Dads Basement Vault

The World WILL End this Time. No Seriously.

2010-01-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how us humans love to live in mortal fear of the "end", yet can never ever stop construing fictitious ways in which the "end" is always just around the corner? It seems to be a need, like watching horror movies or car crashes or picking your nose, that we as a species constantly obsess and fret about the "end of the world" that never seems to come.

Depending on which scientist you talk to, the beat has been going on pretty steady now for over 4 billion years on earth. Yes, 4 billion. Years. This figure is also roughly equal to each person's share of the national debt in the US (kidding, sort of).

Our forbears were running around killing animals 1 million years ago, and the Egyptians built some very sturdy headstones in Egypt about 5000 years ago.(maybe they were worried about this end of the world business as well). The world has been going now for awhile, like Cats off broadway.

However, we wouldn't want to let an annoying thing like facts and history get in they way of mania, marketing, and that oh so fun past time of fear mongering to the masses. In the interest of gallows humor, I am going to run down some of my favorite "end is at your doorstep" scenarios that I have lived through in my short life (well, maybe not quite as short as I'd like it to be).

1. The Cold War - This one seemed real, because, well, it was. There is nothing like riding the school bus in the morning and wondering if you'll be incinerated by the Russkis or an errant computer game by 2nd period. There was always some reason during the evening news that somebody was about to launch the missles. The screwed up part is that most of the time it was a flock of birds or some German teenager flying a plane into Red Square. (click here for that one)

2. The Late Great Planet Earth - This was a popular book when I was a wee boy. I include it here because it was my first experience with this whole "end of the world" business. Needless to say, none of it came true. If you want to see this fossilized book, check it out here: The Late Great Planet Earth

3. Global Warming - A supposedly real phenomenon. However, it has all the excitement of watching paint dry. If I am going to get stark raving mad over the world ending, I need a specific date and time, not this "we better stop or we'll be sorry in a few decades". Perhaps they didn't get the memo that peoples attention spans are getting shorter, not longer. We can barely remember who we texted 30 seconds ago, let alone worry about it being 4 degrees hotter on average on July 2025. Besides, I think we'll all have enough time to evacuate the "coastal areas". It only takes a few months at most to build a boat.

4. Dec 21st, 2012 - Now, as my fictional friends in the acting world say, this one has some "legs". My friends who go to the Boom Boom room say the same thing. Anyway, we got a date, we got a time. If we only had a location, like the Starbucks on 30th and 7th Ave, this one would be the creme de la creme of end 'o the world predictions. Apparently the Mayans, the Chinese and the Hopi Indians all settled on this date as the real deal. They must have compared notes using prehistoric Skype. They are serious this time man, no really. Anyway, I have already got my T-shirts ready to go for the day after sales. You know, the ones' that say "I survived Dec 21st.....blah blah"....

5. Y2K - This was probably the most amusing of them thus far. Thinking back, it was either a marketing campaign for The Matrix, or an attempt by the Tech industry to build a huge tech spending bubble and....oh yeah, that actually happened. Anyway, the theory went that we had all become dependent upon computers and machines and that they would one day turn us(so done to death right?) The reason why was that all the old computer code that current systems were built on was not equipped for the millennium date change(yeah, yeah, thats the ticket!). This prompted huge spending to fix the "problem" and much fake hand ringing. Predictions ranged from complete shutdown of air traffic, computer networks, power grids and that annoying backing alarm on delivery trucks. However, when Dick Clark dropped the ball that year, none of it happened. Bill Gates was laughing all the way to the bank. As inventor of the internet, Al Gore knew the whole time there was no problem, he just kept it to himself while he worked on An Inconvenient Truth

6. Nostradamus - This old hack from 500 years ago had so many predictions, that some of them were bound to come true. Like an astrologer, if you say things vague enough, and repeat them often enough, people will want to believe you. Some of the predictions may also seem sorta, kinda right. He also reminds me of the broken clock on the wall....its still right at least twice a day.

If you out there in the network of nebulous electronic ether have some others, feel free to let me know. I'd love to see what you think.

Until next time, stay loose, breathe deep, actualize.... and....be careful out there.

Alone during the Holidays?

2009-12-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Do You Feel Lost and Alone in the World?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Uhrich]Kevin Uhrich

The world that we live in doesn't really feel like home to us; do you ever get that feeling? Most of us are like fish out of water nearly all of our lives. We settle down and build houses and build our lives, but somewhere deep inside we feel... lost!

We search all our lives trying to mollify that lost feeling that we have - trying to find God or "Something". Somewhere in the deepest part of us, maybe, we have a feeling that our true home, our pure joy or love beyond reason we're searching for is inside of us, I think...

You know; we start out life here on earth and as each day goes by and we get caught up in the complexities of our lives, we forget that we are part of God or Source Light; that It is within us and we are part of All That Is and we have forgotten that we create all of everything we experience as well.

Even so, there is a thread of recall inside of us that realizes this must be true, "Isn't there?" If we could practice "silence" each day; stop the mental chatter and just breath for a few minutes, we would find a treasure inside of us so great that we would never again feel separate or alone!

Here's a poem that I wrote December 2004, and they even published it in 2006!!! That was pretty cool!

Fear Nothing
Fear nothing
Oh you searchers of truth,
Stop for a moment your quest
Though it is a noble one.
For what you seek has always been within you.
This worldly existence has made us forget, what we know is truth,
All that is and all that will be, is there inside you.
Fear nothing.
The commandments that you try to embrace
Are only a guide to help you remember
The only One law,
"God is Love... nothing more and All That Is
And that is your true essence and foundation.

There we are then, now go Create Great Thoughts with No Regard to Logic, because All That Is is there inside you.

Kevin is a business man, writer and poet in Saskatchewan. He is nearing completion of a book on self help, mind power and philosophy. He knows first hand the power of our human thought/feeling processes. His website will be set up in the near future.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-You-Feel-Lost-and-Alone-in-the-World?&id=3468232] Do You Feel Lost and Alone in the World?

Through the Eye of the Needle

2009-12-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

1. It was once said that a man's possessions. his money, are the most tangible of his fleeting ideas of success. I suppose that is why so many have struggled to accumulate, and then felt empty upon this "achievement"

2. Likewise, it has been said that people's memories of their behavior are almost always consistent with their personal beliefs, and have little to do with their actual behavior.

3. People can live together for years, yet many times rarely discuss anything that frightens them. It may be that they fear the response of others, themselves, or how they will be perceived.

Ideas, and our memories and perceptions of them, are what normally constitute our concept of "rich" or success. While many assume to know what rich is, if it is examined closely, what is revealed is the outline of a collective belief, around which we base a series of assumptions. This belief is not related to fact whatsoever, but rather an unspoken agreement with others that we all choose to believe the same thing (i.e. money is "valuable")

Does money have any value whatsoever? The answer is no, it is merely a device, a collective idea we all believe in, that allows it to have power. This idea is reinforced by all facets of our society, from government, to the education system, to the media. Because all of these facets have a stake in perpetuating the idea, its reinforcement continues. The idea is reinforced because it is perceived to have value. You need to look no further than history books to realize that 600 years ago "money" as we know it, did not exist.

Money only has value as long as the majority of people believe it has value. In the end, it is an idea built around collective belief (or confidence) and faith. Green paper and electronic digits have no intrinsic value at all. You need go no further than September of 2008 to see how panicked authority became when they thought people no longer believed money had value.

In our quest for survival, for riches, behaviors are deemed necessary in order to acquire more and thereby achieve 'more' than the competitor. Adversarial competition is the basis of the American economic system, and is a hallmark of all human interaction. The competitor role can be carried by many people who operate under other labels; friend, spouse, coworker, company, state, team, nation. In many cases, the behavior needed to acquire money is not consistent with a person's espoused beliefs.

These concepts were explored in many famous experiments such as the Milgram experiment. In this now famous simulation test, unwitting subjects were told to electrically "shock" a victim to death by an imposing authority figure, despite repeated cries of pain from the unseen victim. The result was that almost all the test subjects willingly followed the orders of the authority figure to kill the "victim", even though they had no personal reason to do so.

My point in mentioning this is that our society's economic survival, based on money and competition to get it, is dictatorial in nature. That is, it is based upon authority figures telling workers to execute a given profit strategy. Often such a strategy is at odds with the purported beliefs of those people who are executing the strategy. Our government may be nominally "democratic", but most workplaces are dictatorial. In other words, there is always an authority figure guiding, dictating and regulating behavior. If one does not follow this figure, one's access to money, and by extension, survival is often perceived as threatened.

This power dynamic of authority over the masses, has been near the center of all human interaction in history except for one. That interaction is the one you are engaging in right now, receiving information via the Internet. It is for this reason that I believe the Internet holds more promise than peril in the future. While everyone needs guidance at some point, the abuse of power that has embraced humanity is beginning to unwind as the floodgates of information open. 50 years from now, the world will look back on this transition and give it a name.

For those seeking, I say, now is the time to define your idea of success. This does not mean no work, or unlimited abundance. What it does mean is that you define your goals, and make them real. Never has there been a better time. Do your own thinking, or harness the almost unlimited capacity for knowledge that is now available. Take little at face value, challenge assumptions, and most of all, don't let anyone tell you what your success looks like.

The Evil Eye, Astrology and Awakening the Dead

2009-12-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

Some interesting "data" came out today in regard to people's beliefs regarding religion and spiritual concepts/ideas. What these statistics really show is how subjective the beliefs are. The common thread is that most people believe in some other plane of existence outside that which is readily visible. The manifestation of that plane is what varies widely. Among the interesting bullet points:

Approximately 24% believe in Astrology, close to the same number who identify themselves as Roman Catholics
30% of Americans felt they have been in touch with the dead
26% thought spiritual energy could be gathered in objects such as trees
16% think the "evil eye" or casting evil spells is real.
The Vatican has acknowledged, officially, that aliens and other life forms may exist elsewhere in the Universe.
Approximately 50% of Americans claimed to have had a "spiritual or mystical" experience

I guess that explains why my Oak tree was looking at me strangely the other day. Seriously though, what do such statistics, taken from a sample of over 4000 people mean? My takeaway is that meaning is an empty vessel we all hold, how we fill it up is completely an individual choice, guided by our social need to feel connected and our own biases.

What do you think?

10 Ways Not to be Abducted by Aliens

2009-12-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

In my research, I came upon an article regarding UFO abduction "phenomenon", as it were. In the article, it claimed that as much as 5 to 6 percent of the population may have been abducted or experienced "missing time".

Given that this is an amount of people that is literally in the millions, I have decided to post an official guide as how to NOT be abducted by aliens. With the holidays coming, this may or may not be useful, as some people may secretly wish they would be abducted prior to visiting Aunt Ethel and Uncle Mermon.

Top Ten Ways to NOT be abducted by aliens

1.) Don't sleep, as aliens seem to like to abduct people from their beds and/or bedrooms. If you do sleep, sleep on the couch.

2.) If you must sleep, sleep with a video camera. If you don't have a video camera, a cell phone camera will do. Aliens hate videos, and also seem to hate pictures. Apparently, they go after the 5 to 6 percent of the population that are technological Luddites.

3.) Live in a big city. If you are in a big city, move to a bigger one. If you are in a small town, move to the biggest city you can find. Aliens are more country mouse than city mouse and only seem to take people from quiet rural areas.

4.) Join the military. Aliens never seem to abduct anyone but regular people, loggers, farmers. They avoid anyone with a uniform.

5.) Eat lots of Kale. Aliens do not like leafy greens in general, and Kale in particular. This is why they are often called "greys". Not enough Vitamin C and B-12

6.) Think about baseball.

7.) Wear a hardhat and chastity belt to bed. Many stories say that aliens are interested in people and their reproductive organs. Its best to be prepared.

8.) Of course, number 7 could also refer to many humans I know as well.

9.) Think bad thoughts about aliens, that way, they will stay away from you. They can read minds you know, and are sensitive about who their friends are.

10.) Shower regularly, preferably right before bed. Studies show aliens are attracted to bad smells.

Unconscious Deja Vu: I've dreamed this dream before

2009-12-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

The experience is one that you may have had. You will be bopping around your basement vault, usually doing something completely routine, and all of the sudden, you will swear to yourself you have done this exact same thing, in the exact same way as you did before.

Its not the same as thinking you have performed the act you are doing previously, but rather, that you have lived the exact same moment more than once. In other words, you are revisiting a moment you have already lived and are experiencing it the exact same way you did previously, except you are aware of that fact.

An example may be that you are tying your shoe on your back porch. While most people have tied their shoe hundreds of times, a case of Deja Vu may mean that you feel as though you are repeating a specific moment in time again. The sun is shining the same way, the breeze is blowing as it was before, and the time of day are the same. The experience leaves most people slightly unsettled, simply because of its apparent randomness.

While it is a common experience, there is, as of yet, no real explanation, scientific or otherwise. Some scientists have linked it to dissociative identity disorder, or multiple personality disorder. However, the common nature of the phenomena and the inability of researchers to recreate the experience in a lab setting has left science unable to offer more than educated conjecture.

Does the mind have untapped intrinsic knowledge outside of the limits of time and space? If so, is there a way for us to become in control of these experiences? Leave your ideas and thoughts below, or maybe you have already done that, many times before!!

Edgar Cayce: Sunshine Man or Farce?

2009-12-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

You may have heard of Edgar Cayce before. He was known primarily as the founder of holistic medicine, as well as a prophet and master of meditation. While there have been many of these types of folks throughout human history, what makes Cayce different is that he is not from the bible or medieval times like Nostradamus.

Edgar Cayce was born in 1877 and died in 1945. What makes him even more interesting is that he never asked for a fee, accepting only voluntary donations for his teaching and spiritual readings. He did this because he had a strong desire and conviction to help others. Beginning in September of 1923, every single reading and prediction he ever made was meticulously recorded. By the time of his death, this totaled over 14,000 readings and proclamations on a wide variety of topics.

Despite his 9th grade education, Cayce touched on subjects such as China's rise to power, the coming of WW II as well as now commonly accepted ideas that are the cornerstone of the "new age" movement (the phrase new age is attributed to him). Despite his unorthodox ideas, he considered himself a devout Christian who read the bible daily. He also established a hospital and made a point of always trying to put others first, sometimes to the detriment of his own family.

Skeptics have called Cayce a farce because some of his predictions, such as Atlantis and the earth flipping its axis, are fantastical and did not come true. He also had a notable lack of success with readings when they were from individuals seeking personal gain and greed. He eventually refused to do these types of readings, saying that they made him feel "depleted and uncomfortable".

Cayce created a foundation while he was still alive that is still operating to this day. The Association for Enlightenment and Research or A.R.E. also houses a museum and the full text of all 14,000 plus of Cayces' readings. Check it out, and draw your own conclusions, and let me know what you think

It's awfully Late...Am I awake yet??

2009-11-30T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

In keeping with the idea of awareness, I thought you might find the below article interesting. The idea is that, in order to know or lead others, you must first embark on the journey of knowing, and thereby, leading oneself. If one can master this, then one can create a field of awareness that will help lead others.

Enjoy.....

A is For Awareness - A Key Element of Leadership
By Star Dargin

Awareness is a kind of knowledge, of knowing. One dictionary defines "awareness" as "being awake," "of having full consciousness of." Awareness is a skill that can be developed, and it can be applied to different arenas -- there is awareness of yourself, of others, of environments and situations. Being aware of something creates a meaning, or a sense of an understanding about something, that can lead to action. For example, if I am aware of a car weaving on the road, I might attach the "meaning" or inference that the driver is drunk.

A good leader is able to see things that others may not be aware of, and can attach useful meaning to that information. For example someone else might have noticed the same driver was weaving, and in addition noticed that the car had bad tires. Based on the meaning attached to the awareness and observation of a car weaving, the actions taken surrounding the situation might be different. If it was a drunk driver, I might have called 911. If it was a car with something physically wrong, I would have tried to signal the driver to make them aware of the problem.

As a leader, being aware of the values, beliefs, culture, skills, strengths, weaknesses and history of your group is critical for being able to take action that get results. A powerful yet simple example is the word "yes". If you are aware of other factors, you may see that there can be different meanings applied to the word. Saying the word "yes" and shaking your head "no," may mean someone isn't quite sure. In some cultures "yes" means, "I hear you," not "I agree with you" and, a step further, also not, "I will do it. " That kind of subtle distinction in meaning can and has caused serious miscommunications and disappointing results for people, projects, and plans on all seven continents!

Awareness Shortcomings

Too much, too little or not enough of a good things can be a problem. Here is how awareness can cause some leaders to not advance in their skills:

1. I am so Aware - Being stuck in the love of awareness. Sometimes there is a need to summarize or draw a conclusion from one's awareness/perceptions, determine appropriate action, and move on.

2. Move on from Awareness - Ok, so you know! Reliving, revising, replaying, adding more details to support what you already see doesn't help. Time to move on, and at this point there are only three choices for an inner/outer deliberate shift in the situation: Ignore it, Take action, or Accept it as it is

3. Nothing's new - Time to refresh, sharpen, or change your awareness as a leader. Change the questions you are asking yourself or others, try a new focus of awareness, or get feedback from someone or someplace new.

To increase Awareness:

1. Improve your Listening Skills. Do you listen for facts and emotions, to summarize or to marshal your own facts arguments and have your voice heard?

2. Know how to give and receive useful feedback. Useful feedback is specific, descriptive, measurable and timely.

3. Be curious. Ask open ended questions, ask for clarity, ask for history, ask questions to help you understand "why."

4. Know how and when to step back and reflect on yourself and the situation

Awareness is one of the first steps in acknowledging a change is required. Leadership requires awareness. Awareness is a kind of knowledge and knowing. It is a skill that can be learned and improved upon with with practice.

Star S. Dargin, PCC, CPCC

Helping Leaders and Managers with Change
web: http://www.starleadershipllc.com
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blog: http://starleadershipllc.wordpress.com/

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Star_Dargin http://EzineArticles.com/?A-is-For-Awareness---A-Key-Element-of-Leadership&id=3209988

Bilocation, Doppelgangers and Men In Black

2009-11-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

John Keel wrote a book called the Mothman Prophecies that is entertaining, and at times unnerving. However, I felt the truly interesting takeaway from the book is his assertion that all paranormal phenomena, such as ghosts, UFO's, Sasquatch, aliens, Men In Black, and other phenomena such as bi location( a living person being in two places at the same time), clairvoyance, strange electrical disturbances, and the like are all interrelated.

Specifically, his opinion was that they somehow were projections or reactions to human consciousness or human energy, perhaps in another dimension. He thought that what people are experiencing in this realm are individual or collective projections of their own thoughts, conscious or subconscious. He also felt this explained why all of the above phenomena are always ephemeral in nature, often have little evidence outside of witness accounts, and never seem to make themselves easily known when one is actually looking to find them. John was an interesting an entertaining author, and this was a new take on some very well worn topics. He considered himself a Fortean author rather than a UFOlogist

Keel's point was that believers of one type of phenomena rarely believe in another (ESP vs Bigfoot for example), but that all the phenomena share more in common they do actual differences. While this theory is impossible to prove or disprove, it does take me back to the idea that human consciousness and our ultimate understanding of it and the mechanics of the universe is very limited. Perhaps we all have the ability to interact on many levels that we are only dimly aware of, that come to us by way of "intuition", "dreams" or "hunches", but that our logical selves, only recently developed on the evolutionary time scale, blocks out of our daily awareness.

Much like infrared light or X-ray radiation, just because we cannot experientially see or understand a phenomena at will does not negate its existence. It merely means we do not yet have the means to be in control of our awareness of that phenomena. Check out this link for further research of psychic phenomena.

Time out of Mind: All Lines Become Circular

2009-11-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

My previous post dealt with how science was slowly but surely nudging up against some truly fantastical ideas about our reality as we know it. Along those lines I offer you my next morsel that may seem a bit, shall we say, mindbending.

Ronald Mallet is a physics professor at The University of Connecticut. Mr. Mallet and I have something in common in that our father's both died when we were fairly young. Ron was all of ten years old when this occurred. However, Ron went on to become a lauded professional earning many awards and commendations for his work.

Oh yes, and he is also working on a time machine that will allow one to go backwards in time. Perhaps not a person, but at the very least, a particle. He is currently acquiring the funding for his experiment, which involves twisting lasers through a medium and creating circular tunnel. The area within this tunnel would be where a particle would travel into the past. From my highly limited understanding, the setup apparently follows Einsteins' theory of relativity and may be possible. I can't seem to get any info on when he will actually attempt this, but if any of you are able to parse out, let me know.

Spike Lee has also bought the film rights to his story, and he has appeared on many TV shows recently discussing his project. My guess is that when the film comes out, if it ever does, he will be front page news. Here is to Ronald, and that his dream becomes a reality

Take a look for yourself

Biocentrism: What does it mean?

2009-11-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

Some of you may be familiar with this term, yet it is not as widely known as others. Science and religion have been at odds in the past (Gailileo and the Catholic church anyone?). Even in more recent times, one might call the relationship uneasy. However, in the last 5 to 10 years, as our knowledge of the very small and very large grows deeper, science is beginning to reach an end point and the lines between the spiritual and science are becoming blurry, much to the dismay of certain members of both camps. Case in point: What made the big bang, go boom? If the entire unvierse was, at one time, smaller than the head of a pin, what caused the bang the brought us to our present state? Did it happen spontaneously, for no reason at all?

I personally have always seen them as two sides of the same coin, and it is interesting to see that now a book has been written that attempts to frame this discussion using a modicum of scientific data and research. The name of the book is Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to understanding the True Nature of the Universe. The authors, Dr. Robert Lanza and Bob Berman are no slouches when it comes to their credentials. Dr. Lanza is the Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology and has been lauded in US News and World Report. He is also an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of medicine. Bob Berman is an astronomer for both Astronomy Magazine and Discover magazine.

The central thrust of the book is this: Life created the universe, rather than the universe creating life. Sounds like poppycock, right? The book asserts that the universe has always been seen as an outside force from ourselves. We are here, the universe is outside of us, an externality. Like fish in a fishbowl, we exist swimming within the external world of the universe. However, the book asserts that we are essentially, the fishbowl itself. We are both the creator and the observer of the world we live in. Hold on folks, it gets weirder. Below are some of the examples listed in the book to back up this seemingly strange conclusion.

- A classic test called the "double slit" experiment involves shooting light through a two identical slits and watching the pattern they make on a detector set up behind. The light, as proven through multiple experiments, behaves differently when it is being observed than when it is not being observed. In other words, the light knows when someone is watching, and behaves accordingly...every single time. In other words, particles behave differently based solely on a human observers intention.

-A discussion of the "Goldilocks" idea that the universe, the outcome of which was the result of an infinite number of possibilities of chemical, physics, etc, formed perfectly to create life...purely by chance. Any gambler would tell you the odds of that happening, of it being "just right" for life given the number of possible outcomes is almost statistically impossible as a random occurrence. The universe is fine tuned for life at the smallest levels of matter.

-The smallest particles can transmit information to each other faster than the speed of light over enormous distances, in apparent violation of Einsteins' law

-space and time are only properties of the perceiving organism(us) and do not exist outside of that context.

- The universe was created to observe itself through us.

So, that is probably enough to keep your head spinning for quite some time. I read the book 6 months ago, reread it, and am still trying to fully grasp it. I would imagine many scientists who are familiar with the work would question much of it. My interest is only to present the ideas for your review. Those among you who don't like dense science content may not appreciate the book, but I have linked to several reviews and Amazon for those interested.

Here is the Amazon page

Here is a review of the book.

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Chopra's Stunning passage

2009-11-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

Those followers of the spiritual may be familiar with Deepak Chopra, another respected voice within the realm. His books are widely read and he is known as an authoritative voice within the community.

I have read his book The Book of Secrets, a former NY times bestseller. The book is good and touches on a lot of common themes, but there is one passage that I found particularly stunning, so much so I questioned whether it was true. I often wonder if such questioning is a defense mechanism, part of a cultural bias, or just an unwillingness to accept that which is radically different. It is probably a combination of all those things. Either way, it had an effect on me.

Anyway, the passage is in Secret #13, which is toward the end of the book. Chopra, who is originally from India, starts the chapter by conveying an episode where he listened to a traditional priest reading Jyotish, or Indian astrology, foretelling his future from a piece of bark with inscriptions on it. Chopra conveys his own severe skepticism at the nature of the proceedings, but agrees to sit through it due to the fact a friend had begged him to come. Chopra states in the chapter that he has avoided all brushes with this Jyotish because he considered himself a child of modern India that rejected such archaic traditional belief systems.

However, unlike traditional western astrological "chart" drawing and future telling, the point of this Jyotish priest was to foretell Chopra's present, past and future from ancient strips of bark, known as Nadi, that had been created many generations before anyone in the room had been born. Keep in mind, that Chopra had never met the priest before in his life, and did not understand his native tounge of Tamil, which is a completely different language than what he spoke.

Upon interpretation of the Nadi, he accurately gave information about Chopra's birthdate, his parents name, his wife's name and his children's name. The priest even managed to correctly read that Chopra's mothers' name had been changed earlier in her life, a fact that Chopra did not even know, but confirmed later upon speaking with his mother. Keep in mind that these Nadi's already exist, they are not created, and must be located as they can be scattered all over the country and may have been created over a thousand years ago. Furthermore, Nadi's do not exist for everyone, but ONLY for the people who will eventually show up for a reading at some point in time. They may also discuss past lives and future dates such as illness or death.

While one can debate endlessly as to the meaning of this, Chopra states that knowing the day and hour of his death had radically altered his outlook (fortunately, the date was far in the future) and the idea that someone centuries ago knew more about him than he knew of himself. He also floats the term 'nonlocal cognition' to describe such knowledge.

Take from it what you will, but I will be addressing this concept of nonlocal cognition and other ideas similar that have some limited basis in recent scientific discovery. For now, I hope you are all well. I have also included a link to Deepak Chopra's website for anyone who may wish to explore his work in more detail.

Deepak Chopra

The Power of Tolle? Now!

2009-11-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Some of you may be familiar with Eckhart Tolle. He has become pretty big within certain circles after publication of his book The Power of Now. What I find interesting about him is not so much his ideas, which are essentially a westernized synthesis of many of the ideas of Buddhism and Christianity mixed in. It is how his ideas are presented in his own unique style of writing. Straightforward, common sense, but at the same time, answering many of the questions or criticisms a reader may have as the move through the text.

The concepts are high level and have obviously struck a chord for millions of readers. The central theme of his thesis is that we all identify with our ego, our desire for more and our constant focus on the past and the future and how it relates to the ego. Such focus on the past and future causes us to never live "in the now" or in the single moment we occupy for our whole lives.

He would assert that people confuse their ego with who they are, and thus become unconscious in their actions and a drive for continual gratification through external forms such as money, possessions, power, substances, etc. However, these needs are never filled because the ego always wants more, and this always leads, eventually, to unhappiness and misery. I believe it was Bruce Springsteen who said "Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain't satisfied until he rules everything".(sorry, I couldn't resist)

However, you don't need to take my word for it. Take a look at the interview below. I also have included a link to his site if you are so inclined. Personally, I recommend his books to anyone who may be feeling a bit lost given the current situation. They have provided much calm and confidence in my outlook, and maybe they can do the same for you, no matter how difficult things may appear.

Eckhart Tolle interview excerpt

Tolle website

IONS - Institute of Noetic Science

2009-11-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I wanted to throw this link your way I stumbled upon a while back to the institute of Noetic science. What does Noetic mean? (that was my first question as well) Per their website it is

"Noetic sciences are explorations into the nature and potentials of consciousness using multiple ways of knowing—including intuition, feeling, reason, and the senses. Noetic sciences explore the "inner cosmos" of the mind (consciousness, soul, spirit) and how it relates to the "outer cosmos" of the physical world."

Yes, a bit esoteric, but what gave me a pause is that the institute was founded by an ex Apollo moon astronaut by the name of Edgar Mitchell, who had an epiphany of sorts coming home from the moon and seeing the vastness of space surrounding the earth, and realizing that something much bigger was at work than conventional religion could explain. Apparently, this was the impetus of the beginning of the institute. What impressed me is, these astronauts were highly vetted and chosen because they were NOT considered esoteric, irrational or non-logical in their thinking. If space could get to one of these folks, than there must really be something to this idea that Mr. Mitchell came up with. At least I thought so.

Here is a link to their site, take a look for yourself at ION site

Angst, Evolution and everything else

2009-11-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody, I picked this up along the way for anyone interested in self-help or spiritual enlightenment.

Chapter 1: The Human Dilemma

"Seen in retrospect, evolution as a whole doubtless had a general direction, from simple to complex, from dependence on to relative independence of the environment, to greater and greater autonomy of individuals, greater and greater development of sense organs and nervous systems conveying and processing information about the state of the organism's surroundings, and finally greater and greater consciousness. You can call this direction progress or by some other name."
THEODOSIUS DOBZHANSKY

LIFE. WHAT IS IT? Where did it come from? What does it mean? One need merely pause and reflect to realize that, whatever it turns out to be, for now life is still a mystery. Possibly the most helpful clue to the puzzle in recent history is the theory of evolution. If the theory holds true, and at this point all indicators suggest that, generally, it is sound, then each living being is a receptacle and reflection of three and a half billion years of experience, a manifestation of all that came before it as well as a gauge on the possibilities lying in the beyond. It is a "Grand Experiment;" one in which all
of creation, past and present, participates. Humans, it seems, now find themselves in the position of evaluating the results of the experiment so far.

For the human animal, with its ability to snatch experience from the flow of time, abstract it into language and art, and share it with other members of the species in order to affect and confront the environment, the present moment is a testament to the reality of duration. How else to explain the emergence of countless species of living organisms? Life endures, along with the artifacts of human history literature, technology, art and architecture. Duration, in turn, proves invaluable in gauging the accuracy of evolutionary theory. These two phenomena, duration and evolution, are the impetus from which the following inquiry begins. However, in order to realize a fact-based probability concerning the authentication of the experiment to this point in time, the focus of the study will be narrowed to the concepts of evil and the unfolding of potential. Recognition of evil sparks many a thought about the nature of life. The unfolding of potential, one might argue, is the essence of biological life. The choice to focus in this way stems from the hope that a study of that which appears to be against life (evil) may very well shed light on the potential it strives to destroy.

Food for thought

2009-11-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Hello all- I thought this had a nice 30,000 foot view of the "the big picture". The recession has made us all a little more introspective and I thought this attempts to place it perspective.

When tough economic times hit, there is always the question as to whether greed is the cause of our economic problems. However, this isn't necessarily the root of the problem. It is a bit more complex than that. Railing against the greed in capitalism doesn't take into consideration the other factors that are equally present. Greed can also be for power. Power comes with money, but it isn't always the money people are after. This is why big government is as dangerous as corporate monopolies. The people who have consolidated significant power tend to be corrupted by it. As human beings, we all tend to lean toward materialism in our actions, and find our personal significance and value in things we control and own.

There is a spiritual aspect to the problem of materialism. It is a worldview that fuels greed. Our society has been increasingly embracing the worldview of naturalism, of which materialism is a part. Naturalism holds that knowledge is limited to what we can see and that everything must be thought of in physical terms. Naturalism ignores the spiritual aspects of life, considering them more like superstitions. So we tend to move toward seeking our personal value in the things we possess and the things we control. To make matters worse, we also discount objective truth. The end result is there are no standard set of values we all hold common, and that means there is no foundation for society to build on.

So in America, we have come to equate financial wealth with a higher level of happiness. This is partly what is wrong with the caste system in India. The belief behind it is materialistic. This worldview is illustrated well in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. However, what we really need is a purpose for our life. But we can't find purpose in physical things. Since we have decided that objective truth can only be found in scientific conclusions, we have dismissed the existence of truth beyond what we can see, hear, feel, taste, or touch. Yet there is a non-physical reality where we find our sense of purpose and meaning in life. We are ignoring half of the knowledge we could be gaining by ignoring the knowledge from the non-physical realm. In Hosea 4:6 in the Old Testament, it tells us what happens when we lack knowledge. There are moral shortcomings that lead to a downfall. The ways of the people are characterized by self gratification and greed.

So the real solution to our economic and financial problems doesn't lie in putting our trust in an economic theory about what will restore our economy, but rather it lies in recognizing the thinking that has led us astray. As a nation we are turning away from the Bible as a source of moral authority, which was certainly in the minds of the founders of our country. It is found throughout the federal and state constitutions, as well as our Bill of Rights. It even says on our money "In God We Trust". It was this moral compass that has guided legislation in the early years of our country. But, as we have strayed from those original moral principles, we have caused the problems we have today. We have led our citizens to strange ideas about how the world works, and they have adopted them. We have let the marginalization of faith and the emphases on a materialistic worldview dominate, governed by a postmodern philosophy that denies any objective truth. It confuses our laws and destroys the core of what made this country strong.

Each individual can rise above this problem by returning to the Bible as a moral guide for their own lives and no matter what happens to us as a nation, they will find the strength through their faith in God to do what is good and right. They will find a sense of purpose that will give them the power to overcome adversity and will be the last ones standing in the end. These will be the people who were able to recognize their faith in God and the truth of the Bible heeding the wisdom of Proverbs 3:5 where it tells us to trust the Lord and not lean on our own understanding. We know what God teaches us in the Bible is reliable, and if we place our trust in that most reliable source, we've gone a long way to rising above the problems we have today.

Lucid Dreaming

2009-11-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

The theory of lucid dreaming sounds simple and fantastic; yet few people can have lucid dreams while the majority doesn't even remember their dreams.

Learning how to have a lucid dream is quite simple. You don't need to have a set of special skills or costly devices in order to have a lucid dream. You only need to be able to sleep, which is something that comes naturally to everybody. Still, many people fail at lucid dreaming. What could be the reasons for this?

The world is full of information about lucid dreaming. You only have to search the Internet to prove the truth of this statement. There are hundreds of techniques to induce a lucid dream; if one doesn't work for you, you can always try another. So, it isn't lack of information or techniques of inducing lucid dreams that is responsible for so many people failing at lucid dreaming.

The actual reasons are different...and absurdly simple.

Most people don't quite understand the concept of "reality checks." To have a lucid dream, you should be able to perform a reality check every now and then. This helps you determine if you are dreaming or experiencing something in real.

Many people think that performing a reality check means asking themselves if they are dreaming or awake. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. The idea of performing reality checks is to train the self to be more aware, to pay full attention to what is going on.

Most people go through life in a half-conscious or totally unconscious state. They perform their daily activities lost in their own thoughts. They hardly register what is going on around them, simply because it is all so mundane. The purpose of conducting a reality check is to train the mind to live in the moment, to be fully aware of the present, and to be present.

The key to enjoy a lucid dream is to effectively perform reality checks. Learn the true purpose of a reality check. The purpose is not to check whether you are dreaming or awake. It is to train your mind to be aware and alert always. Most people cannot have a lucid dream because they cannot understand the significance of reality checks. They give up in despair because they fail in their very first step-performing reality checks.

So, be alert! Live in the present moment! Pay attention to the present momentt! Don't get lost in thoughts!

Pay attention to your dreams...this will help you recall your dreams better and create a better dream journal.

Watch yourself as you drift off to sleep...you will soon be able to have that lucid dream.

Abhishek is an Astral Projection expert and he has got some great Astral Projection Techniques up his sleeves! Download his exhaustive 350-Pages eBook, "Astral Projection Underground", from his website http://www.AstralProjectNow.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abhishek_Agarwal

Interesting Article- The Power of Intention

2009-11-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Given the recent movie release of The Secret, everyone thinks that the secret of intentional wealth is the law of attraction. The law of attraction states that what you think about and focus on is what manifests in your reality.

They are wrong. Well, in part. The law of attraction is a law and it does create the reality of each and every one of us. But, the secret to actually creating what we want is in knowing how to apply the law of attraction to manifest what we want in our daily lives.

The next generation of law of attraction experts, such as Margaret Lynch and Joe Vitale actually teach you applicable methods focused on ensuring that manifestation works in your life.

The Secret is Learning How to Control Your Subconscious

Most of us know how to control our conscious thinking. However, our conscious thinking is less than 20% of our overall thinking. The remaining 80% is your subconscious thinking and these thoughts and feelings are generated automatically in your system as a result of years of programming.

This is where everyone who begins to study law of attraction gets frustrated. They think about and write down the goals they want to manifest and then do not understand why the law of attraction is not working.
This is because it applies to 100% of our thinking and there is part of your other 80% that is causing blockages to your manifestation.

How do you get the remaining 80% of your thinking to focus on wealth, prosperity and manifesting money and freedom in your life?

Practicing Actual Methods Is the Secret

Applying the law of attraction in your subconscious realm requires the application of underlying methods and these methods are not ones that come to you naturally. You need to first know about them and then practice applying them.

Think about any other practical skill you have learned. For example, playing tennis. You cannot just know that you have to hit the ball hard with a racket and then you become a tennis start. You have to actually learn how to hold the tennis grip and how to conduct a perfect swing. Then, you need to get out on a court and practice, practice, practice.

The good news about wealth manifestation is that in the past few years, practitioners have perfected fast and effective methods and tools that work for anyone. The great thing is that some methods only take 7 minutes a day and will eliminate blockages that were caused by years and years of negative thinking and teachings.

You can now learn to create intentional wealth in your life by practicing simple methods that take very little time in your life.

Free Tapping into Prosperity Program

CLICK HERE NOW to get a FREE TAPPING INTO PROSPERITY PROGRAM which gives you a practical method you can apply today. It is available by instant download. Go Here Now: http://www.SecretofIntentionalWealth.net

The Beginning

2007-09-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

So I suppose it begins like this....a tenuous stab into the electronic ether, soup...or whatever you would call it. Perhaps I need a ladle, or a soup tureen...ok ok, I'll stop with the soup bit. Its weird, kind of like standing naked in a dark room with 1 billion other people...you're exposed, but not really. I suppose that is the attraction really....to be public and private all at once...or something like that.

I'm always on the lookout for new stuff....a new stuff kind of guy. Some might call me an innovator, a man of high ideals, a man who tries to fly kites in mid-august for his three year old, even when there is no wind. I found out that my memory of being thirteen and flying a kite did not include the wind part. Back then, we had raised kite flying into some sort of extreme sport, the goal being to add enough twine so that the kite would be at the same level as low flying planes. Anyway, this idyllic picture in my mind of teaching my daughter the sheer bliss of kite flying ended up being the old man running around the baseball field dragging a kite behind me, desperately trying to generate enough wind to keep it in the air. My three year old sat on the grass, squinting in the sun, looking at her Dad quizzically....saying to herself "Why is he doing that? There's no wind!" However, she was quite gracious about it. After narrowly avoiding heat stroke, I thought it might be better to wait until the fall. I hear that there is wind and other innovative stuff come October.