ARROW RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER - an interesting site at "random" from the Dharma ring - see random.htm - here is a section that caught my eye! -

Long Term Retreats

The karmic circumstances that allow a being to take human form are rare indeed. It was said by the Buddha that for a being in the lower realms to take human birth is as difficult as for a blind tortoise swimming in the great ocean and surfacing for breath once every hundred years to put his head through a yoke floating at random upon the surface. As rare as this is, rarer yet is the opportunity to pursue the ultimate human experience of transcendental liberation. If a being has the ability and opportunity to practice meditation he would be foolish indeed to let it pass, not knowing how many lifetimes will pass before conditions are again ripe.

Those with the fortunate karmic conditions to find time and energy to practice long retreats in solitude are rare and blessed. The experience of exploring the deep aspects of mind is not easy to obtain. We hope to continue the service of providing space for serious retreatants. There is no fixed charge for doing retreats here, we operate entirely on what is freely given and never refuse anyone because of economic hardship. Your support makes this possible.

Anyone interested in exploring this route to liberation can write us here at Arrow River

Guide to Buddhist Centres in Oz

Radio National "Poetica" - Saturdays at 2 PM - P.K. Page - search?? -

The Poetry of P.K Page - includes some audio ...

here is her home page

Here is her poem "Arras", which is described as visionary yet often misunderstood ...

Here is a conversation with her.

More Chopra posts - one of mine could be taken the "wrong" way - well, until we ALL have omniscience then we'll have to practice unconditional love as we find the things others do "puzzling" or whatever - not sure what I'm trying to say here ... and try to love people rather than "understand" why they do things that you don't do ... ?? ... yes, I meant if you have to ASK what love is, then what words could anyone offer that would "explain" it to you. It CAN only be "known" from direct experience. You could read every love poem/song/story ever written but if you don't FEEL love within you it would be a waste of time ...

And though I am wary of being "defensive" - the reason people quote words that have really touched them IS NOT pzzling at all. Some words are divinely inspired and touch deep parts of us in a manner that someone's un-inspired words cannot do. There is a reason some words have lasted for 20 or 25 centuries whereas this morning's chatter over a cup-of-tea can be forgotten almost as soon as they are spoken ... I mean HOW MANY conversations of newspaper articles or sections of books can you bring to mind at a moment's notice ...

And the ultimate - I mean Chopra & MANY others constantly talk of non-judgement. That means ... what does that mean ... like "love", part of you knows but if someone asks you to explain it ... love is a mystery to be explored and experienced, not explained. If someone has to explain a joke it's no longer funny, if someone wants me to explain the beauty of a sunset ... or the smile on a child's face ...

But, for some reason, that reminds me of a recent thought - when someone says that an action or behaviour is "offensive" or "annoying" ... the annoyance is NOT in the action but in the REaction. People tend not to see it this way - especially if 99.99 % of the population would have the same reaction ...

Yes, getting back to "quoting" - well, the reality is that in the course of our lives we hear and say and think and read literally billions of words. Most are instantly frogettable. I mean of all the conversations you've had, all the books and magazines and newspapers you've read, all the thoughts you've thought ... how much of it is remembered at any level, let alone etched into your mind?

Yet, even as I write those words ... I have to return to te question of motive ... if the motive is other than to assist then it may be far better to do nothing ...

A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."

Further dialog idea for the book -

"Yes, but ... the world as it is at the moment makes you narrow-minded ... unless you make the conscious decision to move in the opposite direction or unless you encounter a situation or experience which absolutely forces you to open up your mind in order to get through it. Schizophrenia is just such an experience ... unless, of course, you agree to having your mind sedated by those little magic pills which psychiatrists are so fond of ... "

If children are involved in the situation ... "Well, they are learning a very valuable lesson. That people are complex and unpredictable ... that they can be inconsistent and at times incoherent and mysterious ... "

Some internal dialogue? - The trouble is you DO tend to modify your speech and behaviour because you know that at this point in human evolution there is a lack of true understanding and acceptance and unconditional love. If you feel the love around you is highly conditional as well as fragile and unreliable ... then you don't want to have to depend on it being there if/when you need it ... this also forces you to galvanise inner resources ... this was headed somewhere ...

Yes, looking back on my own experience of schizophrenia, why didn't we tell people ... because there is a lack of education and awareness about such things and the human tendency to fear and judgement ...

Yes, those Chopra Forum messages ... (fishy birthday card) ... reminds me of "In 6 days" and the odds of DNA being formed by "random" processes and how the universe is not old enough even if assume optimum rates of reactions ...

I read a brochure for a rehab service which offers "guaranteed meaningful relationships" & work etc ... nice sentiment but how can you guarantee meaningfulness. Surely one ingredient is the person'e own input and if they feel unable to make that sort of input ...

Definition of unconditional love: To love someone whole-heartedly without wishing to change them in any way (no matter how annoying they may be :)

Interesting Star trek Voyager episode - "Random Thoughts" - about a telepathic society who are trying to curb violence and thus visitors with violent thoughts can trigger incidents ...

Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

@  July 14, 2000   &

Interesting messages continue at the Chopra Forum. The "weird" properties of water; quotes from Thadeus somebody-or-other; the question of "why" - which prompts me to add more to cwg4.htm; Louis Armstrong; etc etc ... actually the properties of water have me intrigued - found some links at library session and may create a file of them - H2O.htm ...

A previous post at the forum made me compile into HTM form all that stuff about how precisely the universe seems "tuned" - universe.htm

"Scientists belief creation" - ok, tosses up a few sites towards the dogmatic end of the spectrum ... :)

Oh yes, one link from the forum was Thaddeus Golas and the lazy person's guide to enlightenment

Elsa Joy Blair

More sites recommended or found out about recently -

www.savethekoala.com

The Darwin Awards!

Site which focuses on the writings of Toni Morrison, author of "The Bluest Eye", which I have heard good things about ...

THE TOP 30 CHILDREN'S BOOKS YOU'LL NEVER SEE

Facts of life (humourous)

Funny Pickup Lines

How the Conversations with God books came to be (& I wasn't even looking for this - I was searching for scientists views ...)

Another link about Neale's books!

The Mystery of persons and Belief in God

Non-duality salon - also has a bit on Thadeus

Huge list of quotes

@  July 13, 2000   &

Added The Awakening Monk to website - should include it on main links page?? - click here

Also started the excerpts from New Paradigm - linked to that file about the dreams from October 1999 issue ... click here

And honestly ... a LOT of it is as if somebody read my mind and then wrote it better than I could have - psychosis & spirituality - biochemistry - neurochemical changes - storms on the ocean on existence - becoming mofe fully human ... and I'd never have received a copy except for a tiny excerpt of one of my poems being included and even then it was not "My Favourite Psychosis" as I'd expected ... hmmm ... is THAT at my website?? ... I loved the "symptoms of mental health" & "devaluing entire chunks of human experience" and much more ... plus the idea that workers & clients have much to offer each other ... plus the tribes where to become a shaman you are expected to be eccentric! I'd fit right in! :)

Wrote a rather whimsical piece called "The John Bingham Story". I'm sure he won't mind if I record it here -

The John Bingham Story

Once upon a time, in a magical land far, far away there was a happy family who all lived in the enchanted forest in a tiny little hut. One day, they looked under a strawberry bush and there was a lovely baby boy.

They took this baby inside the hut and raised him to be a fine, upstanding citizen. He grew up and went away to a huge university called "life". He then travelled the world sharing his wisdom with the birds and the trees and the flowers and the bees. He learned how to send his thoughts into the universe and eventually there was world peace and harmony throughout every land.

One day, he came across a bag of magic beans and he took them home to his Mum and she told him to plant them in the backyard and water them everyday. He told her to go and take a spade and dig a huge hole so he could stand in the mud and eat his porridge. She then called the cat team and they came over and filled their little hut with lovely, playful kittens. People came from galaxies far and wide and they all lived happily ever after.

Interesting posts continue at chopra forum - should post that fine tuning of the universe into a HTM file - did post one short extract from a nother site ...

Some interesting Conversations with cosmologists

@  July 12, 2000   &

Poem? -

Milk is the tiny world of Jesus
(There are more lines scribbled on an envelope somewhere ... )
I am the medical enjoyment of life
I am the subtle telepathy of Jesus
I am the sentimental early warning signs of death
I am the eternal light that shines in everyone

Your wish is my command.

Vote for your favourite.

click here for cwg discussion board

Poetry - from a message at chopra forum - coleman barks ... interesting stuff ...

Click here for some interesting buddhist poems

For forum -

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. :)

"All advice is basically guesswork. It is based on what has worked (in the past) reasonably well for most people."

For Chopra -

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.

@  July 12, 2000   &

Finally some time to type up all the "stuff" I have in mind ...

More dialog - about priorities - because people do have this (IMHO) fairly narrow range of things which they assume people will place as their top priorities and while they do that, they find it awfully tough to accept someone with a radically different list of priorities - especially if that someone is a family member ... and especially if the priority regards exploring INTERNAL landscapes/mindscapes ... yet in many cultures, this is not only accepted but encouraged and revered ...

"I don't think dogma does ANYONE any favours. We are down here to ASK these questions and immerse ourselves in these mysteries. It is the only reason we exist. Nothing else will ever truly satisfy us."

"There's more to everything than meets the eye. Much more. I oftn think it would be a huge advantage being blind."

First line of a poem? -
"My entire life has seemed like a movie script carried around on the back of a turtle which is moving backwards through time."

Yes, quite a few notes added to tenzin.htm & cure.htm

"I find this fascinating ... why don't you?"

(Some of this could go into cure.htm - on fleeting happiness & contentment etc ...)

"Why waste energy passing judgement on the way other people live their lives, especially people you're never likely to meet who aren't even aware of your disapproval and who would probably dismiss it anyway."

"Well, it IS in everyone's interest to work towards a world where everyone is sponatneous, natural and joyous and feels loved unconditionally because as long as there is unhappiness then it impacts on everyone one way or another." (especially if you have children)

For Thought Bubbles - "Treat people how you'd like to be treated". Sounds wonderful and I agree it is a good motto to have but ... deep down, I am sure that all of us want to be treated with unconditional love. So, what do you do if that's how you would like to be treated but you doubt your ability to treat others that way, even though you'd very much like to be able to treat them that way.

I keep saying the dialogue in the book doesn't all need to be nicey-nicey (and these days it does seem to be "aggro" and anger that sells ...) -

Yes, nobody ever wants their child to say things like "I don't know how to love or how to be happy." and honestly there are times when it all ovrwhelms me and i feel like saying, "Surely it is our birthright to live in a world where everyone is joyous & cheerful and WHY do these negative emotions exist at all? And what is the point of suffering and misery at all?" and after you say that ... there's nothing left for anyone to say ...

One could envisage all type of words being said in the heat-of-the-moment ... "It is pathetic, narrow-minded people like you who have made the world what it is. You can't understand anything that goes beyond your own experience. Anything that dares to go outside this little box you've labeled 'normality'. Well, surprise surprise, NOT everyone wants to be normal. Some of us would rather die than be locked in the prison known as normality and conform to all this nonsense!"

Could be more dialogue (either inner or outer) on joy and the lack of it in this current technological masterpiece of a society ... and it is damned hard work to generate it within yourself when there's VERY few people around you radiating any kind of joy at all ... some of the dialogue could be sarcastic but with a grain of truth - "Well, think of it this way. I'm giving you an unparalleled opportunity to practice unconditional love. Or don't you think you're up to it ... "

@  July 11, 2000   &

Will type up the Tenzin Palmo notes into tenzin.htm as I get to them ...

The past few days sure has fuelled ideas for conversation in the book - (Yes, if we were ALL in that wonderful place all-th-time then we'd have precious little to talk about) - and as I said a while back, the dialog won't be all nicey-nicey because there is a clash of world-views, a fundamental clash, and that must create some friction & the occasional "outburst" no matter how "understanding" and tolerant people try to be ...

Anyway, here's a few -

"If you look at most conversations honestly, you'd have to admit most of them are either counter-productive or a complete waste of time. If you can't find something better to do with your mind and your time then you have major problems."

"I can't help it if you want to worry. Go right ahead. If you'll only accept people if they fit neatly inside this little pigeon-hole you've constructed in your head then you're going to have a tough life. Reality is NOT like that. People are infinitely diverse. There's an entire infinity of possiblities which don't fit neatly into the little box labelled normality ... and many of them leave normality for dead! Why did you just ASSUME all your children would even WANT to be normal. Consider this a huge lesson for your next life - don't assume ANYTHING. You'll be a lot better off ... and you won't drive everyone around you nuts ... "

(I mean there is no WAY that would ever roll off the tongue in "real life" ... )

"Once you start to really ask yourself why you like or dislike certain people you find that it is generally for very superficial reasons. We are living in a very superficial society at the moment - we don't look into ANYTHING in any depth. We're afraid to ... We look at the surface and make superficial judgements. This is not healthy." (Thought Bubbles?)

"That all depends on what you think the true nature of reality is ... "

Yet, he could even admit those statements ... well, you could argue it a number of ways ...

"I have no opinions either way on anything under the sun. Once you relaise what an opinion is, you find them quite amusing. An opinion is a momentary, arbitrary decision to view a person or situation (and let's face it, the whole world is merely a "situation") from one fixed point-of-view. Once you develop the habit of seeing things from all conceivable points-of-view, opinions tend to evaporate like steam off a hot stove ... "

"Who among us really treats everyone we meet equally with unconditional love based on our common essence. So, we all have a long, long way to go. We focus so much on the surface level differences between us that we rarely see what we all share in common" (Needs some re-working but there is a good idea in there somewhere ... )

This one comes after one of my occasional visits to the delphi forums ... Even atheists take leaps of faith, especially if they have children. I mean they KNOW the world contains rapists and other "sickos" and they know there is absolutely no garantee their children won't be on the receiving end of something that could "shatter their lives" yet they go ahead and do it anyway ...

NOT to mention the prospect of a child having a severe physical or mental disablity - especially when your belief system says it has NO deeper meaning it's just something horrible you desperately hope doesn't come your way ...

On the day when I'm typing up a pile of notes and scribblings, what arrives - the newsletter from Sami and the edition of New Paradigm - which, if copyright allows, I may be typing till I'm blue in the fingers ... excellent writing on "What is Mental Illness & Mental health" - ah, Lama Yeshe would have been a nice addition ...

Very active Chopra Forum again - messages about carp & memory & dimensions of reality & my impressions of Tenzin ...

Back to more possible dialog -

"The trouble is I have become so good at looking as if i am interested in what people say that they are starting to believe I actually AM interested ... "

For the atheists - {a variation on a politician's trick} - "Well, a more interesting question to ask is 'Why do you believe you are an atheist?' "

@  July 9 & 10, 2000   &

A ton to type up from the past couple of days ... will do it when I get time ... just when you think "Ah, now I've got it" ... :) ...

http://www.geocities.com/~animalspirits/index1.html - animal spirits

Also, from Unweaving The Rainbow - a site devoted to Richard Dawkins' writing

Plus www.dalailama.org.au - didn't connect? - he's coming to Melbourne in April 2001.

@  July 8, 2000   &

Been re-reading bits of Celestine Prophecy - This was the first book I read once I "crashed out" of that Unity Consciousness episode. Here's a section I have just been re-reading -

'You had a mystical experience that allowed you briefly to see the magnitude of the energy one can acquire. But ths state is like leaping ahead of everyone else and glimpsing the future. We can't maintain it for very long. Once we try to talk to someone who is operating in normal consciousness, or try to live in a world where conflict is still happening, we get knocked out of this advanced state and fall back to the level of our old selves. ... Then is is a matter of slowly regaining what we glimpsed, a little at a time ...' More possible dialogue for the book - "Once you start to understand the TRUE nature of reality, these problems tend to disappear."

"The fully awakened mind sees no essential differences between people and events and experiences and phenomena. It is all just a beautiful and mysterious exchange of energy."

"My consciousness is evolving to the point where words may become meaningless. This may make conversation difficult."

Been re-reading Surya Das on Equanimity - should transcribe the section on the Four Divine Abodes - I think it is in one of those links in surya.htm - "Sometimes in retreat we chant these four lines 3,000 times a day" - Yes, Kay's Page does have a bit on the Four Heartitudes but I may transcribe more on the 4 abodes ...

Some fabulous posts at Chopra Forum around # 52,600 & the preceding week or so ...

Enjoyed the excerpt from Richard Bach. Because of its aquatic theme, it has a few parallels to an article about the Theory of Everything by physicist Michio Kaku which I found at a site called "Stephen Hawking's Universe". They both deal with "leaps of faith".

Lama Yeshe & until you reach omniscience all of your "advice" is guesswork and not true intuition ... ties in nicely with Tenzin Palmo stuff ... mate, it ALL ties in, we just don't (yet) see how ... yes, to KNOW it is one thing but to be able to adapt the wisdom to each individual & their individual personality ...

@  July 7, 2000   &

Click here for a site with CWG excerpts & HUGE discussion board as well ??? - tell others ?? ...

Click here for a detailed analysis of the nine insights in "Celestine Prophecy"

God Channel - has an in depth look at the "Conversations with God" books. Here's ONE quote that really CAUGHT my eye -

"A journey through Hell to a living Heaven of true freedom here on Earth beyond your grandest dreams may not be what you bargained for in this lifetime. And it's a tough job requiring effort and dedication. But humanity needs someone to do it. Why not you?"

In finding some links for wisdom.htm - found a brief article about "PURE LAND" BUDDHISM - sounds interesting - it says that this form of Buddhism is badly misunderstod in the West (like Zen??) ... may pay to do a bit of a search - like I don't have enough links ... :)

DHARMA THE CAT'S FOUR TRUTHS:

1. Impermanence: In life, the only constant factor is change.
2. Reciprocity: Whatever qualities you perceive in other people you draw out in them.
3. Self-Description: Peoples judgements and criticisms of others (as distinct from detached observations) are self-descriptive.
4. Accusation: Accusers are guilty.

Dharma the Cat

http://www.teleport.com/~interlud/med4week.htm - a day or two late ... :) For independence day ...

Interesting "survey" abut the CWG books - "The question is: Do you think that there are any REAL 'universal truths'? Can we ever really know while living in the relative?" - can be found here (Posted in Nov 1999 - gives his email ...)

Added some interesting links to the Dalai's Book of Wisdom - here

Further to that Dalai quote about creating opportunities to practice tolerance & patience - could add forgiveness & unconditional love. Forgiveness is THE interesting one, I'd say - after a while there REALLY is nothing to forgive because you STOP taking things personally - that is TRUE liberation ... & peace ... yes, equanimity too because while your emotions are polarised between those you strongly love & those you strongly dislike ...

Some more ideas for dialog for the book -

"That's why the Buddhists talk about practicing compassion because we have become conditioned to being judgemental rather than compassionate. And true compassion means compassion for everyone, which in turns requires practicing equanimity, which means seeing all sentient beings as essentially equal. (Could use this for Thought Bubbles & include that dalai quote about the 5 billion people on the planet ...

Equanimity itself requires practice & meditation to undo the conditioning that leads us to direct our focus to the (superficial) differences between us rather than the essential kinship (there's a better word but I can't think of it just now)

"I've been conducting experiments (investigations) into the nature of happiness ... what's my conclusion? ... if you believe that A, B & C are necessary for happiness then if you do not have A, B & C you will not be happy. If however, you see happiness as something which is generated from within, then as long as you are alive you have the potential to generate it ... under ANY circumstances ...

"A similar analysis applies to the nature of love and the conditions we learn to put on it ... "

"That's the great thing about being psychotic! It absolutely forces you to dive deep into the mysterious nature of consciousness, reality, love, happiness and so on. A nice, safe, normal, comfortable life simply does not do that. One could indeed describe psychosis as a great blessing, an answer to a prayer. Naturally, I am speaking about a psychosis which is experienced without the effects of the mind-numbing pills that psychiatrists are so fond of prescribing. :)"

Social Skills - well ...

* It IS tough if you are not INTO "small talk"

* PLus if you see MOST of it as complaining or gossiping or focusing on uninspiring thoughts ...

* Yet, if also either wish to help ... or be non-judgemental ... tricky! :)

@  July 6, 2000   &

Interesting reply at Chopra Forum - "Mystic depression" - yes, after being in Unity Consciousness coming back to "everyday consciousness" can seem a little flat ... Buddha said it - everything about this existence is impermanent ... :) click here for dharma the cat cartoon ...

Did transcribe some of Book of Wisdom - here. Before I give it away (as a present that is), I should transcribe the section on equanimity - then again, wasn't I going to transcribe Jack Kornfield's talk on that very subject ... :) ... {Jack Kornfield}

The section on hatred & anger is excellent as well but thankfully those emotions have dissolved (or been transmuted to be exact?) so they are now a distant and fading memory - it would fade away completely if I didn't see people who are still being consumed (literally) by them - you remember how horrible that is and you naturally want to help them LET GO of those poisons as well ... I suppose that is what being a Bodhisattva is ...

"Don't get even, get odd"

Swami Beyondananda

Wrote a poem for the first time in weeks -

Just another Love poem

If you can love me at my most psychotic
You may find it sensationally exotic
A wild, furious energy field
There is no choice except to yield

Electrical impulses flooding my brain
Come on board this speeding train
No need at all to analyse or explain
This is what it's like to be insane

More dialog ideas -

"I'm too busy conducting (unauthorised) experiments on my own consciousness."

"I have this wild, ecstatic energy flowing through my brain. that might tend to freak SOME people out a bit ... sometimes i think I'm too nice for my own good ... (but the day is coming when ALL of this will no longer seem so WAY out) ... "

@  July 5, 2000   &

Purchased a little book as a gift - it's called The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom (which is in fact extracts from some teaching in 1993 in London called Power of Compassion. I love the intro - "I am a Buddhist and my whole way of training is according to the Buddhist teaching or Buddha Dharma. Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no-one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose to you that my way is the best. The decision is up to you. If you find some point which may be suitable for you, then you can carry out experiments for yourself. If you find that it is of no use, then you can discard it."

May type up excerpts into separate HTM file before actually giving it away :) - 4 sections cover:
* Contentment, Joy & Living Well
* Facing Death & Dying
* Dealing with Anger & Emotion
* Giving & Receiving

Here's one that Peggy might get a kick out of after the week she has had:

We do not know the vast majority of the five billion human beings on this earth, therefore the majority of people do not give us the opportunity show tolerance or patience. Only those people whom we know and who create problems for us really provide us with a good opportunity to practice tolerance and patience.    

J      [

[yes, i used to think, "I don't need to develop tolerance - I just need people to stop bugging me!"]

Found a site which has the book cover of The Good Heart which corresponds with my copy (from Dave) - here

Publishers of the book have a website (who doesn't these days!) - www.thorsons.com - check address?

More possible dialog for book - "That's one way of interpreting reality ... you only run into trouble or create friction when you come to regard your way as THE way ..."

"That's what is wrong about the wya we live. We keep ourselves so perpetually busy that we forget to be AMAZED."

"Well, nobody's perfect ... we're all imperfect ... or are we? Maybe we have defined perfection ina rather odd way ... "

"Once we realise we're ALL in this together and that the ONLY reason we are on this planet is for our souls to wake up ... once we realise that ... things will start happening ... "

Yes, he would tend to be an "unreal" character - impossibly cheerful in the face of circumstances most would regard with trepidation ... "What's your secret?" "There IS no secret. That's the point. THIS is our TRUE nature. We've just covered it up with so much crap over the centuries that we don't know who we are any more ... "

Yes, if you were radiant and joyous constantly you would stick out in the world AS IT IS at the moment ...

"Little by little by little by little by little by little by little ... "

"Little my puppy one!" - with or without a dog in the room ... tough to convey on paper what those ecstatic moods are truly like - the idea your moods/emotions are TIED to events and you can't be joyous or blissful "for no reason" ... I live for the day when that attitiude is a very faint & distant memory ...

Visited the State Library - apparently there's a great website - for example - http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/diaries - which is a remarkable set of diaries from Alexander Goodall in the late 1800's ... worth checkin out ...

also the vicnet site had comprehensive list of search utils - here

Double Helix Club - click here

A few further thoughts on what a totally different spin reincarnation puts on your world-view (ironic in view of just picking up the dalai's book - the Tibetans just take it as a GIVEN. There's no doubt in their mind - it pervades the entire way-of-life) - parenting ---> Yes, in OUR culture, we see children as totally BLANK slates and so our actions & attitudes are a HUGE part of "how they turn out". However, with reincarnation, they are a LONG way from being blank slates and your actions may be a virtually inconsequential factor ... they may indeed have lived longer than you have - or made better use of their past lives. :) ... Even the expression "how they turn out" gives the impression of an end-point rather than the latest installment on a VERY long journey of the soul over countless lifetimes ...

Yes, the Forum - if we follow the advice of Deepak (and many, many others) about non-judgement in everything ... there would be precious little to "discuss" (remember that peice i did called Just another conveersation) as you can only really discuss opinions and opinions are now seen as fleeting little thought bubbles which we attach to transient events & circumstances ...

Having read a few accounts of anger and what "makes me angry" - Yes, the FIRST thing I remember reading that started me thinking differently was "Nobody can make you angry without your CONSENT" (substitute unhappy, upset, blue ...) *

On train - "Sometimes I just switch into this altered state of consciousness which is quite wonedrful but almost impossible to describe - this must be what the monks and mystics experience ... it can happen anywhere - on a train, watching TV, music or just contemplating my existence (why not -they already know you are OUT there ... :) The best days are when I just GO with it - if I start to analyse or dissect the experience it tends to evaporate ...

Delphi forum - there are many ways of "knowing" - I know the past 20 presidents is a very different use of the word "know" from I know I am in love with you. One is an independently verifiable (consensus) fact. The other is a feeling, an emotion, an experience, an awareness ... {Awareness & Consciousness - we toss these words around like we know what they mean but they are elusive and mysterious if we start to try and define them ... more ...

Knowing - you seem to be saying that if someone can't convey it or articulate it to your satisfaction, in a way that enables you to understand or share the "knowing" the it isn't real. It may not make sense or be meaningful to you but may be absolutely meaninful to them ...

[I really should carry Micros - or should I ?? - many spontaneous lately ... yet the act of "capturing" it - even in these words is a form of CLINGING ...

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti - yes, for several years I carried it around and came to regard it as a manual for breaking out of the suffocating conformity around me - I saw psychosis as INFINITELY more exciting than normality and could not understand why anyone would (seemingly by choice) spend an entire lifetime in such a cage

@  July 4, 2000   &

From Forum -
Those excerpts you quoted about the big yellow dogs are from Lama Ole Nydhal, not from Tenzin Palmo's site. Not that it's a big deal. :) Yes, I went to bed thinking about big yellow dogs (as one does) and then something clicked and I thought, "I've read that somehwere before". It has been a while since I read the Lama's piece on death & rebirth in its entirety but the image of the big yellow dogs stayed with me for some unknown reason. I often look into my own dog's eyes and wonder what's going on in there. I think the dog is thinking the same thing. :)

Things we can learn from a dog

Also www.chopra.com - a few enquiries at Forum. We should have a list of * Itinerary * Instructors * Question of day * howtoknowgod.com

Also more info at www.randomhouse.com - which you would think is the WAY people FIND the Forum in the first place ... :) - I think I foundit from looking for excerpts of his work ...

Interesting site and article about "corporate meditation" - something I've often toyed with that notion ... here

@  July 3, 2000   &

Ayurvedic Definition of Health:

"He whose doshas are in balance, whose agnis are working efficiently, whose dhatus and malas are properly formed, and whose mind, senses and Self are full of bliss, is called a healthy person."
- Sushruta Samhita (600 BC)     (Click here for more info ... )

Yes, I always try to keep my doshas in balance. :)

Interesting question after reading Chopra Forum posts -
On the eternal (internal) question of what are we doing here -
Are we here to ... learn or to ... discover or to ... CREATE ...

Yes, should post that stuff in cwg4.htm to forum?? ... along with ... Kornfield + Fred Alan Wolf + doublethink comic + other recent gems ... and just as I type this up - interesting results from "thought bubbles" - either all the words or "exact phrase" ...

doublethink comic - here - check if address is correct - Forum??

"Thought Bubbles" - could be an interesting name for an article for the Newsletter or even a regular column - what is a thought - where do they come from ... etc ... as a way of introducing the idea of mindfulness - websearch?? ...

Interesting story on "60 Minutes" about kids and "entertainment" - yes, "Go to your room" has slightly less impact than it did a generation ago. Many are now multi-media centres with TV - VCR - Video Games - Computer - Internet (& chat) - and all manner of (violent) computer games ... Little wonder our spiritual faculties lie dormant - sometimes for a life-time ... when you think of what that time & energy & attention could be spent on ... it may make you weep ... {Checkout "60 Minutes" website? - they often have chats afterward ... :) - Click here - address may change ?? ... also here for story on depression (as opposed to a "depressing story") There was some mention of cognitive therapy but as i said a few days ago, we have barely scratched the surface in terms of the therapies we COULD have ... love therapy - what a radical concept THAT would be ... one day ... {"scratch the surface" - yes, and some don't even realise there's a surface there to be scratched ...

That character for my book - he also keeps saying "I think there's something else going on here ... something deeper ... something unfathomably mysterious ... "

More dialogue - {or monologue?} - "I told my doctor to walk away from the spinning and he said spinning was his only world of lifetimes" - and it's not the content of the words alone ... it's the surreal/transcendent flavour they carry ...

I may as well write a book ... the more I read and dig, the more I realise there are an infinite number of ways of saying the SAME thing. And because we are (on the surface) infinitley varied, different individuals will resonate more deeply with one version than another ... and ... it has been said for twenty, twenty five centuries or God knows how long ... from Chopra Forum - "As I understand it," ... yes, if only MORE people would preface their thoughts & opinions with that phrase ... language creates attitudes ...

Yes, from my own experiences with the effects schizophrenia has on your consciousness - "I reckon i was doing something like meditation LONG before I learned it had a name (or that ANYone else was doing it .... I'd describe it as altering your state of consciousness from WITHIN."

Had this curious thought watching Judge Judy - if you had genuine psychic powers, people would be a lot less likely to do anything that might upset you - for example, if you could "choke" someone's throat muscles by thought power alone ...

Transcribed Tenzin Palmo interview off radio - here

For "Thought Bubbles? -
Been reflecting on that old adage "You are what you eat". Well, if each of us is mind-body-spirit, and you look at what we feed each aspect of ourselves in this modern culture - the body consumes many substances which barely qualify as "food". Our minds are fed endless streams of trivia and nonsense (detail?). Our spirits, if we feed them at all, it tends to be dogma ... and we wonder WHY we have such a troubled world ...

yes, discussing that "Cave in the Snow" book again and she doesn't see it as remarkable and that we all have the SAME potential ... yes, all these books seem to be saying that ... so the BIG question is HOW best to tap into it ... - dialog - "How to plug the whole of society into this stuff ... ah, THAT is the big question ... and finer minds than mine are working on it ... "

@  July 2, 2000   &

More possible dialog for book - "Well, you do have the choice. You can stay nice & safe & comfortable in your little cage known as normality ... or you can live n the VERY edge of your consciosness and see what happens ..."

Plus the person considers himself a spiritual genius who can do it (better) his OWN way & that his only frustration is the ignorance & misunderstanding of those who have YET to awaken and naturally think he is crazy or doesn't really know what he's getting into ... and they worry because he is "not like the rest of us" ...

Someone asked me about the CD "Mad About The Monks" - seems they are the Monks of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos. As well as the Milan Cathedral Choir & The Abbey of Our Lady of Fontgombault & others ...

Really flying past couple of days, when you read this poem God only knows what i'd be like if I ever took drugs -

Milk is the sudden arrangement of prehistoric atoms in the universe
Milk is the subatomic niceness of our daily lives
Milk is the 12th lifetime of Jesus
Milk is the frozen nightmare of existence

Yes, God only knows ...

In all that surfing yesterday, I forgot to note the address of a site from one of those searches which stated "Perfect health is more than the mere absence of disease" or words to that effect ... I think it was one result from the search for "Everyday Immortality" ...

Yes, reincarnation does put an entirely different spin on how you view events & people. You really cannot begin to understand a person's character, personality and situation merely by looking at the events and circumstances of this current lifetime ... the book would challenge the popular misconception that your character & personality & belief system & behaviour are "carved in granite" once you become "an adult" ...

Jataka Tales - interesting search results - also prompted by Jack Kornfield audio talk ...

Talking in Tongues

One post at Chopra Forum started me thinking ... well first I just have to read the book for myself :) ... I have read some similar descriptions somewhere about a year ago ... ah yes, it was an article on the web called Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on Death and Rebirth by Lama Ole Nydhal. You can read the article by clicking here. Here's a little excerpt:

"Here I would like to give an example from my own direct experience. It was when the sixteenth Karmapa died in 1981. A year and a half before that in 1980 he had told me on which day he was going to die. I met him on the solstice in Colorado in America. He told us to come to him on the first day of the eleventh month next year. He said that we could also bring our friends. So we came out to seek him in the Himalayas. He wanted to die in the West where scientists could examine his death processes. Five days after his death his body was still warm and supple. He was then put into the meditation position surrounded by a lot of butter lamps. He stayed there for forty five days until the19 of December when he was taken from his meditation seat. He had made his body very small. They put him in a box with a window that you could look in. Most people didn't want to look but I did because I knew that I would have to tell the story. I knew it would be my job. His head was smaller but not much smaller but his whole body was like that of a child. This man had been bigger than me. He was a massive big boned Tibetan from a warrior tribe, a big strong man. When he was burnt the next day there were outer signs, a double rainbow around the sun, which is very unusual in Sikkim. There was also an enormous eagle that kept turning high up around the burning place. When his heart came out of the oven it rolled down to the students. There were many other things that happened that were very unusual. "

The whole article is beautifully written and its descriptions of what happens at the moment of death (especially during "conscious dying") I found quite illuminating. Well worth a read. Oh, and I'll transcribe some of the Tenzin Palmo interview if I get some free time.

Then found her website -

www.tenzinpalmo.com

Found this site from a search for orwell & 1984 - www.gerenser.com

@  July 1, 2000   &

More possible dialog - "I don't imprison my mind with artificial concepts such as normality." (Would TEND to be a conversation stopper) ...

True faith means a complete TRUST that eventually everyone will see the light because everyone IS the light ... without exception ...

Yes, that VICERV links page (click here) - I have been responsible for adding some interesting ones - shamanism & schizophrenia - successful schizophrenia - First person - On the 8th day - The experience of schizophrenia - Buddhist approach to "mental illness" - and my own ...

YET there are a few listed there that I have YET to check out ....

Interesting search results from - doublethink & orwell - "Everyday Immortality" - human genome (or gnome) ...

e.g. Animated critters     ditto     Dream Artists

Excerpts from "The Universes of Fred Alan Wolf"     plus an    interview with Fred

One of his books is "The Spiritual Universe"

http://www.madsister.com/write/elves.html - Dancing Purple Elves

Everyday Immortality - add to my links page(s) ? - excerpts - It is based on ancient practise of Gyana Yoga

Interesting page which aligns the various yoga paths to your "spiritual archetype". It's called "The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living"

Back to the musings of the past few days -

Yes, like the Bible advice about "casting the first stone" (search) - discussing whether any individual is fulfilling or has fulfilled their potential is really quite silly ONCE you realise that the true potential of each & every human being is to manifest pure, unconditional love to ALL they encounter. So, we all have a LONG way to go (together) ..

Yet it does tend to be a topic of discussion in the are of mental health & schizophrenia & "lowering expectations" ... and people have become conditioned to make comparisons & on a surface-level evaluation it does APPEAR as if some individuals possess more potential than others ... whereas in reality, over the centuries we have barely scratched the SURFACE in terms of enabling people to manifest their true potential ...

Yes, a psych patient who quotes Tibetan (& other) mystic poets, who makes the sort of statements about reality & psychosis that are to be found in my poems (both profound & surreal or seemingly nonsensical), who says things like, "My consciousness is directly connected to the boundless creative nergy of the cosmos" ... such a person WOULD be an interesting central character for a book ... :)

His words/experiences/ideas would make those around him at least wonder (or re-evaluate) if "normality" is all it is CRAKED UP to be ... if a "crazy" person experiences spontaneous ecstasy & frequent euphoric states "for no reason at all" and these experiences seem quite inaccessible to those who have anchored themselves to the (ground state) known as "normality" ...

Especially if most of those people (family & others) have never allowed themselves to go very deep at all into the fathomless mysteries of human existence and in fact if most of them have adopted the safe, cynical, mechanistic view of reality ... but is it really all that "safe" ?? ...

Plus, in the initial stages, he may not have a real "feel" for how to speak his truth in a non-adversarial manner and may also fluctuate in his confidence that this is a mystical connection as opposed to being a psychotic one ...

Actually, typing up these notes from yesterday, I'm suddenly reminded of that Peter Finch scene from "Network" ... lemme see if I can dig it up ...

I'm imbued with some special spirit. It's not a religious feeling at all. It's a shocking eruption of great electrical energy. I feel vivid and flashing as if suddenly I've been plugged into some great electromagnetic field. I feel connected to all living things – to flowers, birds … all the animals of the world. I'm linked to some great unseen living force – what I think the Hindus call Prana. But it's not a breakdown. I've never felt more orderly in my life. It is a shattering and beautiful sensation. It is the exulted flow of the space-time continuum, save that it is spaceless and timeless and of such loveliness … I feel on the verge of some great ultimate truth…

Yes, those who have YET to experience such a "connection" would tend to view it as "crazy talk" ... but then what is madness ... Plus, for the really tough questions where people generally say "beats me" or something similar - a rapturous look appears on his face as he says, "That's one of the profound mysteries of our existence" ... "Nobody can make you angry w/out your consent" (worried, anxious etc)

"That's just another manifestation of the human spirit." (to condemn it or pass judgement on it ... )

Almost forgot - interesting script for "7th Heaven" which I rarely watch - about a pastor and hoping a newspaper article won't show his family to be "less than squeaky clean" (given the modern trend to want to dig up the dirt on people) - his fears materialised but the sermon was perfect - yes,it's the truth, my family is imperfect ... it gives me an opportunity to pracise unconditional love ... how easy it would be to love perfection, ah, but to love imperfection - there's the challenge ... encouraged all his congreagtion to do like wise ...

@  June 30, 2000   &

Search - transcript of "Ten perfections of the heart" - Jack Kornfield is brilliant - quotes Einstein, Buddha, Jesus, jokes, relativity, etc etc ...

Also "touch the present moment" - in the "patience" section of the talk. In fact, "patience" is a mis-leading translation ... here

http://www.ussc.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=ten+perfections+of+the+heart

http://www.godsdirectcontact.org/audio/lecture/

The eve of huge changes in Oz - GST ...

Interesting quote from Start where you are by Pema Chodron

Angela sent me a picture of her new dog -
Click here
(Once I upload it!)

Yes, as I compiled those chopra Forum highlights and left off the "identities" involved ... I was reminded of that passage in Everyday Immortality, where he says "Some thoughts are experienced more personally. I call them mine" ... websearch?? plus doublethink - as a Krsishnamurti quote about being unattached strangely enough reminds me of doublethink - if we HOLD the idea in our consciousness, isn't that becoming attached to the IDEA of being unattached ..

Radio National is also having a special on the genome (interesting joke sent to Forum!) ... get transcript? for Sat July 1st (replay Monday 3rd) ... Here is the science show page - may alter?

@  June 29, 2000   &

Compiled SOME of best of Chopra Forum over the past month or so -
Click here. May decide to add it to front page ... as LINK to VICSERV may see a few more visitors.

Then again ... as Milarepa would say - being attached to the words, the ideas, the concepts ...

And so, his compassion dwelt among them for a season, healing himself both with and without words. His touch, his gaze, the freedom of his unintended love healed the fires around them, and they knew it not , for they were seeking, hoping, searching for the light which was themselves. He smiled at himself through their eyes, the eyes of love moving towards itself ...

From "The Madman" at Poetry Shack website

@  June 28, 2000   &

Fantasia 2000 - school hols? - web? ...

Saw "Why people don't heal" by Caroline Myss - websearch?

Monks - 1 & 2

words - COMPare - COMPlain - COMPete - COMPute - COMPromise - COMP

300 Incredible Things To Do On The Internet
and there's a webiste - www.300Incredible.com

More ideas for dialogue -
"That's a very good question. How DO you determine what the truth is? With everybody seemingly saying different things about God and the soul and what happens when you die ... Unless there is some internal barometer inside you (one might call it a "soul") which recognises truth and responds to it.

Realised I do not have to keep all the dialogue "saintly" as it is a fundamental clash when people have very different pictures of "what is going on" and "the way reality works" - especially when worry comes into the equation which can be infuriating to those who are worrying when the subject of their worrying says "There's absoultuely nothing TO worry about" ...

And especially when the subject is the phenomenon of schizophrenia where the acknowledged "experts" really have very little idea what is going on yet their word is "law" ... "Oh, this is just one of the ways a person's soul can wake up. There are countless others. Many of which are equally traumatic. Or rather, they appear to be traumatic to the unawakened eye."

"Yet I fully understand that at this point in human history most people who have not experienced such an awakening will tend to regard me as crazy. That's okay. I can live with that."

A few more thoughts after reading transcript of Dalai Lama & Deepak on Larry King ...
Yes, if we put people on a pedestal, we are in effect putting ourselves down. The message of the Dalai, Christ, Buddha or ANY truly enlightened being is that SAME potential exists within EACH of us without exception. It just isn't manifest in that many of us at this POINT in human history.

Added this link to front page - Why People Don't Heal

and there are a few others - here & here

Some Jack Kornfield links -     1     2     3     4    & many others ...

Making tapes for others off web - this intro is interesting - I have heard a similar definition of a long period of time (the audience laughed) - Jack Kornfield on awakening & Buddha ... it is part of larger file - 10 perfections of the heart - for WOW chat?

@  June 28, 2000   &

Decided to type up those excerpts from Page 91 of CWG - click here Also maybe some of latest highlights from Chopraville May/June 2000 - and add to front page (which is becoming more crowded by the day ...)

Speaking of which - there's a link to Larry King & Deepak & Dalai Lama ... here

More musings or possible dialog -

Yes, having discussed my "key worker" situation (does that title mean they have the "key" to what I should be doing? Actually, the preferred term now is support worker - read Allan Pinches article - almost need to be a saint!) ....

(a) If I am true to my beliefs, then in a very real sense I am my OWN key worker & that's AS it should be ...

(b) I have often said the only person equipped to do the job is the Dalai Lama or some other enLIGHTened being ...

(c) Then again, it IS a cushy job as I now have no expectations of anyone and the concept of blame or criticism is a very distant memory ...

(d) Exposure to my writings & situation may trigger something for them - just as the experiences I have had over the past 16 months have triggered a transformation which still defies belief considering where I was for SO long ...

However, I have to remind myself that i would neve have thought as I now do unless i had had those experiences and yet, on some level I really do believe I created them just as everyone else does - which brings us RIGHT back to those excerpts from page 91 ... above ...

But yes, given my view that Mental health services are well-intentioned BUT based on a fundamentally flawed (or myopic) picture of the phenomenon, one might well ask WHAT I am doing in a "rehab service" ... :)

Yes, after you have been where I have been, normality holds precious little appeal ...

Added a review of Awakening The Buddha to Inspiration Peak Forums as well as replying to someone else who is "wavering" ...

Yes, for someone who writes as MUCH as I do, there are still days like the past few where I feel I should just keep quiet and allow this process of awakening to continue. It still feels as if I'm wiping the sleep away from my eyes ...

"Right now, I have no opinion on anything. I'm not sure if this is a sign of approaching enlightenment or madness. Either way it should be interesting ... "

{Does God have opinions?}

For Forum? - I wonder if they'll be able to locate the gene that pre-disposes people to become atheists. It seems to run in my family. I was an atheist for a long time until I made a miraculous recovery. :) If/when scientists do discover such a gen, I wonder if they will decide if it is a "good gene" or a "bad gene".

Yes, it's hardly surprising The Dalai Lama was not "up-to-speed" with the latest scientific breakthroughs regards the human genome. I'm sure he'd find it interesting if he were filled in but equally I'd bet he would suggest the time-money-effort-focus could be better spent ...

@  June 27, 2000   &

Lousy day so a bit more surfing and thnking ... Third Planet from the Sun - some interesting audio & video files & links to sites like KingArthur.com

Gary Zukav website - "My journey from an angry man with no regard for Life to who I am now has been long, often difficult, joyful, and extremely rewarding. It has shown me that anyone can make the same kind of journey in his or her own way." - could add it to re-vamped front page if I ever get around to it ... also ties in nicely with a link I just added to 14thlama.htm - here - part of which says -
His presence, his voice, his laugh, is reassuring. He reassures us, "You have the same capabilities that I do. I don't have any special inner equipment. You can change your habits. It doesn't happen overnight, but, over time, you can change."

Our Amazing Brain Part I
click here for Part II
click here for Part III
click here for Part IV

Site also has good comics etc ...

Had to laugh this morning as I heard on the radio about progress in mapping the human genome. Someone spoke of the gene for certain behaviours (no pun intended?) ... can ANYone seriously believe there's a gene which "pre-disposes" someone to certain types of behaviour like addiction or violence or narrow-minded myopic thinking ... come on ... it's like that old joke about the brain - if it was simple enough for us to understand it, we'd be too stupid to be able to understand how it works ... or something like that ...

Also ties in nicely with "Gattaca" which I watched on Sunday night ... interesting plot but again such a simplistic, mechanistic concept of what the reality is ... as if human potentialities are largely determined by the specific genetic inheritance ... Anyway, click here for a segment of 3LO radio about the human gnome ... oops typo! or is it?? :) ... includes an audio sample

www.wildbrain.com - add to my list of kids sites ... as well as BBC online - nature & wildlife

Another song called "Third Planet from the sun" - here

Also Sunday - "The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth" - the butterflies were amazing along with most of the other footage ...

Found interesting interview with Jack Kornfield - trancsribed from a tape? - here

Does God Play Dice? - here    &    here    &    here   & more ... interesting that one result was about biological/genetic factors in schizophrenia & "mood disorders" ...

Allen Ginsbrg interview

Toyed with idea of typing up Page 91 of Conversations With God for Chopraville - it's about "how it all works" - may do it some day ... no pun intended

A few more ideas for dialogue for the book -
"I'd say THAT is a question everyone needs to ask themselves constantly. HOW important is this? Why AM I doing this? Am I doing it merely because other people expect me to? ..."

Could include portions of previous journals etc as part of the "patient" attempting to chronicle what it REALLY is like but then having doubts either (a) WHO would believe it at all if they have not had the direct personla experience themselves (reincarntaion and eventually enough with past-life experience?) (b) When you are constanly being told you are "delusional" or "out-of-touch with reality", sometimes you start to believe it ... it takes great courage or outstanding madness to hold onto a view which the vast majority do not share ... brings up the entire question of "How do you tel what is real anyway!"

He might imagine giving a "report" to Heaven - well, at the moment, if you ask me ... as long as happiness seems such a hit-and-miss affair then nobody really wins because those who "have it" live in fear of "losing it" or their offspring either never finding it or losing it ... there's a good idea in there somewhere ...

Also raises other quirky questions - where DO you turn if you're "having a bad day" when you find yourself in a very joyless society where most people are too busy trying to get their own act together to have the time or energy or know-how to help you when you are down. Yes, when society as a whole (entity) is having a "bad day" most of the time ... where does that leave any individual whose having a slightly rougher time than all-the-rest ...

More dialogue - "What's your full potential? Easy. To love everyone & everything on the planet equally and unconditionally. So, as you can see, we ALL have a rather long way to go. (And each & every living soul has precisely that same potential)"

On the Bible - we have to be wary of throwing out the baby with the bath water - sure the "Bible bashers" claiming it has ALL the truth and thus everyone else has it WRONG tend to create divisiveness & adversaries as it beggars belief that (a) It has remained utterly unaltered through the centuries before printing and through its many translations (b) That the billllions who have faithfully followed other spiritual practises - many of whom would have never seen a Bible ...

Anyway, what i was getting at is just take 3 examples which are easy to remember - "Do unto others" - "Love thy neighbour as thy self" - "Cast the first stone" - if we all held true to just those three we'd have an utterly different world to live in ... "Blessed are the meek" ...

From Inspiration Peak - yes, I'm NOT the only one who wavers - I have had experiences which should have left me in "no doubt" - I suppose until the whole world tunes into a similar wavelength ... I'm reminded of that bit in Awakening the Buddha Within about "Let's see if we can't find out together" by Lama Yeshe

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