new age spirituality

Category: externally authored

  • Refusing the Military – Healing the Virus of Violence

    Chapter 14 of the book RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War

    By William T. Hathaway

    RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from antiwar activists, the true stories of their efforts to change our warrior culture. A young Buddhist novice contributed this account, which we then revised together. To protect the people who have protected him, he wishes to be nameless.

    Back in high school I’d been good at languages but couldn’t afford to go to college, so I joined the navy for the language training. They have a program where if you pass an aptitude test, they’ll send you to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, for an intensive course that’s worth almost a year of college credit. Plus they have an active-duty education program that offers college courses. I figured after my discharge I could finish my education on the GI Bill, and with my language skills, I could get a job in international business. (more…)

  • The Healing Power of Meditation

    By William T. Hathaway

    I suffered a brain injury at birth. An EEG test showed chaotic, abnormal brain waves, and in school I had attention deficit disorder. I couldn’t concentrate and my thoughts were cloudy. My grades were mediocre, and I flunked out of my first university. I wanted to become a writer, but my writing was disorganized and unclear. In despair I took marijuana and other drugs, but they made my thoughts even foggier.

    Then I started Transcendental Meditation. (more…)

  • Voice of Conscience

    By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff

    Each of us has an internal gauge that helps us decide what to do in a complex situation. In the past, this capacity was called the ‘voice of conscience;’ and many of us make good use of our own internal measure of knowing right from wrong. Yet, our modern life is filled with many complexities and grey areas, when our inner voice tells us one thing and our friends, circumstance, or business necessity tells us to do another.

    When these different thoughts become competing streams, we have a conflict. Let us not forget we are all products of social engineering and have customs, ideals, and social behaviors engrained/indoctrinated in us since a very early age. The task of the spiritual traveler is to free one’s consciousness at certain times, from the engineering of others and make the correct decision, at the correct time. This is the higher call. (more…)

  • Edgar Cayce’s Story of Anna, Mother of the Virgin Mary

    by Doug Simpson

    Edgar Cayce, the legendary American mystic, gave over 15,000 psychic readings in a self-induced, deep trance state. Over 2500 of those readings were life or reincarnation readings for approximately 2000 real people. I wish that I could tell you otherwise, believe me, but if the soul of Anna was reincarnated at the time of Edgar Cayce, it was not identified in any of Edgar’s reincarnation readings. But, let us not despair. Anna makes a few significant appearances in other requested readings, and I will now share that information with you. (more…)

  • Sufism for Western Seekers: 10 Learning Principles

    By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff

    For the spiritual traveler who wishes to follow the Sufi Path, the following 10 Learning Principles represent some of the dimensions to this ancient form of learning. (more…)

  • Rising Above Fear

    By: Niánn Emerson Chase

    Though we should be aware of the multitude of problems facing our planet, I can hardly tolerate the slanted fear-based rhetoric in much of the mainstream media that emphasizes the war on terror and the sensationalized murders, accidents, and other bad new items. Also appalling are the number of popular horror and action films that focus on the terrible things in the world and feed people’s lower, fear- and hate-based natures. Oh yeah, there are a few minutes spent on good news and there are some films that have social and artistic value, but they are in the minority. (more…)

  • Rebirth for America: Free Will Choice

    By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff

    America is a special place; America offers the spiritual freedom, alive in each person’s heart to choose what is best for self and others. Here in this country, each traveler can freely choose their own life and how they wish to live it.
    -SB

    Introduction

    Daily my vision for America is that of a spiritual form which has taken on a physical reality. This spiritual form is the personal freedom to do and become; spiritually as creators of our own reality, every moment of each day, this personal freedom to create is one of the key central aspects to life. We must always remember that we are spiritual beings that have decided to take on a body; and America is a vision of personal freedom for millions of citizens. Spiritually, America represents the essence of individual free will choice. (more…)

  • Hacking Consciousness

    The Stanford University Video Series

    Reviewed by William T. Hathaway

    This new Stanford video series investigates consciousness as the source of not only the human mind but also of all energy and matter. Consciousness is seen as the essence of the universe, a unified field which gives rise to and pervades all manifest phenomena. Five scientists from different disciplines describe how we can contact this field and use it to improve our lives. The series, designed by Michael Heinrich, is now available free on YouTube.

    The intellectual background of the series is a fascinating conflict affecting all of us that is now going on in science and philosophy, centering on the question, What is the basis of the universe? In the 19th century advances in physics, chemistry, and biology led to an empiricist understanding of nature, and Enlightenment philosophy replaced superstition and myth. Leading thinkers in all these disciplines agreed that the universe is just matter in motion governed by natural laws which are open to human understanding. Reality is fundamentally material. Humans and other animals interact with an objective, external world through sensory input mediated by our consciousness, which is a neuro-chemical phenomenon of our brain cells. Thoughts are just reflections of the material world in the brain. (more…)

  • Reincarnation: New Evidence

    by Rabbi Allen S. Maller

    A rather unusual form of evidence for reincarnation comes from the Jewish mystical tradition; the Kabbalah. Unlike Buddhism and Hinduism, Kabbalah does not teach that reincarnation (gilgul) occurs over the course of millions of years to millions of different sentient species.

    According to Kabbalah, only the souls of self conscious moral creatures like human beings, reincarnate; and they reincarnate only when they have not fulfilled the purpose of their creation. Since Judaism is an optimistic religion, most Kabbalists teach that most people can accomplish their life’s purpose in one or two lifetimes. (more…)

  • The Appleseed Journal – Review

    By Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, ‘California Bookwatch’

    While most may readily recognize the name of Johnny Appleseed, which is widely connected with the propagation and popularity of apples, this same audience is just as unlikely to realize that Appleseed was actually a traveling minister with deep spiritual roots – and that he used apple seeding as one device towards the greater purpose of seeding men’s souls. (more…)