Encountering God

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I recently read an article and watched a video where the late Prof. Antony Flew admitted to the existence of God. What makes this admission particularly interesting is that Prof. Flew used to be a prominent atheist. In fact, you may say that the atheist community viewed him as one of their "champions" so his sudden conversion must have come as a shock, to put it mildly. You can watch one of his taped interviews here:



According to Prof. Flew, you should start from the position of atheism when trying to answer the question of whether or not God exists. Only when one has found evidence that points to the existence of God can one admit to a theist doctrine. Apparently, Prof. Flew reached that point in 2004 (the year he converted) when he pointed out that the symmetry and intricacy of nature suggests the presence of intelligent design in all things.

Interestingly, using the existence of the created as evidence of a Creator is similar to the position of Master Choa Kok Sui in his book The Existence of God is Self-Evident. In one passage Master Choa writes:

"The existence of God is self-evident. It is amazing that those who have eyes do not see. The existence of a camera factory is self-evident by the existence of the camera. The existence of God is self-evident, by the existence of the eye, which is infinitely more complicated than a camera."

Of course, not everyone comes to the same conclusion even when faced with the same evidence. During a dialogue with the Archbishop of Canterbury held at Oxford University, Prof. Richard Dawkins (another prominent atheist) recognized the beauty and elegance of creation without attributing all of it to a Creator. However, he did admit that he wasn't 100% sure that God didn't exist.

Going back to Prof. Flew, despite his conversion to theism he was still decidedly anti-religion, and I can totally understand why. Religion, more often than not, is the human understanding / conception of God codified into dogma. The problem with this set up is similar to the problem of pork barrel in the Philippines.

Ronald Mendoza, an Associate Professor of Economics at the Asian Institute of Management and Executive Director of the AIM Policy Center, recently wrote an article clearly describing how pork barrel funds skew local and national governance in such a way as to encourage political dynasties and cronyism. His personal take on pork barrel is that:

"It has distorted how citizens think of our local leaders and the role they play in our democracy. Those who defend the pork barrel and the "good" that it can still be shown to do, do not touch on how much better our leaders could behave in the absence of pork, and in the presence of clear, accountable and evidence based allocations (which are the complete opposite of the pork barrel system we have)."

Religion has indeed helped a lot of people and provides a systematized storehouse of spiritual knowledge for the masses. However, just like the pork barrel system, organized religion is set up in such a way that it is vulnerable to exploitation. In a previous article, I briefly touched upon why large spiritual groupings still tend to have bad eggs, so you can see how the problem can be magnified in the case of religions whose congregations number in the millions or even billions.

Recognizing both the benefits and the shortcomings of organized religion, I am of the opinion that it is every person's duty to veer away from blind obedience to religious authority and dogma and instead discover for oneself the esoteric and spiritual truths that religions contain. The Dalai Lama certainly got it right when he said, "My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."

Be that as it may, Prof. Flew's epiphany (if it may be called that) proves that encountering God is always a personal experience. I see that as a good thing because such an experience supersedes one's philosophy, educational attainment or status in life. You cannot be told what to believe and what to experience, and we need that in a time when there is so much mental noise from our environment and our way of thinking.

The ancient sages said that in the space between sounds is emptiness and silence, and in that emptiness and silence there is God. In trying to study and understand nature, we often forget that we are also nature itself. When we talk about creation, we are talking about us. It is a simple and inseparable truth, yet we often overlook this. When we get to the basics, and remove all the fluff, then even something as simple as watching a falling droplet of water as it catches the rays of the morning sun becomes something sacred. It becomes profound because we are aware of that moment. And in that moment, there is God.

The Grand Star Alignment

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Over the past week I've noticed a certain amount of excitement, or at least anticipation, in some quarters of the esoteric community. This has to do with the so-called Grand Star Alignment (or Grand Sextile) that is supposed to happen on July 29 when six planets (Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune and the Moon) align in the form of a Star of David pattern.

Planetary configurations have always been considered important in astrology, so it's interesting to see what the Grand Star Alignment portends from an astrological perspective. Expectedly, the interpretations vary depending on the perspective of the one doing the interpretation.

Some quarters put a mostly negative spin on the alignment. A couple of the articles I've seen seem to build off from the information from this PDF file. In summary, this Star of David planetary alignment is quite rare, and the few times that it has occurred, major upheavals supposedly happened such as wars and economic crises. It's hard to validate these claims unless you're also an astrologer, but the author does make his point with the different visuals and timelines, so it's certainly plausible. This view is also interesting because earlier this year, Chinese feng shui forecasts hinted at great changes in the second half of the Year of the Snake. Back in January, I remember reading feng shui predictions that hiccups in the Philippine stock market were likely towards the middle of this year and that's precisely what happened starting in June.

The Before It's News portal goes even further, saying that the Illuminati elite will perform a ritual between July 22-24 in order to accelerate the establishment of the New World Order. The article says that the ritual has to do with the Grand Sextile, although it's mistaken in that aspect because the Grand Star Alignment is happening on July 29.

What is happening next week though (and has been happening the past few days) is a couple of Grand Water Trines (3-planet alignments) with a supermoon happening on July 22. Such timing does seem appropriate for a ritual, even though it won't be on the Grand Star Alignment itself. It's interesting to note that the December 2004 Indian Ocean mega-quake and tsunami as well as the March 2011 mega-quake that resulted in the Japan tsunami and Fukushima disaster both happened on the eve of supermoons. Hopefully we're not looking at an encore of such disasters.

Moving on, some sources see the Grand Star Alignment in a more positive light, as a way to facilitate one's ascension or to mark the start of a grand change and mystical alignment. The Grand Sextile supposedly forms the Merkaba pattern, and the Merkaba has always been associated with ascension and a change in consciousness. This view is held by adherents of El Morya, which you can read here and here.

And then there are the more neutral views, that simply see the coming alignment as an opportunity for big changes. Supposedly, the last time a similar alignment happened was February 7, 1945, when world leaders started meeting on how to end World War 2. Some astrologers even refer to this Grand Sextile as the "saving grace."

So which one is it? Stock up the bunker or break out the crystals and incense? One thing consistent about these astrological alignments is that they simply offer opportunities and openings, so what you make of these opportunities is really up to you. In this sense, it's a part of creating your own reality. We're all supposed to lead sacred and moral lives anyway, so what the next few weeks will bring simply enhances what you already are (or should be) doing.

Whatever the case may be, it's interesting to see what happens next.

Behind The Curtain

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Nowadays, the Catholic Church has been attracting a lot of critical attention because of the increasing number of reports about corruption in the hierarchy and stories of sexual abuses committed by priests. I'm sure you can easily find a ton of these stories through Google, so I won't bother to share the gory details here.

But the Catholic Church doesn't hold a monopoly on scandals. For instance, a story came out recently about the pastor who was trying to solicit donations to fix his helicopter. Here in the Philippines, one can hear anecdotal stories about how the leaders of various religious denominations live lavish lifestyles, fueled no doubt by the donations of their flock.

The above state of affairs perhaps plays a part in why people are increasingly turning towards esoteric spiritual systems and practices (or atheism, but that's another story). More often than not, these systems are not tied to any one organized religion or religious hierarchy, so people feel they can communicate with the Divine without having to pass through an intermediary. But sadly, even then one can still encounter corruption and scandal within a supposedly spiritual organization (I'm talking about those organizations with genuine spiritual systems, not the scam systems that seek to milk money from the unwary). Even the Theosophical Society is not immune from scandals and intrigues within its ranks. What, then, is the sincere spiritual aspirant to do?

This may sound a bit controversial, but I think it shouldn't be surprising to discover the presence of corrupt or unethical people in any organization, even a spiritual one. A spiritual organization, after all, is still a collection of people, not all of them existing in an enlightened state. Sometimes, it's only the organization's founder that is enlightened. For example, Ramalinga Swamigal reportedly achieved the golden body of liberation, yet none of his disciples are reported to have achieved the same feat or stature as him.

That being the case, if most of an organization's leaders and members are still unenlightened, then any one of them can be tempted by greed, envy, vindictiveness or any number of negative traits that would plague any other group, company or organization. It's not a guarantee, but there is still a danger of it happening.

Spiritual groups and organizations, by their very nature, have a higher bar of standards set for them so I can understand the sense of outrage if one finds bad apples in the mix, especially if the culprits happen to be the leaders themselves. It would indeed be the height of hypocrisy to preach one thing, but reflect the total opposite in actual practice. But like I mentioned earlier, it's also good to be realistic about one's expectations. They're still ordinary people, for the most part trying to do good but with some falling prey to baser desires along the way. You can only hope that you don't fail the same test.

It is because of situations like these that we should remember why discernment is so critical on the spiritual path. After all, the teachings of a particular sect may be very valid, even if its members don't follow them. Mahatma Gandhi is widely quoted as saying, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." But it takes a discerning mind to distinguish between the validity of what a system is teaching versus one's outrage at the attitudes of a system's practitioners. It would be such a waste if precious teachings were ignored or discarded simply because one is fed up with an organization.

One other concern among sincere practitioners is the fate of such organizations with beautiful and authentic teachings but with corrupt members and leaders. It would indeed be sad to see any such organization fade into obscurity and perhaps lose the teachings or at least make the teachings more difficult to access. However, one peculiarity about the invisible hierarchy (whether from the light or the dark) is that they look at the long term. And I mean hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

This is presented in more detail in Dieter Ruggeberg's book Secret Politics, but the rise and demise of lodges or organizations is not as important as long as during the existence of such organizations they were able to put into play the mechanisms that help achieve the overall long-term goal. Even Master Choa Kok Sui, in the book The Origins of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga, had the vision of striving to achieve a better world 150 years from now.

The same may be said for the journey of the soul. The soul does not look at just one lifetime but within the context of several lifetimes. Anything left unfinished in one lifetime is simply taken up again in the next one. So in one sense, we shouldn't really worry about the fates of organizations if they are beyond our control, but rather focus first and foremost on our own goal, our spirit purpose.

Whether you stay within an organization or not will depend entirely upon how much of the negative you're willing to put up with. In the end, it's about getting what is useful and discarding what is not, to paraphrase Bruce Lee. Just remember that the goal is always to get closer to the Divine, so use the teachings that help you achieve your goal and don't get sucked into anything (politics, infighting, etc.) that will distract you from it.

Here And There - Part 3 of 3: The Near Death Experience

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Death and the beyond has always been thought of as the greatest of mysteries, because despite all available mainstream literature, no one really knows for sure what awaits people on the other side. Or do they? While there are those who even deny that there is such a thing as an afterlife, as seen in the first two parts of this series death and dying don't seem to be as much of a mystery for those with access to a very specific set of esoteric skills and knowledge.

In Part 1, I briefly discussed the body of knowledge about death and dying that are encoded in the different esoteric sciences. In Part 2, I discussed how mediums serve as go-betweens that allow non-clairvoyant people to communicate with disembodied spirits. However, validating the information gained from these previously mentioned sources has always been a problem, because unless you've been there yourself how can you really say what it's like? To this, there is a special group of people who find themselves in the unique position of having crossed over to the other side and come back to share their experiences. I'm referring to those who have undergone the near death experience (NDE).

You may ask why bother with those who have gone through NDE instead of simply looking at the lives and experiences of the various yogis and saints who have consistently visited the inner realms. The thing is, I also wanted to explore how an ordinary person, who hadn't undergone any training or exposure in an esoteric school, would see the supernal realms if they had a chance to visit them. And this is exactly the case for those who have undergone near death experiences.

For the most part, people who have undergone an NDE have similar experiences and descriptions. Usually they briefly see their physical bodies from the outside, there is a light and they are usually met by another being, either an angel or deceased loved one. Of course, there are also differences. But again, as in the case of people visiting different regions of the same country, differences in experience should probably be expected. There may also be another reason for the differences.

Helena Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy, wrote an article about a conversation she and Colonel Olcott (one of the co-founders of Theosphy) had with a great Eastern teacher and another Indian. In summary, it states in the article that whatever conception (or non-conception) that one has about the afterlife will determine what one actually experiences after death. This actually ties in with what T. Lobsang Rampa had to say about the subject.

For example, if one were a Catholic, one would see heaven and angels, as well as hell and devils. If one were an atheist, one would experience a big nullity and blackness. Hindus would experience something in conformity with what their religion taught them. However, all these being the constructs and delusions of the mind, are temporary conditions and eventually the spirit emerges from these mental constructs in order to experience the true inner life.

Therefore, it seems there are two general stages of the afterlife. Most NDEs seem to fall under the category of the first stage, which is why their experiences may be colored by their religious beliefs and may differ from the accounts of the mystics. There are, however, special cases of NDEs who seem to have gone on to the second stage and it is these accounts that resemble most closely what the mystics and esoteric texts say about the inner realms.

I already wrote about the case of Anita Moorjani and if you look at her NDE, her experience does have the markings of the second stage. At this point, I'd like to take a look at another special NDE that has the hallmarks of the second stage of spiritual life, perhaps even more so than Moorjani's experience. I refer to the experiences of Dr. Eben Alexander, M.D. who wrote about his NDE in the book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife.

Dr. Alexander went into a deep coma for one week, and during this period he experienced a reality that, according to him, was more real than the reality we live in right now. What is remarkable about Dr. Alexander's experience, aside from the fact that he was a neurosurgeon, is that he was an atheist before his NDE. Already an indifferent Catholic, Dr. Alexander's daily exposure to the field of medical science as well as some disappointing life experiences increasingly led him to doubt the existence of God.

Medically speaking, Dr. Alexander had a case of bacterial meningitis, apparently a very rare occurence among adults. How he contracted it was a mystery, because he wasn't exposed to any of the risk factors or incidents that could cause such an infection. However, what he went through before he went into coma takes on a very special meaning when seen through the perspective of esoteric science.

For starters, Dr. Alexander suddenly woke up early in the morning with intense pain at the base of his spine. He tried to take a soothing soak in the tub, but instead of helping, the pain started to creep up his spine. Then his head exploded in pain after his son briefly massaged it and that's when he started to slowly slip away. I don't know about you, but from those symptoms they pretty much look like signs of spontaneous kundalini awakening.

Many yogic sources state the importance of awakening the kundalini and bringing it to the crown chakra (at the top of the head) in order to fully experience the supernal realms. In the case of Dr. Alexander, what sets his experience apart from other NDEs is that in the midst of his NDE he wasn't even aware of who he was on this earth. Other people who have NDEs retain a sense of their earthly identity and personality.

Dr. Alexander believes that his forgetting about his earthly identity was probably the reason why he had an even deeper experience compared to other NDEs. This gives a hint of why it is important for those about to pass on to completely let go of material and corporeal matters.

Dr. Alexander also described his experience as more real than his physical life. This statement is probably incomprehensible except to someone else who had undergone a similar mystical experience. He also stated that he did not have a body as such and communicated with his guide there through thought alone. He describes a big core of blackness that was not frightening, yet emitted a sound that he could only describe as OM. And OM is the name he could think of to describe God.

In that realm, Dr. Alexander describes learning and understanding so much, and there was no such feeling of time or space. Even now, he is still slowly processing the things that he learned there, because his brain can hardly keep up with what was "taught" to him. This is strikingly similar to Master Choa Kok Sui's writings about intuition, about how one can learn the equivalent of several books in a few seconds yet take months or years to distill that knowledge into something understandable to most people.

Dr. Alexander also said that what you saw there was also what you felt, and vice versa, and the one constant experience there was that of unconditional love.

I highly encourage you to read Dr. Alexander's book. If you have any esoteric background at all you will immediately recognize Dr. Alexander's experiences. You'd think you were reading about the mystical experiences of a yogi.

In any case, the point of all this is that we need not undergo an NDE ourselves in order to experience the inner realms. There are many esoteric systems out there that teach different meditations and spiritual practices that will help us achieve these altered states of consciousness. Some gifted people are actually born with the ability to astral travel at will.

So there you have it, you now have an idea that there is something more to death and the afterlife, and that there are many ways that others have used to learn more about it. Death is not the end, and you can take comfort in the thought that your departed loved ones are well looked after in their continuing journey.

You may ask where evocation (spirit summoning) fits into all this. I would say it's somewhere in between mediumship and actually experiencing the inner realms. You're not using a go-between in order to speak with a spirit, but you're not actually visiting the spirit realms either. It's a way to get some information about the spirit world, but nothing really beats going there and seeing and experiencing it for yourself.

At the end of it all, what these stories do tell us is that such inner realms do exist, and there are ways and means that allow our consciousness to reach those realms even while physically alive. It's up to us if we want to start exploring them right now or to wait until we've crossed the inevitable line before paying attention to our destination.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Here And There - Part 2 of 3: Mediumistic Communication

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Dealing with death and its aftermath is something as old as the human race itself, for death is an inevitable part of physical existence. Even the most "primitive" of tribes have some sort of funerary rite in order to commemorate the passing of a tribe member. Just as the earliest humans had to come to terms with death, the concept of the invisible worlds and the afterlife were also appreciated, perhaps even more so than in the modern world.

The medicine men and shamans of these tribes not only held the roles of doctor and counselor, they were also responsible for the spiritual well-being of the tribe. This responsibility extended both to the physical tribe members and the deceased. These wise men typically protected the tribe from malefic spirits and influences and were also the connecting link to the tribe's ancestors, who were often seen as the tribe's invisible guardians. Implied in these customs is the belief that the afterlife and the invisible worlds play as important a role in the conduct of life as physical existence itself.

There are many reasons why people would want to converse with spirits and learn more about the spirit world. Some people do it to find out the fate of their departed loved ones. Others simply want to reassure themselves of the reality of the invisible worlds. Yet others seek an advantage in terms of knowledge or guidance on what to do.

For people who do not have enough psychic talent or skill to communicate with spirits, they will have to employ the services of a medium. A medium is exactly what the term implies, a go-between that allows you to communicate with an incorporeal entity. Mediums can be found in almost any corner of the world. It could be the shaman of the tribe or even your next door neighbor.

Powerful people have always been fascinated with the paranormal, since it holds the promise of gaining an advantage over adversaries. As such, even mediums of humble birth have rubbed elbows with nobility. For example, with the kingdom of Israel in crisis, King Saul consulted the shade of the prophet Samuel through the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28). John Dee, an astrologer and occultist in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, used the services of the medium Edward Kelley in seeking contact with angels. Their collaboration resulted in the introduction of angel evocation and the Enochian language (supposedly the language of angels).

The Victorian Era saw an upsurge in mainstream interest in the esoteric and the occult. It was during this period that esoteric organizations such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society were born. In the United States, this era also saw the development of the New Thought movement, which carried on into the early 20th century with authors such as Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich), Charles Haanel (The Master Key System) and Wallace D. Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich) publishing books that reflected the principles of New Thought.

It was into this tableau that a Frenchman named Allan Kardec took an interest in spirit tapping, an activity that was already popular in his time. His subsequent investigations led to the publication of The Spirits' Book as well as four other titles that formed the basis of organized Spiritism. Allan Kardec's work had important consequences because it transformed spiritism into a systematized undertaking. This helped spiritism achieve a measure of credibility in a field of practice littered with charlatans and half-skilled practitioners.

According to a lecture given by one of the spiritist groups still active in the Philippines, systematized mediumship reached the shores of the Philippines when the Union Espiritista Christiana, Inc. was established in 1901. Most of the early mediums were from the province of Bulacan, although the practice slowly spread throughout the country as several lunduyans (spiritist centers) were set up in various locations. The training for mediumship is quite rigorous, requiring no small amount of discipline and courage. Suffice to say, it's not for the faint of heart. There is a reason why various occultists warned against the dangers of mediumship.

Still, one can really learn a lot through these mediums. According to one such medium I talked to, they were able to learn a lot about the spirit world through their sessions. They were also given certain oracions (incantations) for various uses such as protection, healing, etc. But in most cases they would facilitate communication between living people and their deceased loved ones. Another important service they performed were space clearing sessions for areas haunted by various spirits. Again, it's really quite interesting as long as you can stand the idea of coming face to face (sometimes literally) with the paranormal.

If you'd like to know more about mediumship in the Philippines, I highly recommend the book Mediumship by Claudette Rosal, although I'm not sure if you can still find it in bookstores. It was a book that stemmed out of her thesis and in the course of her investigations she briefly became a medium herself. We had the fortune of meeting her one time and she has many amazing stories to tell, some of them not found in the book.

At this point I'd like to devote some attention to some of the information that one may get from mediums. Even if we remove charlatans from the equation, mediums sometimes give widely varying accounts of the spirit world, its workings and its environs. This has led some people to doubt the veracity of the methods employed by mediums. But really, this variety of information really shouldn't be surprising. Supposing an alien who has never been to Earth nor seen it were to interview several humans about the places they lived in, it would also get many replies. An Arab would say he lived in a hot desert environment, an Eskimo would say his land is full of snow and ice, while a Vietnamese would say his place is full of jungles and mountains. Same thing with the spiritual realms, spirits experience varying conditions depending on their vibration and level of spiritual evolution.

The development of the medium should also be taken into account. The more highly developed the medium, the more highly developed the spirit beings he/she can come into contact with. Lower vibration entities have a limited range of knowledge and are more prone to give deceptive information.

Still, mediums perform an important function for those people who are desperate to contact their departed loved ones just one more time, or for those people who would like to know more about what lies beyond the veil but are unable to investigate for themselves. But just like any information you encounter for the first time, you first need to take it with a grain of salt. Verification is of course a big challenge when you yourself don't have the tools to do it, but there are still some things that one can do:

1. Investigate the background of the medium. Is he/she well-trained and recommended by people you trust?

2. Higher vibration beings do not incite one to negative deeds or feelings. And be careful if a spirit requires one to perform a certain ritual first before giving any information. That's one way to unwittingly enter into a pact with a negative entity.

3. Do not immediately act on whatever information that is given. If possible, go through several mediums or if the information is about the status of objects or people in the physical realm, try to verify through your own mundane sources.

Going by the above guidelines, it seems like it's so much trouble to interact with mediums. But again, there is a reason that the role of medium has endured throughout history even unto today's materialistic-minded environment. When bereaved family members feel a sense of peace that their deceased loved ones are doing well, or when one is able to assist earthbound spirits to "find the light" and ascend to higher realms of existence, then the medium's place in society is more easily understood.

The point is, we're all headed to the spirit world, and the only question is when. Hopefully you don't need to find yourself on the other end of the communication line between a medium and the loved ones you left behind. But if ever you do, perhaps you'll be thankful that such sincere people do exist.

One other tip if ever you decide to avail the services of a medium. If you decide to contact your deceased loved one, once should be enough. Spirits also have their own roles in the spirit world and they still undergo spiritual development. Constant contact also disturbs them. T. Lobsang Rampa compares this situation with receiving several phone calls from home while trying to work in the office. You'd hardly get any work done if your phone rings every few minutes.

In any case, as I mentioned in a previous article, truth has to be experienced. The accounts of spirits already on the other side can serve as a guide, but there's nothing like experiencing and validating it for yourself before you're dead. For ordinary people who have had near death experiences that's exactly what they did, though one need not barely escape death in order to do so. I will discuss these things on the third part of this series.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Here And There - Part 1 of 3: The Science Of Death

Credit: Alex Grey, alexgrey.com

Benjamin Franklin once wrote the following in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789:

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

While many may evade the latter, no one escapes the former. Death is a subject that most people would rather not think about, and why not? Death is so final. If a loved one decided to relocate to the most remote place on Earth, without modern communications, there is still comfort in the chance (no matter how small) that you would see or hear from each other again. But if one of you dies, that's it. Anything left unsaid, any unfinished business will have to wait until both of you have crossed the Great Divide (or, until your next incarnation).

While death may be a morbid topic, its inevitability means it deserves something more than just a casual glance on our part. Death comes to anyone, young or old, healthy or sick, strong or weak, rich or poor. It is a painful parting for some, a welcome release for others. It can come unexpectedly, as quick as the snap of a finger, or as a long expected and drawn out curtain call. Despite the seemingly capricious nature of death, I think what people fear more is not the fact of death itself, but what to expect after it happens.

To start off, let's begin with the analogy of migrating to another country. Before you migrate, you want to gather as much information as you can about your destination. You start with the available literature, authoritative guides made by people considered experts on the subject. And then you also try to consult with people who have been there. And, if you have enough money you'd probably visit that country yourself as a tourist and try to get a feel for the place. Suitably equipped with such knowledge, you can expect a smooth transition once you actually migrate. Contrast this with the person who, with barely any preparation, finds himself forced to live in a foreign country without any idea about its language, its culture or its people. He would definitely find his transition very disturbing. Understanding death and the beyond follows the same general principles described above. It pays to know what to expect in advance.

There are three main sources of information about death and what happens afterward. The first is in the mystical literature encoded in many ancient texts and enshrined in the teachings of esoteric spiritual systems. The second are the various mediums who channel communications from the unseen realms. The third are the testimonies of ordinary people who have suffered the near death experience. They have the advantage of briefly experiencing the afterlife and coming back to tell others about it. Throughout the course of this series I will discuss each of the three sources of information. Even so, I will only be scratching the surface of this vast subject.

Hard as it may be to believe, there is a science to death and dying. The first aspect of this science can be found in astrology. Everyone is destined to pass from this world one day. It would oversimplify the matter to say that we have an expiry date, just like the food we find in store shelves, but that's essentially how it is. Therefore, no death is really "random." A very skilled astrologer can calculate the most likely times that one could die, as well as the absolute death date. There are certain exceptions of course, but this only seems to apply to spiritually advanced disciples who have specific spiritual missions to accomplish in this world.

Perhaps the clearest example of this aspect of astrology is my own experience a few years ago. The mother of one of my friends is an astrologer. One night he, I and another friend were starting on our way home together after a late dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. A few minutes away from the restaurant we almost got into a potentially serious accident. While making a turn at an intersection, a speeding 10-wheeler truck almost rammed the side of the car we were on. I was driving at the time and it was only by quickly jamming my foot on the accelerator that we were able to barely escape being hit.

Further down the road, my friend decided to check his cellphone and he noticed that his mom had texted him while we were still in the restaurant. The gist of the text stated: "Avoid being on the road between 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight." The time of our almost accident? 12:30 a.m., well within the "danger period" his mom warned him about.

If anything, this example shows that astrologers can identify certain dangerous or auspicious periods BUT the result is not predetermined. Could this have been coincidence? Certainly. But based on the track record of my friend's mom, I doubt it.

If you want to read more about how much a skilled astrologer can extrapolate even based on sparse information, I suggest you read the book Zodiac & Swastika by Wilhelm Wulff (read it at Scribd). Wulff was an artist who took up an interest in astrology after studying Leonardo da Vinci's works and collections in a museum in Milan in 1912.

Over the years, he honed his craft to the point that he was able to help investigators solve or clear up a few difficult cases. One instance was the case of a girl's disappearance that he accurately determined was a double suicide. Another case was the theft of jewelry from a rich estate. By casting the appropriate horoscope, he accurately determined that the jewels were still within the estate, the approximate location where the jewels were buried, and the likely perpetrator. Acting on this information, the police raid resulted in the jewels being found and one of the maids being arrested for the theft. Perhaps Wulff's most famous contribution was determining where Mussolini was being held after his ouster and arrest in 1943. This information eventually helped the Germans launch that infamous raid led by Otto Skorzeny that resulted in Mussolini's rescue.

It is worth noting that Wulff was just one example of the contradictory conditions that esoteric practitioners faced in Nazi Germany. Initially persecuted and sent to a concentration camp early in the war because of his astrological skills, Wulff was eventually released and pressed into the service of the SS High Command (under constant threat of death) as the war started to turn out badly for Germany.

Going back to topic, supposing that one has already reached the moment of death. Certain esoteric traditions have detailed guidelines on what to do at the moment of death. For example, the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead) is a funerary text that is supposed to assist the soul in managing death and the conditions immediately afterwards. It's essentially a guide for the soul of the dying person so that he/she may successfully navigate the bardo (the plane the soul immediately finds itself in after death) and hopefully avoid being drawn back to the web of samsara (the wheel of birth and rebirth). The book describes what bodily position the dying person is supposed to be in and what the lama (priest) should be reading aloud before, during and after the moment of death.

Tibetan Buddhists consider the Bardo Thodol as a terma (treasure) teaching, because it gives the soul a chance to achieve spiritual liberation. Terma were supposedly left by Guru Rinpoche (Buddha Padmasambhava), founder of Tibetan Buddhism, all across Tibet to be discovered when the time of their teaching becomes ripe. Terma can either be in the form of physical artifacts (like the Bardo Thodol) or bits of teaching embedded in the consciousness of advanced disciples, to be taught once the disciple discovers it.

Another example of a funerary text is the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Forget what you watched in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. The Egyptian Book of the Dead has a similar purpose as that of the Bardo Thodol.

However, one need not study the Bardo Thodol or the Egyptian Book of the Dead to be able to assist people who are about to pass on. There are just two very simple guidelines that both the dying person and the person's loved ones need to keep in mind:

1. For the person about to pass on, let go of any earthly attachments. Don't think about things such as who will inherit your money, or that one of your pesky relatives might make a try for some of your possessions after you're gone. Instead, simply make peace and forgive, because earthly attachments and concerns are mental and emotional chains that will make it difficult for the soul to ascend to higher realms. At its worst, it will keep the soul earthbound. It's very difficult to give up a lifetime of mental and emotional entanglements in a very short time (as anyone who has tried to kick a long-standing bad habit would understand). This is why in Buddhism there is so much emphasis on practicing detachment as an integral part of one's life.

2. For the loved ones of the dying person, DO NOT wail, cry or otherwise argue about the inheritance or similar matters around the deathbed. Maintain a solemn silence because even immediately after death the soul can still hear sounds. That's why in the Bardo Thodol, the lama still reads instructions meant for the dead person. Loud and disturbing sounds such as crying or arguments only distract the soul from concentrating on the transition from this life into the next.

In his book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul, Master Choa Kok Sui describes an intense white light that will envelop the person at the moment of death. If the soul is able to focus and merge with this white light, the soul immediately achieves liberation. It is a priceless opportunity offered to everyone who dies. The important thing is for the soul to be aware that it will happen and to be undisturbed when it does.

If there are only two things that you can pick up from this article, let it be the two guidelines I outlined above. They are very simple, yet quite priceless for the soul.

In Part 2, I will describe how mediums work and how they contribute to the knowledge of the after realms.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Beyond The Brain

uofmhealthblogs.org

Do we determine how we act, or is our behavior just a result of our brain telling us what to do? After all, the human brain is an amazing biological computer. For instance, scientists believe that the brain can store at least 1,000 terabytes of information. Considering that the 900-year old National Archives of Britain has accumulated "only" an estimated 70 terabytes worth of information throughout its history, the brain's storage power is indeed impressive. Not only can the brain sort out all the different memories and knowledge we've accumulated, it also simultaneously manages the different bodily processes that keep us alive. Heart beat, respiration, blood distribution, waste removal, all of these things happen while we engage in other conscious tasks such as eating, talking or watching TV. Talk about parallel computing and multi-tasking!

However, the brain, and consequently the body, is also influenced by the many chemical secretions and hormones produced by the endocrine glands. For example, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), produced by the pituitary gland, is also called the fountain of youth. It is also responsible for giving the mind an increased sense of well being and contributes to an increased sexual drive. Melatonin, produced by the pineal gland, influences our circadian rhythms and allows us to adjust for seasonal changes.

By extension, one may say that simply by changing the mix of these different chemicals, one can influence the actions, memories and experiences of people. For instance, DMT is also said to be produced by the pineal gland at one's birth, at one's death, or during deeply spiritual states. DMT can also be synthetically reproduced or extracted from plants. Some South American cultures use the DMT extracted from certain plants and mushrooms in order to induce altered states of consciousness. Of course, looking at our actions and experiences as simply by-products of complex chemical reactions relegates the idea of human consciousness to the confines of a purely biological construct.

But are we really just a reflection of the chemical soup being cooked up inside us? Pure materialists would say yes, but I would say that it's both yes and no. Yes, probably most people are susceptible to hormone-induced behavior. Just ask anyone who has been on the receiving end of a woman with PMS, or anyone who instinctively grabs for food at the first sign of hunger.

However, many also forget such a thing called willpower. Willpower is an attribute that not enough people have a balance of. For example, one may religiously go to the gym but have no control over what one eats, or be quite industrious at work but be unable to summon the discipline to exercise regularly. But willpower is the one thing that allows us to overcome our hormones.

We do not need to look far to find examples of this. Whenever I watch documentaries about special forces around the world, I notice that the one thing that the selection process is trying to test is the mental toughness of the trainees. This is why it's not always the fittest, the strongest or the most intelligent that make the cut. The previous attributes are all important, but it's mental toughness that truly identifies one as special forces material. As one training sergeant said, just when you think your body can't give any more, you can actually force it to perform when circumstances demand it.

The above examples are not limited to soldiers. People who survive disasters despite all odds, or athletes who perform superbly at crunch time, all of them display this same sort of toughness, the will to survive and the will to win. It's this "digging deep" despite the pain and exhaustion that can allow one to overcome extreme adversity.

Everyone has a certain amount of willpower, it's just that people use it in different ways and with varying degrees of strength. The key to applying willpower constructively is to be aware. Instead of mindlessly grabbing that Twinkie bar when you feel hungry, stop first and think if you just didn't drink enough water. Or perhaps choose some other healthy food instead. Instead of lashing out in anger when you see someone you don't like, stop and think about how to de-escalate the situation instead.

If you look at it more closely, the constructive use of willpower is basically the same as character building. Now imagine that. So next time you're tempted to just give in to your negative impulses, try to exert some mental effort to act differently. It's never easy, and there will be many times that you may mess up, but every time you succeed is one better act you've done today than yesterday.

Are We Advancing Ourselves Backwards?

en.wikipedia.org

Most of us would be familiar with the phrase made famous in the Spiderman comics: "With great power comes great responsibility." In this day and age, humankind has literally made quantum leaps as far as technological advancement is concerned. Ever since the Renaissance and so-called Enlightenment, science has allowed us to take advantage of many of nature's secrets in order to produce wonders that would astound our ancestors, such as "iron birds that can fly," "horseless carriages that can outrun the fastest horses" or "magic picture frames that allow you to view scenes from half a world away."

To our forebears, such accomplishments would seem like magic, and if there is one area that science has had greatest effect, it's in the dispelling of many of the superstitions that ruled the lives of our ancestors. The scientific drive to question and to verify has led more and more people to throw off the yoke of blind obedience (a trait used in full by the Catholic Church to control the masses). Science has given us so much that atheists frequently raise the banner of science as the answer that would finally dispel the ignorance and suffering caused by religion.

Of course, they do have a point because religious fanaticism is simply wrong. But is science alone the answer, or will we be exchanging one form of extremism for another? Consider this. If science alone is the answer, isn't it strange that despite all our so-called advancements, never in our recorded history has humanity been so close to annihilating itself? If the existence of thousands of nuclear warheads around the world is not enough, consider other technological "advancements" that are doing us harm in the long run such as GMOs, the heavy use of toxic chemicals in the food processing industry, the harmful effects of electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs) prevalent in many household devices or the grip of pharmaceutical companies on general healthcare, to name only a few.

The Institute for the Future of Humanity, based in Oxford University, has recently come out with a paper called Existential Risk as Global Priority (click on the link for the PDF copy). In the paper, Institute Director Nick Bostrom and his team argue that paradoxically, the present rate and use of scientific advancement has brought humanity closer to the brink of extinction. Something is definitely missing if we have reached this point.

A concrete example that hits close to home on this one is what social activists call the Monsanto Protection Act. This measure is a rider to Farmer Assurance Provision, Sec. 735 and what it does is that it prevents US federal courts from stopping the planting of Monsanto GMO seeds. This Monsanto Protection Act is most likely a reaction to a 2010 case where a federal judge revoked the rights of Monsanto to plant GMO sugar beets. Try to imagine how Monsanto managed to sneak this bill through the US Congress, all the way to President Obama who signed it into law last April. If there was ever an example of a moral compass gone awry, this would be it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that science is wrong. In fact, I'm a geek and I was totally blown away by the article that detailed the 27 Science Fictions That Became Science Facts in 2012. However, if we look at the world in general, what we are seeing is a general trend from a world that was ruled by religious extremism to one where generally, the overly critical scientific mindset has lost all sense of the sacred. What I'm saying is that both science and spirituality are needed, a scientific drive to inquire and to verify, tempered by the moral obligation to use any discoveries only for the benefit and welfare of others.

A few days ago I watched this YouTube video of a homeschooled then-11-year old giving a TED talk. He basically sums up the current situation nicely and gives sound advice on how we, as individuals, can help to turn things around:



We have a left brain (analytical side) and right brain (intuitive side) for a reason. It is the physical expression of yin and yang, an example of the Law of Polarity made real. Totally giving up one for the other will lead to psychological imbalance. Just as we need both legs in order to run, we need both aspects of critical thinking and intuitive wisdom to make sure that the future we create will be a sustainable one.

Philippines, Where To Now?

untvweb.com

Last May 13, the Philippines had its national mid-term elections (mid-term because the elected officials come in at the midway point of the President's term). I normally refrain from writing articles about politics simply because there is such a broad spectrum of opinion that the debates could be never-ending and heated yet fruitless all the same. However, this time around I felt that I needed to say a little something because of the wide range of emotions displayed among my contacts (at least in Facebook) as the results of the elections became clear.

Even before election day, many have been decrying the strong showing of some candidates with questionable qualifications, but at the same time the various sentiments expressed a certain optimism about the country's future. However, it looked as if the elections were going to be a popularity contest rather than a choice between intelligently crafted political platforms.

For instance, in the May 7 edition of The Philippine Star, it reported that during mock polls conducted last March 2013 by the Pinoy Youth Barometer, youthful voters voted primarily on the basis of personality and name-recall rather than platform. This would be an advantage for political dynasties because of their well-established names. The mock polls turned out to be an accurate indicator for how the elections would turn out. Those who were expected to win did, and while some new names cropped up, in general political dynasties seemed to have retained their hold on traditional bailiwicks.

Soon after the results started coming in, Facebook posts quickly took on a despairing tone as people wailed about how stupid Filipino voters were and how there was no hope for the country. Several were even toying with the idea of leaving the country or, if they had already left, felt vindicated by their decision to leave after seeing the election results.

Amidst this backdrop of angst, it really would do well to reflect on the state of Philippine society. Although there were many Facebook posts about "Don't vote this candidate because..." or "I won't vote candidate XXX because..." the problem is that the majority who needed to be informed about voting wisely most likely had limited Internet access or Internet savvy. There is a reason why politicians favor the more economically deprived sectors of society, because they form the bulk of the votes and outnumber the educated voters. By educated voters, I don't necessarily mean just the rich ones. It's just that the economically challenged masses are more easily swayed by rhetoric and sass and thus prone to vote unwisely.

Given the above realities, it's easier to manage expectations when it comes to things like this. In short, we can never really expect to change the country's politics through voting alone. Before we go on, I'm not talking about revolution or anything like that. In truth, there are many baby steps to institute change even within the current system. Recently, there were proposals for an Anti-Dynasty Bill as well as a proposal to totally remove the pork barrel of congressmen (and senators, too, I believe). Although these measures did not pass for obvious reasons, the fact that these proposals gained enough traction to receive national (and some media) attention is significant because such proposals would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.

One other aspect of hope is that the educated voters more often than not also belong to the upper strata of society. Perhaps not all would be part of the top 40 richest families in the Philippines, but they are most likely in the position to hobnob with those in power. Thus the pressure for change can manifest obliquely, through subtle suggestions and gentle pressure. It won't be fast, but it can be persistent with the right people in the right places doing it. In this case it won't be quantity but quality that will be the defining factor.

I would like to share a few passages from the book Secret Politics by Dieter Ruggeberg that seem quite appropriate for this topic:

The healthy "Self" finds its harmony in a healthy self-awareness, which struggles between becoming entrenched in egoism, and disintegrating under self-sacrifice and lack of self-confidence. The same inherent laws apply to a country. Thus, a country's self-awareness supports itself on an all-embracing sovereignty, the foundation of which is healthy nationalism or patriotism. Just as the "Self" of the individual can harden in pathological egoism, the balance of a country can be threatened by exaggerated nationalism or chauvinism. On the other side lurks the danger of disintegration of the "Self" through weaknesses, cowardice, and lack of interest which can also happen to a country when it lacks a healthy self-awareness, has diseased liberalism, internationalism, lacks patriotism. Man's self-awareness is, therefore, equivalent to a country's sovereignty and its freedom to make its own decisions, and the possibility to defend itself against foreign influences and oppression. (Secret Politics, p. 17)

Since a nation is simply a large conglomeration of individuals, it makes sense to get a sense of the nation by getting a sense of the individual that makes up that nation. But based on Mr. Ruggeberg's description, doesn't the second description, that of the disintegrating Self, remind us of what ails the Philippines?

In the end, as individuals we must decide and act based on what we feel is best. Securing the future of one's children by migrating abroad is a very valid and worthy goal, the same way that the person who decides to become an activist of change in the country also pursues a very valid and worthy goal. What is important is that all of us achieve that awareness of Self so that we end up acting in a responsible manner and don't get swayed by the politics of emotion that tend to sweep not just the Philippines but anywhere else that is in crisis. This would make one an anomaly in the context of the national trend, but it would be a good anomaly. And if enough people become that anomaly, then suddenly you've turned the tables and we have a nation that is self-aware.

Here's a quote I recently saw on Facebook:

There is one person that can make the most difference in your life. You.

This captures the essence of the matter. Don't pin your hopes on politicians and don't give the power of change to others.

The power of change is already within YOU.

Ground And Sun Your Way To Better Health

natures-blessings.org

Grounding (also known as rooting) is an important part of any spiritual exercise. Prolonged meditation can lead to expansion of consciousness and feelings of bliss. While it's tempting to remain in this state, it can also leave the practitioner metaphorically floating and spaced out. In effect, one may be unable to effectively deal with the more practical side of life. Symptoms may include the inability to focus during work, impractical ideas or a constant dreamy, faraway look even when talking to other people. So make sure you ground yourself well after every spiritual exercise that you do.

In addition to its place in spiritual practice, it turns out grounding also has some scientific basis. It has to do with good old-fashioned electromagnetism. The Earth has a negative electric charge on its surface, so when one walks or stands barefoot on the ground, these electrons transfer into the body and bring positive physical effects.

Some studies indicate that the electrons that one absorbs from the Earth result in anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on the body. Improved circulation, immune responses, heart function and lessened stress responses are among the other noted effects of grounding. Since chronic inflammation is a condition associated with diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, the positive effects of grounding take on even more significance. The Earth is literally the best source of antioxidants and nothing beats the fact that it's all free and relatively easy to access.

Footwear and any type of flooring will block the transfer of electrons so in order to derive any benefits from grounding, you need to be in direct contact with the Earth. You can get a better idea of the science behind grounding through this article in Dr. Mercola's website. While you're at it, you may as well take into consideration the etheric cleanliness of the surrounding area where you plan to do your rooting. Areas in or around septic tanks, garbage dumps or cemeteries, for example, are not ideal places to do grounding. Look instead for peaceful gardens, parks or better yet, areas of natural vegetation such as mountains or farmland.

I like to combine grounding with one other activity: sunning myself. Vitamin D has many benefits such as anti-inflammatory properties, improved immune function and anti-depressant properties. The best (and cheapest) way to get Vitamin D is through sun exposure, which is why it's a perfect combo with grounding because both activities need to be done outdoors.

The length of time that one needs to remain under the sun is dependent on one's geographical location, skin pigmentation, season, ground elevation and time of day. It's all quite complicated, but you can get by with these general guidelines:

1. Sun exposure between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. is considered optimal because you can get the most Vitamin D production for the shortest amount of time.

2. You can stay under the sun until your skin turns the lightest shade of pink. After that point, your body is not producing any more Vitamin D so further sun exposure is not needed.

For those concerned about getting skin cancer, the important thing is not to overexpose yourself. Some studies published in The Lancet and Medical Hypotheses indicate that proper sun exposure actually decreases your risk of skin cancer. Again, balance is the key.

Personally, I set a timer for 10 minutes so that I don't overexpose myself. If the day is particularly hot, drink a glass of water before and/or after sunning yourself to minimize the risk of heat stroke.

This daily grounding exercise has become a mini-meditation for me, sort of like a merging of Heaven and Earth meditation. I give thanks to God for the solar prana and sustenance, usually by silently chanting the Gayatri mantra, and I also give thanks to Mother Earth for the grounding and nurturing. It's certainly a great way to charge up your day.

These components of grounding and sun exposure have been part and parcel of various spiritual disciplines throughout the ages. It's good to know that these spiritual practices are also grounded (pardon the pun) in science and health.

Defining Your Sense Of Self Worth

unlimited-success.co.uk

How does one measure the worth of a person?

One thing about society's concept of worth is that it is too often measured against financial and material accomplishments and achievements. For example, the most beautiful and masterfully crafted works of art would be empty accomplishments if the artist could not afford to send his/her children to school, or pay the rent or mortgage (after all, works of art usually gain value only after the artist dies). It would seem that the situation has reached the point that lack of accomplishment in material or financial matters is considered a form of irresponsibility. But is one's worth only what is reflected in the balance sheet?

In order to look deeper into this, we need to see what happens when things go wrong because this is when most people feel worthless (with others all too happy to sing that chorus). There is a song called Bad Day by Daniel Powter and perhaps it's better known as the song played for eliminated contestants in American Idol 5. But there are really some days when things just don't fall into place and one thing after another goes wrong. Some people have more of it than others but basically, no one is immune from a bad day.

A bad day is probably one of the few things in life that doesn't distinguish between rich or poor, powerful or weak, healthy or sick. When things go wrong, your bank account, degree, your job title or social position will not matter, only your mindset will.

So how do we deal with a bad day? How does one stop from feeling worthless? Since everyone will encounter at least one bad day in their whole lifetime, it's important to grasp at every little positive thing, no matter how trivial it seems. Literally count your blessings! You'd be surprised at just how much good you can find in yourself if you put effort into it, and then the day won't seem so bad after all.

An example of looking for something positive would be a situation that made you pissed off but where you didn't lose control and blow your top. You can either continue being pissed off that the bad situation happened at all, or you can reflect and congratulate yourself that you managed a bit of self control in not blowing your top, especially if this is an improvement over what you may have been likely to do in similar situations before.

Of course, it's important to distinguish between the truly good that you see in yourself versus having an overinflated sense of self-importance. If one has made a mistake, one should correct it. Self-honesty is the only way to avoid the trap of self-delusion. But even then, if you can be honest enough to admit your mistakes, that's one good thing about yourself and you still come out a winner.

The more you build up the list of good things you recognize about yourself, the more your self-esteem grows. The more your self-esteem grows, the more you get a sense of your true worth. When you know what you're worth, you are less likely to be defined by what others say about you or be forced to conform with what society defines as normal. More often than not, we seek acceptance and approval from others, that's why we feel the need to be worth something in the first place. So when we receive any form of criticism or attack, that sense of acceptance and approval is threatened so we feel bad and may even strike back.

Some criticisms are deserved, but other times they are done out of spite, jealousy or misunderstanding. Too much criticism can leave someone doubting one's worth and can lead into a downward spiral of depression. Coupled with some runs of "bad luck" and one can really feel as if the world is out to get them. For most people, these are temporary states that one can easily snap out of. For others, it can become a lifelong struggle to find meaning in life.

Whenever you're down is actually the best time for you to love and accept everything about yourself when no one else will. Your sense of true worth will be the innermost rock that you can grasp and use to hold yourself steady against the tide of trials that life may throw your way. It becomes easier to dust yourself off, be better and try harder. It even becomes easier to be harshly honest with yourself, because you know that no matter how bad you're going to appear under the harsh eye of self-criticism, you still know there's something good in you, you know there is something to accept, and you know there's still something to love. In short, you know your worth and there's no price tag attached to it.

The magical thing is, once you start to truly accept yourself (warts and all), then you start to appreciate what unconditional love must be like. Just imagine, it doesn't matter if you went to college, didn't get that promotion, failed the board exam, have a bum career, don't get along with people. None of it matters, you are simply loved and accepted as you are. You don't even have to do anything or prove anything in order to get it. If there are prerequisites or you need to "earn" it somehow, it wouldn't be unconditional.

The sages say that God is Love, and that His love is unconditional. We are all divine sparks and one with God. Therefore, the very root of love is found within us. We need not search for acceptance and approval from others. There is only one source of genuine acceptance and approval that we need, and we only need to recognize it in ourselves. It makes one think of what the Lord Jesus said, that heaven is within us.

With this recognition of the love within us, I am loved becomes the new mantra and affirmation. Had a bad day? I am loved. Did an irate customer shout invectives at you? I am loved. Passed over for promotion? I am loved. Feel you made the most stupid mistake in the world? I am loved. Were you humiliated in front of others? I am loved. Didn't pass that test? I am loved. Are you persecuted because of your race, creed or religion? I am loved.

Eventually, this type of attitude will not be limited to bad days alone. It will become a new outlook in life, a life that looks and feels fresher simply because you have accepted yourself and know your worth. Of course, nothing happens overnight and we will need to constantly remind ourselves of the fact that we are worth something before this attitude becomes ingrained.

This state is something that is experienced, not imagined. Yet imagination paves the way to infinite possibilities, so imagine it at the start if you must and remember that your true worth is the unconditional love of God that is already yours if you but recognize and accept it.

Coherence

cygnus-books.co.uk

Did you know that atoms are 99.9% empty space? According to an article in the Elephant Journal, if you took away all the empty space between atoms and pressed them together, the whole human race would fit inside a sugar cube. This ties in with what I watched in an episode of The Universe in History Channel, where one scientist said that if all the atoms of the Empire State Building were stripped of their empty space, the building would only be the size of a grain of sand or something close to it (it would still weigh 370,000 tons though, so that grain of sand would still crush your hand instantly).

One would then ask that if everything was mostly empty space, why don't we pass through stuff? This is because of the electrostatic field caused by the electrons of different atoms pushing against each other.

On a deeper level, what makes all these atoms what they are? Why do certain atoms bind themselves the way they do? What makes them keep the form they were shaped into? Something keeps them together, otherwise a tea cup would just dissolve into its constituent elements instead of retaining the form that it was shaped into. Even beyond electrostatic forces, something gives coherence to these atoms.

In Franz Bardon's system of hermetics (composed of ten steps), there is a mental exercise on the fifth step where one is supposed to imagine one's consciousness to be as small as an atom and place that consciousness into the "depth point" of any chosen object. The smaller one's consciousness becomes, the larger and larger the constituent parts of the object also become. Molecules start to become as big as houses, and space expands further and further until one can imagine oneself surrounded by pure atoms, each atom like a small solar system with revolving electrons and protons with a nucleus for the star, and in between, endless empty space. One can imagine that one is in the center of a vast universe.

However, despite the seemingly infinite size of this imaginary universe, one remains aware of the overall form that these giant (to one's miniscule point of view) atoms conform themselves to. So one begins to wonder, what is the force that keeps them together in that form, and not in another?

So one tries to go even deeper, until one imagines that one has penetrated into the quantum realm of quarks and other things that are smaller than atoms. According to quantum theory, consciousness has an effect on the behavior of quantum particles. Ah. Then a little nudge here and a little nudge there and theoretically, one can influence how certain atoms behave toward each other.

At the very depths of this infinite space, the power of thought seems to provide the underlying mold or design that keeps these atoms to a certain form in relation to each other (e.g. the form of a tea cup). And so, ancient maxims start to make more sense, because it is said that everything starts from a thought. Even the grandest building starts as an idea in the mind of the architect and everything that follows afterward until the building is constructed is held together by the force of this singular idea.

However, not all thought is created equal. Otherwise, we could all create things out of thin air, by sheer thought power alone. So it seems to me that there is an even greater force of thought, call it a Divine Thought, that keeps things the way they are. The formation of atoms that make up granite is held together by the thought design of granite. Same thing with the formation of atoms that make up gold, and so on. Sorts of boggles the mind, doesn't it? It seems to be such a complicated template tree, if you bother to think about it.

But again, it's really amazing how everything remains so coherent throughout it all. Everything is held in place, for all intents and purposes by a powerful Thought, so it seems to support the statements that the universe is one big mind. Hindu sacred texts do say that when Brahma goes to sleep, the whole universe dissolves into Nothingness, presumably because the conscious thought that holds everything together is withdrawn.

The Bardon exercise is a really interesting (if taxing) meditation that really helps give insight on a couple of Hermetic maxims. Other points for meditation would be, if one can imagine any object as a big universe when seen from the point of view of the atom while still being aware of the overall coherent form, what form does our own universe conform to, if any? Going by scale, our Sun would be like a nucleus and the planets as the protons and electrons. If we shrink our consciousness further, would we find small beings living in these "planetary" electrons of each atom, just as we live on this Earth?

I may as well end this here before I give people migraines with all the infinite possibilities such thoughts can bring us to. But it does show that we are truly specks in this big, big place and all the knowledge in the world does not even begin to encompass the enormity of what is out there (or "in here").

Being In Tune

en.wikipedia.org

I'm sure we've all heard a skilled musician play. The melody coming out of the instrument, whether it be a violin, piano, saxophone or guitar can evoke everything from the deepest emotions to long-forgotten memories. A well-tuned instrument played by a skilled musician is truly food for the soul.

If any part of the instrument were misaligned or otherwise out of tune, only discordant tones would come out, a vibration that will set anyone's teeth on edge if played long enough. Every aspect of the instrument has to be in harmony, every string at just the right tension, every part aligned just so, in order to accurately express the message in melody that the musician wants to bring out.

Unfortunately, there can be times when people fail to appreciate good music when they hear it. For instance, in 2007 the Washington Post ran an article about how world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell was for the most part ignored when he played in a subway station in front of a rush-hour crowd. And to think, a few days before Bell did this experiment, he played his US$3.5 million violin (the same violin he used in the subway) in Boston's Symphony Hall where the good seat prices started at US$100. What does this say about how people prioritize their lives?

Like a musical instrument, the human body (including the subtle bodies) is like a finely tuned instrument, ready to shine with the soul's inner light, our soul song, except that one's personality can make one "tone deaf" to this inner melody. One spiritual teacher recently said that our physical body is already optimized for good health, with antibodies ready to defend it from any infection. The same goes for our astral and mental bodies, that also have inherent "antibodies" to naturally protect us from malignant influences.

However, people get sick precisely because they sabotage their own bodies and fail to listen to inner signals of disharmony and chaos. What is true for the physical body is also true with our subtle bodies. Harboring anger, jealousy, greed, pride and other negative traits and emotions overpower our natural tendencies to be in equilibrium and harmony. More often than not, going on the spiritual path is simply one's effort to get back into the spirit's natural state of harmony, the same way that eating healthy combined with proper physical activity will allow the physical body to pretty much heal itself.

Ancient philosophy speaks of a "music of the spheres" that refers to the underlying harmony between celestial bodies. While our understanding of the Universe may not be as deep, we do have to ask ourselves if we are in tune with the signals that the Universe is giving us.

People usually learn the value of something only when they lose it. But one who is tuned in is better prepared to handle whatever changes that life can bring. Does our lifestyle make us the person who would ignore a Joshua Bell subway performance? Would we fail to notice a thing if its value does not reside in its price? The answer is well worth considering.

How Do You Worship?

deebrestin.com

In the midst of an esoteric lecture that I recently attended, the topic of worship was briefly touched upon. The most common conception of worship is a visit to church or doing some other form of ritualized prayer. These views are correct to a certain degree but they only describe certain forms of worship. However, worship is not confined to ritual alone.

Worship comes from the Old English word worthscipe which means, to give worth to something. This definition is consistent with why most people go to religious celebrations and festivals. These are events that devotees feel are worthy of their time and effort, and so they participate.

A religious ritual represents one's act of connecting with the Divine, therefore on a deeper level, to "worship" means one acknowledges the importance of this Divine connection. It's easy to get weighed down by everyday concerns, especially if one is living life in the fast lane. We always need to remind ourselves that we are more than just our job, our social position or our bank account. This is the purpose of religious rituals, but the ritual is not the end in itself. The purpose of the ritual is to bring the worshiper to a state of reverence towards the object of worship, in this case the Divine.

If one is unable or unwilling to retain this state of reverence outside the confines of the ritual, then the purpose of the ritual is defeated. It's even worse if, during the course of the ritual, the state of reverence is not attained due to distractions (e.g. texting or taking calls during the Mass or religious service). In such a case, it would be better not to perform the ritual at all. In serious occult workings, such as evocations, such lack of concentration can lead to disaster.

Esoteric spiritual treatises often state that God is everywhere, and everyone carries a spark of the Divine. If worship is a recognition of the importance of our Divine connection, then if one would truly worship God, one would always recognize the Divine in others. So to treat an employee fairly is worship. To love other people is worship. To deal honestly with others is worship. To act responsibly towards the environment is worship. There is no better way to recognize God than to acknowledge the presence of God in every aspect of creation. The Hindus encapsulate all this in the greeting, "Namaste!" ("I salute the divinity in you!"). In this case, true worship is a celebration of life itself. It is not something that can be confined to four walls alone.

But just as there is an exoteric aspect to our worship (the part where we deal with the manifested Divine), there is also the esoteric aspect of worship. The clues may be found in two passages in the Bible:

"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (Matthew 6:6, NKJV)

and

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24, NKJV)

To worship in Spirit and Truth. Our very essence is that of spirit, the Divine. And as I mentioned in one of my articles, truth is experiential. And the way that one experiences the truth (realization of God) as spirit is through meditation.

This is why in Matthew 6:6 one is advised to "go into your room and shut the door." Many meditative techniques involve stilling the mind and directing one's attention inward, and to shut out the senses (shut the door) to the outside world. The "Father in the secret place" is a reference to the blue pearl, gateway to the Higher Soul and the inner realms. The physical correspondence of the blue pearl is the pineal gland.

As we can see, worship is not something that is isolated from how we live our life. Worship is an unbroken strand from spirit to manifested reality. Meditation allows one to worship in Spirit, and experience one's Divinity. When one expresses that Divinity by living out the teachings in daily life, then one's worship becomes a worship in Truth.

We may not always live up to those lofty ideals, if at all. But if the prerequisite to spiritual awakening was perfection, then no one would be able to start at all. Everyone was a beginner once, even the saints. The tools of one's unfoldment are not found in musty old tomes or in isolated temples. We can find those tools within ourselves when we commune with God, and are reflected to us in our own surroundings and how we interact with the ones around us. By giving worth to these things then we start to worship God in the truest sense of the word.