Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

I watched Social Network last night and found it disturbing on too many levels to cover all in one post.  So I’ll focus on the one I found most disturbing.

We have made a legend and role model for our youth out of a thief.

No matter how Mark Zuckerberg tries to distance himself from his character as portrayed in the movie, one fact remains.  In the final analysis, Zuckerberg paid 65 million dollars to two other young men because he stole their idea.

For me, everything else in the movie pales in comparison.

I knew virtually nothing of Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook and his meteoric rise to fame and fortune prior to sitting down to see the movie other than snippets here and there from the media.  My impression, based upon how he is covered in and by the media, was that he was some young, technological genius who created and designed the powerhouse “Facebook.”

However, after watching the movie, what I knew was that Zuckerberg built his “platform” on the backs of some other people he had no apparent problem climbing over, kicking in the teeth and crushing in the process.  He reminds me of Ivan Boesky, the 1990’s Arbitrageur who, in an address to a Stanford University graduating class, said “Greed is good.”  With that hubris, Boesky set the stage for two decades of plunder and materialism in this nation not seen since, probably, the Roman Empire.

Presently, we focused on the technological wonder of Facebook to the almost disregard for the total absence of ethics upon which it was created.  It’s like saying the economy was good during the Clinton years giving little mention to the immoral virus this nation was infected with as a result of Clinton’s wanton lust.

Today, the day after watching Social Network, I went in search of fact checking the accuracy of the movie.  It seems Zuckerberg was portrayed more asocial and more insensitive that he actually was.  That’s the good news.  The bad, very bad, news is that he did, in fact, steal the idea from two classmates and paid 65 million in restitution.

We should be very careful who we hold up as role models for the young.  In a world where Ivan Boesky is king and greed is good… Mark Zuckerberg is royalty. It’s not a world I want to inhabit.  Nor is it one in which we, as a nation, can survive in much longer.  It’s gotten us where we are at the moment… and the moment is tenuous.

There is nothing wrong with success or money if how you achieve either one of those is respectful of yourself and others.

In such a world, the Ivan Boeskys and Mark Zuckerbergs would be pariahs.

 

What do the following have in common? 1) A doctor dedicated to healing through alternative therapies; 2) a renowned artist sitting in Fairfield, Ohio meditating 6 hours a day for world peace; 3) a right wing Republican concerned primarily with defense of Israel, and 4) a former General Manager of a BMW dealership with little time for politics?

Answer:  They’re all friends of mine.

I like to think of myself as a reluctant optimist.   And a realist.  My optimism is hard earned. I didn’t use to be this way. In fact, I used to spot every dark cloud on the horizon before it was even formed.  But I spent a lot of years, and tears, learning that pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  We get what we focus upon and so, reluctantly, I exchanged fearing the worst for anticipating the best.

As for being a realist…. well…that’s a little more difficult to explain.  The reality I see is unique to me.  So it is with each of us.  Which is why, two people can witness the same auto accident and recall it differently. It’s all a matter of perspective and what preconceived ideas we bring to each moment.

At the moment, the reality I see is one in which human evolution is at a critical fork in the road. One fork leads to a breakdown… the other to a breakthrough. If we take the fork leading to breakdown, we will encounter increased indebtedness, increased violence and decreased personal freedom ending in slavery to someone or something.  If we take the fork leading to a breakthrough, we will learn to honor and conserve our resources, choose peace as way of life, and comprehend, once and for all, the correlation between personal freedom and personal responsibility.

I see both realities as “potential” because I am that realist I mentioned earlier.  The reluctant optimist in me knows (with almost certainty) that we will choose wisely.

Now, back to my friends. They are decidedly different in their views of the world. Yet I value and honor each of them because it’s only in the allowing of differences that we stand the greatest chance of choosing the correct fork in this road. I also proceed upon the premise that on any given day, at any given moment, any one of them is capable of teaching me “something I do not know… the knowing of which will change everything.”  It’s a great quote. It belongs to Werner Erhard, founder of EST and The Forum, late 20^th century transformation models and self-awareness programs.

Like each of us, Erhard was a work in progress.  Before he was Werner Erhard, awareness guru, he was John Paul Rosenberg, a used car salesman in Philadelphia.  At some point, he reached a fork in the road and chose wisely.

May we do the same.

 

I think it’s natural to root for the underdog.  At some time I suppose we all do. So it’s not surprising that there has accumulated an international groundswell in support of Palestinian statehood.  After all, Israel has been economically, politically, technologically, and militarily the stronger of the two opponents for…well…forever, it seems.

But action without thought is reckless.  When we begin to actually think about the underdog, it starts to look strangely more like a rabid coyote than some cuddly domestic hound.

The latest example was the distribution of candy in Gaza in “celebration” of the savage massacre of five members of the Fogel family by Palestinian terrorists.  But this is just the latest.  Relentless rocket bombardment of Southern Israel, Palestinian children strapped with bombs and sent off by their mother’s to be martyrs, the targeting of innocent Israeli civilians while they ate, commuted or just got on with their lives.  Where is recognition for the restraint exhibited by Israel time and time again where no other country would have tolerated such assaults and tragedy without retaliation?

It’s important to remember just who the aggressor is in this drama because there is a plan and a timetable underway by members of the United Nations to recognize a state of Palestine that will include Gaza and east Jerusalem.  That’s the plan.  The timetable is September 2011.  And it seems our President is on board as well.

If you think action without thought is reckless, you “ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

The United States is currently engaged in three wars within Muslim countries.  There are countless uprisings and revolutions in the Arab world taking place.  Much of what we see is violent or portends violence.

It is foolhardy and dangerous to think that at such a time Palestinians, granted statehood under terms that rob Israel of a portion of its capital and return to the Arabs land that was fairly gained by Israel when it was attacked in 1967 by the Arab world, will result in anything other than emboldening the Palestinians to recommit to their charter. That charter, which has never been amended, calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.

It is imperative that we, as human beings, do our best to bring dignity and the necessities of life to every living being on the planet.  It is not, however, imperative that we act without thinking and thereby reward barbarity and inhumanity.

Let’s demand that the Palestinians first eschew violence as a negotiating tool before we pass out the candy.

 

Disclosure #1:  I’m a Glenn Beck fan.  I like the guy.  While a little paranoid, he does his homework and as far as the facts go, he gives them to you.  What you do with them is up to you.

Disclosure #2:  I’ve hardly ever watched Lawrence O’Donnell, and the few clips I’ve seen did nothing to encourage me otherwise.  Admitted Socialists aren’t my preference for where to get political commentary.

Now, to the point.

There’s been a battle of ideas playing out between Beck and O’Donnell and, more than that, it seems personal.  While I have no “dog in the hunt” for what’s personal between them, I’m very interested in the battle of ideas.  So this morning , I watched clips from both on their ideas surrounding the Bible (Torah & The New Testament), in general, and the Book of Revelations, in particular.

And you know what?  They’re both right.

Beck is right in that the Bible is filled with divinely inspired ideas, ideals, values and guidance. O’Donnell is also right in that parts of the Bible are filled with poetry, allegory, and unintelligible symbolism… some of which can lead a thinking person to conclude the existence of multiple sources which were neither divine nor particularly loving and compassionate.

That’s what Free Will is all about.

We humans, each get to choose how we see and interpret the world in which we live.  It is our unique perspectives that then form the foundation for how we act within the world as we see it.  And each choice we make is a choice of Self- definition.

If G-d had intended replication rather than creation, He/She would be turning us out on a copy machine rather than through the birth process… whereby each of Us arrives as a unique creation.

In a world where both diversity of thought and tolerance of opposing ideas are both encouraged and valued, we are more likely to stumble upon wisdom than in a world where either You or I must be right and the other wrong.

Let’s take the best of Beck and O’Donnell’s thinking and jettison the rest.  And by the way, You and I may each see “the best of” differently.

That’s okay.

It’s why I wrote this post.

 

Moments ago President Obama spoke to the nation, and presumably the world, on his decision to join with the international community in a coordinated response to the violence perpetrated by Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffi upon the Libyan people.

Early in the speech, the President said that from the outset, the United States had been swift and certain in its condemnation of Qadaffi’s actions.  While this sounded good, it was a lie.  If fact, a week of atrocities occurred during which the President remained curiously silent.  His press secretary, in responding to why this was so, cited “scheduling problems.” Yet, during that same week, the President was able to suddenly find the time to schedule coaching his daughter’s basketball team because the coach “had a scheduling problem.”  The President’s daughter was not even present for the game he coached.

I am less concerned here with the President’s motives, or lack thereof, in responding selectively to Middle East revolutionaries.  I leave that to others.

What does concern me is the current, palpable lack of leadership with which we are faced.  This President is unlike any other I can recall in my lifetime. His disengagement from the American people is disturbing but timely.

(Did she just write, “timely?”)

Yes, I did.

It’s timely because we’ve arrived at a point in the evolution of human Consciousness where we must all be leaders.  We must all take charge every minute of every day of our thoughts, words and deeds.  We must each source within and find what is true and meaningful for us as individuals… while fully knowing that we are all connected.

We have awakened to the truth of Oneness.  Whether it is the heroic and admirable people of Japan facing multiple tragedies, the tortured and oppressed peoples of Libya, or the 12-year-old daughter of a slain Israeli family who is now orphaned along with her two brothers… we are all One and responsible for One And Other… one another.

For Our Self and The Other because we are all connected.

So, I am less concerned with one man’s action and timing than I am with yours and mine.  Hope and Change are just words.  No single individual will turn the tide as quickly as each and every individual awaking to rise and meet the challenges of personal responsibility and connectedness.

The owner of an Israeli supermarket has been providing food for the three remaining children of the slain Fogel family during the shiva (seven day mourning period).  He informed the 12-year-old daughter who found her slain parents and brothers that “she better get used to” seeing him around because he is going to provide weekly food for she and her two surviving brothers until the last orphan is 18 years old.

Now that’s hope and change and that’s how we do it.

Let’s leave the posturing and politics to the United Nations and world governments.

 

It’s never easy to look for and find a “higher purpose” in tragic events.  Sometimes, in fact, doing so appears almost heartless.  So I am well aware of the dangers in what I am about to say.

The events in Japan are akin to a global 911 of natural origin.  I think they hold the potential for rebirth, healing and unity for much of the world.  However, before I go there, let me say that I’ve been broken hearted over the loss of life and suffering being experienced by the Japanese people.  I have been praying for them daily since the earthquake and tsunami struck.

Now, to what I mean by a “global 911.”  On September 11^th, tragedy struck on an unprecedented scale, lives were lost, and commerce interrupted.  The reaction, although admittedly brief, was Oneness.  Not only did all of this nation’s citizens pull together to help respond to every conceivable need, but so did many individuals and nations from around the world. There was a temporary understanding by humanity’s Consciousness that we are all in deed connected and, therefore, united we stand.

There’s no terrorist behind what is occurring in Japan.  It’s Earth and Nature in service to restoring balance to a world that has veered far off course and that is very out of balance.  Again, I am sensitive to how callous this may sound but in order for caterpillar to be transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillar must relinquish its physical form.

Something similar is happening in Japan.  Believe that I value all life forms and see not one human Being as expendable.  But as painful and tragic as this catastrophe and loss of life is, its form that’s being altered.  There is no corresponding destruction of Spirit.

We are all connected. We have been disrespectful of one another and the Earth.  We have been insensitive, greedy and lacking in compassion.  We have ignored our Oneness.  We have  created the imbalance.

Nature is infinitely more powerful and resourceful than we.  No amount of manmade protection or planning will outstay It’s staying power.  This is what we are witnessing in Japan.

We can awaken NOW and do what we did not do after 911.  We can lay down our differences  and our indifference to honor how connected we are to each other and the Earth that sustains us.  We can know and act in accordance with that knowing that this is the moment of “united we stand or divided we fall.”

In compassion… we can weep for those suffering and those lost.

In wisdom… we can know that every thought, word and deed matters.

In Our knowing, we can act as One.

 

I seem to hear a repeated theme lately that’s troubling lots of people. It revolves around feeling that events seem somewhat out of our control.  Now, while I can’t say that things have ever really been in our control… it is true that life in the first decade of the new millennium has been chaotic, requiring lots of energy just to stay “afloat” through it all.

Embarking upon the second decade, I see no signs that things will vastly improve in the “In Control Department.”

So, what’s a person to do?

Well, might I suggest surrender?  No, not as in a feeling of hopelessness.  To the contrary… with a joyful feeling of hope-full-ness.

Why? Because it’s in surrendering to the flow of Life that one is able to catch the wave… so to speak.  We are definitely dealing with a wave Here and Now.  So, you have two options.  Resist it or catch it.  To think you can control it is a waste of time and energy.

I know.  I used to think I could control waves.  I was always trying to manage the situation… direct the players… determine the outcome. It’s exhausting continuously bailing that water!  Not to mention futile.

Trial and error have taught me that when things around me are either temporarily inexplicable or seeming out of my control… let them be that way.  It’s best to go within… quiet my mind… and release events to their own unfolding.  What happens next is that when I “reemerge” from my inward focus, voila!  The sun is shining.  Things have taken a turn for the better.  Everyone’s better, actually.

So whether it’s personal, professional or global, give it a rest.  Float on your back for awhile.  Enjoy the ride and the scenery.

You’ll be surprised how refreshed you… and all of it… will seem upon your return.

Everywhere you turn you’re hearing about insufficient funds.  At the federal, state and local levels the word is that we’re out of money.  Just this weekend “60 Minutes” did a segment titled “Day of Reckoning” spotlighting the current insolvency of many States with more to come.  No matter how rosy this Administration or any politician tries to paint it, there is little doubt in most people’s minds that something has gone terribly awry.

But it’s not the economy.

Money is a form of energy and, as such, flows unobstructed, or not, depending on its context.  Further, money is representative of an underlying condition.  That condition is the spiritual health of humanity.  Generalized prosperity is symptomatic of alignment with spiritual principles.  The absence or apparent lack of money is, likewise, indicative of misalignment with those same principles.

The Universe is eternal, infinite and therefore abundant.  There can be no lack.

However, there can be an interrupted flow of energy due to conditions that block or impede the flow of energy.  This is precisely where we find ourselves at this moment in time.

We have strayed from ethics, good moral character and our spiritual Selves for so long that we have impeded the Universal flow of abundance.  We have been greedy, wasteful and self-absorbed. We have been neither appreciative nor grateful.  We have demanded and received more… then acted as if more was never enough.  We have been insensitive and lacking in compassion.  And just to clarify any misunderstanding, the consequence for such spiritual blindness is not beheadings. Those who claim the moral high ground and choose violence to right a wrong only exacerbate the problem.

Now, the good news. Phew!

It’s not the end of the world, figuratively or literally.  It’s a course correction.  The money will flow again when we no longer tolerate in ourselves or others any form of deceit or greed. When we live the moral high ground, show compassion for one another, and value that which cannot be bought or sold.  Then, we will have regained our essence and materiality will once again flow.

Because we drifted far from the Light for so long we became adjusted to the darkness and it seemed the norm.  But in darkness nothing can grow and grow we must.

Because we’re all connected though one Consciousness, it matters what each of us values.  Give little thought to any apparent lack… for you are staring into the darkness.  Refocus your sights on love, integrity and hope.  They are located in the Light where there is permanent clarity and nothing in the way of the unobstructed flow of energy.

Jewish or Christian, it’s the season of miracles.  Since I had one this week I thought I‘d share it.  It begins with back pain.

I’m a swimmer.  I love to do laps.  I swim outside in the summer months and in the winter I join a health club with an indoor pool.  My love of the sport is new since, until about 15 years ago, I was uncomfortable in the water and couldn’t really swim.  Having surmounted my fears, I taught myself to swim and have been dedicated ever since.

However, within the last 6 months, I have been having severe upper back pain and so when the pool closed in September I decided it was too painful to swim.  I didn’t join the club.  Recently, I’ve seen several doctors who have ordered x-rays, ultrasounds, thermography and an MRI… all in an effort to diagnose the pain… which happens to be in the area of my rotator cuff and under the scapula as well.

Last week, a friend of mine who didn’t know of the pain, suggested I join the health club as I have for the past couple of years since it was her thought that I am “just plain happier when I am swimming… so why not?”  Thinking over her suggestion, I decided “why not” as well and joined.

Somewhere in my thought process was the hope that, at this point, exercising the muscles by swimming might help.

Enter the miracle.

Yesterday was my second night swimming.  Midway through my regimen of laps, a man asked me if he could share my lane. Swim protocol and courtesy says the answer to that question is always “Yes.”  After he did a lap or two, with beautiful form, he waited for me to end my lap and asked me if I’d mind if he gave me some constructive advice.  “Not at all, please do” I replied.

“When your left arm comes up out of the water and goes back in its crossing over your plane.  It’s crossing all the way to your right side.  You are going to hurt your rotator cuff and upper back.” (my emphasis not his)!

Can you imagine my shock?  I could hardly believe it.  I had just had an x-ray earlier that day.

Here he had “showed up” (a tri-athlete I might add) to tell me exactly the cause of my back pain.  No disease.  Nothing mysterious.  Doctors need apply.  I am swimming incorrectly and reinjuring myself every time I do.

But here’s the thing.

When you are “in the flow” (no pun intended) the Universe gives you what you need.  Exactly what you need.  Not always what you want, but definitely what you need.

So, I got a diagnosis, a solution, and a free swimming lesson from a tri-athlete because I was open to 1) my spiritual friend’s suggestion that I rejoin the health club and 2) I was trying to do the best I could for  myself.

It’s the stuff of miracles.

But that’s not a surprise because… ‘tis the season.

Right?

Well, let me say this from the outset:  If you’ve misplaced, or totally lost your sense of irony and humor in the midst of all the chaos, don’t read any further.  You simply won’t get it.  But if you’re still holding out for some sweetness and light, here it is.

The connection between the newly discovered Star of David on the roof of the Iranian National Airlines building and the chaos resulting from the WikiLeaks disclosure of classified documents is Cosmic Humor.

“What’s that?” you want to know.

Cosmic humor is when God (sometimes referred to as the Universe or Source) is having a good old time doing what it does best… creating.

What is being created at the moment is so obvious one could almost miss it in its simplicity.  Chaos.  Chaos is being created in order to affect real change.  Now there are two plots being acted out here.  I’ll refer to them as the “lower” and “higher” vibration scenarios.

In the lower vibration scenario, individuals and organizations with money and/or power think they are manipulating the masses in order to acquire yet more money and more power.  They are deliberately creating chaos (with a small “c”) to reach their desired ends.

Simultaneously, the higher vibration scenario, commonly referred to as God, is orchestrating (perfect word since we’re literally talking about a higher frequency of energy) events and occurrences that are, in fact, using the lower vibration energies to effect an outcome that moves humankind to its highest and most expansive role ever in the history of the world.  Chaos with a big “C.”

How?

NO MORE SECRETS!

So, back to WikiLeaks and the Star of David on the top of the Iranian National Airlines building.

The information that WikiLeaks is now disseminating has been suspected, and in some cases, known for awhile.  Yes, we now have details… names, dates and places that were heretofore only vague suspicions… but it is really all that startling?   Hasn’t common sense and good old instinct told you this stuff has been going on forever?

And the Star of David?  Really? Come on.  Google Earth just spotted it?  No one knew of it before or saw it?  It’s been there for 30 years!!!  It’s so ironic…funny, actually… that I’m smiling as I type.  A Star of David on the roof of a government building in the center of a country set out to destroy a country and an entire people represented by that star?

You tell me God isn’t having a whopper of a time!

So, while I know the DOW is rocky and the dollar is heading for the dumper and Congress is a joke… take heart.

NO MORE SECRETS.

God is busy reorganizing things.  While He/She is busy cleaning house, let us put up with a little inconvenience for humanity’s sake.  And while we’re patiently waiting, let’s look on the bright side.  The Star of David is watching over everything.

Wasn’t that the original deal?