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Can't find the link itself, but here's some of the stuff I have on my hard-drive:

Strong evidence for a designer comes from the fine-tuning of the universal constants and the solar system, e.g.

* The electromagnetic coupling constant binds electrons to protons in atoms. If it was smaller, fewer electrons could be held. If it was larger, electrons would be held too tightly to bond with other atoms

* Ratio of electron to proton mass (1:1836). Again, if this was larger or smaller, molecules could not form.

* Carbon and oxygen nuclei have finely tuned energy levels.

* Electromagnetic and gravitational forces are finely tuned, so the right kind of star can be stable.

* Our sun is the right colour. If it was redder or bluer, photosynthetic response would be weaker.

* Our sun is also the right mass. If it was larger, its brightness would change too quickly and there would be too much high energy radiation. If it was smaller, the range of planetary distances able to support life would be too narrow; the right distance would be so close to the star that tidal forces would disrupt the planet's rotational period. UV radiation would also be inadequate for photosynthesis.

* The earth's distance from the sun is crucial for a stable water cycle. Too far away, and most water would freeze; too close and most water would boil.

* The earth's gravity; axial tilt; rotation period; magnetic field; crust thickness; oxygen/nitrogen ratio; carbon dioxide, water vapour and ozone levels are just right..

Former atheist Sir Fred Hoyle states: 'commonsense interpretation of the facts is that a super-intelligence has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces in nature.'

BTW, though I prefer the top fish, I often feel like the bottom fish. :) Swimming one way then the other and wishing I knew what was outside the fichbowl. :)

A lot of "watery" themes lately. :) Yes, Chris, isn't it ever so "lucky" for us that water has all the strange properties it has! Or we wouldn't be here. The more we investigate the physical universe, the more exquisitely fine-tuned it is revealed to be. I read an article somehwere about the Laws of Nature and if the various gravitational and electro-magnetic constants weren't as they are then we'd have no planets, no stars and no beings. :)

Lemme see if i can find a link to where I read it.

I too prefer the fish at the top. you get a fleeting glimpse and then it's gone. A bit like glimpsing the ultimate reality or nirvana ...

Not sure that link works. If this one doesn't, then do a search for "Debbie Guthery" at Amazon. Click here?

Those of you who remember Barry Owen might like to check out this page at Amazon:

Click here!

The author is Barry's wife. Does she sound just right for Barry? :-)

What a Wonderful World

"I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!

I see skies of blue and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you."

I hear babies cryin';
I watch them grow.
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world!"

Oh yeah...

Geoff, the middle fish. He looks like a doggie lobbying for a ride. In this case, down to the lake...there to talk to the tortoise's fishy friend and swim away in cheerful chatter and freedom from the bondage, of bowl.

Namaste'

I got a bit more information about the properties of water today. I asked why CO2, which is a heavier molecule is a gas at room temperature and pressure, while water is liquid. It apparently can't be explained in terms of ordinary chemistry according to my colleague here at work. It really has to do with a quantum mechanical nature of water and apparently isn't very well understood. He said that water in it's liquid state isn't really H2O, but a soup of H and O ions. Kind of like a huge molecule, loosely connected. Water has many very strange properties that few if any other compounds have. For example, when freezing pure water, if it is kept extremely still, it can be dropped below 0C without turning solid. As soon as an impurity is introduced, or the slightest vibration is made, it will freeze instantly. Water also will keep on taking in energy (or letting it out) and not change temperature as it approaches it's freezing point or it's boiling point. Cool stuff! Water is so abundant here on Earth and is so critical to life as we know it, it is interesting that it has so many strange properties.

"It is too clear
and so it is hard to see"

Zen Saying

Dennis: I never was one for fishing. In alchemy you might call it a litmus. Just testing:)

"Ultimately, when we fill ourselves with venom, it is we who are poisoned."

As Terry would say, Aaahhhh sssooooo.

The lyrics that rung around my head today were Louis Armstrong's "It's a wonderful world" and "When you're smiling."

J

K,

Best line from the poem of today on tape was, "Ultimately, when we fill ourselves with venom, it is we who are poisoned."

Least Complicated is playing now, by The Indigo Girls, "what makes me think I could start clean slated, the hardest to learn was the least complicated..."

Cheers

I own ignorant. ;-P

That should read "It is good to see when we are thinking dualistically."

Hi Kereyra. When I infered that ignorance is not bliss, you shouldn't conclude that therefore intelligence or knowledge "is". Bliss is bliss. It has nothing to do with either and as D2's post demonstrated very well, an ignorant person is capable of experiencing bliss as much as an enlightened one. It is could to see when we are thinking "dualistically". It's an eye opener, you know.
When it comes right down to it, K, you just need to invert that statement to see how silly it is, because if one tries to argue for the case that "ignorance is bliss" then it would also be true to say "bliss is ignorance". In which case I may never experience it again! Hehe..

Both ignorance and knowledge are the domain of the intellect. Bliss relates to matters of the heart and the senses. Joy, love, ecstasy, orgasm!

i like the one in the middle! :)

I like the one at the bottom - more colorful and goes in more than one direction...!

I liked the goldfish on top. Seems he has a lot more room to swim around in, to be ignorant of. : )

Hadi, I see about the "ignorance is bliss" thing. The question is, are those who are knowledgeable capable of being in bliss? Once you're aware of all of life's joy and pain, of its wonders and its cruelties, can you feel bliss? Or, can you feel bliss if you choose to ignore (as conscious not-paying-attention) the "negative" aspects of this shared life we have? Dang! and I didn't want to think today! : )

Of course, when it comes down to it, all is part of life, and placing value on acts can be useless in this sense. What we consider tragic brings it own lessons, as do the moments of bliss. And both kinds of lessons contribute to our learning, to diminishing our ignorance, towards a more complete understanding of who we are.

Hi D2! Haven't seen you around in ages! You're absolutely right about the music. Although Aretha is great stuff, at the moment, silence is so much more appealing. As for poetry, I've discovered another of Benedetti's books and have been spending some time reading in solitude, finding solace in reading. Let's try some music in a couple of days.

np, D2, i owe you one, too...

thanks, Geoff, and dont worry, i'll nudge ya, heh! :)

Continuing the recent aquatic theme, I just found this little story of The fish and the tortoise:

One day, the tortoise told his friend the fish that he just returned to the lake after a walk on the land. 'Of course', the fish says, 'You mean swimming. ' The tortoise tried to explain that one could not SWIM on the land, that it was solid, and that one walked on it. But the fish insisted that there could be nothing like it, that it must be liquid like his lake, with waves, and one swims in it. This misunderstanding happens because the fish has no words in his vocabulary to express the nature of the solid land!

This tale was part of an attempt to describe "nirvana". I found it by clicking on an icon to take me to a "random site" in a buddhist webring. click here to try your luck. :)

Thanks {Geoff}. You are an angel. I think I will go for the middle one. Reminds me of a dog trying to cheer up its master.

Hi Halya

I love the imagery of the tapestry on the wall. I've often thought of all the world's religions & belief systems in that way. Each one of them being like a strand of the truth. The Quakers have an expression "Everybody has some of the truth but nobody has all of it."

If you liked Neale's books, I just found an interesting discussion board that focus on the CWG series. You can find it by clicking here.

Namaste.

Hadi,

I just re-read one of your comments, where you said "a great deal still eludes and baffles me". Here are some words from Caroline Myss

"Our lives are made up of a series of mysteries that we are meant to explore but that are meant to remain unsolved. We are meant to live with the questions we have about our lives, even use them as companions, and allow them to lead us into the deepest recesses of our nature, wherein we discover the Sacred"

So, everything is as it should be. :) Welcome to the club.

Your wish is my command.

Vote for your favourite.

Silvia: where are you and help me out by printing your email address for me so I can communicate. I am in Austin, Texas USA. Where are you? You are very real also. Thanks for the notice! Cecile

There are many things real and imagined that can bring us the sense of joy available to us in our hearts and our minds. This morning I imagined I awoke in a cool cave, dark and comfortable, on a soft furry bed and before me was a beautiful bright light shining into the doorway of my magic cave and it represented all things good and exciting awaiting me in the new day ahead. Remember, each day is new, each new thought opens our potential for great and beautiful deeds in our life. Even at our worst, we have great abilities, maybe even more than we know ourselves. Thanks to everyone for the lovely messages. I send out my well wishes to all. Many thanks to Dr. Chopra for making such a profound impact on my life.

No, don't. Just don't even think about it. ;)

P.S. the Dodge festival occurs every two years in September. It is well worth a visit as it showcases the world's best poets. Since it is 2000, there is one coming soon. I think they even have a website.

Whoever coined it did not have this crazy, noisy virtual world in mind... It is so nice to be unplugged sometimes. I think mobile telephones and WAP will take away those few quiets moments we share with loved ones so we can watch the stock market fluctuate 24/7...

I'm with you Kererya, there are times when the silence is blissful. I may ride in trains or drive 90+ minutes to civilization when working, but there is nothing that can compare to the experience this afternoon of walking through a cornfield with stalks and leaves so tall the sky almost disappears. I was actually lost for a few minutes until I finally emerged on the other side of the field, found the roof of the farmhouse and wandeled on back towards the house.

At that point I had no knowledge, information or education and it was great to just be fully in nature's peace and quiet. A doe and children and I passed each other in silence without much fanfare.

I thought about cranking up some Aretha today in your honor love, but won't spoil the bliss and quiet. Highly recommend a Bill Moyers tape series called Poetry - The Language of Life. He recorded it in 1994 at the Geraldine R. Dodge poetry festival in Waterloo, New Jersey and there are 8 incredible hour long shows featuring 20 or so amazing poets and their work. (Coleman Barks and Rumi is featured on tape 2). The audio is available as is the video. Great listening.

Hello Carol. I owe you a long note love.

I hope everyone has their alternate URL sources for spiritual hits lined up, in anticipation of the brown-outs and black-outs we've been told to plan on.

I was a little encouraged by the announcements where these are expected to happen by the fact commercial/industrial complexes are being asked to curtail their demand.

The "encouragement" being they're not asking us small users (consumers) to cut back, so the commercial/industrial complexes can keep going full tilt.

"ground "

Crown/Harmony Books

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