Sikh Philosophy Network - Blogs

15f12 Sikh Philosophy Network - Blogs - gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/ Sikh philosophy network is resource on sikh history sikhi sikhism sikh religion traditions discussion forum and intellectual articles on sikh philosophy. en Wed, 22 May 2013 00:23:36 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/images/makemoney/misc/rss.jpg Sikh Philosophy Network - Blogs - gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/ Painti of sikhi! http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/59-painti-of-sikhi.html Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:00:48 GMT Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Interesting sikhism painti I found on net! Image: http://i38.tinypic.com/4rry9z.jpg Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Interesting sikhism painti I found on net!

]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/59-painti-of-sikhi.html Space Euphoria: Do Our Brains Change When We Travel in Outer Space? http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/55-space-euphoria-do-our-brains-change.html Sat, 24 May 2008 04:27:28 GMT *Space Euphoria: Do Our Brains Change When We Travel in Outer Space?* Friday, May 23rd, 2008 News Source: www.dailygalaxy.com (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/space-euphoria.html) ... Space Euphoria: Do Our Brains Change When We Travel in Outer Space?

Friday, May 23rd, 2008
News Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the "Overview Effect". He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeing of bliss, timelessness, and connectedness began to overwhelm him. He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe. He described experiencing an intense awareness that Earth, with its humans, other animal species, and systems were all one synergistic whole. He says the feeling that rushed over him was a sense of interconnected euphoria. He was not the first—nor the last—to experience this strange "cosmic connection".
Rusty Schweikart experienced it on March 6th 1969 during a spacewalk outside his Apollo 9 vehicle: "When you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with that whole thing. That makes a change…it comes through to you so powerfully that you're the sensing element for Man." Schweikart, similar to what Mitchell experienced, describes intuitively sensing that everything is profoundly connected.
Their experiences, along with dozens of other similar experiences described by other astronauts, intrigue scientists who study the brain. This "Overview Effect", or acute awareness of all matter as synergistically connected, sounds somewhat similar to certain religious experiences described by Buddhist monks, for example. Where does it come from and why?
Andy Newberg, a neuroscientist/physician with a background in space medicine, is learning how to identify the markers of someone who has had the experience. "You can often tell when you're with someone who has flown in space," he says, "It's palpable." Andy scans brains for a living: praying nuns, transcendental mediators, and others in the act of focused states.
Newberg can pinpoint regions in subjects' gray matter that correlate to these circumstances. Newberg is seriously looking at how to fly equipment that could study—in action—the brain functions of space travelers. If this Overview Effect is a real, physiological phenomenon—he wants to watch it happen.
Newberg's first test subject will not be a paid astronaut, but rather a paying space tourist: Reda Andersen slated to fly with Rocketplane Kistler says, "It would be criminal NOT to study the first of us (space adventure travelers)."
After decades of study and contemplation about his experience, Ed Mitchell believes that the feeling of "oneness" with the Universe that he and others have experienced is a consequence of little understood quantum physics.
In a recent interview with writer Diana deRegnier of American Chronicle, Mitchell explains how the event changed his life and his entire perspective on the world and how each of us fits into the grand scale of the cosmos.
"Four hundred years ago. the philosopher Rene Descartes came to the conclusion that physicality, spirituality, mind and body belonged to different realms of reality that didn't interact. Now, that served the purpose to get the Inquisition off the backs of the intellectuals so they could disagree on material things with the church and without the fear of being burned at the stake. So that ended that, but it did cause, for four hundred years, science to consider consciousness and mind a subject for philosophy and religion and not a subject for science.
Now, one of the things that happened, in the 1940s, was the mathematician, physicist, Norbert Wiener (MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for the first time really defined information as the negative of entropy, and entropy as the idea of the universe is running down and wastes energy. But, Wiener defined information as the negative of entropy, and that's wonderful but it didn't go far enough."
Mitchell says that in an attempt to fill in some of the missing gap, the 2008 revised edition of his book The Way of the Explorer explores the largely ignored science of human consciousness. Using what he calls the "dyadic model" he outlines the "two faces" of energy. "Instead of being two separate things, it's the energy as the basis of our existence in matter. And, it's the basis of our knowing and information," Mitchell explains.
"We had not had, in science, a definition of consciousness. The only definition of consciousness from the dictionary is that at its basic level it is awareness. Consciousness means to be aware, and then we have different levels of consciousness depending upon how complex the substance is. It has been demonstrated many times over in laboratories that basic awareness is demonstrable at the level of plants, at simple bacteria, at simple life forms.
This is done with Faraday cages. It's shown that this information at this deep level, at the quantum level, can transcend electromagnetic theory. And, now we're getting into quantum physics and we don´t want to go there at this point. But it's a very fundamental notion that awareness is at the very basis of things."
Mitchell believes that perhaps both the theologians and scientists have missed the mark.
"All I can suggest to the mystic and the theologian is that our gods have been too small; they fill the universe. And to the scientist all I can say is that the gods do exist; they are the eternal, connected, and aware Self experienced by all intelligent beings.'
In response to DeRegnier questioning whether or not Mitchell believes in the idea of God, he responds that while he does not believe in the traditional "grandfather figure" version of God, "we do have great mystery about what is the origin of the universe, how it came to be. There's a great deal of question as to whether the big bang is the correct answer to the way the universe arose, and under what auspices and conditions. I don't think we have the full answers to that yet. Hopefully in due course we'll be able to find a much better way to describe all this."
But while Mitchell does not claim to know how to perfectly interpret his experience, he is certain that it was a glimpse into a largely ignored reality: People, places and things are all more closely connected than they sometimes appear. He also mentions the need for better stewardship of our precious planet.
"The great thinker Buckminster Fuller, philosopher, now deceased but for a goodly portion of the twentieth century, pointed out at the beginning of our space exploration that we are the crew of 'space ship earth'. But we 're a crew of mutiny and how can you run a space ship with a mutinous crew?"
Posted by Rebecca Sato
]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/55-space-euphoria-do-our-brains-change.html You could save a life http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/47-you-could-save-a-life.html Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:46:14 GMT WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH Guru Piari Sadh Sangat Ji Please read it. It may prove useful to remember these signs. *You could save a life.* Image:... WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Guru Piari Sadh Sangat Ji

Please read it. It may prove useful to remember these signs.

You could save a life.

STROKE Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T.R .
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During aparty, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)
She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by askingthree simple questions:
S* Ask the individual to SMILE .
T* = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLESENTENCE (Coherently) (eg 'It is sunny out today').
R* Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is
1.Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.
2.If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

Please forgive me.

Gurvinder Kaur
Source:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smcludhiana/message/1317
]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/47-you-could-save-a-life.html Helpline http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/45-helpline.html Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:43:12 GMT WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

GURU PIARI SADH SANGAT JI

If you have a function/party at your home and if there is excess foodavailable at the end, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - child helpline. They will come and collectthe food.
Please circulate this message which can help feed many children ..
PLEASE, DON'T BREAK THIS CHAIN....
"Helping hands are better than Praying Lips". - Mother Teresa
Pass this to all whom you know and whom you dont know as well.

Please forgive me.

Waheguru Bless U.

Gurvinder Kaur

]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/45-helpline.html Diffrence between Janju and gatra http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/44-diffrence-between-janju-and-gatra.html Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:41:18 GMT Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Guru Piari Sadh Sangat Ji I came across this article and thought to share with u. Hope to know ur valuable opinion too. Please forgive me. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Guru Piari Sadh Sangat Ji

I came across this article and thought to share with u.

Hope to know ur valuable opinion too.

Please forgive me.

Gurvinder Kaur

Dear Sir,

Dear Sir, Madam. I believe in Sikhism and a question has raised in my mind while listening the shabad of Guru Nanak Dev ji as they have said" Eh Janeu ji ka Hai tan pande ghat" As they have criticised for wearing a janju for hindus, But I have been advised to wear the gatra. Janju simbolises Hinduism and gatra sikism. So If guru Nanak dav ji says Hindus nees not to have simbols to be be Hindus why do we?

Manpreet Singh
4 Fforster Court , Lucan Dublin

Dear manpreet singhji,

waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji ki fateh.

Thanks for asking this very important question. You have rightly quoted the bani of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Let us understand the difference between janju and gatra. While Janju is a thread of Hindus which is worn by Hindus. This thread discriminates between Brahamins, Khatris and Vaishvas. While Branhamins wear three layred janju, khatris wear two-layred and vaishwas wear single layred janju. The low caste people are not allowed to wear any janju. there is no explanation for not alowilng shudras to wear this sacred thread of Hindus caled Janju. On the other hand, Sikhs are ordained to wear sword hung from the gatra as a symbol of Shakti and all sikhs are supposed to wear it without any discrimination. The Kirpan is one of the five essential symbols as mark of identify of Sikhs. The Kirpan is to be used in self-defence and makes a Sikh self-confident and brave every ready to sacrifice for the upliftment of down troden and oppressed class of people. Kirpan is to be used only when all other efforts fail to obtain justice for all.

You have, I think, clearly understood the difference between the "JANJU'" and "GATRA WITH KIRPAN'. GATRA without SWORD has no meaning.

with regards,

tejindersinghdelhi.

Source:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smcludhiana/message/1303 ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/44-diffrence-between-janju-and-gatra.html Wishing A Very Happy New Year To Spn Sangat http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/42-wishing-very-happy-new-year-spn.html Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:34:11 GMT WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH GURU PIARI SADH SANGAT JI WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2008:-) HAMESHA CHARDI KALLA VICH RAHO JI:star: WARM REGARDS WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

GURU PIARI SADH SANGAT JI

WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2008:-)

HAMESHA CHARDI KALLA VICH RAHO JI:star:

WARM REGARDS

GURVINDER KAUR ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/42-wishing-very-happy-new-year-spn.html <![CDATA[High Court snatches away Sikhs' status in Punjab]]> http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/34-high-court-snatches-away-sikhs-status.html Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:44:32 GMT High Court snatches away Sikhs' status in Punjab

Written by A Singh Thursday, December 20, 2007 WSN had warned in May this will happen

That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the whole world. -John Adam

CHANDIGARH: It was in May that the World Sikh News had warned the Sikh community about the Indian government's overt strategy to take away control of hundreds of Sikh institutions from the SGPC by bringing in a legislation and "re-defining" the term "minority". Except for a cursory statement by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and some politically-correct statements from former chairman of India's Minorities Commission, Tarlochan Singh, nothing much was done as a follow up.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost. In a shocking judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that Sikhs were not a minority community anymore in Punjab and thus cannot claim the benefit of reservation as a "minority" in seeking admission to Sikh education institutions run by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Punjab.
The court set aside the Punjab notifications declaring SGPC-run Sikh institutions as minority institutions, permitting them to reserve 50 per cent seats for members of the Sikh community.
A Bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Ajai Lamba gave the judgment while allowing the petition of a Barnala non-Sikh student who was denied admission after having been rejected in the counseling as a fallout of these notifications.
"There was no material or even a grievance that as a group the Sikhs apprehended deprivation of their religious, cultural or educational rights in Punjab from any other community which may be in majority and which may gain political power," the High Court said.
The High Court judgment is in keeping with a draft legislation now before the Indian parliament. Not a single Akali Dal MP has raised a single question in Parliament, nor has the SGPC filed any application under the Right to Information Act to seek details of the draft law.
In its May 9-15, 2007 edition (available on www.WorldSikhNews.com), the WSN had clearly warned that "the SGPC may lose its right to run medical or dental colleges as minority institutions, while the Christians will be able to run the CMC, Ludhiana as a minority institution. Muslims’ institutions in Kashmir will not be treated as minority institutions."
It had said: "One of the biggest attacks on the status of Sikhs in India is on way. You have been warned. The Government of India is now set to define the term ‘minority’ and give it a clear cut legal definition. The minorities will now be only and only at the state level and no national minority will exist in India. In such a scenario, Sikhs will not be a minority anymore. The central government will soon move a constitutional amendment in Parliament to establish the procedure for defining minorities and laying down the criteria to be fulfilled for a group to find place in the list of minorities."
The draft bill is called the 103rd Amendment Bill 2004 and was cleared in the first week of May 2007.
That amendment draft has now been cleared by the Cabinet. That it happened under the watch of a Sikh Prime Minister is all the more disappointing for the Sikh community. Since 1980 the Minorities Commission had been treating Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians as religious minorities at the national level. The communities were notified when the National Commission for Minorities Act came into force in 1993.
Incidentally, even as the upcoming law defines a ‘minority’ at state level only, one clause gives Indian Parliament the final say in the matter of defining ‘minorities’. Parliament will be empowered to enact laws to include or exclude any section of citizens from the list of minorities.
This means that the Indian Parliament can still term Sikhs in India a minority even if they do not make it to the list of minorities going by the fact that they outnumber the Hindus in Punjab. But for this, the Sikhs will have to beseech the Centre first.
Punjab CM Badal's media advisor Harcharan Bains said the government will move the Supreme Court against this order after looking at the details of the ruling, and conceded that "this ruling has another side also and can have national implications."
The Punjab government had taken the plea that as per definition of Sikh in the All India Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 which also governs SGPC, only "a person who is baptized and follows religious customs of Sikh community is a Sikh". Since the baptized Sikhs are outnumbered in Punjab, they are a minority. The Gurdwara Act didn't recognize a Sikh with trimmed beard and shaved head. The High Court however didn't agree with this argument.
Many sections are blaming the Advocate General H S Mattewal and his officers of botching up the case. It seems the government failed to build up a case that since the SGPC is conducting an All India Entrance Test for admissions to its professional education colleges, the status of minority or majority of Sikhs can't be considered at state level. Also, it failed to underline properly that only the baptized Sikhs are covered by reservation.

Source:http://worldsikhnews.com/index.php?o...302&Itemid=399 ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/34-high-court-snatches-away-sikhs-status.html Online Teaching of Gurmat Sangeet http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/24-online-teaching-of-gurmat-sangeet.html Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:55:33 GMT Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Piari Sadh Sangat Ji A praiseworthy effort by Pbi. Uni. *Gurmat Sangeet Project : Punjabi University Patiala* ... Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Piari Sadh Sangat Ji
A praiseworthy effort by Pbi. Uni.

Gurmat Sangeet Project : Punjabi University Patiala

http://www.universitypunjabi.org/pag...et_project.htm

Contact Address : Dr. Gurnam Singh
Professor & Head
Department of Gurmat Sangeet & Gurmat Sangeet Chair
Punjabi University Patiala Ph: 3046184, 3046194

Website : www.gurmatsangeet.co.nr
E-mail : gscpup@yahoo.com

Source:http://www.universitypunjabi.org/pag...et_project.htm ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/24-online-teaching-of-gurmat-sangeet.html Frequencies that can Kill, Heal and Transcend Part-II http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/20-frequencies-can-kill-heal-transcend-part.html Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:13:19 GMT Part-II In light of this point, on the plus side, there are machines that use frequencies for beneficial use. There is a medical device called a Multiple Wave Oscillator, first developed by a... Part-II

In light of this point, on the plus side, there are machines that use frequencies for beneficial use. There is a medical device called a Multiple Wave Oscillator, first developed by a French researcher and improved by solid state electronics. It used a miniature Tesla system consisting of two copper coils. When activated, a magnetic field is generated between the two coils and the frequencies can be adjusted for the electricity that flowed from one coil to the other. The result is multiple waves of inherently good frequencies to help heal various parts of the body. Sore knees or torn muscles can be placed inside the magnetic fields for a few minutes at a time, helping it to heal much faster than with conventional methods.
Researchers have found that frequencies under seven hertz create a general feeling of relaxation and well being, known as the alpha state. The most beneficial frequency on earth is said to be the 6.8 hertz frequency.

Interestingly, the Pyramid at Giza has a constant frequency of 6.8 hertz running through it. Although researchers have studied it, they don't know where it comes from or why in such an ancient structure.

This points to the idea that the ancients knew the importance of frequencies and how to use them in order to provide an atmosphere for attaining a peaceful state of mind for entering higher states of consciousness and perception of spiritual reality. The use of yoga has utilized this principle for as long as it had been known--many hundreds of years. Concentrating on the steady breathing, as in hatha-yoga, is a means of leveling and harmonizing the electrical impulses of the body and the beating of the heart. Invoking the alpha state by a natural means allows one to also reach a vibrational state in which the consciousness can enter higher levels of being and perception. The body is not only conducting the more balanced frequencies, but it begins to generate them as well. It is as if the body and mind are creating its own atmosphere in which it can further its more spiritual development, with or without the proper atmosphere around it. Building structures, like the pyramids and pyramid-like temples, which are common in such places as India and Central America, may provide the assistance for doing that, along with the physical exercises of yoga and the use of prayers, mantras, or rituals. By implementing such things on a regular basis in one's life, it would increase one's peaceful existence, bring about a higher state of consciousness, and insights into a level of reality beyond ordinary sense perception. In other words, it would naturally take one closer to the Truth of our existence. It would, as Tesla was hoping, bring the peace that would come from a natural consequence of universal enlightenment

A key point in this regard is the ancient use of mantras, as already mentioned earlier. Not only could certain results be attained by the proper use of vibrations in sounds, but even today the use of particular mantras are known for calming the mind, lowering blood pressure, relieving one from unnecessary anxieties by changing one's focus in life, and so on. It is also understood that certain mantras and prayers, such as the chanting of the spiritual names of God, bring to one the transcendental vibration of the spiritual world from where it comes. This means it is like a conductor, bringing the spiritual energy and frequencies that come from the transcendental strata. One of the classic mantras for this use is the Hare Krishna mantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare). Experiments have already been performed that show the changes in those who regularly use this mantra. Plus, sages of India have used this mantra successfully for centuries in order to reach spiritual states of being.

Thus, by absorbing one's consciousness in the sound vibration of these names of God, it will do several things, such as alter and improve the electrical impulses that are generated by the body, and help defend oneself from the negative impulses that one may encounter. In this way, it helps create a peaceful attitude within the individual and a healthier disposition. It also prepares one's consciousness for perceiving higher levels of reality, opens one up to the spiritual world, gradually reveals one's true spiritual identity, which would also allow one to see the unity between all people. It also harmonizes one's existence with nature, and even begins to rekindle one's real relationship with the Supreme Soul, God. Once the higher vibration of the spiritual realm is invoked on a regular basis in this way, and is opened for its use among the people in general, the chances for world change become enormous.

Naturally, this may not happen immediately. One needs to be able to concentrate on those spiritual sounds appropriately. This means to rid oneself of the clutter in one's mind. Only by purely focusing on the sound of the holy names can one truly feel its power, and open its potential. This is why there is a need for living a simple and honest life, and developing sincerity and devotion. It makes such a difference in being able to focus on the chanting of these spiritual prayers and mantras with feeling. Then one gives up that clutter which gets in the way of truly hearing the sounds and allows them to have a deep affect on one's life. That is when the deep changes and insights can begin to take place. When the general masses of people begin to participate in this process, that is when the collective vibrations around the world can begin to bring social changes that will help lead all people to a higher and more peaceful state of being. The general frequencies that we generate and receive will then naturally be of a harmonious and spiritual nature.
This article is from: http://www.stephen-knapp.com) ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/20-frequencies-can-kill-heal-transcend-part.html Frequencies that can Kill, Heal and Transcend http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/19-frequencies-that-can-kill-heal-transcend.html Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:11:27 GMT *Frequencies that can Kill, Heal,* *and Transcend* *By Stephen Knapp* There are all kinds of frequencies and vibrations all around us. There are frequencies we see (such as light waves), hear...

Frequencies that can Kill, Heal,
and Transcend
By Stephen Knapp

There are all kinds of frequencies and vibrations all around us. There are frequencies we see (such as light waves), hear (sound waves), or feel, and others that are beyond our ability to sense, such as gamma rays, infrared, or radio and television frequencies. In fact, the ancient Vedic texts of India explain, in summary, that this whole universe is the production or manifestation from particular vibrations that cause a change from the spiritual energy into the material energy. And all these frequencies effect us in many ways. For example, we may hear music that can be soothing and peaceful, or that is abrasive and irritating. Or there may be frequencies that we have to deal with on a more regular basis, like the noise we hear when working in a factory, or the sounds of downtown traffic.

Walk through a factory. The noise and vibrational level of the frequencies that you hear and feel are not attractive. In fact, they may be damaging to your hearing and necessitate the need for wearing ear plugs. Being around that kind of noise, which are lower vibrations of themselves, can make you restless or agitated in due time, tend to pull your consciousness down in a way that makes you think in very basic terms. They can make your mind become absorbed in the lower modes of thinking, like simply desiring to satisfy your senses, wanting to go to the bar after work to drown your thoughts, or thinking of whatever will give you the easiest thrill. In other words, exposure to low vibrations tends to produce low consciousness simply by your exposure to them.

Let's explain this a little more.
The science of vibrations and frequencies and how they effect people is something that has been around for thousands of years. We can still find evidence of this in the ancient Vedic texts of India. These explain not only the results of using the frequencies of words and mantras, but also supply instructions in some cases. The sages of ancient India used it to produce various results in the rituals they performed, and from the mantras they would recite. If the mantras were recited in particular ways, certain amazing results would take place, including changing the weather, producing certain types of living beings, or even palaces. Others used it to produce weapons, like the brahmashtra weapon, which was equal to the modern nuclear bombs. Specific mantras could be attached to arrows, with the sound causing powerful explosions when the arrow reached its target. Others used the science of vibrations to bring their consciousness to higher levels of perception, or to enter spiritual reality.

We can see the results of exposure to certain frequencies in other ways as well. Even now there has been research that has provided discoveries on the use of frequencies. They have worked with plants, exposing them to various kinds of music. Plants would thrive when exposed to classical music, while they would languish or wither when around heavy rock music. However, considering the nature of the mostly unenlightened society in which we live, some of these discoveries have not been for the benefit of the world and are quite scary to think of the results that may happen.

Nicola Tesla, the Croatian born inventor, had performed experiments at the turn of the century that revealed that air, at its ordinary pressure, is a conductor for large amounts of electrical energy over great distances without wires. This meant a few things: That electrical use for the purposes of man would be available at any place on the globe. And that electricity traveling through the air shows how frequencies and waves of powerful energy do not need wires to be generated at one place and received in another. Furthermore, it is of the opinion of some that the mathematics that provide the underpinning for Tesla's work also provides the basis for understanding telepathy. This suggests the openings of vast potentials for the human mind.

We could go on to suggest that this signifies that the whole universe is a vibrational generator, in some ways, in order for it to not only produce, send and receive energy at various points around the globe, but to also maintain such energy at all. Let's present some additional information in this regard.
Tesla proved the wireless transmission of electric power back in February of 1900. He sent signals of a very low hertz frequency by creating a conducting path between the ionosphere and the earth. Tesla found that the earth's surface could be used for a long circuit for very low frequencies. Thus, electrical energy could be transmitted world-wide from earth by going through the ground and using the ionosphere as a return path. The ionosphere is an electrical conducting spherical shell of ions and free electrons that surround the earth in the upper atmosphere between 50 to 200 miles high. It is important in radio transmissions in serving as a reflector of radio waves over a range of frequencies that permit transmissions beyond lines of sight and around the earth by successive reflections. This means that electricity and frequencies could be beamed to users and receivers without the need of power lines anywhere in the world.
However, it is understood that the effects these oscillations could produce in the ionosphere may not always be beneficial. For example, it was reported among the U. S. Intelligence that the U. S. S. R. had been engaged in large scale efforts for developing wireless radio transmissions that could effect the behavioral patterns of whole populations.

The Canadian Department of Communications reported high powered, low frequency communication coming from the Soviet Union. Independent researchers verified the existence of these coming from varying sites within the Soviet Union. Among Intelligence circles, the radio waves became known as "Woodpecker" because they had a distinctive tapping sound over the airwaves.

There has been proved to be a psycho-physiological sensitivity in animals and humans to magnetic and electrical fields in extremely low frequencies (ELF) corresponding to brain waves. These ELF, which can penetrate anything, have made it possible for the military to have a world-wide communication system with its submarines, which can be situated in any part of the world.

However, in the late 1970s, there was widespread cattle deaths in Oregon. It was determined by research that the cattle had been killed by adverse ELF radio frequency transmissions from the Russians. It seems that man is a bio-cosmic transducer, a transmitter and receiver as well, and that somehow our brain waves can lock on and modulate with the earth's electromagnetic field, the Universal Magnetic Field (UMF), as Tesla called it. Research has shown that altering these electro magnetic fields can influence the brain waves of cats and monkeys. Humans are also affected.

Anything above eleven hertz produces a general range of agitation and discontent. High voltage power lines throw off 50 to 60 hertz, and there's been concern about what they can do to people who live near them. Some feel that such lines, or even the use of such items as electric blankets, can cause cancer because of the unnatural magnetic field to which the body is exposed. Researchers have concluded that humans are electrical people. For example, our hearts can start or stop due to appropriate electrical impulses. The use of pacemakers is an example of helping maintain a steady heartbeat. Thus, electro magnetic radiation could be the most harmful pollutant in our society. There is strong evidence that cancer and other diseases can be triggered by electromagnetic waves.

Some ELF broadcasts from the Russians were thought to cause depression in humans. When the Russians first started transmitting in 1976, they emitted an eleven hertz signal through the earth. This ELF wave was so powerful that it upset radio communications around the world, resulting in many nations lodging protest. The U. S. Air Force identified five different frequencies the Russians were emitting in a wild ELF cocktail. They never broadcast anything below eleven hertz, or anything that would be beneficial. They had more sinister things in mind. ELF penetrates anything and everything. Nothing stops or weakens them. At the right frequencies and durations, whole populations could be controlled by ELF, or even killed. Once the killing range of these frequencies is perfected, it could make nuclear bombs obsolete. It could kill almost immediately with powerful adverse frequencies. Whole populations could be killed indiscriminately from radio frequencies transmitted from the other side of the globe without damaging anything else. A conquering army could simply take over the land and buildings without a battle.
Thankfully, these potential weapons do not seem to have been perfected as yet, or such research is cloaked in the highest levels of secrecy. Appropriately, Tesla once said that peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment.

contd......Part II
(This article is from: http://www.stephen-knapp.com) ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/19-frequencies-that-can-kill-heal-transcend.html Our Universe is Made of and Governed by Music http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/16-our-universe-is-made-governed-music.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:58:35 GMT *Our Universe is Made of and Governed by Music* (http://www.mindreality.com/our-universe-is-made-of-and-governed-by-music) The universe can be thought of as a giant symphony of sound, with... Our Universe is Made of and Governed by Music

The universe can be thought of as a giant symphony of sound, with each entity represented by a unique underlying numeric property or unique sound. All things are nothing more than an expression of something numeric or harmonic. You can see God in the order and harmony of the Universe. Geometry is God himself. The universe is a musical instrument and everything in it is vibrating in tune with the larger things that contain it.

There is a connection between musical harmony and whole numbers. The sound caused by plucking a musical string depends on the length of the string. The interval of an octave is rooted in the ratio 2:1, that of the fifth in 3:2, that of the fourth in 4:3, and that of the whole tone in 9:8. By applying these ratios to lengths of a string on an instrument called a canon, or monochord, you can determine mathematically the intonation of an entire musical system. These ratios are governing forces in the cosmos as well as in sounds. The world soul is structured according to these musical ratios.

When a musical string vibrates at a fundamental frequency, it has just one wave in the string. When it vibrates at the 2nd harmonic, both the length of the string and the period of the vibration are divided by 2. When it oscillates at 34560th harmonic, the length and vibration period are divided by 34560. This is how harmonics divide space and time. The harmonics theory states that the 34560th harmonic is an especially important one in the entire universe.

When we do the calculations from the size of the observable universe we find that the 34560 harmonic derives the correct typical distance between galaxies. When we divide this by a further 34560 we get the typical distance between stars, then next time we get the distance between planets and so on. Eventually we get the typical distance between cells followed by the distance between the protons and neutrons within the atom. So the entire structure of the universe is calculated from this one simple principle.

Electrons occupy specific positions within the atom rather than random ones. Electrons do not randomly exist in an atom, but only at very specific levels called quanta. The positions held by electrons follows a pattern found in music. Look at the frets on a guitar or any other stringed instrument. Notice that the distances between each fret are not equal. instead, the father down the string you go, the closer together the notes become. It is possible to describe the distances separating these notes with equations. This equations also describe the relative positions of the electron orbits. The structure of matter on the atomic level follows the same mathematical laws as music. The positions held by the planets in our solar system with the exception of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, also follow the musical interval.

Every major religion contains information indicating that our universe is following a musical pattern. For example, in the Jewish and Christian faiths, God is often pictured in the center of singing angels. In the East, the deity is often pictured as either singing of dancing to the creation of the universe. The Greek word for ratio is logos, which also means word or reason. The harmonious sounds that men could make, either with their instruments or their singing, were an approximation of a larger harmony that existed in the universe, also expressed by numbers. The elements of numbers are the elements of all things, and the whole heaven is a musical scale and a number.

Music is number made audible. Music is man’s participation in the harmony of the universe.
There is a New Song, far superior to the Orphic myths of the pagans. The New Song is Christ, Logos Himself. It is this New Song that composed the entire creation into melodious order, and tuned into concert the discord of the elements, that the whole universe may be in harmony with it. It is Christ who arranged in harmonious order this great world, and the little world of man, body and soul together. On this many-voiced instrument Man makes music to God and sings to the accompaniment of the human instrument. Music participates in the divine by praising God and partaking in the harmonious order of which God is the composer. But music’s goal is even higher because Christ is higher. There is a divine region to which music is supposed to transport man and that region is literally within the heavens. With Christianity the divine region becomes both transcendent and personal because Logos is Christ. The true goal of music is to make the transcendent perceptible. To escape from mundaneness into higher reality.

Music can make you a better person. Music is the knowledge of spiritual modulation. When we live virtuously we are under its discipline, but when we sin we are without music. The heavens and the earth and indeed all things in them which are directed by a higher power share in the discipline of music, for the universe was founded by and is governed by music. Music is related to morality because nothing is more consistent with human nature than to be soothed by sweet modes and disturbed by their opposites. The whole of the universe is united by a musical concord for when we compare that which is coherently and harmonious joined together within our own being, with that which is coherently and harmoniously joined together in sound which gives us pleasure, we come to recognize that we ourselves are united according to the same principle of similarity.

The essence of man’s being is his striving after God which is brought to life by means of the logos, the divine in art. The profound meaning of music and its essential aim is to promote a communion, a union of man with his fellow man and with the Supreme Being. Different musical modes have different effects on the person who hears them. The soul and the body are subject to the same laws of proportion that govern music and the cosmos itself. We are happiest when we conform to these laws because we love similarity, but hate and resent dissimilarity.

By participating in heavenly harmony, music can induce spiritual harmony in the soul. Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful. It is better to control the modes of music in a city than its laws, because the modes of music have a more decisive effect on the formation of the character of citizens. The ancient Greeks were also wary of music’s power because they understood that, just as there was harmony, there was disharmony. Musical discord could distort the spirit, just as musical concord could properly dispose it.

Source:http://www.mindreality.com/our-unive...erned-by-music ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/16-our-universe-is-made-governed-music.html Part III Stages of Spirituality http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/14-part-iii-stages-of-spirituality.html Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:00:44 GMT Although frequently "nonbelievers," people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial. To the contrary, they are often deeply in involved in and committed to social causes. They make up their own minds about things and are no more likely to believe everything they read in the papers than to believe it is necessary for someone to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior (as opposed to Buddha or Mao or Socrates) in order to be saved. They make loving, intensely dedicated parents. As skeptics they are often scientists, and as such they are again highly submitted to principle. Indeed, what we call the scientific method is a collection of conventions and procedures that have been designed to combat our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves in the interest of submission to something higher than our own immediate emotional or intellectual comfort--namely truth. Advanced Stage III men and women are active truth seekers.

"Seek and you shall find," it has been said. If people in Stage III seek truth deeply and widely enough, they find what they are looking for--enough pieces to begin to be able to fit them together, but never enough to complete the whole puzzle. In fact, the more pieces they find, the larger and more magnificent the puzzle becomes. Yet they are able to get glimpses of the "big picture" and to see that it is very beautiful indeed--and that it strangely resembles those "primitive myths and superstitions" their Stage II parents or grandparents believe in. At that point they begin their conversion to Stage IV, which is the mystic communal stage of spiritual development.

In fact it is only through the process of questioning that we begin to become even dimly aware that the whole point of life is the development of souls. As I said, the notion that we can totally direct this development is a pitfall of such awareness. But the beauty of the consciousness that we are all on an ongoing spiritual journey and that there is no end to our conversion far outshines that one pitfall. for once we become aware that we are on a journey--that we are all pilgrims--for the first time we can actually begin to cooperate consciously with God in the process. This is why Paul Vitz, at the symposium I mentioned, correctly told the audience: "I think Scott's stages have a good idea of validity, and I suspect that I shall be using them in my practice, but I want you to remember that what Scotty calls Stage IV is the beginning.

TRANSCENDING CULTURE

The process of spiritual development I have described is highly analogous to the development of community. Stage I people are frequently pretenders: they pretend they are loving and pious, covering up their lack of principles. The first, primitive stage of group formation--pseudocommunity--is similarly characterized to pretense. The group tries to look like a community without doing any of the work involved.

Stage II people have begun the work of submitting themselves to principle--the law, but they do not yet understand the spirit of the law. Consequently they are legalistic, parochial, and dogmatic. They are threatened by anyone who thinks differently from them, and so regard as their responsibility to convert or save the other 99 percent of humanity who are not "true believers." It is this same style of functioning that characterizes the second stage of the community process in which the group members, rather then accepting one another try vehemently to fix on another. The chaos that results is not unlike that existing among the various feuding denominations or sects within or between the world's different religions.

Stage III, a phase of questioning, is analogous to the crucial stage of emptiness in community formation. In reaching for community the members of a group must question themselves, "Is my particular theology so certain--so true and complete--as to justify my conclusion that these other people are not saved?," they may ask. Or, "I wonder to what extent my feelings about homosexuals represent a prejudice bearing little relation to the reality?" Or, "Could I have swallowed the party line in thinking that all religious people are fanatics?" Indeed, such questioning is the required beginning of the emptying process. We cannot succeed in emptying ourselves of preconceptions, prejudices, needs to control or convert, and so forth, without first becoming skeptical of them and without doubting their necessity. Conversely, individuals remain stuck in Stage III precisely because they do not doubt deeply enough. To enter Stage IV they must begin to empty themselves of some of the dogmas of skepticism such as: "Anything that can't be measured scientifically can't be known and isn't worth studying." They must begin to doubt even their own doubt.

Does this mean, then, that a true community is a group of all Stage IV people? Paradoxically the answer is yes and no. It is no because the individual members are hardly capable of growing so rapidly as to totally discard their customary styles of thinking when they return from the group to their usual worlds. But it is yes because in community the members have learned how to behave in a Stage IV manner in relation to one another. Among themselves, they all practice the kind of emptiness, acceptance, and inclusiveness that have characterized the behavior of mystics throughout the ages. They retain their basic identity as Stages I, II, III, or IV individuals. Indeed knowledge of these stages is in part so important because it facilitates the acceptance of one another as being in different stages -- different places spiritually. Such acceptance is a perquisite for community. But wonderfully, once such acceptance is achieved--and it can be achieved only through emptiness--Stage I, II, and III men and women routinely possess the capacity to act toward one another as if they were Stage IV people. In other words, out of love and community to the whole, virtually all of us are capable of transcending our backgrounds and limitations. So it is genuine community is so much more than the sum of its parts. It is, in truth, a mystical body.

The individual journey through the stages of spiritual development is also a journey in and out of culture. Erich Fromm once defined socialization as the process of "learning to like to do what we have to do." It is what happens when we learn to feel natural about going to the bathroom in the toilet. The conversion from Stage I to Stage II is essentially a leap of socialization or enculturation. It is that point at which we first adopt the values of our tribal, cultural religion and begin to make them our own. Just as Stage II people tend to be threatened, however, by any questioning of their religious dogmas, so they are also "culture-bound"--utterly convinced that the way things are done in their culture is the right and only way. And just as people entering Stage III begin to question the religious doctrines with which they were raised, so they also begin to question all the cultural values of the society into which they were born. Finally, as they begin to reach for Stage IV, they also begin to reach toward the notion of world community and the possibility of either transcending culture or -- depending on which way you want to use the words -- belonging to a planetary culture.

Aldous Huxley labeled mysticism "the perennial philosophy" because the mystical way of thinking and being has existed in all cultures and all times since the dawn of recorded history. Although a small minority, mystics of all religions the world over have demonstrated an amazing commonality, unity. Unique though they might be in their individual personhood, they have largely escaped free from -- transcended -- those human differences that are cultural.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Alfred Jules Ayer, Language, Truth & Logic, pp. 119-120
2 Lex Hixon, Coming Home, The Experience of Enlightenment in Sacred Traditions, pp. 197-198 ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/14-part-iii-stages-of-spirituality.html Part II Stages of Spirituality http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/13-part-ii-stages-of-spirituality.html Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:58:28 GMT *STAGE IV:* Mystic, communal. Out of love and commitment to the whole, using their ability to transcend their backgrounds, culture and limitations with all others, reaching toward the notion of... STAGE IV:

Mystic, communal. Out of love and commitment to the whole, using their ability to transcend their backgrounds, culture and limitations with all others, reaching toward the notion of world community and the possibility of either transcending culture or -- depending on which way you want to use the words -- belonging to a planetary culture. They are religious, not looking for clear cut, proto type answers, but desiring to enter into the mystery of uncertainty, living in the unknown. The Christian mystic, as with all other mystics, Sufi and Zen alike, through contemplation, meditation, reflection and prayer, see the Christ, Gods indwelling Spirit or the Buddha nature, in all people, including all the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and so forth, recognizing the connectedness of all humanity with God, never separating oneself from others with doctrine and scripture, recognizing that all scripture acts as fallible pointers of inspiration, unable to capture the essence of truth outside of both human perception and the linguistic straight jacket of language and articulation, that is, the words of fallible men who experienced the nature of God, that of their inner true self, and attempted to record their experience in human words, words constrained by the era of time they were written in that became compromised the moment they were penned and are further removed from objectivity when interpreted by us, fallible men and women who read them. (Words in Blue Font Added)

It is as if the words of each had two different translations. In the Christian example: "Jesus is my savior," Stage II often translates this into a Jesus who is a kind of fairy godmother who will rescue us whenever we get in trouble as long as we remember to call upon his name. At Stage IV, "Jesus is my savior" is translated as "Jesus, through his life and death, taught the way, not through virgin births, cosmic ascensions, walking on water and blood sacrifice of reconciliation - man with an external daddy Warbucks that lives in the sky - mythological stories interpreted as literal accounts, but rather as one loving the whole, the outcasts, overcoming prejudices, incorporating inclusiveness and unconditional love, this, with the courage to be as oneself - that is what I must follow for my salvation." Two totally different meanings.

The Stage IV - the mystic - views the conception of "back sliding" as the movement away from the collective consciousness and true inner nature, returning to the separate self - the ego, as opposed to the Stage II - the fundamentalist, whose conception of "back sliding," is the movement away from mapped out security to that of chaos. Two totally different views.

Expansion of Concepts

Most all young children and perhaps one in five adults fall into Stage I. It is essentially a stage of undeveloped spirituality. I call it antisocial because those adults who are in it (and those I have dared to call "People of the Lie" are at its bottom) seem generally incapable of loving others. Although they may pretend to be loving (and think of themselves that way), their relationships with their fellow human beings are all essentially manipulative and self-serving. They really don't give a hoot about anyone else. I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will. And since the will from moment to moment can go this way or that, there is a lack of integrity to their being. They often end up, therefore in jails or find themselves in another form of social difficulty. Some, however, may be quite disciplined in the services of expediency and their own ambition and so may rise in positions of considerable prestige and power, even to become presidents or influential preachers.

From time to time people in this stage get in touch with the chaos of their own being, and when they do, I think it is the most painful experience a human can have. Usually they just ride it out unchanged. A few, I suspect, may kill themselves, unable to envision change. And some, occasionally, convert to Stage II.

Such conversions are usually sudden and dramatic and, I believe, God-given. It is as if God had reached down and grabbed that soul and yanked it up a quantum leap. The process also seems to be an unconscious one. It just seems to happen. But if it could be made conscious, it might be as if the person said to himself. "Anything, anything is preferable to this chaos. I am willing to do anything to liberate myself from this chaos, even to submit myself to an institution for my governance."

For some the institution may be a prison. Most people who have worked in prisons know of a certain type of "model prisoner"--cooperative, obedient, well disciplined, favored by both the inmates and the administrative population. Because he is a model prisoner, he may soon be paroled, and three days later he has robbed seven banks and committed seventeen other felonies, so that he lands right back in jail and with the walls of the institution to govern hi, he once again becomes a "model prisoner."

For others the institution may be the military, where the chaos of their lives is regulated by the rather gentle paternalistic-and even maternalistic-structure of military society. for still others it might be a corporation or some other rightly structured organization. But for most, the institution to which they submit themselves for governance is the Church.

There are several things that characterize the behavior of men and women in Stage II of their spiritual development, which is the stage of the majority of churchgoers and believers (as well as that of most emotionally healthy "latency" period children). One is their attachment to the forms (as opposed to the essence) of their religion, which is why I call this stage "formal" as well as "institutional." They are in fact sometimes so attached to the canons and the liturgy that they become very upset if changes are made in the words or the music or in the traditional order of things. It is for this reason that there has been so much turmoil concerning the adoption of the new Book of Common Prayer by the Episcopal Church or the changes brought about by the Vatican II in the Catholic Church. Similar turmoil occurs for similar reasons in the other denominations and religions. Since it is precisely these forms that are responsible of their liberation from chaos., it is no wonder that people at this stage of their spiritual development become so threatened when someone seems to be playing footloose and fancy-free with the rules.

Another thing characterizing the religious behavior of Stage II people is that their vision of God is almost entirely that of an external, transcendent Being. They have very little understanding of the immanent, indwelling God--the God of the Holy Spirit or what Quakers call the Inner Light. And although they often consider Him loving, they also generally feel He possesses--and will use--punitive power. But once again, it is no accident that their vision of God is that of a giant benevolent Cop in the Sky, because that is precisely the kind of God they need--just as they need a legalistic religion for their governance.

Let us suppose now that two adults firmly rooted in Stage II marry and have children. They will likely raise their children in a stable home, because stability is a principal value for people in this stage. They will treat their children with dignity as important beings, because the Church tells them that children are important and should be treated with dignity. Although their love may be a bit legalistic and unimaginative at times, they will still generally treat them lovingly, because the Church tells them to be loving and teaches something about how to be loving. What happens to children raised in such a stable, loving home, treated with importance and dignity (and taken to Sunday school as well) is that they absorb the principles of Christianity as if with their mother's milk--or the principles of Buddhism if raised in a Buddhist home, or of Islam if raised in a Muslim home, and so on. The principles of their parents religion are literally engraved on their hearts or come to be what psychotherapists call "internalized."

But once these principles become internalized, such children, now usually late-adolescents, have become self-governing human beings. As such they are no longer dependent on an institution for their governance. Consequently they begin to say to themselves, "Who needs this fuddy-duddy old Church with its silly superstitions?" At this point they begin to convert to Stage III - the skeptic, individual. And to their parents great but unnecessary chagrin, they often become atheists or agnostics. ]]> gurvinder_janu http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/13-part-ii-stages-of-spirituality.html What Stage of Spiritual Growth You Attained? Find Out!! http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/gurvinder_janu/12-what-stage-spiritual-growth-you-attained.html Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:54:58 GMT _What Stage of Spiritual Growth Have You Attained? Find out Now!_... What Stage of Spiritual Growth Have You Attained? Find out Now!

Extensive religious research has shown that there are four distinct and classical stages of spiritual growth. Even those individuals who do not normally consider themselves spiritual or religious lie somewhere within one of these four evolving stages. Knowing what stage you are in can also help you see what lies just ahead on the horizon of your personal spiritual path or help you in understanding others at their own different spiritual stages. By M. Scott Peck, M.D. Abridged by Richard Schwartz

Just as there are discernible stages in human physical and psychological growth, so there are stages in human spiritual development. The most widely read scholar of the subject today is James Fowler of Emory University, the writer of Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. But I first came to an awareness of these stages through my own personal experience.

The first of these experiences occurred within I was fourteen and began attending Christian churches in the area. I was mainly interested in checking out the girls but also in checking out what this Christianity business seemed to be about. I chose one particular church because it was only a few blocks down the street and because the most famous preacher of the day was preaching there. It was in the day before the "electronic church," but this man's every sermon was broadcast over almost every radio frequency across the country. At fourteen I had no trouble spotting him as a fraud. On the other hand, up the street in the opposite direction was another church with a well-known minister--not nearly as famous as the first but still probably among the top thirty in the Who's Who of preachers of the day-a Presbyterian named George Buttrick. And at age fourteen I had no trouble spotting George Buttrick as a holy man, a true man of God. What was I to think of this with my young brain? Here was the best known Christian preacher of the day, and as far as I could discern at age fourteen, I was well ahead of him. Yet in the same Christian religion was George Buttrick, who was obviously light years ahead of me. It just didn't compute. So I concluded that this Christianity business didn't make any sense, and I turned my back on it for the next generation.

Another significant non computing experience occurred more gradually. Over the course of a decade of practicing psychotherapy a strange pattern began to emerge. If people who were religious came to me in pain and trouble, and if they became engaged in the therapeutic process, so as to go the whole route, they frequently left therapy as atheists, agnostics, or at least skeptics. On the other hand, if atheists, agnostics, or skeptics came to me in pain or difficulty and became fully engaged, they frequently left therapy as deeply religious people. Same therapy, same therapist, successful but utterly different outcomes from a religious point of view. Again it didn't compute--until I realized that we are not all in the same place spiritually.

With that realization came another: there is a pattern of progression through identifiable stages in human spiritual life. I myself have passed through them in my own spiritual journey. But here I will talk about those stages only in general, for individuals are unique and do not always fit nearly into my psychological or spiritual pigeonhole.

With that caveat, let me list my own understanding of these stages and the names I have chosen to give them:

STAGE I:

Chaotic, Antisocial. Frequently pretenders; they pretend they are loving and pious, covering up their lack of principles. Although they may pretend to be loving (and think of themselves that way), their relationships with their fellow human beings are all essentially manipulative and self-serving. They really don't give a hoot about anyone else. I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will. And since the will from moment to moment can go this way or that, there is a lack of integrity to their being. They often end up, therefore in jails or find themselves in another form of social difficulty. Some, however, may be quite disciplined in the services of expediency and their own ambition and so may rise in positions of considerable prestige and power, even to become presidents or influential preachers.

STAGE II:

Formal, Institutional, Fundamental. Beginning the work of submitting themselves to principle-the law, but they do not yet understand the spirit of the law, consequently they are legalistic, parochial, and dogmatic. They are threatened by anyone who thinks differently from them, as they have the "truth," and so regard it as their responsibility to convert or save the other 90 or 99 percent of humanity who are not "true believers." They are religious for clear cut answers, with the security of a big daddy God and organization, to escape their fear of living in the mystery of life, the mystery of uncertainty in the ever moving and expanding unknown. Instead they choose the formulations, the stagnation of prescribed methods and doctrines that spell out life and attempt to escape fear. Yet these theological reasonings simply cover over fear, hide fear and do not transcend it in spite of with acceptance in expanding movement. All those outside of Stage II are perceived to be as Stage I, as they do not understand Stage III and Stage IV. Those who do fall, reverting from Stage II to Stage I are called "backsliders."

There is a Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, mentality (one-sided thinking - ignorance that produces hostility) in every religion, the one-sidedness, in every ideology. Christianity cannot be condemned as responsible for the fundamentalists who claim to represent such. One just has to look at Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr. to see the opposite of such thinking. You can find the Falwell in Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, Mohammedism and of course Christianity. That is the narrow one-sided exclusiveness that limits insight to one set of rules and one objective truth, under the literal logic or rationialism, that fails to apprehend the unseen intuitive essence of existence and ignorantly labels outsiders as misled sinners, while surrounding themselves with interior neurotic and finite walls of security and certainty. All is safe in this illusion, but all is not just, nor fair, and does not transcend prejudice that surpasses tribal identity, an identity that must be scrapped in order to bring higher consciousness of planetary cultural peace and love based on principle with intuitive insight.

There is also a Bin Laden (evil intolerance) in every religious culture and teaching, in every social, political and cultural view. Islam cannot be condemned as responsible for the extreme fundamentalists who incorporate harm and war. One just has to look at the other side within Islam, to the Sufi of compassion and peace, that of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen or Hazrat Inayat Khan. Yet the evil of extreme fundamentalism resides in all facets of society, those who would kill and destroy, torture and humiliate, all in the name of their theological and ideological views. They are of course the extreme fundamentalists, yet all forms of fundamentalism, both moderate to extreme, Stage II mentality, fails integration with non-acceptance, that of one-dimensional perception. And yet, in each of these same cultures, although the minority, there exists communal and mystical persons, Stage IV persons, those transmitting inclusiveness and compassion, who transcend all divisiveness in oneness.

STAGE III:

Skeptic, Individual, questioner, including atheists, agnostics and those scientifically minded who demand a measurable, well researched and logical explanation. Although frequently "nonbelievers," people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial. To the contrary, they are often deeply involved in and committed to social causes. They make up their own minds about things and are no more likely to believe everything they read in the papers than to believe it is necessary for someone to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior (as opposed to Buddha or Mao or Socrates) in order to be saved. They make loving, intensely dedicated parents. As skeptics they are often scientists, and as such they are again highly submitted to principle. Indeed, what we call the scientific method is a collection of conventions and procedures that have been designed to combat our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves in the interest of submission to something higher than our own immediate emotional or intellectual comfort--namely truth. Advanced Stage III men and women are active truth seekers.

Despite being scientifically minded, in many cases even atheists, they are on a higher spiritual level than Stage II, being a required stage of growth to enter into Stage IV. The churches age old dilemma: how to bring people from Stage II to Stage IV, without allowing them to enter Stage III.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Alfred Jules Ayer, Language, Truth & Logic, pp. 119-120
2 Lex Hixon, Coming Home, , pp. 197-198

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