Happy Chanu-Kwanz-Christa-Yule!!!

Here I sit at my neighbors Christmas party and having a blast. My "friend" got me a gag gift of micro sized condoms, I had no idea that she thought so little of me.

Its a nice evening with a beautiful tree and a lovely fire in the hearth. People are coming and going while the time passes. We had a lovely dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, cheesy potatoes and some spinach dish that I didn't have the guts to try.

Several of the people here are musically inclined, I think they have all been recorded professionally, and right now one is singing what could only be called the
"Beverly Hills Blues" to a live accompaniment and she can really sing.

I need to get back to the party and having a good time so...

Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year!

Tired and Aural

It's been a LONG day, I was up at 4:15 this morning and I have one more run tonight at 7 PM going from Beverly Hills to Torrance. I was going to go home and grab a nap, but instead, I am in West Hollywood doing some Christmas gift shopping, getting a hair cut (not sure what I'm going to do with the other 103,491).

I am sitting in a Starbucks, killing a little time and basically bored out of my mind. Can't really think of anything to do, so I thought I might just see what came out in a random typing experience. I've got iTunes playing a random selection of songs and it went from "People Who Died" to "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone". It's a varied collection of about 130 or so songs out of a collection of 1177, at least I managed to salvage them off my iBook before the hard drive died, thank God for back-ups.

Sitting in West Hollywood and basically ignoring everything around me (that's how it looks to those around at least) is kind of an interesting experiment in human watching. I'm sitting near where they put the drinks after they are ready, so I get to see just about everyone and hear what, if anything, they say. I've been here about an hour or so, not one conversation has caught my interest. What do I expect on an overcast, intermittently rainy day in December?

I stopped at the Bodhi Tree and stumbled across a book for my collection, Sybil Leek's "Tomorrow's Headline Today" which is on Mundane (predictive) Astrology. I have been a fan of Ms. Leek for many years since I read her most famous book "Diary of a Witch". Little by little, I'm collecting all of her published works, she has written so much in such a forward way that it's not that different from getting the collected works of, say, Paramahansa Yogananda (though I suppose his students wouldn't appreciate the comparison, not my problem...).

On days like today, when I'm a touch out of sorts with time on my hands, I find an excellent time to people watch, but it's just too cold to sit outside and since we are off daylight savings time, it's dark already. I'm exploring a technique that I learned in High School in looking at Auras. I've been doing this most of the day and most of them have been fairly sickly looking. Sad!

I finished writing the previous entry "By Their Fruits" earlier at a Starbucks in Santa Monica and started looking there. On top of being tired, I'm having one of those days when my personal barriers are slipping away, or are down a bit to say the least.

I have some friends who want me to say I am psychic, not likely, as I don't think of my gifts as such, empathic and "touched" maybe, but to me, psychic is someone who is able to be always on if they so choose. I just know things when I have need of them. When I was young, it got me into a lot of trouble as saying something I shouldn't know freaked people out. I learned that differences were not welcome and I spent a long time learning to close those things away. Now I am having to work VERY hard to reclaim this parts of my life.

I gave some friends tarot readings a while back and while I doubt myself so much, I was told that I was right on target. They were happy, I was left feeling buzzed and wondering why I can't believe what everyone else seems to be aware of. We have such a difficult time believing those things about us of a positive nature and yet we can believe the "bad" things instantaneously, I wonder if as a planet we are practicing a form of psychic abuse...

Back to what I was saying earlier, I was depressed by the general "ick" of most of the people I watched earlier. When my barriers drop, it means I feel for them like a mother hen who knows her chicks are going to be on dinner plates eventually, but still wants the best for them anyhow. A questionable metaphor? Maybe, but until people start to wake up a bit, it's about the way the majority of people make me feel sometimes. Not that I'm pessimistic about them or superior to them, just saddened that they are adrift on the sea of life and without a rudder it would seem. This would bum me out completely if it were not for the fact that I know we are all learning at our own paces and most of us are living out the choices we made before we came into this life. Still hurts to watch it sometimes...

On a lighter note, this isn't actually meant to be as depressing as it sounds. I can always go into my "space" and experience the reality of what's going on in creation and know that if God finds it worthwhile, I might just need to look a bit deeper and see that as well.

Searching for the "silver lining" on everything is one of the first things one can do to change their perspective of the world they live in. If we view it as a bummer and get depressed by it, we will attract more of the like into our lives, but if we can find the alternative, we raise that vibration to a place where we attract "happier" experiences, even if it's just in how we look at things.

I remember several years ago, when I was on some nasty medications for about a year. Life was miserable in ways that I will spare you the details of, but after a few months of it, I started to get real down because of the appearances of my life. I happened to stumble upon a class where one of the people speaking was talking about God in the form of Krishna and was saying that when we feel like absolute crap, thank God. Needless to say, at the time I thought he was nuts and completely full of it. When I actually sat down one particularly tough day and said "God, I don't know what I did to deserve this condition, but by your mercy, I am only having to deal with this much of it instead of what I probably deserve." After a while, when I went from BS'ing myself about it and actually meant it, I actually ended up feeling better than I had in weeks, if not months.

Like I have written before, it's perspective and what we attract by what we focus on. Try it sometime.

By Their Fruits...

This has been an interesting few days while I contemplate writing this piece or not. I want to since it really pulls into the light how what I (as well as many others) have found to be true the things I have come to believe, but it is quite likely to be taken by many as a direct attack, which in some ways it probably is.

I go to a video store called Record Surplus that has a habit of getting videos before they are released. The other day, I picked up "The Celestine Prophecy" which is expected to be released on December 19. For those who are not familiar with it, it is based on the book of the same title by James Redfield.

One of the central themes of the book, in it's "Insights," is to become aware of the apparent coincidences that occur in our everyday life. Because of this and the other book that I just finished reading, I felt that I was getting a definitive answer to my question as to writing this.

The book that I just finished is Neale Donald Walsch's "What God Wants : A Compelling Answer to Humanity's Biggest Question" which I think is fantastic. A quick read that will definitely make some ideas rattle around in your brain. The book is basically divided into three parts;

1. How our previous views of what God wants have affected our cultures and manifest in the day-to-day world.
2. What God wants, it's quite direct and to the point! ( ;-P )
3. How this new view of God's wants will manifest in the future world.
   

This piece is in the same vein as part one.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we find the following as part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount":

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Matthew 7:15-20 (KJV)

My thoughts lately have been to look around me and see what "fruits" are going on around me, both personally and otherwise.

They say that the definition of insanity is to do the same things as you have done in the past and expect a different outcome. It's funny in a way, we as a race will do some of the most innovative things ins the name of progress, but in our personal lives, we can be completely "insane."

On a personal level, for example, is my current job as a town car driver. Now, I love my job actually, I meet some fascinating people and most of the time I make decent cash, but I am quite aware that it is a dead end where advancement will require the death of another. The fact is that, though I enjoy it a lot, it will never take me where my life seems to be pointing me. I could very easily play it safe and stay right where I am but how long will it take for that path to become a rut and then a grave, once it is deep enough?

We tend to follow the rules, a good thing usually, but when we intuitively know that there is something missing and we need to change our direction, we find it difficult to outright terrifying. I have been thinking about changing careers and going into what is called "Life Counseling" and nearly everyone who knows me thinks I would be very successful at it. When I looked into it and found out what it actually was, I realized that this is what I've been doing for my friends for years, but for free (can I send out bills for previous years? Hmmm).

The predominant world view that we really need to look into is how we view God and our relationship to Him/Her, the idea that we are separate entities. Our religions tell us that God is away in His/Her heaven, passing judgement on our every action and, depending on which one(s) you follow, how to get to heaven or out of the wheel of life.

What are the fruits of these beliefs? Jihads, crusades, feuding factions, the destruction of lives and our planet.

A really good example is Bill Moyer's "Is God Green" piece. It is about a schism in the Evangelical Christian denominations about how the future of the planet and our involvement in ecology should be. Some believe that God's gift of dominion of the planet to man is justification for the wholesale rape of the planet's resources and environment. Others believe that stewardship requires man to be more considerate of the repercussions to planet and the future of mankind.

In Iraq, while there is more than this going on, the fact is that unless the Shia and Sunni learn to co-exist, little less both get along with the Kurds, the chances of a valid nation ever coming together and surviving is about as likely as the moon being changed into green cheese. Most people don't realize that a fair number of the Middle-Eastern nations were created by the European world after the collapse of the Persian Empire and that solidarity of the individual groups is next to nil.

On a personal level, our belief in separation places us in the position of making ourselves into hypocrites on a fairly regular basis. We claim to believe in this Supreme Being who will care for us, once we've made peace and the proper atonement's, but since we are "alone" in our daily existences, we don't live it and actually spend a fair amount of our existence living in exactly the antithesis to our "claimed" ideals.

Our religions believe in the supremacy of their preferential manifestation of God or teacher and declare all the others as liars and charlatans. This leads to warring and hatred and is not doing anything to bring the followers closer to any Godliness. I've always found it of interest that the only religion that has never fought a war of aggression in the name of it's teacher/founder is Buddhism.

To wrap this all up, the point is that we need to become initially aware that we are eternally linked to God and that our separation is an illusion of OUR creation, not his. After we know this, then we start to live our lives based on this premise and that starts to make changes in every other aspect of our lives. Guilt and fear fall away and freedom in the knowledge that all can be right in the world if we will just start to be aware of our interwoveness (is that a word?).

There will be those who say that this is dangerous because it is different from the current norms. The current norms are doing such great things for the masses of hungry, hateful, judgemental people?

Others will say that this would be anarchy, it is possible. Any good thing can be misused to the detriment of those around. The fact is that those who would misuse it to justify selfish behaviors would do so no matter what is taught or thought. As long as spiritual children are needing lessons to grow from, they will get them and deal with the messes they create. There seems to be a growing number of people out there that want more from their lives than shat they were taught as youngsters and these are methods to explore and experience.

I have a challenge for you...

Try putting some of these ideas into practice in your everyday existence and see what happens. When you walk down the street and see a homeless person, instead of passing a derogatory judgement on them, say to yourself; "There I am living outside the norm." When you see someone who has been abusing drugs and is paying for it, say something like "There I am exploring chemical substances." Pass no judgement, for to judge others doesn't just open us to judgement as Jesus said, it IS to judge ourselves since we are all part of the whole and there is no separation but what we make in our minds. From there do most our problems spring. See what fruits you develop...

Life, Love and Lance Bass

OK, I'm going to start off with the disclosure that Lance Bass has always been my favorite member of 'N Sync and once again, my gaydar was complete right about someone I don't know (strange, why can't it do that when I cruise in real life?). In case you are wondering, the first one was Greg Louganis and not in '84 when everyone fell for him. I first ran into Greg many years earlier when he was on the cover of the Boy Scout's magazine "Boy's Life" sometime in the late 70's. I had such a crush on him... Who knew years later, we would both grow up to be gay and former scouts?

I happened to be wandering around the internet the other day, when I noticed that there was a blurb that Lance Bass and his boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl, had broken up. I dropped him a note via his myspace page with my condolences and holiday greeting as well as a congrats on his coming out (takes more guts then any straight can imagine, even in today's world). Now they, TMZ, say they may be getting back together. Hope springs eternal for 2 reasons that immediately come to mind.

Firstly, they make a really cute couple and it would be nice to see Lance beat the odds on his first(?) relationship actually lasting and not falling apart, but that might just be the hopeless romantic in me.

Secondly, depending on what he wants, Lance as a single man would either be the luckiest or unluckiest man in LA (OK, others are in the same position as well). LA (OK, West Hollywood in particular) is a city where everyone dances with their eye on the door looking for the next "best thing" to walk in.

If he's looking for "hook-ups", he's going to have the easiest time getting cute, hot guys to be able to bed. Good-looking guys will be falling all over themselves to sleep with him (Am I just a little jealous? Oh, hell yes! ;-P ).

If he's looking for something else, say a real relationship, he's going find it difficult to say the least. Los Angeles has never been the best place to find a good man, as Cameron Diaz's character says in "Charlie's Angels" during a fight scene with the bad girl, who has just broken her cell phone:

"Do you know how hard it is to find a quality man in Los Angeles?"

Dear, if you think it's tough as a straight woman, you should count your blessings you are not gay.

I sometimes wonder if the real reason straight men are so terrified of gay men (OK, they wouldn't call it that) is really from jealousy that, reputedly, gay men are about getting laid constantly. Now, I will be the first to admit that a lot of men are in that mental place, gay or straight (look at Tom Leykis). It can be fun for a while and as long as one plays safely, I think it's a natural part of growing up. For a gay man, having had to suppress one's true identity, seems to explode with an attempt to reclaim our lost youth via our sexual escapades.

Eventually, hopefully, we realize that sex for sex' sake is not really going do it in the long run. If we don't learn it, we get awfully depressed when we can't get laid to save the world as we get older. As much as I hate to admit it, in my 20's I was completely screwed up about sex and in my 30's fairly disinterested and now in my 40's looking for what it is I was really looking for in sex, companionship and someone to share a life with.

As a mystic, I am quite aware that there is little that this world can offer that would bring true happiness, but there is one item that I will continue to want, even when it makes me miserable; a partner. The rest of it you can have, money, fame and all the other crap that this world offers. I know it for the illusion that it is and while having "things" isn't so bad, I've been without them in the past and somehow I managed to survive.

If thinking about Lance wasn't enough, now Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary is expecting and because she is a lesbian, many members of the Religious-Right (neither) are voicing their objections. I heard one say that she was denying her child the "god-given right to both a father and a mother." Somehow, I suspect that the baby won't care what chromosomes the parental units have, he/she will just enjoy being loved and that is what "family values" are all about.

The question of same sex marriage comes up and think about what it would mean when it comes to both of these.

For Lance and every other gay man, we would have something more than sexual prowess to strive for since there would be a goal that could be looked toward. If you are going to label people perverts for having sex outside of marriage, you have to allow them something more, otherwise, you are talking out your ass.

For Mary Cheney, her child will never have the legal protections for the family that a straight couple would have. They reside in Virginia and with the laws there and in several other states, Mary's partner, Heather, will have no legal claim to the child if something should happen to Mary. This is family values? God, I hope not.

Well, if nothing else, we wish our best for Lance in the future and give our congrats to Mary and Heather on their expected bundle of joy.

The Primer pt 1

To understand some of the view and expressions made here, I guess it would be helpful to give an introduction to a variant world view and express some basic ideas that I don't really want to have to explain every time that I use them (I probably will to some degree, but here is the best place to find the bare-bones basics of the view expressed here).

This is a general summary only, details will be given in later pieces that I have to sit down and write. Most of the examples used here are Christian unless otherwise stated. Not that I have anything against Christianity, but I live in a nation that claims to be a Christian one. Since that is the majority of my audience, I'll address them in particular. My friends of other religions though, find me just as pointed at them when we discuss them. Remember, all the paths lead to the same destination, God and Truth.

Table of Contents

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Religious Foundation
God and Man
What is Sin?
Scripture References

Religious Foundation

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I seem to get accused of being a Secular Humanist by many religious adherents (particularly by more fundamentalist individuals) but as I understand the term, it is definitely not an accurate term for myself in that as a "Secularist" I would deny the existence of God or a Higher Power as well as anything supernatural, which is completely incorrect. I guess you could say that I might be a Religious Humanist in that I do believe in God and that which is beyond the physical (super/supra natural) but have become disillusioned by traditional "organized" religions.

There is truth in ALL scripture and religions and to exclude any one of them would be a mistake. The problem comes from the codifying of theologies and dogmas that exclude anything outside of their positions. For example, I was brought up a Southern Baptist (Christian) and those beliefs do not accept the Pentecostal (Christian) idea of "Speaking in Tongues" though the Pentecostals find it to be a "Gift of the Spirit". If found "Speaking in Tongues" in my house, I would have likely found myself in the office of either an exorcist (or the Southern Baptist equivalent) or a psychiatrist's office. Imagine what the response would be if I found Nirvana or found spiritual bliss through the Hari-Krishna Maha-Mantram...

When you get past the inserted egos of the followers and later teachers, strip out the cultural contexts and actually look at the subject of what teachers like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and many others were teaching, you find they are all talking about the same things from different perspectives or angles. Jesus and Krishna are so similar in many of their teachings, that I wouldn't be surprised to find Jesus had read the Bhagavad-gita (Jesus did grow up near major trading routes coming to and from India). Buddha doesn't worry about teaching about afterlives and heavens or hells, he just concerns himself with finding our true natures and experiencing life from that place.

Now with the above stated, do I deny the "deity" of Jesus or Krishna (some of the followers of Vishnu believe Krishna to be the incarnation of God's highest self) or were they just good to great men and teachers? That question is a lot more difficult to answer because of how we use language. To Christians, Jesus is the human incarnation (they don't call it that) of one aspect of the triune of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). In the way most Christians would mean the previous question, my answer would be "No" in that I don't see Jesus and his teachings as out of the grasp of the day to day person. Mainly because I see all people as part of God, just some are more aware of it than others, hence Jesus. So, from my perspective, the answers are Yes (because we all are aspects of deity) and Yes (since they spent their lives passing on knowledge).

I have several friends who have coined the term "Hindu-Buddhi-Christ" to describe my personal path as I see amazing harmony in their namesakes: Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism and Christianity. My personal view of my religious path could be called jnana-yoga after the idea of searching for knowledge.

God and Man

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We are told by our elders that God is omnipotent and omnipresent. If this is correct, then the idea of separation that prevails through the majority of our religions, that God is outside our experience and reach, cannot be accurate and the idea that many people hold that God cannot be in the presence of sin is either wrong or our view of sin must be.

God is that which permeates and activates God's creation of thought that appears as the world around us. Paramahansa Yogananda put it beautifully when he said that creation is like a movie in a theatre, the illusion of light and form are projected upon the "screen" which is God. The screen can exist without the projection, but the projection would cease to be coherent without the screen and it would not be a movie without both.

The idea that God cannot be in the presence of wrongness is not supported in scripture. After Adam and Eve "sin" by eating of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil", God speaks to them as if He were unaware they had sinned. In Job, there are scenes with the Devil in Heaven, apparently at the Throne of God, talking with God about Job. God speaks to Cain (a murderer), Noah (a drunkard), Moses (a murderer) and a whole host of prophets; their sins never seems to get in the way.

Mankind is the child of an eternal entity that can be seen in everyday events, if we are willing, and heard from in every moment if we will just open our ears and hearts to listen. As the children of God, we are part of him, inseparable.

What is Sin?

---

When asked, most Christians will tell you that Sin is either an old archery term that means to miss the point (accurate, but not for the reasons they think) or to go against the will of God (like that could be possible).

The first definition is correct but not because God said not to eat of the tree, but in what happens immediately afterwards. When you read Genesis, you find that the very first thing that happens after Adam and Eve eat, is that they become body conscious, they know they are naked. God even plays along and asks who told them about their nakedness. It is in this that true sin is shown. Not the eating of forbidden fruit (I suspect God set that up for other reasons) but in the forgetting of our true natures and our delusional fixation of the physical and corporeal. It is in forgetting our souls and living for our bodies that we are born into sin, not some pending judgment from on high.

The predominant world view that we are all under the watchful eye of a most high deity that watches and assesses the goodness or badness of every thought and deed comes from an idea that says we are separate from God. Because we believe that we are separate, we do God a disservice by bringing him down to our level of petty judgments, conditional love and general vindictiveness fit more for a bad Hollywood movie than an all powerful deity.

Scripture References

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How does one choose from the plethora of Sacred Writings out there? The nice thing is that unless you want to, you don't have to. The secret is in the understanding of how it's particular representation of the truth is expressed. The Bible's Old testament (Tanakh: Torah, Prophets and Writings) is written from the perspective and culture of early Semitic nomadic tribes and there descendents. The Qur'an, the specific culture of the 7th century world of Arabia. The Bhagavad-gita is placed in the region of India and Buddha around the 5th century BCE.

Where I look everywhere for knowledge, the scripture I use most often are the Bible (KJV), The Bhagavad-gita, Upanishads and Bhagavata-Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam) and the discourses of the Buddha (mainly the Sutta-Pitaka, for it's antiquity, and the Vinaya
for it's age as well in the early pre-differentiated status of its creation).

If I were to be dropped on a deserted island, I would take the Gospels of Matthew and John, the Yoga Sutras & the Bhagavad-gita. With those, I could still find the truth.

A Warning of things to come...

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the things that I want to put down here and have been having some difficulty in figuring out what to say and what not. I have a tendency to be fairly "in your face" with much of this, since I find the following is usually the case. Either you are open to new and/or differing ideas about some of societal sacred cows, or you are not and just want something different to read. For the former, may you find some gem of thought or information that brings you closer to your destination. For those in the latter, enjoy and I hope you find some entertainment here.

A friend has told me for years that I need to learn to speak in "sound-bites", but that is very difficult to do and while I do try to be direct and succinct, it's not my biggest concern, the information and ideas that I am trying to get across are. If I get to windy for you, I would suggest you check out anything by Madame Blavatsky and find out what long-winded really is.

Others have said that I should take a lesson from teachers like Jesus and speak in parables. I tend to be to direct for that and if God wishes for me to speak that way, God had better give me that gift. I love reading parables and figuring out what they are talking about, but I don't seem to come up with adequate metaphors. Plus I have always wondered if Christianity might have had a less difficult time getting at the truth if the teachings had been put straightforwardly.

Albeit, the book of John is pretty in your face, but if the other gospels had been a bit more direct, I sometimes wonder if John's intent would have been more commonly understood.

Some say that the "Truth" is just too dangerous and shouldn't be handed out. That might be, it is possible (read likely) that many people will take just enough information to be dangerous to themselves. People like that tend be dabblers anyhow, they get a little of this and a little of that and eventually have enough knowledge to be a danger to themselves and sometimes others.

So is the "Truth" really that dangerous? No! It depends on what you do with it.

I would think that knowing who and what we all are would be in people's best interest, since if we are going to create our existences, isn't knowing what you are doing better than fumbling around in ignorance and creating the exact opposite of what we intend? Like people trying to create income, but not realizing they are so focused on the lack of it that they create more poverty by accident.

Are there other dangers? Of course, but all learning involves the possibility of making mistakes and falling down. As a very interesting line in "Batman Begins" goes:

"Why do we fall down? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

The world has learned the basics of splitting the atom and has done great harm to itself in that process. But it has also learned some positive uses for the technology and, if man doesn't kill himself in the process, it could be a catalyst for the eventual coming together of the world and its realization that we ALL have to share this little ball.

So, I guess that this is what I'm a-goin' to do. I'm going to just speak and write the way that I do and if you read these things, be aware that some are potentially dangerous, if not to you physically, at least to your thoughts and beliefs as I expect you to think. If you don't want to think about things, I would recommend you turn on the idiot box (aka television), even on cable, you won't be challenged too much.

So, without further ado...the adventure begins....

The Day After 2006

I was having a discussion with a customer today about the elections yesterday and the announcement about an hour ago that Donald Rumsfeld will be looking for a new job and someone else will be taking the position of Secretary of Defense.

The person I was speaking with has made it quite clear in the past that they are conservative in their views, but I was somewhat surprised with the “with us or against us” position that came out during our conversation.

I had commented about how surprised I was that President Bush had made the announcement so quickly after last night (the Republicans loosing the House and possibly the Senate). I also commented that it felt a bit curious that after the statement the previous week that he wanted Rumsfeld to stay in his job until the end of the current term, 2008. Where I thought it was a bit of back peddling after the elections, my conversant accepted Bush’s statement that he had not finalized the staff change plans and did not want to speak to soon. Ok, but I cannot help wonder, “Why say anything then?”

The conversation somewhere changed course and it became targeted on the problems of the Middle East and radical Islam in particular. I feel that, from my experiences and people I have spoken to, that part of our problems have been due to our sometimes-arrogant way in handling other cultures while not really considering them. We have had a tendency to be so sure of our superiority and power that we sometimes offend others and do not seem to care. This is not a partisan thing, but a national trend, not unlike the statement I heard as a kid of the “ugly American tourist.”

Where we both agreed that there are many aspects of Middle-Eastern cultures that by our standards range from uncivilized to outright barbaric. My other talker made mention of a program on Radical Islam they had seen on FOX and it was apparent that their opinion was quite similar if not shaped by the view of barbarism that the program showed. I have not seen the show, but having followed the politics of FOX for a while, I would be suspicious of the balance of the program, little less its intent. FOX has a history of playing right along with the Republican ideology machine and the President had been making statements that a vote for the Democrats was a vote for the terrorists, which they associate with Islam in general, but the more radical sects in particular.

I don’t say the America is to blame in totality (I’m not that gullible), but I do think that our tendency to think that we have some right or obligation to enforce our playbook upon the world, our lack of sensitivity to the cultures and opinions of those we deal with, has made the world a much more difficult place than it needs to be. Many of the middle-eastern difficulties, in my opinion, are likely to have their source in the late ‘30s to early 40’s when the then current powers sliced up the area and created nations that have never existed before that time. They did not seem to take into account that fact that, in Iraq for example, many of the groups have disliked each other for quite sometime and some of them, Sunni and Shia for example, outright hate each other and will never like each other.

The other party to my conversation felt that it was an anti-American stance to advance the idea that we should be respectful of other cultures and their sensibilities. As for the idea that our lack of the above might be part of the problem, they “need to get over it.” Such things out of the past can’t be carried forever, they are over and done.

At the end of the conversation when I was about to drop them off, they asked, “If these have been building up, why now? What has made the Radicals decide to attack at this time?”

I said it was two things as far as I could tell:

1. The natural resources that the area sits on have given them a power and currency to use and leverage to be able to wield it to their advantage.


2. With the advances in technology, the internet and satellite communications of verbal and video materials have thrown the traditional structures of community authority into chaos. The world used to be able to experience a bit of the “other” world and still live in the world and culture of your home. Today’s world inundates the world with conflicting pictures and ideas and the “old school” is fighting for its survival.
   
   Listen to what the “offended” parties say about the outside cultural influences. As much as I love living in this country and all the choices that are available to me, the fact that many people are overpowered by the massive selection and unable to make choices unto themselves and that is Americans, we were brought up in it. If we have difficulties handling this collection of options, what do we expect of second or even third world countries and cultures? Those in positions of authority eventually become frightened of the changes around them and people do not deal well with change.
   

I am not really into following politics, as I’ve joked before, politics: poly-a Latin word meaning many, and ticks-small blood sucking creatures. ;-)

As far as yesterdays elections go, I will say this. I’m glad to see the Democrats win as many seats as they did. Not that I am particularly fond of the Democratic Party (I am unaffiliated with either one—Independent), but the situation was just too one sided and the whole checks and balances that is part of the genius of how our government is designed, was unable to perform its function. Now we can at least have one side keeping an eye on the other.

"Hollywood Guru" Strikes...

I had a day recently where I just decided to shut down and turn off. I hadn't been getting much sleep and had been working REALLY hard, not a lot of runs, but lots of time to do what was happening. I took a walk in the morning and started feeling tired, the past week or so catching up, so I went home and started watching some DVDs.

I have several friends that used to call me the "Hollywood Guru" in that I would use scenes from films as examples when trying to explain difficult spiritual or philosophical concepts. People seemed to get annoyed with me over that so I stopped doing it (though I don't remember making a conscious decision about it).

For whatever reason, I started watching the "Matrix Trilogy" and after a while I started to think about how much people loved the first film and how many hated the sequels. I happened to love the sequels myself, but I also like films that you have to think about.

I noticed quite some time ago, that people seem to really like messiah stories, some character finds out they have a destiny to save the world or make a substantial impact on the world around them. Not really surprising in that I think on a certain level, we all kind of wish we were that special individual. What did surprise me about it though was that I noticed that while people seem to be attracted to messiah stories, they seem to shy away from the continuation of them; it's great to be a messiah and save the world, but then go crawl under a rock, we don't want to see the day to day life afterwards.

The Matrix Trilogy starts off in the first film with "Neo" being dissatisfied with his life and as Morpheus later says, "You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up." This is fairly standard for the messiah character in that, consciously or unconsciously, part of the character is aware of their difference.

People usually seem to enjoy the part where the character searches for whatever his/her truth might be and in the climax, the messiah blossoms and fulfills their destiny, the audience is happy and usually the film or book is over. But what happens in the sequel or with authors who wish to show more? For as Morpheus says later, "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions were entertaining and interesting war stories, but most of the people that I have spoke to about it missed that sense of mystery they got from Neo's self-discovery in the first film. Many actually didn't like the character of Neo, especially in the climax of Revolutions.

This is an excellent example of people wanting to see the creation of the messiah, but are not really interested in the daily existence and experience of being that messiah after the initial discovery.

Another good example, Franco Zeffirelli's "Brother Sun Sister Moon". Many people don't really care for it and yet I found it to be amazing. I have always thought that it was due to the fact that the majority of the film is an exploration of Francesco's day to day life after his spiritual experience. When I have read bios on St. Francis, they are usually either fixated on his Stigmata or miracles that are attributed to him, but the daily life as the person who was having these experiences is not really delved into.

Even films that deal with Jesus, the popular ones at least, usually represent Jesus as a growing person who has his Messiah experience on the cross and during the resurrection where they usually end (albeit the Gospels end fairly quickly afterwards). The films that present Jesus as this otherworldly person throughout tend to be dull and not reachable by the masses. This doesn't mean they are bad films, some of them are amazing, but the contact with the viewers doesn't seem to come across.

OK, the film commentary is done (for now at least) and we can go on to something else (like my job).

Blessed Be

Talking During A Run This Morning

It's early and already today has shown itself to be another clue in the change of employment. I picked up a passenger who was absolutely sweet and we had a lovely conversation about the purpose of creation en-route to LAX.

Some of the topics were (most of these will eventually make it into later entries and the website, when I get a chance to put it all together...).

The Purpose of Creation

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Neale Donald Walsch, in his "Conversations with God" series puts it better than anyone I know when he says, God knew himself to be the totality of all there is, creation is God experiencing himself as everything. To which I add, knowing something and experiencing it are two completely different things; for example, when you were a child, your mother told you not to touch the stove, it's hot and will burn you. Now you had that piece of data, but after the first time you actually touched it and had the experience of being burned, it was quite a bit more than a piece of datum.

Speaking In The First Person for God

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In the Gospel of John and in several other scripture, we find teachers speaking for God in the first person. In John, we have "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) and in the Bhagavad-Gita, we have Krishna saying "If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost." (Bg 18:58). Both are claiming to be capable of saving others themselves.

Traditionally (on both sides) we tend to inject our own egos and pride and claim ours as THE one and only truth and the other as a lie or falsehood. What if, instead, both are true? How could that be? Maybe we all have the ability to save each other, possible but questionable, or (my personal belief) they are speaking on behalf of something greater than their physical appearance. In Christianity, we call it the Holy Spirit and in Hinduism, param-atma (the great soul (literally) the aspect of God which permeated His creation).

Omnipotence and Omnipresence

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If God is omnipotent and omnipresent, then he can't separate himself from His creation, to do so would cause it to cease existence. We are given freedom of choice to make our choice and part of that allows us to deny the existence of God. If God were to do likewise, deny the existence of, say, me, I would cease to exist and no one would likely remember that I was ever here, uncreated (I know a few people who might consider petitioning God on this one).

I'l come back to all this later. I need to go back to work...

Happy Halloween!!!!

Well, today has been an interesting one to say the least. I was up early and completely forgot that today was Halloween until I made it to Starbucks and saw one of the staff dressed as Superman. Cute outfit with fake muscles and everything. He even went to the trouble of doing the little curl down the center of the forehead.

For Southern California, it is a bit cool and overcast, perfect weather for the day. That cool clammy feeling that I remember from my childhood in St. Louis, should make for an interesting evening for the kids tonight.

I came up with an interesting idea yesterday, I have been thinking about writing a book of philosophical thoughts and musings, but couldn't figure out how to get anyone to read them. I usually am told what I have to say about Spirit has some value, how do you get strangers to be interested and actually look into it? I found an excellent title for the book, it is interesting enough to get some interest when read.

So, now I have no excuses for why I haven't been writing as of late. I have been busy, but I can find some time to get stuff done, we won't even go into getting the house done. Strange how we can find excuses when we just don't get off our backsides and get something accomplished. I am SOOO guilty of this. I have been really busy, but not so busy that I can't get my important things done or at least worked on... I am SOOOO bad.... ;-P

Dear Diary re: Tears

Today has been a day of tears, both happy and sad.

I had a single run this morning and it turned out to be someone I hadn't seen, in person at least, in around 10 years or so. The passenger was an actor who I have always enjoyed when I have seen him at work. Nothing of any particular significance, but it started me on the path of the day.

I went to Border's on the way home and while going through the DVD shelves, ran across "Xanadu". I remember the first time I was it, I was in a theatre in St. Louis with one of my best friends while I was growing up. I wish I could remember his name, I have SO many good memories of times we spent together, from New Years Eves at the local Christ Scientist(?) private high school to his mothers stews that turned out to be store bought dehydrated mixes that were fantastic.

I had been a fan of ELO for most of my early youth and the movie opens up with the number "I'm Alive". This is a song that has always been what I call a charge song, just listening to it can take me from a really foul place to nearly bliss in just a few notes. I have quite a few songs that do that for me and if you don't have any of your own, I hope you rethink it and find at least one. Music truly can tame the savage beasts (and the foulest of moods).

That was 1980 when those memories were created. Ronald Reagan would win the presidency in November and the "Me" decade, as it was later called, was just begining. I turned 15 in May that year and life was about to go from insane to unbelievable. Somewhere around the beginning of the year, I had told my parents that I was gay, spent the summer in a psych ward and was moved into a childrens home in October, since my parents couldn't cope.

Since I have started working on reclaiming the parts of my self that I denied for so long, I have found that I am more in touch with and able to express the emotions that normally would be repressed as a male in our culture, shame for the majority of men. I wouldn't say I am weepy or anything, but I do find that empathy has increased and I do seem to enjoy life quite a bit more.

The Secret To Riches - A Visualization Tool

For this to work, read the text to yourself and allow your emotions to get into the picture. Allow yourself to become emotionally immersed in the imagery and feel as if you were a part of it. Of, course, do it repeatedly, like once or twice a day... Try it. I dare you... :)

For a high quality video, click the link here (9.4 meg) or
enjoy the YouTube below.

LoA: Introduction

The Law of Attraction: an Introduction

The Law of Attraction is something that every person really should become familiar with as through it the universe will make itself available to you.

Sounds a bit hokey, but it really is true and this is where we will begin with it.

When we go through the Bible and other scripture, we find that we are made to be the children of God and as such, are part and parcel of Him/Her. We tend in most of the western world to shy away from such an idea as if it were heresy and God would strike us down at the mere thought. If you believe that God is omnipresent, then God MUST be in the area, no matter what is happening. We are given the ability to turn out backs on God and deny the existence of a supreme being. God does not have that luxury, if God were to turn His back on us and separate himself from our existence, we would cease to exist and return to the nothingness that we were created out of.

I've stated it before, but I have always been amazed that there is one point of fact that every single religion, that I have looked into at least, agree upon. That fact?

• We are all eternal spiritual entities that are only temporarily inhabiting these little physical bodies.

Now as to what happens after that fact is up to debate and discussion. Some believe that you go directly to an eternal heaven or hell while others believe that your soul change clothes and reappear in a new body and continue the journey. The spectrum of these beliefs run everywhere in between and a few go to other places. Sadly, we tend to be willing to kill each other over these differing opinions instead of being able to come together with that one truth we can agree upon.

In the last few years, I have been spending time and energy trying to shift my focus in life from the external, the world of things and appearances, and relate to people and things from the point of view of soul instead. The Law of Attraction has recently become a lesson in practical experience in this experiment of mine.

How I was introduced to the Law of Attraction

I have been aware of the basic premise of the Law of Attraction for a very long time and just never really understood a practical way to put it into effect in my day-to-day experience. I am one of those people that can know all the theory about something, but not necessarily have a clue about practical application. I was aware of the idea that what we focus on is what we create in our existence.

Creation is something we need to discuss real quickly. I believe that we are all the children of God and as such, it is our birthright to inherit everything that God is. This most definitely includes the rite of and ability to create. For the vast majority of us, we are unaware of the fact that we are creating entities that are constantly adding to and changing the environment we participate in. What this means for most of us is that we are creating, but not really aware of what we are creating and as such, end up creating exactly what we don't want. How do we change this? You'll see and it is amazingly simple to learn and use if you will let it be.

I have known these basic facts for as long as I've been aware of. I remember reading "Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East" by Baird T. Spalding and knowing what the higher law they were talking about was, but I could never put my finger upon it or verbalize it to anyone. Throughout the books, they characters make reference to a higher law that they operate by, but I never really understood what they were referring to as to how to make use of it.

As time continued, I kept running into the general idea of the Law and yet, could never quite grasp what it was. That has recently been solved in a series of actions and events. Here's what has been happening in the last few months on this subject.

Shortly after my move back into a place of my own, which was practically an example of the Law in action in itself, I started the following series of events. I would say it started when I picked up a passenger and took her to film a commercial one morning and was going to return later and take her home. during the day, I stopped by one of my favorite used video and music stores in West Los Angeles called Record Surplus. I go to Record Surplus fairly often for their interesting selection of used CDs and DVDs for some excellent prices (ok, plug over). This particular day, I picked up "Clueless", "Planet of the Apes" Box Set Extras Disk, "Baron Baptiste: Journey Into Power", the recent "10 Commandments" TV miniseries & "The Secret".

Funny thing about that last one, "The Secret", for it was an impulse buy for no reason. The package had the logo on the front, a wax seal with an "S" in it and the text "Secret" overlaid. The back didn't say much either and I had no idea if it was a thriller or what.

I went to pick up my passenger and she asked me what I had been up to and I said shopping a bit. She asked what I bought and when I mentioned it, told me that I would find it very interesting and helpful. I put it on my video shelf and other than several friends borrowing it, they seemed to know more about it than I, forgot about it for the most part. I intended to watch it, but not knowing what it was, waited for a chance to watch anything.

A month or so later, like 2 weeks ago, a friend recommended a CD set he had been listening to. Now he is always offering self-help stuff to me and we have been helping each other out for a few years now. This time, he gave me a copy of "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting" written and read by Lynn Grabhorn. Though the subject was of interest, I think the thing that actually got me to listen to the whole disk set (5 disks) was Lynn's voice and enthusiasm. In fact, it is the format that Lynn Grabhorn uses that I am using as the skeleton for these pieces. I hope I do her justice.

So after listening to this and having a major Ah-Ha moment (as Oprah would say), I finally had an expression and a practical example of the Law of Attraction. A few days later, I finally got a chance to watch "The Secret" and can you guess what it is about? Uh huh!

So I now had what I am starting to call the "Attraction Trio":

1. What the "Bleep" Do We Know!?
2. The Secret
3. Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting

An Update on Thoughts

I have been so massively busy as of late with trying to get the house set up and getting my work done that I hadn't really realized that a month had gone by since I last made an entry here. It has not been for lack of anything to say (or write as the case may be), but just not really being aware of the passage of time. I'm back and ready to go...

Things are getting ready to change, once again, in my life. As most of you know, I recently moved into an apartment in Sherman Oaks and bought a car at just about the same time. So what's left to change? My employment situation, I guess...

I currently support myself with driving sedan for a smaller, but well established, car service out of Santa Monica. I really like it, for the most part, and would continue, but I think that I might be leaving in the near future. (Those of you who know the arrangements, might be surprised at the actual motivations...)

My clientele as of late has been of a most interesting variety. I am usually careful, since my views are not real mainstream and a lot of people take offence at some of what I say, especially if I call some cherished ideal into question. This hasn't been a problem as of yet. I have been attracting people of either like mind or at least interested in new ways of thinking. Such a blessing!

The bigger question is what am I going to do... Hmmm...

The obvious would be to go back into programming and write software, independently, and hire myself out for new projects. Fun, but more as a hobby with me than a way to make a living. Before anyone even thinks about it, a regular 40-hour a week job as a programmer is a definite way to get me to open my wrists. I have never been fond of the regular work arrangements and that is why I either work in transportation or as an independent.

I have a few interesting ideas as far as new jobs go. What they are will remain my little secret while I work out the details of the ideas a bit more.

A few friends have suggested that I go into what they call "Life Counseling". Interesting idea, but I will SOOO have to come up with a different name for it as I hate that name. The idea is sound though...

Spend time with people and help them find out where they are sabotaging themselves and then help them to find better ways of doing things. Nice, but I am more likely to be more of a spiritual teacher in this than what you see on "Starting Over."

Coming soon will be a series of pieces on the "Law of Attraction." Keep your eyes open.

A thought in the life...

I was having a conversation with one of my clients earlier and it brought to mind the trials and tribulations of being who and what I am.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (much) but there are many things that one gets put before them. My sister used to call me a spiritual weigh-station in that people come in, get or do what they need to and then go about their merry way. Is this a problem, only when I allow myself to become attached and don't want them to go. In other cases, it's a major blessing that certain people come and go quickly, fortunately they are getting few and far between.

I guess my least favorite part is the fact that when I meet someone that I want to get to know (sometimes in a biblical sense) and while they like me, they end up viewing me as a brother, or worse, father confessor. Now it is actually quite a compliment that these people want to share their lives with me in sometimes intimate detail, I have to admit that at times I want to grab them by the throat and tell them, "I don't want to hear about your sins, I want to participate in them with you!" Can you see my occasional frustration?

The people who know me from my day to day life don't judge me in a particularly harsh way, but those who meet me as a teacher can be brutal. They expect someone to fulfill their idea of what a teacher is supposed to be and where many take on that mantel, I am NOT! I am human, I believe God gave me a body and put me into the world to enjoy the fruits of his creation (pardon the double entendre--snicker).

I have no interest in becoming a eunuch for the praise of students who may or not listen to what I say. I look at Jesus and wonder what he would think of being made into the idol of millions of Christians instead of being their ideal.

I view my life as a spiritual Johnny Appleseed in the idea that I plant seeds wherever I am and hope that at sometime in the future they will grow. Since few people stay around for long, that's about the best that I can do.

As of late, I have begun to notice that a few people are starting to return on occasion and that they want more than usual. This is probably a good thing and it will help me grow. Many don't admit it, but I find that when I have students, I learn as much as they do, from them.

For the most part, my life is really very good and I am beginning to feel like I can finally relax and take a breather for a bit and then start working on the next stage. What they will be, I haven't decided as of yet. If the past is any indication, it should be interesting and unique.

Race, Simple Minds & Who Benefits?

I was listening to Randi Rhodes on the radio a little while ago and she was going on about race baiting in American politics and government. She was ranting about how race is being pursued as a dividing factor and that the talking heads as well as the empowered politicians are using race to collect votes.

She had the right idea on part of it, racism is a way to make people feel better about themselves when they have done little to nothing to improve themselves. Race is such a simple thing to use to judge others as well as gender and in many cases sexual orientation and religion with their sometimes obvious accoutrements.

Why is it that we no longer teach our children to succeed and to find pride in their achievements. We are so busy teaching our children to be cogs in the machinery of society and what power we teach our children seems to be mainly in victimhood.

When people want to feel better about themselves and are not educated in how to improve themselves, eventually they will look for something obvious to use as a basis of judgment. Race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status and the such are easy in many cases to use, especially when you don't know anyone fitting in group X.

Funny thing about it, is that while we spend so much of our time splitting ourselves into little groups and fight amongst ourselves, what's happening in the big picture?

The fact is, there is only one race on this planet, the human race. When we stop our silly infighting and start working together, we can get something done. So, why are we being lead to follow this simple mindedness? Who stands to benefit and what are they up to?

Remember that we are ALL children of God and the worst of us is just as valuable as the best and the best are no better from God's perspective than everyone else.

God, Man, Messiahs & Perverts

You ever look at the world and the people in it and wonder just how everything got so screwed up? How did man (to use the Genesis version) go from making the mistake of eating the forbidden fruit to teetering on the edge of self-annihilation?

In recent times, we in the United States hear a lot of rhetoric, both political and religious, about Fundamentalist Islamic Suicide Bombers. How do you create someone who not only thinks killing themselves is such a great idea that they plan it, but convince them that they are doing God's will?

I have read the Quran and while I don't consider myself to be an expert by any fancy of imagination, I can't see where it justifies this teaching. Sure, it talks about martyrdom and the blessings and after death benefits of it, but I don't see what is being taught to the young in parts of the Middle East in it.

A couple of years ago I read a translation of a service, given by I believe Yassar Arafat's Imam, where he started with a story of a young 14 year old boy walking up to him and proudly proclaiming that in 4 years, when he was old enough, he was going to be a martyr via bombing (implied). If that wasn't tragic enough, the Imam was actually proud of his youthful zeal and enthusiasm. So, for these people who wish to blow themselves up in the name of God as they understand Him, I have a question:

• You made the choice to become a bomber
• You made the choice to strap the explosives to your body
• You made the choice of the location to do it in
• You made the choice of when to do it
• You made the choice of how to kill as many as you might
• Where is God in all this?

As far as I can tell, this is all you and no one else. That's not God's will, it's yours! The simple fact is that you have decided to become a murderer and suicide and just because you do it with God's name on your lips, doesn't change jack, the Quran is quite explicit about the penalties for both.

Yes, I have a serious issue with these Imams that teach the young, dissatisfied and vulnerable that suicide, even in the name of God, is a career choice. Martyrdom is something God puts before you and you choose to accept or not.

But, this isn't about being anti or pro anything, it's about how we messed it up.

When you look at the core messages of the Teachers who claim to have messages from God or a technique for finding God from within, people just can't help but twist it to their sick little definitions of God to the exclusion of all others.

I am not a particularly strong fan of organized traditional religion, though I do understand it's intent. You can have a body of teaching and many examples of it in action, but for it to pass from generation to generation, you need to give it a form that can be explained or experienced. The problem is that the form tends to become more important than the purpose. A friend told me a story that illustrates this.

The abbot at a Buddhist monastery, high in the mountains had recently received a large group of young men to start their education as monks. He noticed that while the young men were enthusiastic and devout in their subjects, they seemed to be lacking something. After thinking and meditating on it for a while, he realized that being young men, they needed companionship and friendship, so the abbot took it upon himself to acquire a small puppy, which he introduced to the young acolytes.

Life in the monastery became more satisfying for the young men and the puppy slowly grew in size and love for his new home. The only problem with the arrangement became obvious when the young dog started attempting to play with the students while they were in temple and practicing their meditations.

To solve the problem, a stake was planted in the courtyard near a tree and it became the practice to tie the pup during meditation times. Now at first the pup didn't really care for the idea, but in a short time it became habit and all was calm.

As time went on, monks left the monastery and new acolytes entered as well as teachers leaving and passing, including a few abbots. Eventually, the dog had become long of tooth and finally passed on. This threw the monastery into a near case of chaos, since it was apparent to all that a new dog must be acquired immediately, since everyone knows you can't meditate without a dog tied out front of the temple.

Now this simple little story isn't much unto itself, but it illustrates a trend in religion throughout history. What starts out as a suggestion or an idea, after a while becomes tradition and then potentially ritual and cannot be changed by us mere mortals.

We do the same things with our teachers as well, look at Jesus as an example. Jesus was a good Jewish boy brought up in a less than ideal side of town, but he was blessed with an insight into both people and God and he later spent the last 3 years of his life being hounded by those who wanted to ride his coattails and those who were threatened by the "new" teaching that he was giving, the miracles probably didn't help on either of these fronts.

So what happened to him? His followers turned him into a god and put him on a pedestal so high that most of his teachings became inaccessible to the common, mere mortal, people and to incur his displeasure was a sure ticket to everlasting punishment by his father. Strange that none of this is referenced anywhere in his teachings.

I had a discussion with someone a while back about the Gospel of John regarding this (OK, I've had this discussion on many occasions). I was saying that John is probably the most misquoted and misunderstood book since the need of the people to insert their own egos into the expressions of the teacher. For example, what I think of as the most misrepresented verse in the Bible, John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Now a little context here... Jesus and his disciples are in a room and are preparing for the last supper. Judas has just been given his charge to go quickly about his task and Peter has sworn his allegiance and been told he will betray Jesus three times before the cock crows. He then goes on to calm the disciples and tell them not to worry, that he goes to prepare a place for them and they may join him. Thomas asks where this might be, since (once again) the disciples do not understand what Jesus is talking about. Jesus' response is this verse, followed by "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him."

This verse, John 14:6, is usually taken to be an egocentric statement of deity, but if that was the case, the following verse wouldn't be necessary.

I've always found that John was the disciple who got it. John is writing about the teachings of Jesus and seems to assume we are aware of the context. If you insert the ego that most people do, then Jesus is in direct opposition to most of the rest of the Gospels where he shows himself to be the most humble. What is happening here, as happens in other scriptures as well, is that Jesus has so aligned himself with God in the form of father that he speaks his teachings in the first person for the father. Jesus does this throughout the Gospel of John. In John, we have a definitive split between Jesus, the man, born of Mary and raised as a carpenter's son and Jesus, the Christ, who is aligned with the will of God.

How can one man be both without being crazy? One is the man, as we all are and the other is the will and spirit of the man aligned, not with his own ego but the will of the creator. This is what Jesus is pointing to us throughout his message, the Christ is within each of us and we are able to bring it into manifestation.

Some say that this is Gnosis, it is! Gnosis is just the idea that there is a knowledge that we must find, the truth of our creation, and that it is our responsibility to follow where that leads us which is eventually back to our souls and their direct relationship to God the Creator.

Sin, to miss the point, is exactly this. It's not the eating of the fruit in the Garden of Eden against the stated will of God, but what happens immediately after the eating, Adam and Eve forget their divine nature and become completely deluded by their bodies and the nakedness of them. They miss the point of what creation is actually about and become lost in the illusion of it.

So, the question becomes; if that's the case, why would this not be the teaching of the Church? You can't control people when you tell them they hold all the cards in the game and God just wants you to play them.

There is a very good historical example of this, reincarnation. Very early in the history of the Church, the idea of reincarnation is brought into question, many attribute this to Origen though there isn't a lot of evidence to support this. If this were as much of a cut and dried question as many state, this would have been quickly answered and been done with. This was actually debated for around 300 years before the official church policy was decreed. Now depending on whom you talk to, you get different reasons as to why the final removal of the idea was placed.

1. The church father's, knowing the vulnerability of man, removed the doctrine of reincarnation so people would not be tempted to misuse it and figure that since they have many lives, they can enjoy this lifetime and work the next. Of course the chances are, they would be doing this for many.
2. If people knew that they had many lifetimes and that salvation wasn't decided in a short time, the church would be impotent. The ability to sell indulgences and claim to stand in the place of God on Earth would be laughably ridiculous and the ability to control would be naught.

We could go on and on in the search for examples of this in many (read most) religions and the problem is not in the scriptures and teachings, but in the egocentric natures of the people and organizations that propagate them.

God gives man the truth through teachers and messiahs and we pervert it.

I find it amazing how in our expressed ignorance of the subject, of soul and spirit, we still insist on claiming exclusive knowledge of the correct path and way that God had intended from the beginning. I find that if I come to scripture and interpret it from the universally agreed point in all religions, that we are eternal spiritual entities who only inhabit these bodies temporarily, that the scripture all point in the same direction and have a universal teaching.

Disclaimers Explained

I'm probably about to get myself into trouble with this entry and should just leave it alone, but a few people have asked me what's up with the "Disclaimers" in my sidebar.

It came from a couple of places. They break down as follows:

• All views presented here are those of the presenter or commentator only.
  A friend made it clear that I needed to make sure this was noted and where I still don't understand exactly why, I put it there. It seems to have something to do with certain legalities about comments and not being responsible for them. As far as the last half goes, I don't want to edit comments (and don't as a general rule) but anything that's just rude and offensive for no good reason may go the way of the Dodo Bird.


• All original content posted by Spirit Geek is Copyright ©...
  Where this is stated in the Blogger Terms of Service, the same friend once again (I would ignore him, but he is a lawyer. Hmmm).


• The purpose of this blog...
  The whole point of this is to create a record of the good and the bad on my journey through life. There is a certain amount of transparency that I am trying to afford in my life and this is a tool in that direction. I read and talk with many people who put themselves into the public spotlight and the vast majority carry dark secrets that they hide from the world (and in some cases themselves). I think that they do a disservice to both themselves and those who look up to them, as they don't get a complete picture of whom it is they think they are dealing with. So, here I show "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (OK, I do live in Los Angeles and have been called the "Hollywood Guru" for my uses of film references).


• Those who know me in personally, in passing or more extensively, may find comments and discussions of conversations and ideas expressed on this site.
  As part of the purpose stated above, I talk about many things in my life and those in it are likely to be made mention of, but I won't say who you are (unless you ok it). This came about due to a friend being concerned about a conversation we had and making reference to it here. The point of this site is the documentation of life lessons and insights and if the people in my life supply them, they will be mentioned here. For as the last line says (and yes, it's meant to be a bit snippy!)...


• Though you only need worry about this if you should to say something of substance (directly or indirectly).

I'm not intending to offend anyone, but the fact is that if it wasn't in the "digital domain", it is just as likely to be in conversation and at least here the intents get documented with the ideas as well.

I'm Alive (or so they say)

Not much has been happening.

I'm still living in boxes since I get home from work and just want to pass out till I have to get up again. I try to get something done each day, but it's a bit slow.

I'm in the middle of a piece for the blog that I started just after the move did. I hope to get things back on track this week. (I spent nearly four hours trying to get a phone and DSL hooked up in the place and they won't be able to tell me if the order went through till Monday)

If I am finished after my next run (LAX to Brentwood), I might actually get my bedroom finished enough so that I can stop sleeping on the futon in the livingroom, not that it's been uncomfortable.

The 2nd bedroom will be the new meditation and study space (eventually) and the diningroom will be my office.

Once the seasons change and it gets a bit cooler, I look forward to actually trying the fireplace. Anyone want to join me? (snicker snicker).

Back to work...

Mission Accomplished #2

As of 1:00 PM July 22, 2007
I am officially in my new place.

I am nowhere near finished making it livable, but everything from my previous apartment has been moved into my new place.

I spent Friday evening packing up the last of my stuff and taking bookshelves and other furniture downstairs to the small storage room in the garage. Saved me a LOT of work going up and down 3 flights of steps on Saturday.

For those who have never been to my place, the ground floor is the parking and storage areas, the 2^nd being regular apartments and the 3^rd being townhouse units. The one I was in was a 1-bedroom with a loft. The loft overlooked the living room and kitchen areas and was my room. (BTW, word of advice, never get an apartment where the bathroom is not on the same floor as the bedroom, 3 AM pees are a pain)

I managed to not only get the remainder of the furniture and miscellaneous stuff loaded in about 2 1/2 hours but made it over the hill and unloaded it all by myself (I'm just getting so butch).

Now I am in the process of figuring out where I want everything to go and start determining the furniture I am going to have to get. Several of the girls have offered to help (why am I so frightened of that?).

To celebrate, my friend Judy and I went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and saw "Dressed to Kill" with Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine. It's part of Cinespia's summer screening program. If you have never been, try it...

Later...

Professional Driver Whining #1

My roommate made a comment the other day that really caught me for some reason. She said that she never thought the driving in Los Angeles was really that bad until she had worked as a sedan driver for the company I now work for. After spending several hours a day on the roads, you really get a few glimpses into just what makes for a lousy driver.

1. I'd rather see someone applying make-up behind the wheel than be on the blasted cell phone.
2. A flashing turn signal should mean you intend to change lanes, not that you like flashing little lights in front of you.
3. A turn signal on the freeway should not cause your latest burst of macho to mean you must speed up since no-one should change into your lane in front of you.
4. When someone is pulling onto the on-ramp, they are responsible to get up to traffic speed, not traffic slow for them.
5. If your SUV is so big that you are afraid of driving it, DON'T!
6. The center lanes of the freeway are for the faster cars, it is not your job to slow them to 35 mph.
7. When turning, pull as far over to the side as you can so others may pass you while you wait for an opening in traffic.
8. Red lights ALWAYS mean stop, even if only for a moment.
9. Checking the map for directions should be done while pulled over to the side of the road, not in the middle of traffic.
10. If the car in front of you has zoned for a moment, toot your horn. Going into a coma and falling on it is overkill.
11. If you wish to get courtesy from others on the road, it is best to give it. Not everyone is a selfish pain in the butt like you are and after a while you will find it does pay off.
12. When you mess up on the road, don't look at the other as if they are an idiot for thinking you know what you are doing (or are they? Hmmmm).
    

Can you tell that it has been a fun day driving around town today.

The move is coming along well and may actually be finished by the end of the week. Just depends on how many trips from Mar Vista to Sherman Oaks I get to make in the next few days and the rental of a U-Haul. Hope springs eternal.

BRB

As I let you know previously, I found an amazing apartment in Sherman Oaks and am trying to get everything packed and moved ASAP. No reason except that I just want it over with, I truly hate moving.

I'll be back as fast as I can since I have Internet Access already set up at the new place...

A little something for you to chuckle at... Enjoy...

Perception Notes

I seem to forget how much of our existence and how we process it is related to perception. A recent (as in last night) example really brought it to the forefront.

I have been looking for an apartment and as of about 8 pm last night, I found one and was accepted. That's awesome!!!

This is where the perception came in. There was someone that I needed to tell about the new place and while I hoped they would be happy for me, I thought there might be a problem since the person I needed to inform and my new landlord have a history and have had a few bumps in the road as of late. Because of this, I thought it would be best to not open a possible can of worms unless there was a reason to, like getting the apartment.

The party involved didn't feel this way. They felt that I was creating a problem where there wasn't one and that I had made myself a victim. I don't claim to know everything that goes on in people's lives and can only go by what they say, my hunches and instincts. From my perspective, I was trying to be kind and courteous until needed.

There was a few other issues as to my previous lack of enthusiasm (I understate it a bit) for moving into the San Fernando Valley. I had lived in Canoga Park until the Northridge Earthquake and then in North Hollywood for a few years and hadn't really liked it. The heat, the bad air and the Valley just wasn't any fun for the most part. Funny that I had this conversation a total of three times, my friend who told me about the apartment, the new landlord and their friend who I started with.

My friend told me about it and since I wasn't having much luck finding much beyond a closet for the rent that I was looking to pay, I figured it couldn't hurt to look at it. What I saw surprised me:

• 2 Bedrooms
• Huge Bathroom with both a Shower and Tub (not 2 in 1)
• Large Livingroom
• Large Kitchen
• Washer and Dryer built in (sort of)
• A Fireplace (both gas and wood)
• A small yard
• lots of windows and some view

To put it simply, I would have been a fool to pass it up. I think I am going to be able to make a home out of this place and shouldn't want to leave for a long time,

The initial announcement was greeted a bit roughly, but after some discussion peace was attained. A couple of things struck me a bit.

One was the statement that "I have an answer for everything." How could I not? When we do things, shouldn't we know why and be able to explain if our intentions or actions are misunderstood by others? Do most people just act without knowing why? Are most people as truly reactive as the Church of Scientology makes out? (I have to admit, it would explain a few things about most people)

The other was that I am secretive. Now I tried to explain to them that I am completely open and that they knew nearly everything there was to know. My life is pretty uneventful unless they wanted to know about folding my laundry earlier in the day.

Perception is so fundamental in how we deal with the world around us and yet, we are so ingrained with it that we don't realize it and hold other as slaves to our perceptions of situations. You mean well, but I feel slighted. I tell you everything but get the impression you don't want as much so I close a bit and you perceive it as being secretive.

We need to become aware of our perceptions of things and address them as they pop up and try not to use ours as a weapon against those who perceive themselves just as well as we. This goes for victimhood as well, we perceive that state and may choose to live there but don't make the people around you pay for it; it's not their debt but yours.

Victimhood SUCKS!!!

I had a couple of interesting conversations today that brought up an interesting subject: victimhood.

Several years ago, I lived with a guy who loved being in control of nearly everything around him. He volunteered at the local community center and was also on the board, his boyfriend was very hot, but also passive. To look at him, he had everything going for him, except... With all this going for him, he always avoided the other side of control, to the point where I bought him a t-shirt one year for his birthday that read, "I want all the power and none of the responsibility."

We live in a culture where that has nearly become the new national slogan. Sadly, I think it is also becoming our new export and the world seems to be eating it up.

People are always talking about rights, though most of the time what they are really talking about is privileges our rights afford us. The sad part is that where we want all those rights and privileges, we downright refuse to take on the responsibilities that come along as repercussions.

I see people all the time who perform some action and when the obvious outcome comes along, they cannot imagine why. Now, to be honest, these are things that when they touch you, we have a natural instinct to pull away and deny. When we can't deny, we tend to lash back and get very unhappy with the messenger, so get prepared to be unhappy with me...

From the person who needs to get off the couch and eat better who can't imagine why they suddenly have a heart attack and need bypass surgery. To the person who self-medicates themselves with drugs and/or alcohol and suddenly finds themselves in the pits of addiction. Sadly, these are the simpler and easier to deal with.

We get to the larger and more culturally sensitive ones like the racial minority that creates a separatist culture and then wonders why they don't succeed from within the predominant culture. Of course if you say this in public, you are immediately labeled a racist and marginalized by those who either don't know better, or worse, by those that have a vested interest in keeping things as they are perceived or represented to be.

To another group that doesn't want anything more than a better life for themselves and their families but can't or won't recognize the fact that breaking the law to enter the country illegally to pursue the dream of becoming a law abiding citizen just doesn't work. We will use this one as an example for the moment.

As with most things, life is truly about perception. How you view and associate details makes an amazing difference in one's day-to-day existence. Using the above example, one of the "arguments" used to soften the hearts of their opponents goes like this:

Poppa came to the country as an illegal 15 years ago and made a living and stayed out of trouble. He met Momma and got married and had a few children. Now Poppa may be sent back to his country of origin, do you really want to break up this family?

Of course not and I feel for all the parties involved, but wouldn't the object lesson be just as valid to say to the children, that Poppa broke the law a long time ago and though he meant well, they have a tendency to catch up to us and eventually one has to pay for their misdeeds. Unfortunately, he is no longer the only one that will have to pay the penalties of the heart.

Both options suck, but one teaches that there are consequences for our actions, a fact of the universe, and the other teaches a false lesson of questionable entitlement.

The other day I heard a new one that just about made me fall out of my chair I was laughing so hard. The newest group of "victims" were the Christian Right in America since they are under attack in what started as the "War on Christmas" and now has become the "War on Christianity." Now everyone is officially a victim, no one is responsible and yet we all still want to know why things are as messed up as they are?

This victimhood idea is like a narcotic in that it is a very powerful thing. It is SOOO easy to acquire power through it and once tasted, like the forbidden fruit, next to impossible to put down.

The easy power of being a victim kind of reminds me of a friend that tried shooting-up heroine one time and decided that he would never do it again. When I asked him why, had he not liked it? He said, "No, just the opposite. I liked it too much and don't think I would be able to stop if I did it again." A very wise man indeed.

If one truly seeks power, do it the old fashioned way, earn it. It carries just as much weight and actually has some substance behind it. Plus, be honest, it seems to be human nature that people don't respect what they get for free, only what they pay for. What people get for free they tend to abuse.

Being caucasian and male, to listen to most of the "Victim" groups, I am the cause of their lot in life. I am "raised" to hold other races down and to judge people by the color of their skin, their gender, religion, financial status, sexual orientation, ad nauseam. Somehow I must have missed those lessons, I got the ones that said that everyone deserved a fair shake and that by combining whatever talents I may have, with knowledge and skills that I acquire along the way, that in the final analysis, it was by my efforts or lack thereof that determines my success or failure in the world.

I hear members of these minority or marginalized groups talk and you walk away with the idea that no person of __________ (fill in the blank) ever failed in whatever endeavor they set out upon due to lack of personal ability, skill or effort; but only by being held back by "the man."

The fact is, that racism, sexism or some other criterion of judgment will always exist in a small minority of people since they will use it it as a way to make themselves feel better about who and what they are. Miserable self-images spawn pre-judgment in an effort to prop up self-identity as a matter of simplicity, you're bad, hence I'm good.

It's kind of strange to me, but I was told that if I was to succeed in this world, it would be by my efforts alone, the world would give me what I needed, but little more. I find the unifying idea taught in "victimized" groups to be that you are unable to succeed on your own and are entitled to extra help based upon some wrong-doing in the past, real or perceived.

Terrible things have been done to people by people for as long as mankind has been around, the question is when do you stop being so focussed on what's behind you that you miss what's in front of you.

Someone said (ok actually many have said something along the same line) that if you have one foot in yesterday and the other in tomorrow, you are going to pee all over today. I say, if you are so focussed on the past that you can't see the present, you will miss the future.

I find that if you expect things in your life, they tend to show up. We are the children of a Creating God and as such create constantly. If we spend our time and focus expecting bad things, don't be surprised when bad things happen.

If you want to be a victim of your past and not get beyond that, fine, that is one of those privileges that living in the USA gives you. But word of advice, don't whine to me about it. After a while I'l tell you to either figure out where to change it and get something new or shut up, I'm tired of hearing the same record repeating itself.

Remember that ALL choices have repercussions and if you don't want to deal with them, then don't set them in motion. Karma, reaping what you sow, etc are identical to Newton's 3rd law of Motion: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Be a victim and expect to be victimized, but know there is an alternative.

Benjamin Franklin said that "if we forget the past we are condemned to repeat it." I'm not advocating forgetting anything, just don't be so absorbed in it that you condemn yourself to live there forever, of course unless you want to--your choice.