Friday, July 30, 2010

They're Happy Because They Eat Lots of Butter!





They also eat plenty of eggs, seafood, cream, cheese, liver, meat, cod liver oil, raw milk, and other nutrient-dense foods that have nourished generations of healthy people worldwide.


Meet them at your local chapter
of the Weston A. Price Foundation.



There are plenty of ‘experts’ telling you what to eat. Yet, modern degenerative diseases are still on the rise.


Do you want PROOF?

What if you could find a group of people who were healthy and happy -- generation after generation -- living their entire lives without tooth decay, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, and such. Would you be curious about what they ate?

I mean an
entire village where even the elderly had all their teeth with NO cavaties -- and NONE had the modern degenerative diseases.

Those healthy people were our ancestors -- as little as 100 years ago. But we've forgotten what true health looks like. And what they ate before modern foods.

Here's the proof. It was meticulously recorded by Dr. Weston A. Price. That and much more is on the Weston A. Price Foundation website. I hope you take a peek.

You can shake hands with PROOF! Meet people restoring their health with real, traditional foods at your local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

One of Many Examples

When Weston Price visited the Torres Strait Islands north of Australia, he spoke to a doctor who had suspected only one case of cancer and operated on none among more than 4,000 natives eating their traditional diet, but had operated on dozens of whites eating diets of refined foods living in the same area.

It should be humbling to us that these natives did not have any of the money, research methods, or medical equipment that we have, yet were far more successful at protecting themselves against cancer and other degenerative diseases than we are. What they did have was traditional wisdom accumulated over the ages -- something to which our society offers little respect but nevertheless confirms over and over again with the tools of modern science.

Those of us in the know can get ahead of the game by deferring to traditional wisdom here and now, and thus obtain protection from modern disease and support for longevity and vibrant health.

OVERVIEW
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist in the 1930’s. Not just any dentist, but the Director of Research for 25 years of the American Dental Association. He wondered about the cause of cavities. But figuring it out was pretty tough since everybody had them. Finally, he realized he needed to look at people who did NOT have cavities to figure it out.

But where to find them?

It seems in the 1930’s travel was opening up all around the world, and travelers were coming into contact with isolated primitive peoples. The travelers always remarked about how beautiful their teeth were. That got Dr. Price’s attention.

For a 10 year period of time, Dr. Price traveled to every isolated group of people — untainted by modern foods — that he could find to study them. He went to an isolated village in the Swiss Alps (the tiny footpath into the village inhibited the arrival of modern foods), as well as isolated parts of Scottish Islands, Peruvian mountains, Eskimos, African jungles, Australian aborigines, and South Sea Islands.


Here’s the amazing part:
in every case, ALL the people had perfectly straight teeth and no cavities. (They didn't use tooth brushes either.)
Even the elderly had beautiful teeth.

Another surprise, none of them had tuberculosis (a big issue at that time), nor heart disease, nor diabetes, nor mental illness. None of the modern degenerative diseases. Dr. Price was struck by their positive attitudes and cheerful dispositions.



And when a family left the village to move into town where modern foods were available, the degenerative diseases appeared quickly. Several photos compare identical twins where one twin stayed home and ate the traditional foods, but the other twin was raised in town on modern foods. Their faces and their teeth looked so different.



So what did they eat?

What they ate in each location was almost completely different. Their environments were completely different. The northern Eskimos ate mostly meat. How could that be? Aren't we supposed to eat alot of vegetables? The Swiss ate mostly dairy and grains. But dairy is bad for you, right? So far, still confusing?

But . . . Dr. Price realized ALL of their traditional diets shared the EXACT same principles. Just 11 principles. He believed these principles were the reason for those peoples exceptional health. Dr. Price also wrote about the ‘miracle’ cures he made with these principles back home in Ohio.

Like a small cry in the wilderness, the Weston A. Price Foundation is making the recent science verifying Dr. Price’s discoveries known to the public. Certainly, the research he did is impossible to replicate at this time. As well, the Foundation is trying to protect America’s food supply from corrupt agribusiness and pharmaceuticals.

Several — perhaps surprising —– principles to get you started:

#1 All traditional diets highly valued saturated fat — in a distinct contrast to today’s fears.

Hence, the age-old, worldwide ‘traditional’ healthy habits of buttering bread, milk on cereal, gravey on meats, etc. Without the fat, the food doesn’t help you as much.

There is plenty of the most reputable science out there that verifies that saturated fats are important in preventing heart disease and in losing weight -- don't you wonder why that information is being hidden from you?

You can meet many people curing their heart disease by heaping butter on their foods, lots of egg yolks and bacon -- just visit a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

The saturated fats are necessary for many reasons, but especially the fat-soluble vitamins they contain. In fact, your body cannot take advantage of the other vitamins and minerals without them.

The traditional diets worldwide had 10 times the fat-soluble vitamins when compared to the American diet of Dr. Price’s day.

I’ve seen this on those wild animal shows on TV — a polar bear that killed a seal only ate the internal organs and the fat, leaving the lean meat behind. The biologists on the television show completely understood this! In contrast to our medical doctors who would probably tell you that the polar will get heart disease because of his poor eating habits!

Native Americans once did the same thing: in times of plenty, they kept the organ meats and fat, leaving the lean meat behind. In fact, eating lean meat was taboo. Eskimos never ate lean meat without dipping it in seal oil. And on and on.



But today, everyone is eating lean meat -- and heart disease is still the number one killer.

Why the fears of saturated fats today? You can read the history on the website. The greed and deception behind it all — at the expense of the American people — is amazing.

[Note: Don't try this from your local grocery. The fats encouraged by WAPF are fats from healthy animals -- NOT factory-farmed sick animals and NOT highly-processed vegetable oils that predominate store shelves.]

Read more at the Weston A. Price Foundation.

#2 Traditional diets never used grains or nuts without soaking or fermenting them. Whether it was Africa, South America, Asia, or North America, they never just cooked and ate grains like we do today. Somehow they knew they wouldn’t be healthy if they did.

Modern science has revealed the phytic acid in grains, seeds and nuts that blocks mineral absorption — which is deactivated by soaking. In other words, all that whole wheat bread you’re eating is contributing to your mineral deficiencies.

Isn't that amazing? All around the world, all of these isolated peoples knew to soak their grains before eating them.

Do you still have a great-grandmother? Ask her about this: the Quaker Oats box used to say ‘soak it overnight before cooking.’ In our hectic lives today, we’ve forgotten why and ignored this healthy habit.

Grains are largely responsible for the high cholesterol that so many people have. Is that new to you? Learn more from Dr. William Davis -- the Track Your Plaque guy -- who has his patients reducing severely high cholesterol readings to normal in a matter of weeks, simply by eliminating wheat from their diet. He doesn't know why; it just works almost every time. Read more about how Dr. Davis is helping people reverse their heart diseases here.

#3 Eating alot of fermented foods is another principle. All around the world it was a significant part of the diet (of course, without refrigeration stuff starts to ferment fast!)

Certainly, the probiotics are vital. Today we know a healthy intestinal flora protects us from powerful virus's and even mercury and other heavy metal poisoning.


Even so, fermentation works like magic on our foods. Example: when the Eskimos were asked about the fermented fish they ate ( yuck!). It was explained that when they fed their sled dogs fresh fish, they got tired in the afternoon. They noticed that when they fed the dogs fish that had gone rotten (fermented) after being buried in a hole, the dogs could run all day. The eskimos noticed that they were healthier from eating the fermented fish as well.

This is your rationalization to drink alot of beer! But it has to be the real thing, not the pasturized, processed stuff.

Furthermore, the leavening (fermentation) process, unlike today’s quick yeast breads, makes the grains not only more digestible (think celiac disease) but actually multiplies the nutritional content. Even a white, refined flour sourdough (fermented) bread is can be better for you than a regular whole grain bread.

Yes, the ancients probably also did this because food stores longer when fermented, just as leavened/sourdough bread lasts much longer without drying out than quick yeast breads.


Learn more at the Weston A. Price Foundation.



A final tidbit: there were no vegetarians. Look as hard as he could, Dr. Price could find no ‘traditional’ vegetarians. Those who had adopted it for religious reasons were not as healthy as their counterparts.

The closest to being vegetarian were some of the South Sea Islanders. Most of their diet was non-meat — however, the people of one island risked their lives regularly to capture sharks to eat their livers. When asked why all the trouble, they explained they could not maintain their good health without it.

Dr. Price concluded it’s not about the meat, but rather the fat soluble vitamins. Therefore, the common principle among the divergent worldwide traditional diets was not meat-eating, but rather the animal fat and fat-soluble vitamins. You can see how each culture applied the same principle in many different ways -- like eating insects -- but you can find a way that suits your life instead.

I wanted to get you started — if you made it this far, you might want to check out their website. There are 9 more principles that just might amaze you. And the scientific research to back it up.

If you want to be much healthier, you and your family need this information.

Price’s book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, is pretty old and crusty, written in the late 1930’s. More recent is Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions cookbook.

Get The DVD
I like to lend out Sally Fallon’s (the president of WAPF) 5-hour DVD presentation. I found it fascinating. In the first hour, she details Dr. Price’s travels with many, many photos of the people he encountered and what they ate. The photos show wide faces and perfect teeth regardless of the race. Then she explains the 11 principles in detail WITH the modern science behind it. What I’m saying is that Sally Fallon presents this stuff much, much better than Dr. Price ever could.


By contacting a local chapter leader — on the website — you can likely borrow the DVD. That’s what they do around here. Or let me know, I’ll lend you my copy. (it’s sort of expensive, $50)

"People don’t always know when they’re being lied to,
but they always know when they’re being told the truth."
-- a wise man

Time and time again, I have found that when people are introduced to the traditional health wisdom of our ancestors, they report that they know it is true – at their core.

When it comes to health and nutrition, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Degenerative diseases, obese babies, sick children, depression, and infertility are NOT natural, and not inevitable. By living according to nature’s wisdom, we can end the cycle of degeneration that has come to characterize civilization itself.

It is time to reconnect to the nourishing traditions of our ancestors, and reclaim the radiant, healthy lives we were designed to live.

That's what local chapter leaders do -- they don't tell you what to eat! -- they help you learn where to get 'real' food where you live. They connect you with like-minded people nearby so you can learn the traditional, forgotten ways of preparing foods and how to creatively apply the dietary principles with children and hectic lifestyles.

You can shake hands with PROOF!
Meet people restoring their health with real, traditional foods.

Check out this article in the Washington Post.














Books that opened my eyes about food.
Highly Recommended.


Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
A cookbook, but much, much more. The 100's of fascinating historical sidebars are worth the price of the book. The guide to healthy eating that everyone is looking for.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
A wonderful read by a popular author. It will open your eyes to better food choices. In my local library.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
If you want to know where your food comes from and what you’re really eating, read this book. A best seller, in your local library.

Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating by Jeffery Smith
A rather alarming exposé of genetically modified foods. Most people are shocked enough within the first 10 pages to order copies for family and friends. Find out why Europeans and other countries have banned the foods we are eating.


And then contact your the chapter leader of your local chapter of the Weston. A. Price Foundation. They will be glad to tell you where you can buy better food in your area.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

What's better than Faith?








Why settle for faith and belief as a path to heaven, when we can have spiritual realization?
Once a young child was out for a drive with her parents. As the car came to a stop at a traffic light, the child asked,

"Is this an intersection?"

Assured that it was, she mused, "I've seen a lot of them, but this is the first time I knew it!"

That was a realization. A small one, no doubt, to her parents. . . . Now she knew this single fact for sure. From then on, intersections held a special meaning for her.
---- Harold Klemp
Autobiography of a Modern Prophet, p. 446

God's love may be very close. Everywhere.
How much do I REALIZE It?

The stories I share here are my little 'intersections.'
Read on, if you like.


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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Contagious Happiness.

It's 7 minutes of delightful story
-- a fun reminder of my individual contribution to the world around me.








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Monday, July 12, 2010

You Are Reading My Mind





Or controlling my mind?


How powerful are
our thoughts?




Click the photo to see the video.

This video is just a simple reminder to keep up my inner discipline.

Of the 4 minute video, the final stunt within the last minute is the most awe inspiring --- because it's ordinary people like you and me doing it.


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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Everyone's Light Turned White


"I can see auras, you know."

She cocked her head, and closely measured my response. I didn't flinch. This elderly lady had approached me after the workshop was finished.

"I cannot see them like that, but can feel auras," I responded.

"Well, I can see them," she curtly said. And went right on to say, "I wasn't sure I wanted to attend this meeting, but when I saw the light around each of you at the front of the room, I knew it would be okay."

She paused, perhaps gathering her thoughts.
I waited patiently. This might be interesting.


How to See Better

"I want to share something with you," she said. "When the workshop started, everyone's aura in the audience was a different color."

She went on the explain that there were oranges, and pinks, and blues and browns. A variety of colors distinct and mixed. Then she explained that each of the varying colors indicated a different state of mind. I knew that, yet continued to listen carefully.

"But when you taught the group to sing HU, then everyone's light turned white!" she exclaimed.

She continued on to explain that the white light is the pure spiritual light. "So, singing HU brings out your spiritual side. Then it's easier to see the answers you need, and easier to hear that guiding voice in your heart."

Turning on her heel, she stepped away just as curtly as she had started. Mission accomplished, I guess.
* * * * * * *
I was so grateful to have heard her experience -- yet at the same time I was a little disappointed. I wish she had spoken up during the workshop for everyone to hear.

A small, inner voice comforted me: "Everyone else had their own experience. That's enough."
* * * * *
If you want to try the HU chant, learn how in this short video by Harold Klemp, spiritual leader of Eckankar.

The HU chant is a fundamental part of my spiritual exercises. Often, I include it as part of my contemplation time, or I devote the entire 20 minutes to singing HU. Gently and sweetly alert, for whatever Spirit has for me that day.

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The Most Beautiful Light









"What happened?" she wondered.


"How could I understand the book now, when it made no sense just a few weeks ago?"

Because it made her calm and relaxed, she had been sitting quietly and singing HU each day.

"But then, one day, I saw a light --- even though my eyes were closed. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Afterwards, I had to know what it was. So I pulled out that Eckankar book which I gave up on the first time. Strangely enough, this time I understood every page!"

"The book didn't change. So it dawned on me, I must have changed. I understood more than before.

Because of singing HU.

(true story from a friend)
* * * * * * *
It seems more and more people have experienced the Light of God. They have one thing in common: their new outlook on life is a radical change from earlier.

Are you one of them, too?
* * * * * * * *
"I tried it," she mentioned.

"And now I sing HU a little before I read the Bible each evening."

It was the lady at the house where we were building a porch onto her home. I was a carpenter's helper for the summer break from college.

During my lunch break one day, the lady asked me about religion as she delivered ice tea around the work site. Worried about attempts to convert me, I tried to put her off. However, she was kind and she listened, so I told her about how I use the HU.

It was our last day, and the porch was completed. The lady took me aside to thank me. She explained the HU helped her understand the Bible even better. On occasion, the Bible would 'speak to her' in some mysterious way.

I found it just as fascinating as she did.

That's how I learned that the HU can be used by Christians, and likely, anyone of any religion. Why not? We're all children of God.
* * * * * * * *
Learn how to sing HU in this short video (3 mins.) with Harold Klemp, spiritual leader of Eckankar.


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It's Amazing!



Strolling along, whistling a happy little tune, a traveling Soul comes upon another Soul.

This little Soul is also smiling, but looking this way and that way and all around with a wide-eyed look of fascination on It's face. Having seen these rubber-necked, bug-eyed Souls before, the traveler chuckled to himself, "a newly awakened Soul."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
You see, many Souls are asleep. Their eyes are closed. They move through life without seeing and knowing. But that's okay, they need the rest. One day when the time is right, each will awaken, rub the sleep from their eyes, and look around with the same surprised look on their face as this little Soul.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Finding the company of these newly awakened Souls to be quite pleasurable, the traveling Soul stops to visit.

"Isn't it amazing?" uttered the little Soul, almost breathless.
He was gazing with fascination near and far, barely even noticing the traveler.

"Yes, it is truly amazing," gently replied the traveler. Smiling to himself, he was immensely enjoying the freshness of the moment.

"Look at that," awed the little Soul.

"And this, and that over there, " sounded the astonished voice as if it was just found again after long being lost.

"How does that work?
"Oh, and what does that over there mean?
"Gosh, why it that like that? . . .

The questions poured --  and then gushed -- out of this little Soul as he began to notice more and more with each passing moment.

But after a while the questions ebbed and slowly trickled into a silence between the two Souls. If they could hear anything at all, it was simply the sound of wonder.

Puzzled by the traveler's lack of response, the little Soul asked, "But you have been here and seen. And you don't know?"

"All I know," marveled the traveler in the humblest tone, "is that it just gets more amazing."

Those little eyes, which you would never have believed could get any wider, just opened even wider!

"That's amazing," he breathed.


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Scratching In The Dirt



The Blackfoot Indians tell this story.

While climbing in an area of steep cliffs, an Indian brave came upon a eagles’ nest. There were several eggs in the next, and he managed to steal one and carry it back to his village. He placed the egg in a hen’s next, and after it hatched, the young eagle followed the mother chicken about and grew up believing itself to be a chicken.

All day the young eagle walked about with its head lowered to the ground in the same way the chickens did, scratching in the dirt, pecking at worms and seeds.

One day, when the eagle was fully grown, he looked up and saw a magnificent bird soaring in the heavens. He went to the old grandmother hen, who knew many things about the world, and asked, ‘What’s that bird, Grandma?’

"That's an eagle," answered the old grandma hen.
"How wonderful it must be to fly so high," he said.
"Yes, it must be, " she agreed. "But forget it. You're a chicken."

So without further question, the eagle lived out the rest of his life a chicken, scratching in the dirt.


The rest of the story is . . .




Interviewer: Excuse me, could I ask you a few questions?

Chicken-eagle: Sure.

Interviewer: I heard that you have seen the eagle flying high in the heavens.

Chicken-eagle: Oh, yes. How wonderful it must be to be so free. If I could fly like that I’d be the happiest creature on earth!

Interviewer: Did you know that this spiritual book says ‘You are an eagle.’

Chicken/eagle: (with attitude) No way, buddy. Have you lost your mind. I’m a chicken. Can’t you see me here scratching in the dirt like all the other chickens!

Interviewer: This book was written by an authority who says . . .

Chicken-eagle: Are you calling my Momma a liar? She said I’m a chicken, so I’m a chicken. Okay? If I was an eagle, why would I be sleeping in this chicken coop every night?

Interviewer: But those wings of yours. Surely you can fly high with wings like that?

Chicken-eagle: These wings? They’re too big! I tried opening them once and knocked three other chickens in the head. Gave them black eyes. The other chickens didn’t like that one bit. I’m never going to do that again.

Interviewer: At least you can see that you are different than the other chickens.

Chicken-eagle: It’s awful, isn’t it? I don’t know what I did in a past life to be cursed with this ugly body. My wings are too big, and this beak makes it so hard to eat seeds and bugs.

Interviewer: Do you like eating those bugs and seeds?

Chicken-eagle: Of course! . . . . (sheepishly) well, honestly, I really don’t. But you see, I just try to be real nice and not make waves so that all the other chickens will accept me. Maybe in my next life I’ll be more like everybody else.

Interviewer: If you don’t like to eat bugs, then why do it?

Chicken-eagle: The wise-old chickens say it builds character. Suffering is our lot in life. And besides, I should be grateful that I have bugs and seeds to eat!

Interviewer: The spiritual master, who wrote this book, says he can even teach chickens to fly like an eagle.

Chicken-eagle: And leave the other chickens! Are you trying to get me killed? Every bird knows if you go off from the chicken coop, a fox could eat you.

Interviewer: But you said if you could fly high like that you’d be so happy.

Chicken-eagle: Listen, man, even if I could, I just can’t go flying off like that. I’ve got responsibilities! Can’t you see! I’ve got to eat these bugs and seeds.

Interviewer: What if there was something you could do in this life to find a greater freedom.

Chicken-eagle: Oh, well, I’ve been taught the way since childhood. See that black rooster over there? He teaches us that if we eat enough bugs and seeds and get real fat, we’ll get to go to heaven. Then we’ll be happy.

Interviewer: Do you believe that will work?

Chicken-eagle: Of course. Why else would all the fat chickens disappear?

THE END


Spiritually, are we not eagles? --- How do we know?

Are we the slave?
Or free?


NOTE: The initial parable came from Harold Klemp, Unlocking the Puzzle Box, pg. 35




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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Who Were Those Mean Men?


"Michael, " mom said, "Don't you remember your recurring nightmares as a kid?"

"Uh, what nightmares?" I mumbled.

"I think your nightmares were really Soul Travel experiences," she commented. She had the book, In My Soul I Am Free by Paul Twitchell in her hands.


Stuck In A Body -- Or Not?

This was many years later that my mother reminded me of the bad nightmares I used to have. She had been reading an Eckankar book which emphasizes that our human lives, in truth, are animated by Soul, an individualized spiritual essence. That's the real you and me.

The cool part: Soul isn't stuck in the body until death. Far from it. Soul Travel is the phrase used to described the experiences that we have, as Soul, outside the range of our normal human consciousness.

Reading about that must have jogged my mother's memory.

"Remind me again," I asked.

"Let's see," she said, with her finger tapping her lower lip.
"You said there was this loud music, and zooming real fast down a tunnel . . . .

And it all came back to me. I'd completely forgotten.


Oh, No -- It's Happening Again!


I would awaken in a dream, zooming around. I thought of it as a roller rink or ice skating rink. Smooth and slick and fast -- and sort of out of control -- just like I felt on roller skates.

There was this loud organ music playing, real echo-y, like it might be inside a cavernous roller skating rink. And when I heard that music each time, I'd say to myself, 'I'm gonna have another one of those bad dreams!'

Then I'd zoom off into a dark tunnel. I think I screamed the entire way. . .

And that was it.

The last thing I'd remember each time was being ruthlessly shoved into a tight, suffocating place by these 'mean men.' Then I'd wake up in my bed. Terrified. And rush to my parents bedroom.


Who Were Those Mean Men?

Mom explained it this way, after reading the Eckankar book:

● The music was the Sound Current. The spiritual Sound often precedes or accompanies spiritual experiences, just like the spiritual Light often does.

● The dark tunnel is similar to commonly reported near-death experiences of entering a higher realm beyond death.

● The 'mean men' were most likely Spiritual Masters or Guides, who insisted I return to my human state of being.

● I probably didn't remember what happened in the heavenly worlds because my childhood mind could not relate to, or accept, the unfamiliar experiences.

● And quite possibly, I would have rather stayed in the heavenly states of being, instead of returning to earth, thereby explaining my childish accusation for the 'mean men.'

It's not unusual for young boys to have nightmares, so my parents were advised not to worry. But it was odd that I described the same dream again and again over several years before and just after I started school.


The Light Comes On

Just like that, it all made sense -- like an odd piece to a puzzle that finally fits somewhere. A new idea in a book replaced a confusing memory with understanding. And a kind of satisfaction.

Later, I practiced spiritual exercises with the primary intent of experiencing the Light and Sound of God. I learned that this was the most direct communion with God. Beyond a spoken word or idea, this 'Voice of God' leaves an individual changed in some way. For the better, of course.

As a child I couldn't appreciate these gifts. However, it's with a great fondness that I remember it today.


-- Could any of your confusing memories have a spiritual explanation?

-- Have you heard any unexplained sounds with your spiritual experiences? Maybe like a wind, or a flute, or bells, or a humming?


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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I Couldn't Hear It


No wonder . . .

I was trying to hear God's Voice -- amidst the vacuum cleaner, the TV, the traffic outside. And the refrigerator!

It was there -- I just didn't know it.




After I started studying the Eckankar teachings, I wanted to hear the Sound Current that is so often written about. Apparently, it is one of the twin aspects of the Life Force, or Divine Spirit. And hearing it can change you forever.

That's what I wanted -- to be transformed! I figured that would fix me up.


All I Heard Was Noise

After school, I'd sit on the edge of my bed and try to calm myself. I'd try to look into the spiritual eye. I'd try to listen as Soul, inside myself. But believe me, this meditation thing just didn't come easy for me. I just wasn't the 'prayerful' type of person.

At first, I couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes. Typical teenager, my mind was racing on about this or that. How could I ever hear the Sound Current like that?

And worse, the noise in my house. My sister was always talking on the phone, or the TV was going out in the living room. My mom was bustling around the house with her chores.

For heaven's sake, I'm trying to have a spiritual experience here!

I had the door to my room shut -- but the more I tried to get quiet inside myself, the louder all the household noises became. I could hear the central air conditioning running. I could hear cars passing outside on the street.

I could even hear that low humming sound of the refrigerator in the kitchen. You know, how some low sounds carry so well, penetrating walls, underneath all the other noise in the house.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to hear of the Sound Current. But I was sure I'd know it when It came. I'd read about Sounds like a flute, or symphonic music, or bells and chimes. Regardless, I knew it was going to be glorious when I finally learned to hear it.


Why Monks Move to the Mountains

I had to do something about the distractions. My first solution was to sit on the floor in my closet and shut the door. I could still hear all the noise I mentioned above, but it was muffled somewhat. And quieter. It helped a little.

The worst thing was that low hum of the refrigerator. That reverberating sound seemed to penetrate the walls. And it seemed that refrigerator was running most of the day!

I had a few dollars in my wallet from mowing neighbors lawns. So the next time I was in K-Mart, I tried to find something to muffle these distracting noises. I needed extra help if I was to hear the Sound Current.

I couldn't find any ear plugs, but they did have some ear mufflers in the sporting goods section. The kind of ear protection hunters might use, shooting loud guns.

When I got home, I climbed into the closet. I pulled the door shut, then fumbled to get the ear mufflers on my head. Yes! That was an improvement. If I listened hard, I could still hear my sister's TV, but just barely. And mom's vacuum cleaner, but just barely.

But darn it, that low hum of the refrigerator wasn't diminished at all. It was so distinct, I couldn't get my mind off of it. I was frustrated. And angry. Disappointed mostly. How was I ever going to hear the Sound Current?

Now I knew why those monks liked to go far away and live in some cave up in the mountains. So that is was QUIET! So they could become aware of the spiritual dimensions without such distractions.

After awhile, my enthusiasm waned quite a bit. The rule was to practice 20 minutes a day. I didn't live up to that standard, but I tried a little each day. Who knows, maybe one day I'd get lucky or something?

I tried a few more things -- but try as I might, I couldn't solve the refrigerator's noise problem. I just got used to it. No matter how hard I tried, I never heard the Sound Current. Not once.

I blamed the refrigerator, of course.


Why It's Caught, Not Taught

To make a long story short --- down the road I went to college. That first year I was to live in a dormitory room. That means, a cinderblock-walled room with a sink, two desks, two closets, and a bunk bed.

My second day on campus, I waited for my roommate to go off to a class. I wanted to squeeze in my spiritual exercise while I had the chance.

I sat in my roommate's recliner chair that he'd brought from home. I closed my eyes, and got quiet inside myself. I did my best to ignore the distracting noise out in the hallway.

As I settled into myself, there it was again! That darn REFRIGERATOR! I couldn't escape that low humming sound, no matter how far I got from home!

But . . . . wait a minute. I wasn't at home. In fact, there was no refrigerator. I opened my eyes, and there was nothing in the cement-walled room that could produce a low humming sound.

If it wasn't coming from something in the room, where was that humming sound coming from?

It hit me like a ton of bricks:

-- Could that sound I've been hearing for the last two years be the spiritual Sound Current I've sought all along?

-- Could the sound I've been trying to ignore be important?

Oh, and then there was this little tiny speck of blue light that was always floating in my peripheral vision. I thought that was just an overactive retina or something. It kept distracting me in my efforts to see the Spiritual Light. Surely, the Spiritual Light would be a glorious techni-color light show?

Nope! In my case, the Light and Sound of God was simply a deep humming sound and a tiny blue light.

Why was the blue light so tiny? I did get an answer on that later on: That was all I could handle. Humbling, to say the least.


Lost, But Now Found

So, what did these little drips and drops of the Light and Sound God do for me?

If anything was happening, I certainly missed it at the time. I didn't get adventurous Soul Travel journeys (which probably would have scared me to death!). I didn't get a single mind-blowing, psychedelic experience.

I didn't feel any transformation at all.

Of course, now I realize I was doing everything possible to AVOID my spiritual perceptions -- mistakenly, for sure. And I spent very little time with it because I didn't like what I got.

Looking back, all that happened was a gradual, naturally-unfolding insight into my daily life. Often ideas would just pop into my head from nowhere -- didn't that happen to everybody? Also, there were these uplifting dreams quite often. And while reading the spiritual books, special meanings would seem to leap off the page at times. Strange coincidences happened.

In fact, lots of small things were happening in my life, expanding me in many unusual ways.

Today, I wouldn't trade a single one.

. . . All the world became light and a
strange humming sound entered into his heart,
giving him peace. . . .

--- Paul Twitchell, Stranger by the River


I'll try to share what I can of these things.
Please let me know if you've experienced anything like this.


Related Posts
The Most Beautiful Light
Everyone's Light Turned White
Who Were Those Mean Men?

A Living Fire


. . . And with his sword my breast he cleft,

My quaking heart thereout he reft,
And in the yawning of my breast
A coal of living fire he pressed. . . .


-- Alexander Pushkin, The Prophet




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Encounter With Greatness
What's Better Than Faith?
Who Were Those Mean Men?





Spare No Effort

"Travelers, it is late. Life's sun is going to set.
During these brief days you have strength,
be quick and spare no effort of your wings"

(I'm not sure who wrote it -- but I like it.)





Related Posts
A Living Fire
What's Better Than Faith?

Friday, July 2, 2010

Christian the Lion

This never fails to open my heart.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Encounter With Greatness

. . . What is extraordinary and eternal
does not want to be bent by us.

I mean the angel who appeared to the wrestler
of the Old Testament,
And when the wrestler's sinews grew long
like metal strings,
he felt them under his fingers
like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this angel,
who often simply declined to fight,
went away proud and strengthened
and great from that harsh hand
that kneaded him as if to change his shape.

Winning does not tempt that man.
This is how he grows.
By being defeated decisively
by constantly greater beings . . .


-- Maria Rilke (title unknown)


Related Posts
A Living Fire
Spare No Effort
What's Better Than Faith?