Initiation

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.

“Bam, bham, mam, yam, Ram, Lam, thank you mahm.”.

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That Conscious Thinking Thing...

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.

Kickstart Your Art

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!

Sunshine

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.

The Last Way Station

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?