Gaia Community: Pierre's Blog

$200 a barrel

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:52:52 GMT

There is no way the U.S. could hope to conquer Iran.

Nor would the Iranian people rise up and overthrow their theocratic leaders--the same neoconservative fantasy that Bush war-mongers promised ahead of the Iraq invasion, and which they are re-cycling now to justify an attack on Iran. In fact, an attack on Iran, far from sparking a rebellion against the government there, would crush the new wave of reform that was evidenced in last week's local elections in Iran, which dealt a blow to the country's hardliners. Iran is a proud nation with a history reaching back thousands of years. If attacked, its people can be counted on to rally around their current rulers, and its war-hardened soldiers can be counted on to fight to the death to defend their country.

Moreover, while its military may be no match for America's, Iran has many asymmetrical options for retaliation. As the key player in Iraq, with close links to Iraq's Shia factions, Iran's military has trained and armed the Badr Brigades--the largest and best-armed faction in Iraq, and one which to date has stayed out of the fighting against US forces. Iran is also close to the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al Sadr, and could unleash his fanatical troops too, against US forces in Iraq. If this happens, count on American casualty rates leaping to or even surpassing Korea or Vietnam-era levels overnight.

Additionally, Iraq's intelligence services have connections with Shia groups in Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries, and can be expected to quickly organize cells to strike at economic and US military targets there.

More seriously, of course, an attack on Iran will jack the price of oil to levels never seen before. Even if the US managed to militarily control the Straits of Hormuz, Iran's hundreds of stockpiled anti-ship missiles, which are buried in bunkers all along the Persian Gulf, would cause insurance rates to soar so high that no tanker could afford to sail that route, effectively cutting off over one quarter of the world's oil supply. Virtually all of the oil produced in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and the Arab Emirates would be trapped in the ground. As well, the network of pipelines that bring oil from wellheads to refineries and to storage and pier facilities would be virtually indefensible against Iran-inspired sapper attacks.

Oil industry analysts have talked of oil leaping in price to $200 a barrel or more in the event of a US war with Iran, and given how panicked this country got when oil reached $80 a barrel recently, there's no need to go into detail explaining what $200/barrel oil would do to the U.S. economy--or to the global economy.

Of course, the biggest issue is that attacking Iran would be yet another war crime by this craven administration. No one can argue that Iran poses an imminent threat to anyone, least of all to the U.S.--the only legitimate grounds under the U.N. Charter and the Nuremburg Charter, to which the U.S. is a signatory, for initiating a war. Attacking a country that poses no such threat is defined as the most heinous of war crimes: a Crime Against Peace.

If Bush and Cheney perpetrate this crime, the Congress should initiate immediate impeachment proceedings and should simultaneously pass legislation terminating funding for the war. The important thing now is for the American people to register their opposition to this war before it happens. Call your senators and your representative and let them know you don't want it to happen, and you want impeachment if it does. And add your name to the petition against war. Also mark down January 27 in your calendar, for the big march and rally against war and for impeachment in Washington, D.C. (to be followed by two days of lobbying Congress on Jan. 28-29.

Finally, send this story to everyone you know, and urge them to do the same. At this point, with Democrats still cowering in their offices, only the American people can stop this madness.
Socialism of the XXI Century | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 6:53 pm | #

Tags:

Deep and Dark.

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:35:09 GMT

For the 1st time in a long time I'm feeling a bit depressed.
Sure we've been through a lot.

Francois was murdered.
My good friend Tim's house was under attack today. Fortunately he had a panic button and the perps fled. To break and enter another day.

I want to emigrate to New Zealand.
But when I look what's afoot in the world I'm not sure if there's a country I can go to...

I wait with bated breath for the march tomorrow. I will think of America's brave marchers constantly tomorrow.

How does one cope with all this pressure. It's no wonder that it's easier to be unconscious and ignore all but your immediate surroundings.
Eckhardt Tolle would say: "Be with the present moment, whatever it is."

I'm contemplating buying a pistol.
I reason that in the days of old the men and women had to defend themselves against wild animals... the wild animals of today shoot as well.
I'm not sleeping well and have constant violent fantasies playing off in my head.

This is not how I wish to feel.

On the way back from the gym there was the usual tell tale shattered glass on the tarmac at the intersection close to home. Another smash and grab. Must be hundreds per day. Another person scared witless and robbed of their possessions.

And the government does what all governments do.
Nothing.
Oh they do have their little petty in-fights and power struggles and are hopefully sober when they make "decisions"... but that's a lot to ask...
Useless bunch.

What is the point of living in a country like this...
I ask you...

Tags: South Africa, crime, violence, elites, government, abuse

Thoughts as they come..

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:54:53 GMT

I have, even through this ordeal, come to realize that the perpetrators of this crime are victims (as much as we are) of the game the elites play with people.
They were driven insane by those that would first hail freedom fighting as a cause to die for... and then cast them aside as they'd outlived their usefulness.
To not even speak of the previous regime.
Does the government even know they're being used?
Need to know basis.
The higher up the more you know.
The psychology of it all is intensely interesting.

Tags: politics, regime, elite, corruption

Goodbye

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 05:48:32 GMT

We're seeing Francois for the first time today...
For the last time.
To make sure we're not dreaming.
Have your thoughts with my daughter Jessica...
Anyone who reads this.
Send you love.
Just a thought.

Tags:

Francois in Memoriam

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:35:18 GMT

Francois Viljoen (25) was my daughters boyfriend. He was a musician, and an awesome lyricist. He was a gentle yet passionate soul - and he had an awareness of the dysfunction that holds human beings on this planet captive.

He was murdered this morning, responding to his mother's scream during an armed robbery early this morning. Jessica was in Cape Town doing an Oppikoppi Event.

We are torn apart by his passing. This senseless killing of a beautiful boy, of a boy who reminded me so much of myself that it had me conflict.

Francois - thank you. You taught me more than you knew here.

Another bullet in the heart of South Africa.
One of 50 murders in South Africa every day.
The government doesn't seem to able to do anything about it.
Maybe it's not important enough.

Tags: Crime, grief, victim, government, regime, capitalism

A letter to the president of South Africa - Thabo Mbeki

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:30:00 GMT

From: Pierre Schnehage [mailto:pierre@airtimeproductions.co.za]
Sent: 12 February 2007 12:44 PM
To: 'mbekit@dpo.pwv.gov.za'
Subject: Dear Sir
Importance: High

I don't understand.

Apartheid is gone.

There are many white people wanting to make a difference in this country.

Granted, those who went before us made some hideous mistakes, acting in their own fear.

But they are not us.

But now, as it seems to many, our country is crumbling.

BEE, in the way it is enforced, is working against itself.

Whites are surviving on their own because they have some skills.

Axing us from the market only builds the lager mentality Nelson swore he was against.

"Never again..." he said.

We don't have services. If we do, they're so expensive as to build real animosity to brands you should not have shares in.

The prognosis looks grim.

I do not believe in critisizing merely for it's own sake.

But I need to say this.

My mother was card carrying ANC member in '85.

It's not as though I don't or didn't understand the struggle.

I was victimised for my family openly associating with black people.

She is disillusioned. The causes she believed in leave her in denial and in tears.

I am disillusioned.

I did not think that the market, in the end, would win.

So where do I go now?

"Pack for Perth" as 1.5 million of my fellow countrymen have.

Or do I stay?

What are the chances of this country ending up like Zim?

The prognosis looks grim.

Yours Sincerely

Pierre

Tags: struggle, government, South Africa, crime

If you could teach this community something, what would it be?

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:53:21 GMT

For us and our future world... try to use the system of debt as little as possible. Not at all if possible. The banks can't survive without us. They shouln't. Once you've committed to the system of debt it's VERY hard to get out. If 5% of people having a bank account now, withdrew their money, the banks would bankrupt. They don't really have the money.

Read GW's blog. Then do your own research. Dig deep!

Tags: QaR, teach, community, share

Stand Strong America!

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:49:54 GMT

"History Will Teach Us Nothing"
Sting
"Nothing Like The Sun"

If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past
Security in human systems we're told will always always last
Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast
Without a breath of real freedom we're getting nowhere fast

If God is dead and an actor plays his part
His words of fear will find their way to a place in your heart
Without the voice of reason every faith is its own curse
Without freedom from the past things can only get worse

Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later just like the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away

History will teach us nothing
History will teach us nothing

Our written history is a catalogue of crime
The sordid and the powerful, the architects of time
The mother of invention, the oppression of the mild
The constant fear of scarcity, aggression as its child

Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later
Sooner or later

Convince an enemy, convince him that he's wrong
Is to win a bloodless battle where victory is long
A simple act of faith
In reason over might
To blow up his children will only prove him right
History will teach us nothing

Sooner or later the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later the world first day
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away
Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away

History will teach us nothing
History will teach us nothing

Know you human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for
Know your human rights
Be what you come here for

I wish all my American brothers and sisters love and support in the trying times ahead.

Tags:

Don't Bottle It In...

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:04:51 GMT

The Professionals Speak

    "I've been involved in countless self-growth endeavors, from Lifespring to psychoanalysis; from Gestalt workshops to Rational Emotive Therapy. And, as a practicing psychiatrist for twenty-three years, I have learned a great deal about factors involved in helping people to change and grow. For me, however, the Hoffman Quadrinity Process was the most thorough and beneficial experience I have had, including many years of traditional and non-traditional therapy. The seven day Process was extremely well planned and executed to maximize attitudinal and behavioral change."
    - Joel F. Miller, M.D., Psychiatrist -

    "The Process profoundly changed my life... I became more competent, creative and highly functional. There was a tremendous burst of creative energy. My practice increased and my work took on new dimensions. The world is different after the Process - much less threatening. The Process continues to work each day... The effects grow stronger, instead of weaker. The Hoffman Quadrinity Process is a flight of life that continues to grow."
    - Elise J. Katch, M.A., M.S.W., Clinical Social Worker -


    "...in a world of countless and often endless therapies, it is significant to find one that is without question the most focused, organized, systematic, time-limited and helpful."
    - David Deitch, Ph.D., National Institute of Mental Health consultant -


    "The work of the Process; the minute-by-minute changes which occurred; were and remain beyond easy description. There were moments of horrific insight followed by instances of rapturous clarity. The great and small changes/insights came and went, washing over me until I was bathed, flooded, and finally cleansed... My life changes have been so many and so fast occurring that it is impossible to describe them here. Suffice it to say that after the Process I told myself that I'd left something important behind, that I'd changed. Only later did I realize that it was not so much that I'd left something behind, but that I'd started something, a new life. This is not the axiom of the glass half empty or half full. Rather it is about a road appearing and a road thus taken where before there was no road (nor landscape) at all."
    - Hawkins Mitchell, Ph.D., Psychologist and Writer -


    "The Hoffman Quadrinity Process really made a dramatic difference. I don't think I've ever felt so good. There have been bad moments but they have been moments and precious few at that. And those I have are easily handled... For me the Process has continued to expand and grow. There have been instances of increasing awareness, the "aha" phenomenon and growth which has led to so much more inner peace and feeling of freedom. It's wonderful."
    - Janet Mules, M.D., Psychiatrist -


    "The Process touched me in a way I'd never before experienced in any therapy: patiently, confrontingly, lovingly, guiding me to and through my own learned negativity. I continue to unfold and ripen. I am discovering the endlessness of loving."
    - Gerald Kogan, Ph.D., International Gestalt and Body Therapist -


    "If one wanted to create a synthesis integrating psychodynamic, transpersonal, humanistic, and behavioristic ingredients in individual psychotherapies, one could hardly originate a better product than the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, a method which takes only eight days... HQP is the best method I know for the realignment of relationships with parents and parent surrogates and, more generally, a powerful tool in the service of the development of love for self and others."
    - Claudio Naranjo, M.D., Psychiatrist Author of The One Quest, The Healing Journey and On the Psychology of Meditation -


    "It is a thorough and exhaustive procedure which can save people a lot of time in growing... those who have been disappointed in other searches can find what they are looking for here."
    - Lee Sannella, M.D. Author of Kundalini - Psychosis or Transcendence? -


    "While my personal benefit has been considerable, I have also observed the important benefit to others... Indeed, of the many therapies and awareness methods I have studied during the past thirty years, the Hoffman Quadrinity Process stands out as the most comprehensive and the most effective... It's a practical, straightforward and useful therapeutic joining of the emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical levels."
    - Jack Downing, M.D., Psychiatrist -

Tags: healing, childhood, scars, parents, damage, molested, emotional

Anti-Depressants

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:19:58 GMT

It is a contentious issue. The issue of chemical correction.In a few extreme cases I believe that using a chemical to break through the defense mechanisms could be advantageous and a tool but never as standard issue "fixing up". The psychosis we suffer is induced by unconscious living, teaching, acting, believing etc. - the foundation laid in childhood. Only the intrepid turning back into the issues and wounds that scare you so, and BEING with that feeling - and realising that the dangers no longer apply - can lead to recovery. That would mean FETCHING your child. Metaphorically comforting him/her. PARENTING yourself in the absence of initial caregiving.
I wouldn't endorse fighting depression... I would suggest going into it - finding out - really finding out what led you to believe what you believe about yourself. When you have compassion with the way you are and think - can you start doing positive things. If there is still disgust for how you are, come over, see yourself - you will be fighting - and fighting is that which you know TOO well. It leads to hurt.
I agree. The reason drugs are used so willy nilly for bolstering the bottom financial line, is that we think ultimately there is some kind of miracle (drug) out there which will take away all your troubles. The manufactures of drugs and ESCAPE in general know this and feed there insatiable market. But it is a profound myth. The only miracle is you. And only you can help yourself up to where there is light. There might be self help programmes. But they just facilitate. In the end - only YOU - can do something about it.
That's why I endorse programmes like The Hoffman Process. It facilitates you to look at what happened in childhood. But only if you're ready.

Tags:

The Culture of Deprivation

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:10:34 GMT

I’ve come to call the eras we live in the “culture of deprivation” which to me means a lot of things on a lot of levels.

To deprive certain beings of certain inclinations, actions and “privileges” using constructs such as religion and morality would signify (to me) a inclination to control. Control, it would seem to me, derives from fear which could go back to the most basic and primal survival instincts and techniques known of. Degrees of safety, security and predictability could probably have evolved from the successful experiments in this proposed scenario. Making for “aha” moments. “If I do this…, then that happens”. Would this be stored in the collective limbic brain? And would we have started to use our experiments in “control of the environment” on each other?

This could become a very drawn out essay if I don’t “reign” it in. :)

To me the conflict starts with “right” and “wrong”; “should” and “shouldn’t”; “better” and “worse” which are conditions we assign “happenings” as they affect us and which have been imprinted on our minds as “stuff you need to know in order to survive” – and “if you don’t do as I say, you’ll roast or go blind or feel terrible.

The mottoes abound! And lodge more firmly as a mode of thinking. “God only knows!” “That’s life”; “Kak en betaal” (Shit and Pay); “Jy weet mos wat sê hulle”… (you know what they say)

These and thousands of other “terminating arguments” hang around in tandem with our conditioning.

And as a young open mind – this information comes crashing in with “God Almighty” vehemence.

I have just discovered why I need to seduce every woman I’m attracted to. Out of Tolle’s book. A New Earth. P179. A boy gets little or no care and love from his mother. He needs it and becomes enraged that he can’t get it. The proverbial love/hate scenario. Plus the woman “JO” who molests me as a 3 year old. The only attention I get is sexual. But it is “wrong” as I stingingly found out when investigating what I was taught - on little girls. (Funny, the things taught to me by a woman… I get berated for by women. Such is the nature of dysfunction. )

So I equate my perception of love with sex – yet it’s not love. It’s what I know. – The scene is set in my child mind. You don’t matter. But you want the love of a woman… coupled with (no pun :))… females “want” to do these things to me. Transferred to my adult life it has become much more complex. I intellectually justify, “new age” it, blame the church for prudery, etc. I was never shown ALL the possibilities around sex and how it related to intimacy – and that right and wrong should best have not become involved.

Yet, “What is wrong with me” has become the vehicle to healing those wounds. And now I am aware of this. And with awareness the hold of my ego becomes less. Don’t get me wrong – I love the surge of serotonin. But I know now that there are other ways to look at it now.

Whether or not there are master minds behind this phenomenon of "control" has become irrelevant to me… “showing” that we can get to the bottom of our childhood “stuffing” (defense mechanism) might be the only way to bring greater consciousness.

Tolle I think advocates becoming aware of the conditioning. He has said that if you “try” to drop it, it merely becomes another construct in thought as to “who you must become”. But I myself think of “me” as a construct of ego. As if defined by thoughts...

Who am I really? Am I any ”one”? Am I anything?

I am alive… I am experiencing… Am I life? Why not? The great I Am? Why not.

Is it important? Maybe.

Some thoughts on “lack”…

Tags: lack, addiction, love, sex

When was the last time you were surprised?

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:36:46 GMT

Synchronicity surprises me every day.
I think it probably wise to have it happen on a daily basis.
All in one go could overclock my CPU :)
But have you ever just thought...
These thoughts on this planet which supports "life"...
In this galaxy... this universe...
It is stupendous!

Maandag 18 06 2007d

Tags: QaR, surprises, galaxy, venus, moon

The Mystery

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Tue, 29 May 2007 09:21:55 GMT

There is religion and there are claims of an historical figure called Jesus. For me there is not enough evidence of his existence. I’ve read several books that have made a study of his purported life and the most compassionate one was The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandi. It’s not a mudslinging effort but a thoroughly researched study of all the historical evidence available. The conclusion is that given the circumstances around the rise of the legend (abducted from the gnostics and the pagans) a group of fundamentalists stopped at nothing to convey their version of the “truth” Through the ages the convenience of so many people set up (in their family systems) to be open to a “father” who would “save” them from the “enemy” and the ‘wiles of Seth” was apparent to guys like Constantine and King James. 99% of people were illiterate in those times and had no reason for doubting the King’s first hand knowledge on matters of life and death. He could certainly take your life if he was having a bad hair day.

The stage was set. Thousands of years of childlike belief in a love so strong it would take yours if you didn’t accept or confess to your lowliness, your inherent badness, your sinful nature. The tragic irony is that it was all a rouse. A carefully (or maybe not, if you take note of the errors in the book) constructed twist of tricks that still confounds the hearts of men and women today. A friend of mine once remarked that if he had something like Christianity to sell he would make millions. “Buy this! If you do, you’ll be loved and accepted by our whole loving family who give a tenth of everything to us… if you don’t, roast in hell.” Being a father I couldn’t quite or ever make sense of this notion of a “loving father” and that he, in a moment of weakness (?) sent his son to die for our badness? How does that work?

“OK, all you bad mf’s! I’ve had it with you! You’re never going to be good so here’s what I’m gonna do. I’ll send my only begotten son down to earth – he will teach you wonderful things and in return you must string him from a cross so that he can die horribly and you can feel guilty about that for 2000 years!”

Guilt.

Being acceptible.

How many times did I plead with him… it never crossed my mind that I was being had. After all, who would do such a thing.

Centuries of dysfunction will do that. Mothers and fathers conforming to the patriarchy will teach their boys and girls of this phenomenon that will rob you of most of the joy of life. It will teach us that love is conditional. That it CAN only work if you “give up” your life to HIM (?) Why a male… hmmm. Riddled with issues that we in this age are able to see now with startling clarity. How easy it is to fool people. Because they WANT to believe it! They “NEED” it. Or think they do.

But the gnostics were referring to Jesus as an allegorical figure. That also, ironically, became the reason they were all but exterminated. Because they were getting in the way of a great plan that would make a couple of families very, VERY rich and powerful.

The love is inside. Not outside in the form of a fairy tale. The love is you. The love is me. The love is available to all who want it. Without cost. Without condition. Without it running out.

We are all the magnificent majesty that is spoken of.

Life.

And that is The Good News.

Now try and tell that to the world and experience how it feels to suffer for what you believe is true. For you will be called a child of Satan. End of story. No further investigation.

So be it. (for the time being)

Tags: religion, christianity, God, fundamental, Freke, sin, love, historical

What, if anything, do you believe we owe the world? Why?

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:06:24 GMT

I don't think we OWE the world anything! Maybe its just a question of semantics but a WORD triggers so many links to so many emotions. OWE is an expectation. It is a response to debt. Debt is incurred. It is a human construction.
I believe that if we show our children how magnificent our planet is - and take the time to teach with an open mind what we know in our innermost of HER... then there would be no debt implication. But I do think we owe it to each other to deconstruct all the dogmas, shame based teachings, tyrranies, fear of scarcity and the like. Deconstruct the dogma and propaganda's that were concieved in fear, greed and manipulation and expose the incredible creative and loving nature of every human being.

Tags: QaR, planet, earth, green

What purpose does money serve in your life?

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sun, 20 May 2007 18:17:20 GMT

Money empowers me to bring to fruition a lot of my visions.
The lack thereof serves in showing me that I am even without.

Our culture would have us serving the Cult Of Numbers.
But I think we'll wake up in time and become what we've always wanted.

Free and Creative.

Tags: QaR, money, meaning

My Perspective

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Wed, 16 May 2007 07:56:51 GMT

You, I and everything that has life, down to the molecular, IS god. But there, for me, is too much emphasis on perversion, punishment etc. Everything is molded by circumstance.

A quote I recently encountered reads:

"A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not another; they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's"

I say, being the herd animals we are, we do learn, acceptingly and unwaveringly, from firstly our parents and our societies. Conditional acceptance can mold a person's personality. Unconditional love is something our tribe knows ZERO about. Our family systems are set up with "survival" in mind. Teaching means WARNING to DEFEND yourself at any cost.

The Bible and whatever other "holy" books exist are archaic and superstitious. I believe there's a thread to Spirituality but based on redundant thinking. There is no such thing as purity and impurity - merely one's perception of it.

The Aquarian Conspiracy explores the human brain, it's pattern forming abilities, old ways of thinking AND, most positively, recognizing the changes taking place in millions of people's thinking. We are life. We will not let ourselves die or go extinct if we could avoid it. That is not in our true nature.
War, for instance, is an extension of our childhood teachings. Defend, defend, DEFEND. And if you can make manifest the hidden agenda, Great! We're scared of authority. Our Dad was big and imposing. School and their shame-based teaching enforced and extended the teaching. So that we would continue to fear. And to take "big daddy's" advice... and not ask questions. That way we are drawn in by our mad and squabbling presidents into wars we, at our core, abhor. It's time to examine our core.

It is NOW time to explore, fearlessly, ways in which we can all think of the planet's survival - and bring it about.
Needless to say, our opinions are NOT going to be very popular. :)

Tags: survival, Aquarian, God, planet

A Book I would recommend to Everyone at Zaadz!

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sat, 05 May 2007 15:06:00 GMT

If there ever was a book that was before it's time, it's this one. It's more relevant now than in 1980 when it was first published. Don't get a fix on the title. To the contrary - it's a book by a very wise woman bringing together the wisdoms of hundreds of enlightened authors, philosophers, scientists and more.

Tags: Aquarius, conspiracy, healing, enlighten, Marilyn Ferguson

The Aquarian Conspiracy, Aquarius Now

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:12:20 GMT

I find it difficult to believe that I am the only one on Zaadz who listed these books by Marilyn Ferguson.
I am reading The Aquarius Conspiracy and what she was thinking in the late 70's is manifest in sites like Zaadz. But there is a lot more in the books - in an incredibly lucid style of writing.
She sees the unseen movement striving for health as a natural part of human evolution. And it has been evolving for centuries.
I have gained tremendous inspiration from The Aquarius Conspiracy and I'm only a quarter of the way through. Really Recommended. Some quotes below and an extract below that.

"Fear is a question: What are you afraid of, and why? Just as the seed of health is in illness, because illness contains information, your fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if you explore them."

"Over the years your bodies become walking autobiographies, telling friends and strangers alike of the minor and major stresses of your lives."

"Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies in our culture, the assumption that aging means decline and poor health is probably the deadliest."

"The greatest revolution in our generation is that of human beings, who by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

"Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of fear is a freedom."

Marilyn Ferguson

Excerpt from Aquarius Now (2005)

Japanese society has an admirable habit of honoring its outstanding contributors as if they were national resources. Individuals who have developed their abilities to a high level or who have given generously of themselves are designated "living treasures."

Every nation, indeed every neighborhood, has its living treasures, people who find their greatest reward in contributing to the society. Some are well known, but millions are quietly going about their heroic tasks perfecting their work, trying to serve more, not less. Most of these people grasp the content of the body of wisdom Aldous Huxley called the Perennial Philosophy. They recognize that their fate is tied to that of others. They know that they must take responsibility, maintain their integrity, keep learning, and dream boldly. And they know that this knowing is not enough.

They are making clear that what they need now is the so-called "nitty gritty," the small steps that precede a leap. They want a technology transfer from the people who make their dreams come true. Radical common sense says that we should collect and disseminate such secrets for the good of the whole. And, not surprisingly, that most capable people are not only happy to share what they have learned; they are also eager to benefit from the experience of others.

It is little wonder that our individual discoveries don't become common knowledge. When we stumble across certain tricks and short-cuts we usually don't think to tell anyone else. For one thing, they probably already know. Or we're competitive.

The more successful we become at our chosen tasks, the less time there is for analysis and reflection. The coach may recall that the gold-medal figure skater was once graceless or fearful. Certain psychological and technical breakthroughs made the difference. The champion, also a subtle observer of change, is too busy mastering new moves to spell out the anatomy of a winning performance. The same could be said of the outstanding entrepreneur, statesman, or parent. They aren't teaching because they are so busy learning. Think for a moment of your own breakthroughs. Did you record and track your learning? Most of the time we notice improvement in retrospect, if at all. And we rarely think to mark the trail for others to follow. "Live and learn," we say, acknowledging the value of experience. We usually forget about "Live and teach."

Radical common sense says that our collective survival may depend on our ability to teach ourselves and others. By pooling and organizing the wisdom of many scouts we can assemble a kind of guide and companion for travelers everywhere.

Apply certain laws of life, and you have nature on the side of your dream. You are less reliant on luck and, at the same time, better equipped to take advantage of it. You can contribute your best without compromising your values, undermining your health, or exploiting others. You can be an explorer and friend to humanity.

Achievers have an enabling attitude, realism, and a conviction that they themselves were the laboratory of innovation. Their ability to change themselves is central to their success. They have learned to conserve their energy by minimizing the time spent in regret or complaint. Every event is a lesson to them, every person a teacher. Learning is their true occupation, and out of it flowed their profession.

These four-minute-milers of the spirit insist that they are not unusually endowed, that others can do what they have done. They know factors of success more reliable than luck or native ability. The not-so-hidden agenda is the conviction that leadership must become a grassroots phenomenon if our societies are to thrive. If that strikes you as unlikely, consider first of all that nothing else is likely to work. And secondly, be aware that people already secretly suspect that they are capable of taking charge. Sociological surveys have shown repeatedly that most people believe themselves smarter, more caring, more honest, and more responsible than most people. Apparently we can't show these traits because "it's a jungle out there." It's as if to be "smart" we must hide our caring lest we try to live up to our responsibility in the jungle. So the dangerous jungle persists as a self-fulfilling prophecy from our collective self-image. One of the ways we can spring the goose from the bottle is to unite as free and honorable individuals who have the nerve and good sense to challenge defeatist assumptions. In so doing we have to pierce the veil that separates our heroes from the heroic in ourselves. As our societies go through their identity crises, we can view the chaos as a sign of life, the turbulence as a healing fever. Radical common sense paraphrases Socrates: The unexamined collective life is not worth living.

The more sensitive I am as an individual, the more permeable I am to healthy new influences, the likelier that I can be molded into an unprecedented Self. That Self is the secret of success of a society. It sees the ways in which its fate is joined to the whole. It has the attributes we sometimes call soul and the passion we have called patriotism.

Radical common sense is the wisdom gleaned from the past that recognizes the perishable opportunities of the moment. It is the willingness to admit error and the refusal to be deterred by failure. Heroism, it becomes apparent, is nothing more than becoming our latent selves. Victory doesn't lie in transcending or taming our nature but in progressively discovering and revealing more of it. Great problems, like the wars of old, may be a stimulus to achievement, but we don't have to rely on external challenge. Radical common sense says we can challenge ourselves. Or as the Taoist tradition puts it, we can embrace the tiger.

When asked for his most important discovery, a famous corporate trainer said, "I finally realized that people learn from only one thing: experience. And most people aren't very good at it." Beyond a certain point all education is self-education. New learning comes slowly unless we choose it. A self-defined challenge is an irresistible teacher. In encompassing the simple secrets of the visionary life, radical common sense may be the long-sought Grail, a powerful vessel in which we might shape ourselves and be shaped.

Above excerpt from Chapter 1, Aquarius Now by Marilyn Ferguson (Weiser Books, November 2005). Aquarius Now by Marilyn Ferguson; Published by Weiser Books; Publication date: November, 2005; Price: $22.95; ISBN 1-57863-369-9; Hardcover; Category: New Age/New Consciousness

Marilyn Ferguson's landmark bestseller, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time (1980), described a "leaderless movement" with the potential to trigger a global paradigm shift. This social, spiritual, and political phenomenon thrived on grassroots encounters and proliferating networks.

Tags: Aquarius, conspiracy, future, Marilyn Ferguson, Now

What are the top three most important things you've learned?

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:22:06 GMT

1. That the answer lies within.
2. We are all One.
3. Change is the only constant.

Tags: QAR, lessons, experience

Quoting from The Power of Now p.121

http://quadrinity.gaia.com — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:42:08 GMT

I always thought that true enlightenment is not possible except through love in a relationship between a man and a woman. Isn't that what makes us whole again? How can one's life be fulfilled until that happens?

Is that true in your experience? Has this happened to you?

Not yet, but how could it be otherwise?

In other words, you are waiting for an event in time to save you. Is this not the core error we have been talking about? Salvation is not elsewhere in place or time. It is here and now.

What does that statement mean? "salvation is here and now"? I don't understand it. I don't even know what salvation means.

Most people pursue physical pleasures or various forms of psychological gratification because they believe that those things will make them happy or free them from a feeling of fear or lack. Happiness may be perceived as a heightened sense of aliveness attained through physical pleasure, or a more secure and complete sense of self attainment through some form of psychological gratification. This is the search for salvation from a state of unsatisfactoriness or insufficiency. Invariably, any satisfaction that they obtain is short-lived, so the condition of satisfaction or fulfillment is usually projected once again onto an imaginary point away from the here and now. "When I obtain this or am free of that - then I will be okay" This is the unconcious mind-set that creates the illusion of salvation in the future.
            True salvation is fulfillment, peace, life in all its fullness. It is to be who you are, to feel within you the good that has no opposite, the joy of Being that depends on nothing outside itself. It is felt not as a passing experience but as an abiding presence. In theistic language, it is to "know God" - not as something outside you but as your own innermost essence. True salvation is to know yourself as an inseperable part of the timeless and formless One Life from which all that exists derives its being.
            True salvation is a state of freedom - from fear, from suffering, from a perceived state of lack and insufficiency and therefore from all wanting, needing, grasping and clinging. It is freedom from compulsive thinking, from negativity, and above all from past and future as a psychological need.
Your mind is telling you that you cannot get there from here. Something needs to happen or you need to become this or that before you can be free and fulfilled. It is saying, in fact, that you need time - that you need to find, sort out, do, achieve, acquire, become or understand something before you can be free or complete. You see time as the means to salvation, whereas in truth it is the greatest obstacle to salvation. You think that you can't get there from where and who you are at this moment because you are not yet complete and good enough, but the truth is that here and now is the only point from where you can get there. You find God the moment you realize that you don't need to seek God. So there is no only way to salvation: any condition can be used, but no particular condition is needed. However, there is only one point of access: the Now. There can be no salvation away from this moment. You are lonely and without a partner? Enter the Now from there. You are in a relationship? Enter the Now from there.
            There is nothing you can ever do or attain that will get you closer to salvation than it is at this moment. This may be hard to grasp for a mind accustomed to thinking that everything worthwhile is in the future. Nor can anything that you ever did or that was done to you in the past prevent you from saying yes to what is and taking your attention deeply into the Now. You cannot do this in the future. You do it now or not at all.

Tags: Tolle, enlightenment, saviour, God, Now, presence, relationship