Urban Farming

Rapid ubanization has been a fact of life as far back as we can remember. As the population increases, more and more people flock to urban economic centers in the hopes of forging a better life for themselves. The sleepy farmland of 20 years ago could be the sprawling suburb or commercial center of today.

In fact, militaries across the world have recognized the impact that rapid urbanization would have on military operations. It is estimated that 75% of the world's population currently live in urban areas. This is why Military Operations in Urban Terrain (or MOUT for short) is in the forefront of military training and planning. It describes the military doctrine and tactics to be used when attacking or defending an urbanized area.

Within this environment of increased competition for resources plus the current global economic uncertainty, different households are increasingly turning towards backyard farms or what I'd like to call urban farms in order to supplement their daily food supply and decrease their food expenses. It's also a good idea given the prevalence of pesticide use and GMO produce in some countries.

Aside from making households less dependent on public markets, urban farming also makes them more resilient in situations that would affect food supply such as typhoon-devasted farmlands, transport strikes or rising fuel costs. Those living in condominiums or high-rise apartments face a greater challenge in terms of growing their own food, but enterprising families have made do with growing tomatoes or other small plants in pots scattered in the terrace.

Given the economic times and the increasing spate of natural disasters that are affecting food growing regions, it makes sense for more and more households to take advantage of any idle patches of land within their property. In fact, a lot of households also make use of any empty lots that may be beside their property. After all, the empty lots are not doing much good to anyone, so might as well use it for growing food. It also doesn't take a lot of money to throw seeds in the area so it's not as much of an economic loss if the lot owner finally decides to construct something on the lot. Of course, it's best to get official approval from the empty lot's owner although this is not always possible.

Some of the more common, nutritious yet hardy crops to grace urban farms are the malunggay (moringa) tree and the kamote (sweet potato) plant. Just these two vegetables already pack a lot of nutrients and are relatively easy to grow and maintain. Papaya and banana trees are also a common sight in urban farms although more enterprising "farmers" add a variety of other vegetables such as okra, tomatoes, lettuce and others. It's entirely up to the creativity and industriousness of the urban farmer.

In case you may decide to put up your own urban farm, also consider growing simple medicinal plants. Pancit-pancitan is good for gout attacks; makahiya, a common weed, is supposed to be good for arthritis and UTI; tanlad (lemongrass) is good in regulating blood pressure; citronella is a good anti-mosquito grass; speaking of mosquitos, the tawa-tawa plant (snake weed) is said to be effective against dengue. Mr. Ramon Tan, President of Carica Philippines, is said to be an advocate of the tawa-tawa plant and I heard that Carica Philippines is giving away tawa-tawa plants for FREE every Saturday (this needs to be confirmed).

However which way you look at it, urban farming seems to be the trend of the future. Even if one household growing their own food may not seem like much, if almost all the households within a certain community start growing their own food, it will definitely have an effect on their private food supply. Neighbors can cooperate with growing and maintaining the vegetables and even trade produce with other neighbors. Aside from the immediate benefit of bartering, it also fosters a sense of community spirit and cooperation that can only be beneficial during times of hardship.

An Orchestra of Quotes

Like most Filipinos and boxing fans the world over, we practically dropped everything we were doing last November 13 here in Manila (November 12 in Las Vegas) in order to watch Pacquiao fight Marquez for the third time. Although Pacquiao won that one, it was a far from convincing win. Up to now the debates are still raging and the closeness of the fight likely means that the debates won't end anytime soon (refer to the image in this article, courtesy of web designer Gie Jose).

Personally though, as long as both fighters fought fairly, they BOTH won, just not in the way most people expect. Like what Oscar dela Hoya once said, it takes guts to get into the ring. The exact quote is as follows:

"One of the things that bothers me most, ... is that very few people really understand what it means to be a fighter. I hate it when I hear someone say, 'That fighter doesn't have guts.' I hate that; it really ticks me off. I don't care if you're a world champion six times over or a four-round fighter who just got knocked out in thirty seconds of your first professional fight. To step inside that ring, you have to have guts."

One American Pacquiao fan, Michael Sellers, wrote an inspiring article about Pacquiao and it's entitled Dear Manny Pacquiao, the “Man in the Arena." He used a quote by Theodore Roosevelt which I think also applies in other areas of life. The quote is as follows:

The Man in the Arena

Exceprt from the speech “Citizenship in a Republic”, 23 April, 1910

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Very nice, right? Applied to spiritual practice, it means that we are responsible for our own lives. We are the ones living this life and as long as we are at peace with our Higher Selves, no one else can say if we are successful or not. But we need to do the hard work of spiritual practice. There will be failure, ridicule and oft times the feeling of being unappreciated. As Master Choa Kok Sui once said, "You have to be courageous on the Spiritual Path, trust the Higher Beings."

The Man in the Arena quote complements the inspirational poem Don't You Quit nicely:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

When doing the spiritual exercises, it's often difficult to track just how much progress we've made. We are after all dealing with intangible matters; it's not like there's an electronic meter that we can attach to monitor our progress. Sometimes it seems that we spend days and weeks without any progress, but many esoteric manuals exhort the student to have patience and persevere. One day, one will be surprised how far one has reached.

In the end, the success of this incarnation will be a matter between you and God. Choosing the right path is important, but staying the course despite all difficulties wins us the prize.

The Case of the Walk In Soul

Among the vast range of esoteric subjects, the topic of the walk in soul is among the most interesting and intriguing. A walk in refers to a case wherein a currently incarnated soul elects to leave his/her body behind (for whatever reason) so that a new soul may take over the body. Depending on what one's mental mindset (and religion) is, that alone should be enough to boggle the mind.

Supposedly, advanced beings use this walk in method in order to "hit the ground running" so to speak so that they may immediately start on their mission here on Earth. Such missions should benefit a large number of people, if not all humanity, because of the apparently complicated nature of doing a walk in.

The mission of the walk in could include introducing a new teaching that would help raise humanity's consciousness, or to organize a group or series of groups to do ceremonies that directly benefit Mother Earth, and so on. If the mission is really urgent and needs to be completed within a certain time frame, it would most likely necessitate a walk in so that the soul does not need to wait 10, 20 or 30 years of maturing before being able to start on the mission.

The concept of a walk in can be quite discomfiting because of the implications on the nature of close relationships such as with friends and most especially with spouses and children. Interestingly, I came across the Past Forward website that specifically discusses walk ins. I discovered this website through the Lightworkers in the Philippines Facebook community page.

Aside from a short explanation of what a walk in is, the website also lists 10 indicators that suggest a soul exchange has taken place. According to the website, if one has at least 7 of these 10 indicators, one is a walk in soul. These indicators are:

1> Extended Period of Unconsciousness While Ill
2> Some "Memory Loss" or Episodes of "Lost Time"
3> Dramatic Change in "Belief Systems" and/or Religion
4> Dramatic Shift in Interests and Spending Time
5> Inexplicable Acquisition of Talents and Abilities
6> New Approaches to Solving Unsolvable Problems
7> Overwhelming Evidence You Are "Not Yourself"
8> "Significant Others" Saying You Are "Different"
9> Sudden Leaving of Long Term Marriages or Jobs
10> Rapid Series of Challenging "Life" Problems

The owner of the website apparently does healing for complications that may arise from being a walk in. Also according to the website, there are more and more advanced souls doing walk ins in order to further assist in the ascension of Mother Earth. This makes sense, although the statement is hard to verify. One other thing the website mentions is that walk in souls will forget, either temporarily or permanently, that the soul exchange took place. If the soul's memory gets jazzed during the soul exchange, this sounds like it works against the concept of "hitting the ground running," and there have been accounts of those that didn't forget, but again there are many levels of truth so I'm willing to keep an open mind on this one. Most likely, whether or not the soul forgets is dependent on how advanced and "technically proficient" the soul is in occult matters.

Nevertheless, I'd like to compare three notable accounts of walk ins using the criteria listed in the website:

T. Lobsang Rampa (also see my T. Lobsang Rampa article)

Noted author who wrote 19 books on occult matters. The first 3 books described his life story as a Tibetan lama and described the circumstances that led to his transferring into the body of a British man, Cyril Henry Hoskin.

Lobsang Rampa apparently exhibited all the indicators except for #2 and #9. Based on the books he wrote, he didn't suffer any memory loss although it did take him at least a day to adjust to the new body. He also didn't leave his wife, although I understand they did not live like a normal husband and wife couple after the soul exchange.

Franz Bardon (also see my Franz Bardon article)

According to anecdotal accounts, as a boy of 14 (some say 16), Franz Bardon became very sick and was on the verge of death for a week. But he suddenly recovered and was different after that. His handwriting was different and his performance in school improved dramatically.

Based on this, it seems that Bardon had all the indicators except for #2 and #9. Of course, we are not really sure if there was memory loss since he never mentioned much about his personal life and early years, but the fact that he started to gain repute as a magician even at an early age indicates that either there was no memory loss or that the loss was of a very short duration. Bardon also met his wife after the soul exchange so #9 does not apply in this case.

Bardon's experiences at the hands of the Nazis and, later on, the communist government of Czechoslovakia is consistent with #10 and confirms the passage in Frabato the Magician that says the walk in soul must bear the karma of the "walk out" soul.

Drunvalo Melchizedek

Noted for his books on sacred geometry and the Flower of Life as well as for the Merkaba meditation, Drunvalo mentioned in his book Serpent of Light - Beyond 2012 that he is a walk in soul. He specifically mentioned that he experienced memory loss after the exchange but that his angels, who are also his Higher Self, tutored him until he started to remember.

As per his own account, it seems Drunvalo had all the indicators except for #1 and #10. He didn't mention coming from a serious illness or accident prior to the soul exchange, and there has been no mention of any intense life trials, at least not the same way Lobsang Rampa and Franz Bardon experienced theirs.

Based on the three examples above, it does seem to validate that one needs to have at least 7 of the 10 indicators of a soul exchange in order to start seriously considering the possibility that one is a walk in soul. It's good that the indicator threshold is quite high (7 out of 10 indicators) so that people do not mistake genuine character development and acquisition of skills and intuition as signs that a soul exchange has taken place.

If this topic is jarring your mind, like I said it's a very interesting topic and can take some getting used to. But whether we believe in soul exchange or not, it is still a serious esoteric operation and one that is not undertaken lightly. The fact that soul exchanges still seem to be taking place despite the difficulties for the incoming soul should give us encouragement that we are not alone in trying to make the Earth a better place and that such an undertaking is worth the very best effort we can to put into it.

Mens Sana In Corpore Sano

The title for this article is a famous Latin quote from the Roman poet Juvenal that simply means "A sound mind in a sound body." I chose it because I noticed that in my admittedly limited exposure to people that are on the spiritual path, most do not pay as much attention as they should to their physical health. I also fell into that same trap and I paid for it with less than optimal health.

Before I got into pranic healing, I was more of a fitness nut. I exercised everyday and was also into martial arts and airsoft. After I got into pranic healing, ironically enough that's when i started tapering off with exercise, and the deeper I got into spiritual practices, the less I exercised. There were some prescribed physical exercises before and after meditation, and I thought that these would be enough and that the body would just "take care of itself." I guess subconsciously, I was thinking that the bliss of meditation was good enough that I didn't need the "high" that came from hard and strenuous exercise. I became really overweight, perhaps even obese, almost without noticing it.

Earlier this year, when I got some not so nice results from some medical tests, that's when I realized that I needed to balance my spiritual health with my physical health. After all, it's hard to do service to others if one is bed-ridden or otherwise in poor health. We're not trying to become an MMA fighter but a minimum of physical fitness is really required.

Although we are "laying our treasures in heaven" through spiritual practice, the fact is that we have to move and act within the physical world during our allotted time here. Within that time, we should make the most of our circumstances, and that will be better accomplished with a healthy body. It's like owning a car. While one need not pimp up their car with spoilers, headers and other racetrack set ups, one still needs to change oil regularly, have tune ups, make sure the tire pressure is just right, etc.

After that realization about the need to get healthy and stay that way, I started to get back into the exercise routine I used to do. Not with the same intensity as several years ago, but enough to get the heart rate up and the perspiration flowing. I didn't realize how much I missed the muscle burn of exercising vigorously. Not only that, I also changed my diet to a more healthy one. Although I'm semi-vegetarian, I used to eat a lot of fried food and sweets. By God's grace, after a few months, the combination of stricter diet and exercise led to my losing significant weight until I got to the ideal BMI (Body Mass Index) for my height and I definitely feel healthier. Of course, there is still a lot to work on, especially when it comes to food cravings, but at least I've achieved a few important health milestones along the way. The effort is never supposed to stop anyway.

During my health research, I found out about Dr. Joseph Mercola. In his Facebook page he describes himself as "an osteopathic physician who believes that proper nutrition, not medicine, is the key to good health. I seek to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms. I offer you practical health solutions without the hype."

If you're not already familiar with him, sign up for his newsletters because his health articles are really great. I learned a lot about how to optimize the body's health through his articles. Among the things you will learn are:

1. Why fructose (found in almost all processed foods) is bad.
2. Why he advocates a no-grain diet (grains include rice, all forms of bread, wheat, corn, etc.).
3. Why Vitamin D is more essential for health than we realize.
4. The best combination of food to take.

There are many more, but all his articles are definitely informative and eye-opening. Try to look for his Peak 8 exercise routine. I realized just how much effort was needed just to keep the body at optimal health, and although we may not be able to follow all of his suggestions, following enough of them can already lead one into better health.

Evolution of the soul is really about balanced development, and since the physical body is one of the vehicles of the soul, it is part and parcel of what we were meant to maintain and develop.

In this sense, the indigenous tribes of the world seem to be among the most balanced people of all. They are highly spiritual and deeply connected to Mother Earth and her guardians but at the same time these tribespeople are quite fit since they need to till the land, climb mountains and otherwise survive in a more demanding physical environment compared to us city-dwellers.

Just goes to show that the indigenous people can still teach us a lot about balanced living.

The Sphinx: Symbol of Enlightenment

Recently, I finished watching the following documentary called The Mystery of the Sphinx:



It was hosted by Charlton Heston and came out in 1993. Unlike most documentaries, this one had an interesting presentation and was well-made. The documentary follows the research of John Anthony West who contends that the Sphinx is much older than contemporary Egyptologists believed. West bases his contention on the heavy water erosion marks on the Sphinx and in 1989 even sought the help of geologist Robert Schoch of Boston University to verify his theory.

The details of the investigation by West and Schoch are the basis of the documentary, so I will not focus on that here. Aside from their research though, something worth noting is the reaction of Egyptologists and archaeologists to the findings. In short, none of them accepted West's and Schoch's findings despite the evidence. It just shows that being a scientist does not necessarily mean that one is objective. They can also fall prey to cherished theories and more often than not they are unwilling to let go of them, even going so far as to attack and discredit anyone or anything that threatens to change the status quo.

John Anthony West is not the only researcher to attribute something more to the Sphinx. Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval have postulated about the Orion connection of the pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. Drunvalo Melchizedek, in his books The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life Volumes 1 & 2, mentions that there are vast underground tunnels and complexes that can be reached through an entrance at the right forepaw of the Sphinx. Edgar Cayce also mentions this, and limited imaging surveys around the area of the Sphinx have indeed shown hints of an underground man-made room under the right paw of the Sphinx. In her book Initiation in the Great Pyramid, Dr. Earlyne Chaney recounts the life story of one of her previous incarnations as an Egyptian initiate in the Order of Melchizedek. At the end of her last initiation, she steps out into the dawn through a doorway located in one of the paws of the Sphinx.

Aside from these and other tantalizing hints about the Sphinx's history and purpose, there have also been a lot of theories about what the Sphinx symbolizes. Usually, the Sphinx is said to be the symbol of strength, leadership and guardianship, qualities that theoretically should be present in a ruling pharaoh.

Personally, I also have a theory. I believe the Sphinx is a symbol of enlightenment, a fully realized person. In Master Choa Kok Sui's book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul, he explains that the headdress of the pharaoh had a cobra in the front to symbolize the raised kundalini, meaning that the pharaoh was an enlightened ruler (at least theoretically) because when the kundalini is awakened and reaches the head, one becomes enlightened. What does this have to do with the Sphinx?

The frontispiece of the book Call Adonoi by Albert Schutz has a drawning entitled "Exaltation of the Sun." It features a lion on land at the edge of the sea raised up on its hind legs, front paws touching the sun with stars along the spine of the lion. At the horizon of the sea, half of the moon is visible while the other half is covered by water. The interpretation is as follows:

"The sun, symbol of the heart and wisdom, is raised by the lion above the moon; only half of the moon (understanding) can rise above materialistic matters (i.e., the sea). The procreative energies of the body are symbolized by the lion, and the gates of expanded perceptions are the stars."

The kundalini is often referred to as the procreative energy of the body, therefore the lion is another symbol for the kundalini. Why the heart, when the kundalini is supposed to rise to the head? In the Meditation on Twin Hearts, it's explained that the heart is the gateway to the crown. The crown chakra cannot activate if the heart chakra is not activated. This is also why several esoteric texts make mention of the "sacred space of the heart."

The human head on the Sphinx is much smaller in proportion to the size of the body of the lion, leading some to speculate that the original head may have been that of a lion but heavy weathering (since it's more exposed than the rest of the statue) may have led later people to re-carve it into a human head.

I'm sure there is much more to the Sphinx than what I postulated because Master Choa was writing a book about it although unfortunately he passed away before it could be published. Nevertheless, considering the other aspects of the Sphinx, such as the fact that it faces the rising sun and is located near the Great Pyramid (long supposed to be a site of initiation), it seems all these different pieces fit together.

When will the Sphinx finally give up her secrets? No one knows for sure, or if there is anyone that does know, that person isn't talking. Nevertheless, we move on with our lives, with our spiritual practice, while the Sphinx continues to stand, a mute guardian waiting to greet the rising sun.

Just The Way It Is

Back when I was reading The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel, one passage in particular made quite an impression on me. I already wrote an article about the Master Key System, but to summarize, the book essentially talks about the Law of Attraction and how to make use of it (as well as a couple of other esoteric laws) to attract prosperity and wellness into one's life. The Master Key System inspired Rhonda Byrne, who eventually wrote The Secret.

The particular passage I'm referring to reads as follows:

"We see no imperfect results. We see nothing but perfection. Perfection means that the Law operates with immutable precision. Spiritual law always works perfectly. If the individual thinks constructively, results are constructive and harmonious. If he thinks destructively, he reaps exactly what he sows. The Law works perfectly. We see no imperfect results whatever. We may freely choose what we think, but the result of our thought is governed by an immutable law."

That passage subtly changed the way I view life. It's empowering because it means we have the power to change our circumstances. But it can also be disturbing because the implication is that we are responsible for the current state of our life. If we look at the state the world is in right now, if we accept the notion of taking responsibility for our situation, it's quite apparent that collectively we haven't been thinking very good thoughts.

It may be hard to accept how we could have been responsible for having a shitty boss, shitty finances and everything else that is seemingly out of control, but according to the Law of Attraction and the Law of Cause and Effect (Karma), it all makes sense. We can't blame God, our parents or anyone else.

A big part of the difficulty in accepting responsibility is that we can't always trace the cause and effect relationships of our circumstances. We only notice the immediate cause and effect. So if a kid drops a stone on our head as a prank as we're passing by, we know how to react. But if a coconut falls on our head as we're passing below a coconut tree, we wonder how we deserved such bad luck.

Most of us are not aware of the sacred contract we made before we incarnated in this life, the contract that lays out all the different opportunities and challenges that will work themselves out in this life. But whether or not we remember is not of prime importance. How we respond is the key that will define our future. Of course, the effectivity of one's response depends on how well one understands the different esoteric principles and laws that apply, in the same way that a thorough knowledge of the laws of physics can allow one to build a better airplane or computer chip.

Fortunately, there are many spiritual systems that teach students how to recognize and work through the laws that govern this school called life. It is now entirely up to the person to decide on whether to proceed on such a path or not. Although there are still many who still don't believe in anything that their eyes can't see or that their hands can't touch, this is slowly changing as more and more people come to the realization that there should be more to life than a punishing work schedule, economic uncertainty and devastating natural disasters.

Life is already perfect, just the way it is. We just have to recognize it and claim it for ourselves.

Another Celestial Treat: Asteroid 2005 YU55

Sometime last week, I read in one newspaper that Earth was going to have a close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU55, or YU55 for short, on November 9, 2011. YU55 is an aircraft carrier-sized asteroid that is supposed to pass between the Earth and the Moon. The asteroid will be a bit closer to the Earth than the Moon, although it would not be visible to the naked eye, so those with telescopes should get them ready.

But as if the Comet Elenin brouhaha wasn't enough, I started learning more news about YU55 from alternative news websites (or you can call them conspiracy theory websites if you want). Apparently, according to one Intel Hub article the asteroid is actually supposed to hit the Earth with the impact zone just off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. This is expected to cause a massive series of tsunamis that would mostly affect the western coasts of the Americas and the eastern coast of Japan.

They say this impact event is the reason FEMA, along with other US government agencies, have been conducting disaster and tsunami drills recently. Incidentally, the PacWave 11 tsunami warning and communication exercises are going to be conducted on November 9 and 10, 2011. Talk about coincidence.

However, there is another twist to the story because according to Robert Hoagland, YU55 will impact the Moon instead. Supposedly, friendly ETs diverted the trajectory of YU55 so that Earth would be spared, but the asteroid will hit the Moon in order to send a message to the shadow government that the friendly ETs are here and are starting to take a more active role.

NASA and all official media of course insist that there will be no impact event on the Earth nor the Moon, although expectedly, the official media line is being questioned.

It all sounds "out there" I know. In any case, November 9 is very close to the full moon so if the asteroid does strike the Moon, we should be seeing one heck of a show (assuming the skies are clear). Then again, there are also rumors that there will be a worldwide disruption of communications on November 9 in order to prevent people from collating all this information about any impact event.

However which way it actually turns out, we don't have long to wait, so let's see what there is to see.