Ignorance is Our Only Enemy

Nations go to war for greed, fear, ‘protection of assets’ and sovereignty. Neighbors argue and feud over domestic issues and friends sever over misunderstandings. Confrontation seems an essential part of human nature. Evolutionist would say conflicts and aggression has been necessary to the survive as a species, and creationist would say the conflicts is how God sometimes tests and teaches us.

Regardless of belief, faith or scientific method our real enemy is ignorance. No matter how foul our nemesis, whether terrorist, communist, imperialist and no matter what tactic “they” choose nothing will defeat “us” like our own ignorance.

Wisdom favors untainted facts. But too often a nation, a man, a woman, an organization, an establishment chooses to build up their wisdom on myths, half-truths and bias; a house of matches in the middle of a forest fire. The real enemy is our own ignorance. Any perceived enemies are only the puppets and pawns of ones own master, ignorance.

Even forces of nature and states of human suffering are not the enemy. Famine, poverty, sickness can all be defeated with the proper knowledge of “how”. What defeats us is lack of knowledge, ignorance.

The human species is capable of knowing but we project our enemies outside of our selves. The real enemy is within… it is ignorance. There is not a single person, place or thing, no force of nature more cruel and unforgiving as our own unchecked ignorance.

Why do we continue to serve this callous master? Sufferings seems limitless and our ignorance is no excuse. Above all hypothesis, and bias, and prejudging assumptions and long held beliefs, factual information is the greatest ally of humanity.

Response to spiritual meaning of numbers

Here is some feedback I got from Stephen on my post “spiritual meaning of numbers“:

Stephen on February 6th, 2008 11:01 am - Sorry but this numerology stuff ranks with a great deal else as metaphysical discussion. It is IMO a diversion from what is real and a retreat into ways by which thought constructs are made that may appease but do not really satisfy a quest for what is real. In these matters I am guided to some extent by Krishnamurti who walked away from his guru status when he found … reality.

me on February 6th, 2008 11:09 am - Stephen,

The truth, source, reality (whatever title we give it) is untouchable by any explaination. No words, or math or syntax no matter how complete and beautiful can express it properly. All we can do is point. This is just a method of pointing and expressing. I agree, thought constructs have there place but I think a lot of times we get ourselve in trouble when we worship them as idols. Dogma has become the new golden calf.

communicating with God

If you want to communicate with God, learn to listen.

God is NOWHERE if not within us.

You are a receptacle of the most miraculous phenomenon in the universe… awareness. The lord is closer than the air you breathe and can not be contained in words, ego, or reason. No matter how beautiful and eloquently they package God, religions, philosophies and art can only point to the Lord with symbols. The true living God is within you right here, right now, always.

Ego is what we use to interface with our worldly surroundings. It is necessary, but unnecessarily worshipped in human culture (particularly Western culture). It is put on a pedestal and inflated like a fool’s balloon animal. An inflated ego serves as a perfect wedge between you and the Lord within.

God is infinity with no center, no beginning, no ending, no edges, no-thing, it is you, it is me, it is us and it is listening all the time to our words, to our hearts, and to our souls.

We are the vessel through which “God” is made manifest. It is manifest via our faith while our faith is manifest via our actions.

The lord not only listens from within you, it speaks from within too. If you will listen and allow it, you will know the answer to anything you ask. Knowing the answers is easy. The hard part is taking the right action because we often betray ourselves.

The trick is to tune in to the signal. After you learn to be quiet and listen, you will begin to separate the signal from the noise without even trying.

Mystical Experience and Interpretation (the W-C Lattice at a glance)

“I am an empirical spiritualist because the only way one can know truth is by experience. Observing with our eyes, sensing with our intuition, feeling with our emotions: these are all necessary parts of discerning truth. We must trust them. That is how God communicates with us, by providing emotional, visual and intuitive information qued to the empirical experiences of nature.” — Center for Unhindered Living

This is similar to how I feel about how to attain “truth”.  Some would immediately discount things like “out of body experiences” and even lucid dreams as having little or no value and then call themselves “scientists”.  A real scientist looks for proof prior to making hasty assumptions about what is and is not probable/possible. 

On the other hand, I don’t instantly believe or agree with everything I hear preached in the pulpit  or claimed in books.  I like to experience things for myself (if possible) prior to making an assumption.

Jesus, Buddha and other enlightened beings actually had direct contact and experience.  Their teachings have been taken and interpreted by the masses and the results have been social stability at best and subversive population and resource control and manipulation at worse.

The problem with Direct Experience: Interpretation 

Because interpretation plays such a huge part in how we use what we know, I don’t believe that even direct experience is a “cure all” for the current human condition.  Anyone can have a phenomenological experience, and their interpretation of that experience will be based on their current psychological-sociological (and unfortunately pathological) stage. 

 

How a person interprets those experiences can be seen in the Wilber-Combs Lattice:

The lattice shows the spiritual/religious belief level (or type of belief) a person can have ranging from Archaic to Integral (this is taken from James Fowler’s research on stages of faith).  The top of the W-C Lattice shows the type of phenomenological experience a person can have.

A person at an Archaic level can have a phenomenological experience (i.e. feel a holy presence, feel one with all things ect), however their interpretation of the experience will be much difference than someone at say and Integral level.  A person on the lower end of the W-C Lattice might come away from an experience of oneness and suddenly think that they are a Messiah or even God. 

So a person such as Vernon Wayne Howell (a.k.a David Koresh), may have indeed had visions, however the interpretation is determined by the psychological make up of the individual.  Vernon’s beliefs and vision (an alleged phenomenological experience he had while on a trip to Israel) guided him to take control of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, break a bunch of federal laws and get subsequently killed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) when the Branch Davidian compound was raided. 

*There are many variables that can be considered which led up to the terrible tragedy that took the lives of 70+ victims (including children), and I won’t disrespect these people by claiming that faith and religion had everything to do with their deaths.  For one, there were alot of mistakes made by the U.S. government.

From a different Perspective

When ever we have experiences it is imperative that we keep them in context.  Merely keeping all phenomenological experiences in perspective (this doesn’t at all mean ignoring them or devaluing them) we can have the wisdom on how to act.  Having perspective means acknowledging biases, assumptions and psychological/physical make up that come from our social upbringing and genetics.  Unfortunately, this is a big hurdle for many religious traditions as they claim exclusive rights to all truth and perspectives leaving no room for evaluation and questions. 

Pathological disorders and phenomenological experiences are a whole different ball game.  The truly ignorant would put both in the same category (very 18th century “lets lobotomize and shock everyone until they think like us” kind of dogma).

Spiritual Beliefs: Ideology making Global Jihad

Ken Wilber said something on an Integral Naked audio (think it was one of Integral political talks he did on the many faces of terrorism) I think it is the heart of why so many religious fundamentalist end up wanting to strap bombs to their chests, kill thousand of people with poisons or wipe out whole nations with nuclear bombs:

“… Ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency.  At the end of the day, its our actions, not our beliefs, that define who we are and what we are.”

When religion and dogma replace God the meaning begins to decay (as Bauldrillard talks about in his book, Simulacra & Simulation.

Spiritual Beliefs

At work my co-workers and I had a big discussion about God and the nature of reality.  John is a Christian, Mike is Rosicrusian and although I too am studying the Rosicrusian text I don’t consider myself partial to anyone belief.  I actually study any and all religions, philosophies, science and mystical and occult phenomenon because I think they all tell a little bit of truth about something that can not really be explained rationally.

Each of us had a spiritual belief of sorts.  John wasn’t pushy about christianity although he did mentioned his spiritual belief of having Jesus as a way to talk to God.  I believe any of us can have the same access to God that Jesus did.  He did say: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

But it is just a belief.

What Bruce Lee Taught me about Religions

“Don’t think…FEEL. It is like a finger pointing to the moon. Do not concentrate on the
finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory…you understand?”

I have gotten so caught up in forms, organizations and dogma that I lost track of what these forms were pointing to.  So I’ve given up those trappings and in that way I’ve returned to my early childhood of just listening and feeling the truth within.

My Religious & Spiritual Journey

Mystical Mythical People

Brenda Oig at Literary Life and Therese Walsh at Writer Unboxed discussed on their blogs some fictional characters that were most influential to them.

Although there were some fictional characters that had influence over me, non-fictional characters have completely eclipsed them.  You may be thinking, “well of course” but these are a special breed of “real” people.

As a young man, I had this burning passion to be a writer.  I wrote some fiction (sci-fi was my favorite).  Characters from Sci-Fi greats like Ray Bradbury and Bruce Sterling had a lasting affect on how I felt about the power of words and the human mind and spirit.

But when I read Carlos Castaneda, Paul Twitchell, Robert Monroe, Oliver Fox and others it changed my life on every level forever.  Even my desire for writing was radicalized.  These were researchers, spiritual leaders, and normal people with an obsession for the occult, mysteries, and wonders of humanities potentiality and purpose.  They claimed to have out of body experiences to other dimensions, have psychic experiences, meet anchient god like masters and other things that I can’t even categorize.

What fascinated me was that not only did they talk about para-psychological, mystical, and other unexplainable phenomenology that was stranger and more intriguing than Science Fiction, but (even more shocking) also they claimed these otherworldly adventures really happened.  This provoked and, at times, terrified me!  The mystery of whether or not it was all true was what drove me to know more and more.

Over the years the shock has subsided as I now have a body of knowledge from which to cross-reference everything some of these people claim.  In many ways these people I have mentioned have become fictional and even mythical characters.  I found out that ex-Scientologist, Paul Twitchell may have actually plagarized volumes of works of other “real” mystics and there is also controversy surrounding Carlos Castenda’s works.  But regardless, the words of these fictional/non-fictional people set me on a path that even over 20 years later I am still on. 

For me, those who have been brave enough to live life to the limit and then go beyond are my heros.  I hope that someday I can have the same impact on those hungry for truth and curious about what lies beyond this world.

Some of these people have well received scientific research some of them maybe plagarizing charlatants and still others normal people like you and me who just happen to have strange experiences:

Oliver Fox, Bettie Eddie, Robert Monroe, Paul Twitchell, Charles Tart, Carlos Castaneda, Florinda Grau, Stephen Laberg, Edgar Cacye

The Evolution of Humanity

Humanity is at a turning point in its evolution.  It is a truly amazing time to be alive.  In my own life I notice more people (friends, family and strangers) approaching me about things like lucid dreaming, OBE, and other interesting phenomenon.  20 years ago no one seemed to care that I was interested in lucid dreams, enlightenment and spirituality.  I imagine 100 years ago I might have been seen as an outcast or perhaps a part of a secret society.  And 1000 years ago, I’d have probably been killed.

Humanities’ expansion of consciousness is causing upheavals and pain similar to birth pains.  Integral methods of Psycho-spirituality are merging Eastern and Western thought creating something completely new to the history we know and new innovations are happening in a blur as technology & science make leaps and bounds each year while war, ethnic cleansing, deception, greed and fanaticism are at an all time high around the world.

I read something other day about the significance of Pluto in Astrology being the energy for the evolutionary process.  The skeptic in me has always attempted to downplay and explain away the validity of astrology but for some reason this description of Pluto’s role in astrology has been like an intuitive jab in the shoulder regarding this current change we are having:

Pluto is the outermost planet of the solar system, and the end of the process of breaking down the reality structure of normal consciousness begun by Uranus. Pluto supplies the energy for the evolutionary process whereby outmoded or dysfunctional entities are transformed through death and rebirth into new ones higher on the evolutionary path. This outmoded entity is often a part of our ego with which we are identified, and without which we feel we cannot live. If we resist Pluto here instead of surrendering to the necessary ego death and personal transformation, mental illness or even breakdown can occur. Pluto causes the disintegration of psychological blocks obstructing our evolutionary growth. Its energy comes from the core of all things, and is the most intense and potent there is: atomic, nuclear, sexual, kundalini. If we allow the fear of the death of some part of our self to block it’s process, the result can be catastrophic. — MyAstrologyBook

 

Dharmapalooza 2006

Here is where I’m going today, Dharmapalooza.  Unfortunately, I can only go for one of the three days and only to hear Zen Master Genpo Roshi speak.   Next week I’ll be coming back to Boulder for a book signing with Ken Wilber on his new book Integral Spirituality.

from Stuat Davis’ blog

Bring it. Oh, eht’s ah-eddy beh’ brough-EN!! You’re all invited, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists, Sikhs, and Bahai! (Ahem. Sorry, no Scientologists). We want you all. Just bring your love and get ready to rock.

Every year, I host this special event, Dharmapalooza. We get together, meditate, learn some new stuff about love and being a human, and we party our asses off at a killer rock ‘n roll show. This year is going to be the best one ever. Are you kidding me? We have landed the ultimate special guest: Zen Master Genpo Roshi. You do not want to miss this event, and you will if you don’t secure a reservation. There are 100 spots available. No more, no less. They will go fast.

Here’s the skinny:

When: October 27, 28, and 29.
Where: Boulder, Colorado. Events will take place at the Shambhala Buddhist Center in downtown Boulder and at Trilogy Music Club (they are right across the street from each other).
How Much: $99 (US). That price includes a full day of Big Mind with Genpo Roshi, a live concert with Stuart Davis (and band) at Trilogy, and one meal. All attendees must arrange and pay for their own travel to and from Boulder, accomodations while here, transportation to all locations, and meals. The fee is due upon arrival on Friday Night, and it goes toward covering rental cost of the music club, meditation center, staff for each event, and Genpo Roshi’s travel and expenses. I am just out to break even on this one, and this is the lowest fee we can charge and still do that.

The event schedule is:

10.27 7pm, Group Dinner at Red Fish
10.28 10am, Shambhala Meditation Center, Boulder / Introduction by Stuart
10:15 Meditation
11am Lunch (on your own)
12:30pm Big Mind with Genpo Roshi
6pm Group Dinner at Trilogy (restaurant side)
8pm Stuart Davis Concert at Trilogy (music club side)
10.29 12 Noon Group Lunch at Immersive Studios, Boulder (this is where attendees get to do their thing, perform, exchange info, etc.)

To reserve a spot, email Stuart directly stating how many people will be in your party. First come, first reserve, 100 spots only. The Trilogy show will be open to the public (and you will get in free) but all other events are closed and for attendees only.

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