com Reference

I had a dream about 3 wks that I have shared with very little folk….I had a dream I was on my way to my usual duties shopping, paying bills etc and I took a public train as I usually do but I felt that God wanted me to continue on in the train and miss my usual stop so I did this and I noticed that the train was not going through the city as it usually does in fact the further the train went the less populated the area became and then suddenly I was like a jungle and it reminded me of the Mayan jungles.

Suddenly I saw the area was under much distress and flooding and I heard a voice it was ETs contacting me and say that I had to help the survivors so of course I wanted to help others so as the train neared the stop I noticed a small cottage like house practically under water and some old people a man and a woman standing on the roof barely clinging to the roof which was almost under water.

I noticed my train was then derailing but I was not scared the ET voice came back and said: fearless child you are safe and I remember smiling and extending my hand to pull the survivors to safety somehow to a patch of dry land they looked very Mayan and I could not understand them nor they me but somehow we understood each other via the language of love so we kept on going and suddenly we came to a bridge and the bridge had a gap in it so we decided to stop and rest for a moment and I rested for a bit when suddenly I felt like we were not alone.

The voice seemed closer now and suddenly I felt safe and incredibly loved and full of cosmic energy that radiated everywhere but I wondered about the couple so I looked back and they were not alarmed or alerted so I walked towards the water and up out of the water rose a giant white glowing orb UFO and it was like an organic life form that was a carrier of messages from ETs because ETs did not want to come down themselves for fear of violence from the US Government.

Of course I was still a bit hesitant to approach the vehicle and I approached cautiously but to my surprise as I did the vehicle would move back a bit as if showing signs of being cautious as well! lol that surprised me and after a while of our little caution games we both approached each other and then touched the vehicle with my right hand and my hand went like inside the white glowing orb and I could feel this warmth on my hand and I felt a love like no other and I felt safe so much that in my dream I cried fro joy (I actually woke up with tears) and when I removed my hand from the vehicle I had a mark on it just a glowing blob of light that covered my hand and then it became invisible with in my hand.

I asked the ship what was going on and the ship said that I had been chosen as Gods chosen but not as gods chosen children or anything like that because we are all his chosen children but as one of Gods chosen guardians of earth to guide humanity to peace in to the golden age, at least that is how the dream went, after that I could understand the couple who were with me and I led them to safety, I was also told that unlike the mark trying to be given by the USG  that this mark is purely astral and then I awakened from my dream.

I rolled out of bed this morning at the crack of dawn to drive my boys and a group of their friends to play paintball.  Normally this would be something their father would do, but due to the gambling fiasco he is working two jobs and I have had to pick up a lot of the more father-like responsibilities, which is now affording me the opportunity to really experience firsthand what it feels like to have sons.  I’ve had them for a while now, but didn’t really know what I was getting into when I had baby boys. I thought I did, but am now learning a lot what it really means. 

Coffee in hand, we loaded up the car and off we went.  The testosterone levels were rumbling.  They were strategizing, eagerly making plans of who would be on what team, there were periods of deep concentration followed by loud outbursts of enthusiasm, vocabulary that I’m not hip to and even a little vulgarity.  Definition of paintball:  when an entire group of males (and sometimes a brave female,) get together, gear up with masks and guns, proceed to a big wooded area to run, hide, yell, and shoot paint at each other.  What fun.  They were oozing excitement with the thought of messy colored destruction of whatever was in their path.  What did that mean for me?  Lots of laundry. 

When we got to the paintball “arena,” they just could not contain themselves and I barely had the car in park before they heap-piled out and ran, leaving all the doors of the car open, not looking back, “So, bye, have fun,” I said, but they were long gone.  I got out of the car, closed all the doors and went on my merry way, a smile on my face…yes smiling that they were gone having the time of their lives for a few hours but also because this was a chance to feel what it is like to be the parent of boys. 

When they were younger everyone always said boys were easier.   I would smile and nod when more seasoned parents would offer up their own experiences with boys, how they are a handful when they are younger and a piece of cake when they are older, whatever that means…how they don’t require the hands-on maintenance that girls do on everything from clothes and make up to dances and dating… how they will never leave their mothers like daughters will when they grow up and get married…and let’s not forget that they don’t get PMS when they blossom into young adulthood. 

Sometimes I am in the midst of helping them, directing them, advising them, and I don’t even know what is coming out of my mouth, and they listen, they believe me, they look to me to parent them when I have no idea what I’m doing and hope they don’t catch on.  Sure I’ve gotten into the swing of it, but am learning as I go.  The key is to pretend to know how to do this job even though most of the time it’s a big guessing game and then hope they turn out ok.  Today they told me I was the “second coolest mom in the world,” next to my pal J of course.   Even though it was second place, that was a pretty high honor. 

Paintball was smashing success, and they went straight from paintball to garage band practice, yes covered in paint and goop.  Now this is a real experience to be heard.  Literally.  It’s loud, it’s terrible, and they think they are on a stage with screaming crowds waving lighters and asking for more.  They try to write songs about I don’t know what, it’s hard to understand what they are saying, and playing.  They crank up their amps and let it rip.  Testosterone at its best. 

There are benefits to being the only female in a house of all males, like not actually participating in their activities other than transporting them to and from, then showing glee when they tell me all about it.  Sports, games, movies, I get to stand on the sidelines, cheer them on, but pass the responsibility of odors, language and dirty joke telling over to their father, which is a relief.  Oh I can keep up with the best of them, sort of, but it’s nice to be able to have an excuse to remove myself from manly situations and do something a little more ladylike…shopping or watching quality sappy movies comes to mind.  

They were so cute when they were younger, they would just build pretend guns out of Legos, play with tanks, and watch cartoons.  Now we’ve moved on to paintball, bands, sports where talent and skill start to matter, and a different phase of growth.  No idea what will happen as they get even older, their voices are deeper, and even though we have a few years to go, they are starting to resemble men.  Am I enjoying this phase because it brings us closer to them moving out?  Maybe…but not really, even though there are many days that time can’t come soon enough.  But deep down I know it will come all too fast, and I can only hope that I have given them enough schooling to be the best men they can be, while along the way they have taught me all I ever need to know about having sons.

The

Only 

Enlightenment

There

Is

Is

The 

Realization

That 

There

Is

No 

Enlightenment

.

As an astrologer, I’ve learned long time ago that I can predict timing of events with much greater certainty than their nature.
For instance, I can say that events that will begin to transpire in April of 2010 will crest around August 1, hitting Americans directly where their wallet is with violent force, because all potent forces of heaven will be attacking Venus in the U.S. horoscope.
Since Venus traditionally rules money and relationships, American relationships will suffer either within the country or abroad. I cannot rule out civil unrest, although I would not go as far as predicting civil war.
Unfortunately, I really cannot say what exactly is going to happen. I don’t believe anybody can. In my experience, even the best of psychics often make mistakes when it comes to future events, because we really have the power of the free will.
With this power we still cannot change the forces of time that spin the heavens, but we may lessen or even change their impact to some degree. Of course, our ability to do so is much more evident in our personal lives than on the national or international scope.
But even mundane astrologers are still handicapped in their ability to predict, since no nation has a birth certificate with official time stamped on it. The U.S., for instance, has at least 4 horoscopes that astrologers like to consider. Even its date of birth is in dispute, since historical facts point to July 2 rather than July 4 that we all celebrate.
I can assure you though, that no matter what happens around August 1 of 2010, we will survive, and the world is not going to come to an end in December of 2012 either.
About 100 years ago, a little known guru of a much more famous guru Paramahansa Yogananda wrote a tiny treatise “The Holy Science” that went unnoticed by even Yogananda’s disciples.
However, this little gem deserves almost as much reverence as Bhagavat Gita. There, Sri Yukteswar recalculated yugas (Divine divisions of time) based on precession of equinox and position of the Sun in relationship to the Galactic Center.
Yugas describe the relationship of Light and Darkness in terms of time.
There are 8 yugas in total in what is called 1 Divine Day of 24,000 years. They start with the Ascending Kali Yuga of 1200 years, during which the light of human consciousness gradually increases.
He pinpointed the beginning of that yuga at the year of 499 a.d..
This means, that in the 1699 a.d. the Ascending Dwapara Yuga began, and it will last until 4099 a.d..
During Ascending Dwapara Yuga, the light of human consciousness increases enough to develop amazing technologies based on atomic and molecular manipulations of material reality, as well as developing abilities to manipulate electricity, magnetic and gravitational forces and the like.
By the end of this yuga, humanity as the whole is also going to perfect mystical and occult techniques, enabling itself to expertly manipulate reality.
During the Ascending Treta Yuga, personal relationship with God is going to become commonplace, and during the Ascending Satya Yuga, the humanity, once again, would enter its Golden Age.
The Descending Satya Yuga will follow, and the Divine Light would begin to gradually diminish until it would be totally shut out during the Descending Kali Yuga.
If you look at the known human history, you would agree that the year of 499 a.d. falls smack in the middle of so called Dark Ages, and as of 1699, humanity began technological advancement in earnest.
Since we are at the threshold of the Advancing Dwapara Yuga, the technological advancement we have seen so far is only the beginning.
I predict that during the next decade technology is going to continue develop in leaps and bounds, particularly computer and nano technology, revolutionizing our relationship with the world. E-readers are going to become commonplace, and even catalogs are going to be on e-readers rather than on paper. TV and computer technology will merge completely. We are going to use “TV sets” for reading e-mail, solving “websudoku” puzzles, and reading news as much as watching them.
Cyber space is going to continue being the new gold mines of the world economy, and green technology is going to improve and cheapen enough to become common place.
Nano technology is going to affect every facet of our lives, from clothes to medicine, but it is in medicine where it is geared to make major impact. By the end of the next decade, we may finally defeat cancer, and our greatest concern is going to be infectious diseases.
I would be watching with interest the time period between October of 2010 and April of 2011 for some remarkable technological break-through, as Neptune – Uranus mutual reception returns for the last time.
Economically, during the next decade the U.S., Europe, Russia, China and India will continue to be the main engines, as the U.S. will continue to lead in consumerism, Russia will continue to dominate the market of natural resources, China will remain the world’s greatest factory, and India is going to finally reap the benefits of its investment in education.
But the U.S and Europe are going to be much poorer, and India, Russia, and China much richer.
This will change the political picture, as Russia and China will become the 2 main super powers.
I also believe that Pluto in Capricorn is going to undermine democracy everywhere on Earth and squash all civil unrests that flare up, and the U.S. is no exception. Of course, Orwell’s Big Brother comes to mind, but it would still remain the exaggerated version of reality. While all powers are going to strengthen their control, no country is going to descent to the fascist or communist regimes of the past.
Terrorist acts and the fear they spread are going to dominate the world politics. I am certain that Israel and Palestine are going to remain being locked in conflict, and Middle East is going to remain being the nest of terrorism. But acts of terror are going to be more sophisticated, using technological sabotage as well as suicide bombers.
During Ascending Dwapara Yuga, Light and Darkness fiercely compete with each other, and the world is full of shadows. But the Light is getting stronger every year, so, in my mind, the most important developments of the next decade are going to begin taking hold as of March of 2012. That is when Neptune is finally going to settle in Pisces, its own sign, while Uranus straddles through Aries.
I believe that spring is going to mark the beginning of the quiet revolution within human mind. I don’t mean the plentitude of small technological devices that would allow us to control them with the force of our thoughts. They already exist and are about to invade our everyday life. I bet, one of the most sought out presents this X-Mass is going to be the game where people can move a ball with their mind alone.
No, I mean the unbelievable rise in consciousness on individual level. We saw a similar spurt in consciousness during the early 80s of the last century, when Uranus and Neptune traversed Sagittarius at the same time. Sagittarius, the country of Jupiter is the sign of expansion of consciousness, while Uranus represents break-trough and Neptune is the symbol of oneness.
In Aries, Uranus is going to emphasize unique individuality of each of us, while Neptune, strong in its own sign, is going to bring mysticism and spiritual oneness to the forefront of consciousness.
Of course, for many, Neptune in Pisces would signify the descent into drugs, and Uranus in Aries coupled with Pluto in Capricorn could easily describe flare ups of anarchy. After all, Pluto walking through the sign of government and corporate structures is going to change them all big time, forcing many into quiet and not-so-quiet revolt.
Uranus in Aries is going to ensure that Big Personalities rule that moment of time, and independent contractors are going to outnumber employees everywhere. Even employees are going to be much more independent, often working from home thanks to continuously evolving technology and loss of all kinds of corporate benefits.
The Ascending Dwapara Yuga by no means signifies the end of suffering, and Africa is going to continue to be the epicenter of human suffering for a while. Changes of climate, poverty, infectious diseases and terrorist acts are going to continue being our terrible bane for a few decades longer, as Darkness does not give up so easily.
It is going to be up to us as individuals to uphold the Light, and Neptune and Uranus are going to give us a little hand there during the next decade. After all, all the disasters that befall the human kind are there to forge the kindness of the heart, so God may enter it.

The pursuit of knowledge and technology does not bring a person closer to the truth. Understanding how stars are formed, how sound travels and light is emitted does not bring a person closer to the truth. Experiencing telepathy, seeing spirits and having fantastical dreams does not bring a person closer to the truth. It is true that guidance comes in many forms, but how far must we look before we come back to ourselves? How many texts must we uncover before returning to the language of love? How deep into the ocean or far into space must we travel before we look into the mirror? How many ancient religions and prophecies must we study before we decide to live for today?

Perhaps what is lost is lost for a reason. Perhaps what is hidden is hidden for a reason. Perhaps what is unknown is unknown for a reason. Perhaps the pursuit of knowledge is nothing more than a pursuit of distractions, for all that we need is all before us, in everyone and in everything.

Some of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in the New Age movement have been participating in the Dances of Universal Peace. These simple circle dances are a wonderful celebration of the different spiritual traditions of the world.

From their website (http://dancesofuniversalpeace.org/about.htm): “Dances include themes of peace (both inner and outer), healing (the Earth, individuals, and the global family), and the celebration of life’s great mystery. Dancers focus on peace and harmony creating a sense of solidarity and community while celebrating the underlying unity of all the spiritual traditions of the Earth.”

The spirit of joy, celebration and togetherness that these dances create is wonderful. The energy of people coming together to participate in honoring all sacred traditions is something that this world could use more of! If we truly want to create a world of peace, harmony and understanding, joining together in this kind of spirit is a beautiful step on that path.

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keywords: new age revival, new age movement, new age network, spirituality, spiritual, conscious creation, metaphysics, metaphysical, law of attraction, rebirth of the new age, enlightenment, spiritual transformation, world peace, new age on earth, manifesting, spiritual path, spiritual journey, the secret, alternative spirituality, new paradigm, shift in consciousness, meditation, unity, new age community, new age music, sacred dance, spiritual dance, interfaith spirituality

Does your own life include the realities of limitations and problems?  Limitations and problems are you projecting an illusion onto your physical reality.  They begin to play over and over again on the screen of your physical reality.  Do your best to change the negative appearance of what you are projecting.   When you begin to project a higher vibration full of love, being creative, prosperous, confident, patient, successful, peaceful, and enlightened then you will project this illusion on your physical reality.  You are an eternal being within that is able to project manifestations onto your screen of life…so what are you projecting?

One more round of family coming in.  We are blessed to have such a big family.  The refrigerator is full of leftovers yet we keep cooking!    Lee and I have been working in the late evenings so that we can have time for all the relatives coming through.  It’s been a wonderful holiday.

This interview was conducted 1n 1988 by Stephan Bodian when he was editor of Yoga Journal. I have posted it here for the benefit of those who would like to know more about Jean Klein.

Jean, I find you and your teaching interesting for a number of reasons. For one thing, you are a Westerner who went to India long before such journeys were common and ended up attaining a high degree of realization. What prompted you to go to India?

I was hoping to find a society where people lived without conflict. Also, I think, I was hoping to find a center in myself that was free from conflict – a kind of forefeeling, or foretaste, of truth.

While in India, you found a teacher with whom you studied for a number of years. What is the value of a teacher for the spiritual life?

A teacher is one who lives free from the idea or image of being somebody. There’s only function; there’s no one who functions. It’s a loving relationship; a teacher is like a friend.

Why is that important for someone on the spiritual path?

Because generally the relationship with other people involves asking or demanding – sex, money, psychological or biological security. Then suddenly you meet someone who doesn’t ask for demand anything of you; there’s only giving.

A true teacher doesn’t take himself for a teacher, and he doesn’t take his pupil for a pupil. When neither one takes himself to be something, there is a coming together, a oneness. And in this oneness, transmission takes place. Otherwise the teacher will remain a teacher through the pupil, and the pupil will always remain a pupil.

When the image of being something is absent, one is completely in the world but not of the world; completely in society, but at the same time free from society. We are truly a creative element when we can be in society in this way.

What did your teacher teach you?

The teacher brings clarity of mind. That’s very important. There comes a moment when the mind has no reference and just stops, naturally, simply. There’s a silence which you more and more live knowingly.

And the teacher shows you how to do that. Did you learn any meditation or yoga techniques from you teacher?

No. Because what you really are is never achieved through technique. You go away from what you are when you use technique.

What about the whole notion of the spiritual path – the idea that you enter a path, follow a certain prescribed way of practice, and eventually achieve some goal?

It belongs to psychology, to the realm of the mind. These are sweets for the mind.

What about the argument that if you don’t practice, you can’t attain anything?

You must first see that in all practice you project a goal, a result. And in projecting a result you remain constantly in the representation of what you project. What you are fundamentally is a natural giving up. When the mind becomes clear, there is a giving up, a stillness, fulfilled with a current of love. As long as there’s a meditator, there’s no meditation. When the meditator disappears, there is meditation.

So by practicing some meditation technique, you are somehow interfering with that giving up.

Absolutely.

How?

You interfere because you think there is something to attain. But in reality what you are fundamentally is nothing to obtain, nothing to achieve. You can only achieve something that remains in the mind, knowledge. You must see the difference. Being yourself has nothing to do with accumulating knowledge.

In certain traditions – Zen, for one – you have to meditate in order to exhaust the mind; through meditating the mind eventually wears itself out and comes to rest. Then a kind of opening takes place. But you’re suggesting that the process of meditating somehow gets in the way of this opening.

Yes. This practicing is still produced by will. For me, the point of meditation is only to look for the meditator. When we find out that the meditator, the one who looks for God, for beauty, for peace, is only a product of the brain and that there is therefore nothing to find, there is a giving up. What remains is a current of silence. You can never come to this silence through practice, through achievement. Enlightenment – being understanding – is instantaneous.

Once you’ve attained this enlightenment or this current, do you then exist in it all the time?

Constantly. But it’s not a state. When there’s a state, there is mind.

So in the midst of this current there is also activity?

Oh, yes. Activity and non-activity. Timeless awareness is the life behind all activity and non-activity. Activity and non-activity are more or less superimpositions upon this constant beingness. It is behind the three states of waking , dreaming, and sleeping, beyond inhalation and exhalation. Of course, the words “beyond” and “behind” have a spatial connotation that does not belong to beingness.

In the midst of all activity, then, you are aware of this presence, this clarity.

Yes, “presence” is a good word. You are presence, but you are not aware of it.

You’ve often called what you teach the direct way, and you’ve contrasted it with what you call progressive teachings, including the classical yoga tradition and most forms of Buddhism. What is the danger of progressive teachings, and why do you think the direct way is closer to the truth?

In the progressive way, you use various techniques and gradually attain higher and higher states. But you remain constantly in the mind, in the subject-object relationship. Even when you give up the last object, you still remain in the duality of subject and object. You are still in a kind of blank state, and this blank state itself becomes an extremely subtle object. In this state, it is very difficult to give up the subject-object relationship. Once you’ve attained it, you’re locked into it, fixed to it. There’s a kind of quietness, but there’s no flavor, no taste. To bring you to the point where the object vanishes and you abide in this beingness, a tremendous teacher of exceptional circumstances are necessary.

In the direct approach, you face the ultimate directly, and the conditioning gradually loses its impact. But that takes time.

So the ultimate melts the conditioning.

Yes. There’s a giving up, and in the end you remain in beingness.

You say that any kind of practice is a hindrance, but at the same time you suggest practices to people. You teach a form of yoga to your students, and to some you recommend self-inquiry, such as the question, “Who am I?” It sounds paradoxical – no practice, but you teach a practice. What practices do you teach, and why do you use practices at all?

To try to practice and to try not to practice are both practice. I would rather say listen, be attentive, and see that you really are not attentive. When you see in certain moments in daily life that you are not attentive, in those moments you are attentive. Then see how you function. That is very important. Be completely objective. Don’t judge, compare, criticize, evaluate. Become more and more accustomed to listening. Listen to your body, without judging, without reference – just listen. Listen to all the situations in daily life. Listen from the whole mind, not from a mind divided by positive and negative. Look from the whole, the global. Students generally observe that most of the time they are not in this listening, although our natural way of behavior is listening.

The path you are describing is often called the “high path with no railing,” which is the most difficult path of all. The average person wouldn’t know where to begin to do what you’re talking about. Most could probably be attentive to their inattention, but after that, what? There’s nothing to grasp onto.

No. there’s nothing to grasp, nothing to find. But it is only apparently a difficult path; actually, I would say it is the easiest path.

How so?

Listening to something is easy, because it doesn’t go through the mind. It is our natural behavior. Evaluation, comparison, is very difficult, because it involves mental effort. In this listening there’s a welcoming of all that happens, an unfolding, and this unfolding, this welcoming, is timeless. All that you welcome appears in this timelessness, and there’s a moment when you feel yourself timeless, fell yourself in welcoming, feel yourself in listening, in attention. Because attention has its own taste, its own flavor. There’s attention to something, but there’s also attention in which there’s no object: nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to touch, only attention.

And in that moment of pure attention, you realize the one who’s being attentive?

I would say that this attention, completely free from choice and reflection, refers to itself. Because it is essentially timeless.

The Zen master Dogen said: “Take the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate the self.” That seems to be similar to what you are talking about.

Yes, but one must be careful. Turning the head inward is still doing something. And there’s really no inward and no outward.

I notice that you use the word “attention.” Is this the same as what the Buddhists call mindfulness – being acutely aware of every movement, every sensation, every thought?

Mindfulness mainly emphasizes the object, the perceived, and not the perceiving, which can never be an object, just as the eye can never see its seeing. The attention I’m speaking of is objectless, directionless, and in it all that is perceived exists potentially. Mindfulness implies a subject-object relation, but attention is non-dual. Mindfulness is intentional; attention is the real state of the mind, free from volition.

What about the yoga you teach, which you call “body-work?” What is it, and why do you teach it?

You are not your body, senses, and mind; body, senses, and mind are expressions of your timeless awareness. But to completely understand that you are not something, you must first see what you are not. You cannot say “I am not the body” without knowing what it is. So you inquire, you explore, you look, you listen. And you discover that you know only certain fractions of your body, certain sensations, and these are more or less reactions, resistance. Eventually you come to a body feeling that you have never had before, because when you listen it unfolds, and the sensitive body, the energy body, appears. It is most important to feel and come into contact with the energy body. Because in the beginning your body is more or less a pattern or superficial structure in the mind, made up of reactions and resistance. But when you really listen to the body, you are no longer an accomplice to these reactions, and the body comes to its natural feeling, which is emptiness. The real body in its original state is emptiness, a completely vacant state. Then you feel the appearance of the elastic body, which is the energy body. When we speak of “body-work,” it is mainly to find this energy body. Once the energy body has been experienced, the physical body works completely differently. The muscle structure, the skin, the flesh, is seen and felt in a completely new way. Even the muscles and bones function differently.

What is the yoga that you teach like?

It’s not really yoga. It’s an approach to the body based on the Kashmir teaching. The Kashmir approach is largely an awakening of the subtle energies circulating in the body. These energies are used to spiritualize the body, to make it sattvic [literally, “pure” or “true”]. In a sattvic body there is already a giving up. You see more clearly what you are not – your tensions, ideas, fixations, reactions. Once the false is seen as false, what remains is our timeless being. By spiritualizing the body, therefore, I mean orchestrating all the dispersed energy that belongs to the false. Our approach is an exploration without will or effort. It is inspired by the truth itself. The natural body is an expression, a prolongation, of this truth.

But I understand you use the traditional asanas of Hatha Yoga.

Every gesture, every position the body can take, is an asana; there are certain archetypes that are not even mentioned in the classical texts of Hatha Yoga. But there are archetypal positions par excellence that brings harmonization of body and mind. Before going to these archetypes, however, one must prepare the body. Otherwise, yoga is nothing more than a kind of gesticulation. What you see for the most part in Europe and the U.S. is gymnastics, gesticulation, and has nothing to do with body integration.

Do you have any other reasons for not using the term “yoga”?

Yes. The term “yoga” means “to join,” and so there must be something to join, something to attain. But join who? Join what? In a certain way the body approach helps you to listen quietly. It is through real listening to the body that you come to true equanimity of mind and body.

Should this be practiced every day?

Don’t make a discipline of it, because in discipline there is anticipation – you’re already emphasizing a goal. This doesn’t belong to exploration.

Practically speaking, wait until you are invited by the energy of the body itself. This recall of our natural state is not memory. It comes from the needs of the body and appears spontaneously. Go to it as you would to a dinner invitation. Otherwise, you’re doing violence to the body.

In your daily life you may experience moments of absolute silence in which there’s nothing to do, nothing to avoid, nothing to achieve. In these moments, you’re completely attuned to this stillness without any effort. Become more and more aware of these timeless moments, moments when you cannot think, because when you think, the moment is already past. Present moments free from all thoughts. Often you will have these moments when an action is accomplished, when a thought is finished, in the evening before you fall asleep, in the morning when you first wake up. Become more and more familiar with these gaps between two thoughts or two actions – gaps which are not an absence of thought, but are presence itself. Simply let yourself be attuned to these timeless moments. You will increasingly welcome them, until one day you are established in this timelessness, are knowingly the light behind all perceptions.

So you don’t recommend practicing meditation as a regular discipline?

No.

You talk about stillness and silence. Are these goals of spiritual life?

When I speak of stillness and silence, nobody is still and nobody is silent; there is only silence and stillness. This stillness does no refer to somebody or something.

So in the midst of this stillness there is activity?

Yes. Stillness is like the hinge of a door. The body is the door that opens and closes constantly, but the stillness never moves.

T.S. Eliot called it “the still point of the turning world.” Since the practice has no goal – in fact, there isn’t even a practice – what is the purpose of spiritual life at all? Obviously, most of us would say that we are not enlightened or liberated, and so we do feel a need to go somewhere where we are not. Then it seems as if we do need to undertake some kind of spiritual life. What is that like?

I would say that we are constantly, without knowing it, being solicited by what we are fundamentally. But the feeling by which we are solicited is very often mistaken for something objective, for a state, for some relative mental stillness that we can achieve through effort or practice. We seek this state as a kind of compensation for real stillness. The moment you are really solicited by the inner need and you face it and visit with it, you will be taken by it. But generally we are looking for compensation.

This process you’re talking about is very different from the way we usually do things. Usually we have an idea in mind of where we are going and then we set out in a certain direction and use our will to get there.

But all doing has a certain motive. I think this motive is to be free – from oneself, free from all conflict.

The motive is a good one, then, but the response is a little misguided.

When you become more and more acquainted with the art of observation, you will first see that you do not observe; when you see that you don’t observe, you are immediately out of the process. There is a moment, a kind of insight, when you see yourself free from all volition, free from all representation; you feel yourself in this fullness, in this moment beyond thought. It’s mainly through observation and attention that you come to feel what you are fundamentally.

How would you describe liberation?

I’ll give you a short answer. It is being free from yourself, free from the image you believe yourself to be. That is liberation. It’s quite an explosion to see that you are nothing, and then to live completely attuned to this nothingness. The body approach I teach is more or less a beautiful pretext, because in a certain way the body is like a musical instrument that you have to tune.

And we tune it to play on it the song of our own nothingness.

Exactly. Liberation means to live freely in the beauty of your absence. You see at one moment that there is nothing seen and no seer. Then you live it.

This is what you refer to as living free from psychological memory.

Absolutely.

Is it really possible to live in the world in this state of total openness and freedom from our own identity, doing the things we do – leading busy lives, taking care of family, etc. ?

Yes. You can live in a family perfectly without the image of being a father or a mother, a lover or a husband. You can perfectly educate your children not to be something, and have a love relationship with them as a friend, rather than as a parent.

One teacher of vipassana meditation who is also a clinical psychologist has written, “You have to be somebody before you can be nobody,” meaning that for many people, particularly now in the West, who have been brought up in dysfunctional families, there are very often such deep lack of self-esteem and such a conflicted or uncertain sense of who they are in an everyday way, that they must first develop psychological and emotional strength before they can embark on the path to becoming nobody. There are people who would near you say that ultimately we have no identity, we are nothing, and we live in this nothingness, and would turn around and say, “Oh, yes, I know that.” What they are really talking about is their own inner emptiness, their own inner feeling of lack or deprivation, which is a kind of sickness. Do you agree that we have to be somebody before we can be nobody?

First you must see how you function. And you will see that you function as somebody, as a person. You live constantly in choice. You live completely in the psychological structure of like and dislike, which brings you sorrow.  You must see that. If you identify yourself your personality, it means you identify yourself as your memory, because personality is memory, what I call psychological memory. In this seeing, this natural giving up, the personality goes away. And when you live in this nothingness, something completely different emerges. Instead of seeing life in terms of the projections of your personality, things appear in your life as they are, as facts. And these appearings naturally bring their own solution. You are no longer identified with your personality, with psychological memory, though your functional memory remains. Instead, there is a cosmic personality, a trans-personality, that appears and disappears when you need it. You are nothing more than a channel, responding according to the situation.

This interview was part of a larger article that was published in Yoga Journal, Issue 83, November/December, 1988.

When was the last time you exaggerated the truth, or a little white lie to save face? It may be even the smallest most harmless thing you said to a friend, college, partner or family member. I am currently reading an amazing book by Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden a Tibetan Buddhist monk called Essence of the Path to Enlightenment. I bought this book when I went to His Holiness the Dalai Lamas teachings in Melbourne, Australia.

The concept is simple; there are just ten non-virtous actions to create positive karma. The reality is far from simple if we are truly honest with ourselves. I have set my 1st New Years resolution for 2010 to speak only the truth at every opportunity. I invite you to also pick one of the non-virtous actions to practice even just for a single day.

1. Abandoning killing any living being
2. Abandoning stealing
3. Abandoning sexual misconduct
4. Abandoning lying
5. Abandoning divisive speech
6. Abandoning harsh speech
7. Abandoning idle gossip
8. Abandoning covetousness
9. Abandoning malice
10. Abandoning wrong views

This from the Henry Center blog.  We recently hosted College Church in Wheaton (IL) pastor Josh Moody, and I was deeply affected by his sermons and also his discussion with the students.  He is a strong, penetrating expositor whose style reminded me of one Lloyd-Jones.  Check out the content below to do yourself the favor of benefiting from his preaching of God’s Word.

The following is what we blurbed on the site.

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The Henry Center is pleased to announce that Dr. Josh Moody’s recent Timothy Series lectures and Q&A sessions are now posted free of charge for the viewing of the general public.

October 20 & 22, 2009 | Dr. Josh Moody, College Church, Wheaton, IL

Dr. Moody was born in Surrey, England and holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Cambridge University. He currently serves as Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois and served previously as Senior Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in New Haven, Connecticut beginning in 1999. He has authored three books to date: The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today; Jonathan Edwards and the Enlightenment: Knowing the Presence of God; and Authentic Spirituality.

“The Necessary Foundation for Biblical Ministry”: 2 Timothy 3:10-17 | Audio
“The Necessary Vision for Biblical Ministry” 2 Timothy 4:1-8 | Audio
Interview Pt. 1 | Audio | Video
Interview Pt. 2 | Audio | Video

There was chaos at No Wind Monastery. The monks were running scared and the cause of their fear was none other than the head abbot, Zen Master Blumise. They all knew that the only monk who could help them in such desperate times was senior monk Tara, and the monks were running around frantically trying to find her.

Finally, a group located her sitting by the river enjoying the late afternoon sun.

“What’s all this ruckus about?” she asked, rather alarmed at seeing a gang of anxious monks approaching her. “And why is one side of each of your faces red?” she continued, noticing the glowing redness on the left cheek of every monk.

“Master Blumise has lost his marbles,” replied Chin. “He is running around the monastery asking everyone what time is it? And as soon as you tell him the time, he gives you one tight slap and moves on to the next victim. In fact, he has slapped monk Gzan twice today already, see both his cheeks are red!” Chin exclaimed, while pointing out Gzan’s very red face.

“The old bugger is still pretty strong,” muttered Gzan.

Just then a very irritated Master Blumise burst onto the scene.

“Tara!” he yelled, “What time is it?”

Tara looked up calmly, smiled and said, “The time is now, Master,” and that was the end of that. Master Blumise bowed deeply to his beloved student and left the now awakened congregation of monks to reflect on this right answer.

— Anmol Mehta

The Golf Journey, Day 160; 27th November 2009

Somebody told me when I set out on this that it would take a lot of keeping up and the inference is that I would give up pretty soon.

Well nothing is further from my mind, but I have been extremely lapse in not blogging my thoughts and actions.

So let’s start with a hello to Annie Liston, who asked why I hadn’t been blogging and flew over from Chicago to find out the reason! Happy Thanksgiving to all you cousins across the pond!

What have been up to; well reflection is probably the best way to describe not going out to play golf – oh, and the fact that it’s got cold and I’ve lost so much body weight and fat that I get a bit too chilly!
This, I realise is no excuse and so be it. I have had the intention to play but somehow it hasn’t happened and I haven’t got down to the range but there is a reason for this…

…I want most of all to practice my short game, which is difficult to do at a driving range. In fact I’m so keen to work on the short stuff that I have bought the PelzMeister’s short game bible, which is my winter reading alongside the inspirational “golf in the kingdom”; and Don Quixote, plus another business book called “Trust Agents…” So that should keep me going!!

The work I’m doing now is really about the imagination and developing a love of the game in my head, which involves a lot of visualisation (all the pro’s do it, so why not me!), plus “mirror golf”, balance techniques and exercises and of course, watching golf on TV. I’m still in the gym regularly and doing some yoga and the diet can’t really be any healthier without being called obsessive!!

So let me think about what I’ve achieved since I started 160 days ago.
The question I get asked first is “how’s the golf going?” and I answer “very good thanks” which leads to “so what’s the handicap now”
I understand this, as we are left brain trained and can only assess things on tangible results, things we can understand in simple terms. Handicaps are an easy judge of this. However for me this is a problem!
I don’t want to think about the handicap; I want to concentrate on the lovely swing, the great short game, the invincible putting and the unquestionable attitude on the course. To me this is far more important than the number I’m “tagged” with; If I get the first bits right, the tag will be easy.
But I understand the desire to judge and to think – “oh, nothing’s happened in all this time!” because my tag is still the same. So that gives off a negative vibe, where in truth there are many positives that far outweigh the handicap.
Here are the ones I can think of right now, and if you think they’re self-indulgent, you’re right, but it is important to be honest with yourself when appraising everything in your life as golf is about the whole, not just a club and a ball:

• Appraised my life and set out to improve as much as I could 
• To find out who I am and who I can be
• Set myself a task and vision - have a belief
• Broke a 30 year “drinking habit” and culture
• Control and management of body and spirit
• To live in the present and remove doubt
• More grounded and aware than ever have been
• Fitter than since I was 17 years old
• Know, and like, myself
• Cut out trans fats, additives and processed food as much as I can and eat very well
• Be happy!

And do you know, I feel better and fitter and healthier than ever and am convinced I’m happier and more positive than ever.

I’ve set up new business ventures and am engaging with people in a much more positive way. GO ME!!

So that’s why I answer “great” when people ask how the golf is going. I recommend you all try it.