Kundalini Splendor

Dear Friends,
Some of my poems will be included in this concert originating from Harvard/Radcliffe tonight at 6 p.m. Mountain time (8 EST).  Here is the information:


BREAKING NEWS!

This Friday's RCS/HGC Junior Parents Weekend Concert will stream live from Sanders Theatre beginning at 8:00pm.

If you're not fortunate enough to be in town for the 6th Annual HGCF Alumni Sing & Dinner, you can still have the wonderful experience of witnessing this concert live over the internet.

Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, we cannot record the video for later viewing. So, you'll need to clear your schedule and plan to join us LIVE from Sanders Theatre this Friday, February 28th at 8:00pm.

Use the Comments section to let us know you're online. We always love to know who is watching and from where.

Click on the graphic above or enter the following URL into your computer's browser to access the live stream:

http://hgcfoundationorg.fatcow.com/live-concert-stream-from-memorial-hall/

NOTE: The video will not be ready to stream until the 8:00pm concert time. If the video appears to freeze up at any point, try refreshing your browser to restart the stream.



CHORAL MUSIC AT HARVARD
The Radcliffe Choral Society and
The Harvard Glee Club
Andrew Clark, Director of Choral Activities Beth Willer, Resident Conductor Harris Ipock, Resident Conductor
present the
Junior Parents Weekend Concert
Sanders Theatre Harvard University Friday, February 28, 2014 8:00pmHaec Dies
from Grandualia (1610)
William Byrd (c. 1540-1623)
Craig Hella Johnson (b. 1962)
Carson Cooman, '04 (b. 1982)
Johnson
Stella Fiorenzoli, '15 (b. 1993)
Johnson
arr. Doug Andrews
Johnson
Frederick E. Weatherly arr. Peter Knight, edited by Stella Fiorenzoli
as performed by Pentatonix edited by Stella Fiorenzoli
arr. Hannah Mohd Amri
Southern Folktune arr. David N. Johnson
American Spiritual arr. Moses Hogan
Emily Coolidge Alice Hunnewell-Hemmens
RADCLIFFE CHORAL SOCIETY Andrew Clark, Conductor
Beth Willer, Resident Conductor Joseph Turbessi, Pianist
Dorothy Poems 1. Don't Make Lists
A Prayer Before Sleep, Op. 816
Dorothy Poems 2. I Cannot Tell You
August 26, 1970
World Première
Dorothy Poems 3. Order of Melchizedek
The Water is Wide Michelle Chang '14, soprano and Rachel Johnston '14, alto, soloists
Dorothy Poems 4. Until Even the Angels
Danny Boy Run to You Cups/When I'm Gone Mashup
The Lone, Wild Bird Veronica Behrens '15, soprano, soloist
Ride On, King Jesus Carol Meuth '14, soprano, soloist
*
Beth Willer, conductor Radcliffe, Now We Rise to Greet Thee

Haec dies quam fecit Dominus: exultemus et laetemur in ea. Alleluia.
-text from Psalm 117:24 from Dorothy Poems
-texts by Dorothy Walters
Don't Make Lists
Every day a new flower rises from your body's fresh soil. Don't go around looking for fallen petals in a fairy tale, when you've got the golden plant right here, now, shooting forth light from your eyes, your awakening crown.
Don't make lists, or explore ancient accounts. Forget everything you know and open.
A Prayer Before Sleep
I am placing my soul and my body On thy sanctuary this night, O my protector. Turn not thy back upon me. For though, who art both kind and just, Be keeping me from harm this night and always.
-text by Alexander Carmichael from Carmina Gadelica, Vol. I (1990)
August 26, 1970
We Took to the Streets Like a River
We took to the streets like a river flowing into history. Women. Women who have borne the world's children. Women who are jailed for whoring and for loving. Women who will not be fouled, fooled, or frightened anymore. Women from the Grecian urn; truth and beauty made flesh. Women like tribal queens. Women from the sounds of silence from the sun's first beam from the wind's hot advances and the sea's murmuring.
This is the day that the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice in it. Alleluia.
from Dorothy Poems
I Cannot Tell You
I do not know if god is a thing or a process, or a being or a presence.
I cannot tell you how the world was constructed, or when it began or by whom.
I cannot unravel the tables of meaning, the diagrams and the scales of comparison, the charts and the long explanations of everything that has ever been.
What I know is this:
this moment, this kiss, this infinite longing, endless loving and being loved by no one who has a name in a place that does not exist.from Dorothy Poems
Order of Melchizedek
Know who you are. Do not debase the name. Carry it in your heart, a root flame of love. Walk through the world in silence. The moment will come. The sign will be a soft stirring of wings, a gold shimmer of air.
from Dorothy Poems
Until Even the Angels
What the heart wants is to follow its true passion to lie down with it near the reeds beside the river, to devour it in the caves between the desert dunes, to sing its notes into the morning sky until even the angels wake up and take notice and look around for their beloved. *
R-A-D

The Saviors

When I first started browsing
in this area,
there were a few trusty voices:
the alchemists of old (see Jung),
the ancient Siberian shamans
(try Eliade),
and of course the great myths,
Campbell’s archetypes to awaken
and guide us,
tell us who we are.

And there were
a few authentic teachers,
but you had to
find them on
your own
and proceed
with caution.

There was no “inter net.”
No constant deluge of
“savants,” each offering to
“awaken” us,
tell us how to become
more than we would have guessed
or ever thought possible.

Now they are everywhere,
messages loud and
insistent as barkers’ cries
at a county fair:
how to become a millionaire
in ten easy lessons,
yoga to attain
a perfect body,
where to go
to connect with the gods,
how to reach full enlightenment
in thirty days.

Where are the elders,
the ones who knew
and quietly spoke,
whose careful wisdom words were like
honey in the throat,
bread for our eager hands?

Dorothy Walters
February 27, 2014

Here is Teresa's own description of the visitation by the angel:

Beside me, on the left, appeared an angel in bodily form.... He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest rank of angels, who seem to be all on fire.... In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain wasso severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it—even a considerable share.

Her description thus makes it clear that both the heart chakra and the lower chakras were opened and infused with rapture during her visitation.  Thus Bernini did in fact get it right--only more was involved that he could artistically portray.

The point remains that her awakening closely resembles that of many who undergo spontaneous Kundalini awakenings, in terms of both the ecstasy and the joy that ensue.

I received this reflection from the website of PureGraceLight.  It is a beautiful tribute to Michael Black, who left the planet a year ago:


I ALSO RECEIVED THIS NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING CELEBRATION IN REMEMBRANCE OF MICHAEL:


Dear friends,

It has been a year since our dear  Michael left the physical form.
On Thursday we are gathering to remember Michael , to share the many ways he has touched our lives and to "play in the cosmic sand box".

Please join us on Thursday Feb 27Th at 7:00PM
at Dynamic Energy Crystal Gallery
21 Princess ST, Sausalito  (415) 729-9559 Luz Helena
http://dynamicenergycrystals.com/CrystalSafari/Welcome.html
Meditation starts at 7:30PM.

If you feel prompted to write a card to Walker Black his 17 year old son, it would be a lovely offer, please  share your experience with Michael and how he has touched your life.

"Death is neither something to be judged nor feared, but rather approached with compassionate dignity.
The Arc of life is both fleeting and profound; our lessons stemming from BEING present all along the way.You are being invited to hold space for the living and the dead, for in their conscious re-union is an opportunity to return to celebrating the entirety of life; carrying forward accumulated lessons which, once acknowledged, cease being either "tears or breaks in the field of love". 2/27/2013 Michael Black

Please bring some food to share and a pillow to sit.

In deepest appreciation and gratitude,

IAM the Light of my Soul,
Carla

(Picture found on Pure/Grace/Light website)

Recently, I wrote about Teresa of Avila and her experiences of ecstasy.  I included the information that the angel who pierced her actually opened her womb rather than her heart, as Bernini's statue depicts.

Now I am not so sure.  Further, it must be added that in addition to ecstasy, Teresa underwent a great deal of pain, beginning in childhood, when she longed for martyrdom. Her are some passages from "Wikipedia" describing these times of suffering:


Teresa was fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, and ran away from home at age seven with her brother Rodrigo to find martyrdom among the Moors. Her uncle stopped them as he was returning to the town, having spotted the two outside the town walls.[7]

Teresa was 14, when her mother died, causing the girl a profound grief that prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. 

In the cloister, she suffered greatly from illness. Early in her sickness, she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the devotional book Tercer abecedario espiritual, translated as the Third Spiritual Alphabet (published in 1527 and written by Francisco de Osuna). This work, following the example of similar writings of medieval mystics, consisted of directions for examinations of conscience and for spiritual self-concentration and inner contemplation (known in mystical nomenclature as oratio recollectionis or oratio mentalis). She also employed other mystical ascetic works such as the Tractatus de oratione et meditatione of Saint Peter of Alcantara, and perhaps many of those upon which Saint Ignatius of Loyola based his Spiritual Exercises and possibly the Spiritual Exercises themselves.

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini, Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome.

She claimed that during her illness she rose from the lowest stage, "recollection", to the "devotions of silence" or even to the "devotions of ecstasy", which was one of perfect union with God. During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced a rich "blessing of tears." As the Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sin became clear to her, she says she came to understand the awful terror of sin and the inherent nature of original sin. She also became conscious of her own natural impotence in confronting sin, and the necessity of absolute subjection to God.

It is clear that Teresa suffered as much pain as ecstasy--a suffering she embraced as part of her path to God.

I would point out that suffering is also frequently part of the path of the awakened Kundalini--ecstasy and pain often go together, and again one wonders if one could not make the case that Teresa was undergoing extreme Kundalini symptoms, which she then interpreted in the language of the Church as she know it at that time.  This claim does not reduce her life to a "nothing but" experience--indeed, Kundalini is (or should be) a path to transcendence, when the energies are rightly balanced and understood.

Thus those who today undergo spontaneous Kundalini awakening perhaps can claim Saint Teresa as their spiritual foremother.  Kundalini is the awakener and sustainer and leads us to ever higher states of consciousness.

In Bernini's great statue of St. Teresa of Avila (located in Rome), the angel is piercing her heart with a lance or dart, and she is clearly in a state of exaltation and ecstasy.  For years, I have assumed that his is the correct interpretation of this moment of intense awakening, of her opening fully to divine presence.

Now I learn that it was indeed not her heart, but her womb that was pierced.  Several writers have offered interpretations of her "raptures" (this being the most dramatic), from psychosomatic "imaginings" to actual physical (biological) symptoms.  However, when we look at her experience from the perspective of Kundalini arousal, we discover yet another interpretation (this is not to detract from the undoubtedly spiritual aspect of her experience--Kundalini is, I think, one of the devices that the divine utilizes to bring the person in closer contact with "divine reality.")

Now, as we know, the energies of Kundalini are generally thought to reside quietly in the   first chakra, located at the base of the spine, until they are aroused.  When these energies are awakened, the result can be an extremely erotic response, one sometimes even resulting in spontaneous orgasm, for the two lower chakras are often highly stimulated in this process.  Hence, it is not surprising that when Teresa feels that she is being visited and entered by god (by whatever name), she might indeed experience (or approach) full orgasm, since these chakras (base and sexual) are generally associated with ordinary sexual arousal and release.

However, to present her in this manner--as visited by an "angel" awakening her sexual centers--might have been seen as a form of blasphemy, an event too reminiscent of ordinary sexual arousal and physical pleasure.

Thus Bernini located the point of contact not in her genitalia but in her breast--and displays her in the full ecstasy of erotic arousal.

What may not be so widely known is that this very phenomenon--the "opening" of the heart chakra-- may itself emulate physical orgasm (though it is not an orgasm in the ordinary sense).  It may bring waves of "rapture" equivalent to or even surpassing those
of ordinary sexual experience.  This discovery can be quite surprising to the naive practitioner, who will be delighted and astonished by such unexpected response.

This "opening of the heart chakra," as a somatic phenomenon, thus is itself a mark of high spiritual development, for here, once again, the sensations are not merely physical, but rather are "spiritual" in the fullest sense.  They do not arise as the result of some sort of sexual stimulation, nor do they issue as sexual release.  They are a complete and overwhelming confirmation of the entry of the Beloved, coming as they do to mark the ultimate union of the two (human and beloved within).  But, as with the union of all lovers, the experience carries a definite erotic tone, though it is spiritual energy, rather than sensual energy, that is involved.  (And, in fact, each of the chakras can serve as a vehicle for such erotically tinged energy, though none compares with the heart chakra in the pleasure it brings.)

Yes, Teresa certainly experienced Kundalini awakening in its finest manifestation.  Kundalini (to my way of thinking) is a means of achieving complete union with the invisible Beloved, the Divine Reality, for it is (as one observer put it) "God moving through your body."   Sometimes something called "Kundalini Yoga" is offered in commercial studios as a method of physical exercise or improving one's bodily image, but divine union itself is the appropriate intent and goal.

True, Teresa clothed her experience in the metaphors of Christianity as these were presented in her time, but--strip away the symbology--and you have a compelling description of spontaneous Kundalini awakening, perhaps the most sacred of all experiences available to us at this level of human development.

How would you like to live in a town where the cab drivers (some of them) played Krishna Das on their stereos?  Or explained that their main occupation was serving as a Light Worker to help people find their true vocation in life?

I experienced both of these recently and once more realized why I like living in my present location, which seems to be somewhat advanced in terms of spiritual awareness.

I think that as each person offers his/her gift to the universe, the vibes of the planet will indeed keep on rising, and we will (possibly) together reach a state of universal peace and loving concern for others in our world.

In the meantime, it is our task to put our offerings out there, ready to  inspire whoever is ready to receive them.

(From The Abbey of the Arts Blog)
Please can I have a God
(after Selima Hill)

not fossilized, hardened, stiff, unshaken,
not contained in creeds and testimonies,
judgments and stone tablets,
but in the wound breaking open.

Please can I have a God
who asks me to worship at the altar of mystery,
to lay aside certainty, and curl up
in the hollow of a great stone down by the river,
to hear the force of it rushing past.

Please can I have a God
with questions rather than answers,
who is not Rock or Fortress or Father,
but sashays, swerves, ripens, rages
at the rape of the earth.

Please can I have a God
whose voice is the sound of a girl, long silent from abuse,
now speaking her first word,
who is not sweetness or light, but the fierce utterance of
“no” in all the places where love has been extinguished.

Please can I have a God
the color of doubt, the shape of uncertainty,
who sees that within me dwells a multitude,
grief and joy, envy and generosity, rage and raucousness,
and anoints every last part.

Please can I have a God
who rolls her eyes with me at platitudes and pronouncements
and walks by my side in the early morning
across the wet field, together bare-footed and broken-hearted,
who is both mud and dew.

Please can I have a God
who is the vast indifference of forest and night sky,
who is both eclipse and radiance, silence and scream,
who is everything slow and dark and moist,
who is not measured, controlled, but ecstatic and dancing.

Please can I have a God
who is not the flame, but the flickering,
not bread, but the chewing and swallowing,
not Lover and Beloved, but the making love,
not the dog, but the joyful exuberance when I come home.

 --- Christine Valters Paintner

(picture from Abbey website)

I, Thou, & St. Teresa—Wednesday on the Shift Network

The following comes from Mirabai Starr:

Dear Friends,

I am very excited to let you know that I’ll once again be hosted by The Shift Network for a free call on Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30 pm Pacific called: Reuniting with the Beloved as a Feminine Mystic ~ Longing as a Doorway to the Divine, and you are warmly invited to join me!

You can learn more about the call and reserve your seat HERE.  (go to The Shift Network to register)

This call will serve to open your awareness to the illuminating teachings of St. Teresa of Avila providing the backdrop for discovery of the profound alchemy of body, mind and soul that lies at the heart of feminine mysticism allowing you to turn your heartache and longing into an ecstatic pathway to reunification with the Beloved.

And you will also:
Gain a new understanding of what mysticism really is.
Expand your ability to befriend your heartache, pain and longing as allies on the path.
Open to a vision of God that is masculine-feminine balanced, and a path that includes ecstatic surrender.
Practice yielding to heartbreak as an opening to the Infinite.
See how to walk the path of dissolving the Separate Self and reuniting with the Beloved.

Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30 pm Pacific Time
This feminine mystical pathway supports the great healing of our times through repairing the wounds in our hearts, minds and bodies, and addressing the real suffering in the world.

Please join me for this powerful call:
https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/femmysms/Mirabaistarr/

Author, translator of the mystics, and leading voice in the emerging Interspiritual Movement, Mirabai Starr uses fresh, lyrical language to help make timeless wisdom accessible to a contemporary circle of seekers. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of Dark Nightof the Soul by sixteenth century Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross, The Interior Castle and The Book of My Life, by St. Teresa of Avila, and The Showings of Julian of Norwich. She is author of the 6-volume Sounds True series, Contemplations, Prayers, and Living Wisdom. Her poetry collection, Mother of God Similar to Fire, is a collaboration with iconographer, William Hart McNichols. GOD OF LOVE: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – winner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Religion and named one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2012 by Spirituality & Practice – positions Mirabai at the forefront of the emerging Interspiritual Movement.

Mirabai taught Philosophy and Religious Studies for twenty years at the University of New Mexico-Taos, and now speaks and teaches nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics, contemplative practice, and grief as a spiritual path. Her talks and retreats incorporate silent meditation, interspiritual chanting, sacred poetry, and deep dialog. She blogs for the Huffington Post.

MirabaiStarr.com

 follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2014 Mirabai Starr, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Mirabai Starr
158 Maestas Rd.
Taos, NM 87571

TAP INTO JOY! Author performance and book signing.

Local author Dr. David P. Sharp presents his new book,
I'm a Black Man, Who are You?
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, 1 pm.
Barnes & Noble - 2999 Pearl St., Boulder, CO 80301

Dr. Sharp is a charismatic speaker, writer and “inner”tainer. Come experience his personal journey into awareness as a youth, as he shares the life lessons learned during the turbulence of the 1960’s in the American Deep South.

From a painful introduction of what it meant to be “different” at 6 years old, to learning how to claim his own beauty, power and joy no matter what, Dr. Sharp will share how the strength of loving parents gave him his first glimpse of the power of Spirit, and the role creativity and humor can play in responding to and healing life’s deep pains.

He will sing, perform his poetry and even tap dance to illustrate how the arts contributes to the ability to meet, befriend and transcend life’s obstacles to find peace and joy!

This event is in honor of African American History Month.

Learn more about Dr. Sharp at www.PowerForLifeNow.com

Note:  I have known David Sharp for many years, from the time he was a graduate student at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco.  He is a delightful, thoughtful, and entertaining presenter.  He will do your heart good.

Picture taken from flyer announcing this event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Healing Sounds Newsletter
Special World Sound Healing Day Radio Show
www.healthylife.net--Feb. 14 2014
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



This Friday, February 14th is the 12th Annual World Sound Healing Day.
In honor of this event, we are having a Special World Sound Healing Day Radio Show at healthylife.net which begins at 11 AM (Eastern Time) and allows us to facilitate an extraordinary experience of Global Harmonization.

Please help us celebrate World Sound Healing Day.

Tune in Feb. 14, 2014, at 11 AM US Eastern Time, to www.healthylife.net for this special broadcast.



For this special World Sound Healing Day radio broadcast, my wife Andi & I, Jonathan Goldman, will explore the purpose of World Sound Healing Day: to heal our planet, heal our waters, and raise our consciousness! Now, more than ever, it is mandatory that we join together with our consciousness and our sound in order to initiate positive shift and change on our planet.
We will discuss the use of sound and ask questions such as: What is the power of love and compassion? How can intentionalized sound help shift the consciousness of those on our planet. In addition, we will be leading listeners in a guided meditation to help create a coherent resonant field of consciousness in order to vocalize the most powerful intentionalized sound for World Sound Healing Day.

Then, at the noon time hour, we will journey to Temple of Sacred Sound, where, together with everyone else we will all project a sonic Valentine to Gaia, our Mother Earth at 12 noon Eastern Time.

This is a very powerful and special experience that we look forward to sharing with you.

Please note: while there are many various Global Toning events occurring throughout our planet at different times on World Sound Healing Day, this special radio show and the 12 O'clock noon (New York Time) toning event that follows it in cyberspace have become a tradition for us. It's a fun and empowering way of celebrating World Sound Healing Day. We know you will enjoy it and find it a heartfelt and joyous experience for awakening consciousness on our wonderful Mother Earth.

Please tune in to this Internet Radio Show Friday, Feb. 14th, at 11 AM Eastern Time to healthylife.net

Harmonically Yours,

Jonathan Goldman

If you like, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter



Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: info@healingsounds.com
phone: 303-443-8181
web: http://www.healingsounds.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Art without beauty,
poetry without inspiration,
music without feeling,
religion without devotion,
mysticism without ecstasy
are like a lake without water.
-- Hazrat Inayat Khan

(I wonder how much of the above applies to the contemporary aesthetic scene.   Sometimes it is indeed as though the "lake of inspiration" has been emptied out and little is left but a jaded sensibility, offering "notions" instead of art.)

(Picture found on internet.)

Today's DailyOM

Like No One Is Watching
Shake Your Tail Feathers

by Madisyn Taylor

Over time, we have learned to suppress some of the most fun aspects of our individuality.

Most of us express our distinctiveness in many ways throughout our lives. Although, as we proudly share our offbeat traits and preferences with the world, we take great pains to downplay those eccentricities we ourselves deem odd. Instead of living lives colored by these quirky impulses, we seek out socially acceptable outlets for our peculiarities. We may not realize that we are editing ourselves in this way because our individual societal awareness is unintentionally attuned to the attitudes of the people we encounter each day. Over time, we have learned to suppress some of the most fun aspects of individuality. To rediscover and embrace these buried traits, we need only ask ourselves what we would do if we knew for certain that no one would judge our choices.

Visualizing this day without judgment can help you better understand the idiosyncrasies that are an important part of who you are but seldom manifest themselves in your existence. Perhaps you secretly dream of replacing grown-up, conservative clothing in favor of a changing array of costumes. You may envision yourself painting your car electric-green, hugging the trees in a crowded local park, singing joyous songs as you skip through your community, or taking up an exciting hobby like fire spinning. Try not to be surprised, however, if your imagination takes you in unexpectedly simple directions. In your musings, you may see yourself doing things such as breaking out in dance or dying your hair a fun color. Regardless of the nature of your suppressed peculiarities, ask yourself what is really stopping you from making them a part of your life, and then resolve to incorporate at least one into your everyday existence.

Life as we know it is so short. Making the most of years we are granted is a matter of being ourselves even though we know that we will inevitably encounter people who disapprove of our choices. When you shake your tail feathers like no one is watching, you will discover that there are many others who appreciate you because you are willing to let go of any inhibition. By doing this you help others know it is okay. No one else in the world is precisely like you and, each time you revel in this simple fact, you rededicate yourself to the celebration of individuality.

Like many others, I have long been intrigued by accounts of UFO sightings, abductions, crop circles, balls of light, ancient structures--the whole field of unexplained activities involving what appear to be foreign agencies and their effects on us and our planet.  Listed below is an interview with one  person (Galen Sharp) on this topic from NonDuality Highlights.
http://nonduality.com/galensharp_27january2014.mp3

(Galen Sharp is the author of What Am I? A Study in Non-Volitional Living:
http://tanadavapress.com/)

As well as the link to the interview, the posting included a summary of the topics covered, including the following.


30:20 - 37:16 UFO sighting in Africa by school children and reported by Dr. John E. Mack. Kundalini experiences related and their applicability to UFO understanding.

This reference is the first I have come across that connects Kundalini experiences to the UFO phenomenon, but it is a topic I have pondered for quite some time.  I have no verifiable information on this subject, but I do have many questions.

My first observation is that the UFO's appear to be powered by some kind of unknown energies--and so do Kundalini awakenings.  Of course, these are not the same energy--but both draw our attention to energy as such, a field that is getting more and more attention as scientists discover that our phenomenal world is in fact made up primarily of energy, not solid matter as once thought.

When spontaneous Kundalini awakening occurs, it often seems "triggered" by some unknown force--as if some kind of "outside agent" were involved.  Could the subject, perhaps someone more sensitive that others, "pick up" on this unusual energy which then resonates in his/her own body and opens the Kundalini channels?  Are these subjects those with their "antennae" out farther than most others and thus most susceptible to these energetic forces arriving from elsewhere?  If the energetic frequencies are "in sync", rapture can ensue.  If they are not, then great pain and suffering may follow.

One of the overall effects of the Kundalini transformation is an apparent restructuring of the nervous system.  One literally "feels" energy within in a different fashion than before, in a manner almost impossible to describe.  Are these internal energies being brought more and more into higher levels in order to accord with those of the "visitors from outer space" who are more advanced in this way than most earth dwellers?

Please know that I am just engaging in pure speculation in all of this--I certainly have no definitive answers, but I do think that as we consider these unexplained phenomena of our time--including both Kundalini and UFO's--it behooves us to consider various possibilities, though none as yet is proven.

ARTICLES OF FAITH


Faith is a priceless treasure which some would invest in money and power, seeking private gain. Others of us invest in a vision of a world which may yet come to be: a world of justice, peace and beauty. We place our faith in life itself.

We Believe

Life is infinitely creative, resourceful, reliable and ultimately good.

Human beings are an expression of that life force and, as such, are creative, resourceful, reliable and fundamentally good.

All life is inextricably connected - what happens to any of us happens to all of us.

Evil exists as a potential in all human beings and it derives from the illusion that we are separate from each other and from the fountain of life.

Evil cannot be vanquished by force of arms or by fear. It can only be conquered by love.

In the power of love and direct non-violent action to
transform institutions, social systems and the human heart.

The arc of human history moves toward democracy, justice and an appreciation for our wondrous multiplicity of expression.

It is the right of all people to enjoy life, liberty and the security of person; to be treated equally under the law; to enjoy freedom of thought, conscience and religion; to free expression and association; to have free access to clean water and air.

It is possible for all human beings to be free from economic want and poverty and to live with dignity.

Peace among and within nations is only possible when these rights are assured to everyone.

The most fundamental responsibility of government is to ensure the health and well-being of the land and of all its inhabitants.

Individual rights must be balanced with responsibility for the well-being of the community.

The success and survival of our civilization and, possibly, that of the human race are in increasing jeopardy because of our commitment to an unsustainable pattern of resource consumption, particularly our dependence upon fossil fuels.

While our planet’s physical resources are finite, the resources of love and imagination are without end.

It is indeed possible to create a society which lives sustainably and harmoniously within the parameters of our planetary life support systems.

We have a responsibility to live in such a way that we do not diminish the opportunity for future generations to enjoy the same quality of life which we enjoy.

A human birth is a precious gift that is accompanied by a responsibility to act with generosity, sensitivity and compassion for all living beings.

In doing our best to leave a better world for our children.

All people, individually and collectively, are capable of learning from their mistakes.

Life inherently includes suffering, but we have a responsibility as members of the human family to do what we can to ease that suffering and to structure our social institutions in such a way as to minimize unnecessary suffering due to poverty, disease, war, injustice and environmental degradation.

Joy is also an inherent feature of life and it is possible to participate joyfully in the suffering of the world.

Each and every life has inherent value and is worthy of respect.

In poetry, art, music, dancing and the spirit of play.

In the power of truth.

At the heart of all things is an ineffable mystery worthy of awe and wonder.

It is this faith which informs, guides and sustains our work in the world.

- Larry Robinson
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What is the Deep Listening

What is the deep listening?
Sama is a greeting from the secret ones inside the heart - a letter
The branches of your intelligence grow new leaves in the wind of this listening.
The body reaches a peace.

Rooster sound comes reminding you of your love of dawn
The reed flute and the singer's lips
The knack of how spirit breathes into us
becomes as simple and ordinary as eating and drinking.

The dead rise with the pleasure of listenting.
If someone cannot hear a trumpet melody,
sprinkle dirt on his head and delare him dead.

Listen and feel the beauty of your separation
the unsayable absence
There is a moon inside every human being
Learn to be companions with it.
Give more of your life to this listening.

As brightness is to time,
so you are to the one who talks to the deep ear in your chest

I should sell my tongue
and buy a thousand ears when that one steps near and begins to speak

I should sell my tongue and buy a thousand ears
when that one steps near.

- Jelalludin Rumi
(translated by Coleman Barks)

(picture from internet)
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Hokusai Says

Hokusai says Look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
He says there is no end to seeing.

He says Look Forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat yourself
as long as it's interesting.

He says keep doing what you love.
He says keep praying.
He says every one of us is a child,

every one of us is ancient,
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened.
He says every one of us has to find a way to live with fear.

He says everything is alive -
shells, buildings, people, fish, mountains, trees.
Wood is alive.
Water is alive.
Everything has its own life.
Everything lives inside us.
He says live with the world inside you.

He says it doesn't matter if you draw, or write books.
It doesn't matter if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn't matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants on your verandah or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.

It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.

Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength
are life living through you.
Peace is life living through you.

He says don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
Look, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you.

- Roger Keyes
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Sometimes when we think about all the problems of the world we get depressed and think that people are no darn good.

Then something comes along that tells a different story.

Yesterday, I found that I simply had to stock up on groceries and supplies, for a major
cold front was approaching and I was running out of essentials.  It was too cold to walk, even the short distance to my grocery, so I rode over in a cab, and planned to return the same way.

But unfortunately, when I tried to call the cab for the return trip, I could not get through to the dispatcher (NFL fever.)  At this  point, I offered to pay anyone who would give me a ride for my four-block trip home ten dollars, but learned that because of liability concerns, store employees could not offer this service. Then the young woman at the checkout counter offered to try her luck with the cab company, and I was grateful for the offer.  Otherwise I would have had a very cold and difficult walk ahead of me.

She was unable to call out from her front desk, so she stepped into the deli section to use their phone.  One of the men there--the susui chef--heard what was going on, and immediately offered to give me a ride--free.  He was, it turned out, an independent merchant, not bound by the rules of the store, and he was finishing work in a few minutes.

This kind person took me home and helped me get my purchases to the elevator.  At that point a young man who lives on my floor appeared and offered to help me to my apartment.  As he lifted my groceries into my apartment, he remarked, "This should be called grocery shopping by committee."  Indeed, it sometimes takes a village.