Interview with George B. Wallace, author of "Oh! God? Is That You? I Have A Question"

Chatting with us today is George Wallace, all the way from Hawaii. George recently published a controversial book that is sure to create headlines. Welcome to Reader Views, George.

Irene: Tell us the gist of your book Oh! God? Is that you? I Have a Question.

George: God is not human. Humans might say this. They do not believe this. Nearly everything they do and say and symbolize indicates that they do not believe this. This idea of a nonhuman God changes everything.

Irene: Please clarify you are saying that God is not human and people say He is not, and dont believe He is not. Are you meaning to say that people say that God is human? Im not quite following your answer above because it doesnt make sense of what you say later.

George: Simply, actions speak louder than words. Pay attention to what people do, and not what they say. In other words, watch the hands. People will agree, if not directly say, that God is not human. People will agree that He is beyond human. People will agree that He is not, cannot, be human. That He is beyond human comprehension. That is OK so far as it goes. They do not believe this in their bones.

Take a look in the materials provided to children in the indoctrination classes. Look at the picture books. Look at the pictures in books for older kids and even adults. Look at the walls in instructional areas and chapels at icons, paintings, and sculptures. Start with the Sistine Chapel ceiling. How is God portrayed?

Plus, there is the backup use of the cop out plea. Jesus was human. We can show you God as human because Jesus was human. Begin with the Nicene Creed, the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. If Jesus, Christ is God, how is he pictured? The last time I checked, this fine example of middle-eastern Semitic Hebrew manhood is often portrayed as a northern narrow faced European, fair skinned, sometimes with blue eyes and wavy red brown hair.

Irene: What inspired you to write this book?

George: The Ah Ha! moment when I suddenly realized the effects on humans of a God that was not human. Our words say one thing and all our symbols say another. This is a really mixed message. This realization continued to expand as with a layering of shells. One concept led to another, and soon I knew that I had to write in an attempt to keep things clear for my own mind. The book grew out of that writing.

Irene: Your book is challenging some belief systems. Tell us about some of the controversy that is around your writing.

George: The very idea that God is not human is quite controversial enough. The last few days of rioting in the Muslim world illustrate just how emotionally attached to such basic bed rock concepts we humans can be. Even if those concepts are irrational. The happy, fuzzy, warm idea that God is human is a fairy tale. This fairy tale is very comforting to most human beings that believe in a monotheistic God. To take it away outrages many.
Most are unwilling to even consider it. It rattles their bedrock of faith like an earthquake.

Irene: It is my understanding that its only some religions that believe in a human God. I also understand that some Christian religions believe that God and Jesus are the same. Would you please clarify this for us.

George: I did not research to discover the number and names of religions that believe in a human God. I think that in terms of numbers of believers, Christianity and Islam are about equal in numbers. Each of these is about equal in size to Hinduism, and Buddhism. In theory Christianity, Islam, the Hebrews, and possibly a few other splinter groups all worship the same God. Each exhibits different variants in this process. I am not an expert in how each of these religions shows God. Or, even if they try.

As to some Christian religions believe that God and Jesus are the same that was the argument in about 300 AD, which led Emperor Constantine to force the religious issue for political considerations (reduction of civil strife) and which brought about the Nicene Creed, the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In my book, I left that question a bit unclear. I said that Jesus returned to God. I am unclear in my own thinking as to
Whether or not Jesus and God are the same. I simply believe that Jesus is now a part of God. Does that mean that they are the same? Can you split an eyelash finer than that?

My work was to briefly look at religions that did not think of God as human. It was the thought process that fascinated me as it is the thought process from which values for living and relating to other people are derived. I was not, and am not particularly interested in all of the perverse methods that people have found to mistreat each other over the thousands of years of human culture. I was interested in exploring basic issues. Questions like: Why would God create anything? What could possibly be the motivations that would move God to do anything? In the possible God-human relationship, where does Man really fit?

Irene: Why do you believe that many of the people are disbelieving what you write?

George: While we are early in our gathering of responses, those responses are definitely mixed.

Irene: Yes, I can image they are mixed at this point. I would image you would get different responses from different belief systems for example the Buddhists who dont believe in a God would have a different reaction than a Christian, lets say a Catholic, would. What are some of the responses you have been getting.

George: My readings about Buddhism are less clear than your statement that they do not believe in a God. There is their eternal search for enlightenment. Is enlightenment just another word for God? Ive met a few practicing Buddhists that have said to me that they pray to Buddha. Might this not reflect a drift in their belief about the nature of God?
Possibly it is a lack of clarity?

The last person to say to me that he was a Buddhist, also said that he wished that he had had my book years ago to give to his son. The implication to me was that his son was struggling with the concept of God.

Whenever dealing with the word Christian I tend to want to ask a lot of qualifying questions. What brand of Christianity? Catholic? Greek Orthodox? Russian Orthodox? Ethiopian Gnostic? Protestant? Main Stream? Sect? Who is your leader? Do you bite snakes? Do you speak "in tongues"? I have attended church services in about twelve different Christian denominations. At the moment, I have three books in the hands of friends. I await their written responses.

Irene: One of the points you cover is the effectiveness of prayer. Please give our reading audience your opinion on prayer.

George: The concept of God answering any prayer, or making some change in the real world based on the request of any human, is ridiculous. The value of prayer is entirely internal to and for the individual. God has a Plan. It is His Plan. We are a very small part of that Plan. Our limited purpose is to provide God with information. If He goes fiddling with the parameters of His Plan in the middle of the process, He gets incomplete or
inaccurate information. He would not do that because humans are simply not that
important to Him.

Irene: Why do people believe the opposite?

George: Because it is easier and much more comfortable to believe otherwise. They lie to themselves. It is a self perpetuating falsehood. Few persons ever truly want to accept reality and responsibility to and for themselves. It is so much easier to give responsibility to someone else. Especially someone powerful, like "God". God will take care me.
Whatever He says, goes. God wants it. God did it (to me). This is not quite sane.
It is quite similar to believing in a large invisible furry rabbit with magical powers as a personal friend and companion.

Irene: You have been referred to as an anti-Christ and demon infidel. Those are some pretty strong accusations. What does this do to you?

George: It generally makes me laugh. That any humans act so, and say such drivel, tells me that we humans are not so far removed from the apes as we would like to think.

Irene: Do you think their accusations could be coming from their own fears? And why?

George: I really, really want to say simply, yes. Because they are afraid. Afraid that they are wrong. That they have made a mistake. That they have bet on the wrong horse. I have a lifetime of study and experience in dealing with all ages of people from classrooms to boardrooms. This tells me that the louder the message, the more circumspection and suspicion is required. The loudest are the least secure. The most vociferous are the least secure. The most profane are the least secure. Most such
Are torn by internal strife, and are closest to a shattering of belief. They know this instinctively to be true of themselves. This is particularly true as shown in their personal actions. This is especially true when their personal self-interest is involved.

Irene: What is your personal image and belief around God?

George: God is a timeless eternal immaterial intelligence who questioned Himself and in that process created the Universe and initiated life for His own purposes. He needs to have done this only once. That humans existence is an accidental, random chance result. A result that derived from the evolutionary process of developing life. Life which follows the rules that God first established for the Universe. However, we are here, and God is perfectly willing to use us to further His purpose. What happens to us individually, or as a race, is not particularly important to anyone but us, and certainly not God.

Irene: How does that differ from the masses?

George: As a first estimate, I'd say that it is totally at odds with the beliefs of the masses. Most people refuse to believe that God did not plan everything around the human race. They believe that we are special, in Gods favor, and that God is there for us. Many insist that God created the Universe the way that they say He did. In other words, telling God how to do His job. Why do they do this? Because a document written by humans
said so.

Irene: What do you believe is Gods purpose for Himself?

George: In my book, I say that for God to have decided to make any change in the Perfection that was Himself, He had to Doubt Himself. God had to ask, Am I Perfect? All else came after that first question. Creation of the Universe. Creation of life. And so on. Gods Purpose is to seek Perfection.

Irene: You say that what happens to us individually, or as a race, is not important to God. How important is it to ourselves to improve and live a fulfilled life?

George: That question is the ultimate question that every human must eventually answer for himself, unless he / she dies first. Very large numbers of humans never face this question. They are too young and still gripped by their internal belief in their own immortality when they die. Unfortunately, I fear that the activity we so easily call war is our own unrecognized genetic programming that could have as a purpose to force a confrontation with this very question of life fulfillment. It functions as a built in safety valve. Face death. Face it squarely. You will ask different questions. You will have different answers. You will act differently.

Irene: In your book you say if a soul is banished to Hell that Burned souls would give God indigestion. Thats a pretty strong statement against the belief of some. What do you base your belief on?

George: I believe God uses us to gather information for His Purpose. He therefore uses all humans to do this. God wants the souls of all humans. All of them then go to God. God does not need to keep some souls in a freezer for later use like leftovers in a plastic dish. Similarly, He has no reason to burn some souls. God has no need to "punish" some souls, nor burn some souls. God has no need of overdone human toast. God has no
Need of Hell. Hell is a human construct. Hell is a lie. Hell is a Big Lie, created by human beings with the purpose of seeking control of other human beings. My literary effort of language is an attempt to break through the impenetrable shell most humans have created around their minds and beliefs. It is shock value. Maybe if they are shocked a bit, they will also consider a new idea.

Irene: After Father Leo Booth published When God Becomes a Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction & Abuse in 1991 he hired bodyguards to protect him when he went out into the public. He was threatened with the loss of his life. Have you been threatened?

George: Not yet. I expect it to happen any day. As sales start to increase, it is inevitable that some unbalanced mental case will come into possession of my book. Such brain dead defectives are always waiting "out there" to take advantage for themselves that fabulous fifteen minutes of infamy. Luckily Hawaii has a higher level of tolerance than most Holy Book thumping places.

Irene: I would imagine there are many people out there that are outraged with your comments. How do you handle their objection to your beliefs?

George: I tell them that I'm looking forward to a debate with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and that I expect to win. I encourage them to watch when the show finally comes on TV. Other than that, I am on a relatively large island in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet. It reduces exposure to a large continental sized variety of nut cases.

Irene: On the other hand, Im sure you have a huge following from people saying things like its about time something like this was written. How much support do you have?

George: "Huge" is an overstatement. On the other hand, we've just started to seek out responses and sales have barely begun. It takes a while to build a marketing effort. I have had positive responses so far. One friend told me that he wished that he had had this book years ago to give to his son. I really appreciated that. Beyond this, I tried to make it clear in my book that I'm not interested in starting, or leading, a movement, or
A new kind of "church". Religion is too personal to me. I think that religion is a personal and very individual responsibility, best savored largely alone, or with immediate
family.

Irene: Thank you George for taking time from your busy schedule to chat with us. Controversy always creates a wave, and Im sure that once your book hits the crest it will create a flood. Is there anything else that you would like our reading audience to know about you or your book?

George: When I was in the early stages of writing this book, before it became a book, I was first writing for myself. Later I was writing for my children and grandchildren. A lot of me is in the book. It needs to examined as a whole. Think of reading the book as a very thorough interview process of and for a prospective major employee. Most people charged with that responsibility, choosing a high level administrator for their business,
or school, spend more time at that job than they spend thinking about and choosing their religion. Than choosing their belief system. That seems to me to be an misapplication of effort. http://www.OhGodIsThatYou.com

Irene Watson is Managing Editor of Reader Views
http://www.readerviews.com

A Calling to a Career in Ministry

Do you want to be part of a community of believers committed to learning about god? Pursuing a degree program based on faith is an exciting prospect for some students. When you earn a degree in Christian studies, you are teaching yourself to share the message of Jesus with the world. Your Christian studies degree can lead you - not in to temptation, but in to a variety of ministerial and service positions around the world.

What They Do:

Ministers work to spread the word of god. They act as counselors and spiritual guides for members of their church and the community at large. They not only lead their church, but they coordinate educational and leadership programs as well. Ministers are mainly responsible for overseeing and managing the daily activities of the church.

Training:

Earning a degree in Christian studies or theology can get you started on a road to several interesting careers. Your basic coursework will cover basic curriculum in areas such as sociology, history, and civics. You will also be required to take courses that are focused on history and history of world religions. You will take classes that further your learning of god and his word like courses in scripture, theology, ancient languages, church history, and ethics.

Job Opportunities:

Earning a degree in Christian Studies can prepare you for other careers than simply ministry. There are opportunities in fields such as life ministries, religious systems management, and education. You can also find careers in nonprofit, publishing, and education. Museums also hire people with a background in art and religion to work in specific areas of expertise. Salaries tend to vary in this field. Your salary may be in the $40,000 range, but the work you do is priceless.

Mary Hart is an in-house writer for Online-Degrees-Today.com and has been writing about online business degree programs since 2004. To find out more information about earning your online Christian studies degree, click here.

Education Connection

The importance of a well rounded education is extremely important in todays ever changing world. Although you may know exactly what field or business you want to get into, be sure to fully evaluate your situation and scenario. In order to do this I feel it is crucial test the waters, to get your hands dirty with something a bit unfamiliar.

I went to a a liberal arts school in Staten Island, NY and why, might you ask. I went because I had no idea what I wanted to study and furthermore, what I wanted to do, but I did know one thing, if I was going to find out I was going to find out in the most diverse city in the world, NYC. Here is where I got my well rounded education. I took my sciences, histories, mathematics, religions, and economics courses during my time in the class and learned very much from them. However I feel much of my formal education came from the time that I spent out of the classroom. The time learning and understanding how people work, how the city operated, the speed at which it operated, how trucks came in day in and day out to stock the city, all this baffled me and I was curious to learn about it.

Im not downplaying my classroom time, but rather enlightening on the fact that if I had been a complete classroom student, I would not have been able to apply my classroom teachings to the daily trifles of the real world. Education comes in many forms, shapes, and sizes. One must look beyond the classroom for this while at the same time, remembering and keeping fresh what was taught in the classroom. Once this connection is made then, well my friend, you are an educated individual!

liberal arts

The Devil and the Mystery

Most Christians know more about the devil than they know about "The Mystery." Even so, they do not know any more about the devil than they should know. They should know more about him, so that they can truthfully say, with Paul, "We are not ignorant of his devices" (II Cor. 2:11). Certainly every Christian should know more about "The Mystery." God wants every Christian to know "The Mystery," and to make it known to others (Eph. 3:9). You say, "Then it would no longer be "The Mystery." Certainly not. Why after over 2,000 years should this divine truth still be a mystery so far as ninety-nine per cent of God's people are concerned? Can you answer this question? It is true that the devil doesn't want any one to understand or even study this divine truth. But is not God's will to be desired by Christians more than Satan's? Doesn't God's power exceed the devil's power? Satan is mighty. God is almighty. Genuine spiritual Christians know that God's power exceeds Satan's power.

But let's take an inventory. As we take in the world-wide political situation, the distress of nations, with even the so-called Christian nations on the verge of bankruptcy and destruction, we may wonder that Satan has such power after 2,000 years of Christianity. But we believe that Satan knew what he was talking about in Luke 4:6 when he told the Lord Jesus that the kingdoms of the world were under his control. The Lord was right when He called Satan "the prince of this world."

When we consider the millions and millions of people of the world religiously, and see what the devil has done to them, surely we give a hearty "Amen" to the statement of I John 5:19, "the whole world lieth in [the evil one]." In his tricks to keep sinners away from the saving gospel of Christ, Satan is called "the god of this [age]" (II Cor. 4:3,4). To accomplish his purpose with people who want some kind of a so-called Christian religion, the devil transforms himself into an angel of light and instructs his servants to pretend that they are missionaries of Christ (II Cor. 11:13-15).

Then let us consider what the devil has done with Church members who are actually members of Christ's Body, God's one and only Church today. Note God's instructions in Ephesians 4:3-6:

"Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

Meditate"the unity of the Spirit." Where is it found? One faith, one hope of your calling, one baptism. One Body. How many sects and denominations? Several hundred. How many bodies? One Body. Note Ephesians 1:20-23:

"Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in [the heavenlies]. Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."

Christ is in the heavenlies. Christ is the one Head of His one and only Church, which is His Body, "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."

No matter how loyal, zealous sectarians may defend and contend for their denominational churches, the student of the Word of God knows that "denominationalism" is absolutely unscriptural. There is one, and only one, true Bible Church and that Bible Church is denominated, The Body of Christ, "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." In Ephesians 3:6 that one Church is called the "Joint-Body" (see the Greek).

Members of Christ's Body are seated with Christ in the heavenlies and are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6 and 1:3). One reason why God wants all men to see "The Mystery" is expressed in Ephesians 3:10,11:

"To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in [the heavenlies] might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The Mystery then, is divine truth concerning "the heavenlies" and "according to the eternal purpose which God purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." By searching the Scriptures we find that this divine message was not in fulfillment of prophecy, but was a spiritual program predestinated by God before the foundation of the world.

We have seen how Satan works politically as "the prince of this world"; how, as "the god of this age" he blinds the unbeliever to keep him from believing the gospel of salvation. In Ephesians 6:11-20 we learn of Satan's spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies, his opposition to the message and the messenger of "The Mystery," divine truth concerning the heavenlies. Note Ephesians 6:11,12:

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [in the heavenlies]."

And note Ephesians 6:19,20:

"And [pray] for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."

Why was Paul a prisoner of Rome? Hear his own words: for "the mystery of the gospel." Read this again in Colossians 4:3,4 and hear his testimony in Ephesians 3:1-3:

"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation He made known unto me the Mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words)."

Note God's Word in Ephesians 3:9:

"And to make all men see what is the [dispensation] of the Mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God."

Here we see "the dispensation of the grace of God" and the dispensation of the Mystery are linked together. This glorious truth was made known by revelation to the Apostle Paul, who became the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles. Do we appreciate what he suffered for us? Let's get into the Book and try to understand the message for which he suffered.

While Paul knew that religious men were opposed to "The Mystery" and were determined that he should not preach that divine truth, he knew that he was not wrestling against flesh and blood; that his real opponent was the devil as the ruler of world darkness in the heavenlies.

Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:3 and 4 that Satan blinded minds. But note his request for a very specific prayer in Ephesians 1:17,18:

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."

Paul did not want minds blinded to "The Mystery." He knew that it required a special spirit of wisdom and revelation to comprehend that particular glorious truth.

Yes, the devil succeeded in getting Paul in jail for "The Mystery," bound as an evil doer unto chains. But from his prison cell he wrote: "The Word of God is not bound."

God wants you to know and to make known this glorious truth...which should have ceased to be a mystery more than twenty centuries ago.

This article originally appeared in the Berean Searchlight, the free monthly magazine of the Berean Bible Society. For over 60 years, the Berean Bible Society has been proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.

The Genius Project - God's Mistake Or Yours?

If you've been reading my last few articles then you know about the Genius Project which was conducted by my good friend Mr. Jay Niblick. You'll also recall that your ability to achieve 5th Level of performance (Genius Level) you must rely on your natural talents and be authentic to yourself. This post addresses the thought processes on how geniuses view themselves and their abilities.

Here's another way to look at it. To assume that you - at your very core - need to fix yourself requires the presupposition that you must be broken, and that implies that God screwed up. I mean feel free to substitute whatever spiritual belief you have, but it likely doesn't change the concept. Think about it. If you believe that at your very core that the way you were made is insufficient to achieve success, then you have to admit that you view yourself as flawed, or at best incomplete. Now I'm not talking here about developing new acquired talents, rather a belief that "I need fixing". Acquiring new knowledge and experience is great. That's a prerequisite for anyone's success and something all 5th level performers (Geniuses) constantly do by the way. But when you attempt to fix who you are instead of fixing how you are, then you must first think who you are is insufficient. And if you think that then you can't avoid the question, "Who screwed up?"

If you need to fix anything, it is the way you apply you - not you!

In reality it's not what you are at your very core that needs work, but how you apply yourself that needs fixing. God created you for a purpose and you have a completely unique and incredibly powerful set of natural talents for that purpose, so it's not what raw materials you have to work with that you should be concerned with - because the geniuses we studied aren't. What you should be focused on is how you apply those raw materials.

Geniuses understand this. They don't view their set of talents as flawed; rather any flaws they see come in how they apply those talents. Because of this radically different perspective on themselves, when they focus on correcting flaws, those flaws are in their application of themselves, not themselves. In other words, they achieve tremendous leaps in performance by adjusting their environment (what they do or how they do it) not themselves. They don't change their talents; they change how those talents are applied.

Give yourself up to your inner genius and allow that which is you - as you were created - to do what it does best. Remember, regardless of whatever higher power you believe in, if you believe that such a higher power is infinitely more powerful and knowing then you, you have to ask yourself, "did that power know what it was doing when it created me?"

If you answer yes, then you can't blame your God for making you incorrectly? If you still agree with me then any mistakes in your life are not, cannot be, in you, but in the application of you. In other words, God made you, but you decide what to do with yourself. If a problem exists it's not with the thing God created, but how you apply it.

I say all of this because there is a huge difference between thinking you are broken and realizing that you are just not well aligned. The former is a race car with a blown engine that must be completely rebuilt (broken). The latter is a perfectly good Ferrari trying to race in an off-road rally (not well aligned).

Success in not about developing talent - it's about aligning it.

Mr. Timothy A. McGinty is the published co-author of the highly regarded Wake Up... Live the Life You Love series. This series is a collaborative effort with such inspirational leaders as Tony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Brian Tracey, Steven E, and Lee Beard.

Mr. McGinty is also the author of "Your Blissful Life", a book which takes the reader by the hand and walks them through a process for defining their "Blissful Life" and the action plan for achieving it.

Imagine Yourself... is an organization focused on enabling clients "breakthrough" in achieving their success. Mr. McGinty has helped many organizations and individuals discover their passion, define the life balance they seek, develop strategies for achieving that balance, and held them accountable for reaching their goals. His clients have been so successful that Mr. McGinty is known as "The Breakthrough Guy"

Imagine Yourself...
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Web: http://www.timothymcginty.com
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Observer and the Observed

So quantum physics tells us that the observer causes the observed, or at the very least that the observer interferes with that which is being observed by the very process of observing it. Ive heard some people crying "heresy!" They do not like the idea that once the observer is not observing the observed, then the observed is not.

In my mind that misses a large, obvious point which makes the concept ludicrous. We are all one, god if you will, or at the very least energy, unseparated my anything other than atomic configuration which on a larger scale appears to create separation of bodies of mass. Since we know better, then theres a couple other points we cannot overlook.

Firstly, because we are all one energy field, for lack of a better term, there is no disappearance of anything when it is not being observed. Our human notion of not existing encapsulates anything not within the small frequency band our six physical senses can pick up. Perhaps the observer causes the observed to become a manifest, physical experience (to the observer), but the lack of observer in no way takes away the existence of that experience/being/energy.

Secondly, because all energy is the same, and we as apparently individual human beings are conscious, then its very difficult to imagine that any spec of the energy field of all-that-is could not be conscious. The type of consciousness may vary greatly, in an infinite number of ways, but is still basic consciousness nonetheless. For us to be conscious implies that everything is, that energy itself is consciousness. That ours is focused into a small amount of matter at the moment (exclusively, as far as what we deem our conscious mind is concerned) does not mean that every other piece of this energy shares that form of focalised consciousness.

If our rule of free will stands up, as it must, in that the law of attraction clearly states that we create our reality by what we think about, thereby allowing that to become part of our reality, then all forms of consciousness must inherit this same trait, although perhaps experentially very different. Therefore the observer cannot observe the observed unless the observed is also an observer that is observing the original observer.

With this understood, all observers are in fact by nature observed, as that which they are observing is also by nature observer. The process of observation therefore does not contain observed and observer, but both of those in both participants, or what I will now call observed(er).

I dont mean to shake rocky ground, but this places all new challenges on the understanding of the role of observer in the observed.

And having raised an issue without providing satisfactory resolution, I leave you now.

jonpeeoh (http://www.jonpeeoh.com) is a new web community devoted to raising consciousness, magick, and teaching others to take control of their powers as creators of their own reality.

Is 2012 Really the End of the World?

Maybe just the end of the world as we know it. No, the world is not going to implode or explode or be completely destroyed in any form for that matter. 2012 is a new beginning, not an end.

There has been so much said about all this, from the bible, from Nostradamus, from Edgar Cayce, from the Mayans. In 2012 we will truly be able to experience heaven on earth. For some, this has already started. We are already feeling these changes. There are many people on this earth who have Ascended from the 3D reality to the 5th Dimension reality already. The Earth herself has ascended from 3D to 5D. In 5D time and space are different, they do not exist in the same way as they do in 3D. This is why so many people are having experiences outside what the "norm" has been the past few thousand years.

Some people think the financial meltdowns etc. are really bad news. It is just a change, different things going on, it doesn't have to be bad news. Everything is perception. A lot of people are being forced to change the way they have been thinking, or the way they have been doing things. So much of the world's issues right now are related to the old 3D ways crumbling. It is a new beginning, not an ending.

Jesus (or whatever Ascended Master you relate to based on your religion or lack thereof), IS coming. It is the Christ Consciousness in us all. Jesus "the man" is not going to just show up one day to save us. Its not quite like that. The consciousness of Jesus will show up for us all as soon as we realize that we have access to it. It is your own greatness, your own Christ Consciousness that will save you. Your realization that you are God. We ourselves are the second coming.

What makes things so hard is the separation from the divine light and love of all that is. For many years people have turned to religion, or leaders that tell us that things are outside of ourselves. Those in perceived power don't want us to know that the power of EVERYTHING is within us. We are all one.

The talk of hellfire and hell coming to earth for those that do not accept Jesus into their lives is true in some ways, but not in the literal sense that some organized religions would have you believe. It has to do with those that accept they are the creators themselves. Those that can see and feel their own greatness will truly be creating a heaven on earth for themselves and those around them.

Those that rely on (or "worship"), things from the 3D reality -- money and ego and external power -- truly will be in a hell on earth. Earth and her energy is changing, has already changed. We, as a species, are learning that we can create whatever we want here. It has very little to do with ego and power. There are many on the earth right now who are here to help with this transition. Many lightworkers who are ascending and "getting it" are here to help you. Many are actually devoting their lives to helping others remember where they came from and what divine beings they are. The first wave of Ascension is over. There are many Masters on this plane of our planet right now. Willing to help you to realize you don't have to stay stuck in 3D any more. Many people think Jesus is a saviour, as in separate from you, that will come and rescue you from your life, your existence, yourself, your perceived sins. God is not going to "make people go to hell". What kind of loving God would actually make people go to hell? If all one does is worship money, control or power they WILL likely end up in their own hell. This will be their own doing (or undoing) though. It will not be something that is done TO them.

Look at how things are right now. The world financial crisis is HUGE. Anyone who is very centred in, or worships, money or power at this point in time is RIGHT NOW in their own personal HELL. God certainly isn't putting them there. It is their perception of their time on earth that is putting them there.

Those that are suffering right now just need to look inside themselves, at the Christ Consciousness, at the God in THEM. Hanging onto the old 3D reality and the worship of external things like money or power or ego is what is causing them suffering. The always wanting more is causing suffering. There is enough on this earth for everyone. Some say they don't believe that...I've had people tell me to my face that I'm full of you know what just for suggesting such a thing.

The reality of it though....at least MY reality of it is that there is enough for all. If we take the greed, the control, the lusting for external power away, there is enough.

All through the bible it states that God is in all of us. Therefore, Love is in all of us.

Religions made the devil up to scare the heck out of people. There were, and still are, those that do not want you to know your own greatness. They don't want you to know what they know. If everyone knew, there would be balance. No one would be better than, or richer than. Everyone would just "Be".

Religions say the devil "fell from grace" because he wanted to be God-like. What better way to make people shun their own greatness, their own connection with God. Scare the crap out of them so that when they start to realize their own greatness, and that they are not just a "part of Source (God)", but that they are indeed Source (God) themselves, the creators of their own lives and spiritual journeys, they get afraid and experience more separation. As soon as people realize their greatness, no one will be able to control them. That is very scary for those that think they have the power over the masses.

We are all God-like. We are all creators, God is Love, we are all a part of God. This scares a lot of people and there are certain governments and religions that don't want people to know this, so they make up stuff like the devil or demons to scare people. They don't want the general population to realize their power, they would lose their own place in society; in the 3D reality they have created for themselves. Imagine if everyone knew just how much like God we are, how much a part of God we are.....no one could control us anymore. No one would have the power to "make" us fearful. God is Love.....the "devil" is fear.

So, is 2012 the end of the world? I certainly hope it is the end of the world as we have known it up to this point.

Do not fear the changes, embrace them. Connect with Source in your own way. Find and connect with your own internal Christ Consciousness, your own greatness.

When things are done with Love and not fear, nothing but God and Love can shine through.

There are many things going on. Being a psychic lightworker myself (for lack of a better term), I know that what I see and do, anyone can see and do. The biggest challenge is to KNOW that you can do it. It is just a matter of being open to it and having the realization that we are all Source.

Remember where you came from, remember your divinity. Connect with your own Christ Consciousness. Experience the bliss every day, feel the love every day. Live with Love not Fear of what is going on on our earth. Its all good...

I am a psychic living in British Columbia, Canada. I have been psychic since birth and have been doing psychic readings for others for the past 25 years. With these psychic readings I help people to enhance their own personal growth and assist them to realize their life path. I am also a medium and often when I do readings I have contact from the other side, whether from a loved one who has passed over or Spirit teachers and guides. Visit Psychic Medium for more information on psychic readings.

Spirituality and The Bottom Line

Whadda ya know?

Seriously. With absolute certainty, what do you know?
Put aside all opinions, beliefs and theories for a moment and address this one straight question: What do you know for sure? Or, as Thoreau put it:

"Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the globe... through church and state, through poetry and philosophy and religion, till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality, and say, This is, and no mistake; and then begin..."

In other words, let's cut the crap and figure out what's real. The cogito does exactly that, and it's very simple. The question is: What do you know?

The answer is: I Am.

All other so-called facts are really non-facts and belong in the category of consensual reality and relative truth, i.e., unreal reality and untrue truth.

::: Cogito Ergo Sum

Cogito ergo sum is the equation that proves the fact. But first, before we go on, let's ask what else we know. What else can be said for certain?

Nothing. We don't know anything else. And that's the real point of the cogito. The importance of I Am isn't that it's a fact, but that it's the only fact.

I Am is the only thing anyone has ever known or will ever know. Everything else, all religion and philosophy, is nothing more than dream interpretation. There is no other fact than I Am. The cogito is the seed of the thought that destroys the universe. Beyond the cogito, nothing is known. Beyond the cogito, nothing can be known. Except I Am, no one knows anything. No man or god can claim to know more. No God or array of gods can exist or be imagined that know more than this one thing: I Am.

We can't avoid letting this topic drift briefly into the Christian realm. When Moses asked God His name, God answered, "I am that I am." The name God gives for Himself is I Am.

Note that I Am is unconjugatable. It allows of no variation. God doesn't say, "My name is I Am, but you can call me You Are, or He Is." The cogito, the I Am equation, does not extend beyond one's own subjective knowing. I can say I Am and know it as truth, but I can't say you are, he is, she is, we are, they are, it is, etc. I know I exist and nothing else. Understood thusly, I Am, aka God, truly is the Alpha and the Omega; the entirety of being, of knowledge, of you.

::: The Line Is Drawn

The cogito is the line between fantasy and reality. On one side of the cogito is a universe of beliefs and ideas and theories. To cross the line is to leave all that behind. No theory, concept, belief, opinion or debate can have any possible basis in reality once the ramifications of the cogito have fully saturated the mind. No dialogue can take place across that line because nothing that makes sense on either side makes sense on the other.

We all think we know what the cogito means; this is an invitation to challenge that assumption. If professors of philosophy truly understood it, they wouldn't be professors of philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead said that all philosophy is a footnote to Plato, but all philosophy, Plato included, is rendered obsolete and irrelevant by Descartes. Nothing but the subjective I Am is true, so what's the point of prattling on?

The cogito isn't a mere thought or an idea, it is an ego-eating virus that, properly incubated and nurtured, will eventually devour all illusion. Once we know the cogito, we can begin systematically unknowing everything we thought we knew, and unraveling the self we aren't.

::: Life is but a Dream

There is no such thing as objective reality. Two cannot be proven. Nothing can be shown to exist. Time and space, love and hate, good and evil, cause and effect, are all just ideas. Anyone who says they know anything is really saying they don't know the only thing. The greatest religious and philosophical thoughts and ideas in the history of man contain no more truth than the bleating of sheep. The greatest books are no more authoritative than the greatest luncheon meats.

No one knows anything.

::: Disprove it for Yourself

Anyone wishing to deny these statements about the meaning of the cogito need merely prove that something, anything, is true. By all means, give it a try, dash your head upon it, but it can't be done. Cogito ergo sum, however, isn't the endpoint of inquiry, it's the starting point; it's a tool that helps us see, without intermediaries, exactly what is true and what isn't.

How great is that?

::: About the Author

"Jed McKenna is an American original." -Lama Surya Das

Jed McKenna is the author of "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" and "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment", published by Wisefool Press. Coming in 2005: "Spirituality X" and "Jed McKenna's Notebook". Visit http://www.WisefoolPress.com to learn more.

Nurture Your SoulCreate Peace of Mind

The majority of people believe humans have a soul. There is significant controversy, however, on the souls impact or whether as humans we impact the souls growth or lack there of. Those who practice spirituality believe we are human beings having a spiritual experience and we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Such movies as: Ghost, Sixth Sense, What The Bleep Do We Know?, City of Angels and others illuminate this belief.

Nurturing the soul is as important as healthy nutrition, exercising and sleep. The souls sole purpose is to create spiritual/emotional growth. The sense of well-being and happiness emanates from the soul to the psyche. If the soul is ignored or malnourished the psyche and ultimately the body suffers.

The most effective way to nurture the soul is through spirituality. Spirituality is the God-related science of developing and freeing the God-made innermost beingthe core of usMade in the image of God." Love creates, all else destroys. Love cannot co-exist with other premises simultaneously; therefore, God is only love. The fly in the ointment of human existence verses in spiritual formas Godis the "ego. The ego is essential to navigate the vicissitudes in physical life. However, the ego is what gets us into trouble. The truth is: All life on earth serves the sole purpose of developing our spirituality to the point of being free of spiritual ignorance, free of selfish or destructive behavioral (ego) patterns, free to return to our eternal home in God. True spirituality leads to freedom in God.

True God-related spirituality is achieved by means of scientifically applying spiritual teachings and spiritual techniques that fosters the ego to vanish in the fire of divine love and ego-oriented spirita.k.a. intellectto be replaced by the Holy Spirit. Such true spiritual teachings can only be affected by a true connection to our innermost self. Because all humankind is God-made, Spirituality is our true nature and spiritual development is the most direct way to solutions of love and peace in all creation.
Prayer, Meditation, Gratitude, Spending time in natureincluding near fire and water are practices to create spiritual/emotional health.

Prayer: Researcher and mind/body medicine expert Herbert Benson, M.D. found that regular prayer or the repetition of spiritual phrases such as "Shalom," or "Hail Mary," triggers relaxation and reduces stress. Make prayer a time of personal conversation with God, state your need or concern and ask for divine intervention. Acknowledge all you have to be grateful for and give thanks for that which you desire. Giving thanks is more effective than asking for what you desire. God knows what you need before you need it and has already sent it to youtherefore giving thanks acknowledges what you havent seen yet. Establishing a regular prayerful routine is important.

Meditation: Researched for centuries, meditation is proven to have physiological benefits, including stress-relief, improved immune and cardiovascular function, relaxation, and decreased pain. Regular meditation practice leads to new insights about life issues (often resulting in the healing of past emotional trauma), heightened creativity, inspiration, greater compassion for others, and a greater connection to one's own inner guidance. There are a plethora of books and classes on meditation practices.

Gratitude: The state of being grateful; thankfulness. (The American Heritage Dictionary) In the push and pulls of life we seldom realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Looking at the glass as half empty albeit is half full assures us, we will live with a sense of lack.

"Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels. If we take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for. The more we seek gratitude, the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to exist in our lives." --Terry Lynn Taylor

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." --Melody Beattie

Time in nature: The most visible manifestation of spirit is nature, where we most fully encounter and interact with life's primal energies in the forms of earth, water, fire, and air. Walking/hiking are easy and practical ways of reconnecting with nature and the earth, as are gardening, biking, camping and boating. Spending regular amounts of time outdoors within a natural setting, you enable yourself to better appreciate the rhythms of life, including your own.

Modern living prevents us from a balanced life. Time in nature restores that balance, while also deepening our connection with Spirit. Being near the water is a spiritually healthy experience, due to water's higher concentration of negative ions. Swimming in natural water or soaking in a mineral hot spring provides therapeutic benefits for a variety of ailments.

Exposure to a campfire or fireplace has health benefits. Leonard Orr discovered that fire cleanses the bio-energy field of negative energies, and is a powerful aid in curing physical disease. Orr recommends spending a few hours each day near fire. Fire is also an important component of the vision quests Native Americans undertake to connect with the Great Spirit and discover their life purpose.

Air is the closest expression of Spirit. Clean air is essential to health on all levels, and practicing conscious breathing is a potent self-care method for restoring energy and making you more aware of the power of Spirit as it flows through you.

Regular exposure to the four elements creates consciousness of Spirit's loving intelligence to sustain the world, while more deeply recognizing our place within it.

Given busy lives in todays world there are several techniques to use until one can engage with the four elements. The following techniques relax, revitalize and remove blocked energy.

Craniosacral TreatmentRelieves blockages caused by stress in the craniosacral system. Discovered by Dr. John Upledger in 1980, this system includes the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

Reiki Chakra TreatmentJapanese spiritual healing technique, energy is channeled from master to student, cleansing the bodys chakrasspecific energy modes inside the body. Creates reduced stress and a stronger bridge to your inner being.

The Sound of Peaceful Healinga 120-minute sensory journey that uses sound, touch and smell to revive the senses and restore a feeling of calm.

Massage: Acupressurebased on acupuncture without needles, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Swedish, Shiatsu, Aquatic Shiatsu,Trigger Point/Myotherapy, Rolfing.

Engaging in one or more of the soul nourishing activitiesPrayer, Meditation, Gratitude, Spending time in nature, including near fire and waterdaily will create soul/spiritual/ emotional health and you will enjoy a highly enriched and enriching life.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer specializes in: Mind, Body, and Spirit healing for Individuals, Special Issues and Professional Coaching. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Reflections on Goddess Religion

The renewed interest and critical discussion of the ancient goddess religion open a path to the Perennial Philosophy, a substratum of human culture and consisting of a cluster of ideas, insights, view points, and attitudes about life found in most, if not all, societies. Basic concepts of the goddess religion can also offer insights into Hermes' art, which is still relevant and beneficial today.

Pelasgians are a people and their language who populated the southern Balkan Peninsula, Aegean Islands, and coast of Asia Minor before Greek invasions of the second millennium B.C. They were the last of the Neolithic goddess cultures. The name is even mentioned in some alchemical texts. Fulcanelli, the Master Alchemist of the twentieth century, specifically states that the hermetic cabala, Hermes' language, maintains the essence of the Pelasgians' mother language. Hermes' language birthed from the Neolithic cultures, if not earlier.

The goddess has many images linked to her: cave, moon, stone, serpent, bird, fish, and tree; spiral, meander, and labyrinth; wild animals such as lion, bull, bison, stag, goat, and horse; rituals of fertility; and journey of the soul to another dimension. Each historical goddess has many of these characteristics and often several different ones.

Isis, the greatest goddess of Egypt, was worshipped for over 3000 years. Her attributes are the tree of life, cow, serpent, pig, bird, underworld, Sirius, words of power, and great mother goddess of the universe.

According to the twentieth century scholar Marija Gimbutas, the serpent crown refers back to the Neolithic snake goddess, who wore such a crown. These snake crowns symbolize wisdom and wealth. Struggling with a huge white snake will gain the seeker a crown. Wearing the crown, the initiate knows all, is able to find hidden treasures, and can communicate with animals. Hermes knows that the serpent goddess is the living water, the philosophical mercury, and the white queen. Gimbutas' book, The Living Goddesses, is filled with many insights and presents an excellent comprehension of Neolithic culture and the goddess tradition.

The ancient rock art in Australia that depicts hermaphroditic figures is similar to some goddess images in European Neolithic art. Humans have lived in Australia for more than 40,000 years, arriving there during the Paleolithic. The hermaphrodite (the word is a blending of Hermes and Aphrodite) is an important alchemical concept.

The discussion about the stone symbol in Anne Baring and Jules Cashford's The Myth of the Goddess is profound. A stone lasts a long time and can symbolize eternity or timelessness. During the Neolithic, or earlier, it represented the foundation or essence of life, such as the soul or spirit that endured after the death of the body. The stone is, of course, a dominant symbol in alchemy: its goal is to obtain the philosopher's stone.

Two major themes of religious ceremony, starting in the Neolithic if not earlier, are the sacred marriage and birth of the child. A union with a divine spirit is inherent in all mystical ceremonies and practices. Initiation into the great spiritual mysteries has been a human activity for thousands of years, perhaps since the beginning of time. The female signifies the continuous pattern of birth-death-rebirth, which is the principle of regeneration. The male signifies the life of the individual, the short span of temporal life beginning with birth and ending with death. The neophyte enters the hidden subterranean recesses and dies a first death and only then does rebirth occur. Now the worldly and spiritual realms remain open to each other. The goddess was the portal into the hidden dimension through which the dead passed on their way to rebirth.

The dying god, a religious theme originating in antiquity, symbolizes physical life that is constantly changing, and the goddess illumines the principle of life that endures by eternally renewing itself. The goddess represents continuity while the god, sharing in the impermanent essence of the seed, dies annually.

More insight is revealed in The Myth of the Goddess. In goddess culture the manifest is the physical emanation of the unmanifest. So time is cyclical, a movement of manifesting to non-manifesting to manifesting and so forth. This is the lunar cycle. Because patriarchal culture sees time in a linear fashion of conflict with and conquest of opposition or the other, war and warriors are the central theme of history. Conquest in battle is the primary means of overcoming separation, but it never completely solves the problem because some opposition continues and remains hidden until it grows strong enough to challenge the victor. Thus, life is viewed as a perpetual struggle, battling foes and winning victories or being defeated, an onerous happening.

The goddess trinity comprises a young woman, a mother giving birth, and an old woman. The trinity is an ancient concept, probably in use before the Neolithic.

The trinity or three goddesses are the three visible phases of the moon. The hidden fourth-the dark or new moon-is the goddess of the night or of the unmanifest. The child born to the mother is signified by the sun born from the moon. At new moon the night sky is dark. Afterwards, the sun is gradually resurrected until full moon when its full light illumines the night sky. Then daily the sun dies away until its light is gone.

The goddess as mother of life sends her children forth into the world and as mother of death gathers her children unto her as they return from the world. The natural cycles signify this process of life and death.

The visible part, the son or daughter, comes from and returns to the invisible: the whole is the mother goddess. This idea is found in the Bronze Age. Based on the observation of natural phenomena, the idea no doubt is primeval in origin.

The ancient Middle Eastern cultures of Sumer, Babylon, and Egypt demonstrate the change from goddess religion to god religion. Inanna, a Sumerian goddess who later becomes Babylonian Ishtar, is the Great Mother Goddess, who holds the caduceus and double-headed ax as symbols of her power. The lunar cycle represents her power of life and death. The queen of heaven and earth, she has these attributes: the tree of life (palm tree), dove, owl, lion, dragon, serpent, scorpion, planet Venus, and Sirius. In Sumerian times Sirius was known as the Bow Star and rose in conjunction with the sun at sunrise during the month of July. Dumuzi or Tammuz is the son-lover, consort of Inanna-Ishtar. The caduceus and double-headed ax become his symbols; he is also imaged as a fish-god and a shepherd and sometimes wears a skirt with a net pattern. The son-lover possesses some of his mother's features.

The great cosmic cycle of life and death can be described in this way: the soul comes from or is born from the goddess, and its life cycle resembles the lunar cycle; at death the soul returns to the goddess. This cycle is very conducive and supportive of reincarnation.

So much evidence leads to the conclusion that the Paleolithic moral order as encompassed in the goddess religion did not die but lives now albeit underground renewing itself. It will assert itself when the times beckon. An important cosmic principle is that the seed must die for it to live.

2009 All Rights Reserved

Having been a Humanities and English college teacher for thirty-six years, I now manage Ye Olde Consciousness Shoppe which presents ideas about transforming consciousness and reaching a higher level of reality. The website has information about my three books: Hermes Beckons, a tale of alchemy and magic; Foundation for a New Consciousness; and Reality Inspector, a novel of chess and computer-hacking.

Religion and Yoga

Etymologically the word religion denotes duality, as it is a combination of Latin re and ligare, meaning to bind or connect again. Cicero, Lactantius and Augustine slightly differ from each other in their meaning of religion, which is quite natural. Through millennia, after many definitions and interpretations, the word religion has become a loaded word, and organised religion has further distorted its meaning. But shorn of the dross gathered around it, it means reunion with something from which we have separated earlier (fall of man). Similarly, yoga means to yoke or join together in Sanskrit, denoting--again--duality. Therefore, translation of religion should be yoga-not dharma, as is the case-and vice versa.

Like religion, Yoga, too, has also become a loaded word, by and large meaning a regimen of exercises, breath control and meditation (dhyana) to tone up the body and control the mind.

From the above, it follows: Bind or connect again to what (in case of religion)? And yoke or join to what (in case of yoga)? You reconnect with something where the connection has been snapped. Likewise, you yoke or join two things that once constituted one undivided whole.

Both the words were coined by the aspirants in the distant past to describe what they thought to be the source, since lost somewhere along the line. But, was there really a source? If yes, then, how the source was lost? There has to be a self or I together with something dividing it from the source; however 'I' is nothing but first person, singular pronoun.

The famous American philosopher Daniel Dennett maintains in his book, Consciousness Explained, that the self is an illusion-no more than a series of shifting "multiple drafts" or narratives, with no central focus or continuity.

On the other hand, the illustrious British mathematician Roger Penrose says: The world is an illusion created by the conspiracy of our senses.

When these two statements are juxtaposed with each other, we find that "the self is an illusion" according to Dennett, and "the world is an illusion" as per Penrose. Hence, the self is an illusion and so is the world. Is it then all Maya? The word Maya means illusion in English. In Sanskrit, however, Maya means measurement. What can be measured is Maya. English words like measurement, myth, meter, matter, and music, share a common ancestry with it. All measurements start from the point called 'I' or 'self'. When this I or self is knocked off, then Maya collapses along with religion and yoga. Then what is left is the Source.

Currently, I am working on a book for children.

Religion Poisons Everything

During the "Does God Exist?" debate between Frank Turek and Christopher Hitchens, Hitchens made much ado about how "religion poisons everything." That's the subtitle of one of his books, in fact. Turek countered in his closing statement by remarking, "religion doesn't poison everything...everything poisons religion."

At the time, I thought "woaaaa, good one!" It had a rhetorical punch to it.

On second thought, though, I can see that the statement's value is limited.

Of course Hitchens' statement goes too far, and Turek's notion of religion being poisoned from the outside brings some balance. However, some religions really are poisonous in and of themselves. Some religions really do teach hate and violence. I'm primarily thinking of Islam here. There is no doubt that some followers of Islam are peaceful people, but the Koran really does incite violence and backwardness. A study of the Koran or a cursory glance at a culture where Islam reigns will tell you that.

I know certain verses in the Koran prescribe peace, yet those verses tend to come from the time when Muhammad lacked military and political power. The surahs "revealed" when Muhammad had power tell a much different tale, however.

There are other examples. One doesn't need to stretch to see the poison of a religion that prescribes sacrificing children to Molech, for instance.

Some religions *are* poisoned from the outside. Take Christianity, for example. Jesus is sublime. His followers-not so much (not that I'm biased.. :) I do think that I've got good reasons to be biased, however!)

But others are poison themselves, and any followers who are peaceful and moral are such not because of their religion, but in spite of it.

Plus, similar to "curing" cancer with a medication that dulls the pain, all religions but one only cure the symptoms of the human problem, not the disease. Only Christianity, with Jesus the true doctor, cures our disease of sin. Therefore, all others are impostors and hence are not intrinsically good.

Rich Bordner authors "The Pugnacious Irishman," a blog on the intersection of spirituality, ethics, and politics in the public square of ideas. He holds a B.A in English and Philosophy from THE Ohio State University (go Bucks!), and is in the process of earning a M.A in Philosophy from Biola University. Check out the blog at http://pugnaciousirishman.wordpress.com

Changing the Focus of Halloween for Christians

Some Christians avoid mention of Halloween. Some celebrate it anyway. Now, one company may change the way Christians view Halloween forever.

They have come up with a way to use Halloween as an opportunity. They have a Memory Cross card to hand out to trick-or-treaters with your Halloween candy.

What is a Memory Cross card? It is a four panel interactive card that is designed in an origami style. It unfolds to display selected bible verses. They target kids ages 4-13 and use colorful graphics to hold the both children and adults attention.

The original intention of a Memory Cross cards was for creator, Pastor Andy Lambert, to use in his sermons to tell bible stories. However, now there is yet another use. Because people love to play with these cards and flip them around, they easily learn Gods Word. These are great evangelism tools. Even the shy kids will want to pass them out to their family and friends.

Now for Halloween, they have a product that is designed to fold like the originals, but presents the gospel message. It starts out and says FREE CANDYWhat could be better than that? and then goes on to share the gospel. It is colorful. It has a photo of candy corn on the front and makes kids want to take a look inside.

Soinstead of just handing out candy this year, Christians can bring the hope of the gospel into the homes of every child who knocks on their door!

Sheryl Frey is a Christian dedicated to helping others find great Christian products like Memory Cross to share their faith. She also organizes the Memory Cross Kids challenge. For more information please see http://www.memorycrosskidschallenge.com

The Religious Background of Unicorn Tapestries

The unicorn has been a mythical symbol since ancient times. Some of the earliest depictions of the unicorn are from ancient China and featured a creature resembling a large horse with a single horn protruding from its forehead. The writings and drawings of many ancient cultures throughout Asia and Europe included unicorns and eventually they evolved into religious symbols.

By the middle ages, the unicorn was considered both a religious and secular symbol by most of Christian Europe. The unicorn represented chastity, holiness, and purity, and was even used as a symbol for Christ. Because of the unicorn's important symbolism, it was often featured in tapestries and other art of the period. There are even references to unicorns in the bible, although some historians question their inclusion in the Bible because of translations issues. References to unicorns can be seen in Deuteronomy 33:17, Psalm 22:21, 29:6 and 92:10; Numbers 23:22 and 24:8; and Isaiah 34:7. These passages do not infer that the references to unicorns are fictitious or that unicorns are not in fact real animals.

There are many examples of medieval art and tapestries that feature unicorns and once they were accepted as a religious symbol they became very popular subjects. Unicorns represented purity and the myth perpetuated by their holy meaning was that only a virgin could tame a unicorn. Tapestries were common among the aristocracy in the Middle ages and were used as decoration as well as insulation for windows and openings. The most common tapestry designs were biblical allegories including unicorns. One of the most famous sets of tapestries are the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, Created in France in the late 1400's.

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are perhaps the most famous examples of unicorns in art in the entire world. They were not discovered until late in the 1800's by Proper Merimee in a castle in Boussac France. They were damaged but were later restored and then put on display in the Cluny Museum in France in a room specially designed to house them. The novelist Georges Sands was responsible for making them so popular and included them in her writings.

It is not known who designed and wove the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, but historians do know who they were created for. The coat of arms on the tapestries belongs to the Le Viste family and the tapestries were probably created for this family in the late 1400's. Like other tapestries and art depicting unicorns, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are said to represent the human senses with the subject of the tapestries a virginal maiden and a unicorn. Five of the six tapestries represent the five senses, hearing, tough, taste, feeling, and sight. The sixth tapestry is one that carries some debate as some say it represent love, other think it stands for the "6th sense" while other think it represents understanding or empathy. Unicorns have long been a part of art and folk lore, and are still symbols of holiness and purity today.

http://www.touchoftapestry.com/servlet/StoreFront

Proof of Life

Ah yes, I know this feeling: This is the part where I start to feel completely and utterly overwhelmed. I've come to know this place, the Land of Overwhelm. I visit so often, I might as well move my stuff here and take residence. I keep saying I want to do things differently, but what am I doing differently, really?

I look at my list of to-do's and the truth looks me in the eye: There is no humanly possible way you will get this all done today.

So I do what the experts tell me to do. I prioritize. I even look at my to-do's and figure out what can be postponed, what can be put off til that nebulous 'After-The-Holidays' time when supposedly everything in my life will get so much easier, and suddenly I will have limitless time to do everything I've been putting off. (Yeah, right.) I shuffle. I cancel an appointment here, a lunch date there. I put off going to the bathroom far too long. (My bladder understands I'm busy.) I've given myself permission to turn some "yes"es to "maybe"s and some "maybe"s to "no"s. I reschedule. I apologize.

And then, this morning, in my journal, I am practicing gratitude, making my list, checking it twice, of all the things I am grateful for in this moment. Doing my best to be present, to stay true to my core, to center myself, yada yada. And Overwhelm interrupts rudely, beckoning... "Hey! Don't forget about me. What are you doing journaling? Don't you have a butt load of things to do?" and then I try something different.

Adding to my gratitude list, I write in my journal "I am grateful for overwhelm." Overwhelm stops in her tracks and looks at me with a puzzled expression. I breathe into my overwhelm and decide to do it differently today. I don't need to resist it, to challenge it, to struggle, as much as overwhelm is one of my favorite struggles. Today, I'll simply dance with it.

For what is overwhelm, really, but proof of life? Granted, a full life, an overflowing life, and yes, I crave a simpler life, and yes I'd love to take a day of rest-but-there-is-too-much-to-do and yes, sometimes I feel like I am being swallowed, but today, I will practice gratitude for my stress- for the stress is proof of life, too. Do dead people feel stress? Do corpses feel overwhelmed? Doubt it.

There she goes again, even now, while I type this.

"There is so much to do..." her mantra, Overwhelm, whispering in my ear constantly, growing especially petulant when she thinks I have forgotten (silly notion- how could I forget?) "There is so much to do..." she whines "Aren't you overwhelmed???" Yes, I am.... yes, I know. Yes, there is. But here's the thing:

There is always 'so-much-to-do'.

Until I'm dead, of course, and then I'll have an infinite supply of vacation days. But knowing me, I'll probably reassign myself immediately into another body, come back right away, screaming my way back into the human race. That will be me, I bet, signing up for this thing, this messy, overwhelming, crazy, busy, stressful, beautiful thing called life, all over again.

2008 Lisa Olson

http://www.sacredinthecity.org

Lisa Olson is natural-born supporter of growth and expression who loves to create happiness, cool experiences and inspiring others to step into their authenticity. She is a "Spiritual Midwife" and Soul-full Living Strategist with an extensive background in life purpose coaching, marketing, promotions, event management and community building. A writer, artist and lifelong journaler, she facilitates workshops, groups, rituals and dance experiences designed to awaken the senses and stir the soul. She can be reached at lisa@sacredinthecity.org.

Can You Tell the Difference Between Evil Profits and Good Profits?

I was reading through an article the other day about the Wiccan religion and they were very upset about a comment that the Christian website owner had made. I would like you to read the response from the Christians first.

"I was watching a police show on television some time ago, and saw a sting operation in which undercover police officers bought drugs from dealers on the street. Invariably, some of the dealers would ask, "You a cop?" The officer would say "no," and the deal was made. Satan often goes undercover. The Bible tells us that he can even masquerade as an angel of light. Just because a certain religion professes no belief in Satan, does not mean its adherents are not falling for his lies. It just means that they're unaware that they are. You said God would be disgusted by our judgmentalism. God has told us in His Word (The Bible) to watch for false prophets and false apostles. God has told us to contend for the faith. He has told us to evangelize. In other words, God has told us to do just what we are doing."

Here's something I would like you to think about if you consider yourself a Christian, read this very carefully.

"God has told us in his Word the Bible to watch for false prophets and false apostles." I would like you to read this statement a couple of times and see if you agree with it. How can you possibly tell who the false prophets are? Do you think that because you are a Christian and believe in Jesus or God, that you will know the difference between a evil profit and a godly one?

I often write articles and have written quite a few of them about religion and Christianity. Seems to be the one that I know the most about, so it gets the most attention from me. If I was to make a statement like the Bible has contradictions in it, would you consider me an evil profit. Someone working for the Devil. I don't think so, because it doesn't make sense, how could you turn a truth full statement into evil prophesies.

If I was to introduce you to a hundred people, could you tell me by looking at them or talking to them, which ones are evil and which ones are good. Most Christians would probably respond to that with, God knows and that's good enough for me. Everyone else who talks bad about Christianity will be considered evil or searching for the truth. They just haven't found Jesus yet, is that right, is that what you believe.

I found this response to the Wiccan believer to be one that I run into often. It seems unfair to others who aren't Christians and one-sided. Most organized religions have answers for everything, the problem is that some of the times these answers don't make any sense at all. If you're going to follow this part of the Bible word for word, shouldn't you follow all of the Bible word for word.

Leviticus 14:9 On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair; he must shave his head, his beard, his eyebrows and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

Leviticus 19:27 " 'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

This will make Christians easier to spot, a bald head with long beards.

Spiritual Change Education

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a Religion help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Hoping to Enter Heaven - Religious Views Based on Hope

I was told by an advertising executive one day that all of your advertisements need to deliver some sort of hope for the people you're trying to persuade into buying your products. Funny, if you think about it, I got some and great advice about life from someone in the advertisement business.

Most people are looking for hope, in everything they do. Most of our daily activities revolve around hope and this gives our lives some sort of direction. If you believe in an almighty being and creator of the universe, often you will try to please him, ....or her, ....or it, in hopes of entering the kingdom of heaven or the promised land after you die.

Often our fears will increase our levels of hoping, the fear of doing something against your religion can often inspire you to become a more spiritual person, a good and moral person. Fear of making the wrong choices will inspire us to make better, moral choices, all for the sake of acquiring a ticket to Heaven or Nirvana. You're hoping, your good deeds on earth will earn you a place in heaven.

Most people are afraid of dying and leaving this world, for good. They don't know where they're going and that seems to scare most people. If we can offer someone a little hope, that they are going to a much better place than here, we can often ease the pain and suffering associated with death. I have to admit, most religions of the world promise another world, after we're done with this one.

If you're living a honest and moral life with the hopes of living a bountiful life in heaven, could you be wrong. What if you're seeking Hope in the wrong religion? If you're a Christian and the Hindus are right and you're wrong, do you get to enter there eternal kingdom.

Think about this question, I'm about to ask you. What if spend your whole life studying your religion and it's wrong? There is no heaven and when you die, that's the end of your existence

Have you ever wondered why you believe in your religion and someone in another country or even a couple of miles away believes in something entirely different.

Don't get mad at me or yourself, simply think about the question for a while, this question has transformed my life and put me on a wonderful spiritual path of learning.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Power of Intention

If you want to read something funny and get your daily laugh in, you need to read this, it's funny Using Religion Responsibility. It's based on overindulgence.

Following Old Religious Text - Religion

Most people tend to bury their head in the sand when it comes to problems with their family, community, job, government and of course religious beliefs. They don't want to hear the truth and often they can't see the truth. I have read many religious text, books and other literature, missing some very important parts and only when I reread the information, did I find what I have missed. Sometimes I have needed to read or listen to the same information over 30 times, before it becomes somewhat clear to me.

Most religions are living in the dark ages. From what I gather, Hinduism is over 4000 years old, Judaism is around 2500 years old, Christianity is 2000 years old and Islam is about 1400 years old. People are following information today that isn't necessarily applicable to modern times but often religious leaders can twist it around, add some verbiage, make a semi-educated judgment and now we have something we can follow. It just doesn't make sense.

Why do we put so much faith in religious books like the Bible, Torah, Bhagavad-Gita and Quran, when these books cannot be proven and often have many mistakes and errors. I know people that open these books very carefully and treat them like they are made from solid gold. They are books like any others but often people live their lives from the information inside, strictly and religiously. Often never straying from their beliefs, even though they're outdated and hard to follow.

Let me get to the bottom line here, have you researched your religion and if you have, do you have any questions that can't be answered? Do you read any of the religious text and often wonder or think to yourself, this doesn't seem to make sense, because you just read something else that was contradicting the last statement.

You can handle the truth about your religion. By reading this article, it tells me that you're on the Internet, can you go to a search engine and type in Bible contradictions, Torah contradictions, or whatever your beliefs are. I was searching for errors in the Bible and came upon a couple of pretty good web sites.

Use words like contradiction, problems, errors and see what websites you come up with.

Seek the wisdom and the truth shall set you free.

Hope in Religion

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

My Walk With Farrakhan - The Reality of the Million Man March

"Call to the way of thy Lord

with wisdom and goodly exhortation,

and argue with them in the best manner."

Continuing on in the series, My walk with Farrakhan, we will examine the Million Man March on October 16th, 1995 called by God through The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

It is amazing to think that 12 years have passed since that beautiful day on the Washington mall with nearly 2 million black men congregating in love. From that day until this day many have not understood the purpose for the march nor its goal by the author. Who was the ultimate author of the Million Man March and for what cause?

Minister Farrakhan while speaking to the gathered men reminded them,

"You came not at the call of Louis Farrakhan, but you have gathered here at the call of God. For it is only the call of Almighty God, no matter through whom that call came, that could generate this kind of outpouring. God called us here to this place. At this time. For a very specific reason."

Minister Farrakhan said that he called for the "march" in response to the pitiful global image of black men as portrayed in film, music and the some media. He further stated that he wanted to show an example to the world that black men can and must unite together in love and harmony to affect positive change in our communities.

The call of the Million Man March is rooted in biblical tradition of Jesus calling Lazarus from the grave. However, today a modern day man of God is calling a people, not from a physical grave of death, but from a spiritual-mental grave of death and ignorance.

Let us review John 11: 43-44 for clarity

"And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose him, and let him go."

The Holy Qur'an bears witness in similar words

"We have revealed to thee that

thou mayest bring forth men, by their

Lord's permission, from darkness

into light, to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One,"

When you look at the black community then as well as now it becomes clear that we are in need of a healing and resurrection of our minds.

My condition at the time of the Million Man March

At the time of the call of the Million Man March my life was similar to the life you see many young black men participating in. I walked with my pants hanging of my behind(sagging). I didn't attend school much and didn't take authority serious. I spent my nights getting drunk and/or high with drugs. I thought I was living the good life in my downgraded life of sin. I didn't know at the time, but Almighty God was preparing me for bigger and better things.

I was told by my mother, who was fed up with my behavior, she was requiring me to stay home and watch the Million Man March. She told me that since I can't do anything with you maybe Farrakhan can put some sense in your head.

I sat at home watching the many men and speakers on that blessed day on October16th, 1995 and was being transformed on the inside by Almighty God's spirit. However, when I heard Minister Farrakhan speak I received a message, not so much in words, but I felt him speaking directly from his spirit to my spirit. I took the pledge of the Million Man March and decided to begin the journey towards elevation.

The pledge of The Million Man March asked(by Minister Farrakhan) encouraged us to do the following things,

"Take this pledge with me. Say with me please, I, say your name, pledge that from this day forward I will strive to love my brother as I love myself.

I, say your name, from this day forward will strive to improve myself spiritually, morally, mentally, socially, politically, and economically for the benefit of myself, my family, and my people.

I, say your name, pledge that I will strive to build business, build houses, build hospitals, build factories, and then to enter international trade for the good of myself, my family, and my people.

I, say your name, pledge that from this day forward I will never raise my hand with a knife or a gun to beat, cut, or shoot any member of my family or any human being, except in self-defense.

I, say your name, pledge from this day forward I will never abuse my wife by striking here, disrespecting her for she is the mother of my children and the producer of my future.

I, say your name, pledge that from this day forward I will never engage in the abuse of children, little boys, or little girls for sexual gratification. But I will let them grow in peace to be strong men and women for the future of our people.

I, say your name, will never again use the B word to describe my female, but particularly my own Black sister.

I, say your name, pledge from this day forward that I will not poison my body with drugs or that which is destructive to my health and my well being.

I, say your name, pledge from this day forward, I will support Black newspapers, Black radio, Black television. I will support Black artists, who clean up their acts to show respect for themselves and respect for their people, and respect for the ears of the human family.

I, say your name, will do all of this so help me God."

I know where I came from and where I was inspired to go as a direct result of the call of the Million Man March. I will never let anyone disrespect that day by saying it didn't achieve anything. I was a man that was lost, but was inspired to be a better person by the truth and presence of Minister Farrakhan at the Million Man March.

I like to use the example of a patient going to a doctor as an example of the Million Man March. You can't blame a doctor if you are sick and you go to a doctor to heal you and the doctor prescribes you a prescription, however you never go home and take the prescription, so you die. Such a doctor cannot be charged with malpractice. It is the responsibility of both the doctor to prescribe and the patient to take the medicine to affect healing.

In conclusion what medicine did "doctor" Farrakhan give to black men at the Million Man March?

In the following words he gave the ultimate medicine and purpose for our presence at the "march",

"Well, some of us are here because it's history making. Some of us are here because it's a march through which we can express anger and rage with America for what she has and is doing to us. So, we're here for many reasons but the basic reason while this was called was for atonement and reconciliation. So, it is necessary for me in as short of time as possible to give as full an explanation of atonement as possible."

He gave us the following summation of 8 steps of atonement

1) Point out the wrong

2)Acknowledge the wrong

3)Confess fault

4)Repentance

5)Atonement

6)Forgiveness

7)Reconciliation and restoration

8)Perfect union with God

Long live the spirit of the Million Man March!

Mustafaa Muhammad is an "African American" who is a follower of the Islamic faith. Through independent religious studies developed an ecumenical view of the world's religions and the people of God. And while he is devoted to Islam as his faith he is at home in the Church(or other religious institutions) as he is in the Mosque.

He has been featured on the Radio, Newspapers, public speaking events and at Mosques/Churches telling his story and offering his understanding of Almighty God's plan for salvation.

Mustafaa is involved in community activity. He believes that our faith must inspire us to greater service to humanity or we may be making a mockery of the purpose of faith. Contact him @ http://brothermustafaa.com

Guides and Spirit Helpers

As group consciousness grows and the electromagnetic field of energy gains strength, people are becoming aware of their spirit guides and helpers

In the New Energy and oneness of consciousness, it is getting easier to sense the presence of spirit helpers coming around us.

These can be sensed in many ways. I have noticed them as a slight disturbance in the field of energy, in the aura of the body: a slight tingling on the surface, or the sensation of cobwebs around the skin.

On one occasion I could see the outline of the presence and noticed a breaking up of the normal space/time as the entity passed by. This was like a crack in one reality as another reality came through.

Spirit guides and helpers are usually invisible but some sensitive people can see them with clairvoyance or connect with one of the other "clairs", like clairsentience.

In our quiet moments or times of danger, we can communicate with these Spirit helpers. Sometimes one of them puts themselves forward to act as our Doorkeeper: a single channel through which communication passes to our Higher Self and the Spirit and Angelic Realms.

Spirit helpers will work with us if asked; so it is important to clearly feel what we would like to show up in our life.

We can communicate with them with our imagination, day dreaming or night dreaming. It is easiest to connect through images, symbols or pictures, using our powers of visualisation on a feeling level.

When working with the Spirit world it is good to think of the perfect outcome or creation, as the imagination is unbounded and has a field of all possibilities as its basis. There is no need to be concerned with where the resources are going to come from as the Spirit world has infinite energy at its disposal.

Evolutionary desires are loved by the Spirit world as the nature of life is to grow and expand. New ideas which have never been put forward before are appreciated by the Spirit world as they open up new channels for energy to flow in.

Things which help to bring wealth and joy into other people's lives by giving from your heart using your creative aspects in an artistic or cultural field gain a lot of support and help.

Using Spirit communication through telepathy and subtle imagination of specific connections to loved ones and family, bring the awareness of this power to the surface of one's consciousness.

Relax and know there is nothing to fear except fear itself, as on this level of awareness you see your subtle connection to everything: it all becomes you.

As you become skilled in using the more subtle levels of the conscious mind and feelings to interact with Spirit, you are also helping to bring these gifts to more of the population: as your awareness grows, so does the general awareness in group consciousness.

You will be helping the planet to evolve and grow in the New Energy and increasing the power and awareness of the Spirit kingdom and all the various levels of spirit guides and helpers in the Angelic kingdom.

There are also healing helpers psychic surgeons (surgeons in Spirit) to help improve the health of your own body and those around you.

So why not spend a few minutes each day using your spirit guides and helpers to connect with the subtle feelings, to communicate with your Higher Self, inviting them to co-create with you different aspects of your life.

Message channelled by George Lockett (C) Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved.

* New book * "A Journey into the Self -- the multi-dimensional nature of being human": HealerGeorge Web Site and New Book

Description: What is this book going to do for YOU? For those who are seeking a complete energetic makeover, as you read it you will feel a stirring and awakening in the depths of your heart. For those who have questions about Shifts in Consciousness, Energy Balancing and Healing within the body, you will find clear answers.

Read HealerGeorges Blog: Curezone Blog or ask at question at: Ask HealerGeorge