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In this new issue, we are excited to present the second chapter of "The Third Eye"
by T. Lobsang Rampa, a fascinating, controversial and very popular account of
the life and esoteric experiences of a Tibetian Monk. Topics discussed
include reincarnation, clairvoyance, yetis and the unknown early history of the
earth. In addition, we are offering the second chapter of "A Romance of Two Worlds" by Marie Corelli.
This best selling Victorian novel explores the relationship between the occult
and Christianity, plus a discussion of guardian angels and life after death along with mystery,
romance and tragedy. We look forward to your comments about both
novels. We are also starting a series of selections from Kahlil Gibran's masterpiece,
"The Prophet". We begin with the selection entitled, "On Prayer". We are also offering, an article by Paramahansa Yogananda entitled "The Law
of Miracles" in which the famous Swami explains how miracles occur along with a
detailed discussion of their nature and the circumstances under which they can
be controlled. We continue with our collection of essays by Ernest Holmes,
with his thoughts on "The Power of Attraction". As always, Dr. Holmes' thoughts are empowering and encouraging.
We also continue our exploration of 12 Step Programs and
their ability to support personal and spiritual transformation.
We're pleased to offer two articles for your consideration: First,
"Prayers Related to the 12 Steps" along with "Patterns of Codependence"
a fascinating and eye opening introspection tool. We're also offering several other essays and news articles including
"Is Your Family Being Manipulated by the Mass Media"; which contains excellent,
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this issue of our newsletter with you. William Simpson
CHAPTER TWO
For some reason mother had arranged for us to go to the Jo- kang, the
Cathedral of Lhasa. Apparently we had to give a religious atmosphere to the
later proceedings. At about ten in the morning (Tibetan times are very
elastic), a triple-toned gong was sounded to call us to our assembly point.
We all mounted ponies: father mother, Yaso, and about five others, including
a very reluctant me. We turned across the Lingkhor road, and left at the
foot of the Potala. This is a mountain of buildings, four hundred feet high
and twelve hundred feet long. Past the village of Sho we went, along the
plain of the Kyi Chu, until half an hour later we stood in front of the Jo
kang. Around it clustered small houses, shops and stalls to lure the
pilgrims. Thirteen hundred years the Cathedral had stood here to welcome the
devout. Inside, the stone floors were grooved inches deep by the passage of
so many worshippers. Pilgrims moved reverently around the Inner Circuit,
each turning the hundreds of prayer-wheels as they passed, and repeating
incessantly the mantra: Om ! Mani padme Hum!
Huge wooden beams, black with age, supported the roof, and the heavy odour
of constantly burning incense drifted around like light summer clouds at the
crest of a mountain. Around the walls were golden statues of the deities of
our faith. Stout metal screens, with a coarse mesh so as not to obstruct
the view, protected the statues from those whose cupidity overcame their
reverence. Most of the more familiar statues were partly buried by the
precious stones and gems which had been heaped around them by the pious who
had sought favours. Candlesticks of solid gold held candles which burned
continually, and whose light had not been extin- guished during the past
thirteen hundred years. From dark recesses came the sounds of bells, gongs,
and the lowing bray of the conches. We made our circuit as tradition
demanded.
Our devotions completed, we went on to the flat roof. Only the favoured few
could visit here; father, as one of the Custodians, always came. Our
form of governments (yes, plural), may be of interest. At the head of the
State and Church, the final Court of Appeal, there was the Dalai Lama.
Anyone in the country could petition him. If the petition or request was
fair, or if an injustice had been done, the Dalai Lama saw that the request
was granted, or the injustice rectified. It is not unreasonable to say that
everyone in the country, probably without exception, either loved or revered
him. He was an autocrat; he used power and domination, but never did he use
these for his own gain, only for the good of the country. He knew of the
coming Communist invasion, even though it lay many years ahead, and
temporary eclipse of freedom, that is why a very small number of us were
specially trained so that the arts of the priests should not be forgotten.
After the Dalai Lama there were two Councils, that is why I wrote
“governments”. The first was the Ecclesiastical Council. The four members
of it were monks of Lama status. They were responsible, under the Inmost
One, for all the affairs of the lamaseries and nunneries. All
ecclesiastical matters came before them. The Council of Ministers came
next. This Council had four members, three lay and one cleric. They dealt
with the affairs of the country as a whole, and were responsible for
integrating the Church and State.
Two officials, who may be termed Prime Ministers, for that is what they
were, acted as “Liaison Officers” between the two Councils, and put their
views before the Dalai Lama. They were of considerable importance during
the rare meetings of the National Assembly. This was a body of some fifty
men representing all the most important families and lamaseries in Lhasa.
They met only during the gravest emergencies, such as in 1904, when the
Dalai Lama went to Mongolia when the British invaded Lhasa. In con- nection
with this, many Western people have the strange notion that the Inmost One
was cowardly in “running away”. He did not “run away”. Wars on Tibet may
be likened to a game of chess. If the king is taken, the game is won. The
Dalai Lama was our “king”. Without him there would be nothing to fight for:
he had to go to safety in order to keep the country together. Those
who accuse him of cowardice in any form simply do not know what they are
talking about.
The National Assembly could be increased to nearly four hundred members when
all the leaders from the provinces came in. There are five provinces: The
Capital, as Lhasa was often called, was in the province of U-Tsang.
Shigatse is in the same district. Gartok is western Tibet, Chang is northern
Tibet, while Kham and Lho-dzong are the eastern and southern provinces
respectively. With the passage of the years the Dalai Lama increased his
power and did more and more without assistance from the Councils or
Assembly. And never was the country better governed.
The view from the temple roof was superb. To the east stretched the Plain
of Lhasa, green and lush and dotted with trees. Water sparkled through the
trees, the rivers of Lhasa tinkling along to join the Tsang Po forty miles
away. To the north and south rose the great mountain ranges enclosing our
valley and making us seem secluded from the rest of the world. Lamaseries
abounded on the lower levels. Higher, the small hermitages perched
precariously on precipitous slopes. Westwards loomed the twin mountains of
the Potala and Chakpori, the latter was known as the Temple of Medicine.
Between these mountains the Western Gate glinted in the cold morning light.
The sky was a deep purple emphasized by the pure white of the snow on the
distant mountain ranges. Light, wispy clouds drifted high overhead. Much
nearer, in the city itself, we looked down on the Council Hall nestling
against the northern wall of the Cathedral. The Treasury was quite near, and
surrounding it all were the stalls of the traders and the market in which
one could buy almost anything. Close by slightly to the east, a nunnery
jostled the precincts of the Disposers of the Dead. In
the Cathedral grounds there was the never-ceasing babble of visitors to
this, one of the most sacred places of Buddhism. The chatter of pilgrims
who had traveled far, and who now brought gifts in the hope of obtaining a
holy blessing. Some there were who brought animals saved from the butchers,
and purchased with scarce money. There is much virtue in saving life, of
animal and of man, and much credit would accrue. As
we stood gazing at the old, but ever-new scenes, we heard the rise and fall
of monks' voices in psalmody, the deep bass of the older men and the high
treble of the acolytes. There came the rumble and boom of the drums and the
golden voices of the trumpets. Skirlings, and muffled throbs, and a
sensation as of being caught up in a hypnotic net of emotions.
Monks bustled around dealing with their various affairs. Some with yellow
robes and some in purple. The more numerous were in russet red, these were
the “ordinary” monks. Those of much gold were from the Potala, as were
those in cherry vestments. Acolytes in white, and police monks in dark
maroon bustled about. All, or nearly all, had one thing in common: no
matter how new their robes, they almost all had patches which were replicas
of the patches on Buddha's robes. Foreigners who have seen Tibetan monks,
or have seen pictures of them, sometimes remark on the “patched
appearance”. The patches, then, are part of the dress. The monks of the
twelve-hundred-year-old Ne-Sar lamasery do it properly and have their
patches of a lighter shade!
Monks wear the red robes of the Order; there are many shades of red caused
by the manner in which the woolen cloth is dyed. Maroon to brick red, it is
still “red”. Certain official monks employed solely at the Potala wear gold
sleeveless jackets over their red robes. Gold is a sacred colour in
Tibet—gold is untarnishable and so always pure—and it is the official colour
of the Dalai Lama. Some monks, or high lamas in personal attendance on the
Dalai Lama, are permitted to wear gold robes over their ordinary ones.
As
we looked over the roof of the Jo-kang we could see many such gold jacketed
figures, and rarely one of the Peak officials. We looked up at the
prayer-flags fluttering, and at the brilliant domes of the Cathedral. The
sky looked beautiful, purple, with little flecks of wispy clouds, as if an
artist had lightly flicked the canvas of heaven with a white-loaded brush.
Mother broke the spell: “Well, we are wasting time, I shudder to think what
the servants are doing. We must hurry!” So off on our patient ponies
clattering along thee Lingkhor road, each step bringing me nearer to what I
termed “The Ordeal”, but which mother regarded as her “Big Day”. Back at
home, mother had a final check of all that had been done and then we had a
meal to fortify us for the events to come. We well knew that at times such
as these, the guests would be well filled and well satisfied, but the poor
hosts would be empty. There would be no time for us to eat later.
With much clattering of instruments, the monk-musicians arrived and were
shown into the gardens. They were laden with trumpets, clarinets, gongs,
and drums. Their cymbals were hung round their necks. Into the gardens
they went, with much chatter, and called for beer to get them into the right
mood for good playing. For the next half-hour there were horrible honks,
and strident bleats from the trumpets as the monks prepared their
instruments.
Uproar broke out in the courtyard as the first of the guests were sighted,
riding in an armed cavalcade of men with fluttering pennants. The entrance
gates were flung open, and two columns of our servants lined each side to
give welcome to the arrivals. The steward was on hand with his two
assistants who carried an assortment of the silk scarves which are used in
Tibet as a form of salutation. There are eight qualities of scarves, and
the correct one must be presented or offense may be implied! The Dalai Lama
gives, and receives, only the first grade. We call these scarves “khata”,
and the method of presentation is this: the donor if of equal rank, stands
well back with the arms fully extended. The recipient also stands well back
with arms extended. The donor makes a short bow and places the scarf across
the wrists of the recipient, who bows, takes the scarf from the wrists,
turns it over in approval, and hands it to a servant. In
the case of a donor giving a scarf to a person of much higher rank, he or
she kneels with tongue extended (a Tibetan greeting similar to lifting the
hat) and places the khata at the feet of the recipient. The recipient in
such cases places his scarf across the neck of the donor. In Tibet, gifts
must always be accompanied by the appropriate khata, as must letters of
congratulation. The Government used yellow scarves in place of the normal
white. The Dalai Lama, if he desired to show the very highest honour to a
person, would place a khata about a person's neck and would tie a red silk
thread with a triple knot into the khata. If at the same time he showed his
hands palm up—one was indeed honoured. We Tibetans are of the
firm belief that one's whole history is written on the palm of the hand, and
the Dalai Lama, showing his hands thus, would prove the friendliest intentions
towards one. In later years I had this honour twice.
Our steward stood at the entrance, with an assistant on each side. He would
bow to new arrivals, accept their khata, and pass it on to the assistant on
the left. At the same time the assistant on his right would hand him the
correct grade of scarf with which to return the salutation. This he would
take and place across the wrists, or over the neck (according to rank), of
the guest. All these scarves were used and reused.
The steward and his assistants were becoming busy. Guests were arriving in
large numbers. From neighboring estates, from Lhasa city, and from outlying
districts, they all came clattering along the Lingkhor road, to turn into
our private drive in the shadow of the Potala. Ladies who had ridden a long
distance wore a leather face-mask to protect the skin and complexion from
the grit-laden wind. Frequently a crude resemblance of the wearer's
features would be painted on the mask. Arrived at her destination, the lady
would doff her mask as well as her yak-hide cloak. I was always fascinated
by the features painted on the masks, the uglier or older the woman, the
more beautiful and younger would be her mask-features! In
the house there was great activity. More and more seat- cushions were
brought from the storerooms. We do not use chairs in Tibet, but sit
cross-legged on cushions which are about two and a half feet square and
about nine inches thick. The same cushions are used for sleeping upon, but
then several are put together. To us they are far more comfortable than
chairs or high beds.
Arriving guests were given buttered tea and led to a large room which had
been converted into a refectory. Here they were able to choose
refreshments to sustain them until the real party started. About forty women
of the leading families had arrived, together with their women attendants.
Some of the ladies were being entertained by mother, while others wandered
around the house, inspecting the furnishings, and guessing their value. The
place seemed to be overrun with women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. They
appeared from the most unusual places, and did not hesitate one moment to
ask passing servants what this cost, or what that was worth. They behaved,
in short, like women the world over. Sister Yaso was parading around in very
new clothes, with her hair done in what she regarded as the latest style,
but which to me seemed terrible; but I was always biased when it came to
women. Certain it was that on this day they seemed to get in the way.
There was another set of women to complicate matters: the high-class woman
in Tibet was expected to have huge stores of clothing and ample jewels.
These she had to display, and as this would have entailed much changing and
dressing, special girls— “chung girls”— were employed to act as mannequins.
They paraded around in mother’s clothes, sat and drank innumerable cups of
butter-tea, and then went and changed into different clothing and jewelry.
They mixed with the guests and became, to all intents and purposes, mother's
assistant hostesses. Through- out the day these women would change their
attire perhaps five or six times. The men were more interested in the
entertainers in the gardens. A troupe of acrobats had been brought in to add
a touch of fun. Three of them held up a pole about fifteen feet high, and
another acrobat climbed up and stood on his head on the top. Then the
others snatched away the pole, leaving him to fall, turn, and land cat-like
on his feet. Some small boys were watching, and immediately rushed away to
a secluded spot to emulate the performance. They found a pole about eight or
ten feet high, held it up, and the most daring climbed up and tried to stand
on his head. Down he came, with an awful “crump”, straight on top of the
others. However, their heads were thick, and apart from egg-sized bruises,
no harm was done.
Mother appeared, leading the rest of the ladies to see the entertainments,
and listen to the music. The later was not difficult; the musicians were
now well warmed up with copious amounts of Tibetan beer. For this
occasion, mother was particularly well dressed. She was wearing a yak-wool
skirt of deep russet-red, reaching almost to the ankles. Her high boots of
Tibetan felt were of the purest white, with blood-red soles, and tastefully
arranged red piping. Her bolero-type jacket was of a reddish-yellow,
somewhat like father's monk robe. In my later medical days, I should have
described it as “iodine on bandage”! Beneath it she wore a blouse of purple
silk. These colours all harmonized, and had been chosen to represent the
different classes of monks' garments.
Across her right shoulder was a silk brocade sash which was caught at the
left side of her waist by a massive gold circlet. From the shoulder to the
waist-knot the sash was blood red, but from that point it shaded from pale
lemon-yellow to deep saffron when it reached the skirt hem.
Around her neck she had a gold cord which supported the three amulet bags
which she always wore. These had been given to her on her marriage to
father. One was from her family, one from father's family, and one, an
unusual honour, was from the Dalai Lama. She wore much jewelry, because
Tibetan women wear jewelry and ornaments in accordance with their station in
life. A husband is expected to buy ornaments and jewelry whenever he has a
rise in status.
Mother had been busy for days past having her hair arranged in a hundred and
eight plaits, each about as thick as a piece of whip-cord. A hundred and
eight is a Tibetan sacred number, and ladies with sufficient hair to make
this number of plaits were considered to be most fortunate. The hair,
parted in the Madonna style, was supported on a wooden framework worn on top
of the head like a hat. Of red lacquered wood, it was studded with
diamonds, jade, and gold discs. The hair trailed over it like rambler roses
on a trellis.
Mother had a string of coral shapes depending from her ear. The weight was
so great that she had to use a red thread around the ear to support it, or
risk having the lobe torn: The earring reached nearly to her waist; I
watched in fascination to see how she could turn her head to the left!
People were walking about, admiring the gardens, or sitting in groups
discussing social affairs. The ladies, in particular, were busy with their
talk. “Yes, my dear, Lady Doring is having a new floor laid. Finely ground
pebbles polished to a high gloss.” “Have you heard that that young lama who
was staying with Lady Rakasha...” etc. But everyone was really waiting for
the main item of the day. All this was a mere warming-up for the events to
come, when the priest-astrologers would forecast my future and direct the
path I should take through life. Upon them depended the career 1 should
undertake. As
the day grew old and the lengthening shadows crawled more quickly across the
ground, the activities of the guests became slower. They were satiated with
refreshments, and in a receptive mood. As the piles of food grew less,
tired servants brought more and that, too, went with the passage of time.
The hired entertainers grew weary and one by one slipped away to the
kitchens for a rest and more beer.
The musicians were still in fine fettle, blowing their trumpets, clashing
the cymbals, and thwacking the drums with gay abandon. With all the noise
and uproar, the birds had been scared from their usual roosting places in
the trees. And not only the birds were scared. The cats had dived
precipitately into some safe refuge with the arrival of the first noisy
guests. Even the huge black mastiffs which guarded the place were silent,
their deep baying stilled in sleep. They had been fed and fed until they
could eat no more. In
the walled gardens, as the day grew yet darker, small boys flitted like
gnomes between the cultivated trees, swinging lighted butter-lamps and smoke
incense censers, and at times leaping into the lower branches for a carefree
frolic.
Dotted about the grounds were golden incense braziers sending up their thick
columns of fragrant smoke. Attending them were old women who also twirled
clacking prayer-wheels, each revolution of which sent thousands of prayers
heavenwards. Father was in a state of perpetual fright! His walled gardens
were famous throughout the country for their expensive imported plants and
shrubs. Now, to his way of thinking, the place was like a badly run zoo.
He wandered around wringing his hands and uttering little moans of anguish
when some guest stopped and fingered a bud. In particular danger were the
apricot and pear trees, and the little dwarf apple trees. The larger and
taller trees, poplar, willow, juniper, birch, and cypress, were festooned
with streams of prayer-flags which fluttered gently in the soft evening
breeze.
Eventually the day died as the sun set behind the far-distant peaks of the
Himalayas. From the lamaseries came the sound of trumpets signaling the
passing of yet another day, and with it hundreds of butter-lamps were set
alight. They depended from the branches of trees, they swung from the
projecting eaves of the houses, and others floated on the placid waters of
the ornamental Lake. Here they grounded, like boats on a sandbar, on the
waterlily leaves, there they drifted towards the floating swans seeking
refuge near the island.
The sound of a deep-toned gong, and everyone turned to watch the approaching
procession. In the gardens a large marquee had been erected, with one
completely open side. Inside was a raised dais on which were four of our
Tibetan seats. Now the procession approached the dais. Four servants
carried upright poles, with large flares at the upper end. Then came four
trumpeters with silver trumpets sounding a fanfare. Following them, mother
and father reached the dais and stepped upon it. Then two old men, very old
men, from the lamasery of the State Oracle. These two old men from Nechung
were the most experienced astrologers in the country. Their predictions
have been proved correct time after time. Last week they had been called to
predict for the Dalai Lama. Now they were going to do the same for a
seven-year-old boy. For days they had been busy at their charts and
computations. Long had been their discussions about trines, ecliptics,
sesquiquadrates, and the opposing influence of this or that. I will discuss
astrology in a later chapter.
Two lamas carried the astrologers' notes and charts. Two others stepped
forward and helped the old seers to mount the steps of the dais. Side by
side they stood, like two old ivory carvings. Their gorgeous robes of
yellow Chinese brocade merely emphasized their age. Upon their heads they
wore tall priests' hats, and their wrinkled necks seemed to wilt beneath the
weight. People gathered around and sat on the ground on cushions brought
by the servants. All gossip stopped, as people strained their ears to catch
the shrill, piping voice of the astrologer-in- chief. “Lha dre mi
cho-nang-chig,” he said (Gods, devils, and men all behave in the same way),
so the probable future can be foretold. On he droned, for an hour and then
stopped for a ten-minute rest. For yet another hour he went on outlining the
future. “Ha-le! Ha-le !” (Extraordinary ! Extraordinary !), exclaimed the
entranced audience.
And so it was foretold. A boy of seven to enter a lamasery, after a hard
feat of endurance, and there be trained as a priest-surgeon. To suffer great
hardships to leave the homeland, and go among strange people. To lose all
and have to start again, and eventually to succeed. Gradually the crowd
dispersed. Those who had come from afar would stay the night at our house
and depart in the morning. Others would travel with their retinues and with
flares to light the way. With much clattering of hooves, and the hoarse
shouts of men, they assembled in the courtyard. Once again the ponderous
gate swung open, and the company streamed through. Growing fainter in the
distance was the clop-clop of the horses, and the chatter of their riders,
until from without there was the silence of the night. Tuesday Lobsang Rampa was a very
popular writer who claimed to have been a Lama in Tibet before spending the
second part of his life in the body of a British man, Cyril Henry Hoskin,
who described himself as the "host" of T. Lobsang Rampa. To many, Dr. Rampa was a revolutionary of his time,
one of the first of the Eastern teachers to bring Buddhism and
metaphysics to the West in a popular fashion. He wrote many books about
spiritual matters, beginning with "The Third Eye". Lobsang Rampa attempts to teach the timeless universal
truths, while traveling along the spiritual path. Dr. Rampa's books also discuss
the state of humanity's progress and he shows how we can be a positive force
for good, thus improving ourselves and helping our fellow humans and all
sentient beings. Look for the next chapter in The Third
Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa in the next edition of our newsletter or prior
chapters in previous editions. To read
other books by T. Lobsang Rampa, visit our free Ebook section by clicking
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ATTRACTION Every one automatically attracts to himself just what he is, and you may
set it down that wherever you are, however intolerable the situation may be,
it is just where you belong. There is no power in the Universe but yourself
that can get you out of it. Some one may help you on the road to
realization, but substantiality and permanence can come only through the
consciousness of your own life and thought. Man must bring himself to a
point where there is no misfortune, no calamity, no accident, no trouble, no
confusion; where there is nothing but plenty, peace, power, Life and Truth.
He should definitely, daily, using his own name, declare the Truth about
himself, realizing that he is reflecting his statements into Consciousness,
and that they will be operated upon by It. This is called, in mysticism, High Invocation; invoking the Divine Mind;
implanting within It seeds of thought relative to one's self. And this is
why some of the teachers of older times used to teach their pupils to cross
their hands over their chests and say: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful me!"
definitely teaching them that, as they held themselves, so they would be
held. "Act as though I Am and I will Be." One of the ancient sayings is that, "To the man who can perfectly
practice inaction, all things are possible." This sounds like a
contradiction until one gets down to the inner teachings; for it is only
when one completely practices inaction that he arrives at the point of the
true actor. For he then realizes that the act and the actor are one and the
same, that cause and effect are the same; which is simply a different way of
saying: "Know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." To reduce the
whole thing to its simplest form, whatever one reflects into Mind will be
done. HOW TO DEMONSTRATE A HOME
Suppose you wish to demonstrate a home; daily, looking into Mind,
visualize it just as you wish it to be, making the picture as clear as
possible; for it is a lack of clearness of thought that hinders
demonstration. Then sit there about ten minutes, saying, "It is, it is, it
is." Perhaps thoughts will come in which say "that it is not." Pay no
attention to such thoughts but return to your meditation, and seeing the
picture anew, say again, "It is, it is, it is." Use no effort, but simply
see the picture very clearly and declare for its presence. Never look for results from treatment; for if you do you will not find
them. This is in accordance with law, for what you look for you know that
you do not have and are only trying to fool yourself into thinking that you
do have. Treatment is not a process of hypnotism; it is a process of self-
knowing; and if you really know you will be sure to demonstrate. Treatment is the art, the science and process of systematically inducing
within consciousness concepts of definite desires as already accomplished
facts and experiences in life. RESIST NOT When Jesus said "Resist not evil," He meant that non-recognition of evil
is the only way to avoid it. This is true according to the law of cause and
effect; for what we persist in recognizing, we persist in holding in place.
That which we non-recognize, we neutralize, and it is no longer there, so
far as we are concerned. In making a demonstration, don't try to demonstrate;
for demonstrations are not made through effort, because this would
contradict one of the fundamental principles of the universe, which is the
Self-Existence of Causation. In other words, nothing can come before that
which is, consequently everything must come out of that which is; and within
that which is, is the inherent possibility of that which is to be. All
things exist as a potentiality, as a possibility, now. "I Am Alpha and
Omega." Try to get a recognition of your desire and pass the whole thing
over to Mind, and let It operate. Just know that the desire is already a
fact, and quietly say to yourself, as often as the thought comes into mind:
"It is done." The lighter the thought is, the less care or worry over it,
the better. The best work is done when the element of struggle is entirely
left out.
HEALING A MISUNDERSTANDING
Suppose one says: "I have had a terrible misunderstanding with a friend
of mine and it has come to a point where we do not even speak to each
other." What is the fundamental error which has brought about this
condition? A lack of the realization of the Unity of all life, a belief in
duality. Destroy this belief in duality; recognize that there is but One
Mind; see God in each, and the trouble will be healed. We all live in the
One Mind of God. FATE If one believes in fate he must be healed of this thought, for there is
no such thing as fate. If one believes that planetary forces have anything
to do with life he must be healed of this thought. Break down everything
except the recognition of the One Perfect Power, which is not contingent
upon any place, person, condition, time of year, or anything but Itself. A
demonstration is made when it comes through straight from the Truth. The one who wishes to make a demonstration must first clear up his own
subjective atmosphere; the reason being that he may be objectively making
statements which his subjective thought may be denying. In this way we often
neutralize our word as fast as it is spoken. A treatment is scientific in that it is the act of inducing into
Subjectivity ideas which neutralize false images of thought and which let
the Truth come through into expression. The reason that we need such a
science is that we do not have a perfect faith; for if we had a perfect
faith we would have washed clean the subjective thought and no doubts would
be there. Until the time comes when one can say to the sick, "Get up and
walk," and have them do so; or say, "There is money," and have it appear, he
must take the process of inducing thought for the purpose of accumulating a
subjective belief in the things which he desires; this belief, as soon as it
is complete, IS THE DEMONSTRATION. The demonstration takes place within and
not without. ATTRACTION OF PERSONALITY
One might say, "I have no personality with which to attract people."
There is but One Person; this Person is manifested through every living
soul. It is radiant, vibrant, dynamic; It is The Personality; It is
Complete; It is, It is. The ones to whom we are the most strongly attracted are not necessarily
the ones who are the most beautiful physically; but are the ones from which
we receive that subtle emanation, "that something." What is "that
something"? It is not that which shows, but that which floats through from
within. It is the inner recognition of Reality.
The Conscious Living Foundation is proud to offer its recording of one
of Ernest Holmes most famous books, "Creative Mind and Success".
To learn more about the recording and hear several FREE selections on
such topics as: - How to attract friends Just click
Here. We are also pleased to announce the recent release of
"Affirmations of Ernest Holmes" - a collection of 20 of Dr. The affirmations cover a wide range of topics from healing
and excellent health, to increased abundance and prosperity, to a greater
sense of unity and oneness with Spirit. These affirmations have been
practiced by hundreds of thousands of people for decades and have been found
to work with great effectiveness. To hear several free samples from this wonderful recording,
please click
Here. If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be
sure to visit our website for more:
Affirmation: (Selection from The Conscious
Word Daily Affirmation)
My desire in the heart for anything is God’s sure promise sent beforehand that it is mine, already in the realm of supply, and whatever I desire, I can have for the taking.
(The preceding is a selection from our daily affirmation, emailed
directly to you each morning, called The Conscious Word. You can
obtain more information and view a sample issue by clicking
Here.)
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Here. Essay: The Burial of Grandmother
Pony
by Steve Roberts
When our beautiful grandmother pony became sick and died in a day
recently, we were faced with our first horse burial. This meant
calling our neighbor Peter Dodge to dig a hole and place grandmother
in it. Peter is about as kind a fellow as you’ll ever meet. He’s
also a master of the backhoe, probably able to tickle your chin with
its toothy bucket as easily as he can lay a water line to specs.
Still, this job was about a lot more than moving some earth no
matter how precisely. This was a sacred event: the burial of a
being whose nose on your heart could solve more problems than the
United Nations; a former dressage queen on whose Barcalounger back
so many of the children who visit our farm have felt a confidence
and joy they experience nowhere else. That morning, as usual, 34
year old grandmother ate her grain with lip-smacking enthusiasm then
stepped out of her stall for a day of grazing. Within an hour she
was in distress: colic, an intestinal blockage that is right up
there in the horse owner’s book of nightmares. By eleven the
prognosis was bleak. By one we walked her to the apple tree in her
paddock, where we planned to bury her. We kissed her goodbye and
whispered our love as she was put down. We called Peter. While I
don’t have strong opinions on what happens to my corpse when I die
(it is, after all, just a spaceship that carries me around for a few
years), the prospect of grandmother’s 800 pound carcass being
manhandled, even inadvertently, as it was ‘laid to rest’ sparked
feelings of dread. Wouldn’t you know, the universe used the
occasion to introduce me, yet again, to the essence of life, this
time through the meaning of conservation.
Over the past couple of months I’ve spent hours chatting with Alec
Webb, the delightful president of Shelburne Farms, an institution
that, in the past 30 years, has become one of the world’s great
exemplars of conservation and sustainability, comprising 1400
stunning acres on the shore of Lake Champlain here in Vermont.
According to the patron saint of conservation, the late Aldo Leopold
[1887-1948], conservation is humankind’s effort to understand and
preserve the capacity of the land to renew itself—leading to a state
of harmony between man and land.
That harmony from a slightly larger perspective (beyond land alone)
is the principle of sustainability: the practice of meeting the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Among the traffic signs in my head is a refrain from Gandhi: “All
virtue ceases to have use if it serves no purpose in every walk of
life.” So as I hear from Alec the history and dreams of Shelburne
Farms, I find myself contemplating a deeper meaning of both
conservation and sustainability. Could they be, I wonder,
principles that apply to more than animals, vegetables, minerals and
the needs of society? Might they not also operate at the very core
of human evolution—or, for the metaphysically inclined, at the heart
of our relationship with the Divine? Whether our ‘walk of life’
relates to environmental technology, Shakespearean metaphors or
riding a mechanical bull, isn’t what we’re ultimately conserving and
sustaining an ever-greater awareness of the choices we make, why we
make them, and their effect on ourselves and others? Does anything
influence the vitality of humanity (including the health of the
land) more than how awake we are to such choices? In his seminal
book, A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold wrote, “As a
land-user thinketh, so is he.” Substitute ‘person’ for ‘land-user’
and you reveal that deeper meaning I’m speaking of. Perhaps
conservation and sustainability, then, are only incidentally about
what goes on ‘out there’ in the world and in nature, and primarily
about what goes on in our own mind and heart. Attention is destiny,
you might say.
One lovely example of the attention I celebrate most is what Peter
Dodge brought to our lives that afternoon.
Burying grandmother in her paddock, he pointed out, could
contaminate the nearby underground stream that served our farm on
its way down mountain to the rest of the world. A more harmonious
location, we decided, was a pasture on the other side of the barn, a
choice that meant dragging grandmother’s body a distance of about
half a football field.
Peter’s rig was one of those gigantic caterpillar-tread excavators
with a long, elbowed arm and a bucket that could have held a
barbershop quartet. He and I slipped a webbed tether around
grandmother behind her front legs. A loop at the tether’s end was
placed over one of the bucket’s teeth. Peter had already prepared
the grave, wide and at least six feet deep with a soft angle of
repose on the near end to make lowering grandmother as smooth as
possible. Then, with the artistry of those who operate complex
machinery as a natural extension of themselves, Peter gently and
gradually, a few feet at a time, pulled grandmother to the place
where her flesh and bones would nourish her favorite field of
clover. Only at the very end as Peter settled grandmother pony onto
the grave floor did her body buckle in an awkward pose. Like a man
on fire, Peter leapt off the excavator and into the grave to help me
reposition grandmother’s head and hindquarters. I and my family
nested her muzzle with hay and grain and apples, then Peter, back on
the excavator, began lightly sprinkling grandmother with soil until
she was completely covered. Only then did he replace the earth in
large quantities.
I’ve never been to a funeral I’ll remember more than grandmother
pony’s, such a visceral reminder that the harmony of man and land
originates in the balance of our own mind and heart.
To find out
more about Steve, see examples of his stone sculptures or
read a chapter from his book, click
Here. Steve Roberts is the author
of
Cool Mind Warm Heart, a collection of essays, stories, and
photographs of stone sculptures he builds on his Vermont farm. He
can be found on the web at
CoolMindWarmHeart.com and at
TheHeartOfTheEarth.com. If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be
sure to visit our website for more:
The Conscious Word is an
email newsletter sent directly to you each day. Each issue
contains an inspirational affirmation designed to help uplift your
spirits and support your conscious efforts at personal and spiritual
growth and development.
By practicing the
affirmation which we email to you, for 3 to 4 minutes a day, you create
an effective tool that will help you experience an ongoing positive
change in your life.
We all
“know” many things. However, “knowing” something, in and of
itself, does not make it “true” to us. We can read all about
oranges; we can look at pictures of oranges and we can talk to people
who have eaten oranges. But, until we taste the orange ourselves,
we do not truly understand the full truth about what an orange is. Likewise, we
can experience the “truth”, the real nature, of many more subtle and
essential concepts by “tasting” them. One of the capabilities of
an affirmation is to provide us with a “taste” of the subject matter of
the affirmation. However,
something else is also at work in an affirmation. One of the
secrets of the universe is that when a human believes something is so,
it becomes what he or she believes. Jesus said
“Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not
only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say
unto this mountain, `Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,' it
shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive.” (Book of Matthew verses 21 and 22) The key
words in this quote are “If ye have faith and doubt not..” and “all
things whatsoever ye shall ask believing..” Jesus is
describing this receptivity of the universe to human belief.
However, there are requirements for this belief to be effective.
Jesus says we must have “faith” without doubt and that we must “believe”
as we ask. James
Allen’s famous premise “As a man Thinketh, so it is” expresses this same
truth. In essence,
when we become utterly convinced of the truth of something, which means
we have absolutely no doubts about it, the universe will be molded and
shaped to match our conviction. The challenging part is to find a
way to become convinced of something that is not yet actualized.
To cultivate our faith. This is where affirmations can help. By taking a
thought or collection of thoughts and impressing them deeply upon the
mind with persistence and concentration, a conviction can be
cultivated. Developing our own personal convictions, especially
about ourselves, and then deepening and persisting in those convictions
is a major key to our health, happiness and success in life. For More Information, an example issue and A Two Week
Free Trial, Click
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inspirational guidance and wisdom designed to help uplift your spirits and
support your conscious efforts at personal and spiritual growth and
development. We're offering a
Two Week Free Trial subscription, so
that you can experience personally how Conscious Wisdom can help change your
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This expanding selection of recordings are primarily
performances by the acclaimed choral group Gloriae Dei Cantores.
You will find selections by Renaissance masters, sacred
music of Russia (including numbers by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky),
Palestrina, Brahms and Mozart. In addition, there are more traditional spiritual
songs such as Amazing Grace, What A Friend We Have In Jesus and Simple
Gifts. As always, free audio samples from each album are
available for your download and enjoyment. Click
Here for more information and lots
of free samples. Spiritual encouragement can come in many forms - one
of the most powerful are these recordings of the deep attunement and
inspiration of these great masters. Believe it or not, your family is probably
being abused- by a manipulative seducer you welcome into your
home. Many people unknowingly let media
merchants-the creators and marketers of television programs,
movies, videotapes, music and video and computer games-abuse
them. They do so when they allow such outsiders to intrude into
their family affairs and exploit the negative side of their
human nature. Although the entertainment media can be
informative and beneficial, we need to recognize that evil
media exist, and we must learn how to make use of the good and
avoid the bad. We should realize, too, that too much of even a
good thing can be bad. How great is the media's influence on the
family? According to a 2001 report of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the average American child living at home spends
42 hours weekly-the equivalent of a full-time job-immersed
in watching TV or videos, listening to music on the radio, tapes
or CDs, playing video games or using a computer. Many adults admit they squander much of their
health and time in passively viewing-letting television,
videotapes and other electronic and mechanical contrivances
monopolize their time and keep them from physical exercise and
other productive activities and even enough sleep. Researchers associate excessive TV viewing
with violence, depression, obesity and mental problems. Although
many people think of television as a stress reliever, research
has shown that, at current viewing levels, TV induces
stress while discouraging exercise and productive motivation.
What about your family? Many people don't
realize that life can be better when we begin to control media
rather than letting media control us. Many don't understand that
stopping media abuse is a matter of setting and then
diplomatically implementing firm family rules. Establishing
principles of media use for your family is the best way to use
electronic devices productively rather than letting them use
you. The mass media are designed to stimulate and
control your mind through attention-getting techniques-to the
point that some researchers compare their effect to addictive
drugs. Because the media are so prone to abuse, unless you
consciously temper your media use by decisions based on solid
biblical values within a consistent and positive lifestyle, you
will probably find yourself a victim of media abuse. Positive media use is advocated throughout a
growing field of study called media literacy, to be
found in many educational systems in many countries. Ironically,
in the United States, which because of heavy media use needs it
most, media-literacy efforts sadly lag. Although the mass media's correlation with
declining education, increased criminal behavior and
deteriorating physical and mental health are increasingly and
adequately documented, state and federal lawmakers consistently
fail to fund media-literacy efforts. Why? Part of the answer is
that the election processes at all levels heavily involve media
manipulation by all parties and candidates. Too many elected
officials, conservative and liberal, are themselves largely the
creations of the mass media. Effective media-literacy efforts involve
helping students and parents develop critical-thinking skills to
counteract a culture that conditions us to passively accept
almost anything. Psychological and brainwave studies show that
TV and other visual electronic-media use, including many video
and computer games, pushes people into a mild trance-what some
call passive mindlessness-after only a few minutes. Surveys by educators show that firm but fair
family rules that limit the amount of television viewing-along
with rules restricting or banning sexually suggestive and
violent content-are important factors in helping students
develop into academic achievers.
The good news is that you can change many of
these negative situations and outcomes. Your family can learn to
use the media as assets rather than enemies. However, doing so requires that most of us
begin to break long-established habits. Not surprisingly, the best advice from
educators, the American Academy of Pediatrics (representing
55,000 children's doctors) and government-funded research agrees
with a common source-the Bible -when it comes to properly using
the mass media. Without quoting specific scriptures or academic
citations, and yet adhering to biblical teachings, the following
basic principles are easy to understand and not difficult to
follow-once you make a firm commitment and apply them
for a month. Understand, though, that when making these
changes you will need to discuss them with other family members
because they will probably require major lifestyle changes.
Parents should agree on the rules and explain them to their
children. For a family's new mass-media program to be effective,
it needs to involve genuine change. You don't have to throw out
the television, but these principles do require action.
Make sure you and your family involve
yourselves in a variety of activities to ensure a rich and
balanced life based on thought, talk and action. Limit passive
consumption in every area of life. Just as eating too much junk
food is harmful, media consumption is bad when it tilts your
life out of balance. Make sure your family does more than simply
passively and mindlessly soak up what's presented. The American Academy of Pediatricians
maintains that children should not be exposed to more than one
or two hours of television, video recordings and popular music
per day. The academy says young children should view television
no more than 30 minutes daily. This requires cutting out 65 to
75 percent of television time in the life of a typical 2- to
18-year-old child. Adults likewise need to set the right example
by making similar needed adjustments. Keep the television set where you and your
family have to make an intentional effort to use it. If you
don't want the TV and Internet to dominate your time, then don't
place your television and computer where they are easy to
access. That means keeping the TV out of the kitchen or bedrooms
if that's where family members spend most of their free time.
Wise parents place the TV where they can
monitor their children's viewing. You might even drape a
tablecloth over the set if it's in the living or family room to
discourage leaving it on constantly. Even if you think you may have a war on your
hands-65 percent of American schoolchildren have television sets
in their bedrooms-patiently explain to your children the reasons
that viewing in the bedroom is not a good idea. Virtually all
experts agree that TV in children's rooms leads to more viewing,
the tendency to obesity and incomplete homework and increased
isolation from the rest of the family. Make realistic rules and follow them. For
example, you might want to allow television watching only after
your children complete their homework and household chores. Some
parents allow no more than one hour of TV before dinner; then
comes homework; then one hour of TV viewing before bedtime. Some
advocate no TV, Internet or electronic games at all after 10 or
11 p.m. Whatever the rules, live within them, but
don't be unreasonably inflexible or overly arbitrary about
following them when circumstances warrant otherwise. Of course,
there is always a tendency to decide that a particular media
event is so important we must bend the rules. Don't believe it.
With rare exceptions, almost anything can be videotaped to play
back later. Many adults whose parents severely limited
their TV time while they were growing up now thank them for
those apparently restrictive but, viewed in retrospect,
farsighted family rules. They realize they were able to use
their time to develop a wide range of skills, from art to sports
to musical abilities to auto mechanics. Instead of wasting time
on prepackaged audiovisual entertainment, their working hard or
reading material requiring them to think helped them
develop skills that proved valuable later in life. Those who watched little TV as children
generally grew up to be more actionoriented. They became
productive people with higher standards than they would have
otherwise had, and they developed a genuine sense of
accomplishment. Naturally, having now become parents themselves,
they want to keep their own children from wasting their youth on
passive media consumption. These parents are among the strongest
supporters of consistent rules for electronic-media use.
Make a schedule of the coming week's viewing
and stick to it. With the exception of disasters, emergencies
and latebreaking stories and intermittent special broadcasts,
you should be able plan most TV programming in advance.
Be sure to switch off the TV when dining. That
is critical for family health and well-being. Don't give up
family dining time for television viewing. Talk about what you and your family members
watch and listen to. Point out the impact television and music
has on attitudes, thinking and emotions. Question your children.
Their answers will tell you how they perceive the information
they see and hear and will sharpen your skill in analyzing the
media as well. What do the messages targeted at families
mean? Considering and talking about content will help you
realize how you may be affected and what steps you may need to
institute to build a healthy home atmosphere. Some TV programs are both fun and beneficial.
But even when a program isn't, sometimes you can have a good
laugh when you see foolish commercials or absurd programming.
Laugh and joke about the clever methods producers of TV
commercials and programs use to sell a particular point of view.
Be alert and aware! Explain the differences between manufactured
horror and real-life suffering. Explain that playing with sex
outside of marriage always has damaging effects-contrary to the
seemingly harmless way it is almost always depicted in movies,
TV shows and music. Discuss the realistic and unrealistic use of
sex as it is presented by the mass media. Talk about the many
sensational portrayals of violence with no ill consequences to
the heroes and villains in contrast to morerealistic programs
that honestly show the inevitable consequences. Make it a part of your routine to view
educational TV programs and videos. Many excellent programs on
history, biography, culture, science and classic drama are
available to enrich and inform us, even humor and inspire us.
As adults, proactively decide what you will
watch and make it clear to your children and visiting friends,
if necessary, that your household's viewing habits are
consistent with your values. Understand, of course, that your
children will not willingly restrict their viewing to good
material and stick to family rules if parents don't do so.
Make your media-content choices support your
biblically based family values. Make them fit your personal
quest to have the best family life possible. Should negative
media intrude into your home and life, analyze and discuss why
the content doesn't support the ideals and goals you are
striving to maintain. Depending on the age of your children, if at
least some of these 10 principles do not describe your way of
life, you may have to exercise diplomacy and patience in
implementing them. Applying right principles can require thought
and planning, but you will find the results well worth the
effort. All 10 principles will lead to a better life
and a realistic view of the world. We live in the mass-media
age, but that doesn't force us to be mass-media slaves. God
wants us to be the best we can be, which requires that we live a
principled life-controlling media input rather than letting it
control us by brainwashing us with its oftencorrupting values
and standards. Gaining control over a problem requires three
simple steps to implement change: acquiring knowledge of the
problem, committing to a solution, and consistently following
through. A major theme of the Bible is that "whatever a
man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). If you sow
these principles of success when it comes to using the
electronic media in your home, you can reap rich rewards in a
balanced, positive life. For further information, you can obtain a
summary of sound principles for media use from the American
Academy of Pediatricians through your local pediatrician, on the
Web at www.aap.org
or in books such as Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media
Literacy, by Gloria DeGaetano and Kathleen Bander, in
public libraries and bookstores. GN
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will be supportive and encouraging in your efforts to live each moment with more
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The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa
News:
Respecting and Supporting Your Financial
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- An affirmation on love
- The power of words
- Old age and opportunity
- Money as a spiritual idea
- How to know just what to do
- Developing Intuition
- What we will attract
Holmes' most powerful and effective affirmations and treatments. Each
of the affirmations was designed by him to create the best mental attitude
and sense of feeling that will promote positive change according to the
subject matter of the affirmation.
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News:
Listening To Music Improves Your Health
by Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Songs that make our hearts
soar can make them stronger too, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found that when people listened to their favorite music, their
blood vessels dilated in much the same way as when laughing, or taking
blood medications.
'We have a pretty impressive effect,' said Dr. Michael Miller, director
of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in
Baltimore.
'Blood vessel diameter improved,' he said in a telephone interview. 'The
vessel opened up pretty significantly. You can see the vessels opening
up with other activities such as exercise.' A similar effect is seen
with drugs such as statins and ACE inhibitors.
When blood vessels open more, blood flows more smoothly and is less
likely to form the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes.
Elastic vessels also resist the hardening activity of atherosclerosis.
'We are not saying to stop your statins or not to exercise but to add
this to an overall program of heart health,' said Miller, who presented
his findings to a meeting of the American Heart Association in New
Orleans.
Miller's team tested 10 healthy, non-smoking men and women, who were
told to bring their favorite music.
They spent half an hour listening to the recordings and half an hour
listening to music they said made them feel anxious while the
researchers did ultrasound tests designed to show blood vessel function.
Compared to their normal baseline measurements, blood vessel diameter
increased 26 percent on average when the volunteers heard their joyful
music. Listening to music they disliked—in most cases in this group
heavy metal—narrowed blood vessels by six percent, Miller said.
Miller said he came up with the idea after discovering the laughter
caused blood to literally flow more smoothly.
'I asked myself what other things make us feel real good, besides
calories from dark chocolate of course. Music came to mind. ... It makes
me feel real good,' he said.
Most of the volunteers chose country music but Miller said the style is
not so important as what pleases each individual.
(Editing by Alan Elsner and Will Dunham)
Copyright 2008 Reuters.
News:
New Product Line Added To Our Catalog:
Spiritual Classical Music
The
Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to announce that we have added an
entirely new category of music to our product catalog. In addition
to our wide variety of New Age music CDs and Cassettes, we are now
offering a variety of classical recordings of the very highest quality.
News: Is Your Family Being Manipulated by
Mass Media?
by Howard Davis
Does your family
properly use electronic mass media? Or do you let the media
abuse you? Here are 10 principles to help you regain control and
stamp out media abuse.
Regaining control
Ten principles of healthy media use
Principle 1: Focus on doing, not
viewing.
Principle 2: Place your television carefully.
Principle 3: Establish and follow family
rules
Principle 4: Plan your viewing ahead of time.
Principle 5: Teach your children
media-literacy skills.
Principle 6: Have fun with what you watch.
Principle 7: Talk about media violence and
destructive sexuality.
Principle 8: Choose quality TV, video and
computer media.
Principle 9: Model good viewing habits.
Principle 10: Use TV and videotapes or DVDs
to support biblical values.
(reprinted from gnmagazine.0rg)
In
our attempt to offer new products and services
which support your efforts at personal and
spiritual growth,
The
Conscious Living Foundation is now offering for
the first time, a greatly expanded catalog of
products. We hope, once you see our low
prices, that you'll think of us as your first
source for all your needs.
purchase
as part of our daily living. 
incense,
wind chimes, bird houses and angels to clocks, jewelry, kitchen supplies, tools
and telephones.
It is our hope that you
will consider our product catalog as your first
source for these other purchases. Even if
the product is not specifically inspirational,
your purchase from us helps tremendously in our
ability to remain in existence and continue
to offer our other, more spiritually directed
products and
services.
To find our new catalog, just click the red “Products” button at the top of most pages of our website, or to explore the wide gamut of new products right now, just click Here.
1. A great newsletter Bill - thank you. I first read Lobsang Rampa in the 60"s and some of his other books but it was good to read the 1st chapter again. Linda, my wife, has just read Wattles essay about material success and liked it too. -- Bryan (From New Zealand)
Thanks Bryan - we appreciate the positive feedback. The second chapter of T. Lobsang Rampa's book is included in this edition of our newsletter. In addition, we've added a new article on material abundance as well. Enjoy the reading! - The Editor
2. Overall, it was a
pleasure to read the newsletter; your style of writing is always very engaging.
For myself, your current contents layout was a bit disorganized, and left me
feeling like there was "too much". From a practical stand point, I think I'd
group the contents by category; news, essays, etc. I think people would find it
much easier to traverse that way, and if you were to including a link to each
item, I'm sure your readers would appreciate it. Sometimes a person only has a
few minutes to spare and if something were to catch their eye, they could easily
go directly to it. Unfortunately that would no doubt add more work to your no
doubt, super busy schedule. -- Erica (From California)
Thank you for your suggestions Erica. Your idea to group the table of contents into categories made sense to us, so we've followed your advice for this issue of the newsletter. We look forward to feedback on whether this makes it easier. Regarding links to each article: As you're aware, there are actually 2 versions of the newsletter. We only email the table of contents to each subscriber. That email contains one link which connects to the complete newsletter contained on our website. We've discovered the hard way that if we place more than a few links in our email that is a trigger for many email applications to think the email is spam.
So, our
solution is to only place one link in the actual email, but when you click that
link and go to the complete email on our website, then each article listed in
the table of contents contains a link to that specific article. I guess
that's my long-winded way of saying we agree with you and the links to the
articles do exist in the complete newsletter. Thanks again for the super
suggestions! - The Editor
If you have any comments on the emails that we've received, the contents of our
newsletter or any other matter of interest to our subscribers, please email us
at:
bill@consciouslivingfoundation.org and we'll
try to include your thoughts in our next newsletter.
Conscious Friends - Creating a World-Wide Spiritual
Community
To that end, The Conscious Living
Foundation is pleased to announce the formal launch of the Conscious Friends
section of our website, in the hope that we all can find new like-minded
friends, develop deeper relationships and work together to enhance our
world. Conscious Friends offers several excellent features
designed to help us communicate with each other, including access to custom
created profiles of spiritually oriented people, a wide range of stimulating
and thought-provoking forums, public and private chat rooms, instant
messaging and our own private and confidential internal email system.
However, the most valuable assets within Conscious Friends
are the people who create the community. Even in its infancy, we have
members from Croatia, Great Britain, Switzerland, India, South Africa,
Nigeria, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe,
Portugal, Oman and Norway, as well as all over the United States. And,
our membership continues to grow every day. Don't miss this great
opportunity to discover how wide-spread, optimistic and hopeful our global
spiritual community really is. Joined together we can create a world-wide Spirit village,
a global community of high-minded individuals who can help uplift and serve
each other and all our brothers and sisters hungry for a deeper meaning in
their lives. Membership is free, so we invite you to visit Conscious
Friends and discover for yourself the great opportunities which await you -
just click
Here.
Tens
of thousands of people visit The Conscious Living Foundation website.
Married or single, male or female, youth or senior, we all appreciate having
friends who share our common interest in personal and spiritual growth.
As we learn and mature, many of us have realized that relationships are an
important part of creating and maintaining a harmonious and uplifting life.
Appeal: We Depend On Your Donations -
The Conscious Living Foundation's only source of income is your donations and purchase of our products. If you enjoy our newsletter and website, if you receive inspiration and encouragement from our efforts, we urge you to make a donation to help sustain and grow this work.
By helping us, you are supporting the spiritual growth of the tens of thousands of people from all over the world, who regularly visit our website.
Click
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News:
New Alternative Energy Sources - Water Hyacinths
MANILA, (IRIN) - Thanks to a local invention,
lakeshore communities in the Philippines will soon begin using water
hyacinths as an alternative source of fuel and organic fertiliser.
'The world is badly in need of raw materials for biomass fuel that we
can grow easily even in places that we don't expect,' inventor Gonzalo
Catan Jr told IRIN.
The abundance of unwanted water lilies on the shores of Laguna de
Bay—one of Southeast Asia's biggest fresh-water bodies—provided an
opportunity for Catan to showcase his invention.
The prize-winning technology recycles bio-waste into
environment-friendly 'green charcoal', a compact solid fuel providing a
good alternative to liquefied petroleum gas for cooking and possibly
industry.
The technology works by using a 'threader machine' to shred the water
lilies. Next, enzyme-producing microbes are added and finally, the
mixture of treated water lilies is put in the sun to dry.
Organic fertiliser vermicast may also be produced from the lake's
organic mud deposits but instead of microbes, earthworms are added to
the mix. 'Water the mixture twice a week and let earthworms eat them
[hyacinths],' Catan explained.
Catan said it was important to produce organic fertiliser. 'That is the
mistake of many countries, including the US. Production of bio-fuel goes
now to feed cars instead of feeding cattle. Agriculture is also
important,' he said.
Working with communities
Catan's company, Mapecon Green Charcoal Philippines Inc, was backed by
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local
governments around Laguna de Bay.
One of Mapecon's community partners is the municipality of Cardona in
the province of Rizal. Cardona has eight island villages right at the
heart of Laguna de Bay.
According to one village chief, Balibago's Wilijandro Raymundo, the
water lilies are especially abundant at this time of the year when the
Amihan or cool northeast wind is blowing.
'They are very thick. They grow as high as the human waist, and they are
very heavy. They must be occupying 100 hectares of Balibago shoreline.
It's almost impossible to pass through,' Raymundo said. The water lilies
will stay in Cardona's shorelines until April or May when the wind
changes direction, Raymundo added.
'Our residents will be able to benefit a lot once we begin producing
green charcoal,' Cardona's municipal planning officer Janet Ramos told
IRIN. She said Catan had shown them an 'improvised stove' fuelled by
green charcoal instead of the usual liquefied petroleum gas.
The vermicast will also benefit farmers and small-holders, she added.
'We will look for a market for the products. That's part of our
partnership. We will help in the marketing of the products that would be
developed out of these otherwise nuisance plants,' DENR secretary Lito
Atienza told reporters during the signing of the agreement with Mapecon.
Nuisance plants
Mapecon's project will also help the lakeshore residents simply by
collecting the unwanted plants. Growing so tall and thick, the water
lilies make navigation very difficult.
'We cannot go out to fish. The water lilies are blocking our way. It's
difficult for our people to report to school or to the offices on the
mainland,' Raymundo said.
'You can't just push them out of the way using bamboo poles. They have
big roots,' Ramos added. As a result, travel time is doubled at this
time of the year. The boats' engines are strained and more fuel is
needed to reach neighbouring towns.
A report by the Laguna Lake Development Authority—the government agency
tasked to protect the lake and its surrounding environmental
resources—shows that the accumulation of water lilies on shorelines was
causing poor water circulation, destruction of fish pens and fish due to
the death and decay of aquatic plants, and increased water loss due to
excess transpiration.
Copyright © IRIN 2008
The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN
humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
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Serial: A Romance of Two Worlds
by
Marie Corelli
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News: Special Discounts - This Holiday Season, Share The Spirit!
With
the holiday season nearly upon us, if you're considering buying a gift for a friend or loved one,
why not select gifts that can genuinely make a difference in their lives?
This time, give books, candle holders, incense, gift certificates, hand made soaps, videos, spoken
word CDs or a huge variety of other products that will continue to inspire and
encourage throughout the year. To view our entire catalog of
products, click
Here.
For a unique gift, you might consider purchasing a subscription to one of our daily inspirational emails - Conscious Word (a daily affirmation) or Conscious Wisdom (a daily quotation). For only $3.50 a month you will be bringing new hope and assurance into every day of the lives of your loved ones.
We make buying even easier with our Special Product discounts. We have collected together some of our most popular spoken word audio CDs at tremendous savings. Click Here to see our great selection of best sellers and favorites. They include audio versions of your all time favorites, perfect to listen to while driving or exercising.
Deepen your practice of the techniques that bring new joy and hope into your life - and give the gift of a deeper spiritual life and increased personal growth. This holiday season share the Spirit!
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Please be assured that your email address
will not be sold,
rented
or given to any other organization or individual. We
respect your privacy.
| News: Exploring The
Free Downloads Library of The Conscious Living Foundation |
|
One of the most popular sections of our website is our Free Downloads Library. It is made up of several sections which are updated on a continuous basis (Click on any underlined words to go directly to that section):
E-Books
Titles include works by: James Allen, Emilie Cady, Catherine Ponder, Walter Lanyon, Charles Filmore, Wallace Wattles, Mary Baker Eddy, Florence Scovel Shin, Ernest Holmes, William Atkinson, Confucius, Aristotle, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Hesse, Signmund Freud, Ralph Waldo Trine, Thomas A Kempis, Rabindranath Tagore, Lao Tze, Paramahansa Yogananda, Krishnamurti, Kahlil Gibran, Buddha, Patanjali, Napoleon Hill, Mahatma Gandhi plus Literature by authors such as: Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, a Sherlock Holmes Collection, Edgar Rice Burroughs, P.G. Wodehouse, Alexander Dumas, H.G. Wells, a Wizard of Oz Collection and hundreds of other titles!
(Lectures, Talks, Sermons, Recorded Comments, Classes and Workshops)
In addition, it contains recordings of works such as: The Book of Proverbs, The Game of Life by Florence Scovel Shin, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A' Kempis, Practicing The Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles, The Dialogs of St. Catherine of Siena and As a Man Thinketh and Byways To Blessedness by James Allen.
(Music and sounds from a variety of sources, styles and historical periods)
(Large variety of films and videos, historic and modern, documentary and talks)
Our Video section currently contains: The Ocean At Dusk - Guided Relaxation, A Biography of Mother Teresa, Meditation and Movement, Imagination Meditation, Laughter Meditation, Music for Meditation and Healing, A CNN Report on the Health Benefits of Meditation, A Biography of Mary Baker Eddy, A Man of God - An Interview with Leonard Ravenhill, Paramahansa Yogananda & Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda & Ramana Maharshi, Paramahansa Yogananda at Mt. Washington, Paramahansa Yogananda on a Walk In New York, Paramahansa Yogananda Demonstrating How To Sleep, Krishnamurti Talks on Freedom, Krishnamurti Talks on Life and Death, Krishnamurti Talks on Meditation and Krishnamurti Talks on World Suffering.
(Nature Pictures, Saints, Sages, Gurus, Mandalas, Chakras, Fine Art)
(Complete Plays, Radio Dramatizations, Books Read Aloud and Stories To Entertain The Entire Family - With a special collection for children)
Our audio classics are dramatic portrayals designed to primarily entertain, but with wholesome content that expresses positive values and that are suitable for the entire family to experience together. They include such titles as:
The Importance of Being Earnest, Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities, War of the Worlds, Abraham Lincoln, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Immortal Sherlock Holmes, Around The World In 80 Days, Pickwick Papers, Julius Caesar and Jane Eyre.
In addition, there is a special Children's Section containing dramatizations and readings especially created for younger children. They include such titles as: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Jack and The Bean Stalk, Puss and Boots, Blue Beard, Thumbelina, Cinderella, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Snowdrop and the 7 Dwarves, Robin Hood, The Golden Fleece, Beauty and The Beast, Rapunzel, King Arthur, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Magic Carpet and many, many more!
(Large Beautiful Pictures with Inspirational Quotes Suitable To Place on The Background of Your Computer Desktop or Screensaver Program.)
The images in this section of the newsletter are a few of the selections contained in our Wall Paper Download Library. To read the inspirational inscriptions, visit us by clicking "Wall Paper" above.
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Let's share the gifts for which
we are most grateful:
joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in
our lives.
Click
Here for our special discounts.
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For a collection of affirmations, click
Here.
For a large variety of inspiring
quotations, click
Here.
Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in our lives.
Click
Here for our special discounts.
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Essay: How Riches Come To You by Wallace D. Wattles
News: Conscious Money Circulation "Abundant
Blessings"
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will not be sold,
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Let's share the gifts
for which we are most grateful:
The Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to offer an original 2 CD recording of Kahlil Gibran's mystical masterpiece, "The Prophet". For complete details and samples from the recording, please click Here.
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News: Two New Music CDs: "Soul Calls" and "Yoga Heart Healing"
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YOGA HEART HEALING was created from the need to heal Anahata, the fourth chakra, considered the seat of universal love. Anahata is the color green. Our recording was created to support your practice of yoga, massage and other nurturing and healing activities.
Inspired by Dharma teachings from both Hindu and Buddhist wisdom, Yoga Heart Healing will open your heart chakra with its rich vibrant textures of soothing melodic transitions. - just click Here!
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| Essay: Patterns of Codependence (From CoDependents Anonymous - CODA 12 Step Program) | ||||||
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News: New Audio CD - Embracing The Stillness - Lessons In Meditation
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Please be assured that your email address
will not be sold,
rented
or given to any other organization or individual. We
respect your privacy.
Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in our lives.
Click
Here for our special discounts.
Essay: Prayers Related To The 12 Steps
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If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be sure to visit our website for more: Articles on Personal Growth, Health and Positive Change - Click
Here.
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Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in our lives.
Click
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All Contents Copyrighted, 2008, The Conscious Living Foundation
