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#3616 - Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
Listening to Leonard
I’m sitting on my green La-Z-Boy couch and watching Leonard
Cohen on PBS
on my Panasonic TV. What he does is nothing less than above and
below
and around all of it. He manages to encapsulate divinity and hell
and
make it sound damned interesting. He limns the soul’s
progress as much
as John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress.
He speaks of democracy coming and I find myself feeling the
drumbeat of
the soul of things. Seaweed and oranges and ruined rooms and
hopeful
lost ones everywhere.
I sit here alone and universally whole and Leonard wails in his
deep
throaty voice about Biblical beings undergoing transformation and
all
that stuff that keeps us chained to the mystery.
His backup singers, girls in suits and fedoras bring in the
feminine
side of the earth. They are the chorus of the anima all right and
eternally enticing.
The musicians pound out a smoky beat and I swear I feel like I am
at the
right place at the right time in front of my Panasonic TV
watching
Leonard Cohen on PBS.
Vicki Woodyard
http://www.bobwoodyard.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8
Oshana Teaching USA (confirmed stops)
Sept 22-Oct 5 Oshana USA Enlightenment
Teaching Overview
Sept. 23 Enlightenment: Living The Life You Were Born To Live
Sept. 26 The 5 Essential Elements of the Path to Enlightenment pt
I
Sept. 27 The 5 Essential Elements of the Path to Enlightenment pt
II
Dear Friends,
Hopefully you know that I will soon be sharing the Transmission and Teaching in the USA.
Minneapolis is confirmed,
Portland is being arranged
Other Northern States' cities are possible,
especially:
Chicago, Boston and New York
We will also consider Madison, WI I
f you would like to attend Teaching in those States then please let us know.
We would especially appreciate assistance with networking the event and finding venues I
f we are to expand the visit and share the Teaching in more cities then we need to know soon before making travel plans.
Hope to hear from you soon.
With anticipation in the Transmission,
Dave Oshana
PLAYING NOW: The Moment of Enlightenment
Transmission - Enlightenment Day Special: 61 minutes
daveoshana.com --
OshanaOffice
--
Spiritual Awakening, Enlightenment Teaching & The
Transmission
http://enlightenment-now.com/
http://daveoshana.com/
http://oshana.org/
http://oshana-energywork.com/
http://spiritual-teacher.org/
From Guru Ratings:
INTERVIEW WITH DAVID R. HAWKINS
By Gina Mazza
Talk about knowing one's dharma: from the time he was a young
lad, David R. Hawkins, MD, PhD has had a string of mystical
experiences that compelled him to devote his life to nothing less
than the upliftment of mankind. A sought-after psychiatrist for
decades in New York City, Hawkins left his practice at age 38
after contracting a near-fatal illness. While praying for
healing, a bliss state befell him-prompting him to leave behind
his "personal self" and merge with "an Infinite
Presence of such unlimited power that it was all that was."
After seven years sequestered in a cabin near Sedona, meditating
and studying, Hawkins reintegrated into society and has been
astonishingly productive ever since. For nearly 40 years nonstop,
he has been writing and lecturing around the globe about higher
consciousness. At the core of his research is the radical notion
that consciousness can be mapped on a logarithmic scale using
behavioral kinesiology, nonlinear dynamics and particle physics.
His seminal work, Power vs. Force, introduced the concept that
truth is subjective and relative to one's level of consciousness.
The following interview took place around the recent launch of
Healing
and Recovery, the eighth in a progressive series of books based
on the
revelations of Hawkins' lifelong research. H&R offers
clinically proven
self-healing methods that can result in complete recovery from
any
disease. Hawkins, 82, states with certitude that this is his
final book.
The Collective Shift
It's possible for our calibration to change throughout our life
experiences. My question relates to the collective shift in which
we're
being called to the carpet about things in our lives that are
inauthentic. We're being given chances to wake up and change
patterns
that no longer serve us-or others. I've noticed that when certain
individuals reach that that "golden moment", as you
call it, where the
potential for a spiritual awakening is ripe, they instead slip
into
denial and blame.
That can happen when someone gets the spiritual bug because they
become
more introspective and self-critical. There may be a period when
they go
down into guilt because now they're feeling responsible on a
different
level than before. Before, it was just performance. Now they're
getting
into intention. They begin to see the intention behind their
various
actions and getting more sensitive about their motives. This
period of
painful introspection can be unavoidable.
What if the person closes the door on that period of
introspection? They
say, "I'm not going there. I want to go to my job, go for a
drink Friday
night, the gym on Saturday, wash the car on Sunday" and they
ignore the
part that is yearning to open up. A crisis may crack open the
door but
the propensity is to keep it shut.
That's correct. Those individuals may go through several
lifetimes
living on the superficial level. Introspection leads to guilt so
they
avoid it. A lot of people don't want to look at themselves. If
you're
seeing your psychoanalyst at $100 an hour, you're very happy to
look at
yourself. When you're on your own, there's no point in it unless
you're
devoted to evolution. When you're devoted to evolution, you
question
yourself because you want to learn more about your motives.
The Economy
There's no mistake that we're going through a collective recovery
as a
nation. In fact, Obama's plan is called a Recovery Package. The
last
time the US went through a recession in the '70s, our nation's
level of
consciousness was below 200. So it makes sense that we would be
going
through this current recession in an unprecedented way. Now that
our
collective consciousness is over 200, how does it relate to
what's
happening with the financial markets collapsing, the banking and
auto
industries in peril, high unemployment rates?
Anytime there's a shift of consciousness from one level to
another,
there's a disruption. If you used to be a crook and you decide
you're
going to become honest, you're going to disrupt everything around
you.
What's happening with our economy is a reorganization based on
values
other than just making money. The economy is really based on
greed:
every product is an effort to make money. And making money
doesn't infer
anything having to do with responsibility. Now, we're bringing up
responsibility. As citizens, we're asking, "Should these
companies
reveal what they know?" So there's disorganization based on
a current
lack of clarity about values."
Integrity is the new gold standard and, as we evolve, it is
becoming
more important than the bottom line.
That's the current headline-people testifying about the integrity
of a
company, its executives and whether their compensation is within
expectations of financial integrity-and the fact that some are
well
outside the expected norms is causing a great upset in the media:
excessive compensation for executives who not only didn't do a
good job
but did a bad job.
The headline in this morning's news is the AIG execs rescinding
their
bonuses. CNN just reported that AIG is taking the signage off
their
corporate headquarters in Manhattan due to hostile threats
against the
company. I can't recall this sort of public outcry for corporate
accountability in my lifetime.
A big part of it is the media bringing these things into our
personal
experience. We have instant reporting, instead of reading it in a
newspaper-which is detached and intellectual. We can now
experience a
person's personality and hear them talking live to us. So as an
executive is testifying in Washington, the country is listening.
We're
far more involved in world affairs that once were abstract. And
the fact
that [some corruption] involves taxpayer money and people's
personal
investments, as in the case of Bernie Madoff, that makes it very
personal. Accountability and personal responsibility are becoming
quite
primary.
Illness Requires Subconscious Guilt
You say in Healing & Recovery that illness is a form of
unconscious
guilt, and this is confirmed by scientific research. You say,
"Our
belief system...aggravates suppressed emotions.... we have some
sort of
guilt about something in our past consciously or subconsciously.
"
Yes, illness requires subconscious guilt, which is almost
impossible to
avoid because we're only human and prone to error. Error leads to
guilt.
"Why didn't I do better?" Even if you make a million
dollars you say,
"Why didn't I make a million and a half?" Humans, even
those who are
quite obtuse, are always dealing with the hypothetical. "Why
didn't I
avoid that?" "Why did I say that?" It's very hard
to avoid this critical
self-observation. Our society is focused on winning and
achieving. I'm
sure those guys at AIG who got a $50 million bonus were saying
"Why
didn't I get $60 million?"
Those individuals who close the door on introspection: are they
healthier because they're avoiding it?
They're more comfortable [but] comfort is one thing and health is
another. You can be comfortable and extremely neurotic. You can
be dumb
and glad of it! [laughs] Not looking at yourself brings about
greater
comfort but also a lack of self-awareness, so you're in a
different
style of human existence. If you're not self-aware, you're not as
evolved as a person who is aware of their defects.
And a self-aware person learns to let go of the guilt about
things.
If we were angelic beings we'd be in a different realm. So
accepting the
purpose of human life-to evolve-takes away a lot of the guilt.
You say,
"I'm here to learn, I'm not a super angel." I view
human life as
primarily purgatorial- not in the religious sense but
experientially.
It's not heavenly nor is it hellish; It's somewhere in between.
We're
here to achieve good karma and undo bad karma, as the Buddhists
say. We
learn from our mistakes and try to evolve to a higher level.
From the outside looking in at a person who is not self-aware and
not
feeling guilt about what they might have done because they're
avoiding
that guilt-that person's life may appear to be smoother than the
life of
a person on a spiritual path, which can be quite chaotic.
Yes, indeed, because you're facing guilt about defects that a
person who
is not introspective doesn't have to face about themselves.
They're
obnoxious and hateful and they don't realize it. But they're
comfortable.
Definition of Healing
Let's get into a definition of healing. You say in H&R that
healing
begins around 540 [and that] "gratitude alone brings
healing".
That's true. The 12-step movement is a very good example. It
brings
about recovery from a hopelessly dangerous and progressive
illness, so a
great deal can be learned about recovery from anything and
everything by
examining the 12-step program. Another group that makes this very
manifest in the physical is A Course in Miracles. So no matter
what the
illness is, look into the Course and the basics of the 12-step
program.
Between the two, you'll have all the tools you need to recover
from any
illness.
A core piece of both is forgiveness.
Yes, forgiveness of yourself and others. We [have to realize
that] we're
limited [and] created to be evolutionary. You are what you are
and if
you could be something else, you would be.
Because we have free will.
Some people confuse free will with magic. Just because you have
free
will doesn't mean you're going to be a genius tomorrow.
But we can create miracles, like how you tackled a weight problem
by
reprogramming yourself in only a few days.
Yes, if you make it your number one priority to do that, you can
actually reprogram yourself in a matter of days.
Those who struggle with their weight would say THAT is quite
miraculous.
It would be a miracle for that person, yes. I took off 50 pounds
that
way. I just lied down and whatever [cravings] came up, I allowed
myself
to experience it all. After three or four days, [the cravings]
disappeared. I wasn't driven by it anymore.
You used a process that you call "anticipatory eating".
Yes, prophylactic eating! I would eat so that I wouldn't get
hungry. I
would say, "Now it's time for a cheese sandwich." I
still do it. I wait
until 11 a.m. and eat a high protein meal-that's breakfast and
lunch.
That holds me through until dinner. It's now a habit.
Why do you think obesity is a national epidemic?
Advertising. The constant barrage artificially propagates desire
and
hunger. We are constantly being tempted and provoked. The media
plays a
large part in the human experience now, almost dominant. What
people
think or believe is dependent upon what they just saw or heard in
the
media.
And as you say, our existence is about what we hold in our minds.
Our minds are being constantly programmed. The media have great
power.
Those who control the media are the real power barons of today's
world
because they're controlling what people think is true.
Maybe the solution is to turn off the TVs and portable devices
altogether.
I don't think you can do that in today's world. It's everywhere.
[By
contrast,] when I was growing up in rural Wisconsin, billboards
were the
great influence. We'd drive in the country and read the
billboards. I
looked forward to the Burma-Shave ads, the ones that said
"slow down /
and savor / little shavers".
Right! "Nobody knows / the stubble / I've seen."
It was today's television. Now we're used to having our minds fed
by
constant imaging. We have to know the minute something is
happening.
Getting back to the definition of healing, you talk in H&R
about
"letting go of resisting the sensory experience of an
illness, not
labeling it, not even using words at all." Explain.
Today I wake up and the my toe is painful. Right away my mind
says
"pain". I let go and experience [that]. Then I only
label it as
discomfort. Then I stop labeling it altogether. It has no name
and no
definition. By not focusing on an illness or giving it a name,
you
decrease its influence and importance. So you're not paralyzed
and
having to lie down. I can walk around and ignore it and go about
my
business.
Ignoring it is not the same thing as when you discuss in that
same
chapter about embracing the pain and going into it.
That's a different technique. Instead of ignoring it, you allow
yourself
to fully experience the experience. But you don't label it or
resist.
It's just a phenomenon like the weather. You go about your
business and
pretty soon you're not thinking about the weather because you're
too
involved in what you're doing.
You say in H&R to choose the energy field of love, which is
healing. Are
you essentially asking readers to be in a space of non-judgment?
Yes, that prevailing attitude allows you to handle other things.
To be
in a state of lovingness means that although you notice the
defects of
life, you're not in denial about them. They are there. But you
don't
allow it to interfere with your happiness. If the TV doesn't work
today
I don't spend the day being unhappy. I just accept that it
doesn't work
and I go onto other things. The only thing it's going to
interfere with
is your amusement. If you don't have that amusement, you'll find
another. If the TV's not working, it's a good day to clean out
the
closet. Part of being happy is being flexible and not insisting
that
something has to be a certain way, like if there's no peanut
butter in
the pantry, your whole day is ruined.
The Good News about Growing Old
Let's talk about the aging process, which you also discuss in
H&R.
Getting older is a period of great opportunity to sift out the
relevant
from the irrelevant. Once you know the relevant, you realize that
all
the things that are necessary for happiness, you actually have.
First of
all, you ARE, which is a big help, especially when you consider
the
opposite [laughs]. And if you have love, you say "I am and I
have love;
what else is necessary?" As you get older, the emphasis is
progressively
on what is important. If you have relative security, comfort and
love,
you really don't need anything else-just a few basics, a peanut
butter
sandwich or something.
Unless you're out of peanut butter [laughs]. And even love is not
an
external thing.
It's not dependant on what's out there, you become more
independent of
the world.
So you don't mean to imply that we need to find someone to
love-but
rather, love is a state of being.
Yes, love is a way of being in the world. It's being considerate
of
others. That's all, just considerate, patient and kind. Being
content
and able to enjoy life in all its expressions is more important
than
anything else as you get older. If you've got Medicare and Social
Security, what's there to complain about?
How do you feel about life at age 82 versus 22 or 52?
I enjoy being alive far more at 82 than 22. Just existing is
quite
gratifying. At 22, you're beset by all kinds of drives and needs,
educational and vocational goals, trying to find a relationship
that
works. Life is a mess at 22! Life gets better as you get older. I
have
nothing to complain about, frankly. I guess that should be my
main
complaint-that I've got nothing to complain about [laughs].
You say in the chapter on death that a conscious person has very
little
work to do at the end of life-there's no regret, no unfinished
business,
nothing on the table to deal with.
That's true, a lifetime of spiritual work leaves very little to
do at
the end. If there's anybody you didn't forgive or if you're still
blaming yourself for past mistakes, you'll have spiritual
clean-up to
do. But life gets better and better because you have time to
handle all
these problems and defects of character.
As an author, is there more to write or have you reached the end
of what
you want to share with others?
I've pretty much reached the end of the subjects that I want to
share
with the world. I feel that I've done what I can do as far as my
contribution to society. The primary reason for my existence has
been
fulfilled.
I've felt an obligation [up until now] to share the things I've
discovered with the world. I've fulfilled that obligation so I
can leave
the planet without guilt.