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| Lovely picture taken by a friend. Posted to remind myself not to waste what we are given. |
Looking for a diversion, I switched on the TV, and surfed the channels until I stopped at a public access TV program featuring Eckhart Tolle. I had never heard him.
I was, I think, quite possibly the only person in the entire US who had not. Surprising perhaps because spirituality was always such an important part of my life. I was never particularly attracted to 'New Age' however and that made Tolle new news to me that night.
I had an religious affiliation but it wasn't really working. I had decided that maybe I should just give up on spirituality altogether - that it just might not be for me. But I was wrong and in that moment, hearing Tolle talk, I knew I was wrong.
My curiosity, the great saving grace of my life to date, was sparked. I wanted to know more. I felt a new cycle starting and the promise of new things on the horizon. I wanted to explore again and it seemed that it might be helpful to me, on a personal level, to keep track of what I found.
My curiosity, the great saving grace of my life to date, was sparked. I wanted to know more. I felt a new cycle starting and the promise of new things on the horizon. I wanted to explore again and it seemed that it might be helpful to me, on a personal level, to keep track of what I found.
My track history with journals is rarely good and I have always had problems with consistency across the board of my life experience. So it occurred to me that a commitment to share what I was learning with others through blogging might keep me on track. And so it has. I have covered a lot ground over the last year and taken some interesting turns. Best of all, I find my passion for what I am learning is growing rather than waning.
Have I progressed in spiritually since that sleepless night which seems so long ago? I'm not sure. My belief system has expanded but I have a long way to go, however, in terms of establishing a consistent spiritual practice. I have learned a thing or two, yes. But I am also acutely conscious of how much more there is to discover. And that's a good thing.
I am so looking forward to year two. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you, dear reader, for being there to share it!
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| The Susquehanna River August 13th, 2011 6:23 AM |
I got to the river just before the sun crested, compass in hand to observe the southeast sky but saw no sign of the Dog Star. According to various internet sources Sirius was due to return to Northern skies today. Ancient people were very precise in their observations of the heavens. The internet, it seems, is not. But that was alright. Seeing the sun rise over the mountains was worth getting up for.
There is a resonant energy to the world just before dawn and there was a time when I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning just to feel the hum. On the way home from the river today, I remembered that time. I remembered how I used to sit in the kitchen and drink black coffee and write straight through until sunrise. I lived in the city then but I could see the better part of eastern sky above the vacant lot outside my back door. I got early up to write and see the sun come up almost every morning. In many ways, that place was my first real home and I made the most of it.
There is a resonant energy to the world just before dawn and there was a time when I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning just to feel the hum. On the way home from the river today, I remembered that time. I remembered how I used to sit in the kitchen and drink black coffee and write straight through until sunrise. I lived in the city then but I could see the better part of eastern sky above the vacant lot outside my back door. I got early up to write and see the sun come up almost every morning. In many ways, that place was my first real home and I made the most of it.
On the way back from the river this morning, I thought that I could do that here, too, if I wanted. The old turn of the century houses are close together in my neighborhood but ours is on a small hill and I have full view of the sky over the roof tops and mountains from my east facing bedroom slash office. Rearranging the furniture was relatively easy and my desk now faces that window. I am going to get up early tomorrow and write. Maybe I will catch sunrise by the river another day. Sirius is back after all. And if I get the timing right, I should be able to catch it any morning I choose.
Update: Here in the new house, I have an office. And it came equipped with a big east facing window <3
Update: Here in the new house, I have an office. And it came equipped with a big east facing window <3
In ancient Egypt however things were very different. The return of Sirius there, and then, occurred at the time of the summer solstice. This was the time when the star broke free of the glare of sun (as it is just about to do here in North America) to once again become visible or return to the skies of ancient Egypt.
Also called The Nile Star or Star of Isis, Sirius was considered to be so astronomically significant to the ancient Egyptian's that the mighty sphinx itself was oriented to face the point at which Sirius rose from the horizon for its dramatic return at the dawn of the summer solstice. In those days, the return of this brilliant star marked not only the solstice, but the start of the ancient Egyptian New Year playing a pivotal role in Egypt agriculture by warning those living along the Nile of impending flood.
At the temple of Isis-Hathor at Denderah a jewel was placed at the forehead of the statue of Isis. When the light from the returning Star of the Nile fell upon the gem for the first time each year, the priests would announce the start of the New Year. On the walls of the Denderah temple an inscription reads: "Her majesty Isis shines into the temple on New Year’s Day, and she mingles her light with that of her father Ra on the horizon."
Sirius is a bright white star with a hint of blue. When the air is unsteady, or when the star itself is low to the horizon as it is now, it appears to radiate an entire spectrum of color. In mid-northern latitudes Sirius may be seen tomorrow morning, August 13th, just before sunrise in the southeasterly sky. And I will be there to greet it.
Reminder: Tomorrow night is the full moon. Coupled with the date (the 13th) and the return of Sirius this is wonderful time to set out crystals or other items in need of clearing. Do consider spending some time outside this weekend to take advantage of this very special energy!
According to Rabbi and scholar Ayreh Kaplan, in his intro to the English translation of The Sefer Yetzirah, Kabbalah may divided into three categories: theoretical, meditative and magical. Theoretical Kabbalah, which is based largely on the Zohar, is concerned with the dynamics of the spiritual domain (worlds, souls and angels). Meditative Kabbalah, as found in the Sefer (sefer means book) Yetzirah and several other unpublished texts, employs the use of divine names and other methods to reach higher states of consciousness. Magical Kabbalah can be found to a certain extent (per Rabbi Kaplan) in the Sefer Yetzirah as well as The Book of Raziel and other as of yet untranslated texts.
Wonderful translations of many of these primary texts are available through Amazon and elsewhere, including The Bahir and Sefer Yetzirah as translated by Aryeh Kaplan, and The Zohar in the beautiful multi-volume Pritzker edition translated by Daniel Matt. Are these good places to start however? That depends. An understanding any of these texts, is best approached, in my opinion, in conjuncture with a certain amount of left brain understanding of Judaism and the Bible and a good deal of right brain reflection and meditation. It is my personal preference to treat all Kabbalah as essentially meditative, to select a short passage to read and reflect upon and not necessarily struggle for a structured assimilation of information.
If you are looking for a more comprehensive understanding of Kabbalistic concepts than this approach provides, the best place to start may be with modern commentary. The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism by Daniel Matt as well as another of Matt's books, God and the Big Bang, are fantastic first reads on Kabbalah. The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz (reviewed in this publication here) is a great choice as well especially for those interested in increasing their metaphysical understanding of alternate dimensions.
The Essential Kabbalah is a wonderful reflective and mystical text which addresses many of the important concepts of Kabbalah in short, understandable and extremely well-written essays. God and the Big Bang which I hope to reread and review soon, is one of my favorite books. In it, Matt does a truly amazing and sometimes poetic job of discussing the cosmos, the Zohar and many of the fundamentals of Judaism.
The following passage from The Essential Kabbalah describes the ten sefirot in Matt's mystical yet very accessible style:
"Better yet, imagine a ray of sunlight shining through a stained-glass window of ten different colors. The sunlight possesses no color at all but appears to change hue as it passes through the different colors of glass. Colored light radiates through the window. The light has not essentially changed, though so it seems to the viewer. Just so with the sefirot. The light that clothes itself in the vessels of the sefirot is the essence, like the ray of sunlight. That essence does not change color at all, neither judgment nor compassion, neither right nor left, yet by emanating through the sefirot - the variegated stained glass - judgement or compassion prevails."
Dr. Amit Goswami speaking on quantum physics as it relates to spirituality. Read my review of the documentary film "The Quantum Activist" which features Dr. Goswami and his work in my previous post "Mysticism Meets Quantum Science." If you find the film challenging, as I did, or even if you don't, there is what looks like it could be a great free workbook available for download at the website QuantumActivist.com (QuantumActivist.com/workbook). I'm really looking forward to working with it!
Mysticism Meets Quantum Science: A Review of "The Quantum Activist" A Very Important Documentary Film Featuring Dr. Amit Goswami!
August 1, 2011
Goswami is at this point in his career quite well known, a sought after
speaker world-wide, as well as the author of numerous books including the
quantum mechanics textbook of choice for many universities:
Quantum Mechanics, The Self-Aware Universe, God is not Not Dead, How Quantum Activism Can Save Civilisation,
The Visionary Window: A Quantum Physicist's Guide to Enlightenment
and
Physics of the Soul
(which is winging its way to me as I write:). His message may be
as important as any other scientific advancement realized to date.
How can I make such an outrageous claim?
Dr. Goswami expresses ideas about non-local consciousness that have
widespread, perhaps even worldwide, transformative potential and what he says
makes sense. Or as much sense as anything said about quantum physics can
make at this point in our development.
He speaks against scientific materialism. The idea, as he defines it,
that cause rises, that matter is the force behind all subtle experience.
He maintains that it is impossible to explain all internal phenomena in terms
of the movement of molecules. He calls the attempt to do so upward
causation, the method of building upon our understanding from the bottom up,
from particle, to atom, to molecule, to the ultimate creation and existence of
all that is.
Religions, Goswami maintains,while apparently diverse share a common view of
what can be conceived of as God. That is, a force outside of the
material, a downward causation, a subtle body or world aside from the
observable. Goswami considers this principal the essence of
spirituality.
So what does any of this have to do with quantum physics?
Quantum physics describes the nature of tiny particles. Its application is responsible for many of the great advances of our modern age: satellites, computers, nuclear power, advanced medicine. Additionally and most notably however, it appears to follow a very different set of rules than those observable in the macro world - as defined by scientists such as Newton. Quantum physics poses certain problems such as quantum non-locality, in which two particles share information across vast distances, and suggests (as in the well-known double slit experience) that observation at the quantum realm effects matter, literally changing the manifestation of light from a wave to a particle.
It should be noted that like most groundbreaking scientific data, these
results have been interpreted in a number of ways and that it is likely that
the most comprehensive explanation is still evolving. Regardless of the
interpretation however, no one can say that this phenomena is not remarkable
and most will agree that it has the potential to revolutionize our
understanding of the very nature of reality.
Amit Goswami interprets this phenomena, as do many, in terms of
consciousness. He explains that when consciousness looks - waves
collapse and become objects of conscious experience. In that respect, he
considers physics a science of possibilities meaning, as I understand it, that
all waves have the possibility of being transformed into objects of conscious
experience. He goes on to address the Quantum Measurement Paradox in
terms of philosophical logic and this is where he begins to depart from the
majority of physicists.
He asks: If consciousness, as quantum physics suggests, chooses actuality from
material possibilities how can we conceptualize this without paradox? If
we have a possible elementary particle, creating a possible atom, creating a
possible neuron, creating a possible brain, creating a possible consciousness,
how can we couple possibility to actuality - or consciousness to matter?
Pointing out the circularity and paradox of that line of reasoning, Goswami
then introduces what he terms a radical thought. This is quite simply
put, an idea consistent with the experience of the mystic, the idea that
consciousness is the ground of all being.
As breathtaking as this is, however, there is more. Goswami goes on to
speak quite clearly on the topic of manifestation, maintaining that the level
of consciousness which possesses the ability to choose actuality is an altered
(as opposed to egoic) state which can only operate in the realm of the
subtle. This state and this realm may be thought of as cosmic or
interconnected consciousness. Separateness in this context is ultimately
illusionary and this is what is truly radical about Goswami's science.
Goswami goes on to speak of non-local communication, the Tibetan Book of the
Dead, the discontinuous leap of creativity and the morphogenetic field with
such beauty and precision that it would be a mistake I think for me to attempt
to paraphrase here. Suffice it to say that he believes that non-local or
cosmic consciousness is at once God, and ourselves, the object, and
subject. For Goswami, as for me, consciousness does indeed precede all.
On a global scale, the ramifications of such a realization are
staggering. Operating from the subtle body, and the heart chakra
specifically, Goswami suggests that we have the ability to recognize this
interconnectness and proposes an approach to the resolution of conflict which
acknowledges that we are all part of the whole. He speaks of taking a
step beyond even the Bodhisattva. In the old days Goswami explains, we
were concerned only for ourselves. 'If I achieve heaven,' we may have
said, 'I don't care about you.' As we evolve however in we recognize
that this is incorrect. And ideally we realize it to the degree that we
now say, 'If you don't go, I don't go either.'
Toward the end of the film, we realize that Dr. Goswami is not
naive. He is an experienced and educated man, well aware of the dangers
posed by our treatment of the environment (a product of separatism and
material thinking) and each other. He sees progress however in an
evolutionary sense that is both individual and collective. He considers
this progress demonstrated by the success of leaders such
Mahatma Gandhi,
Nelson Mandela and
Martin Luther King. He
points out that these movements toppled the great institutions of British
colonization, apartheid and racism by completely nonviolent means and that
this could not have happened 100 or 200 years ago. And in spite of my
continued concern and anxiety about the state of the world, I have to
agree. It is possible. We may indeed be progressing and while
nothing is guaranteed, I see great hope.
The absolute perfection of this documentary, of course, is that it is soundly
based in in scientific theory, lending validity to the subjective and
credibility to the unseen. In this regard it is therefore accessible to
very wide audience.
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