A Better World

by Dr Stewart Bitkoff

People wonder how to create a better world?
In theory, it’s fairly simple, but O so difficult to accomplish.
In each moment, try to rise higher.
In every situation, out of love,
Do your best to create the highest possible outcome.
The highest possible outcome:
Is that which helps others, self,
And the emerging higher destiny of the Universe.

And if you make a ‘mistake,’ try again.
Unintentionally, if you hurt another:  ask for their forgiveness.
And if you don’t know
What the highest possible outcome might be?
Ask for guidance from the Unseen Forces;
Then take a chance- doing the best that you can.
Then leave the outcome up to the Universe.

In some respect, you are but a player in a Game.
A very serious, joyous and multi-leveled Game:
Yet filled with endless opportunity,
Watered by Grace,
And where all ‘mistakes’ are absolved through Love.

-SB

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Searching For Truth

by Dr Stewart Bitkoff

Once there was a man who traveled the highway in search of Truth. He stopped at every town and inquired. Sometimes the answers he received appeared to be useful and at other times, they did not. Always the advice he received was targeted at his worldly life: get a job, marry and have children. Or don’t work, live in a monastery and become a recluse.

Somehow these pieces of advice did not satisfy him so he kept searching. One day as luck would have it, he encountered a wise man who said, “The answer lies within.” So for many years, this traveler with the help of the wise one examined the inner world and came to see these experiences as part of the answer he was searching for. (more…)

A Higher Call

by Dr Stewart Bitkoff

Make no mistake about it life is hard;
Filled with pain, illness, struggle
And eventual death.

Yet, the remedy to this circumstance
Is love and passion;
Passion for what you wish to be or do,
Love for another person,
Or love of a Higher Call.

When the night is dark
And you are lost in haze,
Suddenly the sun rises
And shows you the way back Home, again.

For most, this is the journey of the flesh;
Both glorious and frightening.
Remember, this duality exists
So that you might rise Higher.
You are a Child of both worlds
And are set free through love;
Embrace your destiny.
You cannot escape it.

-SB

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Jesus' Secret Healing

by Doug Simpson

When we read the accounts in the Gospels of the trial of Jesus and His sentencing by Pilate to death on the cross, it becomes rather obvious that Pilate tried his best to rescue Jesus from His destined fate, and that it was ultimately the Jewish Sanhedrin and their vociferous group of supporters that were the primary cause of the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate had a personal reason to protect Jesus - not too long before that fateful day, Jesus had healed Pilate’s son who was afflicted with epilepsy. Here is that story as recorded in the readings of the legendary American mystic, Edgar Cayce.  (more…)

Conscious Peace

From the Book RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War By William T. Hathaway

I was sitting in full lotus, body wrapped in a blanket, mind rapt in deep stillness, breathing lightly, wisps of air curling into the infinite space behind my closed eyes. My mantra had gone beyond sound to become a pulse of light in an emptiness that contained everything.

An electric shock flashed down my spine and through my body. My head snapped back, limbs jerked, a cry burst from my throat. Every muscle in my body contracted ― neck rigid, jaws clenched, forehead tight. Bolts of pain shot through me in all directions, then drew together in my chest. Heart attack! I thought. I managed to lie down, then noticed I wasn't breathing ― maybe I was already dead. I groaned and gulped a huge breath, which stirred a whirl of thoughts and images.

Vietnam again: Rotor wind from a hovering helicopter flails the water of a rice paddy while farmers run frantically for cover. Points of fire spark out from a bamboo grove to become dopplered whines past my ears. A plane dives on the grove to release a bomb which tumbles end over end and bursts into an orange globe of napalm. A man in my arms shakes in spasms as his chest gushes blood. (more…)

Sharing a Heartfelt Conversation on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Creating a Culture of Congruency with Personality-Integrated Individuals

Niánn Emerson Chase

I realize that gender identity and sexual orientation for any individual are very complex issues, with not only biological factors but environmental, social, and cultural elements to also consider. In our modern society, with its fast-pace and digital device onslaught, we all need to slow down and take time to have honest and thoughtful conversations about this sensitive and important subject of today’s culture. (more…)

Sufi Mysticism & World Sickness

By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff

Q: While on the Sufi mystical path, what exactly is it you learn?  How is this learning different than other learning?

From the mystical perspective, the physical world or world of forms is supported by the world of spirit. The physical world is an extension of this unseen, spiritual world and the physical exists so humanity can fulfill their individual higher destiny.  Each traveler enters the world of physical forms for many reasons. Yet each reason is connected to the higher destiny, and the traveler ‘fumbles around in the dark’ unless he or she learns to connect with the Higher Reality.  The ladder which has been extended is religious teaching and spiritual learning.  The mystical path and spiritual learning is the inner heart of religious teaching. On an inner, spiritual level, all the great religions are one. (more…)

Questions & Answers

Why did you come into this world?
Why do you have to leave?
How are the hours between to be spent?

Are these questions
And their answers not related?

Do the work of the next realm
In this one,
And you will have no need
Of questions or their answers.

-SB

____________

Register for my upcoming retreat weekend atop Bangor Mountain, in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Kirkridge Retreat Center on Sufism & Enlightenment, May 30- June I, 2014. For information scroll down to program listing: http://kirkridge.org/programs/upcoming-programs/. Then click on Detailed Information for full program highlights.

Read my new book: Beyond The River’s Gate. Book is availabe on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle format or local bookstore.

To Order Your Copy Visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/bitkoffriver

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Super Highway to God / Light

By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff 

Each traveler must find their own wisdom, and will never be totally satisfied with the formulations of another. While a traveler can benefit greatly from a wise man / woman, ultimately each traveler must make their own way.

What a wise man / woman does is offer training, and is an exemplar, on how to unlock inner capacity to know. That is why there are so many books offering personal visions of wisdom; many travelers have found their own inner capacity and wish to share it. Yet what works for one will not work for another; hence the growing realization that self-help books usually fall short.

Ultimately, it is the grace of a Path and the traveler’s own inner capacity that leads the traveler Home. Waiting inside each is the Super Highway to God / Light; and precious are those who help a traveler unlock their own inner wisdom.

____________

Register for my upcoming retreat weekend atop Bangor Mountain, in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Kirkridge Retreat Center on Sufism & Enlightenment, May 30- June I, 2014. For information scroll down to program listing: http://kirkridge.org/programs/upcoming-programs/. Then click on Detailed Information for full program highlights.

Read my new book: Beyond The River’s Gate. Book is availabe on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle format or local bookstore.

To Order Your Copy Visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/bitkoffriver

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An Agonizing Reappraisal

A Letter to the New Spirituality

By Daniel Moler

Remember in the year 2012 when everyone thought the world was either ending or ascending to some type of higher human consciousness? The world turned, wars still rage, and my rent still needs paid.

That same year, author Jonathan Talat Philips wrote a blog for The Huffington Post called "The Rise of the New Spiritual Counterculture." In it, Philips describes a societal crowd of hipsters made up of "the Whole Foods sustainability crew, Yoga Journal aficionados or New Age healers" as a "rising planetary awareness with radically practical solutions to address global challenges." Philips is associated with the Evolver Social Movement, a movement that I have been involved with myself over the years. They have published many of my articles as well as my e-book about Terence McKenna, himself a "prophet" of the psychedelic/neo-shamanic/spiritual counterculture that seems to be growing exponentially on the fringes of ordinary society.

Whereas Philips dubs this movement as a collective of pioneers engaged in spiritual activism, I have, over the years, come to disagree. Although many good things have sprung out of this cultural meme—like environmental activism and promotion of sustainable practices—there is a danger in the spiritual component attached to it . . . particularly, the hype and popular promotion of shamanic trance states  and shamanic plant medicines, otherwise known as psychedelics, as a modern panacea.

Interestingly enough I am a strong proponent of these particular spiritual traditions. However, I browse this “new spiritual counterculture” which claims to promote the concepts of shamanic practice and I see a great distortion of information.

We have turned the shamanic way of life into a fad. It’s fine that it is popular. There is, truthfully, a need for a reconnection with the natural powers of the world. But, what is being offered far differs from the philosophy and practice of an authentic shamanic life-walk. Take a look around at what the “new spiritual counterculture” has to offer: music festivals, ayahuasca retreats, and workshops promising to heal your wounds, expand your consciousness, and raise your kundalini.  We have assumed that we are spurring a revival of archaic theosophy through our tribal tattoos and drum circles; we believe we are the next evolution of neo-shaman, using our technology and hip psychology to move humanity towards spiritual progress—one  seminar at a time.

So, where is the futility in all this? (more…)