Is Spirituality Spiritual?

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The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~ e e cummings

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[jimtzu]

this is from an interview with Adrian Legg, a fingerstyle guitarist. while it seemingly has nothing to do with "spirituality", it can give some insight if you substitute the word guitar with spirituality, god or whatever you want to call it.

Any advice for guitarists who want to expand their horizons?

Look outside the guitar. Look somewhere else for inspiration, and bring something nice back to the guitar. Listen to Mendelssohn to get some melodic ideas, or Brahms for melodic or arranging ideas - anything but the guitar. If you keep looking a tthe guitar it gets circular and sterile. Once upon a time, people were incompetent and weren't taught. And they all sounded different. They had character, because the failed in different ways. Now the go to school, and the have fabulous technique,and they all sound the same: very boring! Failure produces instand originality, because of the way you fail. When you've got to find a way around a problem, if you don't follow the accepted way around it, or you don't know the accepted way, you'll find an interesting way around it.

 

[Jana]

Rather than be distracted by the modes of the lesser goddesses of sex and war—which are by their nature ephemeral and transitory—temporal drifting of passions—the energy we need to be channeling now in order to build civilization (anabolism), within times of dissolution (catabolism) is Hathor. The divine justice of the Necessity of Reality, which is arrived at not by hormones, but by heart-intelligence or wisdom. Thus within the conflagration, Hathor must contentedly not be distracted by the sensationalism of the ephemeral drama as the lesser Gods live out their passions, and set her mind to suckling Horus—the intelligence inherent within the humanizing principle.

“What if I am faced with some terrible thing that I don’t know how to deal with? And that hysteria always goes away the instant we are willing to hear the answer. Even if the answer is what we feared all along. Now the question becomes, What are you going to do about it? Subsequent emotions may not be pleasant, but the hysteria stops. Hysteria accompanies an unwillingness to look at what is really going on; it promotes an unwillingness to look. We feel we are afraid to look, when actually it is not looking that makes us afraid. The minute we look, we cease being afraid.” 163, Travels, Michael Crichton

You John are young so you probably don’t know yet, but the entire civilization is rotten to the core and yet people go on in denial or anger. I mean what can you do when the ship has termites? The best stance I think is not one of indignation, but of acceptance and humor. To laugh at it, promote wisdom and know that things will change of their own accord when the time is right. To be fearful of the rot is to assist in its strength…because the disease IS one of fear. Bravery takes the post-linear skill of humor, that is probably why the Fool is one of the most courageous and successful of archetypes—because he is light on his feet and dances with the opposites of light and dark with equanimity. Rather than rote, reactionary or even revolutionary, he is simply at play.

Conservatism is literalism, which is a kind of brain damage caused by a brain that is not communicating through its hierarchy of levels (old, new-brain and soul) and also lacking in integration between the hemispheres. This brain damage creates the easily programmable populations we know to be the fundamentalists of all religions…they are essentially literalists due to brain damage or impaired growth and initiation of their mental faculties. Of course fascist movements cannot exist or infest themselves without populations of these programmable sheep. And now the New Age metaphysical religion also takes its symbols literally, which shows a still further decline of the rational mental faculties, incorporating both the worst aspects of paganism and the worst of Christianity. In refusing to get over their hysteria and face the darkness, they then become it…such as we “should” have learnt from the experience of Nazism. America is going through their darkest hour. If they would only turn and look at it, the boogey man would go away.

Right now we have a lot of wolves dressed up in sheeps clothing. But if you look carefully at the corners of their mouths you can see the smile of the wolf and guess at what their game is. I think the duality of the wolf and lamb will be with us for as long as life exists. It is just the nature of man and the universe itself.. No point in complaining about what is. I mean what is Jason Bourne going to do now that he has seen thru the veil? Take down the corrupt system or simply play the fool and enjoy dancing a jig between the forces of light and dark. And How!

[Jana]

Hey, if I am to be a spiritual teacher, I am going to be the most hated of ones. I just say...the answers are within. And when people express their earnest spiritual ambition, I say, question your ambition and just be "happy" with your present state. Least they no longer bother me when I tell them that.
 

[henry]

good part two of the craig hamilton- ken wilber new dimensions interview.  ..henry

[Jana]

http://www.ndbroadcasting.org/program.php?id=3198
You mean this Henry?


I think I might say...
The answers are within.
Question your ambition?
Most religions and spiritual institutions are hotbeds of corruption and deceipt
And then offer them a list of recommended teachers.
Including:
www.robertmasters.com  —Robert Augustus Masters, Power Jnana
www.BeWideAwake.com —Garwin Redman, Waking Up
www.integralinstitute.org  —Ken Wilber, Integral Hub
http://newhermetics.com/  —Jason Augustus Newcomb, Hermetics
www.sandraannetaylor.com/  —Sandra Anne Taylor, Law of Attraction
http://www.thefourwinds.com/ — Alberto Villoldo, Shamanism
http://delos-inc.com/  —Hal & Sidra Stone, Voice Dialogue
www.bluetruth.org/ —David Deida, Relationship
www.livinglove.com  —Diana Richardson, Tantra
www.adyashanti.org/  —Adyashanti, Nondualism
www.partnershipway.org/  —Riane Eisler, Partnership Way
www.pathwork.org/ —Eva Pierrakos, Pathwork
www.integralvisioning.org/ —Visionary Integral
http://via-visioninaction.org/—Yasuhiko Genku Kimura
http://bioneers.org/ —Visionary, practical earth restoration
http://gen.ecovillage.org/ — Global Eco Village Network
www.newciv.org/ — The New Civilization Network
www.permacultureinternational.org/ —Bill Mollison, Permaculture

Telling a seeker not to seek, is after all rather silly...re: Jason Augustus Newcombs levels:

1. Initiate Level- Earth, mastery of behavior and visualization in the æthyr

2. Zealot Level- Water, mastery of emotions, breathing and æthyric energy

3. Practitioner Level- Air, mastery of mind, beliefs and projecting æthyric energy

4. Philosopher Level- Fire, mastering creativity, values, directing æthyric energy

5. Adept Level- Spirit, development of relationship with cosmic consciousness


Hey he has this also...
Dark Night of the Soul by Jason Augustus Newcomb.

[Jana]

Power JNana, well i was trying to figure out a one or two word description of what RAM offers, first I thought Gritty Teacher...but then I thought that is not very encouraging, so I decided on Power Jnana, because he really is the most forceful penetrating intellect out there for selftransformation...
What else would you call his work, him?

[Jana]

• Stance of Social Immunity—The way to approach disharmonious harmful vibrations is to fully acknowledge them, but to not resonate in their frequency. To do this you need a transpersonal, transanthropomorphic "scientific" viewpoint and to maintain that universal objectivity throughout all the days of your life. It is rather hard to be reactive and get pulled into and bound up to Mara (evil/desire/aversion) when you see and feel everything from a Universal vibration. Rather than the simplistic notion of non-judgment, you clearly see the "devilish" mechanism of the bite/trigger/dig, but you do not get sucked in to believing that it has any relevance to you and where you are going.
You can work out what is happening, by looking at human affairs through primate psychology dynamics and learning the neurochemistry involved. Simply stating what people are doing to their face, is just likely to cause more trouble by engaging the negative ego still further. Then by knowing the way human primate dynamics work on the neurochemical level, you can use skillful means to get “on top.” Such as using energy, consciousness, camouflage (clothing), the power of the “voice,” exercise, nature and Presence in a non-reactive fashion. This way you can take little notice of and do not dwell on the present machinations of human affairs...to "cut through it" like a knife--as irrelevant data. A temporary dissonant note in the almighty hum of the Universal song. As we deal with the collective shadow in this fashion, this will allow for the creation of new inner-human technologies to deal with madness, shadow and repression.

[Jana]

No Way Out But Through
We cannot whine about the injustice of persecution and the non-understanding of those who are uninitiated and have no idea what it is like to have an actively transmuting body. We must instead return our focus on the singular privilege we are given to experience kundalini, the expansion of consciousness and ongoing ecstasy. We must therefore “grab the bull by the horns” and positively embrace our chemistry, no matter how inconvenient or socially incongruous it might be. In this way we protect our primary metamorphic chemistry from the perversities of living in an unilluminated culture. Eventually every human will be lit - it is just a matter of time. Thus to handle whatever we are going through we must see things from the largest possible perspective and know that we are doing “The Work” for all humans and all life. Swami Muktananda in Kundalini: The Secret of Life reminds us of the “largest” picture: “The Kundalini creates the universe out of Her own being, and it is She Herself who becomes this universe.”

If you are having state or emotion difficulty, first be grateful for the “kundalini” and breathe into and release whatever you don’t like about your present condition. This will raise energy and get you beyond-where-you-are-at faster. Just being in ecstasy is not enough…we need to explore the essence of our social dynamic and learn new ways of behavior and response with regard to others, and our place in the world. For this we need to see through an expanded lens, which takes into account and integrates the dynamic conditions of animal chemistry, primate sociology, archetypes, empathy, psychology and spiritual purpose or stance, direction and “the well-being of all life.”

“The happiness of the individual is inextricably linked to the well-being of humanity as a whole, in part because we are social animals which find meaning in relationships, and because cultural progress benefits everybody who lives in that culture.” Wikipedia, The Meaning of Life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life

[Michael]

This is where I yank the old roots
from my chest, like the tomatoes
we let grow until December, stalks
thick as saplings.

This is the moment when the ancient fears
race like thoroughbreds, asking for more
and more rein. And I, the driver,
for some reason they know nothing of,
strain to hold them back.

Terror grips me like a virus
and I sweat, fevered,
trying to burn it out.

This fear is so invisible. All you can see
is a woman going about her ordinary day,
drinking tea, taking herself to the movies,
reading in bed. If victorious
I will look exactly the same.

Yet I am hoisting a car from mud ruts
half a century deep. I am hacking
a clearing through the fallen slash
of my heart. Without laser precision,
with only the primitive knife of need, I cut
and splice the circuitry of my brain.
I change.

~ Ellen Bass, "Change"

[Jana]

Nice community map thing Michael!

ALIEN DIPLOMACY— Alien Diplomacy refers to international relations and stranger danger. Alien diplomacy is the recognition of unity of spirit regardless of the differences between species, races, sexes, countries or planets. Corrupt power systems use the fear of differences to inflict their own war-profiteering agenda.

FARSIGHT— This present civilization is coming to an end through its own undoing because it lacks the ability of farsight. The systemic and interconnecting problems, the solutions which just create more problems...these are generated from a brain damaged culture that is not set on a strong foundation of logic, of causal origins, universal morality, farsight and long range planning. Without the humanizing principle of farsight, humanity can only be preditory, parasitic and pathological.

PROBLEM-MIND—What you focus on grows. Gossiping or worrying about “The Problem” will generally only increase the problem and cause some form of negative backlash. If a negative issue needs to be brought to the attention of others, try and use positive visionary solutions orientated language to frame the problem. This empowers both you and the listener, creates less resistance and speeds social change.

[Jana]

War going broke...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that unless Congress passes funding for the war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corps to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year.

Gates, who met with lawmakers on Wednesday, said he does not have the money or the flexibility to move funds around to adequately cover the costs of the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"There is a misperception that this department can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers, that we can shuffle money around the department. This is a serious misconception," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.

As a result, he said, he is faced with the undesirable task of preparing to cease operations at Army bases by mid-February, and lay off about 100,000 defense department employees and an equal number of civilian contractors. A month later, he said, similar moves would have to be made by the Marines.

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov
Pentagon: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The economic costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to total $1.6 trillion—roughly double the amount the White House has requested thus far, according to a new report by Congress' Joint Economic Committee...
Future economic costs would be even greater. The report estimated that both wars would cost $3.5 trillion between 2003 and 2017.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7318

[Jana]

  Plea for a sacralized secular humanist society
Breaking Loose—Terrence McKenna in his outstanding “Psychedelic Society” talk said…Human decency or “liberation” is a resonance or anticipation of a perfected future. We transform by attempting to live as far into the perfected future as possible. We can will the perfected future into being by becoming a microcosm of the perfected future, and by no longer blaming outside institutions or hierarchies of control. He said that only through the marriage of the masculine (Sky-Father) and the feminine (Earth-Mother), can the alchemical perfection of a new form of humanity arise, and that it is incumbent on us to personally “act.” And that we acquire this higher order of freedom by virtue of applying attention to the “Art of Being”…beyond our geographically localized grids of fate that make us what we are, but don’t want to be. In the externalization of the soul and the internalization of the mind - through a triumph of imagination and self-evident gnostic truth, we can create a new language to express a new reality beyond the fascist material flatland. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp5IlodrPj4&feature=related

[henry]

thanks for the terence Mckenna you tube, jana. he was the poet/bard of the twentieth century. got my "esalen,america and the religion of no religion" book yesterday from amazon. for those of you slightly bewildered by integral institute, it was really founded in 1962 in big sur, california. the cutting edge now is the esalen center for theory and research. happy thanksgiving heartmind ..henry

[jimtzu]

what about integral spirituality?  in a seemingly attempt to codify spirituality comes this "test"  http://www.integrativespirituality.org/postnuke/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=518&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

   and at least to me...   

[marianthi]

Lol.  Where was this test when I needed it 30 years ago?!   

Marianthi.