Edward M

Thanks Marblehead, i'll look into it today! i did see that celtic peoples held some strong beliefs about them as well. I'm part celtic (Welsh) so will look into that also. Thanks again! Peace

Hi Dawg, When you say the subconscious mind is the spirit, would that mean purifying the energy centres is the same thing as purifying the subconscious? it's a bit of a basic question, but i ask because i've found when for instance assuming a particular yoga pose for a particular chakra/body region, and releasing dense energies/blockages through neutral awareness and relaxation, that it has an effect on ones awareness and outlook on life. Cheers, Edward

The only book available as far as i know on Chow Gar, is written by Paul Whitrod, someone who has really mastered the art and can use it to great effect. Have met him once, a very pleasant guy! http://www.chowgarsouthernmantis.com/onlinestore All the best, Edward

Subtle beings that are of a parasitic nature in that they feed off of our negative energy. Like i said, read the nag hammadi txts!

Good topic Jetsun, The Gnostics who wrote the Nag Hammadi Scriptures spoke of the 'archons'. They are parasitic entities that feed off of our negativity and influence us to delve further into it, often through trains of thought. Someone I know is delving deeply into the subject right now and he believes understanding the enemy/the archons and identifying their modus operandi is the key to both personal and collective freedom. If the texts are correct, it's clear that most of the world leaders and power players are possessed by the archon parasites. My own opinion is the key to overcoming them is just plain simple meditative awareness, not just when one is doing their sitting practice. Apparently David Icke has grabbed onto this subject.... just want to make clear that whatever he says on it shouldn't put you off the reality of it all... read the nag hammadi scriptures for the original source material. Peace. Edward

Hi GentleWind, Yes, i've got a few of his books on my shelf. I'm a bit pressed for time right now, but will get back to this thread soonish Edward

As someone who has had repeated bouts of depression for a very long time, and taken anti-depressants before, I found some of the insights in this interview very interesting and feel they confirmed what I felt at the time of being on them. http://www.inquiringmind.com/Articles/MedicineForTheBrain.html Meditation was for me much clearer, enjoyable and sustained while on anti-depressants. I can't sit for much more than an hour, more likely 40 mins these days without getting foggy, whereas back then it wasn't uncommon for me to sit for a couple of hours, occasionally more. Hope you enjoy! Edward

Apparently there is evidence which I haven't heard yet to suggest Jesus visited UK and had contact with the Druids. There's a whole book on the subject came out recently i'm thinking of buying. Edward

http://realitysandwich.com/219826/ayahuasca-and-the-godhead-an-interview-with-wahid-azal-of-the-the-fatimiya-sufi-order/ Peace

Of course not mate! took it as intended

Hey Gp, thanks for the tip! like thelearner said, it's about a sufi who uses dmt and his consulation/dialouge with someone connected to a ayatollah, who through the dialouge issued a fatwa saying it is legal to use entheogens under guidance for spiritual purposes for muslims. But this doesn't include anything that hinders mental function in the long term. I thought it was interesting because it shows to certain extent how some of the world along with science is opening up to the potential of these natural substances. Maybe not that many of you would find it interesting, but for the few who may, i posted it. Best, Edward

Hi Gp, ok, sorry i misunderstood! Agree with you that the promotional side of things needs to be updated somewhat as far as retreats go Take care man! Peace

Gp, I remember that retreat being advertised That was the first time Drida taught publicly and he agreed to a couple more after that, both of which I attended. He really is not in it for the money. He has some serious knowledge and is probably the most humble person i've ever come across. I'm sure Drida would be the last person to describe himself as a Guru, although many would! ps, not sure if you were trying to make out its about money, so, sorry if that's not the case, but just wanted to make the point it's most definitely not about money with Drida. Have never met Serge, Mr Tanaka or Steve, but only heard very good things about them. Peace

Jox, the book has been made into a dvd series.... the video isn't to promote the book, but rather the documentary featuring the adepts in the book. Hope this helps

You mean the trailer?

Worth watching this documentary bums!!

Hi everyone.. I've got some rmax material from years ago....like the warrior wellness, be-breathed and bodyflowas well as prime your bio-energy. Where do you think this stuff fits in regarding spiritual development? my main concern at present is the release of emotions,,, and how the heck to deal with them when they arise?? like anger..a big one for me! this is my first post on this forum,, sorry if it has been done before!! peace Ed

Could it be that long, healthy and strong hair just indicates the same for the kidneys? Strong kidneys are the foundation of the internal energetic system, and weak kidneys results in hair loss etc Look it up- kidneys and hair in TCM. My 2 cents, Peace

Hey, found this writing and thought i'd share with you all: Pope Arrested for Believing in Reincarnation: Pope Vigilius was a vicar during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the sixth century AD. Justinian and Vigilius disagreed on whether or not the doctrine of reincarnation should be condemned as heresy or allowed to be taught in the church. Origin's writings were considered heresy by important cardinals in the sixth century. Origen's teachings had been considered as profound spiritual wisdom for three centuries. Origen lived around 250 AD and wrote about the pre-existence of the soul and in reincarnation. He taught that the soul’s very source was God and that the soul’s was traveling back to oneness with God via Reincarnation. Emperor Justinian wanted Origen’s writings and teachings to be condemned and destroyed but Pope Vigilius refused to sign a papal decree condemning Origen's teachings on reincarnation. As a result of his disobedience, the Emperor had the Pope arrested and put into jail. In 543, Justinian convoked the Fifth General Council of the Church and told the Pope he would sign whatever into doctrine whatever the council decided. On the way there, under guard, the Pope escaped to avoid being forced to condemn Origen’s writings. The Emperor commanded the council to continue despite the Pope’s refusal to attend. There was a logical reason why the Emperor was opposed to the concept that all of mankind originally came from God and was returning to God via the cycle of birth and death. Justinian had been convinced by high ranking cardinals that it was not in the interest of the empire to allow Origen's writings to continue to be copied and distributed. A powerful group of Cardinal’s and Bishop’s explained that if every soul had once pre-existed with God, then Christ wasn’t anything special to have come from God. These Cardinals convinced the Emperor that if people realized they were the children of God they might begin to believe they no longer needed an Emperor, or to pay taxes, or to obey the Holy Church. But since they reasoned that only Christ had come from God but God made brand new souls at the time of conception and only the Holy Church could bring these souls to God. Without the protection of the Empire or the guidance of the church, all people would be doomed to be forever cut off from God in Hell. This doctrine was very acceptable to the Emperor. Once Justinian understood the political danger inherent in Origen’s teachings, the rest was simply an Emperor doing what was in his best interest. The council, as instructed by the Emperor, produced fourteen new anathemas and the very first one condemned reincarnation and the concept that souls pre-existed with God. •If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema.

Also found this comparing the Holy Spirit and Shiva. Also have a whole book devoted to this subject, the author makes a good case for them being one and the same. http://taroscopes.com/highwindowsarticles/shiva.html Whoever cannot find a temple in his heart, the same can never find his heart in any temple - Mikhail Naimy (The Book of Mirdad) Although most Christians are loathe to accept it, it is consistent with esoteric doctrines to associate the Holy Spirit withSelfhood. The triskellion at Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland. The trinity was common in ancient Ireland, Egypt and India. It was ancient when Christianity was born The Holy Spirit idea can be traced to Sophia or "Wisdom." It is equated with knowledge and love of knowledge. Although this knowledge certainly extends to God and his Son, it begins with Self-Knowledge. In other words, Sophia directly refers to Knowledge of the Self. The conspiring forces which sought to make Self-Knowledge taboo, who distorted and complicated our understanding and veneration of the Holy Spirit, attempted to remove the Self from the Holy Trinity. To imagine the Holy Spirit as a vague presence, an indefinable aspect of the Virgin Mary, a white ethereal dove, an abstract metaphysical principle or inexplicable mystery, suited the priesthood. It denied their flock the most valuable key to the gates of salvation. It is the journey of Self-Discovery that true mystics embark upon and that sincere philosophers aspire to. But this trek into the jungles of the Self was reprehensible to the men inventing dogma. They had to instill the wholly false notion that man receives enlightened from without. The believer must obey his masters and perform the rites delineated for his spiritual welfare. A believer's behavior and actions were to be overseen by the priests, whose existence depended on the sweat of the "sinners" under their power. The "Holy Ghost" of the priesthood "descends" upon a man from outside. It does not awaken from within his ownbeing. This false doctrine was enough to send man out of his own being into the hands of deceivers seeking to rape him of his innate spiritual virtue. In truth, there is no enlightenment outside oneself. There is nothing worth attaining that does not originate within our own being. If such a things as "enlightenment" exists, we can be certain that it is never bestowed by gurus, priests or experts. Do you deny me the entrance to heaven, I who have at last learned the mystery of myself -(Egyptian Mystery School Phrase) We cannot see through the eyes of any other person, and they cannot see through our eyes. They cannot share our perspective, regardless of whether such nonsense is commonly believed or not. Every faculties we possess are ours alone, and so is the intellectual understanding we gain through life. As the inscription at Delphi implied, it is only after a man has ended his inner division and come to rational clarity over the mystery of himself, that he can inherit wisdom: Without father, without mother, without human descent; His life has neither beginning nor end; but, as the Son of God, abides as a Holy Priest continually - (Hebrews 7:3) Many stand outside at the door, but it is only the solitaries who will enter into the bridal chamber - (Jesus Christ's words as recorded in the Gospel of Thomas) As said, the knowledge of God, or even of the Son of God, is worthless to the man who does not know the ways of his own being. ...a distorted development of autonomy is the root cause of the pathological and, ultimately, evil element in human beings - Arno Gruen (The Betrayal of the Self: The Fear of Autonomy in Men and Women) The most strongly enforced of all known taboos, is the taboo against knowing who or what you really are behind the mask of your apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego - Alan Watts (The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are) The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will often be lonely, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself - Friedrich Nietzsche Alas, I can see that you do not know what it means to be alone. Wherever there have been powerful societies, governments, religions, or public opinions - in short, wherever there was any kind of tyranny, it has hated the lonely philosopher; for philosophy opens up a refuge for man where no tyranny can reach: the cave of inwardness, the labyrinth of the breast; and that annoys all tyrants - Friedrich Nietzsche (Schopenhauer as Teacher) To jump over the bridge of Selfhood, hoping to land on the ship leaving for paradise, is to fall and drown in the cold, swirling, demon-infested depths of perplexity and insanity. “Self-Realization is necessary before God-Realization” was the motto of the Vedic sages. “Know Thyself” were the words at the Delphic Oracle in Greece. The temple of the living God is “within” announced the Christ. The message is simple: There is no enlightenment outside the Self. Man is his own priest and woman her own priestess. The cardinal misconception - that we can receive our satori and our bliss from someone or something other than the Self - has achieved more than a reinforcement of the “master-slave” dichotomy. As a philosophy and belief, it is the antithesis of that taught by the Druids and Magi of antiquity. We understand that a rational man cannot say "I and my Father are one," unless he is first one within himself to begin with. If we are incomplete, how can we possibly find "oneness" with God or anyone else? The Christian who imagines that being one with the Father implies the abnegation of Selfhood, is little more than a masochist. How can a mere nothing, a human zero, merge with God? After all, who is it that comprehends this state of oneness? Logically it is only a Self that can merge with God's Self. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty - (Gospel of Thomas) You yourself are even another little world and have within you the sun and the moon and also the stars - Origen (Church Father, 3rd Century AD) You are the temple of God. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are - (1 Corinthians 3:16) The abnegation of Selfhood is tantamount to self-murder. Thanks to orthodox religion and its antihuman dogmas, sadism to the Self is rampant throughout the world. The institutions of the world, be they of religion or politics, exist to undermine our psychic sovereignty and crush our Spirit of Rebellion. They are obscene contradictions to the Holy Spirit. The Church is not the agent of the Holy Spirit but its greatest enemy. A careful reading of the Bible reveals how many passages are given over to the question of slavery: The man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest…even that man shall die – (Deuteronomy 17:12) Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those whose are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God…But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God - (Peter 2:18-21) The same thing applies to the works of both Martin Luther and John Calvin. These two mentally deranged fanatics lived to see their irrational theological ideas infect entire nations. In their minds, men were sinful worms worthy of eternal damnation. There was nothing man could do to change his fate because God had decided on a man's fate before his birth. Therefore, total submission to God was man's sole function. For God wants to save us not by our own but by extraneous justice and wisdom, by a justice that does not come from ourselves and does not originate in ourselves but comes to us from somewhere else...that comes exclusively from the outside and is entirely alien to ourselves - Martin Luther (Vorlesung uber den Romerbrief) Nor can you find any other remedy than do deny yourself and discard all selfish considerations, and to devote your whole attention to the pursuit of those things which the Lord requires of you - John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion) Once Selfhood is undermined, we become weak and submissive. We do not exist for our own sake. We exist for God and the Church that act in His name. We become putty in the hands of earthly demigods. Not surprisingly, the same ministers of God who cajoled men to relinquish their sense of personal individuality, also compelled them to obey earthly masters without question: Nothing is more poisonous, harmful or devilish than a man in rebellion - Martin Luther ...even if those in authority are evil or without faith, nevertheless the authority and its power is good and from God...therefore wherever there is power and where it flourishes, there it is and there it remains because God has ordained it - Martin Luther (Vorlesung uber den Romerbrief) The very fact that the sword has been instituted by God to punish the evil, protect the good, and preserve peace…is powerful and sufficient proof that war and killing along with all the things that accompany wartime and martial law have been instituted by God - Martin Luther His scintillating logic regarding the evils of monarchy is revealed in the following passage: God would prefer to suffer the government to exist no matter how evil, rather than to allow the rabble to riot, no matter how justified they are in doing so...A prince should remain a prince no matter how tyrannical he may be. He beheads necessarily only a few since he must have subjects in order to be a ruler - (Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants) We get the same psychotic refrain from Luther's successor John Calvin: For I do not call it humility if you suppose that we have anything left…We cannot think of ourselves as we ought to think without utterly despising everything that may be supposed an excellence in us. This humility is unfeigned submission of a mind overwhelmed with a weighty sense of its own misery and poverty; for such is the uniform description of it in the word of God - (Institutes of the Christian Religion) From these passages we see why the abnegation of Selfhood is subtly but deliberately enforced throughout the so-called "civilized" societies of the world. We see what kind of citizen is created and what kind of person. Indeed, it is the subjugation of Selfhood that has driven us perilously near to the gates of oblivion. Perhaps we now understand why it is that a man cannot be “forgiven” for sins committed against the Holy Spirit (or Higher Self). And perhaps we understand why it was so vitally important for early Judeo-Christian mythmongers to obscure the identity of this third party of the Trinity. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven - (Matthew 12:31) Jesus said: “He who blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and he who blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven” - (Gospel of Thomas) Remove the Self from the Trinity, and your demonic schemes of domination will succeed beyond your wildest expectations. Replace the Self in the metaphysic, and your aberrant end is assured. Once the Self is brought back into the picture, however, we find that we can follow the bright Dove of Truth homeward to the sanctuary of rest and understanding. Symbolically speaking, we find it more than suggestive that the dove was chosen to represent the third party of the Trinity. After all, it is not a Christian symbol. In fact, the symbol comes from astrology. It is an early symbol for Scorpio, one of the two zodiac signs associated with the Spirit of Rebellion. So, we find it highly significant that the symbol chosen to represent the Higher Self - the true Holy Spirit - relates directly and undeniably to the spirit and act of Rebellion and Spirit of Contradiction. We find it significant that the Bible should proclaim it to be the direst and most irredeemable of sins to contradict or violate the will of the Holy Spirit. Before the Cross, Christians were asked to take the Dove or the Ship as the symbol of the Christ. This was recommended by Clemens of Alexandria - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (The Secret Doctrine) Ayn Rand. Author, philosopher and light of America. Deafness to her words and warnings daily sinks man and his world. Sadly, because we have been committing this "sin" non stop, age after age, it follows that we now find ourselves struggling and choking in webs of our own making. It stands to reason that humans are floundering in an squalid swamp of non-issues, existing as prisoners in their own palaces, unaware of the danger they face. Now that this is understood, we are in a good position to finally see the battlefield and rival factions. Because of our new understanding we grow proficient in determining who the real misleaders are. They are those who would condemn, stifle and even obliterate the supernal Spirit of Rebellion. They are those who would fashion for us oppressive political leviathans, inhuman psychopathic corporations, and repressive religions, to ensure that the Spirit essential to our existence is driven forth into the wilderness never to return. With that Great Spirit gone, lying in its unmarked grave, humans fall cringing at the mercy of the daylight vampires and phantoms of death who crave our ruin. The Dove is the symbol of the so-called "Holy Spirit." It is the ancient sigil of Scorpio - a sign associated with deconstruction and catharsis. Esoterically, the sign is connected to Shiva, third deity of the Hindu Trinity. The sign of Scorpio represents forces that enter our lives to remove impediments that block Self-expression. The planetary ruler of Scorpio, Pluto, activates the Age of Revealing. Thankfully, the one thing that never dies in this world at any time is the Spirit of Rebellion. It will remain there in some one or other, in some hermit or poet, musician, playwright or film-maker. It has been beaten and crushed many a time but it is going nowhere. So we can be truly thankful for that. We can, therefore, look to and rely upon this Great Spirit for salvation in the darkest and deadliest of times. We can learn to love the word "No!" We can learn to enjoy its refreshingly adamantine sound. We would rather forgive the evil proliferating all around us than the rebellion against it, which we mistake for the true evil - Arno Gruen (Betrayal of the Self) As we said, astrologically speaking, the dove is associated with the sign of Scorpio and energy symbolized by the planet-archetype Pluto. In psychological terms Pluto represents the so-called "Shadow Self." Symbolically speaking, Pluto's can be regarded as nature’s psychic surgeon or hygienist that appears to cleanse the soul of its toxicity. That Plutonic shadow - the Holy Spirit - has clearly been influencing consciousness in recent times. It will continue to do so for at least a decade. Its presence is the harbinger of truth and freedom. The nature of Pluto is similar to that of the Hindu god Shiva…Pluto usually begins by breaking down a structure, then creates a new one in its place. The entire cycle of death, destruction and renovation is accompanied by tremendous powers, for Pluto is not a mild or even very subtle planetary influence. It brings decay at one level or another…It also rules the death and regeneration of the self, as old aspects of your life pass away…Pluto does not represent death in the literal sense, instead it refers to a metaphorical death, something that ceases to be - Robert Hand (Planets in Transit) Pluto's influence assists us to put the inner house in order. After all, everything in our world is cleaned - our bodies, cars and carpets. Strange that our emotions are so neglected and unhygienic. There is a reason why the word sanity is etymologically related to the wordsanitary. The sanitary mind is sane, and the unsanitary mind is, by definition,unsane. Till now man has been up against Nature. From now he will be up against his own nature - Dennis Gabor The gigantic catastrophes that threaten us today are not elemental happenings of a physical or biological order, but psychic events. To a quite terrifying degree we are threatened by wars and revolutions which are nothing other than psychic epidemics. At any moment several millions of human beings may be smitten with a new madness, and then we shall have another world war or devastating revolution. Instead of being at the mercy of wild beasts, earthquakes, landslides, and inundations, modern man is battered by the elemental forces of his own psyche - Carl Gustav Jung Most people do not see, understand, or care very much about this catastrophe of the planet because they are overwhelmingly preoccupied with grave psychological problems. The environmental crisis is rooted in the psychological crisis of the modern individual. This makes the search for an eco-psychology crucial; we must understand better what terrible thing is happening to the modern human mind, why it is happening, and what can be done about it - Glenn Parton (The Machine in our Heads)

Have to admit it took me a while to get what you were saying there haha Lot's of examples of reincarnation in the Old T and New T. Cheers! All the best, Edward

Thanks Jeff, for the recommendation Take care, Edward

Hi Jeff, Cool, am on the right track then! thanks! Have had brief glimpses of emptiness in the past, but since then been very influenced by the writing of Gareth Knight, he speaks on Christianity from a kabbalistic viewpoint and is where i found this idea of soul realisation yesterday in the book 'Experience of the inner worlds'. He makes a good point that meditation should always be from a level of devotion, not self-centered, that is a way to achieve true contemplation. Cheers, Edward

Hi Jeff, Thanks for that. So, you would say that it does have a place on the christian mystics path? I suppose from my theoretical point of view, if one gets to that level, then they can worship That which is greater than I - God, from a much purer level. All the best, Edward

A lot of members will likely disagree with this, but I read something very interesting yesterday along the lines of monism being individuals experiencing the bliss of their own soul and mistaking it for experiencing themselves as God. I'm wondering what the other Christian mystics say about this, whether it is also their belief or part of their tradition? All the best, Edward