"That which we cannot change, we ignore" Gail Collins, New York Times columnist.

"When you meet a life circumstance that you feel you cannot change,
change your perception of it, change the way you view it. Then,the
'unchangeable life circumstance' has lost it's power over you, it's ability to
frustrate your spirit's pathway by clouding you with emotion.
A good way of achieving this perceptive mechanism is to seek out the
blessing in the life circumstance. Believe it,there always is one hiding
there somewhere. A blessing that reveals more of who you really are,
spiritually, than your consciousness had manifest to you". (gg.gallnas)

One cannot ignore 'earthquakes'. Events which shake the foundations of
one's existence/belief system/concepts.

Aeschylus wrote: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God

Quoted by Robert F Kennedy during a speech in Indianapolis in which he broke the news to the unknowing crowd of the assasination of Martin Luther King.

Nearly all peoples,everywhere, dream of a good future for their own children.

Some dream of a fair and just future for everyone,seeing all as brothers and sisters, children of the 'One God'.

In respectful memory of a man with a loving message.

The message lives on.

“Self-discipline is a form of freedom.

Freedom from laziness and lethargy,

freedom from expectations and demands of others,

freedom from weakness and fear — and doubt.”

H.A.Dorfman in "The Mental ABCs of Pitching"

Sometimes, most times, unconditional lovingness creates miracles.
Check out this story.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/27/heroes.andersen/index.html

I wish them both well.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

“Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected”

M.K.Gandhi

shadows of Divinity

Knowledge is not necessarily understanding.
Understanding is not necessarily wisdom.
Wisdom is not necessarily Love.
For even a small child may be lacking in knowledge, understanding and wisdom...
but exudes such unconditional love
as to render these other things a poor reflection of Divinity.

gg

The ABUSE of understanding - Fitna

As I have commented before on this blog, the 'beauty' of ancient manuscripts is the lack of real understanding of what the language actually meant in the culture of the time. This allows for all sorts of 'misinterpretations and kaleidoscopic conclusions' - giving rise to sectarianism, schism,
dysfunction.


There is no greater threat to the established 'religions' than the proclamations of one of influence who claims to have discovered THE truth about God (as opposed to A truth about God), and then proceeds to 'justify this declaration' with all sorts of ancient texts interpreted to suit the argument.

FITNA is a case in point! 'Anonymous' responded to my blog thursday post on Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 8:16 AM with :"Fitna doesnt mean "oppression", it means "opposition". The same way a dictator would outlaw and squash any political opposition This is totalitarian theocracy imposed by the sword and it is why Geert Wilders title his movie "Fitna". Muslims try to twist the meaning of fitna to make them sound like victims when actually it is quite the opposite. " (I will post comments that are signed with something more precise than anon and reserve the right to edit any comments I deem especially offensive)

So I thought I better google and check out other meanings of the word FITNA to those I had already assembled: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitna_%28word%29 and this article starts "Arabic word, generally regarded as very difficult to translate", difficult to translate is a euphanism for 'it can mean almost anything".



This is Islamist centrist intellectual Mohamed al-Amara who published a thought provoking, faith enlightening - and storm
surrounded book "Fitna al-Takfir" last year.
You can see some of the turmoil in The Islamic religion's propensity to accept innumerable interpretations of a sura/text/takfir here: http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2007/02/amaras_fitna_al.html
and one of the comments on that blog says as follows:

"He is focused on "fitna" - or in-fighting amongst Muslims. He is saying, basically, that it is brother with brother, and brother with cousin against the stranger, i.e. Muslims should not fight amongst themselves and hence weaken themselves vis a vis the West"

In short, there is not ONE Islamic religion,there are many - though there is but 'One God'. As I wrote on thursday:
"In the normal way of old-fashioned politics,if you seek to unite a people - or distract a population from what you are doing - the finest way is to' create a common enemy'. Where 'traditions and sectarian religious concepts are concerned' it is fairly easy to find targets".

Thus we see that the dysfunction of Islam, the 'civil war within Islam', gives rise to attacks upon 'kafir'(non-believers) not because of their non-belief, but because of Islam's inability to define what IT really believes in a universally agreed format.

But,hey, don't just point the finger at Islam here - almost every major religion has divided into warring sects. Even worse, most have claimed 'divine authority' for imposing torture and death upon their victims - like they have played the role of God, taking life (note, they are not so good at the other extreme of giving/creating life).Remember Beslan. Remember Islam Khardykov?

So who to believe? which to accept?
I have a very simple test - if it isn't loving, compassionate, merciful - it isn't from God!

Listen to your heart

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” - Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910)Tags: tolstoy, change

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Fitna

Qur'an 8:39 says, "And fight them until there is no more fitna [variously translated as tumult or oppression or persecution]Tags: Fitna, Geer Wilders, Qur'an, Koran, Jihad, love

It is not clear to me where this oppression and/or persecution originates. It seems  that there is far more of it in Islamic lands than is imported into those countries. In so many areas, muslim fight muslim for dominance of a particular sect,interpretation,tradition.

In the normal way of old-fashioned politics,if you seek to unite a people - or distract a population from what you are doing - the finest way is to' create a common enemy'. Where 'traditions and sectarian religious concepts are concerned' it is fairly easy to find targets.

Fitna, an Islamic/arabic word meaning 'things than can test the faith' is also the film, shortly to be released on the internet, from the Dutch politician Geer Wilders. It is reported to be not very flattering to Islam.

Beware, Islam, lest in the fury of your anger at this film you simply validate it's argument that Islam is a religion of violence. The muslim friends I have are far from this 'fundamentalist violence' and demonstrate their faith in actions of kindness and lovingness.

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Most,initially, come to God out of fear - and meet a concept of God that broadens until eventually many see the enormity of lovingness that called them to a higher awareness - and then come to God out of Love. When this happens, we meet the reality that is God. The metafor of the crucifixion is to remove our fear and open the pathways of love, tearing the veil until we see into the holy of holies, the holiest of truths: Love is all there is.

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The truth of experience

Katherine Anne Porter defined experience as "the truth that finally overtakes you" Tags: Porter, experience, truthTags: ito, oneness

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Lewis Hamilton winning the first GP of the 2008 season at Albert Park,Melbourne

Sportspersons, when 'in the zone', have a remarkable ability to remain focused on the challenge. I guess that's what's meant by 'being present', 'being in the NOW'. (picture and text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ )

Spiritually speaking, there is only the now - for the past is usually a perception-modified memory and the future a concept-dominated expectation. It is reasonable to postulate,therefore, that if we wish to excel in lovingness it becomes an issue of focusing on now. There is no better time, whatever else is happening around us, to define ourselves by our unlimited capacity to love.

Have you noticed how easy it is to lose focus when a problem

is 'too close' to us and engenders a sense of fear?

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed .”

"FREE" WILL

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, as Einstein
paraphrased it, that “a human can very well do what he wants,
but cannot will what he wants.”
In short, the conscious brain was only playing catch-up to what the
unconscious brain was already doing.
The writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, once said in an interview with the
Paris Review, “The greatest gift which humanity has received is free
choice. It is true that we are limited in our use of free choice. But the
little free choice we have is such a great gift and is potentially worth
so much that for this itself, life is worthwhile living.”

"faith is not just something you have,
it's something you do"

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
2006 Global Summit on AIDS and the Church

"Often it is only in silence that you first hear the symphony of creativity
playing the melody of lovingness.

Once heard, it starts to become like the background music
to the film of your life.

Until one day you understand, you are the melody"
gg

When we can behold the wonder and beauty of a flower we have reached a place of lovingness in our being whereby we also have the possibility to behold the wonder and beauty of another human being - even if they do nor agree with us or share our views.........especially if they do not agree with us or share our views.

It is the incredible uniqueness of everything that creates such a stupendous range of experiencing within our life walk.

And for what purpose did you come to this 'realm of relativity' if not to experience that

which you knew as a concept?

The reality of lovingness is absolute: in the realm of the absolute and in the realm of the relative.

Indeed, when it comes to love and lovingness there is no seperation between absolute and relative.

All...all..is a manifestation of this reality

Universal love

"Three teenagers who robbed and vandalised a church in the US state of
Montana will get "love baskets" of electronic games by the congregation"
this was a report carried by the BBC ( here ).

Faith in positive and loving action.

It set me to thinking that similar loving and forgiving actions are always
happening, all the time, in many different religions.I guess it's even
happening in the sadly sectarian-brutalising country of Iraq where
'muslims' are murdering each other in the name of 'faith'. Love has a
way of winning through, despite all obstacles, so I guess that loving
actions are happening in Iraq.

Maybe the media will one day report these things.I hope for the sake
of Islam that they do.

Anyway, thankfully and wonderfully the report became public about
the SHEC (oh, and please remember I am not an american and actually
I live in Sweden).

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coded

TTWP

 

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Belated wisdom

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said: “We did not think, even 1 per cent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 . . . that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not.”

 

Ah, so many have such greater wisdom with the benefit of hindsight.

Loving religions speak of foresight...anticipation through lovingness.

 

 

 

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There is a beauty about truth that is beyond ideology and religion 

There is a truth about beauty that is beyond words.

orchid pictures courtesy of http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~nroberts/

would that all the idea/religion seeds which polulate the mind of man were so productive of beauty.Yet,soon it will be gone...just like those old idea/religion concepts

dandelion picture courtesy of mark@kyne.com.au

Death of Islam

Shamil Basayev

 

He sits in front of a banner proclaiming in Arabic: “There is no God

but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet"

 

Justifying his attacks on civilian targets, he states: “We are at war

and we look at the reality, and not at whether the population has

weapons in their hands"

 

So spoke the man who claimed responsibility for the atrocity at the

school in BESLAN.

This is one of the men responsible for the death of ISLAM, see blog entry

http://ito.blogspot.com/2005_03_20_ito_archive.html.

 

Shamil Basayev died yesterday.

"Shamil and other brothers of ours became martyrs by the will of Allah,” said

a statement on a website claiming to be associated with the Basayev terrorists.

 

What, I wonder,in this warped religious fantasy is the

description given to ISLAM KHADIKOV.

 

If only we could devote as much energy to loving as we

seem able to devote to...sport?...hating?......rituals?

 

 

 

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Deprived and oppressed?

In this past week the first anniversary of the London
Terrorist bombings took place. A video from one of
the 'bombers' was also aired in an attempt at
justification for mass murder. Perhaps it is fair to
ask a few questions:

1. How is it that in Afghanistan and Iraq more
Muslims have been and are slaughtered indiscriminately
by other Muslims, and this was happening with or
without the 'Allied forces presence' ?

2. Which country, prior to the second Iraq war, donated
most to Iraq in terms of food and medical aid? Be
surprised to learn that it was NOT a Muslim country.

3. Was Shezhad Tanweer (The bomber at Aldgate)
really deprived and underpriviledged in British Society
when he could leave in his will the sum of £121,000
(after tax)....and was only 22 years of age when he died?

Immams of the true Islam unite....and defend the truth
of the Prophet and the truth of events. For if tolerance
is surrendered to intolerance it is the end of the authority
of Islam in the hearts of most peoples.

Fear has never - and will never - triumph over love in the
long term.

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Brain chip

4 billion calculations/transactions per second!

 

IBM's Big Blu?

Intel's latest?

AMD's best?

 

Nope!  That,according to the incredible film

 "What the 'bleep' do we know"

is the amount of transactions carried out by

the average human brain

 

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nailed in the foot

British scientists reacted angrily last night to the views of a senior Vatican official, who said Catholic researchers working on embryonic stem cells should be excommunicated.

 

Paul Embery, a Catholic priest in London, said that excommunication did not mean God had abandoned the transgressor. "It's not saying that somebody is not loved by God" he said

 

see also the Crimen Sollicationis  entry in this blog for other categories suitable for excommunication - like bishops who don't keep secret their paedophile priest investigations!!!

 

Oh Dear, you would think that by now the Vat would have realised.....huh?

 

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Islamic silence

Throughout history there has been a continuing
manifestation of the capacity for horror of which
mankind is capable.
In modern history, the Nazi concentration camps
(originated by the British in South Africa!), Israeli

atrocities, the Cambodian 'Killing Fields', the

obscenities of Vietnam, clearly illustrate this

'inhuman capacity'.

 

However, in ALL of these cases voices -
empowered by religious,moral or ethical energy
- were raised in opposition. And these voices
became broadcast the world over.

 

As we daily read of the appalling scenarios in Iraq,
it is reasonable to ponder...where are the Islamic
voices of peace, love,compassion?
Do we hear Iranian Immams, Saudi Princes, Iraqui
sect leaders...... protesting the kind of grotesque
inhumanity that was, for example, meted out to
the young Iraqui journalist Atwar Bahjat?  Is this

the 'Glory of the Arab world'?

 

The absence of such voices...whilst the voices
of extremists receive world-wide attention ...
seems to confirm the succesful hijacking of
the truth of Islam. Beware Islam.

 

Islam is becoming a pseudonym

for horror.

 

Will the real Islam please stand up and speak?

 

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In respectful memory of Atwar Bahjat
 

Crimen Sollicationis

Crimen Sollicationis - Latin for "the crime of solicitation" - issued in
1962 by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), an
office attached to the Vatican. Described as a "blueprint for
deception and concealment" by lawyers investigating the
worldwide sex-abuse scandals, Crimen Sollicationis contains
strict instructions for dealing with what the Vatican calls the
 "worst crimes" - such as allegations of paedophilia and bestiality.

 

Rather than report these offences to the civil authorities, the CDF
instructs bishops to investigate them "in the most secretive way"
or face the "penalty of excommunication".

 

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conspiracy in the Catholic church

The real conspiracy in the Catholic church has nothing to do with
the Da Vinci Code, says Patrick Wall - it's the cover-up of
paedophile priests.
Mark Honigsbaum meets the former monk who is leading a
crusade to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice

Full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1766941,00.html

 

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perseverance and obstinacy

The difference between perseverance and

obstinacy is that one often comes from a

strong will, and the other from a strong won't.

Henry Ward Beecher

 

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Better do a good deed near at home than go far...

Better do a good deed near at home

than go far away to burn incense.

chinese proverb

 

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Kiran Bedi

If you want to know more about Kiran Bedi you can visit the website at:

www.kiranbedi.com

 

You will be amazed at the activities of this most remarkable and effective

modern Indian crusader

 

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Now here's an interesting film about a very very special woman - Kiran Bedi.  

Our lives are not determined by what happens t...

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results".  Anon

 

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Will to Live unity

"I am life which wills to live, in the midst of life which wills to live. As in my own will-to-live there is a longing for wider life and pleasure, with dread of annihilation and pain; so is it also in the will-to-live all around me, whether it can express itself before me or remains dumb. The will-to-live is everywhere present, even as in me. If I am a thinking being, I must regard life other than my own with equal reverence, for I shall know that it longs for fullness and development as deeply as I do myself. Therefore, I see that evil is what annihilates, hampers, or hinders life. And this holds true whether I regard it physically or spiritually. Goodness, by the same token, is the saving or helping of life, the enabling of whatever life I can to attain its highest development. 

 

In me the will-to-live has come to know about other wills-to-live. There is in it a yearning to arrive at unity with itself, to become universal. I can do nothing but hold to the fact that the will-to-live in me manifests itself as will-to-live which desires to become one with other will-to-live. "

 

Albert Schweitzer 

 

 

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By any other name

All actions have reactions, interactions.

 

All non-actions create reactions, interactions.

 

We are on the verge of a 'critical mass point' in human progress: the time is very near when we commit ourselves fully to the celebration of unconditional lovingness. Loving not simply our neighbour, but also finding ways to love our 'perceived' enemy, as ourself... unconditionally.

 

(As Gandhi once said "the only devils are those running around in our own heads".).

 

The more we progress towards the acceptance of 'what is', the acceptance of who we truly are in spiritual terms, the closer we come to materialising the fullest Paradise here on earth, expressing our lovingness in the abundance of health, peace and compassion.

 

The human race, thanks to the instancy of modern life, is wearying of the old polarised and
unloving concepts, religions and philosophies.

 

We stand on the very edge of an amazing and truly wonderful age in the history of humankind.
To be true to our destiny, we must be true to our name....kind humans :)

 

 

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Playtime is over

What we appear to need in this modern world,is a mechanism for celebrating our differences.

We have already created more than enough methods for condemning our differences.

The question to ask of ourselves, is which of these attitudes holds the highest probability for peace, harmony, and self fulfillment ( the expression of lovingness)

It is time for us to come into the consciousness of unconditional love, for the 'toys with which science has gifted us' are far too dangerous for us to 'play at being purposeful' any longer.

 

 

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Love's Logic

I've always believed in numbers and the equations and logics that lead to reason.

But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask,

"What truly is logic?"

"Who decides reason?"

My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional -- and back.

And I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life: It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found.

 

John Nash: 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Acceptance Address

 

 

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Potential Virus?

During this past week I have been receiving many

SUSPECT emails.

Suspect?  Well,take a look -

1.The subject says pdf file, the content is a PIF file

2. The subject says Photo,the content is a BHX file

3. The subject says 'Real Show', the contect is a UUE file

4. The subject says jpg, the content is a PLF file.

 

All of the ACTUAL attachment files are known or

possible carriers of virus, particularly the MyWife

virus, according to www.filext.com and other sources

 

The emails come from a Norwegian email address but

appear,unless its forged, according to the data I have

been given to originate in the Phillipines.

 

Never, never, NEVER open an email containing attachments

(in this case they are all over 100kb) if:

5. it comes from a person you do not know

6. you have not checked the 'file header' (you can do this

on most webmail systems without opening the attachment)

to make sure the file type that is ACTUALLY enclosed

poses no risk to your computer.

 

AND be very sure your protection measures (anti-virus,

anti-spyware, anti-phishing,etc) are absolutely up to date.

 

Interesting that people have the need to perform such

strange actions in the first place, huh?

 

 

 

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The art of......

In a quote usually attributed to Otto Von Bismarck, we are often

told that 'politics is the art of the possible".

 

Faith, we are told, reminds us that through belief all things are possible.

 

One-ness is the awareness that the impossible already is, it is simply

for us to draw it into our consciousness and translate it into our actions.

 

"If you want to fool the world...tell the truth" also Otto Von Bismarck

 

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Beyond Religion and Politics ?

U.S. President George W. Bush offered humanitarian aid Friday to the quake victims, while noting that relations between Iran and the United States are strained.

"I do want to offer my country's assistance to the people affected by the recent earthquakes in Iran," Bush told a news conference in Cancun, Mexico, where he was meeting with Canadian and Mexican leaders.

"We, obviously, have our differences with the Iranian government, but we do care about the suffering of the Iranian people."

I guess there are a lot of cynics out there who will simply say that such a gesture is simply

backdoor American Imperialism.......

"There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal, as human beings, to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death."  Russell-Einstein Appeal pub.1955

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The Defence of Truth?

The World Trade Centre atrocity has, more than anything else, concentrated thought and debate world-wide about Islam. I cannot remember any other event in my lifetime that has so 'thrust to public attention' the issues faced by modern Islam. Unfortunately the unbelievable horror of Beslan did not get the media coverage and was further confused by 'internal political overtones'. However, in both these cases Muslim terrorists killed...and killed innocent Muslims in outright contradiction to the teachings of The Prophet Mohammed and the Koran.

The latter half of the 20th century saw a Richter-scale shift in the dynamics of the Muslim faith. "Not all Muslims are terrorists,but unfortunately it seems all terrorists are Muslims" wrote one leading article in a Middle Eastern newspaper.The seperation of Church and State, the target not only of Sayyid Qutb's influential 'In the Shadow of the Koran' work + other works and it's subsequent inspiring effect upon the Jihad movement, is clearly delineated in the pressures for the institution and maintainance of Sharia Law in nation states.

For a non-Muslim (like myself) however, it is extremely difficult to comprehend the repeated contradictions inherent in many of the major religions, Islam included. I mean, is God all-powerful or not? If all powerful, what's all this talk about devils waging wars and devlish armies that could overturn the 'will of God'. Such talk is not a statement of belief, it is a statement of a lack of belief! What's all this talk about an individual who should be executed because they have chosen to worship the ONE God with a different dialect or through a different tradition? Is God so 'power-less' that we imagine we can take over the role of deciding upon life or death? How can terrorists, who betray the principles of their belief system, come to be regarded as 'martyrs?'

How is it possible, even allowing for intellectual gymnastics, to equate the threats and promises of punishment inherent in Sharia Law with this:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clearly from error".
This is not from the Old Testament, nor the New Testament, nor the Sayings of the Bhudda, nor the
words of Christ.

"Compulsion" = force, threat, blackmail, constraint.

"Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clearly from error".
The Koran at sura (chapter) 2.256

Hey, and just be careful about being too judgemental if you belong to another religion,Christianity or Judaism for example. I am sure we can find unending reams of blog material by applying our insights and investigations to these areas also. The reason this blog is not currently doing so is that the confusion and contradiction of beliefs in Islam is 'stealing life'.
Life! Now is that God-given or what?

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PS. Broken Promise

In this blog Tuesday, March 21, 2006 I wrote about
The Broken Promise of a great religion in response to an

article quoting Dr Abdullah al-Amiri, a prominent member
of parliament in Sharjah emirate.

 

This gentleman was attempting to convince everyone that

'gay relationships' were not now,nor ever, a part of

Islamic society. My debate is not about sexuality, my

debate is about accuracy especially in respect of religion.

 

In favour of accuracy, may I respectfully refer the presumably

learned gentleman to historical record - try a visit to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty#The_Islamic_lands

for a more accurate picture on this issue.

 

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The price of progress - £50

Yesterday my new printer arrived - an Epson D68, very nice and very

nice (low) price (from www.cheapink.com). Ordered and delivered

within 3 days by post.My 3 year old printer had been giving ink

cartridge problems. It got very frustrating.

 

In restrospect the frustration is a symptom of my/our incredible urge

for 'Great Expectations'. We often seem to forget just how amazing,

incredible,mind-blowing is the technology that is at our fingertips.

Hey, that is not to say we shouldn't keep expecting,for the drive of

human progress has done much to enhance the lives of so many and

inform the world where the lives of so many others was so
appalling,prompting international aid and response.

 

However, there is also nothing wrong - and maybe everything right -

with sometimes stepping back and viewing the amazing wonders with

which we surround our existence in this life's walk. We take so very

much for granted, huh?

 

Blogging,for example!  The power of mass communication extended to

every person with access to a pc and the internet. The opinions of the

individual circulated around the world and viewable by any who choose

to do so. This 'extended freedom' can be a counter-balance to

oppression/repression by 'greater' powers and systems - whether

governments, criminality or even religious organisations.

 

My new printer is amazing:colour,photo quality,high definition (5760 dpi),

low cost ink cartridges (now that's progress,hehehehe). It is just one of those

countless yet still truly incredible aspects of modern life.

 

Yet, if we listen to some and bury ourselves in ancient traditions or

un-progressed concepts/philosophies/religions we can have back the

 'good old days'. The answer to our fears for the future does not lie in

the false security of a dead past, rather it lies in setting aside our

fears in favour of full commitment to the adventure of life and life's

progress.

 

Hmmm... do you think I should print this out.........  :):)

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One-ness contentment

One-ness is the acceptance of what is, of what already exists.
It is not some idealised religion or philosophy of what might be,

of what could be.

 

When you come into this acceptance of One-ness, you arrive

at a vantage point that has a completely different view of the

meaning and relevance of life and all the interactions that occur

within it.

 

Your own thoughts and actions have a relevance previously

denied and an importance previously ignored.

 

When we realise that we are an integral component of each

other, it impacts upon our relationships in the most positive

of all ways.

 

Truthfully, what we do to another we also do to ourselves.

 

The old adage of 'Do unto others' holds the corollary of 'doing

unto yourself", for that which we do unto others is a statement

of who we perceive 'our self' to be.

 

It is a statement,an energy, we emit that states the kind of

experience we chose to feel at any given moment in time.

 

 

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Qumana and backups BLOGS

Hmmmm.. I must be getting nerdish :):)

 

This is a trial of an offline Blog editor which has many

very nice features to help us write our blogs...especially

offline.http://www.qumana.com

I also solved another little problem today with my blogging.

Over the 5 years I've been blogging I've had 2 harddisk

crashes...one caused by an (at the time) undetected virus

which finally managed to physically destroy a new 80 gig

HDD.

This gave me something of a headache or two, as a lot

of my blog backups also disappeared. Today I grabbed

a free opensource website copier that also copies BLOGS.

Beautifully :):)

http://www.httrack.com

 

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BORED?
While a lot of people,young and older,
complain of being 'bored', some folks
just get on with doing something....

"For years, scientists have been working
to find what can kill E. coli. Well, finally,
someone found it. It turns out there is a
good bacteria in yogurt that secretes a
protein that kills E. coli. We know this
now because a very smart, hard-working
researcher discovered it...........at the ripe
old age of 13". (CNN report)

I wonder what could happen in this world if
each one of us 'surrendered' just one hour
of 'boredom' to, for example, contributing
energy to solving the problem of clean
drinking water for everyone.

The dilemna of hypocrisy
"Afghanistan's constitution is based on Sharia law,
which is interpreted by many Muslims to require
that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced
to death".

The key word in the above sentence is....
"interpreted"

Interpretation is the action of making understandable
a language ,tradition or doctrine to those who are
not part of that 'kultur".

Since Christianity,Judaism,Islam all hold the doctrine
that 'there is but ONE God', it is somewhat amazing
that such 'interpetrations of One-ness' can lead to
others being put to death...not simply in the name
of a society...but in the name of ONE God.

In the x-ray-like light of 'unconditional love', such
offensive actions are interpreted,understood, to be
nothing to do with God - but everything to do with
man-made manipulative doctrines.

The doctrine of 'One God' fails and falls when actions
such as those above are carried out. If the courts of
Afghanistan execute a man for becoming a Christian,
i.e. choosing to honour the 'One God' via a different
dialect/tradition, then that court denies the doctrine of
the 'One-ness' of God. The court harms Islam more than
anything this one man has done.

The Broken Promise of a great religion
"Brokeback Mountain is a film which has nothing positive
about it," said Dr Abdullah al-Amiri, a prominent member
of parliament in Sharjah emirate. "The portrayal of the
sexual behaviour of its main character [sic] is offensive
to eastern societies, particularly Muslims and the Arabs,
since Islam forbids abnormal behaviours like homosexuality
... The film will upset the people of this culture and tradition."
Qoted in the Guardian newspaper today.

The really interesting phrase for me is:
"Islam forbids abnormal behaviour"

Hmmmm... I guess beheadings, amputations
for theft, forced marriages, honour killings,
Sunni/Shia wars, female circumcision,
female rights repression, keeping the oil
money for yourself instead of using it in
society, absence of democratic rights,
the enslavement of whole generations/populations
........ am I really to believe that this i 'normal'
behaviour?
I think Islam is a much more loving and fair than
this!

Blog posts may be missing for the next 9 days because we will be here...in Stockholm 

"The meeting of two personalities is like the
contact of two chemical substances: if there
is any reaction,both are transformed".
Carl Jung

and here's a message in hieroglyphics

"Everything in this world has a hidden meaning...People,
animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics...When we
see them, we do not understand them; we think they are r
eally only people, animals, trees, stars. It is only years later.
. . that some of us understand". Nikos Kazantzakis

Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens.
Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to
one's courage." Anais Nin

Courage is not only physical courage,
moral courage, even spiritual courage
all have their place in the statement of
who you choose to be in this life's walk.
.
Thankfully, we are not required to be
like any other person....simply our
unique self.
Just like a snowflake,huh?

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,
that no man can sincerely try to help another without
(at the same time) helping himself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

There is no action in life we can do for/to another
(or refuse to do) which does not have an interaction
with our deepest self.
Giving of our best to others.....simply ensures that
we are fulfilling our own highest standard of self...
for how else could we define 'best' if not by our
own standard?

It descends from the heavens, is gentle, delicate and
has the colour of innocence. When standing upon this
reality we call earth, it interlocks, joins together and
forms a magnificence of beauty.
It's snow!
Interesting to think if we humans could just 'join
together' more what kind of magnificence we could
create,huh?

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make
friends of them? "
Abraham Lincoln

manifestations of the amygdala-based fight or flight response? 

The problem with the tradition-based 'religions' is that
they are stuck in reverse gear in a car park full of
sectarianism and bigotry. Few,if any, of the 'qualified
drivers' seem to understand how to find first gear and
move forward.
Those few that do cause chaos in an area where everyone
else seems determined to blindly drive backwards following
previous examples.
Just like a 'dodgem track' at the fairground where the
'fair ground' is the earth and the track is life.
So much energy and good intentions wasted in
unnecessary collisions,huh?

"The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too,
unconditional assistance. Co-operation which needs consideration
is a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation
is like adulterated cement which does not bind". M.K.Gandhi

Sometimes,just hanging around is exactly the most rewarding thing to do...huh? 

I believe this is a WAXWING, I've never seen one before it appeared a few days ago at the 'winter food kitchen' 

Wow! Food!!! It makes me feel like dancing :) 

I think the most beautiful 'flower forms' I have ever seen in the winter here in Dalsland,Sweden 

The heavy frost created 'flowers' on the trees 

view 1 across the frozen lake 

view 2 across the frozen lake 

Woodpecker_DSCF7688

DSCF7688
Originally uploaded by In The Oneness.

I believe this is a woodpecker, it's amazing when it wants to hide,it just stays dead stil in the tree so in winter it's not easy to see

"what's on the menu today?" says Grey Jay 

The attraction of opposites

I was recently asked 'do you really think that our spirit chooses to
undergo some of the life experiences we have had - even the
bad ones?'

Now this may take a couple of blogs to answer...so lets start here:
If we are indeed eternal spirits and choose to enter again into
this 'metaphor of relativity' we call life, then it follows that since
unconditional love can deny us nothing...we also choose to enter
into that environment, that conjunction of circumstances, which is
most likely to permit us to experience that aspect,or aspects,of our
divine nature which we wish to feel...as distinct from know.

Now, as previously stated within this blog, experiencing a 'thing' is
not always the only way to 'understand our knowingness',Sometimes
it is the absence of 'a thing' that highlights our knowingness.

In the process of the pathway we may experience our knowingness by
meeting with either the manifestation of it, or the absence of manifestation
of it - or the opposite of it.

For example, we may focus on the innocence of childhood:the experience
of innocence as a spiritual truth could be known by 'experiencing childhood
innocence', or experiencing the opposite. Our spirit knows the difference, but
often a 'thing' is higlighted, emphasised in our consciousness when it meets it's
opposite.
The 'meeting of opposites' serves the purpose of allowing our spirit to manifest
in our consciousness our knowledgeof a higher understanding. Once we have
confirmed in our consciousness this awareness, we might ask ourselves in what
way our spirit wishes us to use this awareness 'for the benefit of the tribe'.

Does it benefit the tribe if our meeting with the opposite 'destroys us?. You see,
the question is absurd.Remember how we started this....if we are indeed eternal
spirits......"

However, if a life circumstance has emptied you...then rejoice in this blessing,
for soon you shall be filled to overflowing and that which scarred you shall also
be for your healing.

Yeha Noha

Well, here we go again with the blogging :) Another

year I hope you will find this New Year of 2006 to

be the most exciting, fulfilling and satisfying year of

your life so far.

Yeha Noha, greetings of joy and prosperity

(this blog has been retrospectively edited

using the Qumana programme...just to test it)

Ingrained humility

Insight is a question of perception: the willingness
to see.

Take, for example, the humble rice plant on which
over 50% of the world's population is dependant for
food.

The journal Nature has recently published the results
of a project, involving the cooperation of 10 countries,
called The Rice Genome Sequencing Project.
As amazingly complex as we believe the human body
to be, it may come as something of a surprise to
learn that the humble rice plant has 37,544 genes
positioned along 12 chromosomes.

Thats about 7,500 more genes than the human
genome!!

So, next time our ego is getting the better of
us and we lose track of our willingness to be
humble, may I respectfully suggest that we
think of the humble rice plant.

For even the smallest of us, like the rice plant,
have a uniqueness, a vital contribution to make
to this world of One-ness experiencing.

rice_question

rice_question, originally uploaded by In The Oneness.

Dependency comes in many forms