Sunday, April 19, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Monday, April 13, 2020
Quantum Medicine for the Corona Virus
One of the real dangers of the current pandemic is for us to feel helpless, overwhelmed with despair, impending doom and pessimism, a state which cuts us off from our agency and creative power. Strangely enough, the hardest of the hard sciences—quantum physics—comes to our aid to serve as medicine to protect us from this psychological danger. A little insight into the essence of what quantum physics reveals to us can be the best anti-depressant imaginable. By revealing that we live in a thoroughly quantum universe, quantum physics is literally placing the keys to our future in our own hands – the question is, do we know how to wisely use the gift that is being freely offered to us?
Called “the crowning intellectual achievement of the last century,” quantum physics points out that even if something is, to quote pre-eminent quantum theorist John Archibald Wheeler, “incredibly, ridiculously unlikely,” it can still manifest “in reality” in this very moment. Wheeler explains, “unlikely is not quite the same as impossible.” An infinitesimally small or “nonzero” probability is radically different from something that is impossible; we should be very careful what we assign to the trash bin of the impossible. The implications of this, both in “the real world” and within our minds, are truly uplifting and inspiring.
The quantum world is the realm of the extremely small, the sub-microscopic dimension. Even though the macroscopic world of our everyday human experience appears to operate classically, it is built out of nothing but quantum entities. Before a quantum entity is observed, for example, it exists in a state of open-ended potentiality such that each and every possible state in which it could ever manifest exists in a potential parallel universe. At the moment of observing a quantum entity it actualizes into one particular state (what we call “the real world”) and all of its other potential states vaporize as if they never existed.
This process (which is happening at each and every moment, including right now!) takes place instantaneously, in no time at all - literally outside of time in such a way so as to be practically imperceptible. Entrancing ourselves via our own intrinsic creative genius to call forth reality, we think the world is simply happening to us, as we miss how the quantum nature of our creativity has a hand in evoking each moment of our experience. We have then literally bewitched ourselves—casting a spell on ourselves—through using our own creative power in an unconscious, disempowering way that is potentially killing us.
Coronavirus – The Aftermath. A Coming Mega-Depression...and what you can do about it...
(I am sharing this because it is time to get realistic and look at all the ways this could play out. What is happening is showing us where the true disease lies. You need to wake up and consciously choose how to play this. Every action, large and small, will make a difference as to where you end up in the game. Personal responsibility must be reclaimed. Time to clean house.)
By Peter Koenig
April 12, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - What will be next? Is a question on many people’s minds. Very likely the world will never be the same again. That might be good, or not so good, depending on how we look at this disastrous, “pandemic” which by all serious accounts does not deserve the term “pandemic”, that was unwittingly attributed to the SARS-2-CoV, or 2019-nCoV, renamed by WHO as COVID-19.
On March 11, Dr. Tedros, WHO’s Director General called it a pandemic. This decision was already taken by the WEF (World Economic Forum) in Davos, from 20 -24 January 2020, when the total COVID19 cases outside of China were recorded by WHO as 150. On January 30, the WHO Director General determines that the outbreak outside of Mainland China constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This was a first indication that there was something not quite right, that there is another agenda behind the “outbreak” of the COVID-19 disease.
On March 26, in a peer-reviewed article in the highly reputed New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the US National Institutes of Health – NIH), likened COVID19 to a stronger than usual common flu:
If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences ofCovid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively. nejm.org
This scientific assessment in the New England Journal of Medicine has not prevented Dr. Fauci from saying exactly the opposite, when interviewed by the mainstream media: see below.
In the meantime, other high-ranking scientists, microbiologists and medical doctors from all over the world, are questioning the draconian worldwide shutdown because of the corona virus. They all say, these draconian measures are not necessary to contain a pandemic with a relatively low fatality rate.
Even in Italy, if the counting and accounting was done more carefully, more according to true statistical norms, the fatality rate would be perhaps 1%, or less. On March 23, Italy’s civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli, told La Repubblica newspaper, it was credible that for every officially reported case, there may be at least 10 infected cases not reported, asymptomatic cases, not requiring a doctor’s visit. If this were true, the actual mortality rate would in a stroke become one percent instead of ten percent.
What the world is experiencing, resembles a well-planned worldwide declaration and implementation of Martial Law with socio-economically disastrous consequences, far worse than the disease itself. Nobody moves. The economy comes to an almost standstill.
This begs the question, what is behind it, and what comes next?
Let’s first look at a not-so-good scenario.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
My Refrigerator
So I’ve been watching this whole drama unfold around the COVID-19 issue and it looks to me like an opportunist grab for power by technocrats. A lot of people are suffering both illness and economic disaster while those holding the reins steer us over an Orwellian cliff. it has brought to my thinking that at some point I may have to choose to go against the grain. Again. Oh well...
There’s a phenomenon I have recently been witnessing in my refrigerator in correlation to how strong and healthy I feel. Given the fact that I am self-isolating, but on my own little food forest near a very Tico community in the mountains of Costa Rica, I could say having the best weather in the world has been helpful. But the thing with the refrigerator also correlates with a decided, but gradual, change in my diet over the last several years since I’ve live in the land of Pura Vida.
In my refrigerator right now, is a jar of red cabbage kraut, made by friend Rivka. Also in my refrigerator is a jug of homemade mango kombucha. Also some green papaya ceviche marinaded in fresh orange and lime juices from my garden. Also, are two jars of sedated sourdough starter wild captured here by my son Sean, and it wants out of the jar. There is home-made mango chutney and pickled ginger. My refrigerator is an incubator for the microorganisms that lead to healthy, happy gut/brain/heart functioning and I am fascinated by how that changes my experience of physical health and the implications.
Now I am not a bored certified scientist, but I do read and study a lot of various theories across the board, and do not believe my views are so strange. Something about the consumption of foods that are primarily composed of the microbiome of the area that I live in has caused an upgrade in my functioning and a greater sense of ease with my situation. What I mean is the information that is percolating through my intestinal tract and beyond is telling my body that all is well, that there is no dis-ease, at least in this body.
I am not going to downplay the suffering we all see across the globe. The “totalitarian two-step” is alive and well. Let’s see if there is any way to change the direction of the dance.
There are many sciences that agree that on a cellular level information exchange is certainly going on and that DNA and RNA are packets of that information. Some would say that genes are maps that can be recoded, and that the environment can cause DNA traits to develop or atrophy. Some nutritional experts would say that what you eat is information that is either in a form the body recognizes and can efficiently utilize, such as an organic raw apple, or doesn’t recognize, like a donut. Science has shown that your body, inside and out, carries trillions of viruses, bacteria, and fungi that outnumber the cells of your body 10 to 1 . That microbial stew pre-digests our food as it travels along the gut. If it encounters an apple, it immediately recognizes it as part of the biome. If it encounters a donut, it reacts with inflammation as if poisoned.
If people realized some simple principles, dis-ease as we know it would cease to exist.
This consuming of local organic fruits and vegetables especially when fermented, is natural inoculation. This is how the microbial realm becomes no longer dangerous. This is how we make the immune system strong. It is a good reason for breastfeeding and letting your kids play in the dirt.
Considering the world we now live in, it is a good idea to immediately take stock of renewable resources at your disposal, to be as self sufficient as possible. And Costa Rica is very rich in farmland and the farming lifestyle. Everyone is growing something or has some cows. So in the worst case scenario, people will go back to doing what they have all ways done.....rest against Gaia. She provides abundantly. No one will starve. This is good, because all the farmers are local. There are only five million people here, less than the population of Los Angeles. There are cooperativos, that serve the entire community with banking, a market featuring locally grown and produced items, a gas station and repair shop, and membership discounts. It is a bottom up system, and it works.
Where I live, I have a 1/2 acre with a house and various fruiting plants...mango, oranges, limes, guava, bananas, plantain, yucca, chayote, water apple, guanábano, ginger, hibiscus, and coffee. How I got here is part of a mysterious chain of events. But here I am and I am grateful.
I am moving in the direction of co-creating resilient and sustainable community. I see many gathering together and forming families, guilds and cooperatives that form a cohesive and interdependent village. I see this as a key to humanity’s survival. It is evolving as we speak.
Now back to my refrigerator...
Three days ago the coconut milk stored in there to cream my coffee had turned solid. I tasted it....tangy, like yogurt! I swirled it into a vegetable and lentil stew. Delicious! This is what happens when every little microbe in my refrigerator is happy!
So, my friends, take care of yourselves, take care of your body, and don’t let your fear steer. :-)
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Observe, Examine, Investigate
First observe, examine, and then start looking into the roots. Why does a certain thing happen again and again? You become angry again and again: examination will simply show you that anger comes and goes. Investigation will show you the roots of anger, from where it comes -- because it may be, it is almost always so, that anger is only a symptom of something else which is hidden. It may be your ego that feels hurt and you become angry, but the ego keeps itself hiding underground. It is like roots of the trees: you see the foliage but you don't see the roots.
By examination you will see the tree, by investigation you will see the roots. And it is only by seeing the roots that a transformation is possible. Bring the roots to the light and the tree starts dying. If you can find the root of your anger, you will be surprised that the anger starts disappearing. If you can find the root of your sadness you will be again surprised.
-Rajneesh
Friday, August 24, 2018
I'm Back....
So....it's been a rather long hiatus. I don't know if I am going to be doing this on a regular basis again, but I felt to check in for some reason. Maybe it was the ayahuasca journey, maybe the increasing insanity on the planet, maybe it's the desire to make a positive contribution....probably all of the above. I know nothing about anything, really. It's all conjecture, a conversation I have with myself.
This is what I have come to realize....it's all in my head. Except that I really have no head to speak of, only this vast space wherein things come and go. As perceived, so appears. There is the conditioned mind constantly interpreting the data from the senses into this holographic reality according to preconceived expectations....one thing leads to another, and another, a seemingly endless panoply unfolding in time. And then there's the aware void, the still point, before anything begins, untouched, unsullied by all of it. When grounded in this awareness, it is more like a movie than anything else, something this "I" simultaneously watches and participates in. There is no investment in any outcome. But "I" am all in.
Oh, there are many opportunities to numb out and attempt to escape and certainly it is understandable why anyone would want to. In so many ways, it's all too much. Even the spiritual stuff depends on us believing we are NOT THAT, even though we ARE THAT which we seek. So the marketplace lures us on, even in our attempt to escape this matrix mind-control hologram.
it's such a small step, so easy to miss. But you have to STOP. Stop seeking, stop buying, stop wanting something ELSE. Be here...now...as if you came to the end of the road and there was just a deep abyss, and you turned around to find where you had been no longer existed either. Think about it....what if NONE of it is real? What if it is just a story we tell ourselves over and over again because to stop is to face our fear of annihilation? What if we just let ourselves get swallowed by the nothing that we fear? The thing is, the fear itself is just part of the story, part of the script. It's the door to the way OUT. Sort of. Because all that happens is the bubble pops, and you are free.
Don't just take my word for it, try it! You'll be surprised....
Sunday, July 6, 2014
One Buddha Teaching That Will Tell You More About Yourself Than Anything Else
No Self
In Buddhism one of the ‘Three
Characteristics’ is No-Self (the other two are impermanence and
suffering which are closely associated with this). This refers to the
illusion of reality having a permanent and separate self.
There is this notion that there is a
permanent “I” or “me,” which is a separate entity that can be found. The
obvious assumption of we are our body sounds good until we look at it
and say “this is my body,” which implies at that moment that whatever
owns the body wasn’t the body. The observer and the observed; duality
denies our body being what we are. It is also in a state of
impermanence, and at a sensate level it is made up of energy flickering
at a similar rate to reality.
Perhaps thoughts are the “I.” They may
seem more like the true “me” than the body does. But they come and go
and are changing constantly too, as well as the majority of them not
being under our control at all. They too aren’t something solid enough
to assume they are the “I.” The ego is a process of identification with
reality (physical and mental phenomena), not a thing in and of itself;
it is like a bad habit. Not being a thing, it cannot be destroyed as
some people say, but by understanding our bare experience, our mind, the
process of identification can stop.
There is also something frequently
called the “watcher” or “observer,” which is observing all of these
phenomena. Strangely, the watcher can’t be found either, as it seems to
sometimes be our eyes, sometimes not; sometimes it’s images in our head;
sometimes it seems to be our body and sometimes it’s watching the body.
It seems odd that this watcher to which all of this is being perceived
by, which seems separate from reality and which seems in control of “us”
is constantly changing and completely unfindable.
One of the biggest clues in solving this
mystery is that if we are observing it, then by definition it isn’t us.
Reality is made up entirely of sensations, and to begin to unravel this
mystery is to begin to awaken. Reality with a sense of a separate
watcher is a delusion. So who or what is it that awakens?
What Awakens?
In short, it’s all of this transience
that awakens! Here’s an explanation, keep in mind this is an attempt at summarizing something quite complicated. (Not really!)
No-Self teachings directly counter the
sense that there is a separate watcher, and that this watcher is “us”
that is in control, observing reality or subject to the tribulations of
the world. These teachings stop the process of mentally creating the
illusion of a separate self from sensations that are inherently non-dual
and utterly transient.
There are physical phenomena (everything
we perceive with our senses) and mental phenomena (thoughts, feelings,
emotions). These are just phenomena, and all phenomena aren’t a
permanent, separate self as they are completely impermanent and are
intimately interdependent. These phenomena arise and pass as we venture
through reality, i.e. the sound of a bird singing comes into existence
and then dissipates.
There is also awareness of these
phenomena, but awareness is not a thing or localised in a particular
place, so to even say “there is awareness” is already a large problem,
as it implies separateness and existence of it where none can be found.
Awareness is permanent and unchanging, and it is said that all things
arise from it, and all things return to it. It could be called God,
Nirvana, The Tao, Allah, the present moment, the Buddha nature or just
awareness.
While phenomena are in flux from their
arising to their passing, there is awareness of them. Thus, awareness is
not these phenomena, as it is not a thing, nor is it separate from
these objects, as there would be no experience if this were so.
True-Self
True-Self teachings point out that we
actually are all these phenomena, rather than them being seen as
observed. As phenomena are observed, they can’t possibly be the
observer. Thus, the observer, which is awareness, cannot possibly be a
phenomenon and thus is not localised and therefore doesn’t exist.
Duality implies something on both sides: an observer and an observed.
However, there is no phenomenal observer, so duality doesn’t hold up
under careful investigation. When the illusion of duality permanently
collapses in awakening, in direct experience, all that is left is these
phenomena, which is the True Self.
There’s a great little Buddhist poem by Kalu Rinpoche that sums all this up:
We live in illusion and the appearance of things.
There is a reality, we are that reality.
When you understand this, you will see “you” are nothing.
And, being nothing, you are everything.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Improvisational Relationship
By Suzen
After reading This Article, I came up with a new idea, a new
term. I call it “Improvisational Relationship”. I have noticed how in all
relationships, we have expectations and concepts about how it is supposed to
progress, gleaned from generations of programming. Especially in intimate
relationships, we self-sabotage by getting stuck in old ways of communicating
that never really connect. The relationship erodes because we are attempting to
plug ourselves in old models of relating that do not have any flexibility or
ingenuity, no inventiveness or creativity, no spontaneity or aliveness. So what if we did relationship completely
differently, as an exercise in ad-libbing our way through it?
Awareness is the key to this, as is microscopic honesty. It means no hidden agendas or secrets or withheld communications. It means putting all your cards on the table at all times, never anything up your sleeve. And it means a direct commitment every moment to being as conscious as possible and completely responsible for everything going on inside you, including the propensity to project on and blame others for causing uncomfortableness.
So how would this look? Let’s take a very simple example of a situation that could lead to an argument in “normal” circumstances. Let’s say on partner suggests a meal out, perhaps for Chinese food. And the other partner responds with, “Chinese food? How could you suggest that when you know I hate Chinese food?” Suddenly drama ensues without either party looking at the deeper levels occurring here. How different it would be if partner #2 responded with, “Wow, I am noticing how strong an aversion I have to your suggestion, not only to this idea I have had for a long time that I do not like Chinese food, but also why would someone who loves me suggest something I dislike? I think I need to look at this deeper. Let’s go to that new Chinese restaurant and see if we can maintain our connection while there.”
Now we are in the realm of discovery, of adventure, a willingness to investigate the unknown. And this can’t be a one-way street, it has to be flexible enough to accommodate the testing and expanding of boundaries held by both parties to the experiment.
The point is to live completely in the moment, completely sensitive to and aware of the ways the past tries to elbow in on the present, locking us into previously designed scripts that no longer serve the Love we know we are. Love has no boundaries, no chains, no expectations. It is active, alive, free-flowing, and dynamic. It cannot be captured in a concept, a word, or a belief system. It is like trying to grab and jail the wind.
For generations, we have been inculcated with images and stories and experiences of relationship that often are dysfunctional and distorted, that do not include simple kindness, forgiveness, and affection. Maybe as children we had these experiences, but all too often, as we become grown-ups, this simple and uncomplicated way of relating falls to the wayside and we are caught up in the cultural dogmas of marriage, family, and child-rearing.
My son, Orion, has been involved with a way of exploring improvisation called “Story Games”. These are like role playing games, but live and sometimes fully theatrical, with costumes and props. More often, they are played around a table with a group, beginning with the outline of a situation, and roles and personalities are designed through a role of the dice. It is much like life in how it unfolds for us, where we find ourselves in parts and scenarios that appear unexpectedly and spontaneously. We truly have little control over how life unfolds, as much as we would like to think otherwise. In these games, one finds oneself often exploring and playing out very different facets of our personalities, sometimes encountering in the interactions with others our emotional limitations and boundaries. There is a pre-set agreement in these games that no one is required to act out anything they feel uncomfortable with: there is always a pre-arranged signal to call “time-out” in these circumstances. But most of the time, people are willing to go all the way through out of curiosity and discovery as to how things might play out. It is a fearless and exuberant exploration, sometimes therapeutic in nature, of our relational characteristics. The people who enjoy these games have often explored intimately with each other many possibilities of relating that allow them much more flexibility and leeway in their relational choices. They are not so hemmed in by conventional ways of thinking.
My participation in some of these exercises has stretched my own ideas about myself, especially those labels that confine me to the pre-defined roles of “mother”, “woman”, and “spiritual”. What are these labels anyway except ways to make static and unchanging something that is part of the dynamic flow of living itself? These words are only useful when pointing to objects as we attempt to constantly fine tune our communications about them. But they ultimately have no objective or subjective meaning, in a world seeking its own evolution and as we individuals strive for liberation.
I am in the active process of discovering where I still harbor old definitions of self, especially in intimate relationships. It cannot be contrived, this feeling my way into the landscape of relating from pure unfathomable consciousness first, allowing myself to discover how it may unfold without attempting to control or manipulate the outcome. The pre-programmed personality must step aside, sometimes unwillingly, in order to allow an unhurried and instinctive developing of events. This primal and original aware self is deeply drawn to encounter this way of Being. There is a raw truth in it, vital and undisguised. It leaves me naked to my very soul, vibrant like a leaf dancing in the wind, in resonance with Life itself. Here is where I meet the Beloved of my Heart, in true celebration of our Oneness.
Bringing this to life in my physical existence, grounding it onto the earth and making it real, seems to be the goal of this lifetime now. Practicing this improvisational relationship in playful, childlike ways is enjoyable and generates much laughter. It is not a serious exercise, but a spirited one. It gets me immediately out of the mind matrix and into the Now. It is the leading edge of life as inventive art, a movement that arises from and increases creativity. It is Joy come alive.
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