Albino Lizard

Cut and Paste Fun

March 24, 2024

    Exasperated by the frequent and difficult-to-dismiss interruptions to my play-store solitaire game, I made my own on a Google sheet. It is just as addictive and fun, without ads, and has the added advantage of appearing, to anyone who happens to look over my shoulder, that I am engrossed in something useful, rather than frittering my time away playing games with myself.

A Partially Played Game

    On the top left are available tokens to be used at will (the game began with 24 of them). At the top right is the (in progress) final ordering of 4 categories of 13 tokens each, each category (H, S, D, and C), numbered from 1 through 13. When this is completed (or it is obvious that it can be) the game is “won.” (At the beginning of the game this area was empty.) At the bottom left is the main working pattern of the game. At the beginning this area contained 28 tokens laid out in a triangle, with one token in the left-most column, 2 in the second column from left, 3 in the third, and so on, and 7 in the right-most column. The player can move the token at the bottom of each column, or any portion of a column that has been ordered, if doing so preserves and continues the ordering. The ordering of the lower left section of the game board consists of placing tokens in descending order top to bottom by number, where an alternating pattern of grey and red is maintained. There is no enforcement of rules in this version. Any token can be physically moved anywhere at any time (or tokens can be deleted and created). It is up to the player to follow rules as he or she chooses. Movement of tokens is most easily done by “cut” and “paste.”

Building the Game

    To build the game, open a new Google sheet and mark off the playing area. To do this create a line between columns N and O from row 1 through row 23. Do this by highlighting cells 1 through 23 on column N, then select the icon at the bottom of the screen that looks like a window with 4 panes. Open border style and select a medium heavy line and back out once to choose the pane with the heavy line on the right. Back out once more and view the line on your spreadsheet.

    Then highlight row 23 from A through N. Tap the four paned window icon and select the pane with the heavy line on the bottom, after selecting the slightly heavier line.

Bottom right corner of the playing area.

Make the Game Tokens

    Navigate to cell W53. Type the 52 token names in the consecutive cells of column W. Do not specify colors or backgrounds at this point. (That will be done in a later step.) Type 1C in cell W53, 2C in cell W54, and so on until 13C is in cell W65. Copy cells W53 through W65 , and paste in cell W66, then paste again into cell W79, then a third time into cell W92.

    Now go back to cell W66, and change 1C to 1D. Continue changing C to D until you reach cell W78, making it D13.

    Change C to H starting with cell W79 until you have created 13 Hs.

    Starting with cell W92, change the Cs to Ss. Type S1 in W92, and so on to cell W104, making it read S13.

Create the Game Staging Area

    Navigate to cell P1, and begin creating the staging area for the game token pattern by typing, =W53 in that cell. Press enter and, 1C, should show in that cell, unless the tokens have been shuffled. Cell P2 should be highlighted, type, =W54 in that cell, then enter.

Creating the game token pattern

    Complete the game token pattern by continuing to type =W53 through =W76 in cells P1 through U4. This makes the top rectangle of 24 game pieces which will be utilized in the two ordered patterns to be worked in the game, once they are shuffled and copied to the playing area.

    Next make the space configuration for the triangular shaped main playing area of the game. Start with the row P6-V6. Type =W77 into cell P6, =W78 into cell Q6, and so on, typing =W83 into cell V6. Row 7 will span between columns Q and V. Type =W84 into cell Q7, =W85 into R7, and so until =W89 into cell V7. Start the 8th row with R8 and =W90 (It may be easier to save the = signs for last) Start the 9th row at S9 and =W95. Start the 10th row at T10 with =W99. Start the 11th row at U11 with =W102. Then put =W104 on cell V12, completing the triangle.

Configuration of staging area

    Then put a dotted line border around the staging area by highlighting between P1 and V12 the. Select window panes icon, then dotted line, then the pane with a heavy line around its perimeter. Then reduce the width of columns A through X. To do this highlight the entire columns A through X, then up at the top, drag column X to a third of its width. The other columns should be narrowed as well

Game staging area

Shuffle the Deck

    Now we will shuffle the deck. Make a set of random numbers Type, =RANDARRAY(52,1) in cell Y1. This will produce a column of 52 random numbers, one in each row of the Y column between 1 and 52. They will be different numbers every time, and will change fairly often.

    Put zeros in each cell from X1 through X52, so that when we sort column X it won’t mess up the game board and the staging area.

Zeros and random numbers

    Then copy the random numbers, Y1 through Y52. Tap cell X53 twice and select paste special, and select values only from the menu.

Random numbers next to game token names (values will vary)

    Now we are ready to sort column X, which is done from the top of the column, slightly above cell X1. Tap the blue area at the top of the column twice. You may have to pull the menu out to select sort A-Z. If you accidently select sort Z-A tap undo. Look At the staging area. It should no longer be in the same order, but the token names should occupy the same cells as before.

Example of a shuffled staging area

    Now select the staging area along the dotted lines we drew and copy. Then tap cell A1 twice. This is another paste where we must use paste special and choose values only.

    Even without the formats, the game is playable, using cut and paste to move the pieces one at a time. C and S count as black, and D and H count as red.

Format Game Tokens

    We will apply conditional formatting to the playing area. We will apply three formatting rules:
Text ends with D
Text ends with H
Text is not empty
To do this:

• Highlight from A1 through N23
• Tap icon at the top that looks like a capital A with five short horizontal lines on the right side of it
• Tap conditional formatting
• Format cells if: text ends with
• Value or formula: D
• Tap +
• Choose text color dark red
• Choose fill color dark red
• Choose 2rd hue from the lightest
• Accept with ✓
• Click Add
• Format cells if: text ends with
• Value or formula: H
• Tap +
• Choose text color dark red
• Choose fill color dark red
• Choose 2rd hue from the lightest
• Accept with ✓
• Click Add
• Format cells if: is not empty
• Tap +
• Choose text color black
• Choose fill color black
• Choose third hue from the lightest
• Accept with ✓
• Accept with ✓

Game Rules

    Order the tokens in ascending numerical order in one column, per each of D, H, C, and S suits in columns I through L, starting with 1. The player may not place a piece in this area, other than a 1, unless the previous number of that suit has already been placed in the I-L columns.

    The player has free access to the tokens in columns A-F, rows 1-4, however, using these is not always the best strategy.
Player is to access only the bottom pieces in rows 6-12 columns A-G, or, those already ordered in the red-grey, numerically descending order pattern, by either the player or by the deal (as long as there are no out of order pieces in the same column below them). (Alternate rules can be played, but the game is more entertaining if a consistent set of rules is agreed to and followed.) Order the pieces in descending numerical order, alternating red and grey.

    When a column from row 6 down, column A-G, is empty, Player may place one of the 4 13s in row 6 of that column, providing it comes from rows 1-4, A-F, or is the bottom piece in columns A-G, row 6 or below, or has already been ordered in descending numerical. order red and grey, or grey red with other pieces. In the latter case, Player may move all of those particular pieces together. Below the 13 may be placed a 12 of the other color. Below a 7 may be placed a 6 of the other color, and so on.

New Game

select A1:N23
clear
select Y1:Y52
copy
select X53
paste special – paste values only
select column X
sort A-Z
select P1:V12
copy
select A1
paste special – values only

Play the Same Game Again

select A1:N23
clear
select P1:V12
copy
select A1
paste special – values only

Let’s play!
Atonement

December 1, 2023

    This study of A Course in Miracles (ACIM or the Course), that I recently began, has given me new insight into Who God is. I am very grateful for my new understanding. Even though no longer active in organized Christianity for over 3 decades, I still have managed to hang on to a mental icon of the Old Testament Jehovah, the God of judgment, a God to be feared. Long ago it was suggested that I fear this god as if he were a monster out to get me. The God revealed by Jesus in ACIM is a loving father who affectionately corrects us, never harshly, and whose love is to live for.

    I tried to get into a series of books called the Law of One, 6 months ago, but the text of the series was dictated through a medium in a trance state, and the channeling work was hard on her both physically and emotionally. This bothered me. Why not just listen to the words and write them down, rather than allow some foreign entity to invade your being? I thought.

    With the Law of One I had also balked at the concept of forgiveness and mercy to those on the negative path. I had encountered this information in the first book of the series, all of which is attributed to an entity called Ra, who channelled himself through the medium. According to Ra, at some point each one on the negative path comes to realize that he would be happier on the positive path, and simply makes the switch. Ra is an ancient group entity, much of which lived on the surface of Venus ages ago, but it also includes ascended humans, naming Jesus of Nazareth as being among them. I was suspicious that Ra was promulgating propaganda to the effect that there are no negative consequences for evil doing. However recently, after beginning my ACIM study, I received the revelation that this information is true, and Ra is correct after all. God is merciful. He is not a judgmental tyrant. He is a tenderly loving father, different from the father I had growing up. But my father would have been different too, if he knew then what he knows now. So would I, with some of the parenting I did.

HOW ACIM WAS WRITTEN

    A Course in Miracles was scribed by Dr. Helen Schucman, a clinical psychologist, during the 1970s, and first published in 1976. She claims no credit for the composition of the large volume (two or even three volumes sometimes), but attributes the words she wrote down to Jesus Christ. She was not in a trance state as a medium would have been, but was conscious. It was not what is called automatic writing, because she could write or not write. If she chose not to, the same dictation would be presented at a later time. She was helped in the typing up, of her many hand-written notebooks, by a work colleague.

    I was happy that A Course in Miracles had come through a conscious person enabled to hear the voice of Spirit, but I wanted to know, was it really the words of Christ that she listened to and wrote down? I’m about 10% of the way through a large ebook edition of A Course in Miracles. Although sceptical at first, I now believe I am reading the words of Christ.

ACIM EDITS THE BIBLE

    “‘Many are called but few are chosen’ should read, ‘All are called but few choose to listen. Therefore, they do not choose right.’”
A Course in Miracles, Text Chapter 3, The Innocent Perception, Section IV, Error and Ego, paragraph 7.

    I have to agree. I always suspected that there was something off about that passage from Matthew (Matthew 22:14). It didn’t make sense. Something was lost in translation, and now that something is cleared up.

    Another example of Jesus editing the gospels through ACIM is the following:

    “These are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, although its gospel is really only the message of love. If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying, ‘I come not to bring peace but a sword.’ This is clearly the opposite of everything I taught. Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas as they did, if they had really understood me. I could not have said, ‘Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?’ unless I believed in betrayal. The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did not. The ‘punishment’ I was said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar mistake. Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?”
ACIM, Text Chapter 6, The Lessons of Love, Section 1, The Message of the Crucifixion, paragraph 15.

    Jesus is saying, through ACIM, that he did not say, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.” nor “Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” and that these quotes from the Bible are misquotes, thereby breaking down a pillar of any Christian sect that depends on the infallibility of the New Testament. Following is another example of the impact of A Course in Miracles on religious thought.

INDEPENDENT NATION OF ISRAEL AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST PROPHECY

    Israel became a nation in 1948. According to some predictions, Christ was supposed to have returned within a generation of 1948. I was born that year. My first child was born in 1972. I am now a great grandmother. Perhaps we can adjust our thinking on just how Jesus was supposed to have come within a generation of 1948. Suppose he came very close, and dictated a large book to one of his followers? And that book edited the Bible? Well yes, there is more fulfillment than that (but on a different timeline). This at least answered the sincere prayers of those who accepted the pretext that an apartheid state of Israel has something to do with the message of Jesus Christ. God does love his children and he does answer prayers.

DEPENDENCE ON GOD

    One facet of right thinking is dependence on God. To answer the call of God, to choose to be chosen, is to recognize his absolute sovereignty.

    “’Except ye become as little children’ means that, unless you fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real power of the Son in his true relationship with the Father.”
ACIM – Introduction to Miracles, p.173.

BE LOVING TOWARD OTHERS

    “The Golden Rule is the rule for appropriate behavior. You cannot behave appropriately unless you perceive correctly. Since you and your neighbor are equal members of one family, as you perceive both so you will do to both. You should look out from the perception of your own holiness to the holiness of others.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 1, The Meaning of Miracles, Section III, Atonement and Miracles, paragraph 6.

    Do unto others as you would have them do into you, in your thinking. See others as holy, beautiful, capable, strong, intelligent, healthy, happy, and pray that they become more so.

ONENESS WITH OTHERS

    All human beings are one species and one in Spirit. Right thinking acknowledges this. There is no hierarchy, no caste system, no excluded class, race or sex in true reality.

    “Judgment implies a lack of trust, and trust remains the bedrock of the teacher of God’s whole thought system. Let this be lost, and all his learning goes. Without judgment are all things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart? Judgment destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher of God can judge and hope to learn.”
ACIM, Manual For Teachers, Chapter 4, What Are the Characteristics of God’s Teachers? Section III, Tolerance, paragraph 1.

    “…are all men brothers,” might be expressed as, “…are all people brothers and sisters,…” The meaning is the same, and the former has better word economy. The exclusion of women has been hurtful, and we are understandably sensitive about it, but no exclusion of women is intended by the masculine nouns and pronouns used in the Course.

SONSHIP

    “The specialness of God’s Sons does not stem from exclusion but from inclusion. All my brothers are special. If they believe they are deprived of anything, their perception becomes distorted. When this occurs the whole family of God, or the Sonship, is impaired in its relationships.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 1, The Meaning of Miracles, Section V Wholeness and Spirit, paragraph 3.

    The term, Sonship, refers to the body of people, of both sexes, who have attained Oneness, with God and each other. There is no exclusion on any basis. Anyone who includes himself or herself is included.

MIRACLES

    “Miracles arise from a mind that is ready for them. By being united this mind goes out to everyone, even without the awareness of the miracle worker himself. The impersonal nature of miracles is because the Atonement itself is one, uniting all creations with their Creator. As an expression of what you truly are, the miracle places the mind in a state of grace. The mind then naturally welcomes the Host within and the stranger without. When you bring in the stranger, he becomes your brother.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 1, The Meaning of Miracles, Section III, Atonement and Miracles, paragraph 7.

POWER OF THOUGHT

    “It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is arrogant, but that is not the real reason you do not believe it. You prefer to believe that your thoughts cannot exert real influence because you are actually afraid of them. This may allay awareness of the guilt, but at the cost of perceiving the mind as impotent. If you believe that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it. There are no idle thoughts. All thinking produces form at some level.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 2, The Separation and the Atonement, Section VI, Fear and Conflict, paragraph 9.

    “I cannot let you leave your mind unguarded, or you will not be able to help me. Miracle working entails a full realization of the power of thought in order to avoid miscreation. Otherwise a miracle will be necessary to set the mind itself straight, a circular process that would not foster the time collapse for which the miracle was intended. The miracle worker must have genuine respect for true cause and effect as a necessary condition for the miracle to occur.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 2, The Separation and the Atonement, Section VII, Cause and Effect, paragraph 2.

    Miscreation refers to using the power of thought carelessly and creating — or reinforcing — something unwanted. Any thought can create something, and it is even more powerful when it is voiced. For example a parent might say to a child, “Don’t climb the tree, you’re going to fall.” This could create the fall that the parent is trying to avoid. Thoughts and words are creative and need to be chosen with a full understanding of their creative power. The parent could say, “When you climb the tree I want to be there so I can watch you.”

REAL AND UNREAL

“Assault can ultimately be made only on the body. There is little doubt that one body can assault another, and can even destroy it. Yet if destruction itself is impossible, anything that is destructible cannot be real. Its destruction, therefore, does not justify anger.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 6, The Lessons of Love, Section 1, The Message of the Crucifixion paragraph 4.

    Although this world seems real, it is actually as ephemeral as a dream. True reality is within reach, and it is beyond the material. Flying into a rage because someone insults me is ignorant. What if instead of an insinuation against my character it had been a bullet? I would have to forgive, even though my unreal body would be lying at the feet of my real body.

UPSIDE DOWN THINKING

    Upside down thinking is the opposite of right thinking. It fancies itself independent of God, even the concept of God, or else it tries to fashion a totally fictional god. It holds itself aloof from others, imagining a hierarchy, denying the oneness that actually exists. It is dominated by fear.

GUILT

    “Whenever you are not wholly joyous, it is because you have reacted with a lack of love to one of God’s creations. Perceiving this as “sin” you become defensive because you expect attack. The decision to react in this way is yours, and can therefore be undone. It cannot be undone by repentance in the usual sense, because this implies guilt. If you allow yourself to feel guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than allow it to be undone for you.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 5, Healing and Wholeness, Section VII, The Decision for God, paragraph 5.

    We must be humble but not humiliated. Too extravagant a posture of repentance, obeisance or groveling is incorrect. God created us noble; we are not to abase ourselves. I simply send love to the person I slighted when I recognize my error. This requires no apology and no words, but at the right time the right words may be spoken if the Holy Spirit guides me to do so. The technique of sending love is the same if the person is right next to me, on the other side of the world, or no longer on this plane of existence. It might also be called praying for the person. I go into meditation with that person as my focal object. I pay attention to any associations that come up, for instance other people. I discern what the original person needs with regards to the other person. I am alert to any health issues or housing problems. I recall the situation of his or her neediness seeming to exhaust my poor ability to manifest love when I became impatient. Now, I manifest the patience I failed to then. Now, I manifest the love I failed to then. Should this person feed so aggressively on me that I become exasperated? I set that question aside and ask God for more love.

ATONEMENT

    A Course in Miracles makes frequent mention of Atonement. It’s an important concept to understand for the Course. In its usage in the Course, Atonement seems to mean something good. The word is frequently used, in other settings, for something good that makes up for something bad, or cleanses and obliterates something bad, but this is not necessarily what it means in the Course. Learning how to attain Atonement is important because It is the gateway to miracles and abundance.
    An early meaning of the word atonement, probably more than 500 years ago and on another continent, was at-oneness, at-one-ment. This is close to the meaning of the word as used in ACIM. Some kind of oneness between ourself, Christ, and God, focusing on Christ’s miraculous resurrection, is the vehicle for miracles. Being in tune, in-tune-ment, might be closely related. Intoning, chanting or praying out loud, may also be a related word. This concept is not limited to Christianity, even though it is described in Christian terms in the Course. Anyone of any religion can use the ascended Mediator of her or his own religion for the Oneness described.

ESCAPE FROM FEAR

    “We tend to withdraw because we get fearful. We are afraid that complete openness makes us vulnerable. But complete openness makes us whole. It works because we channel the flood waters of righteousness when we are connected to the Source. Nothing can penetrate the rushing water that flows through us and to all of creation as we determine not to withdraw from anyone or anything.”

    “All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that you have the ability to usurp the power of God. Of course, you neither can nor have been able to do this. Here is the real basis for your escape from fear. The escape is brought about by your acceptance of the Atonement, which enables you to realize that your errors never really occurred.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 2, Section I, paragraph 4..

    What a powerful Atonement! Not only are your sins forgiven, but they never even happened! They were not real! And all you have to do is accept the Atonement!

    I suppose the catch is, you have to extend the same forgiveness to others. The wrongs against you “never happened.” Well okay then. If I’m really healed of all the ill effects of the wrongs against me, there is no reason not to have forgiven them. The body may still bear the scars, but this is the unreal body.

    I often pray to my Lord to fix what I messed up, supply the love which I failed to, undo the negative creations of my untamed mind. And then I ask Him to fix and heal the people hurt by other people like me, who carelessly and ignorantly destroy the earth and our fellow man. I believe He does and He will.

    “Ultimately, every member of the family of God must return. The miracle calls him to return because it blesses and honors him, even though he may be absent in spirit. ‘God is not mocked’ is not a warning but a reassurance. God would be mocked if any of His creations lacked holiness. The creation is whole, and the mark of wholeness is holiness. Miracles are affirmations of Sonship, which is a state of completion and abundance.”

    “Whatever is true is eternal, and cannot change or be changed. Spirit is therefore unalterable because it is already perfect, but the mind can elect what it chooses to serve. The only limit put on its choice is that it cannot serve two masters.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 1, The meaning of Miracles Section V, Wholeness of Spirit, paragraphs 4-5.

    We are both material and spiritual, but we can only serve one master, either the eternal or the temporal. But apparently a person can change his mind anytime he likes, from temporal to spiritual, but not the other way around, I wouldn’t think. Once you have committed to eternal, spiritual and real, that’s it. If I find out I’m mistaken I’ll edit this paragraph.

RESTORATION

    “For perfect effectiveness the Atonement belongs at the center of the inner altar, where it undoes the separation and restores the wholeness of the mind. Before the separation the mind was invulnerable to fear, because fear did not exist. Both the separation and the fear are miscreations that must be undone for the restoration of the temple, and for the opening of the altar to receive the Atonement. This heals the separation by placing within you the one effective defense against all separation thoughts and making you perfectly invulnerable.”
ACIM, Text Chapter 2, The Separation and the Atonement, Section III, The Altar of God, paragraph 2.

    Separation is the concept of the fall, that may have happened long ago in the Garden of Eden. Anything real is eternal, but the things of the temporal world can be undone through the Atonement, which comes from Christ (or the Founder of one’s religion). You must ask for it and believe you have received it. In a different context Atonement might be called an awakening, an enlightenment, a mystical experience, salvation, receiving the Holy Spirit or love. The experience should include joy and a feeling of oneness with God and other enlightened souls.

CONDEMNATION IS IMPOSSIBLE

    “Spiritual vision literally cannot see error, and merely looks for Atonement. All solutions the physical eye seeks dissolve. Spiritual vision looks within and recognizes immediately that the altar has been defiled and needs to be repaired and protected. Perfectly aware of the right defense it passes over all others, looking past error to truth. Because of the strength of its vision, it brings the mind into its service. This re-establishes the power of the mind and makes it increasingly unable to tolerate delay, realizing that it only adds unnecessary pain. As a result, the mind becomes increasingly sensitive to what it would once have regarded as very minor intrusions of discomfort.”
ACIM, Text chapter 2, The Separation and the Atonement, Section III, The Altar of God, paragraph 4.

Helen Cohn Schucman, Ph.D. – Autobiograpy

A Course in Miracles
Thanksgiving or Day of Mourning

November 17, 2023

    When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock they were enabled to survive with the help of the people indigenous there. Then a generation later, the descendents of those friendly Indians were massacred by the descendents of those pilgrims helped and subsequent European arrivals who had joined them. When was the original great feast called Thanksgiving, that is still celebrated today in November? Was it during the early period of the pilgrim colony in Massachusetts while the newcomers were apparently on friendly terms with the Indians? Or was it later, after massacring the natives and appropriating their ancestral homeland? When we celebrate Thanksgiving, are we celebrating cooperation, or are we celebrating subjugation, murder and theft?

    The natives lived simply. Their houses were no larger then necessary for shelter. They respected the plants, trees and animals in the environment. They lived in harmony with the web of life. We could have learned a great deal from them, if only their understanding of harmonic existence with the land, and their complex, specific knowledge of plants, animals, seasons and survival techniques had not been so completely stamped out, along with their forests and their ecosystem.

    The same scenario of ancient wisdom destroyed by opportunistic newcomers was repeated over and over throughout the breadth of the continent, until at last, we got to California in the mid to late 19th century. Here natives were slaughtered and lands were stolen just as had already been done along the swath of destruction from the east coast. The race to get the most land and extract the most value from it has taken its toll on our collective soul.

    For a moment can we imagine a different scenario? Instead of chopping down more and more trees to build more and larger houses, fences, barns, ships, railroads, warehouses and towers, suppose we learned to live with those ancient trees still in the ground?

    The Indians had complex herbal lore and knew how to keep families small so the land would not be overwhelmed by too many humans. The newcomers had effective weapons which facilitated the elimination of anything in their way. Being spiritual, being one with the Great Spirit and one with creation was not enough to ward off the great evil that came upon our indigenous grandparents.

    This evil was not the people that came in need of homes. The evil was the -isms that came with them: feudalism, capitalism, Zionism, the doctrine of discovery, and manifest destiny. It was the arrogance that threw out the spiritual values of reverence for life and cooperation; and instead took on racial supremacy: white supremacy.

    The Doctrine of Discovery was based on statements by the pope in the late 15th century to early 16th century regarding 15th and 16th century Spanish and Portuguese explorations. These statements, called Papal Bulls, had been enshrined into law, and were regarded as infallible by superstitious Europeans of that era and beyond. The doctrine stated that any land discovered through Spanish or Portuguese exploration could be claimed for the sponsoring country, and any wealth seized in the explored land would be legitimately acquired property IF the citizens of the explored land were not Christians! Any murders committed during the enforcement of this doctrine, would, of course, be overlooked. The Catholic Church has, in recent years, tried to distance itself from this doctrine, but has yet to abrogate it. The ruthless treachery and slaughter against the Aztecs, in what would become Mexico City, by the Spanish conquistadors, and many other atrocities committed during the history of the European colonization of the Americas, reveal that the European conquerors took the doctrine of discovery very seriously.

    The term, manifest destiny, was first used in the mid nineteenth century, by editorial writers, to inspire a takeover by the United States of all the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Inherent in the meaning of the term is the goal of white supremacy. The rights of others are trampled in a brazen white takeover, although the blatant racism is obscured by what might pass as lofty ideals.

    Zionism seems to be a biblical, holy term. But hidden in the word is the goal of genocide. The “others” must be cleansed out so the “chosen ones” can have their monocultural paradise. It’s another code word for white supremacy. The old Testament has stories of acts of war that took place several thousand years ago. It is time to put such thinking behind us. Zion belongs to everyone, not just a “chosen” few. Unless we become universal in our thinking, we are throwbacks to another, less enlightened time.

    Let us embrace the diverse colors, shades and variations of the human family. We are one. Murder is wrong. The historical thefts of lands and resources was wrong. Living in ostentatious wealth while others live in squalor is wrong. We have taken without giving, in our game, which we have defined as getting the most regardless of the amount of destruction and slaughter in our wake. It is time to find another way.
Our First Woman Pope

July 27, 2023

Our First Woman Pope by Victor Villasenor

    This book is enthralling to read, funny, insightful, deep, but the frequent mention of alcohol irritates me. I don’t want to know about that kind of spirits. And yet the relationship between culture and language is fascinating. Watching formerly celibate clergy open to romantic love and marriage is heart warming. Learning about Oceanside’s first mango tree is enlightening. The anecdote about the author telling a group of children that they are angels would be wonderful if it didn’t take place right after the partying with tequila and beer. I wondered, was he staggering and slurring his speech during the charming encounter with the children? Mystical experiences were described during the book. The description of alcohol consumed makes real mysticism dubious to me. How much is holy spirit and how much is alcohol? Yet I loved the book, and sent links for the free version to 4 adult children and 3 adult grandchildren. But I’m fed up with the drinking. Of course sobriety is important to me, and it is rare to find a book or a movie that meets my criteria.

    I dreamed I was in the room studying Latin. After pondering the dream for awhile I realized that that room, the master bedroom of the house I grew up in, was the room I had studied Esperanto in, and that the dream message is that Esperanto is a Latin-derived language.

    Latin may have been the first language to have a word for “the”, a European construct, according to Victor Villasenor in Our First Woman Pope. Indigenous languages don’t have it, he asserts, and neither did Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Although he is translated in Greek gospels saying, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” in the Aramaic spoken by Jesus, this statement may have been rendered closer to, “I am way, truth and life.” It is a little harder to justify killing for Jesus when you don’t chop experience into discrete lingual boxes using nouns and defining articles. Indigenous languages rely more on verbs. Latin, English and related European languages are languages of empire. Europe (and now America also) has lost most of its indigenous language and thought.
Law of One Exposed

May 23, 2023

    I was sitting at breakfast eating a banana thinking about what I had been reading. I thought about the doctrine of ultimate reconciliation. Apparently an entity can exploit, oppress and even kill. Then, at some point in its evolution, it realizes that it must become altruistic in order to receive a bright shining aura. At that point it does a quick turn around and joins the good side. Poof! All the oppression and murder it committed wiped clean by that little decision, “Guess I won’t be quite so self-serving anymore.”

    Now what kind of an entity would want me to believe that? A sales-entity for the negative path, that’s who! What kind of an entity would bribe another entity to use her vessel in order to “channel” some information, some of which happens to be affirmations about the inviolability of another’s free will? I’m not referring to inspired utterance. During inspired utterance the orator is consciously present in his or her own vessel while channeling the holy spirit. Contrast that to medium channeling. The medium is not present during the oration. She has abdicated her volition for that period of time. In order for free will to be untrammeled it must be free to express itself at any moment. Clearly this is not the case with medium channeling. Once she has agreed to vacate her body she does not get it back until the invading entity is finished with it. Any pretense of regard for the channel on the part of the entity is just pretense.

    So the first red flag for me with the Law of One material was, before I finished the introduction, I had become aware that it had been channeled through a medium. But there is a lot of medium-channeled literature around that seems good. The Course In Miracles seems good. Seth Speaks seems good. The Law of One seems good. David Wilcock promoted the latter, and he seems good. Maybe it’s time I challenge my long-held bias against channeled work and read the Law of One with an open mind, I thought.

    I continued reading as a student wanting to learn. The second red flag was seeing the words, love and light, repeated at the end of every section, and not feeling any love or light. True there were some inspiring passages that I made notes about, but the being, Ra, seemed devoid of any personal charisma. However, the inspiring passages sprinkled rather thinly through the material kept me going for a while.

    Now, the final straw for me is realizing I am being misled about the judgment of God. There may be an ultimate reconciliation – I’m not discarding that idea – but for the wicked it won’t come without a noticeable period of penance and repentance. It won’t just be a, “Woops, I’m on the wrong path, guess I’ll just jump over to the other one and keep going.”

    I may finish the series (I’m about half way into it), but then again I may just put in a few search terms to see if any of my criticisms are addressed, or maybe I’ll just read something else.


    Epilogue, December 3, 2023: Ra is a very old entity, He may have arisen at a time when virtually no one was literate. Therefore finding someone who could write his words as they were spoken, and then finding a literary audience who could read them would have been unlikely. Mediums were condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. Possibly before the time of the Old Testament mediums were used by authentic teachers of righteousness, because of the relative immaturity of mankind at the time. That would have been one of the few ways to reach them. That doesn’t explain why Ra is still operating that way in modern times, but perhaps there is an explanation, although I’m only part way to understanding it.

    After reading about A Course in Miracles, and also reading part way through it, I understand that it was not channelled through a medium, but dictated to a conscious person. This is certainly preferred, in my opinion, to medium channeling. I had an epiphany two days ago (right before I posted my review of ACIM entitled, Atonement) that revealed to me that it is true that a person on the negative path simply decides to leave the negative path behind and become positively orientated, and that’s it. There is no condemnation, no hell, none of that stuff, just the eternal opportunity for positive evolution, just as Ra had stated.
The 12th Planet, by Zechariah Sitchin, Book Review

July 1, 2022

    The 12th Planet, by Zechariah Sitchin is about alien landings on Earth, starting about 500,000 years ago. It makes references to the book of Genesis of the Bible, and the clay tablets of ancient Sumer. First published in 1976, the book makes some remarkable statements about the composition of the solar system, and the origin of mankind on Earth.

    The 12 planets are: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Marduk. Having 12 bodies in the solar system is important religiously, according to Sitchin. There seemed to always be a Pantheon of 12 gods and goddesses in every culture including Sumaria, prior to the more recent ideal of monotheism. The 12th planet has an orbit like a comet. It orbits around near the sun once every 3,600 Earth years. It travels in the outer reaches of the solar system during most of its orbit. In spite of this, the planet is warm and habitable, probably from radioactivity in its surface. Marduk is about the size of Neptune. It may be a brown dwarf.

    Marduk is the name usually used for the 12th Planet in the book, the 12th Planet, although this planet is often called Nibiru. Nibiru, comes up from the south, once an age, and crosses the planetary plane between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The plane of Nibiru’s orbit is retrograde and at right angles to the orbits of the other planets. Far in antiquity the 12th planet collided with Tiamat, (the planet that once existed between Mars and Jupiter) dragging a big piece of it and its Moon to Earth orbit. There was originally an empty space where Earth and its Moon are now.

    The rest of Tiamat’s mass (about 4 times the earth total) created the asteroid belt. The planets, other than Earth, were fully formed and most of them already had life on them during the time the earth was forming. The evolution of mankind and agriculture on Earth were advanced by tutoring from, and breeding with, an advanced alien culture from the 12th Planet. Homo sapiens on Earth would have taken much longer to develop had it not been seeded by the Anunnaki from Nibiru. Agriculture, and its many domesticated plants and animals would have taken much longer to develop if Earth wasn’t visited by an advanced culture and gifted with its domesticated plants, trees and animals.

    When Nibiru is close to Earth, the Nephilum (or Anunnaki) make their way to Earth using rockets. They mine our precious metals for themselves (or force us to do it.) Many or most of them leave and return to Nibiru by the time their planet is gaining momentum Southward, after its passing around the sun. When it is not in the lower solar system, Nibiru is difficult or impossible to see, because it hides in front of the bright stars of the milky way. The lifespans of the Anunnaki are longer than ours, but any children or grandchildren they leave behind eventually become indistinguishable from the rest of us.

    According to Zechariah Sitchin, in the 12th Planet, every reference to God, Elohim, or Yahweh in the book of Genesis is actually a reference to a space alien from Marduk. These aliens are the gods. The obvious source material for the book of Genesis in the Sumarian clay tablets is unabashedly polytheistic, with gods discussing and arguing among themselves, while Genesis has apparently been edited to make it appear as if there is only one god.

    I do not agree that space aliens are gods. They are humans like us, but coming from an advanced culture when earthlings were still relatively primitive may have made them appear godlike. That being said, there is a real God and He is Spirit. I needed to remind myself this while reading Sitchin, because every biblical reference to God, and the Sumarian references also, are interpreted as referring to aliens.

    The “gods” wanted laborers to work the precious metals mines in Africa, so they manipulated the humanoids on Earth at the time to be more like themselves. Although there was a genetic modification described, the easiest way to modify the humanoids of Earth at the time, the Homo Erectus, into beings with enough intelligence, communication ability and manual dexterity for mining and other tasks, was for the male aliens to impregnate the female humanoids. Soon there were modern humans in Africa, Sumaria and elsewhere, used as laborers by the aliens. A couple, Adam and Eve, were placed in the garden of Eden near Sumaria (Iraq). They were there to care for the plants and trees in the garden. They were asked not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge but they did anyway, realized they were naked, and were banished from the garden.

    One of the appearances of Nibiru was associated with severe flooding. That appearance was approximately 11000 BC. and caused, first droughts and food shortages, then massive flooding and solar disturbances, during the approximately 1000 Earth years while the planet was close. Atlantis was destroyed in 9577 BC, during that same time of upheavals. Subsequent appearances of Nibiru (and the Anunnaki) were associated with rapid improvements in human culture: rapid advances in pottery approximately 7400 BC, a sudden Sumarian civilization developed around 3800 BC. The last appearance was around 200 BC, and the next is expected approximately 3400 AD.

    The book was interesting to read. The points made, although controversial, were very convincing. A PDF is available online as a free download: https://www.booksfree.org/zecharia-sitchin-the-12th-planet-pdf-free-download/
The Love Habit

April 23, 2022

    It’s a new habit — well not really, I always knew that this was the right thing to do — but I often allowed my emotions to play in me. Love is not an emotion, it’s a decision. I knew that too.

    What’s new is an insight I had recently about how to apply this specifically. I had been getting my feelings hurt about little things that, in the big picture, don’t really count. I had the amazing ability to stew about totally insignificant, even imagined, slights that, if written on a ledger along with the real gifts and blessings of my life (and a few major losses), were not even worth their own line.

    Doing an about face and loving the people involved was the ticket to bliss. I mean, loving them in a state of meditation, sending love to people as they come to mind. Habits develop slowly, and I still have to remind myself fairly often. The meditative state can be achieved any time and anywhere. It is nice to have a quiet space and time to sit, but once the meditation habit is developed, the meditative state is always available. When I see someone in my mind’s eye, I can send them love.

    I’ve been doing that more and more. I sent love to the attendant at the laundromat while she was in front of me physically. She turned around and gave me the sweetest smile. She had been wearing a mask for two years, and this time she was without it. But I think I’d recognize a smile, even with the mouth covered.

    See somebody or think about somebody. Then see their spiritual essence. Then send love to the spiritual essence. The person will often respond in a loving way, if it’s an in-person contact. When it’s not an in-person contact, there will be a warmth when you do see them again.

    I used to be quarrelsome. And I’d swear it was the other person being quarrelsome. I was aloof, but if you’d ask me, it was the other person being aloof. All my relationships have improved, but especially the one with the person I spend most of my time with, my husband.

    We don’t fight over little things any more. I have a new way of handling insults, or what I used to perceive as insults, like people telling me what I should do, or someone comparing me unfavorably to themselves. Those things used to make me angry. I would get defensive and shriek my resistance. Now I just find something to be thankful for before I speak (or shriek). He’s kind of good looking, even when he seems to scold me the way my father used to do.

    What a horrible habit I used to have of resenting people! What was I thinking? I was forgetting about the millions of things I have to be thankful for, and obsessing on one small detail that didn’t seem to go my way.

    The escrow officer made an arithmetic error that cost me $366, and benefited the lien holder by that amount. My anger about that eclipsed my thankfulness for the windfall we had reaped in the deal as a whole, until I wrote out a ledger of what we had paid and what we had received. Now what do I do about the angry emails I’ve already sent? God doesn’t want me humiliating myself. I’ll just quietly repent for my lack of gratitude, and send love to the parties involved.

Amma

    Amma is my role model. I saw her once, in 2004. I drove to someplace, in the Los Angeles area, where she was appearing. The venu, it may have been a church, was packed with people. I had lost my home and was hurting. She hugged the people one at a time. When my turn came she held me in her arms and on her lap like a baby. She spoke tenderly to me, telling me I was loved. I could access that moment again and again, even after it was over, and did so many times. The home was restored, temporarily, a few years later. Then in 2015 it was taken away again, right before my mother died of Alzheimer’s.

    But the experience of being in Amma’s arms stayed with me, growing within, until I too have become a love ministry.

    There are those who have not yet had a spiritual awakening. They will not be as receptive to an energetic blessing as those who are spiritually awakened. We bless them with the intention that their spirits open to the Divine will. This may be problematic for them and they may resent it. But this is what I would want were I spiritually dormant. I would want to be awakened. Even if I didn’t understand why my world was being turned upside down at first, I would want spiritual awakening. So this is absolute obedience to the golden rule of Christ, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Baha’u’llah and AA

April 5, 2022


    Twelve step sobriety is consistent with Baha’u’llah’s command concerning the nonuse of inebriating substances.

Alcohol

    Become ye intoxicated with the wine of the of God, and not with that which deadeneth your minds, O ye that adore Him! Verily, it hath been forbidden unto every believer, whether man or woman.

(Bahá’u’lláh, cited in “The Advent of Divine Justice”, p. 33)

    The drinking of wine is, according to the text of the Most Holy Book, forbidden; for it is the cause of chronic diseases, weakeneth the nerves, and consumeth the mind.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in “The Advent of Divine Justice”, p. 33)

Drugs

    As to opium, it is foul and accursed. God protect us from the punishment He inflicteth on the user. According to the explicit Text of the Most Holy Book, it is forbidden, and its use is utterly condemned. Reason showeth that smoking opium is a kind of insanity, and experience attesteth that the user is completely cut off from the human kingdom. May God protect all against the perpetration of an act so hideous as this, an act which layeth in ruins the very foundation of what it is to be human, and which causeth the user to be dispossessed for ever and ever. For opium fasteneth on the soul, so that the user’s conscience dieth, his mind is blotted away, his perceptions are eroded. It turneth the living into the dead. It quencheth the natural heat. No greater harm can be conceived than that which opium inflicteth. Fortunate are they who never even speak the name of it; then think how wretched is the user.

(“Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá” [rev. ed.], (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1982), pp. 148–49)

    Regarding ḥashísh, you had pointed out that some Persians have become habituated to its use. Gracious God! This is the worst of all intoxicants, and its prohibition is explicitly revealed. Its use causeth the disintegration of thought and the complete torpor of the soul. How could anyone seek this fruit of the infernal tree, and by partaking of it, be led to exemplify the qualities of a monster? How could one use this forbidden drug, and thus deprive himself of the blessings of the All-Merciful?

    Alcohol consumeth the mind and causeth man to commit acts of absurdity, but … this wicked ḥashísh extinguisheth the mind, freezeth the spirit, petrifieth the soul, wasteth the body and leaveth man frustrated and lost.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from a Tablet—translated from the Persian)

    Concerning the so-called “spiritual” virtues of the hallucinogens, … spiritual stimulation should come from turning one’s heart to Bahá’u’lláh, and not through physical means such as drugs and agents. From the description given in your letter it appears that hallucinogenic agents are a form of intoxicant. As the friends, including the youth, are required strictly to abstain from all forms of intoxicants, and are further expected conscientiously to obey the civil law of their country, it is obvious that they should refrain from using these drugs.

    A very great responsibility for the future peace and well-being of the world is borne by the youth of today. Let the Bahá’í youth by the power of the Cause they espouse be the shining example for their companions.

(From a letter dated 15 April 1965 written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly)

    Bahá’ís should not use hallucinogenic agents, including LSD, peyote and similar substances, except when prescribed for medical treatment. Neither should they become involved in experiments with such substances.
(From a letter dated 11 January 1967 written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly) From the Baha’i Compilation, A Chaste and Holy Life

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Copyright 1952, 1953, 1981 by Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing (now known as Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.) All rights reserved.

    There is a lot of common ground between the Baha’i Faith and the 12 steps. And although there are some differences, I think the like-mindedness of our collective purpose can be obscured by focusing too much on the differences. That being stated, the one fundamental difference in philosophy should be pointed out.

Forgiveness Comes From God

    When the sinner findeth himself wholly detached and freed from all save God, he should beg forgiveness and pardon from Him. Confession of sins and transgressions before human beings is not permissible, as it hath never been nor will ever be conducive to divine forgiveness. Moreover such confession before people results in one’s humiliation and abasement, and God—exalted be His glory—wisheth not the humiliation of His servants. Verily He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. The sinner should, between himself and God, implore mercy from the Ocean of mercy, beg forgiveness from the Heaven of generosity and say:

    O God, my God! I implore Thee by the blood of Thy true lovers who were so enraptured by Thy sweet utterance that they hastened unto the Pinnacle of Glory, the site of the most glorious martyrdom, and I beseech Thee by the mysteries which lie enshrined in Thy knowledge and by the pearls that are treasured in the ocean of Thy bounty to grant forgiveness unto me and unto my father and my mother. Of those who show forth mercy, Thou art in truth the Most Merciful. No God is there but Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.

    O Lord! Thou seest this essence of sinfulness turning unto the ocean of Thy favor and this feeble one seeking the kingdom of Thy divine power and this poor creature inclining himself towards the daystar of Thy wealth. By Thy mercy and Thy grace, disappoint him not, O Lord, nor debar him from the revelations of Thy bounty in Thy days, nor cast him away from Thy door which Thou hast opened wide to all that dwell in Thy heaven and on Thine earth.

    Alas! Alas! My sins have prevented me from approaching the Court of Thy holiness and my trespasses have caused me to stray far from the Tabernacle of Thy majesty. I have committed that which Thou didst forbid me to do and have put away what Thou didst order me to observe.

    I pray Thee by Him Who is the sovereign Lord of Names to write down for me with the Pen of Thy bounty that which will enable me to draw nigh unto Thee and will purge me from my trespasses which have intervened between me and Thy forgiveness and Thy pardon.

    Verily, Thou art the Potent, the Bountiful. No God is there but Thee, the Mighty, the Gracious.

Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, The Ninth Glad-Tiding

    I must confess that there were times when, not understanding the finer points, I failed to be candid to another person about my part in a problem, thinking that absolution in prayer was sufficient. Perhaps another soul was hurt by my aloofness. On the other hand, not having to wear mea culpa on my sleeve affirms the intrinsic nobility of my being. Before learning of the Bahá’í Revelation, I used to confess things that I had not even done, but imagined I had done. Reading Bahá’u’lláh’s commandment not to confess to human beings but to God alone was a turning point in my understanding. At that point, I was enabled to begin releasing myself from shame.

    It can be embarrassing to hear graphic descriptions of past misdeeds that humiliate the speaker. Sometimes it is funny. As a person matures in sobriety, humiliating confessions no longer seem appropriate, but comedy that borders on self depreciation might be okay.
Happiness

January 9, 2022

    When you are happy you can’t be angry. But you can have a sense of humor. Laughter and happiness are very compatible. When you’re happy there is no room for self pity. You can introspect, but you do it with confidence and hope. You are not afraid when you are happy. You can face danger, and you know that, no matter what the outcome, you will maintain your connection to Spirit. You can’t be happy and hate. There is no room in my heart for prejudice. You can’t be arrogant, or think too highly of yourself, and still be happy. You can’t be ashamed, or think too little of yourself, and still be happy.

    I felt shame trying to capture me, and I resisted it. No! I have learned this lesson, I thought. I will be happy! I won’t fall under the spell of shame. There is nothing wrong with me! If I’m not perfect, I don’t have to be perfect! It’s enough to be authentic and honest.

    I felt anger trying to capture me and I resisted. Ha-ha, it’s just a joke, let me laugh. Let me see the lips of Spirit smiling. Ah yes, I can drink the joy and escape the anger.

    I felt the complainer try to capture me and I resisted. Sure I can whine — there’s always something — but why should I? There’s also always something to be thankful for. I can be grateful!

    I felt fear try to grip me and I resisted. There is danger all around. Living is a dangerous activity. But will I let fear rule me, constrict me, isolate me? No way! Fully knowing the danger, I will be bold! Not foolish, I will take certain sensible precautions, like pray for the will of Spirit, maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, and find voices of Truth within the deluge of propaganda.
Independent Investigation of Truth

October 26, 2021

    The independent investigation of truth is a principle that I value very highly. I remember scrutinizing a slightly older couple, when I was about 23 years old, who were testifying to me on a street corner, while vehicular traffic was blocked off for some event. They were trying to convince me to give my heart to Jesus. Hadn’t I already done that? Don’t they know? Do they worship the same Jesus I do? If so, couldn’t they tell I already belong to him? If not, who or what has trapped them in a veil of presumption and unawareness?

    There are a few things about fundamentalist Christianity that I balk at. One of them is taking on a posture of submission on a street corner. Didn’t Jesus himself say, it is hypocritical to do your penance in public?

    I knew then about the independent investigation of truth, even though I may not yet have heard the words spoken, nor seen them in writing. This brings me to a very important point. Your own intuition is a very important part of your investigation of, and understanding of reality. But don’t just take my word for it, What do you think? Can you understand your life, your purpose, and the world around you, with nothing more than eyesight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch?

    In order to understand life, I need, smell, hearing, sight, touch, taste, intuition, thinking, someone to explain it, or the right book? Check all that apply. I found that I checked all the above, although somewhat reluctantly when I got to the last two, because I really want to avoid adopting someone else’s explanation. I want to develop my own. However, sometimes I can read or listen to someone else’s ideas and be inspired by them.

    Of course that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes I can listen to someone, thank them for their time, turn and walk away, then blog, decades later, about how presumptuous and unaware they were.

    Here’s another quiz: Which of the following people are (or were) sincere good-hearted human beings? No, nevermind, I can’t do that. I was going to name some prominent politicians and media stars. A better question is, who do you admire and why? Do you seamlessly adopt whatever that person says into your own thought process? And conversely, is there anyone for whom you categorically refute everything the person says?

    A human tendency is to pick a side, as if life were a football game, cheer one team and boo the other. True independence requires more than that. But maybe not everyone wants independence. Perhaps others value the camaraderie of belonging to a political party, even though their allegiance to one segment of the population alienates the rest of us. My purpose in writing this essay is to troubleshoot independent thought, exploring what sets it apart from dogma.

    Dogma is a set of ideas that are accepted unchallenged on the merits of the perceived station of its source. If I am to accept someone’s ideas unchallenged, I must first recognize the station of the person or entity promulgating the teaching. To recognize the station of the issuing agency requires investigation. If they are so high and holy that I can just take their word for it, they practically have to be God. For anyone else, every point they make has to be logical, proven, and stand up to scrutiny. And yes, I will also use my intuition. I will separate myself, go into meditation, and let the spirit lead me.

    It has been an interesting ride for the past couple of years. What is truth? I have asked that question perhaps even more than usual. I looked up death statistics and was unable to find any change in the rate when factoring in population density. I noticed a lot of media repetition of what I was beginning to suspect was a false narrative. It began to appear that all the media had been co-opted by monied interests. In place of news, I heard a carefully scripted advertisement for pharmaceuticals, using words like, “safe,” and, “effective,” with no proof whatsoever, other than, “because I said so.” What? I’m supposed to trust you after you tried to kill us with opiates?

    I noticed that politicians who are funded, in their campaigns, by the weapons industry, agree with me on this. However, on other issues, like peace and democracy, these same people definitely do not agree with me! I noticed that politicians, who pay lip service to issues of human rights and human welfare, disagree with me on this issue, even though, in the past, I had felt more drawn to them on issues relating to the environment and education. I formulated the theory that perhaps those particular politicians are kept in their places by the pharmaceutical and food industries. I began to see the world run by the petroleum industry, divided into two competing camps: petroleum-based weapons, versus petroleum-based farming and pharmacy. I began to suspect that both industry and government leaders are a consortium of psychopaths and psychopath enablers.

    Some of them pretend to be sympathetic with desperate people from the south whose ancestral lands have been appropriated by big ag, and others don’t even pretend. But none of them do anything to address the cause of the problem. God help us find a way to fix this!

    Thanks for reading!