"The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences." - Wikipedia
I took an astronomy class in junior college in order to satisfy the science requirement. I have never been very interested in studying science as it seems so dry. Sitting in a classroom which doubled as a planetarium seemed more interesting than studying the Periodic Table of Elements (which by the way, ended up being an important part of the study of astronomy).
A major topic in astronomy class is The Big Bang Theory. This is a cosmological model which is said to explain the origin of the universe.
According to the Big Bang theory, a tremendous explosion occurred about 15 billion years ago causing the universe to expand. Prior to this explosion, all the matter and energy in the universe was contained in one point. After the explosion, matter and energy was thrust out into space in the form of particles rushing away from each other. We learned to visualize it as a loaf of raisin bread baking in an oven. It is a process that is still going on with the universe continuing to expand. We also learned that the universe may someday stop expanding and begin to collapse until it is once again one single point containing all matter and energy. And then, guess what, another Big bang may occur repeating what happened before.
This made me start thinking about Deja Vu. This is the feeling that what you are experiencing has already happened before. I started wondering if every time the Big Bang occurs everything happens exactly as before.
A couple of weeks ago I read The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin by P.D. Ouspensky. Ivan is given a chance to relive his past as he has a desire to correct his mistakes. He meets with a magician who sends him back in time warning him that although he will be fully aware that he is reliving his life in order to change it, he will do everything exactly as he did it before.
As it turns out, the concept of eternal recurrence is a major theme in Ouspensky's teachings and writing. The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin was published in 1915 and explores the idea that even given the free-will to make changes in our lives, the same events will occur regardless of our free will.
The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche often wrote about the concept of eternal recurrence in his works. It is first mentioned in section 341 of The Gay Science
"This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence—even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it . . ."
If the universe should ever collapse in upon inself ( The Big Crunch) and start over again with another Big Bang, I suppose there is a possibility that everything can reoccur as before, which would explain Deja Vu. But why would this happen and what purpose would it serve????
Upton Sinclair is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote over one hundred books including the classic novel The Jungle. Sinclair had a deep interest in psychic phenomena and wrote a book called Mental Radio documenting a series of tests he conducted with his wife, Mary Craig Kimbrough, in order to understand her self-claimed telepathic abilities. Sinclair devised a series of 300 tests that were said to prove the reality of mental telepathy and remote viewing while revealing untold powers of the mind.
Sinclair is said to have sat in one room drawing a picture and then placing it into a sealed envelop while Mary, who was in another room, would "tune in" and draw what she perceived. In other tests, Mary would write out a message sent from someone "far away." Her accuracy rate was said to be astonishing ruling out random chance as an explanation. The couple conducted these experiments for a period of three years. They conducted 290 trials consisting of 65 (23%) successes, 155 (53%) partial successes and 70 (24%) failures.
Sinclair used radio broadcasting as a metaphor to explain how telepathy works. One person's brain sent out a mental "vibration" that the other brain picked up. Sinclair concluded that telepathy is real, uneffected by distance and can be trained, verified and scientifically studied.
Mental Radio documents these experiments and includes Mary's instructions on how to learn the "art of conscious mind-reading." William McDougall, known as the "Dean of American Psychology" at the time, was inspired by the Sinclair's work. McDougall went on to establish a parapsychology department at Duke University. Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and life after death using the scientific method.
Mental Radio was originally published in 1930 and republished in 2001 as a part of Hampton Roads series Classics in Conciousness, edited by Russell Targ. The 2001 edition has an addendum containing an analysis of the raw experiment documentation by Dr Walter Franklin Prince of the Boston Society for Psychic Research. Albert Einstein wrote the book's Preface:
I have read the book of Upton Sinclair with great interest and am convinced that the same deserves the most earnest consideration, not only of the laity, but also of the psychologists by profession. The results of the telepathic experiments carefully and plainly set forth in this book stand surely far beyond those which a nature investigator holds to be thinkable. On the other hand, it is out of the question in the case of so conscientious an observer and writer as Upton Sinclair that he is carrying on a conscious deception of the reading world; his good faith and dependability are not to be doubted. So if somehow the facts here set forth rest not upon telepathy, but upon some unconscious hypnotic influence from person to person, this also would be of high psychological interest. In no case should the psychologically interested circles pass over this book heedlessly.
Albert Einstein - Preface - Mental Radio
In order to achieve a receptive state of telepathy and be able to distinguish between true psychic impressions and normal thoughts, Mary suggests, on page 105 of Mental Radio, that you "Give yourself a suggestion to the effect that you will relax your mind and your body, making the body insensitive and the mind a blank , and reserving the power to break the concentration in a short time. By making the body insensitive, I mean simply to relax completely your mental hold of, or awareness of, all bodily sensation. After giving yourself this suggestion a few times, you proceed to relax both body and mind. Relax all mental interest in everything in the environment; inhibit all thoughts which try to wander into consciousness from the subconsciousness, or from wherever else thoughts come." She adds, "the way to relax is to let go. Let go of every tense muscle, every tense spot, in the body. This deep relaxation is important for if the body is tense it affects the thoughts in the mind. Likewise, if the mind is full of thoughts it will tense the body." More precise instructions are given on the following pages of the book.
Edgar Cayce recommended eating apples for three days in order to detoxify and purify the body. After doing so, one should feel energetic and full of vitality. According to Cayce, the Apple Diet alkalizes the system and helps bring relief from chronic aches and pain. It is important to eat the right type of apples. Cayce referred to these as the "jenneting" varieties which means apples which ripen on or before St. John's Day which is June 24th.
Raw apples should always be eaten alone and not combined with other foods. When eating apples in order to detoxify the body, eat at least five or six apples each day, drink plenty of water and rest. It is as simple as that.
At the end of day three, follow up with two to three teaspoons of cold-pressed olive oil. If you are on an oil restricted diet, continue eating apples for another day or two instead.
Remember to rest. Do not attempt the apple diet when you will be busy. Choose a time when you have nothing to do other than rest and relax.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. It is advice given by Edgar Cayce while in a trance state. Follow your own intuition in regard to the Apple Diet.
Death Makes Life Possible is a feature length documentary film which follows the journey of noetic scientist, Marilyn Schlitz, PhD as she sets out to discover the mysteries of life and death. Marilyn's journey began about 15 years ago when she began interviewing scientists, anthropologists, spiritual teachers, and philosophers about death and the possible survival of consciousness following physical death. Marilyn recorded people’s personal experiences of near death, out-of-body, mediumship, reincarnation, and the final days of life. Marilyn and Deepak Chopra worked together with a small team of filmmakers in order to create a feature documentary that could bring these stories out into public awareness and in the process, help heal a widespread fear of death.
In order to bring the film to completion additional work needs to be done including purchasing additional stock footage, creating some animation, producing a musical sound track and editing the film. If you are interested in helping with a financial donation please make a donation through the project's Kickstarter page. You can view the film's trailer here: Death Makes Life Possible
While enjoying my morning coffee and browsing news headlines, one caught my eye. The headline read "Yoko Ono's Top Five Must Reads." I clicked on the link and browsed the list. The title of one book especially appealed to me - "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman. A quick trip to Amazon shows its available in paperback or as an audiobook. The paperback is out of print and there were only 28 copies available. I suspect that number will soon change. According to the product description, Amusing Ourselves to Death "Examines the ways in which television has transformed public discourse--in politics, education, religion, science, and elsewhere--into a form of entertainment that undermines exposition, explanation and knowledge. "
We, as human beings, are conditioned by our culture, society, parents, religion education, peer groups and anything else that influences our thinking and beliefs. A brief visit to Wikipedia brings up the following definition of social conditioning:
" Social conditioning refers to the sociological process of training individuals in a society to respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society. The concept is stronger than that of socialization, which refers to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies. Manifestations of social conditioning are vast, but they are generally categorized as social patterns and social structures including education, employment, entertainment, popular culture, religion, spirituality and family life. The social structure in which an individual finds him or herself influences and can determine their social actions and responses. Social conditioning represents the environment and personal experience in the nature vs. nurture debate. Society in general and peer groups within society set the norms which shape the behavior of actors within the social system. A work of literature that helps show this is "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley." In order to grow and evolve as individuals and a race, it is important to understand how we are conditioned so that we can break free and liberate ourselves of conditioned patterns that hold us back and stunt our growth.
Although I have not personally read this book, it looks like the author wrote in an an attempt to help people gain an awareness of how we are conditioned by pop culture via the entertainment business.
Barron Laycock, who reviewed the book on Amazon, writes, "Postman binds your interest by illustrating and documenting how the rise of the elecrtonic media and its manipulation of what you see in way of news and entertainment has inexorably changed the meanings,purposes and ultimate uses of politics, economics, and technology. As Huxley himself warned, totalitarian societies need not arise through violent overthrow of the democracies using brutality, cruelty and violence, but can also occur whenever the citizenry is successfully deluded into apathy by petty diversions and entertainments, as well."
In another review, Ben Barczi writes, "Postman's thesis in this brief but articulate book consists of two tenets: (1) The form of communication, to some extent, determines (or is biased toward certain types of) content; (2) Television, as our modern-day uber-form of communication, has biases which are destructive toward the rational mind. TV teaches us to expect life to be entertaining, rather than interesting; it teaches us to expect 8-minute durations of anything and everything (anything else is beyond our attention span); it teach us to be suspicious of argument and discussion, and instead to accept facts at face value. Furthermore - and, by far, the most important discovery Postman makes in this book - TV teaches us to live a decontextualized life."
Barczi later states, "It certainly is true that the vast majority of Americans are perfectly happy not to develop any sort of framework or philosophy; life is simply life, and one doesn't need to consider it. Even today's elite students, who are certainly able to integrate lessons and perform well academically, have fallen to this malady; as David Brooks pointed out in his searingly accurate article, "The Organization Kid," (Atlantic Monthly, April 2001) top-notch students no longer attempt to build any sort of moral or philosophical structure from their studies; a life lived in a context, makes no sense to the student who has grown up watching the decontextualized television screen."
Amusing Ourselves to Death inspired Amused to Death, a concept album by Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, which was released in 1992. According to Wikipedia, Amused to Death explores Waters' disillusionment with modern Western society, focusing specifically on the influence of television and the mass media. In an interview published in the L.A. Times in September 1992, Roger's is quoted as saying, "So I became interested in this idea of television as a two-edged sword, that it can be a great medium for spreading information and understanding between peoples, but when it's a tool of our slavish adherence to the incumbent philosophy that the free market is the god that we should all bow down to, it's a very dangerous medium. Because it's so powerful."
The song "Perfect Sense" inspired John Isaak Alpert to analyze the lyrics on Water's album. "Roger Waters's "Perfect Sense" from the album, Amused to Death, questions why we view the world in terms of profit instead of human life. For me it opened up the question of how we value things. " Discussing the song "What God Wants, Part I, Alpert writes, "The second song "What God Wants, Part I" starts by telling us how the will of the controllers of the mass media is imposed on the individual. This is made very clear by the repetition of key lines. " You can read the entire piece on Water's website.
Both the album and the book sound like they contain an important message. Maybe its time to turn off the media and learn to think for ourselves.
The first rock concert I attended was Todd Rundgren and Utopia back when I was in high school. Todd is a musician, songwriter and producer who has contributed much to rock music but who has had little commercial success. Part of the reason the commercial success eludes him, is because Rundgren tends to do what he wants and much of his music is very experimental. One of his most experimental albums, which is not likely to appeal to most people and is best listened to with headphones, is Initiation. Released in 1975, "Initiation" is a conceptual album combining elements of psychedelic rock, soul, avant-garde jazz fusion, and progressive rock.
Initiation is heavily influenced by the teachings of Alice Bailey and Theosophy. Initiation is a Theosophical concept stating that there are nine levels of spiritual development. This concept was developed by both Alice A. Bailey and C.W. Leadbeater in the early 1920s. In an interview in the past Rundgren said, "I hadn’t done much dabbling around in the mystical at all, but I was looking at these books and they were explaining some of the phenomena I was experiencing. I started devouring these Eastern philosophies, never buying any of them whole but following the thread of anything that was consonant with what I was experiencing. I got very much into Theosophical writers like C.W. Leadbeater, who applied scientific methods to Hindu philosophy and came up with a new synthesis. These were concepts that found their way into my personal cosmology and into my music. I mean, I never read the actual Treatise On Cosmic Fire because it was just too damn opaque, but I figured it made a good concept to hang the music on."
Theosophy combines elements of Eastern Religion with Christian ideals. Rundgren's Initiation begins with the pop classic "Real Man" which is partially inspired by a biblical verse: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11 RV"
When I was a child
I thought as a child
I spoke as a child
I didn't know better
But now I'm a man
I look like a man
I'm old as a man
And I should know better
"Real Man" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren
In Eastern Intrigue we find that Rundgren has been exploring a variety of religions, spiritual philosophies and paths to God. Eastern Intrigue is a satirical piece in which Rundgren plays electric piano, keyboard computer, electric sitar and an assortment of percussion instruments.
I'm on my knees, one question please
Will the real God please stand up?
Jesus and Moses, Mohammed, and Sri Krishna
Steiner, Gurdjief, Blavatsky, and Bhudda
Guru Maharaji, Reverend Sun Myung Moon
"Eastern Intrigue" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren
Eastern Intrigue is followed by the title track, Initiation, which is a progressive-disco track. Here Rundgren comes to realize that the real God can only be found within.
Silently listen and it shall be revealed
I was born to fly higher,
born to stand where I'm standing now
Basking in the light of the neon fire
As it burns my useless body to the ground
Desire let me go
I would fly so high through the sky, never to die
Love has come, Love has come
Inside outside, it shall be revealed
"Initiation" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren
Side one comes to a close with Fair Warning which is a philosophical Rundgrenish rap song warning us that we are all responsible for our own actions and making our own way through life. The song features some jazzy saxophone work by Edgar Winter and ends with a few fines from Real Man.
You know, wishing won't make it so
Hoping won't do it, praying won't do it
Religion won't do it, philosophy won't do it
The supreme court won't do it,
the president and the congress won't do it
The UN won't do it, the H-bomb won't do it,
the sun and the moon won't do it
And God won't do it,
and I certainly won't do it
That leaves you, you'll have to do it
........
Love owns us all, Time owns us all, Life owns us all
But the world doesn't own me
"Fair Warning" Initiation (1975) music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren
Side two of Initiation consists of one single song, "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" which is a 36 minute instrumental. The title of the song is taken from the book of the same name published in 1928 by Alice Bailey. The song consists of three parts: "I. The Internal Fire, or Fire by Friction; II. The Fire of Spirit, or Electric Fire; The Fire of Mind, or Solar Fire." (the second parts of each of these phrases are taken from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice Bailey.
The self, as described by John Locke is "that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that consciousness extends". -
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
It has always been hard for creative people to make alot of money through their art. Inspite of this fact, many get "day jobs" in order to support themselves and enable them to be artists on the side. Artists are usually passionate about their work and are more concerned with getting their work seen, heard or read than they are in making money. Although it is mostly about the art, most artists would like to be able to make a living off their work. Doing so would enable them to produce more of their art afterall.
Going back in time, we learn that great artists like Michelangelo were only able to support themselves by finding sponors. Sponsors are people or groups who support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. Today it is rare to find a sponsor who is willing to sponsor an artist years on end so that he, she or they can continue to be creative over the course of their lifetime. It is however possible to find a sponsor for a particular project.
Kickstarter is an on-line site which serves as a funding platform for creative projects. Kickstarter allows people in the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, publishing and other creative arts to design and create a funding project in order to raise the funds they need to get their project off the ground. If you are an artist in need of funding visit Kickstart's "Defining Your Project" page to learn the process. For those who have a philanthropic streak in them, Kickstarter is a good site to browse in order to find projects and artists to support. Simply visit Kickstart's "Discover Projects" page.
Visit http://www.kickstarter.com/ for more information and to support the arts!
Johanna Budwig was a German biochemist
and author who was a leading authority on fats and human nutrition.
Budwig focused her time and energy on treating cancer patients,
people with heart diseases, arthritis and other ailments after they
had been given up as hopeless by conventional medical practitioners.
Budwig is best known for her flaxseed and cottage cheese diet which
she used to restore her patients back to health. She published
several books on the subject including "Cancer--A
Fat Problem," "The Death of the Tumor," and "True
Health Against Arteriosclerosis, Heart Infarction & Cancer."
In
addition to her research on the role of fats in human nutrition and
disease, Budwig insisted that high levels of vitamin D are necessary
in order to be healthy and prevent cancer. Vitamin D is a hormone
that regulates and repairs cells. Vitamin D is naturally produced by
the skin when exposed to sunlight. Although some foods contain
vitamin D, the best source is the sun.
Budwig
was wriiten off as a quack by conventional medicine. How can you
cure and/or prevent serious disease using something as simple as
nutrition? Although it is not possible by simply eating flaxseed,
cottage cheese and getting a healthy dose of sunshine, it is possible
by following the Budwig
protocol.
Having
studied Johanna Budwig's work over ten years ago, I find it
interesting that contemporay scientific research is beginning to
support her findings and prove that Budwig was not a quack afterall.
For more information about vitamin D and your health please see this
overview
published by Life Extension. Get outdoors in the sun, minus the
sunscreen. Vitamin D guidelines can be found in this fact
sheet published by the National Institute of Health.
One of the most thought provoking books I have read in the recent past is The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey by James Reisfeld. I am not ordinarily attracted to, or interested in, anything to do with Adolph Hitler or Nazi Germany. I am not sure how this book came to my attention or what possessed me to buy it and read it.
The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey is a very imaginative novella in which the author describes what happens after Hitler pulls the trigger and finds himself in the afterlife. "... the Führer finds himself mysteriously transported to a numbingly cold, solitary holding cell in the afterworld. There, he meets his caseworker, a supernatural being tasked with helping him face, and work through, his sins. The caseworker explains that Hitler will remain in solitary confinement indefinitely, as he prepares his soul for eventual return to the material world. The method, Hitler learns, involves seeking enlightenment through physically embodying his victims and then personally reliving the atrocities committed against them in his name."
In order to evolve as a soul and eventually reincarnate again as a human being, Hitler has to first experience what each and every soul he harmed, directly or indirectly, experienced. This is a time consuming task as he does not get it. All he can focus on is himself and his desire to go down in history as all powerful. His "caseworker" has infinite patience however and they keep working through it. Hitler incarnates over and over again into alternative realities which allow him to witness and experience the same pain and sorrow he has caused others. He has just about exhausted the millions of opportunities he has been given to learn how his actions have harmed others when...
I don't want to give the ending away but can tell you it is worth the read. Although we do not know what happens in the afterlife, what the author suggests in this book is something to really think about and contemplate. Suppose we have to witness and experience all of the pain and sorrow we have caused others through our thoughts and actions?
