DEATH THE UNPLANNED, UNCHARTED JOURNEY

I do not usually post my talks but am giving a heads up on this very important one on Zoom next Saturday; 10 am.-12 pm. California time.

Maybe some of you will be interested.

Here is the info.

DEATH, THE UNPLANNED UNCHARTED JOURNEY

November 6th; 10am.-12pm. California time.

Very few of us would go to a totally unknown destination without the right preparation,

 yet we neglect to educate ourselves about the most important journey we will ever

 take. The crucial factors to consider include preparation, passing over, the afterlife 

realms, reconciling with our karma, and reincarnation or becoming a spirit guide.

 Find out how dysfunctions may be visited on living people because of an unhappy 

or unfulfilled spirit, and explore the factors determining how successfully we traverse

 the spiritual plane.

Here is the direct link to the talk on Death for those who have registered 

previously with the school.

https://sbcc.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_

id=23900&int_category_id=20&int_sub_category_id=261&int_

catalog_id=0#.YWsgzfnkN6k.gmail

IMPORTANT LINKS:
School of Extended Learning (SEL) 

Help Page: https://www.sbcc.edu/extendedlearning/apply-register.php
Registration Help Page: https://www.sbcc.edu/extendedlearning/get-help.php 
Noncredit Class Schedule:

https://banner.sbcc.edu/PROD/pw_pub_sched.p_search?level=NC

IF YOU HAVE NOT REGISTERED PREVIOUSLY THIS IS THE ONE TO USE 

- NOTE FEE BASED, UNDER SPIRITUALITY
Fee-Based Class Schedule: 

https://www.sbcc.edu/extendedlearning/feebased.php 
------------ 

Attachments area

 THE TREE OF LIFE

TRUST-SURRENDER AND HOPE # 6

We usually think of surrender as waving the white flag in battle and giving up the fight, but spiritually surrender is a giving in to something much greater than oneself. Surrender is about trust, flexibility, receptivity, a fearlessness and a letting go. It is not about grasping and attachment. Surrender is about non attachment.

Non attachment is not the same as detachment. Doubt and disbelief create resignation which lead to detachment.

When we surrender our egos by acknowledging a higher force we become more connected with the "Field." 

"Whatever being that comes to be, be it motionless or moving, derives it's being from Field and Knower of the Field. Know this." Bhagavat Gita

"If a person wants to be sure of the road s/he treads on, s/he must close his eyes and walk in the darkness." 

St John of the Cross

Non attachment is not about having no expectation. We should be attached to our spiritual life, attached to doing for the greater good, attached to healing the planet, correcting injustice and hoping that even our small actions can make a difference. Non attachment is about being non attached to "the yolk of ego," to the material and all of its attractions. 

Faith, belief, trust, surrender and hope all have subtle but important distinctions which reinforce one another.

Hope requires action. Having deep knowledge alone is not enough to actualize it.

When the first white settlers arrived at the Cape of Good Hope they encountered the San Bushmen hunter gatherers. These simple people shared everything and to them the bounties that nature provided belonged to everyone. They owned no land and their belongings were limited to the tools they needed for hunting and gathering and surviving - a digging sticking,  a bow and arrows, tools to make fire, clothing made of animal skins and rudimentary grass huts which were impermanent because they were nomadic. They mostly slept together at night around a fire on the mother earth. 

The livestock owned by the settlers were free game to them but when one of them hunted and ate one of them he would be imprisoned. The jailers noted that young healthy Bushmen who could go without food and water for prolonged periods would be found dead in the cell even though they were provided food and water. The bushmen lived so much in the present moment that they could not conceive of ever getting out of such a hell hole. Having lost all hope they would succumb.

Placebo is the power of belief to help, to heal, to cure - nocebo - its opposite the power of belief to hurt, to harm or even to kill. Faith, belief, trust, surrender and hope or the lack thereof are all involved in these mystical properties, still not explained by medical science. It is well known in Southern Africa and other indigenous societies that a hex can have the power not only to harm but also to kill. There is both a direct affect related to nocebo and also a non-local "Field" affect. 

There is a story about an African employee (lets call him Jacob) in Johannesburg who goes to his employer (Michael) and relates that he is going home to die. On further questioning Michael finds out that this is because of witchcraft. He takes Jacob to see a doctor who does a full work up; blood tests and imaging and tells them both that Jacob is perfectly healthy and has no reason to be concerned. Jacob goes home and shortly after Michael gets a call from Jacob's wife that Jacob had "passed."  Michael is distressed and tells her; "but we took him to the best Dr. and the blood tests and X rays could find nothing wrong." His wife replied; "Yes but the snake that the witch put in him was very clever and hid behind his bones where it could not be seen."

There is an interesting report written by a psychologist Bruno Klopfer in 1957 who was involved with the treatment of a Mr. Wright regarding a new drug called Krebiozen that had just been released for lymphoma at that time. Wright had been admitted to hospital, cachectic, bed ridden, on oxygen with hugely enlarged lymph nodes, fluid in his pleural cavities and a dismal prognosis. He had fulminating metastatic lymphoma. Wright was extremely well informed about his disease and had read all about the new drug's optimistic claims. He begged the doctors to find and give him this new drug. They complied and after it was administered his lymph nodes melted away, the fluid around his lungs disappeared and ten days later he was in complete remission. He was discharged from hospital,  ambulating, without oxygen. Wright was vey scientific and rigid in his beliefs and followed all the data at that time. Information began to circulate that Krebiozen was not all that it was thought to be. He became depressed and was readmitted in his prior condition. Treatment at that time was very limited in its success with most lymphomas. His medical team had been amazed at the rapid response and being well aware of the power of placebo they decided on a new treatment plan which today would be unethical. They told him the drug was just as good as they had thought it to be but some of the shipment had deteriorated and that they now  had an even more concentrated version. This time they gave him  a placebo with the same excellent response. He was discharged again in complete remission. A short time later the A.M.A published a report that Krebiozen was ineffective. Wright died a short time after the report was released.

Click, play and meditate

 15_Wisdom_for_the_Way.mp3

 19_Surrender.mp3

THE T.O.L. - MORE ON FAITH AND BELIEF #5

 

This quote could have many meanings but if one thinks of the one bird as being Faith and Belief and the other as Doubt and Disbelief - the one eating the fruit of Faith and Belief is spiritually more inciteful. 

Belief is usually based on evidence - Faith not so. Faith can be blind which has its shadow, side (as does belief.)

One of the factors responsible for spontaneous remission of diseases that have defied the best of what Western medicine has to offer, is an overriding Faith that the patient would be well.  A powerful healer that knows how to manipulate the placebo effect or Belief can sometimes convince the Inner Healer, that anything is possible. However, this requires a special kind of intervention. Shamans are better at doing this than physicians with their magical rituals that allow the patient to get beyond their usual Western conditioning regarding a grim prognosis. The question is ...

How much do you really believe if there is no proof or if there is proof of the opposite?

No matter what the prognosis, the power or prayer and placebo can be more powerful than the nocebo effect of a bad prognosis or a medical hex . There are now at least 70 cases of spontaneous remission of "incurable diseases" that occurred in devout Christians who went to Lourdes in France to be cured. These have been documented by the Vatican Medical Commission who had all the data before and after the cure.

 Faith; reveals proof, trusts and surrenders,

and is propelled from within through Spacious Mind. 

Faith exalts in wonderment and is embraced by unearned love. 

Its shadow side is presumptiveness.

Belief requires logic and proof, 

Belief seeks evidence in facts, 

It is propelled from without by Narrow Mind 

and formulates and defends. 

Its shadow side is dogma and restrictiveness.

BELIEF

Sometimes one cannot see unless one first believes. When the ships of the settlers arrived on the East coast of the U.S.A. the Native Americans could at first not "see" them - being nature bound they had no visual framework for a ship.

One usually doubts initially, then trusts in the evidence, then 

believes

and our inner vision expands.

If you believe you can see, you will see.

If you do not believe you can see, you will not see.

There are many that refuse to believe unless they can hear, see, touch, feel or smell something.There belief is confined to their outer rather than inner senses. Their experiences will be limited.

" There are two ways to live your life, one, that nothing is a miracle, the other that everything is a miracle." Einstein

 Passion and Will actualize intentions with Belief and even more so with Faith.

FAITH

Both skillful Belief and Faith are qualities of Wisdom although Belief is first manifested through the evidence residing in the sephira of Understanding.

Faith can activate Divine Grace. With the Grace given by Faith one can achieve Keter even without the intellect of Understanding or the power of Wisdom.

Becoming is assisted by Understanding and Wisdom but cognitive abilities are not essential in order to reach Keter.

 The San Bushman easily travel out of body into the spirit world and even describe encountering the Divine essence. They do this in their trance dance by realizing Keter or what they call "Kia" through the energy of "Num" or  Kundalini as represented in this rock painting. Here the soul leaves the body in Kia to travel to the heavens. 

When I witnessed my first Bushman trance dance I did not fully believe in what I had been told that they had some control over fire while in a trance state. In this dance I saw a bushman in trance fall with his foot in the fire long enough to sustain a severe third degree burn. When I examined him after the dance there was nothing wrong. I became a believer, previously always too cynical to believe or have faith. I have seen and believed similar experience since that first time.

Unfortunately faith motivated by negative intention - for example when Satanic based - also works. The good thing is that love is more powerful than hate.

With will, commitment, eyes on the goal and a can do attitude almost anything is possible.

"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what cannot be done." H. Ford

In some, their subconscious is conditioned differently.

The subconscious must best be in line with faith for conscious intention to be successful. We mostly act out what is in our subconscious rather than our conscious mind. With complete faith the subconscious is in intimate connection with Divine Infinite Intelligence which can then act on its behalf. No matter what we think we think, we usually will manifest what is in our subconscious rather than our conscious mind. The subconscious can be primed with postive thoughts and mantras especially around sleep and in a meditative state.

UNDERSTANDING vs. WISDOM

As you think it (Understanding) so it can be,

 as you imagine (Wisdom) 

and believe (or have Faith) it so it will be. 

The Ancestors urge us to find the way

 between Contraction on the left and Expansion on the right 

between, Understanding and Wisdom, 

between Hopeless; 

and Hope, 

between Doubt, Denial, unskillful Beliefs and Detachment; 

and Trust, Surrender and Non Attachment. 

Concerning Understanding (on the left side of the Tree)

Facts can mislead and deceive, deliberately, from prejudice, or out of honest error.

Sadly we are seeing more and more of this now when it comes to politics, Covid and climate change.

The value of information is in its use for transformation.

“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.” Nietzsche 

Doubting can be useful. It is possible to doubt and trust at the same time. Trust and doubt are not usually exclusive. The shadow side of doubt is complete disbelief.

Doubt  is a way of exploring wonder, and anxiety is a way of expressing caring. 

It is only in their excess and misdirection that they are futile and counter-productive. 

But all the same ...

 "Do not believe a thing because it is said by an authority or because it is said to come from angels, gods, or any inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart, mind and body and found it to be true."  The Buddha 

 We are not asked not to doubt. We are asked to trust.

 If you say that there is much that you have never heard of, you should consider more importantly how much there is you have not encompassed.

 Information is not to be equated with knowledge...

 Being aware of the lesson is different from learning it.

We have a huge amount of information available to us on our smart phones. That does not mean we know any of it.

Knowledge is not to be equated with understanding (and

 Knowing the path is different from following it.)

We can know a lot about fake news and still understand nothing. Understanding is not to be equated with wisdom...

 Moreover,

And on the right, Wisdom side of the Tree  ... 

 Wisdom is not to be equated with heartfeltness, virtue or holiness.

Wisdom alone will not get us to Keter

Hoplessness, denial, doubt and resignation are a giving up and

Resignation leads to Detachment.

Trust and Surrender are a giving in to something much greater than ourselves.

 Concerning detachment, one of its paths leads to a lifeless world without enthusiasm or hope. A place of indifference where one could become ensnared in hidden traps of dejection and despair, where one no longer cares to love nor dares to trust.

Click and play

 07_Knowledge.mp3

 THE T.O.L. THE CHAKRAS AND TRUTH 

FAITH AND BELIEF # 4

In the First Triad of  BECOMING 

TRUTH and AWARENESS ...

  come to the forefront. Truth is a balance of many factors, all being actualized through the sephirot of Wisdom and Understanding.  As we say before testifying in court ...                                                                             

"The Real Truth and nothing but the Truth so help me Lord."

 However, these truths are not the same as the truths that we understand on this side of the veil between worlds. These are the truths we will also be accountable for when we cross over the veil and reconcile with our karma. This is why the Ancestors stress; "With all your strength get knowledge" - that is - the knowledge of these spiritual truths - not necessarily the truths of the law as we know it or science and technology.

Furthermore, Truth is balanced on the right of the Tree by; 

Belief, Trust, Surrender (that comes from trust) and Hope. 

  Those on the left by; 

Hopelessness, Doubt, Denial and Resignation (resulting         in Detachment.)                                                                                   These all help us to find the middle path to Truth.

  Truth can be a slippery slope as per the teachings of the Ancestors below. It changes according to the circumstances often in that present moment. It is wise to remember;                                                                 If the law does not serve love do not serve the law. Hence some things that you think to be untrue can be the real "Truth" when embraced by love.

The shadow side of Understanding is ego and we must be sure to let that go when searching for the truth of the matter. Self-righteous indignation plays no part here. Sometimes it is better to be effective rather than right, to discern, to not judge severely, to keep the peace, to walk away, "turn the other cheek." Moreover, we need to take the Truth from whence it comes whether its a scripture, a teaching of a sage from another tradition or a beggar in the street. We should also be cognizant of learning from any and all of the Four Beings of Nature. 

The only real truth is God's love for us. God is not a test of love, God's love is not a test. 

The Creator does not play favorites S/He loves us all. Karma is built as a defaul into the soul and we all are capable of Becoming and reaching spiritual perfection. This can take many life times.                      

Truth is balanced by both Knowledge and a deeper sense of Knowing, by Verbal (differentiated) and the Non-Verbal (undifferentiated) thought that often begins in the imagination. The power of "seeing what seeing eyes cannot see" is greater than that of thinking, the perception of the seer is greater than that of the thinker.

“People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind – imagination and intuition.” W.B. Yeats

In Kabbalah there are four levels in which to interpret the scriptures and Truth;  

The Literal, the Allegorical, the Interpretive and the Secret. The latter is at the heart of Kabbalah and all mystical traditions. It is the Secret, the Seeing that the Ancestors are trying to impart to us. The first three are qualities of Understanding, 

 the Secret - a quality of Wisdom.

For the same reason they teach;

Information is not to be equated with Knowledge, Knowledge is not to be equated with Understanding, Understanding is not to be equated with Wisdom, and Wisdom is not to be equated with Virtue or Holiness (i.e. Becoming)

Wisdom without Love ( the central sephira on the Tree) is the shadow side of Wisdom and is an empty shell. Hence they affirm;

You will come from Doubt to Belief (first believe,) from Belief to Understanding, from Understanding to Knowing and from Knowing (Wisdom) to Feeling (being heart felt.) This is the way.

When the heart is muffled, the soul shrinks.

FAITH AND BELIEF

To see has not always been to believe. You will begin to see because you first believe. When you believe enough there will be no need for seeing. It will all be as you will it to be, appearances no longer mattering.

"... And according to your belief, is it done unto you." Matthew

Faith and Belief are not quite the same. Faith can be blind and Belief usually arises from information, facts and understanding.

Faith is a very strong thing and if a human has faith and a simplicity that does not rationalize, s/he will be found worthy of reaching the rung of Grace (Daat) which is even higher than that of holy wisdom.” Chassidic saying

Faith - (Grace, the deep Knowing of the Divine Presence) - the purple small sphere above enhances Wisdom and Understanding. It is not a true sephira but it assists us in reaching Keter. Belief can do the same but is not quite as powerful. These qualities are all seminal in our quest for Keter. 

“The state of faith allows no mention of impossibility.” Tertulian

Faith is stronger than Belief and can grant us direct access to Keter. 

It will be given to you according to the measure of your Faith.

 Will, strong Intention and Passion have a lot to do with Faith.

These mediate in the central column of the Tree between Contraction on the left and Expansion on the right.

The Inner Healer which is part of the Soul is empowered in those folks who are suggestible, gullible and hypnotizable. It sometimes helps to be ignorant and be in denial of scientific facts when studying patients who have had spontaneous remissions of diseases that have defied the best of what allopathic medicine has to offer. Even a charlatan "faith healer" can sometimes heal such a sufferer if s/he truly has faith.

We know from double blind studies that distant healing or prayer works even if the patient does not know these prayers are being offered. Hence the power of prayer or spiritual healing can defy a bad prognosis.

Make you prayer to Him/Her and S/He will hear you. You have only to decide on the matter and have faith and it will be established for you.

The challenge most of us have, is to have this amount of supreme faith.

William Osler, a famous physician and also one of the founders of John Hopkins hospital wrote the first significant and scientific textbook of medicine; The Principles and Practices of Medicine, in 1892,  

In Exodus and Numbers Moses is described as striking the rock in order to get water to the Israelites in the Sinai desert. God, however, had instructed him only to speak to the rock. Moses and other enlightened beings are always held to a higher standard.

When one has complete faith with absolute certainty one may be able to make a decree. 

"You shall also decree a thing and it will be established for you and the light shall shine upon your ways." Job

Sometimes when a vow is taken with complete faith that one would do some specific, magnanimous task for the greater good if one is healed or given a special gift, this might initiate a promise from the Creator to grant that request. However, the contract must be fulfilled by ones actions after it is granted and so ...

You should wish for yourself that which the Creator wishes for you and not otherwise.

In this instance our actions must be in line with our Divinely given purpose. We collaborate with the Infinite one through His/Her desires for each one of us.

Click to highlight and play

 06 Faith.mp3

 11_Golden_Husks.mp3

 THE TREE OF LIFE'S THREE TRIADS                                  AND THE CHAKRAS #3

Spiritual practice can awaken the Kundalini - the Shakti, feminine essence of the Divine. Committing ourselves to the presence of the Shechina, Shakti's equivalent in Kabbalah, does the same thing. We need to remember that the Earth Mother is feminine and She can help us along this path, as she did the primal hunter gatherers. To them nature was their main spiritual practice. 

When we overlap these two systems we can see where each of these critical triangles are respectively situated. The red line separates Accomplishing below from Becoming above,

The T.O.L. is balanced by restraint or fear on the left and expansion or love on the right. The center column holds the balance with Will. 

Similarly in Yoga, the Sun (red, hot, expansion, masculine - equivalent to the sympathetic nervous system) and Moon channels (cool, blue, contraction, feminine - parasympathetic equivalent) that spiral around the center column manifest their balance in the center channel as they encompass each chakra. Energy usually oscillates up and down the Sun and Moon randomly until spiritual practice facilitates their movement up the center, awakening the Kundalini which activates the chakras to a greater or lesser extent depending on the devotee's commitment. 

The zig zag arrow in blue below represents Kundalini which can  sometimes move like a lightning bolt up the central channel. This uncontrolled movement can create an unsettling spiritual crisis. Lee Sannella, a psychiatrist, wrote extensively on the subject of transcendence versus psychosis. Stanislav Grof also studied it and even had a hotline at one stage for this spiritual emergency.

The T.O.L. has its physical equivalent in Adam Kadmon -  the Primordial Human. The description is anthropomorphic and Adam Kadmon is Divine light without vessels i.e. pure potential  corresponding to the collective essence of the soul.

The blog will proceed from the top triangle first 

 the Triangle of Becoming 

and work downwards focusing on the T.O.L. extrapolating the same principles to the Chakra system.

The two sephirot that help us actualize Keter - the Crown and the Divine presence - "I am that I am" are 

Wisdom on the right and Understanding on the left. 

Both are key to realizing Truth. 

When we die and move across the veil between worlds we will be accountable to these truths which are somewhat different to the truths held on this side of the veil. 

The one universal truth is love and the Ancestors teach;

If the law does not serve love do not serve the law.

 They also instruct;  With all your strength gain knowledge.

 This is not the knowledge of mathematics or science etc. but Understanding and deeply knowing (Wisdom) those spiritual truths that will determine our karma.

Wisdom on the right of the Tree is undifferentiated thought found mostly in the imagination. Einstein claimed that his powers of fantasy and imagination meant more to him than his cognitive abilities.  Einstein wanted to understand the mind of God.

The Ancestors stress;

As you think it so it can be, as you imagine and believe it, so it can be.

Think on it, imagine it, believe it (and better still have faith which is more complete.)

We are made in the image of the Divine so that we all have the creative ability to be found in our imagination. The Creator made something out of nothing. We are also capable of making something but out of something else - that something else already created by the Infinite One. 

The Creator imagined the universe into existence. "In the beginning was the word" - first imagination, then the intention or the word.

 Click on the link and play

13_Imagination.mp3