BEFORE

POWER OUTAGE OR OUT OF POWER

We put so such faith in things of the outer. People, jobs, money. These things, if we allow them, can hold us hostage by the amount of power we grant them. Technology is another “god” that we’ve chosen to worship, pray to, and as a result, fall prey to. We’ll do anything; embrace anyone or anything to keep from looking to our inner spirits as our source of power. We’re always convinced that something or someone else knows better or holds the key or provides an answer better than our own inner, still small voice.

Could it be because that voice or inner prompting isn’t a visible manifestation and since we can’t see it we assume that it can’t possibly be valid? Yet we fail to realize that everything physical originally began in the realm of the invisible. Either as an idea, concept or an unmanifested entity.

Can it also be that we don’t believe that we possess the power necessary to assist us in our endeavors or trials? To illumine us in our “dark nights of the soul”? We question and doubt the extent of our power entirely forgetting that we are “perpetual creation machines” endowed with an infinite inexhaustible amount of power to create whatever reality we so choose.

Why then are we so quick to feel and be rendered powerless? Perhaps it’s the temporal quality associated with creation. A certain amount of time is required to bring something from the formless into the formed. Another necessary ingredient would be mental perseverance or tenacity. One must stay focused on the goal or course and not doubt or faint in the pursuit of the manifestation or attempt at creation. This requires mental, emotional and sometimes physical vigilance.

Unlike masters or avatars such as Jesus who were able to instantly turn water into wine or multiply the loaves and fishes, we require time, focus and persistence in order to create. However, as Jesus said “These works I do, but greater works than these shall you do”.

Realizing that we have this innate power, what causes a “power failure”? I believe doubt and fear can cause our spiritual conduits to short and blow out the generator of creation.

One of the definitions of doubt is to be double minded. In other words, to go back and forth or faint in your belief about something or someone. It is said that fear is the opposite of love which is the most cohesive power in the universe. When doubt and fear combine, they will quite naturally unravel the spiritual coils required to power the generator of creation.

How can we therefore go about repairing the blown fuses and circuits created by fear and doubt? By realizing that where we place our thoughts and beliefs we place our power.

I believe at no other time in history have there been more methods of short circuiting our power. We place our faith in the news and views espoused by people, their machines and devices, their money and the influence bestowed upon them by us. We watch TV; use the Internet, cell phones, the entertainment industry in all forms to frighten and to reinforce the negative ideas produced by these entities. We forget that all of this is temporary and will crumble into the “nothingness from whence came”.

Any power we bestow upon the physical will eventually die out because it is only an emanation or reflection of the original true power or Source. The Invisible, Inexhaustible, Creative Power Source that is within each one of us if we would believe. But our beliefs and faith must be rooted on the positive, fruitful aspects of creation.

 When we place our thoughts so, our power increases and cannot help but produce after its own kind.

A TO ZEN OF LIFE

10 SPIRITUAL TONICS

SIMON WINCHESTER'S

"PACIFIC"

Simon Winchester’s “Pacific” is an extraordinary book  providing an insightful, and informative examination of the region, people and cultures surrounding and affected by the largest body of water on the planet.

It contains histories of everything from the creation of the thirty eighth parallel identifying the division between North and South Korea, the invention of the transistor radio and subsequent creation of electronics giant, Sony Corporation to the evolution of the surfboard.

This fascinating narrative paints glorious panoramas of natural wonders and natural catastrophes while also revealing some of the inglorious bastards associated with many of the surrounding countries and cultures.

Winchester is successful in corralling the wealth of material about this oceanic behemoth. He chose a scattering of happenings each of which, to him, seemed to betoken some greater trend, and which might tell in microcosm a larger truth about the Pacific than the moments themselves suggest.

After scouring newspapers, history books, databases and academic papers, he was “buried under a blizzard of possibilities”.

He decides to begin his journey on January 1, 1950, which the scientific community designated as the “Year Zero”. “The choice of this date was scientifically elegant, logical and precise for reasons having to do with radio-carbon dating.

Winchester saw this date as the most appropriate, the dividing line between purity and impurity. For nearly all the carbon-14 dating pollution that was sent up into the skies and that created the concept of “present” and “before present (BP)…came as the result of explosions that occurred in the Pacific.

In the end, he chose ten singular events. He began “with the acceptance of a singular and distasteful reality: that the Pacific… is in fact…an atomic ocean. It’s where most of the world’s thermonuclear weapons have been tested.

Included in his narrative is the story of Bikini Island and of the hydrogen bombs tested there. He relates the tale of the arrogant, reckless scientists and power hungry, political administrations that influenced the nuclear testing, obliterating and displacing the lives of the people of Bikini.

He goes on to relate story after story illustrating how the surrounding islands, indigenous people, historic and current cultures, colonial powers and the sea itself is the most turbulent in the world.

“The Pacific Ocean is in serious environmental peril, ringed with nations undergoing immense internal change, is unimaginably busy with commerce, has come to be at the forefront of science and self discovery and is an expanse of sea that should be central to all our thoughts.

This book is an account of the modern Pacific: a pillar of hope on which for good or ill, we might construct humanity’s future.

JOSEPH HELLER'S CATCH-22

At a time when our veterans are deployed to fight in two wars lasting over 10 years for multiple tours of duty and are being irreparably physically and psychologically maimed, I felt it was appropriate to take a look at a satirical novel by American author Joseph Heller, Catch-22 that is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. 

The novel is set during World War II from 1942-1944 and mainly follows the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier. It examines his experiences and those of the other airmen in the camp who attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling service requirements so that they may return home.

The title refers to a plot device that is repeatedly invoked in the story and has since entered the English language referring to a type of unsolvable logic puzzle sometimes called a double bind.

According to the novel, people who were crazy were not obligated to fly missions; but anyone who applied to stop flying was exhibiting a rational concern for their safety and was sane thereby not being eligible for release from duty.

The characters' escapades are often quite comical and the description Yossarian provides of them is a prime illustration of the insanity inherent in all military bureaucracies.

The book is filled with characters Yossarian sees as crazy, heartless, idealistic, innocent, cynical, ambitious and obtuse. He either fears them or is terrified for them. By the same token, mostly all of them see him as the unhinged one.

Some concentration is required to follow the novel's development but it's intentionally structured to reflect the circular and repetitive nature of a "catch-22" situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.

The story is a treasure trove of symbols, themes and motifs all used to signify the idiocy of military bureaucracy and its terrifying ability to cavalierly risk human life.

Heller uses Yossarian to illustrate the inherent insanity of war and its devastating consequences on the human psyche.

The idea for this book was based on Heller's personal experience in World War II. He flew sixty bombing missions and mentioned the he should have been killed three times over. He ultimately survived but the experience turned him into a tortured, funny, deeply peculiar human being.

Catch-22 became very popular among young people at the time and seemed to embody the feelings they had toward the Vietnam War.

There are many who feel that this comic fable that ends in horror has become more and more clearly a reflection of the all too serious and horrifying realities of the world in which we live and hope to survive.

ON BECOMING A CLASSIC!


Ever notice how our artistic tastes change as we age? Everything from what we read to the music we listen to and what we watch on the big and small screen. Hopefully most of us begin to favor more sophisticated, intellectually and culturally stimulating fare.

The music I thought was so awesome, that my parents despised or just couldn't understand, has now become as irritating and cacophonous to me as it was to them. Their artistic tastes have now become mine! ( OMG!)

So much of what we enjoy in our youth consist of so much fluff; superficial, trivial, superfluous foolishness that manages to pass itself off as sumptuous and necessary.

I remember getting a kick out of reading all of the Charlie Brown/Peanuts Gang books I could get my hands on when I was a little kid. I also thought they were the deepest most philosophical piece of literature that existed.

Think of some of the things of importance in your youth and how they've magically morphed into something entirely different or completely disappeared altogether.

Things that I once swore by, clung to and would fight for are no longer of any consequence whatsoever. Most have become major annoyances and disappointments when I discovered their profundity.

What was considered cool or hip now appears ridiculous and boorish. Things that I loved, I can barely stand to think about, see or listen to. What I sought and worked for has left me questioning its value.

So much of aging includes loss. We lose our fascination with the personalities and icons that we once admired. The reasons we admired them are because of the extraordinary qualities they possessed only to realize that even those qualities were subject to decline and decay. We realize that our idols are after all just as ordinary and human as we.

We lose loved ones, our physical strength diminishes and our senses become dull. We are in a constant battle to retain whatever we can.

Sometimes we may even lose our integrity. If our lives have been hard enough and we've been abused and disappointed enough, we might become cynical and bitter. We cease to give a damn about trying to do the right thing because we've witnessed so many getting away with doing wrong.

Yet in spite of all of these laments, there are some perks (albeit not many) that come with growing older.

If you're lucky there's a peace of mind that comes with being more comfortable in your own skin. You've worked hard to become who and what you are and if you're anything like me, you realize that you don't need to spend whatever time is left worrying about what people think about you. You probably realize they don't think about you very much at all.

In the words of Phyllis Diller: "Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out and spread out.

Realizing this perhaps we should follow the advice of Victoria Moran who says:

Judge less - or at least later
Give new ideas and images a chance
Understand that everyone has his or her own truth
Remember: You are not married to any belief, opinion or ideology
Expect to discover something delicious every day.