|
|
  20 Mar 2008 @ 12:07, by magical_melody. Spirituality
Hello All,
I felt that this message really conveys what we have been experiencing and perceiving to be true and being it is articulated so well...felt to pass it along.
Affirming Heaven On Earth!
Alana
Heartstory Website
HeartMagic Blog More >
|
|
|
|
 20 Mar 2008 @ 10:13, by jazzolog. Shared Purpose
Chen-Lang approached Shih-Tou and asked: "What is the idea of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?"
"Ask the post over there," Shih-Tou said.
"I don't understand," said Chen-Lang.
"Neither do I," said Shih-Tou.
Suddenly Chen-Lang saw the truth.
---Zen saying
There ain't no answer. There ain't gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. There's the answer.
---Gertrude Stein
Let Him be only that He is and as He is, and make Him no otherwise. Seek no further in Him but subtlety of wit.
---The Cloud Of Unknowing
The photo shows the soundboard and interior of the Trinity United Church of Christ on the south side of Chicago. It appears at a blog entry by audio engineer Matt Satorius from last September. [link] More about the church can be found at its website [link] .
The response to Barack Obama's speech on Race In America has been all over the place. I thought the response would be almost as interesting and profound about us as the oration was about him. I needed some time to observe it and feel things settle inside my own being.
Nothing really confused me about the speech. I loved it. Some people know my own personal background with integration goes back to childhood---and I don't know why. My family didn't promote it particularly...and my mother discouraged relationships even with people who didn't have blue eyes, for Christ's sake! (I know some people from various races have blue eyes, but she didn't.) Once jazz entered my picture in the form of Benny Goodman's Sextet Session in 1947 or so, I knew integrated music was magnificent in every way---and represented democracy too.
I hadn't rushed right out to investigate Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons. I didn't need to. The man's name is Jeremiah, and I've read that book in the Bible. I grew into manhood hearing Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. I lived on Chicago's South Side during the summer of 1961, and trained for Freedom Rides. I knew there were streets there that, if I crossed over and walked on the other side, I could encounter Black Muslims who might insist I get back where I "belong." I'm not shocked by black rage and understand where it comes from. I understand white rage too, and resentment from any group that senses preference granted to another. But I like integration better, and celebration of differences.
My own experience of Chicago clouded my impression of what Mr. Obama's church might be like. I pictured something old and dark and maybe run down. I had heard yesterday that many professional African-Americans are members, but I figured even if the congregation was upscale it still probably was a humble facility. This morning I finally visited the website. The joke's on me.
Americans know what black worship is like. Everybody's at least seen The Blues Brothers I hope. It's a jumpin' joyous business! A preacher in there is a jazz solo to me. The guy takes off and goes. If he honks on that tenor, falls down on his back, still blowin' with his feet kicking in the air, that's the way it's done sometimes. And if you're into that way of expression, you know white players and red players and yellow players all do it too. And when it's done, everybody's let off steam---and hopefully nobody got hurt. More >
|
|
|
|
18 Mar 2008 @ 23:07, by sylhara. Spirituality
He was not supposed to die so young. His mission was to teach and guide the people who had fallen under the control of a cruel and brutal invading power and a priesthood that had become corrupted and no longer served the people, but only their own wealth and ambitions.
He was supposed to teach His people how to become spiritually free, and survive the brutality of their daily existence.
He was supposed to stay alive and continue to teach. Quietly teaching and guiding His people day to day, year by year, until He had reached all that He could after a life time of teaching.
He was supposed to grow old while quietly continuing to teach. To stay alive as long as possible without drawing attention to Himself. But He could not do this.
He did not try to fight against the foreign power that occupied His homeland. He knew they were too powerful. It was the corrupt priesthood of His own faith that He could not abide.
These priests who charged sums of money for the smallest of requests from their followers angered Him greatly. His people were in such misery and poverty from the domination of the foreign government, that the temple priests should have given comfort and aid freely. But they did not. They used the example of the foreign government and demanded what little resources the people had left for their own gains and profit.
They became angry towards Him because He criticized and condemned them in public. But, it was when He started to perform the rituals and give spiritual aid and comfort that the priests could no longer stand by and watch. He was cutting into their profits.
He was not supposed to die yet. He was weary. Life in His homeland was so bitterly hard and cruel, He could not take it anymore. His teachings were some help and comfort to some of His people. But many just did not understand what He was teaching. The people looked to Him for salvation from their toil, and He was trying to get them to see that all they had to do was to look inward, and they would find all that they needed.
He became so tired, He was giving up. He tried so hard to help, but He could not go on.
There were others before and after Him who had the same Mission.
The one known as Thoth, who tried to help his people in the same way, in Egypt, two thousand years earlier. And Thoth tried for the same reason, a corrupt priesthood that had grown rich and powerful at the expense of the people. He also failed. And He was deified as well.
Another Egyptian, the Pharaoh Ankhenaten came with the same mission. Historians have called him the first "mono-theist", because he decreed that his people were to honor only one god, Aten, the Sun God. This was done, not to become a 'one god' religion, but to break the stranglehold the great number of priests and their multitude of temples to so many Egyptian Gods & Goddesses had over the people. Every prayer, every wish, every hope, every favor, that the people had, had to be approved by and money payed to the priests. It was the priests who sent the prayers to the gods. So, if you wanted the gods to hear your prayers, you had to pay the priests first.
Ankhenaten built a new capitol, Amarna, that had a temple to his one god, Aten. This basically put all the priests out of business, and their power over the daily lives of the people removed. But Ankhenaten did not live long enough for his efforts to take hold. After his death, the priests regained their power, everybody returned to Thebes and all its temples, and the priests did their best to remove Ankhenaten from history.
And as another great enlightened soul tried to do in Italy in the 1300's. She was called Aradia, also known as La Bella Pellegrina, "The Beautiful Pilgrim". The Vatican came after Her quickly and She had to flee Her beloved homeland. The Church did not catch Her, but She was never heard from again. And few remember Her name.
So, He gave up. He was not supposed to die so young. He was deified. And the things done in His name ever since have horrified Him. He can't wait to return, and set things right.
And His long wait, and Aradia's, and Thoth's, and Ankhenaten's, is almost over... More >
|
|
|
|
 16 Mar 2008 @ 11:12, by jazzolog. Spirituality
I know what the great cure is: it is to give up, to relinquish, to surrender, so that our little hearts may beat in unison with the great heart of the world.
---Henry Miller
Wonderful! Wonderful!
New Year's morning
in the house where I was born.
---Issa
For the raindrop, joy is in entering the river.
---Ghalib
I thought Friday was particularly black. I envisioned it being called Black Friday someday. The bottom was dropping out of the American and world economy. Had anyone even bothered to construct a bottom for it? To save the day the Fed was starting to bail out greedy banks again...and using our taxes to do it. China was killing the marchers in Tibet. Bush overruled the Environmental Protection Agency, even in its pathetic weakened state, to benefit coal-fired power plants and other industries that emit ground-level ozone that gives us smog. I sent out and posted Tom Toles' cartoon for that day showing Uncle Sam in bed with a barrel of oil and oozing extra excitement at how expensive "she" was. It was a black day dawning.
I began to get replies to the cartoon from resonating friends. Reid Sinclair, a lecturer in management systems at OU and active Episcopalian in Appalachian ministries, sent me a copy of a letter from his brother-in-law in Houston. It so happens the man is none other than the esteemed Rolfian analyst Nicholas French. He was sharing the dour forecast of a close friend of his named Jim Swayze. I thought if these guys can feel bad too, I must not be completely out of synch. More >
|
|
|
|
16 Mar 2008 @ 09:50, by erlefrayne. Spirituality
Many writings were already elaborated in the past regarding ‘evolved souls’, notably those released by the founders of the Theosophical Society (Blavatsky, Hodson, Q. Judge, Leadbeater, Bessant). Many other mystics and masters who came after them also made substantial contributions to the subject. In some previous writings of mine, like the ones about freethinkers, individuated psyche, free spirits, I did present a synthesis of the thoughts of previous thinkers about the matter (please see my previous articles in my blogs: [link], http://raefdargon.mysticblogs.com).
To simplify the subject, we begin with Blavatsky’s thought that we all go through three (3) levels of evolution that take place simultaneously: spiritual, mental, physical. As we progress in the material and mental dimensions, so should we also evolve in the spiritual dimension. Not only our physical-etheric and mental bodies but also our souls do evolve. It is ‘soul age’ that is the true measure of one’s age rather than the chronological age which is a mere analytical devise that is replete with illusions.
Following the ‘law of uneven development’, we better note that not all souls progress at similar paces. There are those souls who were very lackadaisical in the Path, were so slow in absorbing the wisdom lessons, and have lagged behind the more fast-paced ones. These souls we mystics call the ‘laggards’ or ‘evolutionary laggards’. More >
|
|
|
|
15 Mar 2008 @ 15:20, by vector8. Spirituality
I don't believe in supporting any causes or raising awareness for any charity. I used to but then I discovered my awareness was creating more harm than good. In other words, I was attracting more of what I was focused on. Here are a few examples:
At one time I was very interested in raising awareness about child abuse. I even went to a rally against abuse at Trafalgar Square where I shared my own experiences. It was the first time I'd ever spoken in front of so many people. Because I was so focused on raising consciousness about child abuse, all of my friends at the time were survivors of abuse. My best friend was not only a "survivor", she was a psychologist so that's all we seemed to talk about. I was very angry against men. One day I "woke up" out of that experience and realised I wasn't a survivor or a victim, I was me. My survivor friends soon melted away from my experience. More >
|
|
|
|
 12 Mar 2008 @ 17:14, by bapty. Social System Design
Anybody wishing to understand the thinking that lies behind the following short article is invited to read my website www.humantruth.org or, if they prefer, to read the new edition of my book The Wrong Reality (560 pages) shortly to be published by CheckPoint Press, Ireland. More >
|
|
|
|
11 Mar 2008 @ 16:39, by vector8. Spirituality
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." -- John 6: 63
Can one live on love?
Well, the sceptics might say love is not enough.
You have to be practical about life, you know.
Love cannot put food on the table.
Love can't make you feel better when you're not feeling well.
Love can't protect you. More >
|
|
|
|
 9 Mar 2008 @ 14:01, by jazzolog. Government, Public Sector
Our lives are lived in intense and anxious struggle, in a swirl of speed and aggression, in competing, grasping, possessing, and achieving, forever burdening ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations.
---Sogyal Rinpoche
Awareness of emptiness brings forth the heart of compassion.
---Gary Snyder
Simplifying our lives does not mean sinking into idleness, but on the contrary, getting rid of the most subtle aspect of laziness: the one which makes us take on thousands of less important activities.
---Matthieu Ricard
In the photo, President Nixon greets released POW Lt. Commander John McCain, future U.S. Senator, upon his return from years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, 1973.
We were sitting out Saturday afternoon, trapped in our house by the storm that buried the Ohio Valley in rain, flood, sleet, hail, ice, inches of new snow, and a whopper of a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Only emergency vehicles were allowed on the roads. We were putting off clearing the driveway yet again and hauling more wood for the stoves...maybe until the power went down as the final stroke of doom. But the electric stayed on for some unknown reason, so Dana was on the computer hunting the blogosphere for news of potential Diebold corruption of primary results. There had been increasing rumors through the week about this, and everywhere I went the buzz was Republicans crossing over to vote on the Democratic side. Some were doing it because they were fed up with their own party, but others were trying to screw the results so that Hillary will go up against McCain. I figured who knows who is who...and it's hopeless, and I was trying not to think about it.
But I also knew Diebold was being mentioned again, the company that makes the legislatively mandated voting machines. The business suffered such colossal blowback from corruption charges after 2004, that they changed the name to Premier. But what, if anything, was done about it? Some states, like California and Ohio, got busy and started throwing them out. But was Diebold at work controlling who wins? Blogs were saying it was Diebold and not the voters that delivered Tuesday's results to Clinton. The satirical site www.theonion.com got the biggest laughs of the week, claiming Diebold accidentally leaked the results of the '08 Presidential race. The New York Times combined its story of the spoof with the news that mighty defense contractor United Technologies is trying to buy out Diebold. [link] If the military runs the elections, what do we have? And is there any significance in the fact Hillary's chief pollster is CEO of the public relations company that Diebold uses? [link] So what have the bloggers come up with? More >
|
|
|
|
9 Mar 2008 @ 13:08, by erlefrayne. Spirituality
Let me articulate at this juncture the last of the 7 Ray Lessons that I wish to stress: Serve God and His Creations! I will begin with some reflective notes on the sociological ‘law of reciprocity’ which the masters made known to us through the ‘golden rule’. I will incorporate in the discourse the reflective notes on libertosophy that I elaborated in my book Libertosophy and Freethought: The Path of Illumination for Libertarian Freethinkers.
Sociologists and anthropologists alike discovered the ‘law of reciprocity’ across cultures. In philosophical sense, this law is an axiological standard and is at the core of ethical teachings. On the positive sense, it is stated: “Do for others what you want others to do for you.” In the negative sense, it is stated: “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you.”
In libertosophy, I outlined three core principles regarding the liberation project: (1) to be able to attain liberation, one must liberate others; (2) only the free can set other people free; and, (3) liberation must be done within the context of the social world (never in isolation from people). They are all inter-connected and mutually reinforcing. More >
|
|
<< Newer entries Page: 1 ... 6 7 8 9 10 ... 266 Older entries >> |
|
These are news items gathered or contributed by NCN members
|
Categories
Activism (100)
Altered States (35)
Alternative Money Systems (14)
Broadcasting, Media (23)
Business (18)
Children, Parenting (28)
Communication (59)
Communities (70)
Conspiracy (32)
Counseling, Psychology (22)
Crime, Policing (6)
Death & Dying (17)
Developing World (20)
Economics, Financing, Banking (31)
Education (27)
Energy Sources (19)
Engineering (1)
Entrepreneurs, Money Making (18)
Environment, Ecology (117)
Exercise, Fitness (1)
Extraterrestrials (27)
Farming (14)
Futurism (12)
Globalization (27)
Government, Public Sector (44)
History, Ancient World (38)
Housing, Building, Architecture (10)
Ideas, Creativity (313)
Internet (47)
Inventions (6)
Investigation, Intelligence (23)
Knowledge Management (20)
Legal, Justice (21)
Liberty, Sovereignty (15)
Medicine, Healthcare (45)
Music (25)
Natural Health & Healing (26)
Neighborhood (12)
Networking (17)
Nutrition, Cooking (8)
Old Age, Retirement (4)
Organizational Development (11)
Paranormal (12)
Peace (28)
Performing Arts (9)
Personal Development (80)
Philosophy (88)
Politics (108)
Poverty (4)
Preparedness, Self-Reliance (12)
Privacy, Security (1)
Publishing (3)
Recreation, Fun (55)
Relationships (33)
Religion (41)
Science (46)
Sexuality (14)
Shared Purpose (29)
Social System Design (45)
Space Exploration (22)
Spirituality (349)
Systems Thinking (29)
Technology (34)
Transportation (9)
Travel (21)
Violence, War (100)
Visual Arts, Graphics (55)
|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
|
Members can post news items and comments in the member area.
Information and opinions are the responsibility of the posters and do not represent any official position of NCN. Please do your own verification and make up your own mind.
Syndication
|
|
