Translate

Friday, February 26, 2016

Spirituality 101: The Good Samaritan and Cosmic Universal Law

Those who make a sustained and conscious effort to improve their thoughts, feelings, actions and habits in accordance with Cosmic Universal Law shall be very glad to have done so. Biblically speaking (Psalms1: 2-3), "blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord" (Cosmic Universal Law of the Creator). Though religious taboos may reflect some of this, Jesus tried to teach us that one cannot be blindly rigid and fulfill the Spirit of this Law. One must think deeply and in more complex ways than simply abiding by religious "shalt nots".

Look at the parable of the Good Samaritan as a prime example:

Here, we learn that we must think in a spiritual way that surpasses ordinary religious rules if we are to become more spiritually evolved. Those of us who do not learn to recognize and apply God's Cosmic Laws shall have a 'long hard row to hoe'.

Cosmic and Spiritual Laws of the Universe:


Monday, February 22, 2016

Global Warming: Milankovitch Cycles, C02 and Methane Hydrates

'Global warming skeptics' like to point out that previous interglacials achieved global temperatures higher than what we have yet to experience. This is true. Since it's also true that this came about without the influence of artificially high CO2 levels, we know that this was the result of the natural Milankovitch cycle. However, the kink in this reasoning is that the temperature changes induced by orbital variances don't occur so rapidly as what is now occurring. Thus, the sudden current global temperature increase is being fueled by CO2 releases. And because greenhouse gases endure for many centuries, we face the prospect of CO2 further amplifying eventual natural temperature increases induced by the Milankovitch effect. Unlike the last interglacial that saw hippos basking in England, they'll someday be able to enjoy the fjords of Norway. 

Subject:
interglacials Milankovitch cycles carbon dioxide

The "rest of the story":
One variable that is not receiving serious enough consideration is the subject of "Methane Hydrate Degasification + Paleoclimatology". Read up on this and then consider that since temperatures in the current interglacial period will go higher than in any previous interglacial period due to artificially higher levels of CO2 amplifying the natural Milankovitch temperatures, that ocean temperatures will be warmer at greater depths than they have been in over 56 million years in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. That means that the oceanic methane hydrate that has been building up without interglacial releases at these greater depths will be released. Thus, greater amounts of oceanic methane than ever before in any interglacial period would come into play.
Will this occur overnight? Certainly not. But those greenhouse gases being released now (and will be released in the future) will play a role in ever increasing global temperatures for many centuries. Certainly long enough to be a factor in eventual long term 'methane hydrate degasification'. If this then were to lead to a self sustaining cycle, then in the worst case scenario, eventually there'd be no hippos left anywhere --- and very few humans (if any).
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hottest-earths-ever-been

My Comment:
We are very fortunate to have detailed ice core information from Antartica and Greenland that tell about global temperatures, etcetera. After studying the graphs from these, it's very obvious that the temperatures during the past ten thousand years take on an atypical pattern when compared to previous interglacials. The variable is mankind.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Spirituality 101: Great Cosmic Algebraic Equation

Understand that everything is connected to everything else. There is balance in the Universe. Understand that it is the Great Cosmic Algebraic Equation --- that what you do on your side of the equation affects me and the rest of the Universe. It builds up and then comes back to you.  Called the Absolute Law of Cause and Effect (aka Karma), it allows you the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

If you had negative intent (energy) behind your misdeed, that multiplies the force of the "boomerang effect".  If you don't get caught and punished for criminal misdeeds to help lessen the force of karma, don't worry --- pay now or pay later. It's sort of a "cosmic layaway plan".

Of course, this is all because we each and every one of us and every thing has its own spiritual and unique "fingerprint" (blueprint) called Spiritual Essence. It manifests on the mental, emotional and physical levels as elements of your soul.  If you don't feel the essence of your godliness (goodness) because you are so gunked up with karmic crud, that doesn't mean that it's not there.  It merely means that your negativities have made you insensitive -- like wearing welding gloves while trying to thread the "eye of the needle" in making moral and ethical decisions.

Religions attempt to give their followers rules to follow. But, even the best intended of religions are rigid to some degree and cannot give you enough detailed specifics to cover every situation.  That's where your inner self (Mighty I Am Presence and Holy Christ Self) comes in to help you recognize Spiritual Reality.

Note: Even when you find a spiritual truth, recognize that it is only applicable when properly connected to the whole Spiritual Truth.  It is too easy for the outer self to take a spiritual truth (piece of the bigger puzzle) and misapply it.

To illustrate: The devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil,"What did that man pick up?"  He picked up a piece of Truth,"said the devil.  "That is very bad business for you, then,"said his friend. "Oh, not at all,"the devil replied,"I am going to help him organize it."

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

https://classwarinamerica.wordpress.com


One of the best 'world view' blogs I've come across in a long time. The topics chosen are very relevant. And even if you don't agree on all points, you will at least be challenged to reevaluate your beliefs.

Don't be put off by the name of the blog. Remember that "politics is war in slow motion". And the blogger has a realistic and humane world outlook that could avert real global wars and tragedies if we paid closer attention to the points he makes.

If you like this blog, I suggest that you avail yourself of the option given to be added to the emailing list in the upper right hand column.

I've never recommended another blog before in my ten years of blogging; but, I do now.

https://classwarinamerica.wordpress.com

Monday, February 8, 2016

Murphy's Law: Inshallah

"All cultures have a degree of certain belief in magic and what Westerners call “conspiracy theories” to explain otherwise unexplainable events and inconvenient facts. In the Middle East, this is made worse by the cultural distortion of "inshallah" ("If God wills it"). This is a basic tenet of Islam, although some scholars believe the attitude was a 'fatalistic' trait that preceded Islam. In any event, "inshallah" is deadly when combined with modern technology. For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff) or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything. That minority of Arabs who do have a realistic attitude towards maintenance and personal responsibility are considered odd but useful."

"The "inshallah" trait is made worse by a stronger belief in the supernatural, paranormal and magic in general. Thus, many Iraqis believed that American troops wore sunglasses that enabled them to see through clothing, and had armor vests that were actually air conditioned. And they thought Americans took 'cool pills' to resist the heat. When they first encountered these beliefs, U.S. troops thought the Arabs were putting them on. Then it sank in that Arabs really believe this stuff. It was a scary, or amusing, moment for many Western troops.

Back in 2008 many Pakistanis believed that the then recent Islamic terrorist attack in Mumbai, India was actually the work of the Israeli Mossad or the American CIA and not the Pakistani terrorists who were killed or captured and identified."

"Currently, interviews with refugees from the fighting in Iraq and Syria as well as people still in those countries shows that over 80 percent believe the Islamic terrorists in general and ISIL and al Qaeda in particular are creations of the West (particularly the United States) and Israel as a means to destroy their countries and Islam. Such fantasies are a common explanation, in Moslem nations, for Islamic terrorist atrocities. Especially when Moslems, particularly women and children are among the victims. In response many Moslems tend to accept fantastic explanations shifting the blame to infidels (non-Moslems)."

"After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, many Moslems again blamed Israel for staging those attacks. A favorite variation of this is that, before the attacks on the World Trade Center, a secret message went out to all Jews in the area to stay away. Another variation has it that the 19 attackers (all of them Arab, 15 from Saudi Arabia) were really not Arabs but falsely identified as part of the Israeli deception. In the United States some Americans insist that the attack was the work of the U.S. government, complete with the World Trade Center towers being brought down by prepositioned explosive charges. While few Americans accept this, the CIA and Mossad fantasies are widely accepted in the Moslem world. Even Western educated Arabs, speaking good English, will casually express, and accept, these tales of the Israeli Mossad staging the attacks, in an effort to trick the U.S. into attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. Americans are shocked at this, but the Moslems expressing these beliefs just shrug when confronted with contradictory evidence."




Read about the difference between Sunni and Shia Predeterminism:

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Sarah Palin and the Latter Day Zealots

Before McCain vetted Sarah Palin to be his running mate, she stood before her church congregation and proclaimed that our invasion of Iraq was doing God's work because it would hasten the "Second Coming". Now, my understanding that is an event associated with the Apocalypse. Is that something deemed to be a worthy Christian goal? Couldn't we, instead, follow Christ's admonition to find the Kingdom of God within? Do zealots not understand what Jesus meant? Why do they latch onto the meanderings written in the biblical book of Revelations and ignore the recorded words of Jesus?

"End of Time" prophecies existed before the biblical book of Revelations was ever written. Indeed, John of Patmos' mystic divination was influenced by many such similar writings of that time and before. Scorned by Christians of his day, his version was inspired by his extreme despair over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. It had not a thing to do with forecasting for us the doom for our world two millennia later. Instead, what we have today from him is the groundwork for a 'self fulfilling' prophecy / a prophecy that is based on historical precedent for the region.

Indeed, Israel's geographical location has been at the crossroads between continents for thousands of years. The transmigration of people and the ideas spawned by different civilizations steadily traversed through this land. Countless wars were fought there by neighboring empires. This all created the ideal place and time for Jesus to incarnate / a social environment where the strongest monotheistic religion in the world was about to give birth to a more evolved religion.
[What made it more evolved was the teachings of Jesus.]

But, what of the mentality of the Jewish people that gave rise to the coming of Jesus? and his crucifixion? What beliefs did they hold? Which groups held such strong beliefs that they were identifiable? 
They are:
  • Zealots believed in the overthrow of the Roman Empire. They would not tolerate pagan idols and practices in their land. God would bring about the Kingdom with their help.
  • Essenes believed in withdrawing from the corrupt Temple system and the Empire. They would live holy lives in an alternative world until God brought about the Kingdom without their help.
  • Pharisees believed in radical personal holiness. They believed in internalizing their religious law, and that God would give punishment and reward in the afterlife.
  • Sadducees believed in the establishment. They made peace with Rome and focused on religious ritual. They believed divine punishment and reward happen in this life.
The Pharisees and Sadducees cooperated with the Romans and earned rebukes from Jesus -- not for that, but for rigidly ignoring the spirit behind religious law and being blind to the true spiritual needs of the people.

The Essenes largely understood the teachings of Jesus. They were highly regarded by the people. Jesus may have been an Essene.

The Zealots were the 'firebrands' that kept the rebellion against Rome fomenting. They represented the public's general inability to understand that what Jesus brought was the message about the kingdom of God that resides in each of us. It was their insane desire for Jesus to save the Jews from Roman domination that forced Pontius Pilate to accede to the demand of the Pharisees and Sadducees to execute Jesus.

And so nowadays, we have evangelistic fundamentalists in all three Abrahamic religions zealously proclaiming their holy mission to hasten the Apocalypse by facilitating such portends as given in ancient writings such as Revelations (a book that only got included in the New Testament because of the pugnaciously powerful Bishop Athanasius).

In short, Zealots have not learned the lesson that Jesus gave us already. That He had not come to save them by becoming an earthly King. He'd already resisted that when Satan tried to tempt him in the desert.

Jesus has explained to us once already that the kingdom of God is within each of us. Are zealots perhaps a bit too concrete minded in their thinking to understand? Why do they pridefully resist Christ's true inner message?