tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84765070953122640722023-11-16T03:30:39.859-08:00Illusions of a Noetic MonkPermutations of a Sentient ExperienceLee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-92036535421761012002018-04-20T00:33:00.001-07:002018-04-20T03:28:00.333-07:00Losing Everything<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUPlQOgCMSgc20J6higcB8J3Jd8gS3JqbvaWFgtapb0-dKCZ3gRqO93yIcK1qB8-wa20brxYti9f5Wqvmrv2gk6AS0yzwzIGL_2fZsdfVzC_Pfh4Pza7U-CUYvVLBzUYmEKnmL0Eykpg/s1600/Enlightenment+is+internal+evolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUPlQOgCMSgc20J6higcB8J3Jd8gS3JqbvaWFgtapb0-dKCZ3gRqO93yIcK1qB8-wa20brxYti9f5Wqvmrv2gk6AS0yzwzIGL_2fZsdfVzC_Pfh4Pza7U-CUYvVLBzUYmEKnmL0Eykpg/s320/Enlightenment+is+internal+evolution.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para" style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para" style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para" style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<b><i>Enlightenment</i> is not about reaching up into heaven to become a god, it is about reaching down into one’s self to become nothing. </b></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para" style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
It is so deceptively simple it is difficult to recognize what is already there. Truth is lost among the cascades of thoughts, concepts and ideas one has about the fabric of reality and the entity one believes to exist within a constructed world. Don’t search for something extraordinary, realize the ordinary and the lack of anything substantial within it.</div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para" style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Enlightenment is not about gaining or attaining anything. It’s not a mystical event. Rather, it is uncovered - by letting go of every single concept and idea one has about one’s self and the personal reality associated with it. It is ultimate simplicity, devoid of all character. To escape samsara, one must lose everything.</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-22137607012704473292017-10-30T22:22:00.000-07:002018-02-12T12:12:18.655-08:00The Awakened One<div class="qtext_para" style="color: #333333; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif;">
<br />
<h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mzR3nPvYSdJq4gy2nkmWIVUUbK49uoawzh3lH9ZXvAM62yctu0wW-_5dANLcRnLoOVg70myVIqpxLYmZ72jx1basfGwT4564RWcrk6iRPLtaSZLsTxkJ6x1dkLkNs6gAjxvPV2kbgpE/s1600/02-enlightenment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mzR3nPvYSdJq4gy2nkmWIVUUbK49uoawzh3lH9ZXvAM62yctu0wW-_5dANLcRnLoOVg70myVIqpxLYmZ72jx1basfGwT4564RWcrk6iRPLtaSZLsTxkJ6x1dkLkNs6gAjxvPV2kbgpE/s320/02-enlightenment.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mzR3nPvYSdJq4gy2nkmWIVUUbK49uoawzh3lH9ZXvAM62yctu0wW-_5dANLcRnLoOVg70myVIqpxLYmZ72jx1basfGwT4564RWcrk6iRPLtaSZLsTxkJ6x1dkLkNs6gAjxvPV2kbgpE/s1600/02-enlightenment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></h4>
</div>
<div class="qtext_para" style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div class="qtext_para" style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<b><i>You are not a drop in the ocean.</i></b></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<b><i>You are the entire ocean in a drop.</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>~Jalaluddin Rumi</i></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-align: right;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
Secular <i>Enlightenment</i> is real; it is a perspective of awareness and can be explained by neurological processes. It is the process of flowing, awakened experience; it is a path of living in present time beyond the mind’s processed reality. <i>Awakening</i> is the shift to that perspective of direct and objective experience.</div>
</div>
<div class="qtext_para" style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
It is difficult to precisely correlate the historical terms with present day understanding of neurological function. Monks who lived even centuries ago had no way to study the neurological basis of the mind except by direct experience.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Pp3OsUKlTYULLHBFA1-r7W-qXrWMUNgjHyfVoodldmQypiOhWfHKiZTmHbHu7NZ-W7KQ5koGpmKe4NzldhsJb9EPedXdIFRW6gBIbETDHPZO6Fc9Zcgeuh5dEdrsUClGZyOUXwnsYPY/s1600/neurons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Pp3OsUKlTYULLHBFA1-r7W-qXrWMUNgjHyfVoodldmQypiOhWfHKiZTmHbHu7NZ-W7KQ5koGpmKe4NzldhsJb9EPedXdIFRW6gBIbETDHPZO6Fc9Zcgeuh5dEdrsUClGZyOUXwnsYPY/s1600/neurons.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="qtext_para" style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px;">
Modern neuroscience, however, confirms that our typical general experience is a conceptual reality. It is produced in the middle prefrontal cortex by the splicing of bits of perceptual data with images, stories, and memories stored in the visual cortex, temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus. This simulated reality is biased towards creating a self identification that favors input and memories that reinforce its own existence. The virtual self is then enabled to engage in the dramas, traumas, and joys of life - some more real than others, many completely fabricated. Attachments to material world objects, beliefs in a conceptual self, are attachments to systems of conceptual reality - the <i>illusion</i>.</div>
<div style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px;">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></i></div>
<div style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px;">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Enlightenment, as a term,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"> is useful to sanctify spiritual attainment to seduce the egoic mind to unwittingly release in the pursuit of a "better" experience. As such, the term functions as an egoic trap that can lead ultimately to the submission of ego in favor of direct awareness.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="qtext_para" style="font-family: q_serif, georgia, times, "times new roman", "hiragino kaku gothic pro", meiryo, serif; font-size: 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif;">One might reasonably assert that there is no enlightenment by use of clever contextual obscuration (Zen). It can also be denied as a mystical transcendence (most religions). However, the experience of enlightenment is a fundamental state of awareness explicable by science; one typically awakens to it when cognitive dissonance subverts conceptual reality. Its subtle innate nature is so obvious that it is easy to miss.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-74008002919351152712017-03-08T00:29:00.000-08:002017-04-08T10:48:14.530-07:00Woman,<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Cdn7oNPi26tjkrYIlDqUnPjol5PssCrXIEVI6FELdZ099dgQnvYo8-ms417u2-5uARas3nSi4u7VE4DHteHB7gh1BQ_AfWSPG4_ZXbTPZtqpdpaUEY8obdENcMHVps2knCX4FG1vNYc/s1600/p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Cdn7oNPi26tjkrYIlDqUnPjol5PssCrXIEVI6FELdZ099dgQnvYo8-ms417u2-5uARas3nSi4u7VE4DHteHB7gh1BQ_AfWSPG4_ZXbTPZtqpdpaUEY8obdENcMHVps2knCX4FG1vNYc/s1600/p.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You ask me for truth. </div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Can you handle so rare?</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
It ain't always pretty</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
and packaged with care.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Sometimes it's ugly and dark as you dare.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Bear with me, please.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I will gladly tell</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
the truth that you seek </div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
and deserve so well.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Offer compassion; my soul, don't sell.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You demand to be equal,<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I wonder why.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You don't need me </div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
to reach for the sky.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
It's there for the taking; you just need to try.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You are my queen, </div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
my goddess and dove.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
No better offer</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
has come from above.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Yet, I still wonder ... "Do you know love?"</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I wish you were honest</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I wish you were true.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I tried to support you,</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I offered your due.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You were entitled; you left, I felt blue.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
You showed up again;</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I offered a ride.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
The same old story;</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
you played to my pride.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I've nearly lost hope, for you by my side.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Where do we go?</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I haven't a clue.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I believe I'd leave town, </div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
if I were you.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I hope that you find the truth that you're due.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I wish you were honest,</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I wish you were true.</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
How much more havoc</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
must we ensue?</div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Who knocks now? I still hope it is you.</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-63437332649998281922016-05-26T22:18:00.000-07:002016-07-04T12:45:30.506-07:00Descension<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBHPKLHa-TiDTuMLtM3FUtyMtxhMKNS9YoFQJV7FLAOavwcjzmstwKAOqymsANh-gBcn-p3XOKH6IvnHvEroEbNHREuotOYatFnT-cBojX_YiQpY3dQCVZVGQ-xjxJbcAlw-u9mUaafg/s1600/tmp_25116-16736_1_miscellaneous_digital_art_water_vs_fire758056272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBHPKLHa-TiDTuMLtM3FUtyMtxhMKNS9YoFQJV7FLAOavwcjzmstwKAOqymsANh-gBcn-p3XOKH6IvnHvEroEbNHREuotOYatFnT-cBojX_YiQpY3dQCVZVGQ-xjxJbcAlw-u9mUaafg/s400/tmp_25116-16736_1_miscellaneous_digital_art_water_vs_fire758056272.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
"<i style="text-align: start;">Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Hence, it is clear that the space of physics is not, in the last analysis, anything given in nature or independent of human thought. It is a function of our conceptual scheme."</i><span style="text-align: start;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
~<span style="text-align: start;">Albert Einstein</span></div>
</div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
At some point, common sense seems unattainable; the world pulsates, rhythmically, in and out of existence. It's an uncanny bewilderment that shifts one's boundaries of sanity. Cracks in the conceptual framework of old paradigms manifest as cognitive dissonance, disrupting an archaic personal view of the world. Consensual reality becomes unconsensual. Self-importance dissipates as progressively less is available to attach to it; it doesn't go away, there's just less to make special. It's an uncontrolled slide from there, past a point-of-no-return where fewer choices are offered. One naturally renunciates more and more of the illusion until, finally ... it shatters. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The illusion arises predominantly from thought consciousness as it intertwines with sensory input. It's an amazing display of the mind. But, it's a virtual reality sequestered from the flow of the present state. We lose fundamental cognition of our environment in accepting for reality this personal, deluded view. Breaking it is deceptively difficult and it is even more difficult to hold the unadulterated perspective; delusion is extremely pliant and self-organizational. It is very difficult for the mind to detect the illusion it personifies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>When you see that all forms are illusive and unreal, </i><br />
<i>then you will begin to perceive your true Buddha (awakened) nature."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Siddhartha Gautama
<br />
<i>Diamond Sutra</i> </div>
<br />
Human consciousness becomes highly conditioned by familiarity. These countless and unnoticed conditionings are held as memories of both experience and indoctrination in the subconscious and the unconscious mind. There is both an input of sensory and thought consciousness and a feedback / storage circuitry that resides in the body. This feedback / storage circuit continues to discharge even after an object of consciousness is removed. Phantom images intertwine to create a metaphorical <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2014/08/the-swamp.html" target="_blank"><i>swamp</i></a> of faint cognition. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
What I term "the swamp" is a mental mashup created by the substratum of the illusion bubbling up from the subconscious; <b>the unconscious is becoming conscious</b>. It is at first sight so terrifying that most who encounter it clamor back to the comfort of the illusion - maintaining a false sense of security through ignorance. Others camp along the shores of the swamp, afraid to enter and equally afraid to leave. Courage and readiness are needed - a willingness to risk it all in order to find the passage home; this is not said for dramatic effect.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>Cast away all concerns for this life.</i> <i>Be an outcast from human society. </i><br />
<i>Sever worldly ties.
Throw away attachment to friends and hostility to enemies."</i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Dakpo Tashi Namgyal<br />
<i>Clarifying the Natural State </i></div>
<br />
Some <i>seekers</i> might expect that destroying the cognitive illusion would put one in direct contact with the higher consciousness of Source Awareness. In my experience, it doesn't. Conscious illusions have a shadow, an after-glow or memory that stands between consensual consciousness and Source Consciousness (Awareness, Tau, God). This intermediate realm can have an initial appearance of shadowy, ill-defined nature in silhouette.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>Run from what's comfortable. Forget Safety. Live where you fear to live. </i><br />
<i>Destroy your reputation.</i> <i>Be notorious."</i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Rumi </div>
</div>
<br />
The swamp appears as a reservoir of fears and other things we find generally unpleasant as, hidden within the subconscious, much of it simply hasn't been looked at carefully. Finding oneself in such a hazy realm without a solid self-identity is disorienting and, at times, simply terrifying. It's best, even necessary, to retreat from the consensual realm to put all focus on the challenges that lie ahead. Keep energy levels up. It's dangerous to try to do too much; you can't well-afford to break down here. Anger arises from detrimental attachments to past illusion; frustration arises from attachment to desires for the future. Both are clear indicators that you are still in the illusion. Relax, meditate and recharge whenever possible.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>How does it feel, how does it feel?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>To be on your own,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>with no direction home</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>A complete unknown,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>like a rolling stone."</i> </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Bob Dylan</div>
<br />
The journey is powered by the processes of renunciation of all indoctrination and purification of conceptual thought patterns; it will take seemingly forever to let go of the paradigms that we mistook for reality. Clean, purify, polish - when you think you've reached it, clean, purify and polish some more. Purification of thought and illusion is difficult to self-assess; it's too easy to think you've reached it, but it is generally the mind misguiding the mind. So many self-proclaim, but have only substituted one delusion for another - a false prophet to themselves and others. <br />
<br />
Finally, <b>this <u>is</u> the way home</b><i>.</i> There is a sense that it lies down deep beneath the surface as opposed to high on a mountain top, though either concept is metaphorical. Enter the swamp and tread lightly; appearances will subside. Stillness is your guide and firmness your protector. Lighten up and drift - downward, downward, downward - landing lightly like a feather on an asteroid. Within absolute stillness, one will the recognize the infinite void of the primordial state, the dharmakaya.<br />
<br />
The sacred perspective is ordinary, familiar and nearby though a mystical journey lies yet ahead. The formless realm, operates in much the same way as the physical realm and important insights can be gained here. There are signposts to notice along the way: voices, visions, songs and poetry - messages from Source Consciousness left to guide you. Discernment is required. There is a lot of misinformation that arises along the way; teachers/gurus/friends will misguide you; ego threatens constantly. Walking<b> </b>the<b> </b><b style="font-style: italic;">razor's edge</b> is an adventure in perspective<i><b> </b></i>and discipline of the mind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>Some of you are not smiling. You are wasting your time."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Thich Nhat Hanh</div>
<br />
<br />
Finally, and it's really very important: maintain an inner smile while letting go of all attachment to outcome - especially, attachment to preconceived ideas of awakening, enlightenment, god or whatever label you have for it. Give it all up and let it be as it is.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-2900857261872547052016-01-10T15:13:00.001-08:002016-02-23T11:08:50.533-08:00A Death Row Inmate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1iJmxfIm61cVNVKNSHb5ykNTln0DsGujtD-Ph1eTy-2uurc8kxIhC_uSY7p8PN07osRXxtCRY_L-P4Jx7WyPUVQLquKNrQx3dGAH4wMfSxk4YDkvrN48DvwS5j_f6jryq8Q2nEu8MQk/s1600/420821_10150641107404267_276594853_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1iJmxfIm61cVNVKNSHb5ykNTln0DsGujtD-Ph1eTy-2uurc8kxIhC_uSY7p8PN07osRXxtCRY_L-P4Jx7WyPUVQLquKNrQx3dGAH4wMfSxk4YDkvrN48DvwS5j_f6jryq8Q2nEu8MQk/s200/420821_10150641107404267_276594853_n.jpg" width="157" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<center>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><b>"Write like you're a goddamned death row inmate <br /><br />and the governor is out of the country ..."</b></span></span></blockquote>
</center>
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: right;"> <i>-- Alan Watts</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<br />
This blog, begun some eight years ago, is about capturing a process of spiritual transformation - the true death sentence of the egoic inmate. It's about the truth of the "I am that" - a truth that can neither be perceived nor imagined except by negation - "I am not this and not that." In relative terms, it's about listening to the silence, then trying to figure out what to say about what you heard. It's been a challenge to reduce realizations that are beyond intellect to conceptual monologues that have any chance of piercing the veils of the reader who <i>thinks</i> s/he is already aware of what you are pointing to. Language is such a dull tool and hesitation is an effective barrier of sentence structure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
I've been hesitant to write about unsettled matters. It's unfortunate that due partly to obsession with perfection I couldn't capture moments, fresh and unfettered by thought and insecurity during this period that presented some of the most provocative and profound insights of this incarnation - understanding is not as important as being. I've started 16 articles since "<a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2014/08/the-swamp.html" target="_blank">The Swamp</a>," written well over a year ago, had ideas for multiples of that number of articles and was about to start another.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
I may have left some to think that I disappeared into the swamp In a way, I did; I cut off virtually all ties to the outside world and enjoyed no guarantees from one moment to the next. But, this has been the most informative series of experiences of my life. I would not have been able to write fast enough, so ... there are numerous <u>recordings</u> of some discussions that span the most recent 6 months. These should provide fuel for further writing when I make time for the endeavor or, perhaps, they will be left to be discovered centuries from now to provide fodder for a new religious doctrine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I began writing about finding the rabbit hole and peering into it. Now, I'm interested and challenged by what to do within it. It's been a personal endeavor and my only motivation for writing this blog is to document the journey and share this with friends and family for whatever benefit is to be derived from it.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
Be free to sigh in relief, scorn in dismay or yawn in indifference. I have returned to the playground. I don't know what comes next and I am not attached to an outcome. I hope you'll join me for what arises.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><b>Moving Forward: </b>Terms, Conditions, Disclaimers and Fine Print</span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have realized that I am not to be a teacher except by the example we all set for others. A good teacher is a rare and beautiful gift to the world, but the best teacher is the one who sets the example. Likewise, I don't have a teacher, lama or guru though I listen to and read writings from several. I like the Buddhist practice of <span class="Unicode" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration"><i>kalyāṇa-mittatā</i>, a spiritual association of noble friends who share interests and ethical values. Thus, my teachers are my friends. </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I am not a religious person. However, the basic tenets of secular (non-religious) Buddhism align well within my view of the form we find ourselves in. And, while I believe that all religions point to the same core truth, all religions have been misquoted, corrupted, conceptualized, misinterpreted and misused. For most of my life, I identified more as a scientist than anything else, even after I left research and entered the business world. It was an attempt to intellectualize my view of our world and to interact with it in definable terms. While the more interesting realizations are beyond thought, I still have great regard for science and intellect as long as they don't become a facsimile of the direct experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
So, don't take anything I write here to be a teaching - or even seriously; you may not want to follow my example either. This is simply an exploration.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Unicode" title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<center>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><b>"Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist;
<br /><br />
use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are</b></span></span></center>
<b style="font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-center;">.</b></blockquote>
<i> --H. H. the 14th Dalai Lama</i>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-12968769646514778432014-08-30T21:57:00.000-07:002015-01-25T19:55:40.046-08:00The Swamp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07sfaSTix1oj0BrplO_5pegXQrqwtdyXmZ9F8lzirtYhbiAbSPR4bXSnLdnVx2o26GqMMgbx1ozXx0rkwltxDv5QyfD8G9uL5bB39-wNI6LZD6NIITLN2PSKisLZc5x8WWazBhONlkyM/s1600/1007x671_147_Rodin_2d_fantasy_monster_skulls_swamp_picture_image_digital_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07sfaSTix1oj0BrplO_5pegXQrqwtdyXmZ9F8lzirtYhbiAbSPR4bXSnLdnVx2o26GqMMgbx1ozXx0rkwltxDv5QyfD8G9uL5bB39-wNI6LZD6NIITLN2PSKisLZc5x8WWazBhONlkyM/s1600/1007x671_147_Rodin_2d_fantasy_monster_skulls_swamp_picture_image_digital_art.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="color: #71767a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #71767a; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">"One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."</span></div>
<div style="color: #71767a; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Carl Jung</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Between renunciation of relative world illusions and nirvana (c.f., heaven), lies the <i>swamp of disillusion</i>. It is a bardo - a state between the life you left behind and the life that lies ahead. It is unknown to you when or where you will emerge, so be patient. You may be in this for awhile.<br />
<b><br /></b>
You've kissed the void and thrashed around in it for awhile. You've screwed apparent reality, but you've set aside concern and set out upon the barren landscape left in the wreckage. You're not the numbed-out, dumbed-down person who stepped onto this path not so long ago. There is no desire to go back and you are drawn further down the path. You'll try to convince yourself that this is better than living within delusion but, down deep, you'll question your sanity if you start to believe it and even doubt your integrity if you affirm such a belief to others. You'll likely be thinking that you're nearing the end of this arduous journey and beginning to think about where you will plant your flag. Instead, you find yourself standing now before another crossing.<br />
<br />
The decimated scene is illuminated through the haze by a source in the distance. There is starkness, disorder and disorientation. Seepage from below the boundary of consciousness makes its way to pollute the surface. A swamp forms around you flooding the barren, sandy landscape. It's a heartbreaking realization - a naked surprise.<br />
<br />
You're not yet out of the illusion. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">This swamp is its underbelly </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">bubbling up from the dark, vast reservoir of the subconscious like oil seeping from a run-aground freighter</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. The illusion you tamed in consciousness was apparent if not self-evident. This one was rarely seen. You notice this now as it rises before you in a </span>silhouette<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of shadowy figures. </span></span>The swamp stretches out over the path ahead in way of the other shore and blocks your return to the world you thought you knew. The distant shore you seek is still not within view and there is little here to support you.<br />
<br />
Swamps are treacherous, shadowy, dank and stark - inhabited by familiar creatures you begin to recognize for the first time. This realm of the disillusioned is littered with the corpses of those who have gone before you and soulless beings of the undead. It's imperative to keep your spirits up. Depression is not forgiven here though you may feel entitled to it. You'll get angry and frustrated, but serpents in the swamp will feast on your rage. Use this time to heal your passion as, more than anything else, it will mire you in the muck and prevent you from reaching the other shore. You'll be afraid, but the swamp monsters will sense your fear, hunt you down and devour you if it isn't managed. Avoid impulses to attempt an escape - losing yourself in this environment is most often fatal.<br />
<br />
This is the place to surrender. You can't fight the monsters - you'll just be fighting yourself. Slow down, you can't push through this. Attempting to rip through it will entangle you in the weeds. You'll spend allot of energy to free yourself and you'll then likely just push ahead and get entangled again. Allow the slow currents to carry you, making only minor adjustments to a course that seems preset. The destination is unknown to you, so why insist on charting the course? <br />
<br />
Here you'll realize that the other was only part of the problem. In this new light is revealed this swamp on the other side of appearances that you have carried. The shadows have been there all along and seen by others, but you have glossed them over into the background colors of your fabricated world. Here they are, blocking the path to the other shore. Conquer them here with the light of your unconditioned awareness.<br />
<br />
There's nothing behind you and there's nowhere to go. There remains much be learned. Look around; find your curiosity; get interested in what appears. The way to the other shore will reveal itself when you are ready to travel it. Then, you will cross over and this will be the last time you will ever have to see this place.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Note: Quotation changed 10/2/14<br />
<br />
<br />Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-67535552600234199792013-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:002017-10-30T13:08:06.303-07:00Kiss the Void<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRRzeF8ucdyzD_NZlaqH7GiCvtmMYoB-qWYX3PmTpv2293zZaJRyMgzXQVtO39b_7oFj_BegOnsIfd85VKr2KDccyQJFp7nk3xlno7VsC7YfqvYr_EyKcjfSpX2oxUy9OjgBcqiXM3wY/s1600/darkness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRRzeF8ucdyzD_NZlaqH7GiCvtmMYoB-qWYX3PmTpv2293zZaJRyMgzXQVtO39b_7oFj_BegOnsIfd85VKr2KDccyQJFp7nk3xlno7VsC7YfqvYr_EyKcjfSpX2oxUy9OjgBcqiXM3wY/s320/darkness.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 13.5pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #bf9000;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 13.5pt;">“What hurts you, blesses you.</span><span style="line-height: 13.5pt;"> </span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 13.5pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 13.5pt;"><i>Darkness is your candle.”</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #999999;">- Rumi</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">
T</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">he direct path to <i>Enlightenment</i> doesn't meander through sunny, spring meadows or traverse high, majestic mountain tops. Enlightenment isn't something bestowed by another<i> </i>nor is it typically a direct ascension from wherever you believe you might be. The direct path of awakening into the genesis of Enlightenment winds inward and downward. It is a transcendent coalescence of a deeper awareness that is consonant with a lonely, dark, systematic deconstruction of the personal world that you thought you knew.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #bf9000;">Cracking Relative Reality</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The human experience is largely an output of a belief system created within conceptual reasoning. As each moment arises and passes faster than our conscious minds can process in real-time, aggregates of these moments are assimilated conceptually as images about a life we perceive and stories about a self with which we identify. These thoughts are passed along from moment to moment and from generation to generation.</span><br />
<br />
The process of cracking conceptual reality tends to be brutal. It can be experienced as falling, then falling further, and falling again - hoping and praying that you will hit bottom soon. This is death - a destruction of one's egoic framework and everything in it, a release of attachments to the relative world and its insubstantial assets. It can be a harsh and frightening path towards the natural state of the human soul. Teachers and mentors may help or they may add to the confusion; either way, the path is traveled alone through the shadows of your own dark nights. The spirit survives and, with careful effort and good fortune, the physical body might also. And, while you may anguish in your belief that you don't deserve it, you have earned every bit of it. It is your blessing and it is your time for your descent into darkness.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #bf9000;">Ye who enter here, abandon thy fear.</span></div>
<br />
The inexorable journey doesn't have to be difficult, but it is always devastating. Some leave the relative world more easily and gracefully than others, but no one leaves intact. One relinquishes the comforts we have grown used to and the patterns that have become familiar to us - friends, family members, worldly possessions are often abandoned; self identity is striped bare. Those who are faint of heart retreat until the force of the draw is irresistible - like gravity into a black hole.<br />
<br />
The soul sheds the strata of karmic dust - fragments of relative world constructs that pollute the mind and hide our basic nature (c.f., <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/01/revealed.html" target="_blank">Revealed</a>). Beneath it, there is corrosion to be chiseled away bit by bit and atrophy that must heal. It's a process of letting go of <u>everything</u>. We let go of materialism as our basis of reality. We let go of our fixations on the superficial narratives we've created - our stories, our accounts of who we are. The path to enlightenment leads the seeker through layer after layer of constructs, concepts, mental images and shadows to the dormant soul of consciousness resting within inherent divinity. <br />
<br />
Ultimately, the seeker finds what s/he seeks - that which had been but seen in intermittent glimpses. We locate the vast, empty void within - we embrace the void, kiss the void - and dissolve into its pure, primal, unbound ocean of wisdom. The soul of Awareness pierces the veils that bind consciousness and experiences its pure fundamental nature directly - no thought, no reflection, no analysis, no strategy, no meditation. The I returns to Awareness in present appearance, the natural state. <i>That art thou</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Disclaimer: This blog reflects the inner journey through the lens of a single perspective. The author makes no claim to knowledge or attainment. Trust your own experience - question it, but don't doubt it. Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-40839826112387693122013-05-09T16:05:00.000-07:002014-02-02T23:19:28.891-08:00Enlightenment Inchoate <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcho0al8wnOS4t5qkqw3Ch258bz-QFHI3kEv7MPIQpt3Mi7yu4ff0gQFzbHsfIrhoWQBbNy_t_kZIgKPaCf5WuRDngegP7JG4Zi9PJ8qCnCAcqAzd2lVUUPtI4B1FzlOvgeZlXb3Ed-E/s1600/blackhole_diet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcho0al8wnOS4t5qkqw3Ch258bz-QFHI3kEv7MPIQpt3Mi7yu4ff0gQFzbHsfIrhoWQBbNy_t_kZIgKPaCf5WuRDngegP7JG4Zi9PJ8qCnCAcqAzd2lVUUPtI4B1FzlOvgeZlXb3Ed-E/s320/blackhole_diet.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<h4>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A conceptual realization of <i style="font-family: inherit;">Enlightenment</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">seems more accessible today than in the day of the Buddha. We know a lot more about the physiology of the mind, the biology of the body, and the physics of the material universe. Yet, with all this knowledge available to us, most people continue to live</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"> out their lives in an unawakened state</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">. Our modern understanding of things is likely part of the problem because it deepens and broadens our conceptual grasp on our experience and interferes with the awakening process</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">. Thus, while we are better-equipped to understand it, in many ways we are further away from experiencing it. </span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZls44fh6CsGDZfO_y6NgoS66LuDmgAdeCm_uHD8soCYc_-fQ5BB7sSaaOC-j7FKGfTeAXHEEEyMfQVa7s-jeesFpsvPUR7chr7Kbl4KCzlh-i6lG86TqHvUnCjF3Yt4lX4KQvyFgmAk/s1600/mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZls44fh6CsGDZfO_y6NgoS66LuDmgAdeCm_uHD8soCYc_-fQ5BB7sSaaOC-j7FKGfTeAXHEEEyMfQVa7s-jeesFpsvPUR7chr7Kbl4KCzlh-i6lG86TqHvUnCjF3Yt4lX4KQvyFgmAk/s200/mind.jpg" height="140" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">The monks who lived more than a thousand years ago had no way to study the neurological basis of the mind. Yet, modern neuroscience confirms that our general real-time experience is a conceptual reality. It is produced in the middle prefrontal cortex by the splicing of bits of perceptual data with images, stories, and memories stored in the visual cortex, temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus. This simulated reality is biased towards creating a self that favors input and memories that reinforce its own existence. The virtual self is then enabled to engage in the dramas, traumas, and joys of life - some more real than others, many completely fabricated. Attachments to material world objects, beliefs and a conceptual self are attachments to </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">systems of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">conceptual reality</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The terms <i>Awakening </i>and<i> Enlightenment</i> are useful primarily as conceptual demarcations that seduce the egoic mind to unwittingly release in the pursuit of a "better" experience - and, perhaps indirectly, for selling books and seats at workshops and retreats. The terms function as egoic traps that lead ultimately to the submission of ego in favor of direct awareness. I've described this </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">transcendence of egoic consciousness </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">as the</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"> <i>Ordinary </i>Awakening<i> </i>to recognize that there are still other awakenings that lie ahead. It is </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">a significant milestone on the path, but not an end destination</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">. Some teachers seem to equate it with </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"><i>Enlightenment - </i>a term that </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">is subject to definition, lineage and context</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"> within a sense of full realization. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">It seems clear that the <i>Ordinary Awakening</i> is merely</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> <i>Enlightenment Inchoate</i>. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSKGPOsbQ2ISwiq74A6xSbS7Eq2VsLTEswzJzdY2wkKtOYHMIHJ-066H-mYKTAqxntNG0ykQfudnPLrZQHEdi4P2x06_yTXIyBtZVUUPHK64a9fA2nAR51QU-kOULO6Hqikgka-4Fxyw/s1600/2012_4_25_black_hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSKGPOsbQ2ISwiq74A6xSbS7Eq2VsLTEswzJzdY2wkKtOYHMIHJ-066H-mYKTAqxntNG0ykQfudnPLrZQHEdi4P2x06_yTXIyBtZVUUPHK64a9fA2nAR51QU-kOULO6Hqikgka-4Fxyw/s320/2012_4_25_black_hole.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Primordial Consciousness</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">As the shift of the awakening process begins to firm, one sees that there is still a long path ahead. For example, even with the mind awakened, there are still the body and </span><i style="font-size: 14px;">subtle realms</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> to deal with - each with its own intelligence and conscious orientation to awaken. In fact, many people receive their first glimpses of awakening through yogic, spiritual or religious pursuits and then later - or never - attempt to work with the mind. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">The shift to a perspective of direct and objective experience </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">is nearly impossible </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">while confronted by the conceptual illusions of a social sphere that remains asleep. Most serious seekers find it necessary to sequester themselves from the normal routine - often in extended solitary retreat of one form or another. However, unless one chooses to live out his/her life in a cave or monastery, one is then faced with the dilemma of how to re-enter the interactive world. It's a serious challenge to maintain the new perspective as one recognizes that the conceptual world has changed very little during the time one was away.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPe8i-Cxx0HnUn38RFPL3cJlgrHki-Su3knRKgaE6I0aRArS-RV5IvpyWYYnWycn1A19koyg3LIC8J3DCyGfSp2KV3vTNOW64pEbzzFjJJbQ4ktHTkvX3o67CmTRs16MgSVGuX-ZdfSE/s1600/awakening-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPe8i-Cxx0HnUn38RFPL3cJlgrHki-Su3knRKgaE6I0aRArS-RV5IvpyWYYnWycn1A19koyg3LIC8J3DCyGfSp2KV3vTNOW64pEbzzFjJJbQ4ktHTkvX3o67CmTRs16MgSVGuX-ZdfSE/s320/awakening-3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the process unfolds in multiple dimensions, a deconstruction takes place, the perspective reorients and a new game is unveiled. A</span>wareness is then able to entertain itself in an expanded realm that encompasses the old realm in a dance within the emptiness of its existence. The game is a cyclical flow from non-existence to existence and back to non-existence - from the Void to form and back to the Void. It's played wherever Awareness places its attention, where every thought is an energy to be manifested or dissipated by choice. Within a continuous stream of thought, i</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">t's a very interesting game - much more fun than the last one - and it seems worthy of waking up to play. It is there that one realizes the rudimentary nature of the <i>Ordinary Awakening</i>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Disclaimer: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Again, I'm writing from my reflections and inner wisdom rather than from academic, religious or philosophical <i>authority</i>. Please a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">ccept only what feels true and useful.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">Final edits: 5/12/13</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">Images updated: 8/16/13</span></span></span></span>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-69645204095653600272012-12-17T12:53:00.002-08:002013-05-09T11:13:26.607-07:00Unordinary Perspectives<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIcXHVQqOGMgRdLOiMKMHHxUN5EVg-u8bLx2jIMcEgI6B3ImBQVM1ZhhdtEqefz-pDiuoz1AunPQf5M632c0OxuJU_b9Vsk3mu9-Z7ZoYoLPlQizsMhHDQ3SLy8rDo7ipllE5mtjfXOY/s1600/yoda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIcXHVQqOGMgRdLOiMKMHHxUN5EVg-u8bLx2jIMcEgI6B3ImBQVM1ZhhdtEqefz-pDiuoz1AunPQf5M632c0OxuJU_b9Vsk3mu9-Z7ZoYoLPlQizsMhHDQ3SLy8rDo7ipllE5mtjfXOY/s320/yoda.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">T</span><span style="font-size: large;">he illusion</span> of the ordinary (coarse, mundane) view is generated in the cognitive mind. The primary driver of the illusion is the mind's general contraction to create a conceptual perception of 'self'. This 'self' is a product of the mind constructed from limited sensory data, memory, programming, indoctrination, emotion, desire, and imagination. In short, it is insubstantial.<br />
<br />
Our primary perception of the material universe is a product of our mind's processing of the sensory data it receives. Yet, we know that the data available to the mind is limited. Even under optimal conditions, our eyes see only a small portion of the light spectrum yielding limited resolution, our ears hear only a small range of mechanical vibration frequencies and amplitudes - our smell, taste, and touch senses are similarly limited. Still, the mind constructs a model of the material world that it presents to itself as our core reality -- a sensory consciousness.<br />
<br />
If the mind left it there, our awareness might have a reasonably accurate view of the world within the limitations of primary perception. But, it attempts to compensate for the limited data by filling in the data gaps using experience (much of it inaccurate), hard-wire instructions (instincts that are often outdated), training, indoctrination and extrapolation. <br />
<br />
Still, the mind could function reasonably as a programmable model-rendering application operating in a powerful, dynamic computer to display an objective, though error-prone, rendering of the immediate environment. But, it doesn't stop there. It develops and is then influenced greatly by the sense of a 'self''. From 'self'' comes a gross deterioration of mind consciousness - delusions created by emotions such as fear, greed, regret, pride and anger - the insecurities and desires we experience as humans. Then, there are the delusions that come to us from 'other' - our training, indoctrination, and judgment from 'other' who, generally lost in their own illusions, inflict their own sense of 'self' onto us.<br />
<br />
Ordinary<i> awakening, </i>a level of <i>realization,</i> occurs when the mind's ordinary conceptual perspective of 'self' is challenged and discarded. It's very simplistic at some levels, but the realization is profound and the experience can be transformational because stepping out of the ordinary view is to step out of our uncommon reality - <i>uncommon</i> because each 'self' is skewed to create a different conceptual reality. <i>Awakening</i> from the ordinary view is a shift to an expanded perception beyond 'self' and 'other' (observer and object) that recognizes the insubstantial (empty) content of our ordinary world view. The egocentric 'self'' consciousness that is limited by self-identity within its sensory-based material world of time and space is transcended.<br />
<br />
In esoteric terms, the shift is from you to the God within you, without religious dogmas, indoctrination, and free of egoic self-importance. It is that which is <i>I am that I am</i>. "You" were a mental construct within "me", created by "me", and projected from "me" to be observed by "me".<br />
<br />
Letting go of the ordinary view is so deceptively simple that it is easily derailed. Elaborate pathways construct abstractions within the mind so quickly that the opportunity to correct the view is generally missed. Even subtle errors can lead to gross distortions through the mind's proliferative nature. Cascades of mental events can be triggered by minor misinterpretations.<br />
<br />
The shift in perspective leads to a flow of further realizations that flood the mind with new insights. Trying to remember them is futile though there is soon a realization that there is nothing to remember. The expanded state is concerned with the present moment and this gives one access to information as the need arises. Shifting to the present moment yields a heightened sense of awareness. Energy is not bound by regrets of the past or the anxiety of a prospective future. Trust in the flow yields the freedom that is often referred to by spiritual teachers.<br />
<br />
As one unravels the mind, one is left with the feeling of being a <i>Stranger in a Strange Land</i>- a feeling of disorientation accompanied by a transient euphoria. There was concern that one has entered into another artificial construct - which reality is real? There was an uncertainty of what to do in even simple situations. Yet, the old paradigm that is focused tangibly on the physical world is obviously archaic in the expanded view. There is no going back without permitting a re-collapse of consciousness.<br />
<br />
The perspective has always been there. We've touched on the experience when the mind was still. It gets overwhelmed by sense consciousness and pushed aside by the strategic mind that thinks it will improve upon fundamental reality. One must quiet the mind to allow awareness beyond the bounds of rational thought. It's one of those tricky things where you can't get there by "trying" - rather, <i>allow intensely</i>.<br />
<br />
Having the intellectual understanding of this is important, but it also hampers the realization as the intellect will conceptualize the process and permit the ego to either discount it or latch onto it to claim it as its own. Yet, the process of realization in the ordinary awakening occurs outside of mind consciousness. Ego and conceptualization constantly reappear in many forms with varying degrees of cleverness and subtlety. There was the recurring question, "Why didn't I realize this before?" It was 'self' coming in to feel embarrassed that it didn't know everything - kind of an apology to itself in a way that asks to be let back in. Then it would strengthen to claim, "Now, we're the <i>enlightened</i> one." Observe some of the charismatic spiritual leaders and you may notice this one. Laziness also appears, as if there's no more work to do. There are many slippery attempts to contract back into an egocentric perspective and one must be very diligent to protect against them.<br />
<br />
Holding the view becomes the practice. There are still old ingrained patterns and triggers (kilesas, in Buddhist terms) that provoke the mind to contract in an instant. One must stay present in a new world.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>There is no path to Nirvana. Nirvana <i>is</i> the path. </b></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Thich Nhat Hanh<br />
Winter Retreat 2012, Plum Village</div>
<br />
For me, there was a path to such a level of realization through examining the emptiness of form and 'self' within stillness of the mind. There are many other paths that lead to the same place. The facts had been there, but the process induced by re-orienting the mind to experience its own insubstantial essence was profound. Also, there is an interesting distinction between the two paths of "heart" and "mind" of Buddhist psychology. The Sutras teach compassion to reach selflessness through acts of respect, kindness and generosity while the path through the mind points out an understanding within the experience of selflessness. Such differences, in the end, may make little difference. Thich Nhat Hanh's message above is a multifaceted gem that seems to point to the important fact that one can access Nirvana from anywhere in the present moment - it's not "over there" somewhere to be found at a future time. It's Zen style, with layers of subtle significance, can be frustratingly simplistic when one can't see the path one is standing on.<br />
<br />
In that piercing the illusion feels like a re-birth of consciousness, I found the following inviting for a second chance to learn:
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Everything in life comes to you as a teacher," said an old Cherokee woman to her grandson. "Pay attention. Learn quickly."</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Adapted from "That Which You are Seeking is Causing You to Seek" by Cheri Huber</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Disclaimer:</b> Walk your own truth.<br />
<br />
Final edits 1/10/13<br />
Further edits: 1/22/13<br />
Tweeks: 5/9/13<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-54941891932908724112012-08-07T00:55:00.001-07:002012-08-29T08:41:59.279-07:00Dharmakāya<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN0MIisN8YeQ0iZ3S20jGa1zdkVb6OwoafMPARj8tXFjDYYOff-urgSm8OUY8ddiqUUPVM2RpcwV_zexqudXUXz2h4KvFMMRtKqH0BL3SwZTcXDq-9E3E2i3uZBA0gqThyLw62h6ECKU/s1600/Dharmakaya-1982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN0MIisN8YeQ0iZ3S20jGa1zdkVb6OwoafMPARj8tXFjDYYOff-urgSm8OUY8ddiqUUPVM2RpcwV_zexqudXUXz2h4KvFMMRtKqH0BL3SwZTcXDq-9E3E2i3uZBA0gqThyLw62h6ECKU/s400/Dharmakaya-1982.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.stephenchanart.com/?gallery=1982"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dharmakaya</span></a></i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">Master Sheng-Yao; Stephen Chan (1982)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: inherit;">When you understand mind,</span></i></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: inherit;">you understand everything.</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: inherit;"><b> </b>- Nagarjuna</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br />
<br /></div>
The <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/p/mahamudra.html">Mahamudra</a> revealed the fabric of the illusion. The mixed experiences of <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2012/04/light-gets-in.html">Esalen</a> resolved into coherent determination. Books were digested (<i>Pointing Out the Dharmakaya, Wild Awakening,</i> <i>Pointing Out the Great Way) </i>along with numerous shorter texts, none of which are particularly accessible to the Western mind. The practice deepened into a sustainable presence while sitting meditation was useful for grounding.<br />
<br />
Books about the Tibetan practice don't tell you what you will find - only where to look for it. They warn that one should not attempt to learn Mahamudra except by direct oral guidance from a lineage teacher. At least one author claims that key pieces of the teachings were left out of the root texts intentionally to protect them from those who would attempt to learn the Mahamudra without proper guidance. However, obsession overwhelmed patience with the guarded, slow pace of the retreat. So, aware of the irony embedded in grasping for Buddhist teachings, the path was explored further while a search to find a formal teacher willing to take me deeper into this was initiated. I trusted that the modern Western books, authored by lineage holders, were complete and that intelligence and persistence would enable me to muscle my way down the wisdom path alone for awhile.<br />
<br />
The Mahamudra <i>points out</i> the way through the mind to the Dharmakaya - the primordial awareness that lies on the "other side" of the veils. It is the fabric of the unmanifested conscious reality. It is more fundamental than the <i><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2012/03/i-am-one.html">xero point</a></i> that I'd witnessed which, by comparison, seems now to be a highly differentiated state of clarity. <br />
<br />
I haven't written here since the Esalen retreat and I've wondered how I would write about this -- and even considered whether I should write anything in order to respect and protect the highly-guarded teachings. It's now been over 3 months since I first recognized the primordial state, as best I can determine. Though there are valid concerns, it still seems that a more open approach would benefit those who are genuinely called to the teachings. What can I write that begins to approach the profundity without risking misinterpretations that are the cause of concern?<br />
<br />
As one dissolves into emptiness, one is able to observe the process of thought origination and mental construct formation. One realizes the mechanism through which our <i>ordinary view</i> is constructed in the mind - the illusion that Buddhists talk about - like a dream without substance or basis -- <i>empty</i>. One observes how thoughts originate from seeds within a mist and how our mind recognizes familiar patterns to quickly generate an image, thought, or behavior. The seeds appear to be those revealed in the Buddhist doctrine of <i>dependent origination</i>. This is the place where diligent attention can reveal opportunities to correct one's view, according to Buddhist psychology, and alleviate the grip of samsaric suffering common to human experience.<br />
<br />
Some thoughts and mental constructs - visionary-like images - seem to form out of the wisps of the mind's mist around seeds germinated in the primordial awareness. Here, one realizes that <u>such processes originate outside of "self"</u> - from a subtle intelligence beyond egoic consciousness. It is a communication that each of us seem differentially adept to receiving through different conduits, whether we realize it or not.<br />
<br />
Perhaps, the most fundamental insight is gained by looking back at who is observing the process. This is referred to as the "lion's gaze" in the teachings - turning attention from the distraction of what is being observed to discover who is doing the observing. Who is the observer? The answer is profound, but not surprising.<br />
<br />
The portal to the Dharmakaya becomes crusted-over with the junk we accumulate during an unenlightened lifetime. This junk blocks the primordial signals as would encrusted corrosion on a radio antennae and obscures its presence within the mind. I'm quite certain that this is the junk I was shown that started me on this journey (see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/01/revealed.html"><i>Revealed</i></a>) - the junk that cripples the human experience. Yet, if one maintains and protects the state of emptiness in stillness and clarity, the portal to the original state is permitted to re-open. From there, one can extend and differentiate into higher realms without losing sight of the fundamental fabric of life.<br />
<br />
The experiences and the realizations continue to deepen. It's very elegant and very profound. It ties together many concepts I've wrestled with. Yet, just as ego informs me that I've reached <i>enlightenment</i>, I get a whole new batch of awakenings, followed by another and another - then, ego must try again. It's clear that this is only a path to the portal and a new unveiled, sustainable perspective awaits.
<br />
<br />
One of the instructors at the <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2012/04/light-gets-in.html">Esalen retreat</a> told me that the Sutras reveal two paths to enlightenment: one through wisdom and the other through the heart. At the time, I felt relief to learn that wisdom alone would get me there. Then he said, "Once you get there, you realize that it's the same path." Though I'm not certain which Sutras he referred to (*), the concept he conveyed turned out to be an important clue that let me know that I was on the <i><u>right</u> </i>path. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
--------<br />
(*) Buddha taught two paths to enlightenment: one through understanding the Four Noble Truths and one through understanding dependent origination.<br />
<br />
Disclaimer: A reader might infer from this article that the Mahamudra is a path of intellectual conceptualization. It is not. Language and intellect are conceptual and neither are capable of conveying the subtle realizations of Mahamudra. This article only attempts to document experiences and insights encountered by one via inquiries into the manifestations of 'self'. It is not intended as a guide or formal teaching and should not be considered authoritative.Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-11892849932889559322012-04-27T21:49:00.002-07:002015-08-18T09:39:28.378-07:00The Light Gets In<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbp83-b3Lv4wznuZSmgpDE6OUdo1dp2LGqVvo1p9KOotEQoV0CE__nPFMcYkn5q-iGPZ7RjgfnBv1Q3gQ5DYZUI1gmeT30sTeWp512x3o9bOesO0lviwunsudBrBGkq-XvluSBmX-PWpo/s1600/2012-04-16_19-38-46_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbp83-b3Lv4wznuZSmgpDE6OUdo1dp2LGqVvo1p9KOotEQoV0CE__nPFMcYkn5q-iGPZ7RjgfnBv1Q3gQ5DYZUI1gmeT30sTeWp512x3o9bOesO0lviwunsudBrBGkq-XvluSBmX-PWpo/s320/2012-04-16_19-38-46_200.jpg" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption">Sunset at Esalen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;">
Ring the bells that still can
ring </span></span></i></center>
<center>
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;">Forget
your perfect offering </span></span></i></center>
<center>
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;">There
is a crack, a crack in
everything </span></span></i></center>
<center>
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">That's how the light gets
in.</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></i></center>
<center>
<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
</span></span></i></center>
<center>
<span style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<i> </i>- Leonard Cohen</span></span></span></center>
<center style="text-align: center;">
<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: x-small;">
</span>Anthem</span></i></center>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
It's difficult to fathom experiencing feelings of
disappointment while sitting in meditation during a week-long
retreat at such a beautiful place as Esalen Institute in Big Sur,
California. For centuries, others who have gone before me
have endured real hardships - stark living conditions and
even </span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
persecution</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> -
in pursuit of their awakening. By contrast, I sat in
relative luxury, with every need cared for. Every delicious
meal was prepared for us lovingly from the finest natural
sources. At the end of any session, I could soak in natural
hot spring baths while gazing out over the waves of the Pacific
Ocean. Still, I felt solemn and agitated by recent events
and discovered myself pushing to move on. Grasping for
realizations fueled further discontent.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">We
were there to learn a Tibetan Buddhist meditation known
as Mahamudra. I wrestled with the new style that differed from that to which I had become accustomed.
Many of the preliminaries were similar - concentrate the
mind by focusing on the breath, then ease up and allow insights
into the focused mind. But, here, as in Zazen, the
meditation is done with eyes open and the sessions were much
shorter - 10 or 15 minutes in the beginning, extending to 50
minutes or so by the end of the week - compared to long hours of
sitting and walking in silence at a Vipassana retreat. The
first half of the retreat seemed like pedestrian Buddhism, adding
further to my frustration. Yet, careful attention to the
basic instructions proved helpful and the retreat got more
interesting as the week progressed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;">The
focus of the retreat was squarely on emptiness (see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/08/emptiness.html" target="_blank"><i>Emptiness</i></a>) - seeing each thought and
manifestation as a construct of the mind - letting go of all
attachments. With the realization that our world is empty
of form or substance, ordinary views are seen as projections of
the mind that are reflected back onto itself. Even self,
especially self, is realized as empty in Mahamudra.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: small;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIS6cO34ZTY8nemzlwGEZ8mMoQD5jB4O3jmySizXKEkzQd-GVwQAY9F6lsF5JHwkkiWgG39lF9Ou_VxaTIneQLz76qh-0Sw1XfmmSY6nh5qUDgFArUH0JEy9Jf-8hcbnoWPGjlLq7qRTI/s1600/2012-04-17_09-01-33_850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIS6cO34ZTY8nemzlwGEZ8mMoQD5jB4O3jmySizXKEkzQd-GVwQAY9F6lsF5JHwkkiWgG39lF9Ou_VxaTIneQLz76qh-0Sw1XfmmSY6nh5qUDgFArUH0JEy9Jf-8hcbnoWPGjlLq7qRTI/s320/2012-04-17_09-01-33_850.jpg" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esalen Baths
above the Pacific Ocean</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
Beloved Naropa, this treasure of Buddhahood belongs to you and to
all beings. Obsessive use of meditative disciplines or
perennial study of scripture and philosophy will never bring
forth this wonderful realization, this truth which is natural to
awareness, because the mind that desperately desires to reach
another realm or level of experience inadvertently ignores the
basic light that constitutes all
experience.</span></i></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Crossing
from the old waters to the new, the journey has been difficult at
times. Migrating from the small tributary in which I was
born, to the mainstream and over, around and through the dams
that blocked the way. I'd learned to live in relative
comfort, with some luxuries - spending my life along the
edges of the mainstream. But, the mainstream was shallow
and brackish, so I continued upstream with enough hubris to think
that I could reach the headwaters - to live a life in clarity by
my own sense and standards. The long journey met with
interesting people and ideas, but the dissatisfaction remained in
the mundane. Now, after so many clues ignored only now, I
realize the headwaters to be polluted at their source - bound in
the matrix - there is little hope to find
nirv</span></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">a</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">na
there. Washed, then, downstream to the ocean that receives
all waters, most of what and who I knew remain behind in the
slack waters of the mundane river as awareness floats
within the vast ocean.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13px;">The ocean isn't constrained by
the forces that restrict a river's flow - it cannot be dammed
or controlled. The mainstream's veil of the mundane
dissolves in it's reflection. Clear waters from
unspoiled rivers and streams gather to dilute and wash away the
crud. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">But,
the vastness of the ocean overwhelms the old navigation system
that carries only maps of the mundane river. Where am I?
Who am I? What is my heading? Unwilling to return to
the big river, awareness drifts in the currents and eddies of the
void while the coarse physical body seeks sustainability.
It's the great adventure in search of
oneself.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs44yI5Wn-X4AffgVak3zS37RVhZXY-GI61rcNeX7JzfDs4eKq13xa0vL8or3jx3OyvHCbfLZhO5H564_4CrTYxbKG_y0g4jtroFleye70ZOBpiqUGy8CU2OhBsGejVQHPXAYt8sEpeMU/s1600/CIMG2858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs44yI5Wn-X4AffgVak3zS37RVhZXY-GI61rcNeX7JzfDs4eKq13xa0vL8or3jx3OyvHCbfLZhO5H564_4CrTYxbKG_y0g4jtroFleye70ZOBpiqUGy8CU2OhBsGejVQHPXAYt8sEpeMU/s320/CIMG2858.JPG" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfalls
below Meditation Hall </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="color: #38761d;">The one who fabricates any
division in consciousness betrays the friendship of Mahamudra.
Cease all activity that separates, abandon even the desire to be
free from desires and allow the thinking process to rise and fall
smoothly as waves on a shoreless ocean. The one who never dwells
in abstraction and whose only principle is never to divide or
separate upholds the trust of Mahamudra.</span></i></blockquote>
<div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">"Pointing Out The Great Way" is a style
of teaching from the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism
(e.g., "Ocean of Definitive Meaning" and "Pointing
Out the Dharmakaya", both by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche).
It has been condensed by Daniel Brown and adapted for
week-long retreats. His book, by that title, is a re-write
of his PhD thesis. We're fortunate to have the
teachings adopted and compressed for Westerners with such rigor
and insight. The retreat was lead with great care and
respect by Susan Mickel and George Protos. It wouldn't
be appropriate, nor possible, to detail the teachings and
techniques in this brief summary. Simplistically, one
quiets (concentrates) the mind to a subtle state and trains it to
realize the constructs of form and the nature of the mind. It was
a very fortunate introduction to a profound treatise on thought
origination, perception and conception.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0j9bkYrjai20PEzQNvls7tyPFotZ9t7hVzpbihhr9rXN8g292to5Gcy6QoA_3XkC30tRXNKw3Du01mAwXrXrNvOkW4BTK22OQtp46v88FW6_edhGaRrTp4N3jwBYx1uHypJws7dLgaw/s1600/CIMG2927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0j9bkYrjai20PEzQNvls7tyPFotZ9t7hVzpbihhr9rXN8g292to5Gcy6QoA_3XkC30tRXNKw3Du01mAwXrXrNvOkW4BTK22OQtp46v88FW6_edhGaRrTp4N3jwBYx1uHypJws7dLgaw/s320/CIMG2927.JPG" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gardens</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="color: #38761d;">Supreme knowing knows </i><i style="color: #38761d;">no separate subject or object.
</i><i style="color: #38761d;">Supreme action acts
resourcefully </i><i style="color: #38761d;">without any
array of instruments. </i><i style="color: #38761d;">Supreme attainment attains the
goal </i><i style="color: #38761d;">without past, future or
present. </i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">------------- </span></div>
<i><span style="color: #38761d;">In the blissful embrace of
Mahamudra, negative viewpoints and their instincts are
burned without remainder, like camphor. Through the open
door of Mahamudra, the deluded state of
self-imprisonment is easily left behind
forever.</span></i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Consciousness is like a reflection - seeing, but not holding
substance. "Self" and "others" are
constructs of the mind. There is no separation between
awareness and the object it sees - no duality. Beyond all
hopes, fears and preference, consciousness of self dissolves into the primordial awareness - the dharmakaya - and sees by
illumination rather than projection. The truth lies beyond the
reactivity of the mind - not grasping, not averting. When
we conceptualize, we create separation from direct experience.
Instead, true awareness sees everything freshly in the
present moment.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;">
Within subtle stillness, I saw the bubbles (membranes) again -
and bubbles within bubbles within bubbles,
cf. </span><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/07/ego.html" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank"><i>Ego</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"> and </span><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/01/revealed.html" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank"><i>Revealed</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">.
They are an abstraction of the mind representing
metaphorical levels of differentiated awareness contained within
the primordial source awareness. I see them in my subtle
mind, but they appear genuine and literal. They reflect
insight into the manner in which the universe is constructed.
It's interesting how they manifest in imagery. Where do
the images originate? I'm not aware of any effort to
create them. The inherent intelligence is
difficult to hold long enough to delineate by deconstruction -
lying beyond rational thought.</span></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
In the coarse view, several individuals sit in a circle within
the wood yurt. In the intellectual view, the walls and
everything within them are known to be composed of energy trapped
in stardust, the people animated by some divine force. In
the subtle view, the boundaries of the walls and bodies sitting in our circle dissolve into a faint glow and the space between material objects illuminates. True awareness reflects itself to itself without preference for objects or other. Is this another slippery, empty construct? How do we discern? Finally, there is the void - vast
disembodied awareness - arupajh</span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">na
(Theraveda, see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2008/06/jhana.html" target="_blank"><i>Jhana</i></a>) - the stable primordial ocean, but
without knowledge or insight. States of mind are states of
mind. The mind sees the constructs that it creates. Remember the <i>lion's gaze</i>. What
is the difference between what we perceive and what we project?
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
</span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7JG_cvYbpe_B2hsb8XIAsZ8JxZ5PnLKbMCcRm-XdU3ybfAam_lnl-8Rl649LH8nswIQzpxCyJofRqp21YkBmASr35BlOjAoHS198yr5G9dTNufyqea0FcKrLSmoMKgOlUiL9eCPasIg/s1600/CIMG2955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7JG_cvYbpe_B2hsb8XIAsZ8JxZ5PnLKbMCcRm-XdU3ybfAam_lnl-8Rl649LH8nswIQzpxCyJofRqp21YkBmASr35BlOjAoHS198yr5G9dTNufyqea0FcKrLSmoMKgOlUiL9eCPasIg/s320/CIMG2955.JPG" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hummingbird
- Camouflaged except for it's Red Head</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<i>Remain in the flow of sheer awareness. Mahamudra neither
accepts nor rejects any current of energy, internal or external.
Since the ground consciousness is never born into any realm of
being, nothing can add to or subtract from it. Nothing can
obstruct or stain it. When awareness rests here, the
appearance of division and conflict disappears into original
reality.</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
The unbound, focused mind is permeable to insight - a great
benefit of meditation. That's where the cracks exposed
themselves as allies in the quest. The cracks - those
disappointments and disatisfactions - are stories our minds tell
us. They are the imperfections of our realities transformed
to a script we live out. They are everywhere until we let
go of everything.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
The cracks are important to examine. We tend to ignore them
because they ruin the picture of the monuments and chasms that we
have created. But, look closely. They show us the
imperfection of what we accept in our reality. Seeing them,
truly seeing them as they exist without any attempt to mask them
or make them right, is to acknowledge our coarse reality as
imperfect. That's the important clue. Most of us
have learned to accept reality as imperfect - and build dreams of
imperfection that we project to ourselves and others. No
-</span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
true awareness is perfect awareness.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> Perhaps,
we don't have to accept this veil of imperfection.
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQB8teWqsro6-3qXMD5ik_-9GWmrfSsuwbwAchyphenhyphenmgBz5KjdvD4vCJpIsPTjtODM1RGbcw0z6Ri4XsM9R-noA7BkSMB__zGPeIZ0jhU-7C7iA1rCLzpuGi2bFJdFZ2y2zYprjJqZNLULq4/s1600/CIMG2899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQB8teWqsro6-3qXMD5ik_-9GWmrfSsuwbwAchyphenhyphenmgBz5KjdvD4vCJpIsPTjtODM1RGbcw0z6Ri4XsM9R-noA7BkSMB__zGPeIZ0jhU-7C7iA1rCLzpuGi2bFJdFZ2y2zYprjJqZNLULq4/s400/CIMG2899.JPG" width="400" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top/Down View
of the Baths</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13px;">Awakening seems to be more of a
process than an experience. Most of us have felt it at one
time or another and then allowed it to fade away. We talk
ourselves out of it as something unsustainable or unreal.
We see it in others and call them foolish. <b>Sustain
it!</b> That's the practice that the yogis and gurus
talk about. Practice staying with it. Don't allow
your mind to talk you out of it - that's the trap we've
fallen into. The awakened mind has perfected its real
nature and sees beyond the veil with unadulterated vision -
consistently. There is a shift in perception. The
subtle world comes forth and the coarse world fades into the
components of its construction. Embrace the cracks.
Be brave. Exploit the cracks in the perception of the
coarse world to see the subtle light that shines through the
haze.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBv2j_ROEnz6EH5Wp6I6nNBgKdDyJTl3VGoHOK8KpbR8JmR8C7Tw91AVBNQtrg8rIbPyJa_vz-5P3Mf7KajkorSuZ3rt_RG6vkMX2_aprt6I6R7VOuSXtt4gNAeUPzcu0jVxaqxx1rnY/s1600/CIMG2806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBv2j_ROEnz6EH5Wp6I6nNBgKdDyJTl3VGoHOK8KpbR8JmR8C7Tw91AVBNQtrg8rIbPyJa_vz-5P3Mf7KajkorSuZ3rt_RG6vkMX2_aprt6I6R7VOuSXtt4gNAeUPzcu0jVxaqxx1rnY/s200/CIMG2806.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSddLukbTQ8o7w4_FyMyTsN8XGNo5xiQPz8vWhjm0T6sIMi6UJbqXE_AvHrLofYNl5wSJ-sCJbR1tZWfcMCD0bcvJO95wIbMlsgRY4nn9fCc75_vFjWV2CTUc95e2QyfHkN1ZhueS_OI/s1600/CIMG2912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSddLukbTQ8o7w4_FyMyTsN8XGNo5xiQPz8vWhjm0T6sIMi6UJbqXE_AvHrLofYNl5wSJ-sCJbR1tZWfcMCD0bcvJO95wIbMlsgRY4nn9fCc75_vFjWV2CTUc95e2QyfHkN1ZhueS_OI/s200/CIMG2912.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #38761d;">When
maturity is reached, the river flows smoothly and patiently with
the powerful sweep of the Ganges. Emptying into the ocean
of Mahamudra, the water becomes ever-expanding light that pours
into great Clear Light without direction, destination, division,
distinction or description. </span></i><br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #38761d; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
-- Exerpts from <span style="font-style: italic;">All-Embracing
Mahamudra</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction
to Naropa</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #38761d;">English
translation by Lex Hixon</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Full-length translations are <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/p/mahamudra-lex-hixon.html">here</a> >></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<i><b>And, that's how the light got in
...</b></i></span></span></i></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22640%22%20height=%22480%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/_e39UmEnqY8%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E" rel="nofollow"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_e39UmEnqY8" width="640"></iframe></a><br /></div>
</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-56177105089692313442012-03-23T20:46:00.000-07:002012-06-01T23:08:48.793-07:00I Am the One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVug1XVAKcNk35On5XNpblt0Gt9dc6GoS7mw5r8Y4Yl7xeAMoMWkkelWlDAeIK1xFFG6MQ-fQf7WWGbfW8mk85O2OWG1MMBy-bL7HiSSJs_mOE94s7I6rGQCd80dHTQl-M6RyaBgfzho/s1600/god-realized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVug1XVAKcNk35On5XNpblt0Gt9dc6GoS7mw5r8Y4Yl7xeAMoMWkkelWlDAeIK1xFFG6MQ-fQf7WWGbfW8mk85O2OWG1MMBy-bL7HiSSJs_mOE94s7I6rGQCd80dHTQl-M6RyaBgfzho/s320/god-realized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>You're It</b></i><span style="text-align: right;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- I'dia</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
I've been fascinated by a concept of reaching down to what I've called the <i>xero point </i>- the event horizon of the human soul. Remove the physical manifestations, intellect, mental chatter, all ego, illusions and psychic crud, then look to see if you can find that point of origin of one's own life energy. <br />
<br />
My immediate interest in this can be traced back to my vision a few years ago of the "stuff" we carry around with us - the <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2009/01/revealed.html" target="_blank">vision of light beings</a> covered and lost within piles of crud, those manifestations of spiritual, mental and physical form that weigh us down. The vision distinguished those few who were clear of the encumbrances and shined their inner light brightly. They are the beings who have extended from the <i>xero point</i> in harmonic resonance and clarity of essence. Reaching <i>xero point</i> could be a reset, thus, a chance to experience pure essence and an opportunity to re-emerge cleansed of the useless crud that piles up during the course of our lives.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
I reached such a point, without effort, after trying on prior occasions. It was a subtle state, void of thought or sensation. I drifted, bathed in a powerful flowing light that emanated from an ordered reaction of golden plasma. Impulsively, outside of time, I asked, "Since I'm here, let me see God." I'm not sure why I asked because I knew that I was looking at the Source of All Things in my mind's eye - perhaps, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing an opportunity. I was surprised by the immediate reply that was delivered by a bold, clairaudient voice - familiar, warm and friendly. "There is no God. You're It!" It came with a cosmic chuckle rather than reverence - I'dia seemed amused. Yet, the voice carried the truth that had been uncertain. I am of It and there is nothing profound "out there" that isn't "in here". The experience discerned both a realization of being and a knowing of mind.<br />
<br />
It's a passage in one's involution. Some seem to think that we shouldn't talk about it. The observation is difficult to describe as observation and description come from different dimensions of mind. I can't describe it from <i>there</i>, only from <i>here,</i> and the object is dependent upon the point of view from which it is observed. I've discussed before the limitations of language, but it's more problematic than that. By talking about it carelessly, we might obscure the path for others with embellishments from our own limitations and illusions. Yet, by describing it too cryptically, we cloak the experience in mysticism. So, though understanding that a realization can't be reached by discourse or comprehension, it seems reasonable to establish some common dialogue as an encouragement to 'others' for the benefit of All.<br />
<br />
Involution is a term, I've since learned, that Meher Baba invoked to describe the pathway to God-realization. He taught that the aim of all beings in creation and the very purpose of creation is the attainment of God-realization. A soul is God-realized when it has first traversed evolution, taking each successive form in creation until it achieves full consciousness in the human form. It then traverses the inner planes of consciousness, through the process of involution, to achieve consciousness of its true original identity as God.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zdwTwS-0H0cOz__EBjm20xuxwnm7Y2B2ppxf5fdRYwlIVlyAzePQwus-ld0QHd0wt6kPn-RAE9_JF5EywyHn-5USHMbGV4YJBTr18E-us8X_Vy7Ncy6s5uLvYQF9IjvrILIV4ChaKW0/s1600/involution.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zdwTwS-0H0cOz__EBjm20xuxwnm7Y2B2ppxf5fdRYwlIVlyAzePQwus-ld0QHd0wt6kPn-RAE9_JF5EywyHn-5USHMbGV4YJBTr18E-us8X_Vy7Ncy6s5uLvYQF9IjvrILIV4ChaKW0/s320/involution.png" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meher Baba's Seven Planes of Involution</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I might dispute the inherent hierarchy and linearity of the diagram above. At times, the mental world of the mind seems more distant from God-consciousness than the subtle world of energy. At least, I would suggest that the progression is not sequential or linear in every case. What is important is that the two, the subtle energy and the mind, must develop and integrate within the physical reality in order to realize the Godhead. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In [the] tradition of Advaita Vedanta, there is a very interesting summary statement, associated with Shankara, of devotion to the Divine: 'From the point of view of the body, I am Your servant. From the point of view of the mind, I am a part of You, a fraction within You. From the point of view of the Self, truly, I am You.' Any statement of equation with the Divine is authentic only from the "Point of View" of Ultimate Realization. Yet identified with the body, or, even more advanced, identified with the mind, subtly as Yogis are . . . from the point of view of such identification, the great statements are not true, the statement 'I am You', or, said another way, 'Thou art That', is not true. Identified with the body you are the servant of God, subordinate to the Divine. From the point of view of the mind, you are not the Divine. You are a part of the Great Unity, seeking Union with the Great Unity, or That Which is One. Therefore, previous to Ultimate Realization, the philosophy, the philosophical point of view, the presumption, must acknowledge the position you are in, acknowledge what you are identified with."</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Adi Da</div>
<br />
It's interesting to me that I'm choosing to quote Adi Da as he in turn relates what others have said about such processes and experiences. I've found him to be maniacally egotistical and therefore difficult to study in depth (note that I'm unable to acknowledge him as "Avatar Adi Da"). However, there's now an inner smile as I read my own words, "I am the One." Is it ego? In fact, I sense ego coming up to trivialize the experience - my own ego is embarrassed to realize what I've <i>known all along</i>. I have a copy of one of Adi Da's books lying around somewhere, loaned to me by a friend - perhaps I'll take another look at it before returning it.<br />
<br />
My experience seemed to encompass my <i>higher</i> self (I'dia) and <i>lower</i> self (Lee). I'm guessing that the message was from the former to the later. There's further work to be done to integrate this fully. Again, it's tuning to the energy - at a very high vibration, in this case. How can I hold it? It's already slipping away to memory within consciousness though it is held more firmly in subconsciousness.<br />
<br />
So, "<u>You're It</u>" - the One, the Source, the energetic life force that creates and holds All. We create our own judgment day - every day - our own heaven or hell, right or wrong, up or down. Duality merely creates a contrast for distinction within free will - a product of our entertainment rather than anything fundamental to our being. This is the transcendental transformation of the soul via realization of Self. Now, manifest unencumbered by imposed limitations. Manifest with intention by attention to that which is worthwhile.<br />
<br />
A realization doesn't terminate with an epiphany. The life experience continues. The game has become more simply interesting and transparent.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b>I am the One that I've been searching for.</b></blockquote>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-30985742668973294142012-02-29T12:32:00.001-08:002012-04-11T01:29:50.390-07:00Seeds of Karma<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgze2JN3xY_lq8vV-6bDS6XR5Haxo2kuKP19HrPKrtS92rMt6cll7v85k-DOnCtdDHOSTtuXu3zw795LN_Y5nXbZHypvwsWS7XAc3SYVXBNoyflu2NR2EfVGZ21ZQQtcB5-LD_uA9AKoE4/s1600/samsara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgze2JN3xY_lq8vV-6bDS6XR5Haxo2kuKP19HrPKrtS92rMt6cll7v85k-DOnCtdDHOSTtuXu3zw795LN_Y5nXbZHypvwsWS7XAc3SYVXBNoyflu2NR2EfVGZ21ZQQtcB5-LD_uA9AKoE4/s320/samsara.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Tibetan <i>Wheel of Karma</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I seek my own enlightenment for the sake of all beings</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- the Vow of the Bhodisattva.</div>
<br />
While oppression exists in many shades and degrees of severity in the physical realm, we have complete free will at the spiritual level. The mind often gets stuck somewhere in the middle trying to process the discrepancies perceived between the spiritual and the physical realities, often the conflict that results when our desires or fears in the dimensions of space and time compete with what our inner guidance relates to us.<br />
<br />
The body can be imprisoned and the mind can be indoctrinated, but the soul is found perfectly free. The various personal gods in the texts of the physical plane promote laws, precepts, and commandments, but it is always up to our own free will whether we will accept them into our being. We are free to believe what we choose.<br />
<br />
Free will is what life is all about. It's something we hold in high value and protect in all dimensions of existence. But, be careful about what you ask for. Karma exists, as well. <br />
<br />
Many think karma is a sort of punishment for an errant deed - part of the cycle of cause and effect known as samsara in eastern traditional philosophies. A similar religious concept is sin, where a god delivers punishment or forgiveness. The process is natural, in my opinion, rather than one enforced by an authoritarian personified god. In either case, clearing karma (or having sin forgiven) is often thought of as "righting a wrong" or in some way making up for a past transgression. I have come to view it differently.<br />
<br />
Karma in the human experience is a perturbation resulting from a lack of synchronization between the dimensions of self and universal harmony. It originates in the mind and manifests at all levels. If we think of our will as a vibration, karma is the discordance in the resonance between will of the mind, the soul and, ultimately, universal consciousness. The discordance often manifests as something unpleasant - thus, the sense of punishment. In fact, it's like a sour note in what might be an otherwise perfect chord of the divine symphony. <br />
<br />
Through free will, our souls evolve while developing colors and personalities. Many are pleasant and entertaining - like the timber of a tone, to stay with the music analogy. But, some are not so pleasant. As we learn to tune into the more subtle will of our soul, the mind's karmic states become softer and the mind develops a higher state of perfection. We either learn to tune into the natural will of the universe or suffer consequences<br />
<br />
In my view, this is not simply surrendering to the "will of god", though the distinction is somewhat semantic and it seems that this is the basis of many religious doctrines. It's more of a higher awareness of harmonics within the soul. This is our fundamental being - a collection of universal energies held in harmonic vibration (see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2011/03/perfect-chord.html?" target="_blank">Perfect Chord</a>). We are subsets of this universal set of frequencies like chords within a much larger harmonic system. As we evolve, we gain more and more control over the wave-like patterns we generate. Within the human experience, <b>karma is simply <i>nature's</i> ways of telling us which patterns of our mind are not in harmony with the patterns of our soul. </b>The discordant patterns, which often manifests in behavior, remains in the mind until it is cleared to bring us to higher harmony.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeAjZgDp11jiEiGPiD9T_-ufOAmC8kdg6NsdiI7IFWb8U10GGhbP6AqS3Bg3StCpJmmVMpYEAqsLverqcMGNiI_j9dXWOkviu_ocnydJc09012QZRtuPGMI65UROOiYVx4aXDeBrgxOw/s1600/resonance-frequency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeAjZgDp11jiEiGPiD9T_-ufOAmC8kdg6NsdiI7IFWb8U10GGhbP6AqS3Bg3StCpJmmVMpYEAqsLverqcMGNiI_j9dXWOkviu_ocnydJc09012QZRtuPGMI65UROOiYVx4aXDeBrgxOw/s320/resonance-frequency.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resonance Frequencies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our souls are tuned to universal consciousness while our minds are tuned to reflections of physical world manifestations. Karma might be considered a source of guidance for tuning the mind to the soul for harmonic balance. Thus, rather being a source of pain, it permits us the incredible gift of freedom to go our own way without contradicting natural order. <br />
<br />
The seeds of karma - the <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2008/07/middle-way-10-day-buddhist-retreat.html" target="_blank">kilesa</a> described in Buddhism - reside in the subconscious mind, proximal to the soul from the conscious, rational mind. Thus, they cannot be cleared by rationalization. The seeds of karma are only cleared by awareness perfecting the mind, freeing it of entanglements and illusions.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, the mind can enjoy the same free will as does spirit. This is one of the great realizations. THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FREE in the human experience.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBatcjn2-xuIJf2JkP68YAoQHPKBvu_owNBjHhiaheJfBGPu3yR2j1A4mxv9MErzAUofHxOnIGgPED7fkFuq_4XvE4UvhaNW3XuEPGU2-ib6L4YWCK0_ErcGmnyHoojdDJjbDgvbr5JRg/s1600/Sam_Taeguk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBatcjn2-xuIJf2JkP68YAoQHPKBvu_owNBjHhiaheJfBGPu3yR2j1A4mxv9MErzAUofHxOnIGgPED7fkFuq_4XvE4UvhaNW3XuEPGU2-ib6L4YWCK0_ErcGmnyHoojdDJjbDgvbr5JRg/s200/Sam_Taeguk.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Korean <b>Sam-Taeguk</b> symbol,<br />a variation of yin-yang, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">symbolizes the union of earth, heaven and man</span></span>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i></i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Watch your thoughts – they become your words.</i><br />
<i>Watch your words – they become your actions.</i><br />
<i>Watch your actions – they become your habits.</i><br />
<i>Watch your habits – they become your character.</i><br />
<i>Watch your character – it becomes your destiny</i><br />
<br />
-- Cosmic Awareness<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: It's important to note that I'm writing from <i>inner wisdom</i> rather than academic authority, especially regarding religious and philosophical doctrines. While I try to relate the ideas and concepts that come to me in my meditations and inquiries, I don't know if my ideas and definitions agree with translations of ancient texts that might lie somewhere or with current dogma. Also, punishment, retribution and bad news on the physical plane are different from how I view karma. If you steal from someone, you may go to jail. If you offend someone, you may get punched in the face. That is punishment, not karma - though karma may give rise to both physical and mental punishment - and bad news happens randomly as well as result from our actions or those of others. Karma is a higher level process, IMHO.</span>
</div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-15008815479911171182012-02-02T10:14:00.000-08:002012-02-22T15:53:37.505-08:00Follow the Money<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_kAuRFifx7xNWKaLh4kJFIZyM6maK-EP8YwYS3ueRVLbaBXxbl9s23XBOhlm6KuaSOZz7JnjRp0r-MFjNeQm2jW7SunOMSgyms0w3owCpqQeRs1ewX5eL_-H341cTJcJmUbN2sVvX5Y/s1600/federal+reserve+masons+all+seeing+eye+pyramid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_kAuRFifx7xNWKaLh4kJFIZyM6maK-EP8YwYS3ueRVLbaBXxbl9s23XBOhlm6KuaSOZz7JnjRp0r-MFjNeQm2jW7SunOMSgyms0w3owCpqQeRs1ewX5eL_-H341cTJcJmUbN2sVvX5Y/s200/federal+reserve+masons+all+seeing+eye+pyramid.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Henry Ford, 1922</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">I noticed a large pile of oyster shells as I walked along a shoreline in northern Maine a few years ago. I remembered hearing about shells once being used as a monetary exchange in some native cultures. I thought to myself, "If I lived in a culture where sea shells were used for money, I would want to live on the seashore." Today, it isn't so easy. Now, the Federal Reserve System owns all of the allegorical beach-front property in the U.S. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">OK - so now the federal government controls the U.S. money supply. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"> But, <b><u>NO</u></b> - it doesn't. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">Most people assume that the Federal Reserve banks are institutions of the United States Government. They are not. THE U. S. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IS A PRIVATELY OWNED CORPORATION. It is listed in the white pages of the Washington DC phone book - next to Federal Express. “Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to coin (create) money and regulate the value thereof…”. Yet, the Independent Treasury Act of 1920 suspended the de jure (meaning “by right of legal establishment”) Treasury Department of the United States government. Our Congress turned the treasury department over to a private corporation, the Federal Reserve and their agents.<br />
<br />
The bulk of the ownership of the Federal Reserve System, a very well kept secret from the American Citizen, is held largely by these banking interests - NONE is held by the United States Treasury:
<br />
</span>
<br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Rothschild Bank of London<br />Rothschild Bank of Berlin<br />Warburg Bank of Hamburg<br />Warburg Bank of Amsterdam<br />Lazard Brothers of Paris<br />Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy<br />Chase Manhattan Bank of New York<br />Goldman, Sachs of New York<br />Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York</span></span></div>
<div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 19px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><b>"There is no agency of government that can over-rule actions that we take."</b></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Ariel; line-height: normal;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">- Alan Greenspan
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">
<br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">The Federal Reserve Bank can not be audited and does NOT answer to the President - or any branch of the government. Though the president of the U. S. appoints and congress approves board members of the Federal Reserve system, the Federal Reserve is completely independent of the U. S. government once the appointments are made. Congress knows nothing of the conversations, plans, and actions taken in concert with other central banks. </span><br />
</span><br />
<div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">"The great monopoly in this country is the monopoly of big credits. So long as that exists, our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom. This is the greatest question of all, and to this statement must address themselves with an earnest determination to serve the long future and the true liberties of men.
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">"This money trust, or, as it should be more properly called, this credit trust, of which Congress has begun an investigation, is no myth; it is no imaginary thing. It is not an ordinary trust like another. It doesn't do business every day. It does business only when there is occasion to do business. You can sometimes do something large when it isn't watching, but when it is watching, you can't do much. And I have seen men squeezed by it; I have seen men who, as they themselves expressed it, were put "out of business by Wall Street," because Wall Street found them inconvenient and didn't want their competition. "</span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-top: 0.75em; text-align: justify;">
<div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">Woodrow Wilson</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><i>The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People</i></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">1913 (the year of the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank)</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"[The banks] are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, and they, frankly, own the place."</b></span></span></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sen. Dick Durbin</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: small;">April 2009</span>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">The Federal Reserve System is a private cartel sanctioned by our federal government. A cartel is a cooperative of companies that don't want to compete with each other. They come up with cartel agreements - not unlike those of the oil cartels and the diamond cartel - to manage and protect their own interests. The typical weakness inherent in a cartel is that is can be difficult to enforce the agreements it makes within its membership. Thus, cleverly, the Federal Reserve Act brought the government in to enforce the interests of the banking cartel. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">We all know that our dollar is no longer backed by gold or silver or ANY other physical resource, commodity or substantive value. It is, by definition, "fiat" money - money that derives its value from government regulation or law rather than intrinsic value. It has no value other than what the government represents it to be. With the U. S. dollar devoid of <u>any</u> intrinsic value, these private banks have the power to create or tighten money without oversight of congress. Like the adage, they <u>simply print more money</u> when the private cartel decides it's needed. It's a nice family business - if you are part of the family. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Which families? Perhaps, we can look at the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Morgans and Carnegies along with Harrimans, Schiffs and Warburgs who have controlled world wealth for generations. Notables that arise within this club are David Rockefeller, James Wolfensohn (former World Bank President), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Richard Haas. I wasn't able to reach any of them for comment, but they are each welcome to respond in the comments section below. I'm simply going on what has been reported by those who may know more or less than I because this is a highly secretive business - there really isn't any public information available.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNpkLw1kC11QGskL5XedUYaTNg1gARz08Y-CgBmOytgSQczymNT5xUxkz-DKsvZ01Lbdn54mAx6zH1Mg5yl90aLZdz5_J6YjX6Ofeflq88AiW8t0EpBwGN1eZ2VCLosgZG3tQUa-0zzw/s1600/nevermind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNpkLw1kC11QGskL5XedUYaTNg1gARz08Y-CgBmOytgSQczymNT5xUxkz-DKsvZ01Lbdn54mAx6zH1Mg5yl90aLZdz5_J6YjX6Ofeflq88AiW8t0EpBwGN1eZ2VCLosgZG3tQUa-0zzw/s200/nevermind.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">Capitalism has succumbed to greed and exploitation. Democracy is a thin veil of illusion. Our government is not run by the will of the people. It is run by large corporations; the large corporations are run by the large banks; and the banks are run by the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund which are owned by the large world banks and the families that control them. If you care to know why the world is not thriving in abundance, look to the top of the pyramid - look to those who control the money. Unfortunately, you won't be able to find them - they live in secrecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">Superficially, there was a good argument made by the bankers in support of the Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913. Promoters argued that the money supply is too important to be subjected to the politics of our government. That made me stop and think, "Who should control the money?" While we shudder at the inefficiency of our government, it is the democratic principles upon which we operate. The political system - bad as it is - oversees nearly every other aspect of our lives, including the important stuff like medical research and foreign wars. It should also find a way to subjugate the money supply to the democratic process. What they've done with the <b>Federal Reserve Bank is much like our government saying they can't manage foreign wars, so they empower a cartel of the largest military contractors to decide which wars are to be fought and how long they should last.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">
<br />
According to the Foreign Banking Act, December 24, 1919, section 43 and section 25,<b> the Federal Reserve Bank charter apparently expires on December 24, 2012</b> -- 99 years after it was enacted on December 24, 1913. It's interesting that we haven't heard much about this auspicious event on the horizon in the mainstream media. <b>It will be important to watch this closely</b>. If there is an expiration of the current charter, there will be an effort made to renew it or - worse - replace it with something giving further free reign to the large banking interests. They will want to pass the legislation quietly -- something tells me that it's already been passed in principle. Yet, there is such concern over this by a few that it will likely soon become a flash point of contention in our nation and in the world. Watch closely -<b> it may be another 99 years before we can have anything more to say about it.</b><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">Much of the inspiration for this article was derived from "</span><a href="http://www.thrivemovement.com/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Thrive: What on Earth Will It Take?</a><span style="text-align: justify;">" - a 2-hour documentary that covers a broad range of topics and ends up with a focus on political and financial corruption. I watched it for the third time a few weekends ago at a private showing with its creator Foster Gamble. Gamble, a direct heir to the Proctor and Gamble legacy, seems to be using his ties and influence to call attention to what's going on in our world and asks (I paraphrase), "With all of our technology and world resources, why are we not thriving in abundance?". I then went home and watched "Thrive" for a 4th time! What's important about the documentary is not that it presents new ideas, but that it brings convincing credibility to many of the issues most of us haven't taken the time to investigate for ourselves. Gamble and his colleagues go as far as to say that these private banking families have usurped the world money supply as a means of controlling the world's governments and corporations with clear intent for nothing less than world domination by a few families. The banking and Federal Reserve System issues are only a part of the concern raised, but it seems (to me) to be a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed. "The world is waking up" is their slogan. If the "Fed" doesn't cause you concern, you might want to set your alarm.</span>
<br />
<br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vrK5gW1AuaBzEWvMZhDeLjTn_Vy_u6rkc4_FTcEgpLsMq5laT8FEvxTAFXn18zMFPSeZwI9mhiCiAUJwDxBCq9XCkwWbsfk2HwIt6MvAWbJklvNImdlAjkN5gLQOUA7rV53xbL4MOsQ/s1600/USS-Constitution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vrK5gW1AuaBzEWvMZhDeLjTn_Vy_u6rkc4_FTcEgpLsMq5laT8FEvxTAFXn18zMFPSeZwI9mhiCiAUJwDxBCq9XCkwWbsfk2HwIt6MvAWbJklvNImdlAjkN5gLQOUA7rV53xbL4MOsQ/s320/USS-Constitution.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">
Most of us consider banking a mundane and innocuous part of capitalism. We think we understand the concepts whereby we take out a loan for something we want now, but can't afford, and repay the loan later with interest. It seems to work to enable us to go about our daily lives. We're too busy paying for mortgages, car loans, educational loans, business loans, etc. to have time to dig into this. If we play by the system, we can get a nice house with a nice car parked in front. Our current capitalistic system rewards (some of) those who pledge theirs lives to it by working hard, but it most abundantly and escessively rewards those who control the resources.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">I don't pretend to understand it all, but I think that's due more to lack of information and transparency than to the complexity of the system. It's time to acquaint ourselves with how the system actually works. Wake up ... and smell the debt! Wake up - to self-imposed, externally coerced, slavery. There are the many who work hard and honestly to build the country and the few who reap the rewards.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-31807069867630312962012-01-20T10:02:00.000-08:002012-01-28T00:55:42.420-08:00Did You Miss Me?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aQod7RksPtiJ_eEIQ-DR3S_DIzoolMF2iaaMlcOv6DQyjjHAU7HhbDK4FN014J9r0xdnBzqfRdfIzgzJR5zSlMsYzo3LeCROVnDoeY770aJRyVdWIuXshunFH1e7QgdgC8WsPd9jYNY/s1600/stop_SOPA.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aQod7RksPtiJ_eEIQ-DR3S_DIzoolMF2iaaMlcOv6DQyjjHAU7HhbDK4FN014J9r0xdnBzqfRdfIzgzJR5zSlMsYzo3LeCROVnDoeY770aJRyVdWIuXshunFH1e7QgdgC8WsPd9jYNY/s640/stop_SOPA.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif;">On January 18, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif;">"Illusions of a Noetic Monk" went <i>dark</i> along with the English version of Wikipedia and several other websites in a coordinated service blackout to protest SOPA and its sister bill, the Protect IP Act, or PIPA. Other companies, including Google, posted links and images in an effort to raise awareness. An estimated 7,000 websites either blacked out their sites or posted a protest message. A number of other protest actions were organized, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and a rally held in New York City. The important fact is that the blackout got noticed and there have been reports that several congressional leaders are postponing action on the bill until better solutions are found. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">According to Wikipedia:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The <b>Stop Online Piracy Act</b> (<b>SOPA</b>) is a U.S. House bill to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Proposals include barring advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with allegedly infringing websites, barring from linking to the sites, and requiring Internet service providers (ISP) to block access to the sites. The bill would criminalize the of such content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
User-content websites such as YouTube would be greatly affected, and concern has been expressed that they may be shut down if the bill becomes law. Opponents state the legislation would enable law enforcement to remove an entire internet domain due to something posted on a single blog, arguing that an entire online community could be punished for the actions of a tiny minority. In a 1998 law, copyright owners are required to request the site to remove the infringing material within a certain amount of time. SOPA would bypass this "safe harbor" provision by placing the responsibility for detecting and policing infringement onto the site itself.
</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif;">
While nothing is inherently wrong with trying to protect intellectual properties, the real threats are to free speech - one of the cornerstones of the US Constitution - and the boundaries of government enforement. In such turbulent times, particularly, we cannot permit such fundamental rights to be eroded by misguided, unrestrained governmental intervention.</span>
</div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-12058289362367946132011-12-29T13:28:00.000-08:002012-01-21T09:47:29.176-08:00Unrealized Self<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoc6zuGfwq9stBP32K-s-3eomvWniTy8cT1Ahy7qsSYQ8JpBcej6Dyi-fTL0GRAX_QrRXm-bWP5LXjMYAWUazjvAoGLPeR5ISt3mhVgVI0mQTBoIZfRe1aXQgNeSRdFbsWB_pttMHfFI/s1600/2011-12-07_14-30-07_789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoc6zuGfwq9stBP32K-s-3eomvWniTy8cT1Ahy7qsSYQ8JpBcej6Dyi-fTL0GRAX_QrRXm-bWP5LXjMYAWUazjvAoGLPeR5ISt3mhVgVI0mQTBoIZfRe1aXQgNeSRdFbsWB_pttMHfFI/s320/2011-12-07_14-30-07_789.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kauapea "Secret" Beach, Kaua'i</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Truly, </i><br />
<i>I have attained nothing from total</i><br />
<i>enlightenment.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Buddha</div>
<br />
What is "I"? <br />
<br />
Fundamentally, "I" is a perspective. "I" is a facet of harmonic energy in temporal association with dynamically ordered matter. "I" is body, ego, personality, intellect, indoctrination, and emotion added to a singularity in Consciousness.<br />
<br />
I seem unable to describe more precisely the basis of "I" who is writing this. One difficulty is that there are multiple dimensions of "I" - many likely beyond the mind's ability to understand. Of course, language is partially to blame, too. Words aren't adequate to describe that which the mind is challenged to understand; sentences create only metaphors in an attempt to transfer interpreted abstraction from one mind to another for re-interpretation back to abstraction. So, with even my native language failing me, it's a daunting task to consider what I should write next.
<br />
<br />
To complicate things further, the mind's experience doesn't correlate with what I'm trying to say. The mind masquerades as <i>me </i>and ego tends to confirms the mind's assertion of self. We are trying here to use the mind to understand <i>self</i> when it regards itself as <i>self</i>. Ego concurs with the mind in believing that what I've created in myself somehow defines who I am. It can be difficult to hold the realized self apart from what the mind tells us. The very fact that I am intellectualizing this is counter-intuitive, if not <i>self</i> defeating (pun intended).<br />
<br />
Of course, we can be very zen-like and stop at saying there is no self and nothing to understand or explain. We really could and that would be perfectly fine. I think we are equally correct to inquire into the the experience of self and to attempt to understand it better. <br />
<br />
Even accepting a non-dualistic interpretation of pure awareness as self, there still remains an apparent need to distinguish our experiences. The "I" is a differentiated experience - we are more than 'One' undifferentiated blob of consciousness floating throughout the universe. There <i>is</i> a self that has a limited experience - and is capable of, at least having an illusion of, driving a car, flying a plane or throwing a stone. So, apparently layered over the fundamental non-dualistic "I", there appears to be distinguishing features that differentiate the individual.
<br />
<br />
I'm discovering good reason for gurus, prophets and poets to leave such topics cryptic and vague. <b>Even with some of the rhetorical and intellectual bases covered, </b>I might do better to quit after describing the Polihale experience (see <i><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2011/12/kauai-realized.html">Kaua'i-realized</a></i>). I'm about to go beyond interpretations that I feel confident to be true and correct - departing from linear rationality to describe a state of metaphorical noesis. <br />
<br />
Late at night, during a 13-hour meditation under the near-full moon on 'Secret' Beach on the Northeast side of Kaua'i, I engaged what seemed to be an energetic (non-physical) entity. The experience seemed purely intuitive, seemingly originating from a source <i>higher</i> than intellect. It was different from the awareness experience at Polihale. This was an awareness of a differentiated energetic state of "I" that seemed to emanate from distinguishable locales within consciousness.<br />
<br />
As I sat with it, I encouraged it to enter my experience and even made an odd attempt to make myself permeable to it. I gradually felt myself incorporated by this other being. It felt like it entered me rather than me entering it, though it was likely just my perspective. It brought with it an expanded life force that was resonate with the being of "I". It was comfortable and calming - it seemed to be a higher frequency, expanded "I" that was able enter the mind/body while in its state of meditation on the beach. The frequencies merged into one and I consciously tried to hold it in an expanded <i>self</i>.<br />
<br />
I knew somehow that it was the one known prior to me as <i>I'dia</i>. I've been aware of its presence and close association, though it had until then seemed like a separate entity. This time it felt like it was part of the "I" - somewhat like an energy level that had been available, but not occupied by my own awareness. It seemed to take the form of an energy field within a discrete frequency structure.<br />
<br />
I have noticed other energetic forms that seem associated with the "I". It's clearly important to be highly selective about which ones to incorporate. Most seem like discrete life form energies that are <i>attached</i> to my own discrete life form. Some seem beneficial while most seem to clutter the field - there seems to be a benefit to clearing them. Some forms seem aggressive and stealthy and will try to incorporate into a sort of parasitic relationship. This one was different in that it seemed harmonic with my being and connected to the root <i>self.</i><br />
<br />
We accept the fluidity of the biological structure with cells, molecules and fluids in a state of constant recycle. We eat plant and animal parts to build and maintain our physical bodies. It seems that the fundamental life energy structure is fluid, as well. Thus, I seemed to incorporate the energy force known to me as <i>I'dia</i> and hold it as a part of "I" in much the same manner that one acquires nutrients in order to grow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I am that I am</i> -<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>a metamorphic perspective of Consciousness.<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
****<br />
<b>Hawaiian Vacation</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RhcSgM7Rzc6hXFIfSzn41ew4JRMnLZVG3s0dXB4KchWnPkzUwnfUj8vOV3NnTplC_HLNBaRgdQezXTkB-hV1m5XPuCrSsEZFXy0f9C2S7BotWu8RkqORHBAOTEr6_zDUkUv4lSz7tro/s1600/CIMG2624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RhcSgM7Rzc6hXFIfSzn41ew4JRMnLZVG3s0dXB4KchWnPkzUwnfUj8vOV3NnTplC_HLNBaRgdQezXTkB-hV1m5XPuCrSsEZFXy0f9C2S7BotWu8RkqORHBAOTEr6_zDUkUv4lSz7tro/s640/CIMG2624.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Na Pali Coast, Kaua'i<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I wouldn't want you to think that I spent my entire trip investigating subtle life forms. The Oahu portion of the trip expanded from a planned 6 days to 8. We visited an energetic medicine clinic that resulted in large (15 ml) injections of naturopathic solutions under the skin to be followed up with 10 more weekly injections. We also enjoyed a deep ceremony on the North Shore as the surf pounded the beach. This area had been a "jumping off" point for centuries - a place where natives would go to die. Needless to say, the space felt highly sacred.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wEflSsSMqoiNUonALWnR_FtGKd1HLcdPS86T5fEKKd61xd5axD6HIWGiUhl9y6Li1x82dkl3rM1YFOpltTeoVIKksRCFFwHxD_vts4HcWioo4wOgBClXliZMqVcEKd0ux7AbbCoNXq4/s1600/CIMG2586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wEflSsSMqoiNUonALWnR_FtGKd1HLcdPS86T5fEKKd61xd5axD6HIWGiUhl9y6Li1x82dkl3rM1YFOpltTeoVIKksRCFFwHxD_vts4HcWioo4wOgBClXliZMqVcEKd0ux7AbbCoNXq4/s320/CIMG2586.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I'dia</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, Lili & Lauryn</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Kaua'i portion stretched from 7 to 11 days due to the graceful state of mind it supported. The mostly unspoiled beauty of Kaua'i is what the sentient experience is all about. The island was conducive to enjoying its beaches, waters, roads and trails. We meditated at the Hindu shrine. We swam and snorkeled at several beaches around the island and danced the hula. We rented a plane and flew around the island to view the rugged Na Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, numerous water falls and the like - much of it not accessible by auto. Kaua'i never expressed such subtle grace and beauty on prior trips. Perhaps, the "I" observed from a different perspective on this one.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-wJjn4HWVNIZF3epZC-W3QITSfuQk7D8jCPak2kvPVtvz25hCDOOCODASL_ju1dLGlfkXyUHOaUve3EHpi-P3z_4lo7sBVvC-CKUvYFn2wq2MB1pjgLQEU-MZNaf3CKE9aGkcUjiA1Q/s1600/2011-12-06_11-07-18_48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-wJjn4HWVNIZF3epZC-W3QITSfuQk7D8jCPak2kvPVtvz25hCDOOCODASL_ju1dLGlfkXyUHOaUve3EHpi-P3z_4lo7sBVvC-CKUvYFn2wq2MB1pjgLQEU-MZNaf3CKE9aGkcUjiA1Q/s320/2011-12-06_11-07-18_48.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene at Hindu Monastery</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDJHd59KasigNGZtdxNg6KDx8rqoFgi0Q9jK4ztY-2T9JT61yyWGAlR3tD7Sn5TUk0YX6k03B0OOhQtdER-kNITyp36mFO_LXI8d09iifrmM3bQiK_vokyAsZYoUc2CmIeJGOot4B9-E/s1600/2011-12-08_16-02-28_599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDJHd59KasigNGZtdxNg6KDx8rqoFgi0Q9jK4ztY-2T9JT61yyWGAlR3tD7Sn5TUk0YX6k03B0OOhQtdER-kNITyp36mFO_LXI8d09iifrmM3bQiK_vokyAsZYoUc2CmIeJGOot4B9-E/s320/2011-12-08_16-02-28_599.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauryn Dances Hula</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacO5J38TggeQr3JbV4Sq_TezTmUpGzMVHA5zj1T0VLpulrnOHevufVTRL4q8rFAfSIz7_w9fP_b147uhwpawxMFAOlXiVTD54-12pbPE-li5vXPJMcNlbhrobtHYybZxco36I9-D2cBQ/s1600/CIMG2614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacO5J38TggeQr3JbV4Sq_TezTmUpGzMVHA5zj1T0VLpulrnOHevufVTRL4q8rFAfSIz7_w9fP_b147uhwpawxMFAOlXiVTD54-12pbPE-li5vXPJMcNlbhrobtHYybZxco36I9-D2cBQ/s320/CIMG2614.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ke'e Beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtlsdLFvmmzozcVjkc3EuWGOiTrKBWbB2veIAExVlBcxin0SO3fSQjyBqXl-lwA1zgBKKeGDwcrLY0tYNWJN3tSwrz0NiAQfH1G8gle5MJLYzqizNV1jofhvZorBd4rKllOufWm_ohkc/s1600/CIMG2649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtlsdLFvmmzozcVjkc3EuWGOiTrKBWbB2veIAExVlBcxin0SO3fSQjyBqXl-lwA1zgBKKeGDwcrLY0tYNWJN3tSwrz0NiAQfH1G8gle5MJLYzqizNV1jofhvZorBd4rKllOufWm_ohkc/s200/CIMG2649.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waimea Canyon</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp9KXMtT-eNDA-H6ZDwdg5VjNyHF_CC-0TWQk4rxwMW4AVN0z3AKqpICFLoGCaMCVs8qo8oEoX_l8d6eubJcBvjGnEjn4DUFHR50DIu7FsOOXo3Ce7Gnkp_JYkJH3aD66dVPGvCqyuS0/s1600/CIMG2669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp9KXMtT-eNDA-H6ZDwdg5VjNyHF_CC-0TWQk4rxwMW4AVN0z3AKqpICFLoGCaMCVs8qo8oEoX_l8d6eubJcBvjGnEjn4DUFHR50DIu7FsOOXo3Ce7Gnkp_JYkJH3aD66dVPGvCqyuS0/s200/CIMG2669.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manawaiopuna "Jurassic" Falls</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPnUX1GaPsSMRDguYVTFgMDsJlQzzG4jL-27YAKDCgYgoBIKCFBc5RJMwDHs2cztAmPmdvysBsv9FX9yQTu_ClaCKft8fXSVJH-k2AQ7EpGJBoKW8e-Ugqd3i2cSd0JaNliq0Zzvzn0w/s1600/1323043876024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCPnUX1GaPsSMRDguYVTFgMDsJlQzzG4jL-27YAKDCgYgoBIKCFBc5RJMwDHs2cztAmPmdvysBsv9FX9yQTu_ClaCKft8fXSVJH-k2AQ7EpGJBoKW8e-Ugqd3i2cSd0JaNliq0Zzvzn0w/s200/1323043876024.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilauea Lighthouse</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUmmwIBY-uySk9B9H8g4sMYN378Jm_uEikcMGfZelRryyrf0hcwpZgLDt0d2crQxAq2bmlJcbMCCcaoN-OqwD_TYYMlmIaS8BfjQ_wMoBjKqLhRvWUV0mnfYIs7U6KHGl6ygGNx3fsSQ/s1600/1323054645399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUmmwIBY-uySk9B9H8g4sMYN378Jm_uEikcMGfZelRryyrf0hcwpZgLDt0d2crQxAq2bmlJcbMCCcaoN-OqwD_TYYMlmIaS8BfjQ_wMoBjKqLhRvWUV0mnfYIs7U6KHGl6ygGNx3fsSQ/s200/1323054645399.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poipu Beach</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTnpNniNop8lm0gxhIUWxUhHhI18m_580zjYI2qJ_O44uogktwXInnvSJelu-rBDUFF4sEesvcUsRUbI-T-ZwYqGl_wrPuTXQpJBNNUC636zPX4cbqNco_lvpxxlLWF7J_0Tw9FNageE/s1600/CIMG2596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTnpNniNop8lm0gxhIUWxUhHhI18m_580zjYI2qJ_O44uogktwXInnvSJelu-rBDUFF4sEesvcUsRUbI-T-ZwYqGl_wrPuTXQpJBNNUC636zPX4cbqNco_lvpxxlLWF7J_0Tw9FNageE/s200/CIMG2596.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I" is "Pilot in Command"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-24481527008199217072011-12-01T14:02:00.001-08:002011-12-23T22:40:51.148-08:00Kaua'i-realized<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi59_CYcsBv3xLriIQEv_vscm7_QXINcH5IC_6CH09q70qRRFxiVh2oJhJ0_uOuAqnd9kRHVWKc7eZhKFJ3i9lmS5F0EY_WMujyTHrjfBJkClAeiyD9vJSlpfdEDiI7fyppnJ7sT9DvZQ/s1600/2011-12-01_16-35-46_564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi59_CYcsBv3xLriIQEv_vscm7_QXINcH5IC_6CH09q70qRRFxiVh2oJhJ0_uOuAqnd9kRHVWKc7eZhKFJ3i9lmS5F0EY_WMujyTHrjfBJkClAeiyD9vJSlpfdEDiI7fyppnJ7sT9DvZQ/s320/2011-12-01_16-35-46_564.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polihale, Kaua'i</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>"You see yourself in the world while I see the world in myself. To you, you get born and die, while to me, the world appears and disappears."</i><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
As the waves washed ashore with the brisk night wind along the northwest coast of Kaua'i, I walked alone for miles on the sand under the stars and half-moon in the sky. Then, having been drawn to a silent blinking light emanating from the point, I was sitting last night under the navigational beacon on the dunes of Polihale while the dim light of the moon reflected from the surf. <br />
<br />
After some time, awareness of my physical form dissolved into the environment. I saw, I felt - I was - the sandy beach and ocean waves of Kauai's coast. My face buffeted softly by the wind, I looked out in a subtle state of pure illumination. <br />
<br />
Then, I was aware of Kaua'i looking back.<br />
<br />
I was on the <i>inside</i> looking <i>out</i> - Kaua'i was on the <i>outside</i> looking <i>in</i>. I could even see what it saw. With playfulness, I could switch my perspective from the <i>inside</i> looking <i>out</i> or the <i>outside</i> looking <i>in</i>. There was only a thin, barely detectable, haze between our physical forms and a clear window through the eyes by which we could view <i>out</i> - or <i>in</i>. What was surprising was that the view was much the same - I was in Kaua'i and Kaua'i was in me. My consciousness seemd tuned to that of the island's.<br />
<br />
While the Zen-<i>ish</i> concept of <i>no-self</i> seems overly simplistic, it was fascinating to experience the intertwined relationship between <i>self</i> and surroundings - the lack of an impermeable boundary. What was even more exhilarating was to experience the consciousness of what the <i>self</i> had until then understood to be inanimate surroundings.<br />
<br />
Dogmatic self-realization seems more readily available today than in prior centuries - at least at an intellectual level. We have within our collective knowledge a reasonable understanding of the relationship between matter and energy, galactic birth and death, and our inconspicuous place within the infinity. Perhaps, what was striking about this experience was that it happened within awareness rather than intellect. <br />
<br />
We are much like the waves on the ocean - every wave a part of the ocean - forming and dissipating in temporal beats - each wave impacted by the whole and by the 'others'. Contrary to a strict interpretation of <i>no-self</i>, each has a place in space and time. We are awareness encapsulated in matter. We each have our own experience. Within the vast ocean of energy, humans and countless other life forms arise to witness their perspective. Yet, if one were able to see the total spectrum of illumination, the individual forms might not be distinguishable without careful attention. The separation between the one and the many is more like an ocean current than a boundary.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-46406848041819328862011-09-27T21:15:00.000-07:002013-10-05T05:40:16.779-07:00The Disconnected Semiconscious<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe3Q8FVf7ebzko2qTHzDAgpTdatostejyzP1f3DUExHfhlB2tXzz2atoUdxfx1WTW3hr8Ji-wJsHtYbAHzIICeziwF2Ayo2p1uU2XvD6k1d-3KFGPU-XKrXyswUpGz8xQx2ZIjaczeuY/s1600/pieta-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe3Q8FVf7ebzko2qTHzDAgpTdatostejyzP1f3DUExHfhlB2tXzz2atoUdxfx1WTW3hr8Ji-wJsHtYbAHzIICeziwF2Ayo2p1uU2XvD6k1d-3KFGPU-XKrXyswUpGz8xQx2ZIjaczeuY/s320/pieta-one.jpg" width="304" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe3Q8FVf7ebzko2qTHzDAgpTdatostejyzP1f3DUExHfhlB2tXzz2atoUdxfx1WTW3hr8Ji-wJsHtYbAHzIICeziwF2Ayo2p1uU2XvD6k1d-3KFGPU-XKrXyswUpGz8xQx2ZIjaczeuY/s1600/pieta-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
**DRAFT**<br />
This article is unfinished<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>There are no others.</i><br />
- Ramona Maharshi</div>
<br />
<br />
Carl Jung described what he called the collective unconscious - that realm just beyond our conscious awareness that seems to tie us together. It exists within our culture, or past cultures passed forward, feeding off our personal unconsciousness in a self-sustaining cycle of persuasion. Because it exists at the subconscious level, it can be very difficult to catch. <br />
<br />
Those of us who are not psychologists might need a little background. According to Jung:<br />
<blockquote>
"In addition to the personal unconscious generally accepted by medical psychology, the existence of a second psychic system of a universal and impersonal nature is postulated. This collective unconscious is considered to consist of preexistent thought forms, called archetypes, which give form to certain psychic material which then enters the conscious. Archetypes are likened to instinctual behavior patterns. Examples of ideas such as the concept of rebirth, which occur independently in various cultures and ages, are advanced as evidence for the collective unconscious. It is felt that there are as many archetypes as there are recurring situations in life, that when a situation occurs that corresponds to a particular archetype, the archetype presses for completion like an instinctual drive; resistance to its expression may result in neurosis. The existence of archetypes is demonstrated in the analysis of adult and childhood dreams, active imagination, psychotic delusions, and fantasies produced in the trance state."</blockquote>
Further:<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NYZ21v23bd186Qt4SU7LWKZSnbK71ksr3UVZ0Apj_1edVvIhesPYVf3mLt-w6T6c5O9nSlP2s5j5_41rbTp1uKWHqZbX3w2wHBttePcTcKwGGunUjQDt9dBT0IqBFe60pJ_KLKoqrUo/s1600/Buddha20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NYZ21v23bd186Qt4SU7LWKZSnbK71ksr3UVZ0Apj_1edVvIhesPYVf3mLt-w6T6c5O9nSlP2s5j5_41rbTp1uKWHqZbX3w2wHBttePcTcKwGGunUjQDt9dBT0IqBFe60pJ_KLKoqrUo/s200/Buddha20.jpg" width="145" /></a>"Archetypal images expressed in religious dogma in particular are thoroughly elaborated into formalized structures which, while by expressing the unconscious in a circuitous manner, prevent direct confrontation with it. Since the Protestant Reformation rejected nearly all of the carefully constructed symbol structures, man has felt increasingly isolated and alone without his gods; at a loss to replenish his externalized symbols, he must turn to their source in the unconscious. The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man's hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning. These are archetypes susceptible to personification; the archetypes of transformation, which express the process of individuation itself, are manifested in situations. As archetypes penetrate consciousness, they influence the perceived experience of normal and neurotic people; a too powerful archetype may totally possess the individual and cause psychosis. The therapeutic process takes the unconscious archetypes into account in two ways: they are made as fully conscious as possible, then synthesized with the conscious by recognition and acceptance. It is observed that since modern man has a highly developed ability to dissociate, simple recognition may not be followed by appropriate action; it is thus felt that moral judgment and counsel is often required in the course of treatment." (ref: Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 9, Part 1. 2nd ed., Princeton University Press, 1968. 451 p. (p. 3-53)).</blockquote>
Jung went on to state that <i>synchronicity</i> was a product of the collective unconscious. Since individuals are connected through the collective unconscious, events may synchronize to seemingly unrelated events. Thus, Jung's collective unconscious is a realm we all tap into - as place where our deities and icons originate.<br />
<br />
Jung's terminology comes from the perspective of the human experience in conscious awareness. Yet, from the realm of the larger consciousness, we tend to exist in a rather unconscious (semiconscious) and uncollective realm - the realm of mind and ego. Jung's <i>collective unconscious</i> seems to equate with the outer boundaries of the greater (God) Consciousness. Separated from the human mind and it's ego, this realm is removed from our ordinary experience.<br />
<br />
Hindu tradition describes our individual egos as like islands in a sea that are connected beneath the water at the sea floor. We look at each other and think we are separate entities. The outer world is the illusion (Maya). It has no reality of its own. Our individual egos (jivatman) are individual souls. But they, too, are an illusion. We are all actually extensions of the One (Atman or God), who allows bits of himself to forget his identity, to become apparently separate and independent, an individual. Yet, we are never separate. According to Hindu tradition, we wake up when we die to realize that we were God from the beginning. When we dream or meditate, we sink into our personal unconscious, coming closer and closer to our true selves, the collective unconscious. In such states, we are especially open to "communications" from other egos. Synchronicity makes Jung's theory not only compatible with para-psychological phenomena, but actually tries to explain them. The doctrines of the Kabbalah describe a similar oneness posing within a sea of individual illusions.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RNtiUIOsN7yYkeRVSdvclRqT_0m3GTzGKFtC0FbP4rN9HT8n_i7AnkcszOoVyZkrR1XQFWbMNUHHuIvHQbYcprbhtnqLLOUUO2DJQiXJHM5e807ALLlvmhdMI35vamxhGpcNvhlgW9A/s1600/synchronicity.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RNtiUIOsN7yYkeRVSdvclRqT_0m3GTzGKFtC0FbP4rN9HT8n_i7AnkcszOoVyZkrR1XQFWbMNUHHuIvHQbYcprbhtnqLLOUUO2DJQiXJHM5e807ALLlvmhdMI35vamxhGpcNvhlgW9A/s320/synchronicity.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The link between the conscious and subconscious seems to be via imagery and intuition rather than intellect. We don't seem to be able to understand the subconscious, but we access it through dreams, meditations, and entheogens. This seems to be the basis of Freud's interest in dreams. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQdM6LDNWo7JCybVLsjnalcmbVPn4n5B1fTEqGFh5SDK20T8LzdHDF63fdEwNKmFh7L8YdBmGJU1j3sDpMpqSm7Jv6sS2iK9jYXW6t3OxtsleLhyM9Y3WIH4jsgXV3CqsoGfBqxoBxkk/s1600/michael+archangel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQdM6LDNWo7JCybVLsjnalcmbVPn4n5B1fTEqGFh5SDK20T8LzdHDF63fdEwNKmFh7L8YdBmGJU1j3sDpMpqSm7Jv6sS2iK9jYXW6t3OxtsleLhyM9Y3WIH4jsgXV3CqsoGfBqxoBxkk/s200/michael+archangel.jpg" width="144" /></a>Perhaps, we in Western culture have it all backwards: consciousness may be the illusion while the unconscious is the reality. Perhaps, the unconscious is our higher self. Are the archetypes of religion based glimpses into another realm? Could our dreams be real and our reality a dream? Perhaps, the archetypes and deities are real and we, our egos, are the fabrication. Perhaps, consciousness and unconsciousness are related dimensions of our being. <br />
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFqlDhObeBUfBmm0gDOCyYVhPWXEFlVQg8HKoMqkmsIsVjpmA4Q22VWxaaaD7alwk4b14iC0HJZx3OleXfE2U3cCEdPKqc81ifUmjTfAL1Uw9UbjDmjZQ61E_LRJg-GCbt91A40WWXh0/s1600/John-F-Kennedy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFqlDhObeBUfBmm0gDOCyYVhPWXEFlVQg8HKoMqkmsIsVjpmA4Q22VWxaaaD7alwk4b14iC0HJZx3OleXfE2U3cCEdPKqc81ifUmjTfAL1Uw9UbjDmjZQ61E_LRJg-GCbt91A40WWXh0/s200/John-F-Kennedy.jpg" width="200" /></a>Religious deities appear to be archetypes manifested by the collective unconscious. Our subconscious desire to align with our illusions of "good" motivates us to triumph over our illusions of "evil". Our political leaders are archetypes of what we have chosen to be elected - whether or not they bear semblance to the actual person elected. Elections of leaders (JFK experience) - the Camelot years of the whitehouse were, in retrospect, a carefully orchestrated illusion that bore little semblance to the the actual egoic characters of those involved. Buddhist meditation. (Channeling)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kKHGJGbxOOqS4giGAUxT4R8-64oJN3rh84WDm0eXA0-VYWVVMqOBqN7kK1r6-cdH3qcNyLzyT06iRAKCFhwn8-n6uVXKXYTGYbrDr0PcBEAFzumVnWY5R7BYP_kAza0S_rYh5djNqtA/s1600/hindu-gods-kali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kKHGJGbxOOqS4giGAUxT4R8-64oJN3rh84WDm0eXA0-VYWVVMqOBqN7kK1r6-cdH3qcNyLzyT06iRAKCFhwn8-n6uVXKXYTGYbrDr0PcBEAFzumVnWY5R7BYP_kAza0S_rYh5djNqtA/s200/hindu-gods-kali.jpg" width="141" /></a>The common question is whether or not archetypes have a basis in reality -- assuming we can be at all objective about reality.<br />
<br />
Within the collective unconscious is a common image of a better world, a loving god, and a perfect family; a belief that good will triumph over evil; a fear of being attacked by a wild animal; a common enemy. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6Uwstl5J297Yv0J3SlD59rq8ok-U5otUbRc4qdRabQXe8h6ywE0qY0BdVlDNJqwlXqXzx9TrCtBIkFL0X6SrGBMkvruX8TftKXW-1IkuZCi0bApBA4cejFOlh95MIWr7WDQVZDs1Px4/s1600/4-Adam.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6Uwstl5J297Yv0J3SlD59rq8ok-U5otUbRc4qdRabQXe8h6ywE0qY0BdVlDNJqwlXqXzx9TrCtBIkFL0X6SrGBMkvruX8TftKXW-1IkuZCi0bApBA4cejFOlh95MIWr7WDQVZDs1Px4/s200/4-Adam.gif" width="200" /></a>Does it serve us? <br />
<br />
Frustratingly, such things can not be explained fully by rational thinking. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKJlB7rrBFGy3Clpql0z3EhSMriQ96xUYqByCSUqcxsaJRbu9oOEOtANN_6TSdWY6GTBK7LbJvVF3K27fSviM71X7Xjc0Xz97ELjlnw_8Y0toIe0SLAZzsGXi9rfHIA1lvqFIvwofZvQ/s1600/spirit+guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKJlB7rrBFGy3Clpql0z3EhSMriQ96xUYqByCSUqcxsaJRbu9oOEOtANN_6TSdWY6GTBK7LbJvVF3K27fSviM71X7Xjc0Xz97ELjlnw_8Y0toIe0SLAZzsGXi9rfHIA1lvqFIvwofZvQ/s200/spirit+guide.jpg" width="161" /></a>As importantly, archetypes become lifeforms that embody us. We're run by these entities of illusion from the unconscious level. The ideas taught to us in school or by our parents easily hide in our subconscious and arise later to embody us. We act on them as if they are a part of us. It's important to notice them and identify them as they become indistinguishable from reality. I think it is the essence of many things we call spirit - the unconscious feeding us bits of vague information that is aligned with a story or other thought process.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbbfTh111Fn-Rfp92zWc0oRwhhB5WTEqKWjQiJ0Yf4g6jvVH0jN5ZXuAH9bbR5mynYGhfD8stpnB_9yjlqdQRStHlKVQsyWZduOYMqqiXWg8xQnhppcCvO9UN_UVJ96XMzb6RXsnZHhE/s1600/snake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbbfTh111Fn-Rfp92zWc0oRwhhB5WTEqKWjQiJ0Yf4g6jvVH0jN5ZXuAH9bbR5mynYGhfD8stpnB_9yjlqdQRStHlKVQsyWZduOYMqqiXWg8xQnhppcCvO9UN_UVJ96XMzb6RXsnZHhE/s200/snake.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
We need to stay aware of where are messages are coming from. Do they represent a collective ideal to be manifested or are they a form of suppressive misinformation? <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvin5B3CPkBUyKzhpZWbAVf7vvTmUXjyo1wU0layxLrOLC2a9nRT3UDaJ_2oQYZ8WXZ3kV-NFI8zSCni-f3urDNhtN7xnH0Jg8UI4UmhW0p1vhtUpL1Jk56FUdqmIM_k_xhQQc3NJVFg/s1600/darth-vader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvin5B3CPkBUyKzhpZWbAVf7vvTmUXjyo1wU0layxLrOLC2a9nRT3UDaJ_2oQYZ8WXZ3kV-NFI8zSCni-f3urDNhtN7xnH0Jg8UI4UmhW0p1vhtUpL1Jk56FUdqmIM_k_xhQQc3NJVFg/s200/darth-vader.jpg" width="200" /></a>According to Joseph Campbell, "The highest concern of all the mythologies, ceremonials, ethical systems, and social organization of the agriculturally based societies has been that of suppressing the manifestation of the individualism; and this has been generally achieved by compelling or persuading people to identify themselves not with their own interests, intuitions, or modes of experience, but with the archetypes of behavior and systems of sentiment developed and maintained in the public domain." (<em>Masks of God: Primitive Mythology</em>, pg. 240)<br />
<br />
The <i>collective unconscious</i> tends to give us powerful images to admire and even hold sacred. This is the realm of the gods and icons of good and evil. The symbols that are brought back into consciousness are powerful. Yet, they are often distorted and misused in consciousness by religious and political systems. The symbols we see in the subconscious are often not matched in the conscious. We often don't like what we see in our illusion of reality. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXELCtx-Qd_s38B-1op6ApvqsggYtpk_wXZ5SgJ5_UqrL2yOtJuIXB6XhRSwtM-VxiYhbdBmcVH0WCJxtIdd646KTmvr71QKa2pDVejAI63Ae7krsmhNmnIyT8ji4pk52aTW4f8VoW7Sk/s1600/bush-paulson-bernanke-g20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXELCtx-Qd_s38B-1op6ApvqsggYtpk_wXZ5SgJ5_UqrL2yOtJuIXB6XhRSwtM-VxiYhbdBmcVH0WCJxtIdd646KTmvr71QKa2pDVejAI63Ae7krsmhNmnIyT8ji4pk52aTW4f8VoW7Sk/s200/bush-paulson-bernanke-g20.jpg" width="200" /></a>Thus, the human experience nearly always falls short of the greater consciousness. The human <i>collective</i> seems to average out our collective personal consciousnesses. Our electoral systems might be illustrative. Here we are influenced by things such as media and other social networking or propaganda. The results can be disturbing to many until we realize that our elected leaders are often a manifestation of our <i>average</i> and rarely our the ideals we strive for. Yet, we can't escape the collective -- we are all part of it. To raise it, we must not only raise our own consciousness, but also that of the collective. We are in this together and can not escape our involvement in the collective. <br />
<br />
Human consciousness that we experience generally originates from the mind. It is poorly equipped to perceive the greater Consciousness that actually ties us together.Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-52592123552501267142011-08-01T18:09:00.000-07:002011-08-17T22:37:51.615-07:00That Which Can't be Named<div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="border-collapse: collapse; float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw2zlJLBDMEGGctzaxepiv5IdxP_LzEQDnH0CUGoKE4ocZXmY97az4hzsTirbHHYshDvIHiVyiwnjG150-ABOhmXqQAGRFjee5R6rq2AB71fXVbxamDl5NRg_A9q6RK8jgSaFfbJzejo/s1600/primordial_soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw2zlJLBDMEGGctzaxepiv5IdxP_LzEQDnH0CUGoKE4ocZXmY97az4hzsTirbHHYshDvIHiVyiwnjG150-ABOhmXqQAGRFjee5R6rq2AB71fXVbxamDl5NRg_A9q6RK8jgSaFfbJzejo/s320/primordial_soup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.phidelity.com/photos/v/Artwork/Fractal+Flames/primordial_soup.jpg.html">Primordial Soup</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The nameless was the beginning of</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">heaven and earth;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The named was the mother of the</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">myriad creatures.</span></span></div></div><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Tao Tê Ching<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/p/tao-by-dc-lau.html">D.C. Lau Translation</a></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I've wondered often about the origins of life. There were some provocative classical experiments demonstrating that amino acids (protein building blocks) could be created in the lab by passing an electrical discharge through a flask containing methane and ammonia - a condition created to model lightning strikes in Earth's primitive atmosphere. More recently, pantetheine was created by heating a mixture of pantoyl lactone, beta- alanine and cysteamine -- all three believed to have been present on the early Earth. Pantetheine is related to coenzyme A, essential for protein formation and used by every known organism to assist in a variety of chemical reactions. Extrapolating from such results, it seems plausible that complex organic molecules might thus have evolved from simple molecular building blocks which then might have undergone a molecular evolution into more complex molecules that would ultimately support simple life forms. From simple life forms evolved more complex life forms. Further suggestions of the molecular basis for the origins of life include the auto-assembly of viral proteins <i>in vitro</i> and, more recently, the successful transplantation of a synthetic bacterial genome into a recipient cell. Such experiments have lead to the concept of a "primordial soup" of molecular building blocks that might have given rise to primitive life forms spontaneously. <br />
<br />
It's easy to extend the paradigm of evolution back to include inorganic matter. Evolution at the quantum mechanical level can be observed readily both in nature and in the laboratory. Nuclear fusion reactions power the stars and produce virtually all elements in a process called nucleosynthesis. Our physical bodies are composed of stardust.<br />
<br />
Evolutionary theories don't attempt to account for intelligence or will and are often offered as an alternative to a theistic concept of god. Still, they fail to reconcile the requirement for the many extremely rare events that would be needed in tight synchronization with a very large number of other extremely rare events. How does one reconcile the <i>chicken and the egg</i> paradox? While there would be lots of time for such events to occur, it's difficult to accept that stochastic events are entirely responsible for the evolution of physical life forms.<br />
<br />
Consider a different perspective. Perhaps, <b>physical forms of life arose via transformation from </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">everything</i><b> rather than evolution from </b><b style="font-style: italic;">nothing. </b> It's more than a semantic distinction.<br />
<br />
The primordial universe -- a void without boundaries, without a beginning in time or an end, empty of physical form -- would still be a closed energy system. The amount of energy per square unit of measure would be very low compared to dense regions in our physical universe. Yet, this resting universe would still hold infinite energy in infinite space, even in its lowest unperturbed state - the state of <i>zero point energy</i>, postulated by Einstein and Stern. <br />
<br />
Zero point energy is the ground state of a quantum mechanical physical system. Yet, it is not a state without energy. It is the energy contained within a vacuum. It is not static as, according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the energy state would be in constant flux -- a vibration of enormous magnitude when manifested on an infinite scale of the infinite vacuum. Such an infinite energy reservoir seems likely to have been the <i>primordial soup</i> from which all manifestations of the physical universe and of life arose. This primordial universe would be undifferentiated in form and function. Yet, the infinite wave forms might hold a consciousness. Each vibration might hold a memory like a vibrating guitar string memorializing that it has been plucked. Fractal resonant nodes might hold the intelligence of the universe.<br />
<br />
Such an intelligence would be as infinite as the energy field from which it arises. Yet, it would possess few distinguishing features - pure consciousness without definition. The energy potential for everything we observe manifested in our present universe would be contained within the infinity of this unmanifested state. In esoteric terms, it was (is) the <i>universal consciousness</i>, the <i>godhead</i>, the <i>One</i>.<br />
<br />
Matter would condense from the immense fluctuating energy field of the unmanifested universe - perhaps in an event arising from a singularity to form an entire material universe, as predicted by general relativity. Perhaps, matter came into existence out intention of consciousness; perhaps it was set in motion by stochastic events evoked by perturbations of energy, as if massive shifts in energy were orchestrated by an algorithm in a manner similar to that of a complex fractal. Irrespectively, though temporal in space and time, the appearance of matter would provide a basis for distinction within the void - the beginnings of definition within the universe. From the background zero point energy, darkness was separated from light. <br />
<br />
</div>At the crux of the Tao Tê Ching is the concept of opposites. Darkness must exist in order for there to be light; low must exist in order for there to be high ... ugly for beautiful ... weak for strong. Those things that can be named exist only in contrast to something else. Yet, for this primordial consciousness, there would not be such contrasting attributes by which to discern within the void. In the language of the Tao, it was the essence of what can't be named. Definition would have evolved only out of points of distinction. Without distinction, intelligence would not be required or available.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>I can only imagine that a universal consciousness would have noticed the physical manifestations and, in some way, preferred them to what may have been the monotony of a nameless existence within the void. Imagine a great consciousness awakened to experience its own definition. Perhaps, the realized "mother of the myriad creatures" then chose to <u>experience</u> this brave, new universe more fully by defining further the contrasts within it.</div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-80895037922733968472011-05-21T15:06:00.000-07:002011-10-08T21:51:07.714-07:00Shamanic Vacation: Postcards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMV_ByXOwhymjtySAAAMclqZmMVmQoYVk5Lf822oJhMA1Xt9LjTIXFj2lMKksmBeLZr7ajWkZtsei35T6sRd38P2z5dZsFMYZenna3aDSkpvCNpwJaJY5G0kgzW7vZubU9sU9hltqbZg/s1600/Casio+Camera+229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMV_ByXOwhymjtySAAAMclqZmMVmQoYVk5Lf822oJhMA1Xt9LjTIXFj2lMKksmBeLZr7ajWkZtsei35T6sRd38P2z5dZsFMYZenna3aDSkpvCNpwJaJY5G0kgzW7vZubU9sU9hltqbZg/s320/Casio+Camera+229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3f3e3e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i>... always keep in mind that a path is only a path. If you feel that you must now follow it, you need not stay with it under any circumstances. </i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Don Juan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i><br />
</i></div>
</div>
</div>
After a weekend of ceremonies in Ventura, we finally made it down to Long Beach to pick up the rented RV. Three weeks of meandering our way to Denver lay before us. The plan was to head East from LA for two days in Joshua Tree, then on to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and the Rockies. But, plans are subject to change ...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSfby8CTwpbIIEwwwbKAZlmVVa2Glckw6-B74VD_oouMEvRFbkycTc2Bad9P9zrVls5Z4fke8APVCFFuKsug3QKfKRgYJ0GU3ehK_B1Y2hHMl9GKPzoIisHvTUHVVKjM_FJY3LVT09C4/s1600/cara+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSfby8CTwpbIIEwwwbKAZlmVVa2Glckw6-B74VD_oouMEvRFbkycTc2Bad9P9zrVls5Z4fke8APVCFFuKsug3QKfKRgYJ0GU3ehK_B1Y2hHMl9GKPzoIisHvTUHVVKjM_FJY3LVT09C4/s1600/cara+day.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua Tree Retreat Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Joshua Tree</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
I'd been wanting to spend time at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center - a mystical place in the high California Desert, east of Palm Springs. The buildings were designed by Frank Loyd Wright and his son back in the 40's to blend with the desert environment. Despite their age, they still provide an inspirational shelter for large and small groups of visitors to the Center. There are several energy vortexes identified on the property, but no one I talked to was able to tell me what they are or how they are identified. Lili claimed that she could feel one, but wouldn't explain what she felt. It's in the middle of a desert so you have to be OK with hot sun, dust, cactus and sage brush to enjoy it fully. The people who run the place are wonderful and we had the place pretty much to ourselves for a couple of days</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDu7iPOWWlOi-Hc5VgI4JxAYC48mdJN42SzQSCGD_UU7cLsZwqE3XF-B5Z7c49vqoA9nbhoNBcughYKKHSyvdOXdEmfCWw_6Sfh3i9-s_iYVrbT6cjk1AlwrrR_NV_clo8aW2eHmEcqWo/s1600/2011-04-16_16-26-32_390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDu7iPOWWlOi-Hc5VgI4JxAYC48mdJN42SzQSCGD_UU7cLsZwqE3XF-B5Z7c49vqoA9nbhoNBcughYKKHSyvdOXdEmfCWw_6Sfh3i9-s_iYVrbT6cjk1AlwrrR_NV_clo8aW2eHmEcqWo/s400/2011-04-16_16-26-32_390.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>Bhakti Fest</i><br />
I had an idea about spending a biblical 40 days in the desert in solitude and meditation, but a voice inside me knew it wasn't meant to be. I noticed flyers around the Joshua Tree Retreat Center advertising "Bhakti Fest <i>OMmersion</i>" - a spiritual festival. We had only planned to spend a couple of days in Joshua Tree before moving onto the Grand Canyon. But, as stated previously, plans are subject to change. The festival came to us and we couldn't refuse. So, four days of kirtan, yoga and chanting in a small outdoor venue stretched our stay to over a week. Friends from LA drove out to join us. It was really quite nice. It would have been a mistake to miss it.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center> <div style="align: center; font-style: normal;">
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zyr9GzVn2zI?hl=en&fs=1">
</param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
</param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
</param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zyr9GzVn2zI?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</center></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; width: 580px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><div class="style5 style2" style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Jai Uttal Band Sound Check </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Featured Musicians</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://krishnadas.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Krishna Das</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://jaiuttal.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Jai Uttal</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.shyamdas.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Shyamdas</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.donnadelory.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Donna De Lory</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.shantalamusic.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Shantala</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.davidnewmanmusic.com/index1.html" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">David Newman (Durga Das) & Mira</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.arjunandguardians.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Arjun Baba</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.mcyogi.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">MC Yogi</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.devapremalmiten.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Deva Premal & Miten</a> with </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.manosemusic.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Manose</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://davestringer.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Dave Stringer</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wahmusic.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Wah!</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.seanjohnsonkirtan.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;">Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.ginasala.com/media.php" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Gina Salá</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.gauravani.com/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://jayalakshmi.net/" style="font-weight: normal; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span">Jaya Lakshm</span>i</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
</span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-eE3uAezdFp41bgFZfMbSZLfTOj902RCCtrbHnnQBAbSZx79K_oOz0ECVgd23URubdxQx1bwLqy2Ieiy0WkWI71SyTC8_yiJW91KapvmDLwgEfbv00n9eWfEquw19Go-jm7Kb_jYR7JY/s1600/2011-04-15_23-02-29_296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-eE3uAezdFp41bgFZfMbSZLfTOj902RCCtrbHnnQBAbSZx79K_oOz0ECVgd23URubdxQx1bwLqy2Ieiy0WkWI71SyTC8_yiJW91KapvmDLwgEfbv00n9eWfEquw19Go-jm7Kb_jYR7JY/s400/2011-04-15_23-02-29_296.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Kirtan is a style of spiritual chanting of hymns or mantras that is repeated by back-up singers and often the audience. It's a beautiful, if repetitious, musical style of prayer that originated in India. The venue took on a bit of a rock-style flavor with the addition electric instruments and colored stage lighting, but the tone was of a much higher vibration. It is a celebration of spirit.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdTcAoXgn3X7geLN2CeO0COHDSK7A5S4cc2zXmiZnoJvsxNFOMAMUSZjK8-vuR1H5FKmp30CnjV9os7jQ_w5EX8_3uNOf14m69QBxQudofkNzYDkpBXDVTix0G8iwY_QiWOb-corfR0s/s1600/2011-04-17_13-23-28_192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU0w5Uu8HMPLanvMvOYsJgirGToWKaCF5WkdiUIVSl69twKS0ZCIGE44vYIzTy7chWea3MI78Oet4M4aXiymSS4wocyUgVKDjyhZBrBYhro_jwHqj8tgI5lhWz7OjNiF8tIqj0pnTdFk/s1600/2011-04-16_23-15-23_979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU0w5Uu8HMPLanvMvOYsJgirGToWKaCF5WkdiUIVSl69twKS0ZCIGE44vYIzTy7chWea3MI78Oet4M4aXiymSS4wocyUgVKDjyhZBrBYhro_jwHqj8tgI5lhWz7OjNiF8tIqj0pnTdFk/s400/2011-04-16_23-15-23_979.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdTcAoXgn3X7geLN2CeO0COHDSK7A5S4cc2zXmiZnoJvsxNFOMAMUSZjK8-vuR1H5FKmp30CnjV9os7jQ_w5EX8_3uNOf14m69QBxQudofkNzYDkpBXDVTix0G8iwY_QiWOb-corfR0s/s1600/2011-04-17_13-23-28_192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdTcAoXgn3X7geLN2CeO0COHDSK7A5S4cc2zXmiZnoJvsxNFOMAMUSZjK8-vuR1H5FKmp30CnjV9os7jQ_w5EX8_3uNOf14m69QBxQudofkNzYDkpBXDVTix0G8iwY_QiWOb-corfR0s/s400/2011-04-17_13-23-28_192.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6S1Zryb-ROuQzCKwKnuIqBO5nw6um7XJxDuncyX_jENpXKoEMSUvRIbqIZGRJltxjuY2SR8eB39gFVuIcZBvfImaRDaoxxMGwO60kkGca3RfTZJOh9JX5Kj4IOzlxjZBiNOlAMQgQWg/s1600/2011-04-17_21-37-45_917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6S1Zryb-ROuQzCKwKnuIqBO5nw6um7XJxDuncyX_jENpXKoEMSUvRIbqIZGRJltxjuY2SR8eB39gFVuIcZBvfImaRDaoxxMGwO60kkGca3RfTZJOh9JX5Kj4IOzlxjZBiNOlAMQgQWg/s400/2011-04-17_21-37-45_917.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
One of my favorite performers was Wah!, a female performer who claims to be <i>channeling</i> <i>the goddess</i>. She seemed to have a little more diva energy than the other performers (she's channeling the goddess, after all), but her music creates a portal to other realms. My delight with her performance might have been influenced by Lili having brought several dried mushrooms for me to chew on just as it began. I laid back and entered a celestial realm on the night of the full moon.</div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br />
</i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There was lots of yoga and ethnic veggie food, too. Unlike the rock concerts of my earlier days, this event left me feeling healthy and light. The small crowd was warm and loving.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6S1Zryb-ROuQzCKwKnuIqBO5nw6um7XJxDuncyX_jENpXKoEMSUvRIbqIZGRJltxjuY2SR8eB39gFVuIcZBvfImaRDaoxxMGwO60kkGca3RfTZJOh9JX5Kj4IOzlxjZBiNOlAMQgQWg/s1600/2011-04-17_21-37-45_917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SOxZhcpIhkTOsROGNObq1pJEcgJ_eJ2qXanDfGvV4_RWRhRKD9zw5BJGPHbNdRORoo2Kgehbtct13sO6KJwrJwUMEBFbN-2Kf6q9LgP5WblLEW5Azb_1FpVci4sCFY7Ybhb0L1ERERc/s1600/2011-04-15_16-28-10_518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SOxZhcpIhkTOsROGNObq1pJEcgJ_eJ2qXanDfGvV4_RWRhRKD9zw5BJGPHbNdRORoo2Kgehbtct13sO6KJwrJwUMEBFbN-2Kf6q9LgP5WblLEW5Azb_1FpVci4sCFY7Ybhb0L1ERERc/s400/2011-04-15_16-28-10_518.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF6oCv_YrwCRa8F7OR-stLLMnjGm5my08id-N5ZkQBVeYc71ieX1xfDE4th-GGPVvMo6MwMD9iqIxA3ksoy45-hCgkHLV9C-kH0DeuuT4NIUhc-ptIwpGHGYvDbqYXpc5gZRNek2M4_s/s1600/Casio+Camera+233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF6oCv_YrwCRa8F7OR-stLLMnjGm5my08id-N5ZkQBVeYc71ieX1xfDE4th-GGPVvMo6MwMD9iqIxA3ksoy45-hCgkHLV9C-kH0DeuuT4NIUhc-ptIwpGHGYvDbqYXpc5gZRNek2M4_s/s320/Casio+Camera+233.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua Tree National Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1eoBy5jUo_5UFRkOwVU1aoAQuyfWdrnkPv80DF3Fuz7BNRyNCrwibuVHHbxbtsj5qQ1GOydIPCG4VAbKokxj0uACzp216j1mfVznqsovkhc7jCk4o9yp5QXC69gkJlHDP4wd0F9vsQ8/s1600/Casio+Camera+247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1eoBy5jUo_5UFRkOwVU1aoAQuyfWdrnkPv80DF3Fuz7BNRyNCrwibuVHHbxbtsj5qQ1GOydIPCG4VAbKokxj0uACzp216j1mfVznqsovkhc7jCk4o9yp5QXC69gkJlHDP4wd0F9vsQ8/s320/Casio+Camera+247.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Another Year Wiser</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'd planned to spend my birthday in Havasupai Canyon - a beautiful oasis I'd visited on my raft trip through the Grand Canyon during college. But, again, plans are subject to change. Havasupai was still closed for the winter by the Indian tribe that runs it - temps were still below freezing at night. Too bad ... I remember it as an amazing oasis of emerald green water falls that empty into the brown, sand-ladened Colorado River. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, still in Joshua Tree and filled with the spirit of the festival, we took the RV into the National Park for the night. We woke up at 3 AM - the time of my birth (as nearly as Mom remembers), drove to a vantage point and brewed a sacramental tea. It was cold and windy outside, so we stayed in for a short ceremony before going back to sleep. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Later, we drove to another area of the Park called Baker Dam where a small lake was created for cattle ranching use. We brewed and drank more tea before heading out for a spontaneous hike in the wilderness.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisrBtdZ2OlitQXr-AAfbOFfblIXg4jfgxzd7bYHZfQnMdvEPtpNpZU1kITkGEe7wNLarnDfSK_N6a5LX-hq8TLLECe_m6txGOYrS7HwhWVTD10ShXj5kR-Ox7Nl-HBR3wf-n2bXJMekA/s1600/Casio+Camera+257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisrBtdZ2OlitQXr-AAfbOFfblIXg4jfgxzd7bYHZfQnMdvEPtpNpZU1kITkGEe7wNLarnDfSK_N6a5LX-hq8TLLECe_m6txGOYrS7HwhWVTD10ShXj5kR-Ox7Nl-HBR3wf-n2bXJMekA/s320/Casio+Camera+257.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I was seeking solitude for some deep meditation. It wasn't easy to find. There weren't a lot of people, but it seemed that the few who were there were blindly following us. I found a solitary rock to sit and, within only a few minutes, someone came to sit on the rock next to me. Then came the kids who apparently saw that this was the place to be. We decided to head out into more challenging terrain. Off the trail, through the brush and up the side of a steep rocky ravine. Can you believe it?? Someone followed us -- and someone followed them! So up and over the top we continued -- very steep, very rocky -- no one was going to follow -- I was determined to find my birthday hermitage.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvd1Frn9sg8NxGWQfr7b2jAUTzrxbKCUIpVaQ3NG-Tj-TKuX0YenTFqYKgR66Kds1_QcJZ2Vl4qmye21t3O86rkWWqTF3tIV_H4FqkuAf3DXcIvktlGqttpPnDjTcK8b9NUYN9Vj1fQdY/s1600/Casio+Camera+289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvd1Frn9sg8NxGWQfr7b2jAUTzrxbKCUIpVaQ3NG-Tj-TKuX0YenTFqYKgR66Kds1_QcJZ2Vl4qmye21t3O86rkWWqTF3tIV_H4FqkuAf3DXcIvktlGqttpPnDjTcK8b9NUYN9Vj1fQdY/s320/Casio+Camera+289.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
<br />
It was a peaceful afternoon. Lili performed shamanic dances for me while large birds circled overhead. I sat in meditation on a rock, watched and absorbed the desert environment.<br />
<br />
As it got later, Lili asked me how to get back and I replied something to the effect that "it's all down hill from here". I led us through what I thought would be a short cut - it looked like easy-going - down through a ravine. But, half-way down, the ravine was blocked by a slide of large boulders. I was able to scramble over them, but Lili had to navigate over, under, and between them with her short legs. As we continued, the boulders got larger and larger and things became dangerous. But, faced with the option of scrambling back up the ravine, we continued onward over larger and larger boulders -- and eventually to safety. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOg2kVkbB-QL3Dpbz5jLL4pmUk9oIWnaSLlztaiS5My3P7bzXRWTkJddDGh6NnWwBHcNkqgLGQh2mTQytccr_rPiXWiqDQ9wmSFM7Ma2Msv5n6oD-rXuqBzSiWo2wzC1WZ-kUptJPr6c/s1600/Casio+Camera+256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOg2kVkbB-QL3Dpbz5jLL4pmUk9oIWnaSLlztaiS5My3P7bzXRWTkJddDGh6NnWwBHcNkqgLGQh2mTQytccr_rPiXWiqDQ9wmSFM7Ma2Msv5n6oD-rXuqBzSiWo2wzC1WZ-kUptJPr6c/s320/Casio+Camera+256.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
"It should be right around this hill", I assured her. But,<b> it was one of those very rare times when I was wrong</b> as around the hill, there was another hill - and around that one, another hill. In the desert, they all looked the same. It was getting dark and the howl of coyotes in the distance - seemingly inviting us to their version of a birthday dinner - added to the intensity of the drama. "No way ..." I sighed to myself as we rounded hill after hill. I didn't want to admit that we were lost. We didn't have warm clothing or flashlights. The stage was set for us to play the role of stupid tourists lost in the desert and never found.<br />
<br />
Lili says that at that point she asked her spirit guides to help me just as I turned to try another way. I noticed some wheel tracks that made a U-turn on a trail going in another direction and reasoned that the wheels came from a road. We followed the wheel tracks for a mile or two before finally reaching a parking lot. Yet, it wasn't the lot where we'd left the RV. There was only a single car parked there and we noticed a solitary figure hiking down another trail towards it. It turned out to be a park ranger named Josh (as if for <i>Joshua Tree</i>) out hiking on his day-off. A nice guy, though perhaps a little weary of those in the role of stupid tourists, he gave us a ride back to the RV as the sun set over the hills.<br />
<br />
<table align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9btmkKKZ02fRaq7RLsApVdUU0Z5nq3xTADfaNpkj0AwwOnAZvunBgMfe6I06OZr3NkjbfoKInlgkxH5nbLLy-rICePXXpx1Tn7_QJfDWiLfqMGqXriN0Y9w3UwySSSdfbVa7AjRkgVI/s1600/2011-04-20_17-26-31_538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9btmkKKZ02fRaq7RLsApVdUU0Z5nq3xTADfaNpkj0AwwOnAZvunBgMfe6I06OZr3NkjbfoKInlgkxH5nbLLy-rICePXXpx1Tn7_QJfDWiLfqMGqXriN0Y9w3UwySSSdfbVa7AjRkgVI/s400/2011-04-20_17-26-31_538.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam's Family Spa, Palm Springs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Finally, already a week behind schedule following the festival and b-day, we headed down to the outskirts of Palm Springs to an RV resort where we enjoyed natural hot springs and full hookups for 2 days before heading East to Arizona.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>The Sedona Vortex</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VKzprdC5vQE9PR49yyYzBZcqikvMBrFcTYPpSEtjcXW_9MCdAznmDpw-UkX5-3JU7suqQu20xzbTvP7-leZa0u9KdPTgZFoL-2C0PJIkm0XcnycRsWAtwrtdQ4dckmTF8B30OPp5dR4/s320/2011-04-21_19-13-52_851.jpg" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Airport at Sunset</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSrvKVuyQdoNUstqQSFoRi8aWaW7birgPuuJ277R4gtUOm5vcsKnTI3BzXx2k-yxMWfnHdYxZd2A_URZxJ5oUN4femVUvWnSZfFhGZaGSDeFQl80QGFJgQ7m_D2SOjx5jc9Mo5VJpcsQ/s1600/2011-04-21_13-50-59_788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSrvKVuyQdoNUstqQSFoRi8aWaW7birgPuuJ277R4gtUOm5vcsKnTI3BzXx2k-yxMWfnHdYxZd2A_URZxJ5oUN4femVUvWnSZfFhGZaGSDeFQl80QGFJgQ7m_D2SOjx5jc9Mo5VJpcsQ/s320/2011-04-21_13-50-59_788.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUoEzdB_Qxh8Bjzw6NMhMXx2iG-gTv6bTGfZ1fkkk4-IDL4jWf4no2jYIpKO5s4MU3xSIFzFAHxO42BJvbrTs8JA5l3chFNSFeyUegH5U16s4fSD6CWwAsEW6uuFVwXodI3jz9dTWO8x0/s1600/2011-04-21_13-51-34_257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUoEzdB_Qxh8Bjzw6NMhMXx2iG-gTv6bTGfZ1fkkk4-IDL4jWf4no2jYIpKO5s4MU3xSIFzFAHxO42BJvbrTs8JA5l3chFNSFeyUegH5U16s4fSD6CWwAsEW6uuFVwXodI3jz9dTWO8x0/s320/2011-04-21_13-51-34_257.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zS6nGhhzfV7vkZEUWwkVqExFE7uzH-AckSSIg8jliNWTgjeJxyHN9MO4QcNrD7ZkScDVUkr4ZMeB6ABQuL0-wXSFk6l2GihG2HYXYWFke5hd9QFMOSd8MgwEgCJ-3waxqWxCoqo6k-Y/s1600/Casio+Camera+308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zS6nGhhzfV7vkZEUWwkVqExFE7uzH-AckSSIg8jliNWTgjeJxyHN9MO4QcNrD7ZkScDVUkr4ZMeB6ABQuL0-wXSFk6l2GihG2HYXYWFke5hd9QFMOSd8MgwEgCJ-3waxqWxCoqo6k-Y/s320/Casio+Camera+308.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Montezuma's Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have a fond memory of flying a Mooney into Sedona a few years ago en route to crossing the Grand Canyon. The small airport sits on top of a mesa that overlooks the town. Landing there feels a bit like what it must be like to land on an aircraft carrier. <br />
<br />
The Sedona landscape is expansive. The area is a dried ancient sea bed with monumental red rock pinnacles, once islands, spiraling high into the sky.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">This time, the town seemed "touristy" with a fleet of pink jeeps running tourists everywhere we looked. </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">We were still looking for solitude. An odd guy </span>at a crystal shop who claimed to be a tour guide told us about a place out of town where we could park the RV. He offered to meet us there and show us the power vortexes, places of UFO sightings and such. We found the place on our own, but wanted to be alone and didn't take him up on his offer. The following day, Lili received a text message from him inquiring if we were interested in "swinging". It was time to move on.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> </tbody></table>
<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>The Lost Dutchman</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrLWgfM3fudUyl1RWLtkCFZ4sTb6djNE2tfzLiGVkKcCNRszuVsIZfKZiHLl19Kyx62Nf0spmn45UiJeaZdc0q00mnm2u7ZdHiaVWfKeVtOz-x9Cba96rRRZZq66kw_UVddHJtOe83hOA/s1600/2011-04-23_07-10-37_181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrLWgfM3fudUyl1RWLtkCFZ4sTb6djNE2tfzLiGVkKcCNRszuVsIZfKZiHLl19Kyx62Nf0spmn45UiJeaZdc0q00mnm2u7ZdHiaVWfKeVtOz-x9Cba96rRRZZq66kw_UVddHJtOe83hOA/s320/2011-04-23_07-10-37_181.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superstition Mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Heading South through Phoenix, we made our way to the Superstition Mountains. This is Apache territory and the site of the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine. The mountains are very beautiful in a way very different from the Sierra and Cascades of California, Oregon and Washington.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinc11EY4r3FFSIr2v72EuETJp40L3sQ1x3JORD8UmRAyYwmLhdGA7MI8v0KEr5E13lgYuRLv465Y7zyErPM5fyULwIvUhTw2uOoq3FS0ghfxexV2vBAl8rGCtg_5P5z27ql4l48gWYPdM/s1600/2011-04-23_08-25-53_719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinc11EY4r3FFSIr2v72EuETJp40L3sQ1x3JORD8UmRAyYwmLhdGA7MI8v0KEr5E13lgYuRLv465Y7zyErPM5fyULwIvUhTw2uOoq3FS0ghfxexV2vBAl8rGCtg_5P5z27ql4l48gWYPdM/s320/2011-04-23_08-25-53_719.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural Stone Walkway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We started out for another spontaneous hike early in the morning with just a water bottle and a few pieces of fruit to sustain us. I didn't expect that we'd go very far. But, the trail got more and more interesting the farther we went. It also got steeper and steeper. About a third of the way up, Lili gave up and said she'd wait for me to return. I think the memory of the Joshua Tree hike was still too fresh in her mind. I left her at an incredible natural stone walkway - it was much steeper than the picture to the right indicates. Soon, I was scaling straight up the side of the mountain as I clung to boulders and scrub branches. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCKH2wzRWl3g0YkZ_jk41TO20E6On6DmdGsl70D5n04tN2WKEeYM-l0aJwnWtDauBMXAIinaQm3QHqYqxj4Bv9ZpJ21-ehzQnvtcY7-a2BZoFBJ58fvghexMobU8GdYbNx3a9eeX1sUU/s1600/2011-04-23_11-08-27_639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCKH2wzRWl3g0YkZ_jk41TO20E6On6DmdGsl70D5n04tN2WKEeYM-l0aJwnWtDauBMXAIinaQm3QHqYqxj4Bv9ZpJ21-ehzQnvtcY7-a2BZoFBJ58fvghexMobU8GdYbNx3a9eeX1sUU/s320/2011-04-23_11-08-27_639.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJh8awqhD_U9-PMF2x6FauJ1lOmjybg4ByFKayjcRdzzcEX6TMz14zJNlwIa9KzCZtwb5dHrTo46x_XcQP0bSK3JNkAr8Poll5FbSOzB7VyCWd4idvSfaVfi_Nuw8iJeg-tjp0LZgglY/s1600/2011-04-23_09-55-23_902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJh8awqhD_U9-PMF2x6FauJ1lOmjybg4ByFKayjcRdzzcEX6TMz14zJNlwIa9KzCZtwb5dHrTo46x_XcQP0bSK3JNkAr8Poll5FbSOzB7VyCWd4idvSfaVfi_Nuw8iJeg-tjp0LZgglY/s320/2011-04-23_09-55-23_902.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take a step back and say "cheese"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ24e2_tKPH-qzGHhG1IZTX5uIEPrmxkp59IygClZ1Dcrax74z9u0BsLsCYAjqkqn3kHM89h1TPqkgPun_EgSlqx66i3gYyk6n20Cj7wEMCwyUN0TYVFsN4JRWFl1HzPJHsWzu80F5uE/s1600/2011-04-23_11-05-33_369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ24e2_tKPH-qzGHhG1IZTX5uIEPrmxkp59IygClZ1Dcrax74z9u0BsLsCYAjqkqn3kHM89h1TPqkgPun_EgSlqx66i3gYyk6n20Cj7wEMCwyUN0TYVFsN4JRWFl1HzPJHsWzu80F5uE/s320/2011-04-23_11-05-33_369.jpg" width="320" /></a>There were a few others on top when I finally reached it. One fellow was legally blind. I don't know how he did it, but it wasn't his first time up there. He displayed amazing awareness as he walked along the edge of a shear rock cliff several hundred feet high to the chagrin of his buddies. He even pointed me in directions where he thought I might like to go. Others were poking around various rock formations and caves - the lure of a gold mine is irresistible. As far as I know, the mine remains to be found. However, the 360 degree view made the effort worthwhile.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Peyote Way</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92bIwJzBSm-ZE70jK-ks1GSvSM6HjNlIQDVdEHjwvVyapJ52fp1YrRN35KldPjC6q8Ty92NoeUAX5WDiuZtMBtHYYOonNqOSWIAy7Ls9gJnSHBKyzTLWnTjCyOs-KZgdS44Ytf356-ck/s1600/Casio+Camera+317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92bIwJzBSm-ZE70jK-ks1GSvSM6HjNlIQDVdEHjwvVyapJ52fp1YrRN35KldPjC6q8Ty92NoeUAX5WDiuZtMBtHYYOonNqOSWIAy7Ls9gJnSHBKyzTLWnTjCyOs-KZgdS44Ytf356-ck/s320/Casio+Camera+317.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
About 28 miles down a wash-boarded dirt road in Southeastern Arizona lies a 160-acre homesteaded parcel of desert covered with sage brush and mesquite. From the road, there's little to distinguish the property from the 100's of square miles of desert land that surrounds it other than a large sign of hand-made tiles that seems to make a statement about the legal standing of what lies beyond. If one looks closely, it also advertises "Spirit Walks by appointment". What lies beyond is something both unique and sublime in my experience.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lYKt3Yhd4k8" width="425"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Patrick and Laura, new friends from BhaktiFest, arrived ahead of us. They were on their spirit walk as we drove in after dark. We'd begun a 24-hour fast required for our spirit walk so no dinner that night. We crawled straight into bed in anticipation of our own walk the following day, Easter Sunday. <br />
<br />
We were greeted separately in the morning by Annie and Matt, who operate the <i>Peyote Way Church of God,</i> a "non-sectarian, multicultural, experiential Peyotist organization," and got our first look at the place. Matt showed us around - the guest house, the pottery workshop, the greenhouses where the peyote is grown, and the 4 sites on the property where the spirit walks take place. There were stories ... and stories and more stories -- all interesting and fun, but I've agreed to not repeat them here (I'm sure Matt will tell you if you go there). I gained an appreciation for the medicine after seeing the care required for propagating the small cactus. Matt explained that it takes 7 - 8 years for a plant to reach maturity and that each dose required the tops ("buttons") of 14 or 15 plants.<br />
<br />
Lili and I selected separate sites for our walks - each is meant to be a personal experience. Lili selected the site nearest the guest house in an open field - I chose to go up the hill further out back surrounded by mesquite-covered hills. We all met in the kitchen around 4 PM. By then, we'd fasted for about 25 hours and were anxious to begin. There were papers to sign -- joining the church was a legal requirement -- and I relinquished the keys to the RV as a pledge that I wouldn't be driving off in the middle of the night. Annie placed 2 jars of "tea" each brewed from 21 grams of dried peyote on the table - green in color with some odd-looking things floating in it. She mentioned several times how bad it tastes and how we would have to drink it slowly or risk getting sick. She made it sound so awful that I wondered why anyone would do this. Why was I doing this?? We then took both jars of tea down to Lili's site where I made sure she was setup around her campfire pit before I left her to her own experience. We agreed that I would return after moon rise -- sometime after 1:30 AM .<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDc6bChxA0qmaP5CLMhMXTo227678UWekVBm0WmztU7BWvaMIDg9MdY2mq3VTL7avlSEP68iTGVWDSB3UIBwjaqJNkzWv1d9ZLiLDN11Nuz88OJRXciVK00tTlBJugs5GcMP0hebj4tjc/s1600/Casio+Camera+337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDc6bChxA0qmaP5CLMhMXTo227678UWekVBm0WmztU7BWvaMIDg9MdY2mq3VTL7avlSEP68iTGVWDSB3UIBwjaqJNkzWv1d9ZLiLDN11Nuz88OJRXciVK00tTlBJugs5GcMP0hebj4tjc/s320/Casio+Camera+337.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Son Tristan, Rev. Anne, Lili, & Rabbi Matthew</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVC5VNV3Vcyyqq4SrV706P5WQyoK5kcwR7rOiZ1h_84EW-kCEiAn2QB89pWxFSGyqkx0KfIExiY-Hj21aGhTZ_cnu1aNLipG_Zu_2g968fz5tHi7TCQoTgneqbw16OeI5VeEa25z8YZYc/s1600/Casio+Camera+332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVC5VNV3Vcyyqq4SrV706P5WQyoK5kcwR7rOiZ1h_84EW-kCEiAn2QB89pWxFSGyqkx0KfIExiY-Hj21aGhTZ_cnu1aNLipG_Zu_2g968fz5tHi7TCQoTgneqbw16OeI5VeEa25z8YZYc/s320/Casio+Camera+332.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Then I took my jar of tea to the site I'd selected. Matt had set up the fire pits with small piles of wood - there was a single lawn chair under a canopy near the fire pit and a bottle of water. I was ready to go, but I hesitated as Annie's description of the taste and nausea replayed in my head. I delayed things to run to the top of a hill and gaze at the sun as it set over distant desert hills. Then I returned to my site, lit the fire and sat in my chair contemplating my jar of tea.<br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBtJ7AZXOmOiyR0KLQ7uBiRZAA7Qw6HcPa2Snv1YnnwoMrzvuxd_O3Hdt0gu9Mlu0Zdaa2JhNf92eI2hXQFCYhlh1qdWTYrqVFNzRqeBqp3WLwVXC8nEnuA6uyQi6B5GP7ZcVrWqgd3I/s1600/Casio+Camera+344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBtJ7AZXOmOiyR0KLQ7uBiRZAA7Qw6HcPa2Snv1YnnwoMrzvuxd_O3Hdt0gu9Mlu0Zdaa2JhNf92eI2hXQFCYhlh1qdWTYrqVFNzRqeBqp3WLwVXC8nEnuA6uyQi6B5GP7ZcVrWqgd3I/s640/Casio+Camera+344.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign at Entrance to Property</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I opened the jar and cautiously sniffed its contents. It didn't smell too bad. I tasted it. "It's not as bad as Anne made it sound." Slowly, I sipped more and more and leaned back to enjoy the fire as darkness set in. Finally, I was enjoying the solitude I'd been searching for.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I emphasize (again) that such journeys are done carefully and with clear intentions. Many believe there is spirit contained in plant medicines such as peyote, which has been used for centuries by Native American cultures in religious ceremonies. Regardless of whether the mechanism is spiritual or pharmacological, they seem to quiet the egoic rational mind to allow for openings into more subtle realms of consciousness and experience. Similar states can be attained without medicine through various forms of meditation. Yet, in my experience, the medicines accelerate the learning process by showing the mind where to find the openings. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I glided gently into the subtle realm of peyote. The senses were elevated and the mind expanded as I gazed into the fire beneath the big star-filled sky. I struggled to not anticipate what the night might bring. It's a vibration - a state - a refuge. I spent time journaling on my laptop and writing a letter. I felt family ties. At one point I felt restless and I walked in the dark down to check up on Lili. An assumed guardianship created a need to make sure she was OK. I didn't want to disturb her, so I just peaked through the brush to watch her poking at her fire with a stick before I returned to my spot. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was a subtle ride - peacefully traversing the void between the physical realm and higher consciousness, pressing up against the membrane from either side. I meditated, wrote and searched for answers. It seems that they're close. I'm learning to navigate the void. What are the clues that will lead me home? What can I bring back with me? My mind seeks to comprehend the Mystery while it bathes in the illusion. There seems an urgency to bring the images of consciousness into the realm of space and time. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A big moon rose in the early morning hours, but I waited some time before going down to join Lili. I startled her when I finally joined her. She had been sick for much of the time, but she handled it well. She sees the spirits that I don't see - gentle, silvery beings, according to her - much like the Indian paintings. "Look for them in the empty spaces," she advised. We tended the fire until after sunrise. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOcgOxfWLyoi05ISK5GQQQz6lO8XQQmoYuH-HyNIoGeVOCmQvUJlechhpDrWrLX9W3LxpplA2o4eSx8emIx6ZwLhjPvYz9jKBpxsno62nKmCEMTKV5eerP_j3ICxI2LvixQolYuE-gFs/s1600/Casio+Camera+327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOcgOxfWLyoi05ISK5GQQQz6lO8XQQmoYuH-HyNIoGeVOCmQvUJlechhpDrWrLX9W3LxpplA2o4eSx8emIx6ZwLhjPvYz9jKBpxsno62nKmCEMTKV5eerP_j3ICxI2LvixQolYuE-gFs/s320/Casio+Camera+327.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lili's Spirit Walk Site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBtJ7AZXOmOiyR0KLQ7uBiRZAA7Qw6HcPa2Snv1YnnwoMrzvuxd_O3Hdt0gu9Mlu0Zdaa2JhNf92eI2hXQFCYhlh1qdWTYrqVFNzRqeBqp3WLwVXC8nEnuA6uyQi6B5GP7ZcVrWqgd3I/s1600/Casio+Camera+344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>New Mexico</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStSRF4xF0CC9tAyHb6tqMOyUfDOAfRza0buDJxrvgz9XdXwgTiChMt9helfa0qOlguJKOxkci-82a1mr450ciQAEE7m8OERjz_DrvUhatdYKBEWUyvtsL91aTMWWyKo8yBplaMMFCVvU/s1600/exilim+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStSRF4xF0CC9tAyHb6tqMOyUfDOAfRza0buDJxrvgz9XdXwgTiChMt9helfa0qOlguJKOxkci-82a1mr450ciQAEE7m8OERjz_DrvUhatdYKBEWUyvtsL91aTMWWyKo8yBplaMMFCVvU/s320/exilim+010.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe6kjlpDkegCszZVGcoBrZds-D8CAma0f64L4U4OArVhyphenhyphenj6jxljS-pCDFM13VbkmEJ8osSzAnyzHlbyXDPtdufJwn70-OUdKvvX1FtJdSeLZYDno9MLoWrq7li-7-6qS5aPDPp21F6PU/s1600/exilim+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe6kjlpDkegCszZVGcoBrZds-D8CAma0f64L4U4OArVhyphenhyphenj6jxljS-pCDFM13VbkmEJ8osSzAnyzHlbyXDPtdufJwn70-OUdKvvX1FtJdSeLZYDno9MLoWrq7li-7-6qS5aPDPp21F6PU/s320/exilim+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very Large Array Telescope, NM</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We headed South and East into New Mexico - Silver City and Sante Fe. We were behind schedule so we weren't staying too long in any one place. Near Socorro, I noticed a sign for the VLA (Very Large Array) Telescope and exited the freeway impulsively to investigate. The facility was forty miles away, and at less than 10 mile to the gallon in the RV, one considers such side trips carefully. Here Lili delighted me as she declared herself to also be a geek -- "I love this stuff," she said. <br />
<br />
So we continued to a high plateau (nearly 7,000 feet elevation) - a seemingly perfect site for the installation. The array consists of 27 antennas - each about 80 feet in diameter. They are on railroad-style tracks to allow for varying the configuration of the array with a span of up to 22 miles. The massive array acts as a single large radio telescope for exploring deep space.<br />
<br />
We weren't able to visit the control rooms, but we were able to get up close to an antenna and view some of the results of their work in the visitor's center. The facility was obviously expensive to build - budgets are more restricted now than when it was built in the late 1970's. It was impressive. It seemed a bit of a "white elephant" though I expect good research can still be performed there. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Colorado</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qHpEjBzV9USFlA9x3M63boKap7RByrxA3HcJDt5JoOi-FS9FwJLHfMDoW2JpdjF8X-mM-eE5KttmBUe6NRdwGgvR6kUVI8XVgCXswYEACrsiivoY3NORDffTWB5lWxnUXyMSmQXCOTU/s1600/exilim+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qHpEjBzV9USFlA9x3M63boKap7RByrxA3HcJDt5JoOi-FS9FwJLHfMDoW2JpdjF8X-mM-eE5KttmBUe6NRdwGgvR6kUVI8XVgCXswYEACrsiivoY3NORDffTWB5lWxnUXyMSmQXCOTU/s320/exilim+057.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elk Herd in San Isabel National Forest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbU7AM6OKeSXYOaGnyaO3dSdWh8AN3BtwVi2UJsFxFYjkXNqU-gr2822_935XaWQ6dmbdysu6UL8yMV9Iyrnl1s74QtSlI5kzMnBnLZT7bWTzOrXmiB15EdE5-1CBDVwKuWctzBcAxhA/s1600/exilim+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbU7AM6OKeSXYOaGnyaO3dSdWh8AN3BtwVi2UJsFxFYjkXNqU-gr2822_935XaWQ6dmbdysu6UL8yMV9Iyrnl1s74QtSlI5kzMnBnLZT7bWTzOrXmiB15EdE5-1CBDVwKuWctzBcAxhA/s1600/exilim+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbU7AM6OKeSXYOaGnyaO3dSdWh8AN3BtwVi2UJsFxFYjkXNqU-gr2822_935XaWQ6dmbdysu6UL8yMV9Iyrnl1s74QtSlI5kzMnBnLZT7bWTzOrXmiB15EdE5-1CBDVwKuWctzBcAxhA/s320/exilim+074.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arkansas River near Salida</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gqcjJjNUDARMnvfANFzF6IsAVHIYDEBL749Tfdbys2ZBCQdOC-lBAoTxydYPklkcfGx0OdKUh5RoxtjLcTz8burLxgrZd80XdwnGKy2rtmOBXF34OKqGcI62BMBj592WKBXKoSaZRls/s1600/exilim+090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gqcjJjNUDARMnvfANFzF6IsAVHIYDEBL749Tfdbys2ZBCQdOC-lBAoTxydYPklkcfGx0OdKUh5RoxtjLcTz8burLxgrZd80XdwnGKy2rtmOBXF34OKqGcI62BMBj592WKBXKoSaZRls/s320/exilim+090.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campfire Ceremony at Mueller State Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbU7AM6OKeSXYOaGnyaO3dSdWh8AN3BtwVi2UJsFxFYjkXNqU-gr2822_935XaWQ6dmbdysu6UL8yMV9Iyrnl1s74QtSlI5kzMnBnLZT7bWTzOrXmiB15EdE5-1CBDVwKuWctzBcAxhA/s1600/exilim+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkQTN6ZnK8yIwix6qv4gCP8DpTEdjnsrQS0CvZmTeBBHvjkPPjOK_e3iWacbZ5Pey2DVAVDHE_4xjLkJkBxSKgGpMBNRX2dtBKotVNSdf1PpfAh5RwpnjnD9nIxuDXJT_UxIWjg9uV5o/s1600/exilim+096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkQTN6ZnK8yIwix6qv4gCP8DpTEdjnsrQS0CvZmTeBBHvjkPPjOK_e3iWacbZ5Pey2DVAVDHE_4xjLkJkBxSKgGpMBNRX2dtBKotVNSdf1PpfAh5RwpnjnD9nIxuDXJT_UxIWjg9uV5o/s320/exilim+096.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYB2-XbRg_HF3lt_KMrtsDYrbhFULpihaI90n6SHa38BpgkFxdMc8LivGCLxQjILSQ5K5RMQz4PZ0h4kVCKHCim4pc5ofRmNmXu1dX27hondX7_sBlSJwWcfv9qVkvDajDQDsHNLAS5o/s1600/2011-05-06_17-40-56_586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYB2-XbRg_HF3lt_KMrtsDYrbhFULpihaI90n6SHa38BpgkFxdMc8LivGCLxQjILSQ5K5RMQz4PZ0h4kVCKHCim4pc5ofRmNmXu1dX27hondX7_sBlSJwWcfv9qVkvDajDQDsHNLAS5o/s320/2011-05-06_17-40-56_586.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8R_2QHOhhk22nik9YiHCfLboYhg5a0OAsvgYrtQVkdERRihk26JU4AkaSJZq3RNfKjxB-qds5PZaAQ05AnOUPaFgvmlFTrnsDa_nuMmH876rIlsQ_4mJuCb5kgb0peqF60XX_8NsPu0E/s1600/2011-05-06_17-25-05_871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8R_2QHOhhk22nik9YiHCfLboYhg5a0OAsvgYrtQVkdERRihk26JU4AkaSJZq3RNfKjxB-qds5PZaAQ05AnOUPaFgvmlFTrnsDa_nuMmH876rIlsQ_4mJuCb5kgb0peqF60XX_8NsPu0E/s320/2011-05-06_17-25-05_871.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Stage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u><b>Shamanic Vacation (Extended Version)</b></u></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnQTCIlsjc4qQ1Ep1uXDzJpQhv_4h3l-rK0_jLZyjOILqKGgHnN9vzcgdfqbuC7WIIJ-J6pHvepyFZW4QVqdItRMqC-u7MNkiS9lSYfs6t0CdUjGpo-biV5AJqQ4L1vGnGbwZQrYsIk8/s1600/exilim+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnQTCIlsjc4qQ1Ep1uXDzJpQhv_4h3l-rK0_jLZyjOILqKGgHnN9vzcgdfqbuC7WIIJ-J6pHvepyFZW4QVqdItRMqC-u7MNkiS9lSYfs6t0CdUjGpo-biV5AJqQ4L1vGnGbwZQrYsIk8/s320/exilim+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian Hot Springs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Three weeks sounded like a long trip when we planned it, but it was over too soon. We had already extended the rental for a couple of more days of camping west of Colorado Springs and were by then staying for several days at Idaho Springs in the Rockies west of Denver. Soaking in natural hot springs might have been a nice conclusion for such a journey. The spa offered pools of natural hot water in underground caves - it doesn't get much better than that. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But, it just made us all the more reluctant to return home. So, ... the plans changed again. I booked another RV in LA and we flew in from Denver. We had so many bags that we couldn't get it all on the plane in one load - so we made two - in fact, there are still bags left in a garage in Denver. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcBSx38ybqPc6-oevJiABBGjdvfea4_iTP1DLcpTEc_j4XXD4GqqK582BeFq7Y5umo-E58rN0FkQ1pyW4XsGvCUGQcd_Rf5hbZ0g6E946jAW_CobhmK92HYfWo9GVc5BhzXSjmDJ703A/s1600/2011-05-13_09-31-23_836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcBSx38ybqPc6-oevJiABBGjdvfea4_iTP1DLcpTEc_j4XXD4GqqK582BeFq7Y5umo-E58rN0FkQ1pyW4XsGvCUGQcd_Rf5hbZ0g6E946jAW_CobhmK92HYfWo9GVc5BhzXSjmDJ703A/s320/2011-05-13_09-31-23_836.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pismo Beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUa1RLpkWUczM_RJMRvjJMBjB9i4o5wTuCdm-omNsfbncABCEg_cJWd5Mv0lUzX0ALv7Bh3_DNdu2xtUFG4i5X9EQ28NPKVMmjCNQFQ_CDNEATFzxcUtSC7ny_DmfkhAC6LcP1J82_IY/s1600/2011-05-18_13-27-20_85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUa1RLpkWUczM_RJMRvjJMBjB9i4o5wTuCdm-omNsfbncABCEg_cJWd5Mv0lUzX0ALv7Bh3_DNdu2xtUFG4i5X9EQ28NPKVMmjCNQFQ_CDNEATFzxcUtSC7ny_DmfkhAC6LcP1J82_IY/s320/2011-05-18_13-27-20_85.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asilomar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Shortly, we found ourselves back in the familiar RV lot south of LA. We loaded up and headed up to Ojai where we stayed with friends on a large estate for several days. We've considered moving there and wanted to get to know the area and the people. Then up the coast to the Bay Area for a ceremony and to take care of things at home. Then down again to Asilomar before heading East to Lake Isabella in the southern most region of the Sierra and on into Death Valley. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67UzLH9tEoksMOKOrLINC9hTOyZlXKfOTrSjHwQ_SSWTG9RkNpKka774a7mZ2FogeBB7CVe_AhXhR_ihx__1c8vwRvpPnEGplTuL94E-07QuW5zYsFL-VHEmfAVabuIVdOQphtu0fidc/s1600/2011-05-18_13-28-41_928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67UzLH9tEoksMOKOrLINC9hTOyZlXKfOTrSjHwQ_SSWTG9RkNpKka774a7mZ2FogeBB7CVe_AhXhR_ihx__1c8vwRvpPnEGplTuL94E-07QuW5zYsFL-VHEmfAVabuIVdOQphtu0fidc/s320/2011-05-18_13-28-41_928.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlQ94q-dheUUibpdqIPrGAVhdFlahfU9ZpBRT8cfsL-JhzyMzPToJpqsAmC0z0evNThxgNw3B_mjY9CbsFJK4qfWb_UQaTsYx9qwQFjJqAQgdjQhTXnb07N05uVWKrK3IaC0_7_qEQyQ/s1600/2011-05-18_10-48-48_631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlQ94q-dheUUibpdqIPrGAVhdFlahfU9ZpBRT8cfsL-JhzyMzPToJpqsAmC0z0evNThxgNw3B_mjY9CbsFJK4qfWb_UQaTsYx9qwQFjJqAQgdjQhTXnb07N05uVWKrK3IaC0_7_qEQyQ/s320/2011-05-18_10-48-48_631.jpg" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JbSQ1DXrDrx_7p4gOhR3SbmtPERHIq5d8yZHoilWPhtYstyMp_S0NLeH3cAwYgyKHGoIKzAjlYteizluRkS_gg7ZykgB4fzhbV62KmFvKNx4CMqsBXc3GLRYrqY2Wl9aaleQzwEZDRw/s1600/2011-05-18_10-47-21_210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JbSQ1DXrDrx_7p4gOhR3SbmtPERHIq5d8yZHoilWPhtYstyMp_S0NLeH3cAwYgyKHGoIKzAjlYteizluRkS_gg7ZykgB4fzhbV62KmFvKNx4CMqsBXc3GLRYrqY2Wl9aaleQzwEZDRw/s320/2011-05-18_10-47-21_210.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyNibaRMtKTORKMmbBdlp3UfAn2qdtZXl_0tKGZpbL0vlSntwXJokXMnX10DrrrmH6RujIfGmnxD49AMwfnXtH2ICN2OahvuGWY5eUOg4Frj1s6Adi-6Cox9xrsy4DzOFxe9juy5ZtVQ/s1600/2011-05-19_06-39-54_195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyNibaRMtKTORKMmbBdlp3UfAn2qdtZXl_0tKGZpbL0vlSntwXJokXMnX10DrrrmH6RujIfGmnxD49AMwfnXtH2ICN2OahvuGWY5eUOg4Frj1s6Adi-6Cox9xrsy4DzOFxe9juy5ZtVQ/s320/2011-05-19_06-39-54_195.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Isabella</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Death Valley</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVKMZ0GeIkM_V63zHOH89WwIz3GDWf8z61wiFCzTMouhWGXfzT7BlN5eiADy0CSx0k_hyJtP8NVz6O-87qaAVRgK7TLNu5XLrTtvZOj2E0YWIliabOOSMWNVjcdz4vjYmqJgJS5uMl1w/s1600/2011-05-19_11-03-01_415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVKMZ0GeIkM_V63zHOH89WwIz3GDWf8z61wiFCzTMouhWGXfzT7BlN5eiADy0CSx0k_hyJtP8NVz6O-87qaAVRgK7TLNu5XLrTtvZOj2E0YWIliabOOSMWNVjcdz4vjYmqJgJS5uMl1w/s320/2011-05-19_11-03-01_415.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'd been thinking about spending a biblical 40 days alone in the desert. There was probably a rite of passage component to the idea around a desire to dig deeper. So, as we entered Death Valley, I imagined what it would be like to do it there. But, on the barren soil, in the heat, wind and dust, the image seemed a lot less romantic. I was already struggling to think of what we might do there. I'd seen Scotty's Castle and the signs that tell us we're below sea level years ago and Lili wasn't interested. We powered through the Park in not much more than 40 minutes. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsk8xPNzET2qyapgc6XAAcABAfptF4JWZwjoFNNzRbVBIpp7cTPVyH5gNIiHEmk1EOEwEwFNYhkFgAoT8g9DQOxH7Rm0X7gu-QHxydSw85nNsZSnBRjnxqo8NTNFBrhpjyhwHlEKnij7Y/s1600/2011-05-19_11-03-17_358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsk8xPNzET2qyapgc6XAAcABAfptF4JWZwjoFNNzRbVBIpp7cTPVyH5gNIiHEmk1EOEwEwFNYhkFgAoT8g9DQOxH7Rm0X7gu-QHxydSw85nNsZSnBRjnxqo8NTNFBrhpjyhwHlEKnij7Y/s320/2011-05-19_11-03-17_358.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$5.69 /gal at Stove Pipe Wells! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, as I write this, the 40-days-in-the-desert thing seems again like a good idea. Perhaps, you'll read about it here someday - it should be good stuff as I chronicle each of the 40 days. :-)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-IiAaJLxh98codv9g1RyHOFOnwrA1nYYzub3GSryE7rx8gZrRnTvdhwHnEJZ3w7eMZAW4KOQZOKgwOS5uU4jq7czXRUmX_Bd7g0Gd8f405u9O5SsAN5hhcVrWD32Na5Bt-Y5ADQr6sDg/s1600/2011-05-19_14-43-48_377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-IiAaJLxh98codv9g1RyHOFOnwrA1nYYzub3GSryE7rx8gZrRnTvdhwHnEJZ3w7eMZAW4KOQZOKgwOS5uU4jq7czXRUmX_Bd7g0Gd8f405u9O5SsAN5hhcVrWD32Na5Bt-Y5ADQr6sDg/s320/2011-05-19_14-43-48_377.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Leaving Las Vegas</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I used to go to Las Vegas a couple times a year for the big tech conferences. I'd enjoy the free bourbon and craps all night long while I rationalized that I was working. I wasn't a big player, but fish come in all sizes. I had my <i>platinum</i> player cards and credit lines at a few of the casinos. Show a little leg and they'll let you think you're a very important guy - comp'd meals, comp'd show tickets, comp'd or cheap rooms and, of course, lot's of free bourbon. If you play their game, they will play yours. I enjoyed it, gamed it and never got too hurt.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I was looking forward to returning. On this trip, however, the energy seemed dark and archaic. We saw a great <i>avant garde</i> circus act at Caesar's, but I found no fun wandering through the grand facades amongst the seemingly unconscious, mostly inebriated, swarms of people. It felt like a destination amusement park, manifested on the dark side of human consciousness, pandering to tarnished and uninspired illusions of value. Did LV change? Oh no, it must be me! <br />
<br />
Again, it's just a perspective. It's a little hard to write about it without seeming judgmental or obvious. It's an interesting study of the recessed regions of the human psyche. The artificial environment illuminates the darker facets of human nature that are mostly hidden within the mainstream bounds of Western culture. It provides a place for otherwise healthy people to go to blow off steam or for those needing a cheap dose of grandeur. It enforces few restrictions and offers lots of opportunities to indulge the shadow of human nature within the context of gaming and tired hedonism. So, while it serves the purpose of allowing people to stretch their boundaries, IMHO, w<i>hat goes in Vegas, stays in Vegas </i>should be our mantra as well as theirs.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
In all, it was about 6 weeks of doing pretty much whatever we wanted to do. Plans changed frequently and it felt great to have the degrees of freedom that allowed us to flow with the changing landscape. Now ...<br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>I just can't wait to get on the road again!</b></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-54785359797035035122011-04-26T15:50:00.000-07:002011-05-22T11:12:47.930-07:00Bella, in the Eye of the Beholder<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6s7N4UnM44fNp-ug6sgu5846Ok3nS4c5y6lJxZqlM3ffF9HIApRtF1dGX95zi4TC2oLCTVg6Zoha06sIvTCH0cEyg5bssoI-JCSuP67JUyBcrtnSxFO4aNuO4g-Y2xVVWUa2t_HB4vk/s320/IMG_1502.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bella being Shih Tzu</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Bella - my sweet, defenseless Shih Tzu - was attacked during a recent visit to LA. We had been staying at a house in Laurel Canyon and about ready to leave, when Sox, an otherwise mild-mannered female Husky, suddenly turned and bit Bella on the head - engulfing it entirely within her large mouth. I stood and watched as it happened. There was no warning -- they had been around each other all weekend. It was over in less than a second.</div><br />
I rushed to pick Bella up to protect her and check for injury. Though she was terrified, there was no blood. I thought everything was OK. Then, I noticed her eye globe filling with blood and my concern returned. The eye began to swell -- and swell, and swell, and swell. I watched as it bulged so large that it looked as if it would pop out of the socket -- then, it did just that. It was a horrible experience to witness so helplessly. <br />
<br />
It turns out that this is not an unusual problem for small, flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds like Shih Tzus, Pugs, and Pekingese. The eye sockets for these breeds are set shallow within the skull making <i>proptosis</i> a not uncommon problem. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR5gMJxgriqFAobvdERcsSo3Jt19f61fkxWZzBJ1RU8EEvIgnXbv6Lo72ySPymPOgn2Kk9lUdGF4EPRMRmpM_UxMgBG11gXgloJAY4jr8gClwhbrfpHOcQi-2GoGvwCsmQGkxObJVLgI/s1600/djmaggs_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR5gMJxgriqFAobvdERcsSo3Jt19f61fkxWZzBJ1RU8EEvIgnXbv6Lo72ySPymPOgn2Kk9lUdGF4EPRMRmpM_UxMgBG11gXgloJAY4jr8gClwhbrfpHOcQi-2GoGvwCsmQGkxObJVLgI/s1600/djmaggs_w.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prof. David J. Maggs</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
We rushed her to an emergency animal hospital in LA on a Sunday night. They repositioned the eye and stitched the eyelid closed over it. There was a chance that she would recover the sight. The brief and simple operation cost close to $2,000. We then drove from LA to UC Davis, one of the best veterinary clinics in the world where she was examined by Dr Maggs - who literally wrote the text book on veterinary opthamology - and his team. After an ultra-sound examination, the prognosis was bleak. The experts gave virtually no hope for recovery of sight in the eye and scheduled her for surgery the next day to have the eye removed.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3f7cna7t2jt6Pwkr6RFc09YXYV_NfQdEsE5QkQP-HKP2pLIuYB_Imf-uUrpLNPRhVJX0iSHblNVku-4ituNt0ucFf1US56aG2-_E76ZjP6v1iQv1KiIL_aDp5L2blX9xG26dZntdS4XQ/s1600/QuantumAngel_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3f7cna7t2jt6Pwkr6RFc09YXYV_NfQdEsE5QkQP-HKP2pLIuYB_Imf-uUrpLNPRhVJX0iSHblNVku-4ituNt0ucFf1US56aG2-_E76ZjP6v1iQv1KiIL_aDp5L2blX9xG26dZntdS4XQ/s200/QuantumAngel_2.jpg" width="153" /></a>Instead, we drove to Ashland, OR where we met with a <i>healer</i>, who prefers to work anonymously. She is a beautifully, kind woman who radiates a soft glow. After calming Bella for a few minutes in her arms, she closed her eyes and then said, simply, that she had done what she came to do. I was both grateful and hopeful.<br />
<br />
Inspired by this healer, I began to give Bella daily touches of love. She seemed to be doing well despite calls from UC Davis and other vets urging me to go ahead with the surgery to remove her eye. But, I wanted to give her every chance to keep it and continued to treat her with love and antibiotics for 3 more weeks. Finally, the sutures were removed to reveal an eye that was cloudy, but hydrated and vascularized. I had hope and a tear in my eye as I left the vet's office.<br />
<br />
Now, nearly 3 months after the incident, the eye still reveals the scars of trauma. I don't believe that she has sight in the eye, though it moves in sync with the other eye and seems to be responsive to light. It's heartbreaking, though she doesn't seem to be suffering. What is it like to have one's own child injured?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOmUpFlECx90JcZqGbPR3jE0kjAZi_trpugWn07Wdj5g1zKxvqG2nOBV9zWRZbz732kvQeVMU8TtwhzyoI7GjshAn9cPe9izxj5xPfSVKcmWLYcuLrmy2_lkqocuof9Uq9ZPTONrCSpE/s1600/Lisa-Portrait.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOmUpFlECx90JcZqGbPR3jE0kjAZi_trpugWn07Wdj5g1zKxvqG2nOBV9zWRZbz732kvQeVMU8TtwhzyoI7GjshAn9cPe9izxj5xPfSVKcmWLYcuLrmy2_lkqocuof9Uq9ZPTONrCSpE/s200/Lisa-Portrait.gif" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lisa Hartnett, DC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Finally, I attended a seminar offered by Lisa Hartnett, another lovely soul with unspoiled grace and sensitivity. She claims to communicate with animals. There, I learned much about what I had come to understand about tuning into human channels (see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2011/03/perfect-chord.html">The Perfect Chord</a>). I put the rational mind on hold and listened to the subtle intuitive mind. I can't say that I believe it is an actual communication in the sense that we are accustomed to, but there seems to be a tuning into the vibration of another being -- in this case, an animal. <br />
<br />
I was informed by a participant in the class - a Reiki master - that Bella had been with me in past lifetimes and was more concerned for me than for herself. By tuning into Bella's experience, it seemed that the sight in the eye is not as important to her as it is to me. She felt more traumatized by the attack and is satisfied to have survived. She doesn't experience her world in the same binocular way that we experience our world. For her, life goes on -- and she looks forward to more belly-rubs.Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-52088266465380281872011-03-24T15:10:00.000-07:002011-08-05T19:27:20.645-07:00The Perfect Chord<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4W2wzNfofkbPvBVXrLIcR3UeXu0LcGs0XqHHMp_YhjmEkqsHqxWyS4we3rkwiMHNmtbDrM6EEVwswVahbIOqVtHQo5rlpTdQkUYt-c6taKD_rP2soqfaXkzHQn3_OqddTD3h1dGDLVLY/s1600/Cloud_Vortex.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4W2wzNfofkbPvBVXrLIcR3UeXu0LcGs0XqHHMp_YhjmEkqsHqxWyS4we3rkwiMHNmtbDrM6EEVwswVahbIOqVtHQo5rlpTdQkUYt-c6taKD_rP2soqfaXkzHQn3_OqddTD3h1dGDLVLY/s400/Cloud_Vortex.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://randomgypsy.deviantart.com/art/Cloud-Vortex-84352687">Cloud Vortex</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Our universe is composed of an energy spectrum ranging from the subtle to the dense material forms. Consciousness, life, and matter manifest as differentiated forms of the same primordial energy that extends beyond time and boundary. It's the Source - known and unknown to us - the godhead. This energy coalesces to form powerful rhythms and rhythms within rhythms within rhythms - the <i>heartbeat</i> of the universe, the fingerprints of god.<br />
<br />
The structure of the known universe has been expressed in terms of quantum mechanics, discrete energy states - stochastic probabilities, non-discrete points -- interchangeable forms of energy as particle and wave function. Such conceptual metaphors begin to explain material existence to the rational mind and demonstrate our limited potential to understand it in the objective. Yet, beyond science and rational thinking is the frontier of what I call <i><a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/p/preface.html">rational intuition</a></i> - an area of understanding beyond knowledge. From there, I draw the following extrapolations in an attempt to rationalize purely intuitive realizations. <br />
<br />
We exist as a differentiated component of the universal energy spectrum. Matter, subtle energy life forms, and physical life forms are drawn from the same ocean and its tributaries. Life patterns resonate from universal harmonies. A Darwinian-type of selection takes place. Each energy tunes to a note in the harmony with mathematical precision. Conceptually, it seems reasonable to consider ourselves as chords in the universal symphony.<br />
<br />
Spirit (life energy) does not exist as a point, but rather a set of frequencies that form a matrix. It is the ego that locates and confines spirit to points in space and time. Thus, humans and other life forms are compilations of energetic forces that are both constrained within us and that flow through us. I believe this is the basis of what the Buddhists and spiritualists refer to as the "Oneness" - the energies flowing through from a single source. When we die, the ego dissolves and the constrained forces are released. However, the universal energies and subtle <i>egoic fingerprints</i> continue to flow.<br />
<br />
We recognize fundamental energetic patterns that are derived from outside and the egoic patterns that arise from within. We typically associate them with the personalities of the individual. Egoic energies adhere to patterns that are no doubt influenced by both the wiring of the brain and the flow of universal energy though us. Universal energies are more fundamental and likely account for the archetypes that are often superstitiously associated with both deities and demons. <br />
<br />
The energies can be channeled. We channel them at an unconscious level, calling them our own, and can learn to channel others at will. Several months ago, as I sat in meditation, I experienced myself to be John F. Kennedy. It wasn't the person -- I had no memory of his childhood, or the Whitehouse, and certainly not time spent with Jackie or Marilyn. But, I felt an energy that I associated with the JFK public image. Even though I typically feel little connection to the man, I resonated there and it seemed that I might act and respond to situations much as he might have done in his public life - it was only a small slice of what his actual life must have been. It was a bit like tuning a radio and finding myself unexpectedly tuned into the JFK frequency. Such an energy may be easiest to tune into as it is both a part of our collective unconscious and it is a frequency that resonated with our culture. <br />
<br />
Similarly, I might use <i>Christ</i> to describe certain high energies that flow through us. Thus, it may be that <i>Christ</i> is an archetypal energy. I presume (religious history is so distorted) that Jesus was a man who learned to tap into the <i>Christ </i>energy. I once realized such a high energy state in myself (see <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2011/01/bardo.html">Bardo</a>). Again, it's available to all of us - in fact, it feels very familiar when we dissolve the ego and clean our channels enough to permit ourselves to experience it.<br />
<br />
Behavioral patterns are a interaction of such metaphysical energies with the physical biology. Complex neuro-circuits are involved. The universal energies interact with each cell, each cellular complex and each molecular pathway. <br />
<br />
There are <i>dark</i> energies, too - energies of the personae as well as dark archetypes. We feel them in ourselves and we identify them readily in others. I don't want to go astray into dualistic concepts, but we should further realize that <i>dark</i> and <i>light</i> are part of the same spectrum. Without dark, there can be no light.<br />
<br />
We are all tapping into our unique spectrum of discrete energies. As we evolve, we find that we have greater and greater control over which notes comprise the chord that constitutes our essence - in the material realm, humans more than animals, animals more than plants, plants more than prokaryotes, prokaryotes more than matter. Now, with biological intelligence, we humans can begin to tune the notes of our instruments. With our rational minds, we were able to shape our world. As we learn to tune the rational mind, we can shape our universe. We can transcend our lower instinctive impulses; we can begin to extend with our rational minds that which was available only to the intuition of our species. Both come into focus. Finally, we balance intuition with reason, embrace the universal harmony, and evolve to a new spectra of life form.Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-13347613870109164522011-02-23T21:26:00.000-08:002011-03-23T11:17:32.804-07:00The Empty Boat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>He who rules men, lives in confusion;</i></div></div><i> he who is ruled by men lives in sorrow.<br />
Tao therefore desires neither to influence others<br />
nor be influenced by them.<br />
<br />
The way to get clear of confusion<br />
and free of sorrow<br />
Is to live with Tao in the land of the void.<br />
<br />
If a man is crossing a river<br />
and an empty boat collides with his own skiff,<br />
even though he be a bad-tempered man,<br />
he will not become angry.<br />
But if he sees a man in the boat,<br />
he will shout to him to steer clear.<br />
And if the shout is not heard, he will shout again and yet again,<br />
and begin cursing --<br />
all because there is somebody in that boat.<br />
<br />
Yet, if the boat were empty,<br />
he would not be shouting<br />
and he would not be angry.<br />
<br />
If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world,<br />
no one will oppose you,<br />
no one will seek to harm you.<br />
<br />
The straight tree is the first to be cut down.<br />
The spring of clear water is the first to be drained dry.<br />
<br />
If you wish to improve your wisdom and shame the ignorant,<br />
a light will shine around you as if you had swallowed the sun and the moon --<br />
and you will not avoid calamity.</i><br />
<i><br />
A wise man has said:<br />
"He who is content with himself has done worthless work.<br />
Achievement is the beginning of failure,<br />
fame is the beginning of disgrace."<br />
</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitHZtdYHa0g4kYIFlG-t9XyqfibZKKgE71XBIBJ5ZOPdgsACB8Dr10AX7MoYoZPer6WlqYvbgyooHwqjXV6_gbQVzesVF9IKBKbxtgyz4p5fL89dInoNafNVzSelfw-ABPVqhVmq_DCW4/s1600/home_course_ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitHZtdYHa0g4kYIFlG-t9XyqfibZKKgE71XBIBJ5ZOPdgsACB8Dr10AX7MoYoZPer6WlqYvbgyooHwqjXV6_gbQVzesVF9IKBKbxtgyz4p5fL89dInoNafNVzSelfw-ABPVqhVmq_DCW4/s320/home_course_ad.jpg" width="208" /></a><i>Who can free himself of achievement and fame<br />
Then descend and be lost<br />
Amidst the masses of men?<br />
<br />
He will flow like Tao, unseen…<br />
He will go about like life itself,<br />
With no name and no home.<br />
<br />
Simple is he, without.<br />
To all appearances he is a fool.<br />
He has no power.<br />
He achieves nothing.<br />
He has no reputation.<br />
<br />
Since he judges no one,<br />
No one judges him.<br />
Such is the perfect man.<br />
His boat is empty.<br />
</i><br />
-- Chuang Tzu<br />
<br />
<br />
The passage above seems to encapsulate the Taoists' view of a worthy lifestyle choice. I like it: "He will flow like Tao, unseen .... his steps leave no trace." It describes a transcended state beyond ego and greed. It doesn't seem as if such a person would be responsible for any of the chaos we have in the world currently. No wars, crime or bank bailouts if the Taoists were perfecting our culture.<br />
<br />
Can this Tao flow in a Western capitalistic economy? "He has no power, he achieves nothing. To all appearances he is a fool." It seems counterintuitive. Perhaps, these guys are just too lazy to get a job and try to make something of themselves. No. There's something profound within this enigma and I'd like to understand it better.<br />
<br />
Somewhere in my Western cultural upbringing, a desire for achievement found its way into my psyche. I think most of us have it to varying extents. My own ambition motivated me to escape the small town culture that felt confining to an exuberant youth for a life in a more sophisticated, worldly culture that would prove more worthy of my disdain. We've been told that anyone is permitted to achieve anything s/he wants in a capitalist democracy. It's honorable to work hard and achieve much - even if a few eggs get broken in the process of cooking the omelet. <br />
<br />
According to dogma, achievement is rewarded by fortune in this country -- unlike those <i>other</i> countries. Thus, fortune has become a reputed measurement of achievement -- and, more is always better. Now, how can that be? Some people have fortune without having achieved anything (e.g., inherited wealth) -- others attained fortune by less-than-respectable means -- others got lucky and some got dirty. I'm not intending to distract from those who have achieved wonderful things and been rewarded for it. My point is that it doesn't matter much how it is achieved or how it is managed. Instead of a reward for achievement, fortune is more often a concept that is used to motivate the masses to support those in the hierarchy who control the wealth and resources of the planet. It doesn't seem to be fertile ground for Taoists. They would not likely chose to run enterprises for profit at the expense of the planet's resources and contrary to the welfare of the people.<br />
<br />
For the Taoist, achievement is measured in the heart. I'm impressed with the likes of the Buddhist monks who create stunningly beautiful artwork, but never sign them. The work is a meditation, creation is the reward -- recognition is unimportant, quantifiables have no value. Such idealistic practices may not be practical outside of a monastic environment, but they provide some guidance for a higher understanding of achievement. It gives me comfort and inspiration to know that such beings are walking quietly among us.<br />
<br />
Fame seems problematic, as well. Who needs it? Entertainers and politicians? The <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2010/02/lions-eagles-men-and-magicians.html">magicians</a>? Fame is usually fleeting, unless it's for something you'd rather have forgotten, is not linked generally to noble achievement, and rarely follows the graceful soul. Again, it doesn't seem that the Taoist would seek celebrity or high office. <br />
<br />
A bigger issue for me is giving up power. "If you can empty your own boat ... no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you." As the Tibetan monks have been devastated by the Chinese government, I'm concerned that the Taoist would get run over in our culture. Realistically, there will be those holding the potential to harm you, though I think one becomes a smaller target. Protection is important - it's naive to think otherwise. The important question is: "How?" It's a question worthy of further consideration on its own.<br />
<br />
Most forms of fame, power and achievement are manifestations of ego -- not just the obvious sorts, but the more subtle forms also. I started grad school, as many do, with a burning desire to cure "something" -- I thought it was a noble goal. Imagine if I had cured Alzheimer's Disease -- would not my life have been worthwhile? Yet, if having a cure for the disease were truly the desire, I would have been delighted if a competing lab had stolen my work and used it to find the cure. But, truthfully, that's not the way it was for the "I" needed to be the one to find the cure for the "me" to be satisfied. And, of course, it would have been better had I become wealthy and won the Nobel Prize in the process. That's ego -- pure and simple -- cloaked in a noble cause. The intention was sound, but the motivations were flawed.<br />
<br />
There's also a problem in that we don't live or work in a vacuum. There are usually innumerable people, present and past, who contribute to any endeavor. Who should get the credit - the reward? Thus, many conscientious scientists use the inclusive pronoun "we" when referring to any work that had been done -- even if the "I" had been the only one around in the middle of the night when a particular work was done.<br />
<br />
The "I" is motivated by the ego's need to be recognized. Just take a look at the skyline of Manhattan or any other major city. Capitalism depends on it. Many worthy causes are met -- patrons donating money for hospitals that will bear their names. Thus, one of the strengths of capitalism is that it focuses on results. A weakness is that results are usually defined in economic terms while the means, intentions, and motivations are often subordinated. So, many of the cures for disease are discovered by highly egoic scientists driven by self-interests of fame and fortune and then sold to other self-interested entities such as the pharmaceutical companies that are focused narrowly on profits. It seems to work at some level until the we realize that the person who has the disease and whose taxes paid for the research to cure it, often can't afford it. It's a bad rap for most scientists who, in my experience, tend to be rather humble and diligent. But, the system is setup to favor the more aggressive achiever. Those motivated by ego tend to compete best when talent and good fortune fail. I only use medical research as an example because that is an arena in which I am familiar - from all appearances, things seem far more perverse in banking, legal and political sectors, for example.<br />
<br />
It's beneficial to be empowered by fortune in this country - though, as mentioned above, fortune often does not correlate with deserving in terms of achievement. A self-sustaining cycle favoring the few is created at the expense of the many. Fortunately, the ego can seemingly be satisfied for some, if not for others. Some reach a level of success where they can relax and begin to "give back" while others continue to push for more and more symbols of success and recognition.<br />
<br />
We tend to motivate ourselves through the ego. That's worked to make the United States such a powerful nation. Yet, the basic concept is flawed due to greed, excess and fear of scarcity. As the structure of the country matured, the impurities of the design flawed the end product yielding exploitation in many shades and levels of severity. It's been a stage in our collective learning from which we are about to graduate -- though perhaps, without honors.<br />
<br />
The <i>empty boat</i> is a metaphor for a person without egoic form. But, the Taoists' approach doesn't imply a life that is dwindled away. S/he simply isn't motivated by egoic needs, isn't concerned about how the "I" is perceived, and doesn't attempt to usurp resources or overpower others. Manifestations are created in the "land of the void" -- the no man's land of no ego. The "I" has died, but the boat continues along it its way, manifesting from pure consciousness. <br />
<br />
We're still left with the question of whether it can work in Western culture. When I look at the world's issues, I think it's the only way that might. Place the fear aside. The current world structure that has achieved beyond our collective dreams is failing. The power needs to shift from outside to within to permit an evolution to a higher paradigm. The changes will unfold quietly for those who choose to perfect the new matrix. <br />
<br />
Watch your step! The transition to the <i>empty boat</i> may be a little tricky. Question your instincts and training -- hear your intuition.<br />
<br />
</div></div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-65066537173433726792011-01-21T04:14:00.000-08:002014-08-03T22:49:23.738-07:00The Womb: A Sensory Deprivation Experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJyBFPeFPCKRXqsBo9x6q8dITbtszmqjmnDv9_Wz0lmZD9aZya7i9DXZOTAQ-3O23OVGUUFG4rJZuUuLnmzPAZqeHGWRizYr7zQqW5E6zwLRUeVZjfx4D46Y2VUXXx2y1D5aZDCLzH0s/s1600/DSCN1173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJyBFPeFPCKRXqsBo9x6q8dITbtszmqjmnDv9_Wz0lmZD9aZya7i9DXZOTAQ-3O23OVGUUFG4rJZuUuLnmzPAZqeHGWRizYr7zQqW5E6zwLRUeVZjfx4D46Y2VUXXx2y1D5aZDCLzH0s/s320/DSCN1173.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sensory Deprivation Chamber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Silence is a great achievement</i></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
-- Muktananda</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Many years ago, during my college years, I read John Lilly's accounts of sensory deprivation. The books fascinated me. The premise was to reduce sensory input and free the mind of the tasks of assimilating and processing sensory signals. The processing power of the brain could then be turned to the more subtle facets of the mind in a samadhi-like experience. He achieved this by floating in tanks filled with iso-thermal salt water within an isolation chamber devoid of light, sound and, effectively, gravity. His accounts included those of taking high doses of LSD in such environments and establishing mind-links with dolphins. It was the seventies, we were young, and such things seemed relevant to the world that some of us wanted to create -- the world never fully realized, but not forgotten. <br />
<br />
Finally, all these years later, I received the opportunity to try this out for myself. Tucked away in a small, suite behind the Venice Beach Boardwalk are two such chambers. They are operated by a scruffy, likable guy in dark, opaque glasses named <i>Crash</i> who enjoys talking about things such as altering the vibrational frequencies of DNA helices (or something of the sort). I spent 3 1/2 hours in one of <i>Crash's</i> sensory deprivation chambers the day after last Christmas and returned for a second session yesterday. <br />
<br />
The 3 1/2" thick walls of the chambers provide effective sound absorption, temperature insulation, and a solid light barrier. At the bottom of the chamber is 200 gallons of water dissolving 900 pounds of Epsom salts with a depth of about 12". The solution is temperature-regulated to 95 degrees to match the external skin temperature of the human body. Oxygen is pumped into the chamber to maintain a breathable atmosphere.<br />
<br />
After a quick shower, one steps inside, closes the door and lies down to float in absolute darkness to which the eyes never adjust. Floating is effortless in the high-density brine - even my long lean body buoys like a cork. The sentient overload of the human experience is confined. Yet, one becomes aware that it's a sensory-limited environment rather than one of full deprivation. Sensory awareness is actually enhanced in the low stimulus condition. One hears an occasional low frequency rumble from the street - then, one begins to hear one's own breath, gurgles from the digestive tract, the slightest ripple of water. There's a dank smell common to a warm, wet environment. The temperature of the water never seems perfect against the skin. The brain is still connected to the sensory organs and its response is to increase the gain to such super-sensitivity as to make one feel capable of cracking an old-fashioned safe's tumbler lock combination. <br />
<br />
I began my meditation -- placing awareness on my breath. It brought a familiarity and the final remnants of anxiety about the outside world faded away. I drifted in and out of the 5th <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2008/06/jhana.html">jhāna</a>. There were prolonged periods of clarity interspersed with periods of playfulness as I gently propelled myself back and forth through the <i>thickish</i> water. It was near tranquility except for a minor discomfort due to the water being a bit cool. As mentioned, I spent 3 1/2 hours in the first session -- I could never sit in lotus to meditate for that long without my spine decaying to dust. <br />
<br />
I spiced it up a bit this second session in the chamber -- John Lilly-style. As I entered, I put 4 dried mushrooms into my mouth, chewed, and swallowed as I entered the chamber, then waited with anticipation. Yet, the experience that unfolded was not the subtle state of clearity that I desired. If anything, the mushrooms energized me, making it more difficult to enter a state of samadhi -- perhaps, I needed to let go further to open to a different experience. I had the sense of being in a womb for much of the time -- warm, dark, moist, and the gurgles from digestion. Has the <a href="http://blog.noeticmonk.com/2011/01/bardo.html">bardo</a> ended?<br />
<br />
I emerged after two hours. <i>Crash</i> was going on about DNA frequencies with a new visitor. So, after a goodbye man-hug, I headed to the Venice beach. It was then that I realized that I was not in a normal state of mind. "Are those shark fins?" I wondered as I gazed out towards the ocean surf. No. They were dolphins -- how appropriate! They were obviously attracted by my expanded state-of-mind. I should have tried the mind link, but it didn't occur to me.<br />
<br />
It was the best of days! I spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the Pacific Ocean waves to the Santa Monica Pier and back. The sand, the water, the Southern California girls -- all so beautiful. That's when I remembered the mind link. With my concentrated mind ... I had the power to make the pretty girls sparkle. Ahhh, but in fact, that involved little more than appealing to ego - the dolphins would surely have provided a clearer subject.<br />
<br />
With practice, I have experienced deeper states of meditation sitting on a cushion. Yet, I can appreciate that this could be a significant aide once the mind has grown accustomed to it -- a <i>cave</i> for the modern-day monk. As mentioned, I can endure longer periods of meditation in the chamber -- the body does not ache as it often does when sitting -- that might be its most significant advantage. Perhaps, as one grows more familiar with it, one may experience a deeper exploration of inner realms. <br />
<br />
It was interesting how the mind upped the gain for sensory input in such an environment. One of the chambers is equipped with special video and sound devices for learning languages, aiding actors in learning their lines, or for the mental preparation of athletes, for example -- an interesting concept. I'm looking forward to further extended sessions.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8476507095312264072.post-46273487625947525062011-01-02T10:56:00.000-08:002011-01-23T22:03:20.483-08:00Bardo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaTVRynTxN7XNnI4qQm1drNHrNwKfmGZw4oLMBMxOmicdd32M2FJuumgJtsl_9QMgBqTdQbUPtAfRgtPHT-nO9H3X7z69zLMlAyKbKs7vPzLiBbelxtoNE-VmjeM9v9i5_LvIwDNR3RM/s1600/bardo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaTVRynTxN7XNnI4qQm1drNHrNwKfmGZw4oLMBMxOmicdd32M2FJuumgJtsl_9QMgBqTdQbUPtAfRgtPHT-nO9H3X7z69zLMlAyKbKs7vPzLiBbelxtoNE-VmjeM9v9i5_LvIwDNR3RM/s1600/bardo2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote><i>Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest. Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.</i></blockquote><div style="text-align: right;">-- Tibetan Book of the Dead</div><br />
<br />
The tough decision was made -- <i>let it die</i>. How much harder can it get? Yet, it was just the beginning, <i>albeit</i> of the next life. Now, the Bardo - the void between that past life and the next - the intermediate existence. It's a time for reflection, purification. The fires still rage. It's frightening. Empty moments compel an autonomic reflex to reach back, but there's nothing there, nothing. It's just as well -- going back would be failure without atonement -- push further into the void.<br />
<br />
In the mundane, the past couple weeks were spent in Ojai. We stayed on a beautiful estate with a group of <i>conscious</i> entrepreneurs - ceremonies, giving and receiving. The planets aligned with the center of the universe on the winter solstice to produce a full eclipse of the moon -- a rare and, to some, significant event. Most notable was experiencing an awareness of <i>Christ Energy</i> -- unmistakable, intense, golden light body. It's in us all -- the bright light that powers us. Then, Christmas in Venice and 3 1/2 hours in a sensory deprivation tank the day following. New Years Eve was spent with Santo Daime near Santa Cruz until 4 AM, there, the realization of Bardo.<br />
<br />
The difficulty has been in finding solid ground - there doesn't seem to be any -- it was an illusion. There are many travel plans that coexist with a realization that there is no place to go - no place superior to where I am now. I find all that I require. Still, there's an opportunity to experience and expand the horizon. <br />
<br />
The body continues to purify. Now a raw diet of eggs, milk, yogurt, grains, fruits, vegetables -- raw Bison! Of course, sashimi remains the long-standing favored treat. The increased energy was noticeable immediately. Unfortunately, "raw" is so expensive -- fresh, unprocessed foods, what every other animal eats, has become a rarity in our technological, mass-production society. <br />
<br />
The mind still gravitates to the intellect. Lots of reading: Carl Jung, Kaballah, Adi Da, and <i>A Course in Miracles</i>. More information reinforces the same basic concepts hidden within those that are more complex. I trust that the pieces are flowing into place. Trusting the universe fully is the profound challenge.</div>Lee Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454866285973693175noreply@blogger.com2