Sunday, May 15, 2005
Still More on the Home Planet
(I have posted several entries recently on "Return to the Home Planet," that is, the annual conference of the Kundalini Research Network, which I attended in April. I felt that these were my true people, real soul mates, and I loved them all and the time I spent with them).
One of the most striking things about the folks who are active in KRN is the projects they have created and conduct as part of their personal contribution to the world. Many are therapists and social workers, and they walk the talk in the fullest sense. They are not "closet mystics," sitting at home on their solitary cushions, but persons out in the world, doing their best to make this a better planet for all.
Judith Miller, Ph. D., teaches at Columbia in the education department. Her special project is centered in Germany. The original intent was to bring reconciliation between the Germans and Jews for the horrors perpetrated on the latter in World War II. However, she and her colleagues found that few Jews appeared (for whatever reason), but many children and grandchildren of Germans living under Hitler at that time were still attempting to deal with deep guilt and remorse for what their families had knowingly or unknowingly abetted. Judith is herself of Jewish background, so this work is of special significance to her.
Jyoti (Jeannine Prevott), Ph. D., and her husband Russ Park (also Ph. D.)are among the founders of KRN. They have set up spiritual centers in this country as well as others in Africa and the Amazon jungle, all devoted to earth based spirituality. Jyoti travels into remote areas to locate indigenous tribes to assist them in their spiritual development (ceremonies based on native American practices.) Last spring, she arranged for a Council of Grandmothers in New York state, which was attended by elders (grandmothers) from indigenous traditions around the world. Together these amazing women wrote a Manifesto for the World, in which they summed up what the essential steps were for the earth's survival. They will meet again in Santa Fe next year in closed session to continue their work.
Jay Lynch is an alternative healer and chi gong teacher, who frequently goes to China to study Chinese medical practices. He told me about an exciting treatment he received from an elderly Chinese acupuncturist by which his (Jay's) eyes were cured of macular degeneration. He learned, he says, to “see with his bones.” I’m not sure what that means, exactly, but am eager to learn more, since I would like help in that line. Jay has had very unusual intuitive ad even psychic powers since he was a child. He led us through some very good chi gong exercises.
Another person who has experienced deep mystic and visionary states since his early years is Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D. (author of The Soul’s Journey and website of that same name). I had been in touch with him for several years through e-mail and found he gave me invaluable advice when I was writing "Unmasking the Rose." At the conference, I discovered that several others had had a similar experience with Lawrence—they had known him through e-mail, and he had offered them extremely helpful advice and encouragement as they went through their own kundalini awakenings. He is recognized as a world authority on the subject. He is a Jungian therapist who has spent many years in India and has lived in ashrams there and in this country. He soothed us with sweet hymns on the harmonium, and led us through a profound meditation. His knowledge is impressive, and his spirit is very large.
The persons I have written about so far were all presenters. I haven’t even begun to describe some of the attendees who also had amazing stories to tell. (Fortunately, this conference was small enough that we all got to know each other rather well before it was over.) I'll say more about others in future entries.
One of the most striking things about the folks who are active in KRN is the projects they have created and conduct as part of their personal contribution to the world. Many are therapists and social workers, and they walk the talk in the fullest sense. They are not "closet mystics," sitting at home on their solitary cushions, but persons out in the world, doing their best to make this a better planet for all.
Judith Miller, Ph. D., teaches at Columbia in the education department. Her special project is centered in Germany. The original intent was to bring reconciliation between the Germans and Jews for the horrors perpetrated on the latter in World War II. However, she and her colleagues found that few Jews appeared (for whatever reason), but many children and grandchildren of Germans living under Hitler at that time were still attempting to deal with deep guilt and remorse for what their families had knowingly or unknowingly abetted. Judith is herself of Jewish background, so this work is of special significance to her.
Jyoti (Jeannine Prevott), Ph. D., and her husband Russ Park (also Ph. D.)are among the founders of KRN. They have set up spiritual centers in this country as well as others in Africa and the Amazon jungle, all devoted to earth based spirituality. Jyoti travels into remote areas to locate indigenous tribes to assist them in their spiritual development (ceremonies based on native American practices.) Last spring, she arranged for a Council of Grandmothers in New York state, which was attended by elders (grandmothers) from indigenous traditions around the world. Together these amazing women wrote a Manifesto for the World, in which they summed up what the essential steps were for the earth's survival. They will meet again in Santa Fe next year in closed session to continue their work.
Jay Lynch is an alternative healer and chi gong teacher, who frequently goes to China to study Chinese medical practices. He told me about an exciting treatment he received from an elderly Chinese acupuncturist by which his (Jay's) eyes were cured of macular degeneration. He learned, he says, to “see with his bones.” I’m not sure what that means, exactly, but am eager to learn more, since I would like help in that line. Jay has had very unusual intuitive ad even psychic powers since he was a child. He led us through some very good chi gong exercises.
Another person who has experienced deep mystic and visionary states since his early years is Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D. (author of The Soul’s Journey and website of that same name). I had been in touch with him for several years through e-mail and found he gave me invaluable advice when I was writing "Unmasking the Rose." At the conference, I discovered that several others had had a similar experience with Lawrence—they had known him through e-mail, and he had offered them extremely helpful advice and encouragement as they went through their own kundalini awakenings. He is recognized as a world authority on the subject. He is a Jungian therapist who has spent many years in India and has lived in ashrams there and in this country. He soothed us with sweet hymns on the harmonium, and led us through a profound meditation. His knowledge is impressive, and his spirit is very large.
The persons I have written about so far were all presenters. I haven’t even begun to describe some of the attendees who also had amazing stories to tell. (Fortunately, this conference was small enough that we all got to know each other rather well before it was over.) I'll say more about others in future entries.
