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  • Start Living – Get Out of the Comfort Zone

    Many of us spend our lives looking for a comfortable niche where everything is hunky-dory, we don’t have any worries, we’re surviving and have a little more besides…

    In short we look for our comfort zone, and if we find it we try really hard to stay there.

    However, there are two main problems with the comfort zone.

    Firstly, when we’re in it we tend to become complacent, to imagine this state of relative contentment is our God-given right, and to stop trying too hard to move forwards.

    Secondly, life constantly changes. Though things may be sweet today there will certainly come a time when they are less so. It could be tomorrow, it could be years away. But the things you draw comfort from today will not always be as they are.

    A little study of the lives of our heroes past and present reveals that the things we most admire in them were not usually forged in the comfort zone, but under more testing circumstances. Reflection upon our own lives tells a similar story. We have learned and grown most when challenged. But what is life, if not to learn and grow?

    The human Spirit is essentially lazy. If we could spend our days with our feet up we probably would. It takes effort of will to actually do things, and even then it is our nature to expend least effort. When everything is rosy we have little incentive to go the extra mile.

    That’s not to say we should opt for a life of constant hardship, rejecting all of life’s luxuries. Of course we are all entitled to happiness, look upon it as compensation for the hardships of life. But we shouldn’t also seek to stand still once we reach a place of comparative stability. To stand still is to die.

    We should constantly push ourselves forward, seeking new challenges, new horizons. Sometimes we need to risk what we already have, we need to experience the associated feelings. We need to push ourselves further down the roads we’re traveling, and we need to explore new roads that we, and maybe others, have never traveled before.

    How do we do this?

    • Pack up and move to a new town, state, country…
    • Change job – not just employer, but occupation. Do something completely different.
    • Re-furnish, re-arrange, re-decorate your home
    • Watch, read, listen to something new – not just new, but of different genre, something you wouldn’t have even considered before
    • Learn something new – a language, skill, topic
    • Change your style – get a new haircut, buy some new clothes, get your ears pierced
    • Meet different people – join a club, sign up for a class… Choose people different from yourself.
    • Take a chance – risk a significant some of money on a gamble
    • Change your routine – we’re creatures of habit ‘coz habit means we don’t have to think, but force yourself to break your habits

    None of these are easy, but all will lift you out of your comfort zone and help you live a more purposeful and fulfilled life.

  • Have You Been Here Before?

    The concept of reincarnaton is an ancient one, dating back long before the time of Christ.

    Basically, reincarnation is the view that living entities consist of two parts, a physical body, and a non-physical “soul”. The body functions for a finite time, during which it is closely allied to the soul, but when it ceases to function (ie physical death) the soul is released to some day be born again in a new body.

    Belief in reincarnation is most common within Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

    Reinarnation is currently rejected by much of Christianity. One can only surmise this is because it is perceived as a threat to the power of the Church. The Bible is certainly in accord with the idea, eg “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. ‘Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?’” (John 9:1-2)

    Many people at some time in their lives experience a sense of deja vu, ie of having been somewhere before that they’re actually visiting for the first time.

    There have been some remarkable accounts of reincarnation providing a substantial body of evidence for the truth of the phenomenon, eg see Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation by Ian Stevenson for some of the very best.

    Past-life regression is a hypntic technique that is said to help people remember previous lives. EG see Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss , Living Your Past Lives: The Psychology of Past-Life Regression by Karl Schlotterbeck.

    So, is reicarnation real? I believe it is, but not for everyone.

    Spiritually we are all part of a single unity which, for want of a better name, might be called “God”. We individuate, or break of from the one-ness in order to experience and interact with other (parts of God). One of the arenas in which we gain that experience is the physical universe, and within that, planet Earth.

    Some parts of God never choose to incarnate here – it’s to tough a choice. For others, once is enough. But some do choose to return – sometimes many times over – in order to complete unfinished lessons, undertake new learning, or to assist others along their journey.

    We each belong to a “soul group”, a part of God that individuated, and then indivduated furthe into the members of a soul group. Often sould group members choose to incarnate together, and to interact while here, each playing a different role to facilitate the learning process. That part is not always a “positive” one in earthly terms. Our fellow soul group members may turn out to be the school bully who gives us a horrible time, but only afterwards may we realize how much we learned from the difficulties experienced.

    Reincarnation may explain some aspects of our lives such as recurring themes which for all our efforts we seem unable to escape. In our instinctive (unrationalized) thoughts and feelings and in our dreams we may find clues to our previous lives, and perhaps our true purpose in being here.

  • Evidence for the paranormal

    The evidence for the paranormal falls into three categories:
    * spontaneous experience
    * laboratory experiment results
    * rational logic

    Let’s examine each in turn.

    Spontaneous experience

    Countless people claim to have experienced unexplainable phenomena throughout history. Even today there is no shortage of those with tales of the supernatural to tell. As an experiment simple raise the topic with any group of friends, family or co-workers and it’s highly likely at least one will have experienced something remarkable. (more…)

  • Freakin’ with nature – embryo research

    The Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, currently on it way to becoming English law, could pose a serious threat to the concept of sanctity of life. Among other things it allows babies to be created that have the right characteristics to serve as donors in order to aid sick siblings. It may also permit the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos. All in the name of “research”.

    Of course anyone who has seen a loved one endure pain and suffering would welcome any efforts to cure disease or alleviate its effects. But is there some limit that should apply to such research?

    Scientists naturally wish to push the frontiers of knowledge ever further. But scientists do not always consider the moral implications of their work, eg it was scientists that created nuclear weapons.

    From a Spiritual perspective it could be argued that anything we do is part of God’s will, else we wouldn’t be able to do it. We possess free will, and if we have developed sufficient knowledge and skill to pursue a particular pathway then who can say such pathway is “wrong”?

    But in possessing free will we also possess the capacity for error. And some errors are less reversible and more catastrophic than others.

    Alongside our free will we are also blessed with a sense of morality, the ability to consider the potential benefits and costs, opportunities and risks, of a proposed action.

    We must engage this moral capacity carefully lest we embark upon a slippery slope towards a Hitleresque future where only the physically and mentally perfect have the right to live. And who would decide what was perfect. Would they be the blue-eyed Aryan blonds, or would they have some other characteristic?

    Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller would have been denied the right to life to name but two. And anyone who has cared for the disabled will know how much they can still enjoy life and give pleasure to those around them. What right has one living being to deny the existence of another?

    A further nightmarish scenario is where a “lower” form of being is bred to carry out the drudgery of manual labor leaving the “superior” master race to enjoy a life of luxury.

    Too many countries already de-value life with their overly liberal attitude to abortion in which countless viable babies are legally and routinely slaughtered.

    The bottom line must be the absolute recognition of the rights of the potential life forms being proposed for experiment.

  • The Wisdom of Einstein

    The thoughts of one of the greatest scientists of all time on a wide range of topics display a wisdom way beyond the equations of matter and energy. Enjoy and learn…

    Knowledge:
    The Search for the truth and Knowledge is one of the finest attributes of a man, though often it is most loudly voiced by those who strive for it the least.

    Authority:
    To punish me for my contempt of authority, fate has made me an authority myself.

    Truth:
    It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometimes it is easy to recognize a falsehood.

    Cooperation:
    A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer lives are based on the labors of other people, living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

    Wisdom:
    Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

    Greatness:
    There is only one road to human greatness: through the school of hard knocks.

    Happiness:
    A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.

    Fame:
    With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon.

    Life:
    Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate.

    Ageing:
    I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.

    Praise:
    The only way to escape the personal corruption of praise is to go on working.

    Problems:
    Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human actions.

    Relativity:
    An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour.

    Goals:
    One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts.

    Racism:
    The only remedies against race and prejudice are enlightenment and education. This is a slow and painstaking process.

    Solitude:
    I lived in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

    Value:
    Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.

    Imagination:
    When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of imagination has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing absolute knowledge.

  • Can We Really Travel in Time?

    Time is simple enough to understand, isn’t it. It moves forward at constant rate. What’s gone is gone and can’t be changed. What’s to come hasn’t happened and can’t be known for certain until it does. And that’s it… Or is it…

    On July 28th 2007 the Daily Mail carried a fascinating piece entitled “The real life Doctor Who who believes he can build a time machine”.

    It tells the story of Ronald Mallett, an American physicist, who believes he really can use the laws of physics to turn back time.

    Mallett is driven by memories of his father, who passed away prematurely as a result of his unhealthy lifestyle. He hopes to someday be able to travel back to his childhood to be able to warn his father to drink less, smoke les and exercise more in order to prolong his life.

    Inspired by the science fiction of HG Wells and the work of Einstein, Mallett has already lived a remarkable life. Overcoming a deep sense of grief at his father’s passing, and the racism of the deep south, he became one of a small band of black men to earn a doctorate in physics in the USA and remains the country’s only black physics professor.

    Remarkably the laws of physics do not appear to prevent time travel, and physicist Frank Tipler proposed a mechanism involving a superdense spinning cylinder in 1974. Unfortunately, current technology is unable to build such a cylinder.

    Mallett’s approach is more practical and involves a circulating beam of light. He believes a prototype can be constructed for less than the price of an English house! The only limitation of Mallett’s machine is that it would only be able to transport one back to the point at which the machine was started.

    Of course Mallett’s work raises all kinds of philosophical and Spiritual questions.

    What if we were to go back and change the past in such a way that the present we are experiencing could no longer exist. In the extreme case we could kill our own parents before we were born… Or are we really into the sci-fi world of parallel universes?

    And if time travel were really possible how come no one from the future has been to visit us?

    Spiritual teachers frequently tell us that time is not as we perceive it and that in the world of Spirit time has no meaning. Could the possibility of time travel give an insight into the 4th dimension’s true nature?

    Find out more about Mallett’s work in Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality by Ronald L. Mallett and Bruce Henderson.

  • What is the Purpose of Life?

    At some point or other we all contemplate the purpose of life. To a degree our very existence is a search for life’s meaning.

    Life is not about acquiring money, assets, status, power… It’s not about the house we own, the car we drive, the position we hold. That’s not to say these things don’t matter, they do – to a degree. But in time, as our body ceases to function as it inevitably will, these things fade into nothingness.

    No it is not such things that form the purpose of life. Ultimately, all that we carry to the next stage of our existence is the experience we gain.

    In the immortal words of Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage,
    And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…”

    Just as the actors of stage or screen are not the characters they assume so we are not the roles we play for this short lifetime.

    Our earthly (particularly western) measures of success are flawed. In truth the vagrant is no less successful than the city gent, possibly more so, though their paths are very different. For whom shall take the greatest experience beyond the grave?

    The moral – stop chasing things that don’t really matter and start seeking the experience you were born to receive.

  • The Paradox of (In)Significance

    Everything I do is significant, even very thought that flows through my mind. Like a pebble thrown into the ocean it changes forever what would otherwise have been.

    And everything that I experience “good”, “bad” or indifferent is significant. Each experience changes forever what I otherwise would have been.

    And yet I am utterly insignificant. My lifespan, and my potential impact upon the universe are infinitesimal compared to the backdrop of all reality.

    How do I come to terms with this paradox? I gratefully acknowledge that I have been granted the gift of free will, the opportunity to plot (partially, anyway) my own destiny.

    I am careful to do my best each and every day. But not necessarily to change the world. For though I will inevitably leave my mark it will be small. But the experiences I gain through my earthly existence will contribute to my eternal growth.

  • Are Orbs of Light Manifestations of Spirit?

    Yesterday the English Daily Mail continued to enhance its reputation as one of the more open-minded newspapers by publishing “Is this the proof that spirits DO exist?” an article on the mysterious orbs of light that have been appearing inexplicably on increasing numbers of photographs.

    The phenomena has been investigated by NASA scientist Klaus Heinemann, PhD after he noticed the phenomena on a number of his wife’s pictures. At first Heinemann applied his considerable scientific knowledge in an attempt to find a physical explanation. However after failing to do so he began to consider non-material causes.

    Heinemann presented his theories at the ORBS: What Is Going On? Prophets Conference, Sedona, AZ, May 2007, stating “The implications of a realization that we are ‘surrounded by a cloud of witnesses’ are enormous – and, I might add, incredibly hopeful at large.”

    Spiritual mediums have long held that rather than being in a distinct place/time the Spirit world is actually all around us, only vibrating at a higher rate than physical matter. Communication takes place when a medium is able to raise their vibrations and Spirit lowers theirs. Natural “sensitives” are those with naturally higher vibrations.

    Might it be that Spirit have found a way to lower their vibrations to the extent they are able to affect modern gadgetry, or that they particularly feel the need to remind us of their presence in these troubled times for the world?

    Heinemann has co-authored a book on orbs with Miceal Ledwith (a former theology professor who was President of National University of Ireland Maynooth College at the  for ten years). The Orb Project will be published in November 2007.

  • A Tour of Heaven

    A man passed away and went to heaven. He was met by the gatekeeper who granted him admission and offered to show him around.

    It was a beautiful place. The grass was greener and the flowers more vivid than anything he’d ever imagined. The houses and other buildings were magnificent. Just as he thought he’d never be able to afford one the gatekeeper explained he could have any house he dreamed of in any location. All he had to do was imagine it and it would be built to his precise specification.

    Just then they came across a huge wooden stockade and the gatekeeper bade him to be silent. Once they had passed it the guided tour continued.

    This time it was explained that he could eat or drink anything he chose, all free of charge, again just by thinking about it. To demonstrate the gatekeeper manifested an apple tree, and plucking two apples offered one to the new arrival. It was the sweetest, most succulent fruit he’d ever tasted.

    But just as he was finishing it they again came across a huge wooden stockade and he was ordered to remain silent. The tour again continued once they had passed the vast structure.

    The guide now showed the man the great halls of learning where, when he was ready, he could prepare to take the next step along his evolutionary path.

    Before long they came to yet another stockade and again he was instructed to keep quiet.

    After they had passed it the man could contain his curiosity no longer and asked what the stockades were for.

    The guide explained that the first one was for the Christians, the second for the Jews, and the third for the Moslems.

    But why did they have to be silent when passing by?

    The guide smiled. It was because each group believed they were the only ones in heaven.