Kundalini Splendor

Deepen your relationship with the authentic Christ
The
                Shift
                Network

Dear Dorothy Walters,

The first session of the Christ Path Advanced Intensive, with celebrated author and mystic scholar Andrew Harvey, launches tomorrow, Wednesday, June 1, at 5:00pm Pacific.

If you haven’t yet enrolled, there’s still time to join Andrew for this electrifying 9-month deep dive into the Christian tradition in search of the authentic Christ presence.

This immersive journey will build upon the foundational principles of Andrew’s wildly popular Christ Path course and expand the curriculum considerably, drawing on other great Christian mystics to inspire in you a deeper, subtler and more advanced experience of the journey of Christing.

Baptized in the mystic fires of the Christ Path initiation, Andrew emerged with a singular ability to speak directly to our hearts with profound, poetic prose that is nothing short of a rallying cry for the soul.

With patience and wisdom that come from a lifetime of study and mystical experience, he’ll guide you through practices of heart, mind and body to help you awaken and embody Christ Consciousness.

He’ll illuminate how you can engage with Christianity as a more universal path — one that extends beyond the confines of religious dogma to bring more divinity into your daily life.

As you’ll see when you enroll in this 9-month training, Andrew is deeply passionate about sharing his wisdom of the life of Jesus Christ with you — not as a man who exclusively represented God, but rather as the “First Coming” of an embodied divine consciousness.

Andrew explains that Jesus came to earth not to be “the way” but to lead the way … to an evolutionary path that would birth a wholly new kind of human being — one that is an incarnation of the divine on earth, just as Jesus himself was.

In other words, Jesus was not a great exception but a great example of what is possible when human consciousness is expanded to receive the Divine.

This is the real meaning of the Second Coming, which is taking place through the rising of a sacred consciousness in hundreds of thousands of beings around the world.

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In the Christ Path Advanced Intensive, Andrew peels away centuries of misinterpretation and distortion and arrives at the luminous core of mystical Christianity, unearthing the priceless jewels of Christ’s life for you.

Andrew is truly one of the most transformational teachers and speakers in the world. “The light he sheds,” says Marianne Williamson, “is like a meteor burst across the inner sky."

Here are what past participants of The Christ Path are saying:

I LOVED this course. It brought me to tears several times! The content was superb. The extras were thought-provoking and relevant to today’s issues. I found Andrew himself to be such a shining example of the kind of human we can ALL be. He’s a great example of humility and grace, and his knowledge of the subject matter is both academic and personal. To live the way he does is something to aspire to — or to let loose from within! Thanks SO much! More, more, more Andrew Harvey, please!

– Lisa, Chicago, Illinois

The Christ Path with Andrew Harvey was a life-changing experience. Every lecture was the perfect balance of grounded realism and Spiritual ecstasy. I am so grateful for this beloved, authentic, passionate and visionary soul and the urgent message he brings at this time. I hope his message is heard by many for the sake of the planet and all beings!

– Amata, La Cienega, New Mexico

The Christ Path course was life altering. It offered a clear, challenging and supportive template for continuing on the vital evolutionary path of the sacred activist. Andrew Harvey is a true reflection of what a divine human is and his teaching style is exceptional.

– Melanie, Herndon, Virginia

This course was such a blessing for me. I have been studying Andrew’s teachings on the mystical Christ Path for several years. Andrew is more than a pioneer in this area, he is a visionary and a prophet for our time. The richness of his scholarly work and the depth of his personal mystical insights are so far ahead of anyone else’s teaching at this time. The world is finally starting to catch up with him and we are all blessed that he continues to share so generously with the world. Thank you to The Shift Network for making his teachings available in a format that makes it easy to access and study in even more depth. His teachings are truly priceless.

– Stephanie, Charlotte, North Carolina

This is the most rigorous, in-depth, no-holds-barred online course Andrew has ever taught. This sacred offering from his heart to yours is a chance to harvest the bounty of a lifetime of mystical practice and rigorous scholarship.

If you hunger for a more authentic relationship with Jesus and the Christian tradition — and yearn to live a more fully embodied sacred life — the Christ Path Advanced Intensive is the perfect vehicle for you.

You can get all the details about this transformative course here.

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With love,
Stephen Dinan


PS- Remember that Andrew’s program starts TOMORROW, Wednesday, June 1, at 5:00pm Pacific, with the first session, “Advanced Principles of the Christ Path: Awakening the Divine Human.” You can register in time to join by clicking here.

TAKEN

First, you must let your heart
be broken open
in a way you have never
felt before,
 cannot imagine.

You will
not know if what you are feeling
 is anguish or joy,
 something predestined
or merely old
wounds flowing once more,
 reminders of all that is
 unfinished in your life.

Something will flood into
your chest
like air sweetened by
desert honeysuckle,
 love that is too strong.

You will stand there,
very still,
not seeing what this is.

Later, you will not remember
any of this
until the next time
when you will say,
yes, yes, I have known this before, 
it has come again,
just as your lids close shut
another time.

Dorothy Walters
from A Cloth of Fine Gold

Note: The following is an announcement  of a very important video conference to be given, beginning in June.  I love the descriptions of the sessions and the overall perspective, for they describe the very path I have followed for years, beginning with how we are all being affected by the infusions of Shakti that are coming our way these days.  I made my journey alone (many years ago), but think how wonderful it would be to have a supportive community as you go through the stages of the awakening process.  (Actually, my process still continues, even to this day.  We are never "finished," always "works in progress.)

Wise Women Waking Up Meeting What Is, As It Is—Whatever It Is
Video-Conference for a Small Group of Women 50+ Years Young
~
Twelve 90-minute Sessions ~ Twice Monthly
Begins June 14 – November, 2016
~
~ Tuesdays 5:30 PM ET, 3:30 MT, 2:30 PT ~
~
Please Email to Register by June 1, 2016
Space is limited to six women in each group.
~~
 We are all being affected by the more powerful, higher vibrations of Shakti
that are moving and awakening our consciousness from third dimensional awareness, through the fourth, which is very liminal, and into the new life of fifth dimensional consciousness. We are being ‘re-wired’. Healing our hearts is happening faster, as is the expansion of consciousness and we are all experiencing the varied phenomena that occur in this process. For many of us, Aging is part of this new vibrational shift. What does this mean to us as women over 50? We are not aging in the same ways our elders did, nor are we living in the same world. This is new territory for all of us to explore.
You may be noticing emotional ups and downs, old issues being triggered so they can heal, physical issues rising to the surface, including exhaustion, outer changes in your life and work, your nervous system feeling more sensitive and reactive than usual, relationships getting bumpy, falling away, or asking for change, and a myriad of other expected and unexpected large and small shifts in you and your Life. Divine Arrangement is orchestrating everything perfectly, and it lifts our vibration to look for the blessings and gifts from these challenges.

Whatever is going on, somehow there is always a lesson, a blessing, an opportunity implicit but not necessarily recognized on the front end of what’s arising. We may find these initiations a lot easier when we can share and be held in sacred space (aka temenos) by a group of sisters. This is a come-as-you-are-and- bring-what-matters-to-you to your-
group. All subjects are welcome and worthy of inquiry and discussion—we are not limited to aging, dying, and death. We are very much interested in LIFE and the infinite possibilities that are available, and perhaps not yet discovered, through the initiations that take place through these stages of life. If this calls to you, ask inside what your intention is... you may have more than one. Whatever it is we will support you with further opening of hearts and deepening of spiritual inquiry and awakeness. Ultimately, it’s all about Love in one way or another.

All who join are making a commitment to be fully present and accountable—
physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, financially, and in terms of participation. This is not a come-and-listen group, although there may be a time when that is all you can do and that’s okay. Each and every woman’s input is important, is a holographic reflection for each of us and the whole group. Divine Arrangement will gather those who are meant to be here with us. Exactly the right women will show up and each of us will get whatever it is that is needed.

My Intention is to hold a sacred and safe space where anything that needs tending can be tended, new tools for consciousness can be shared, along with guided meditations, sacred questions, your creations of art or writing can be witnessed, and, if you ask, your feet held to the fire of awakening and accountability. I will suggest readings and listenings, poetry, and writing, and I strongly recommend using writing and/or collage or other art as a way of documenting your Journey. You can keep it to yourself or offer to the group for creative audience, a non-critical, non-threatening way of giving response to your offerings.
Always we are in the Unknown and I will offer practices and processes for meeting LIFE AS IT IS, which is not a small task when we see what LIFE is bringing our way these days.

What is your longing? Is your heart hurting? Do you feel out of alignment or as if something is missing? What support do you want and need right now, and with what in particular? Do you need guidance through all the changes you are going through? Do you long for deep conversation and sacred circle with women who are engaged in the play of consciousness and living an awakened life? Space is limited so the group can be as intimate and supportive as possible.

The artwork above is a collage titled, “Door to New Life” that I created several months ago during my packing and moving process, as a way of documenting this current phase of my unfolding journey. I thank the artists whose work was incorporated in this piece. I truly am now in a new life!!
~~~
Comments from women in current Wise Women Groups

I have been actively on this spiritual path for over 45 years and have never found anything to compare to the depth, honesty, juiciness, and intimacy of these heart centered groups with Sheila and women of the Temenos community. If you are ready for the next step along the path, this could be it. I invite you to enter this circle of wise women,
who will allow you to have your voice and support you in whatever way is needed.
With love and gratitude,
~Krishnakamini, WV

Our group has given me a village of wise women to count on.
To be seen, heard, loved, accepted, embraced with whatever shows up in my life. It has brought me closer to meeting my soul needs of belonging, transforming, serving and being served and fun! I am so blessed by it.
~Penelope, PA

It’s been good to immerse myself in the Wise Woman archetypes, especially, for me, Hekate. Our conversations as a group and individually about where we are with our own aging processes and challenges have been a great opportunity for me to see where I’m feeling grounded in this time in my life, and where I want to throw more light. The books that Sheila has recommended have created a bigger context, particularly The Wild Edge of Sorrow and Goddesses in Older Women. I’m looking forward to what emerges as our group continues to meet.
~Linda, VA

Logistics Details
• Tuition is $600 for the workshop for all six months due with registration. I can take credit cards (MC & Visa), checks, or cash. Tuition can be made in two payments.
• The commitment of time and payment is for the entire six months. Please go deep within to be sure you are called to this.
• If you should you change your mind before the first meeting, there is a full refund minus a $50 service charge. After that there is no refund as your seat cannot be filled once the group has begun. The group size is limited to six women.
• Please email me to register and if we have not met, or if we have and you want to talk about this, let’s have a phone call.
• Dates: 12 meetings:
June 14 &28; July 12 & 26; August 9 & 23; September 6 & 20; October 4 & 18; November 1 & 22, 2016.
• I will send you a covenant with all of the details of our agreement when you email me. If you feel called to commit to the group, please sign the covenant (typing it in is ok), and return to me, keeping a copy for yourself. Payment is due with Registration. Please understand that your heartful commitment is for the full journey. You may have to miss a meeting or two, and that’s ok. If I need to re- schedule a meeting we will do so by consensus.
~~~
If we have not yet met, I would like to talk with you by phone, so please email me for info
and/or conversation about your participation and any questions you have of me. temenosctr@aol.com
~~~
Zoom.us video conferencing will be used. You can download it for free. Please do that before the first conference meeting. Zoom allows us to see each other. If you do not have the bandwidth for video, you can also call in. I will send you an invitation before each meeting with the link. All you have to do is click the link or follow the instructions for calling in.
Sheila Foster, M.A.
Founder & Steward of the Temenos Center, The School for Women Healers, and the Temple of the Sacred Feminine

I received an MA in Counseling Psychology in 1978 and a BA in English with an Art minor. My real education began in 1980 when I began my studies in consciousness, shamanism, Jungian psychology, the Feminine, and the nature and dynamics of Shadow. In 1982, my personal and professional path became clear while in Jungian analysis when I had a series of ‘big’ dreams and a life-changing awakening of the Kundalini Shakti. I founded the Temenos Center, then the School for Women Healers training program in Samyama Healing emerged, and that evolved into the Temple of the Sacred Feminine, a vessel specifically for women’s spiritual initiation.

I began offering my work with the Sacred Feminine and awareness of Kundalini and spiritual emergence to mental health and clergy professionals in the Baltimore- Washington, D.C. area, where I started a branch of the Spiritual Emergence Network. Besides classes, workshops, performance pieces, retreats, and a training and supervision group for healing professionals, I have presented at conferences, mental health organizations, churches, and Jung groups. I co-created and co-directed an evocumentary film about Sacred Feminine Initiation called Eve’s Fire. Writing, photography, and making art are important to me personally and to my work. Divine Arrangement has played a significant role in my life since childhood.

My path and work as a guide, mentor, initiatory elder, and teacher of the ancient yogic practice of Samyama supports women and men as they go through their own
spiritual awakenings and initiations. I am particularly excited about and interested in spiritual awakening, matrix energetics, the overlap of quantum physics with non-dual spirituality, ancestral work, and systemic constellations. I have continued to work in Maryland since I moved to Boulder nearly 20 years ago and recently began offering my work in Boulder. I work with women individually and in groups. Coming in September, is a year-long program in the Temple of the Sacred Feminine. Info will be available in June.

Resources
http://www.templeofthesacredfeminine.com
http://www.temenoscenterforawakening.com - Under construction, please check it out around mid-June. This new site will incorporate the Temple of the Sacred Feminine. http://www.themysticalunionofloveandheartbreak.blogspot.com
 

Bosons

Satyendra Nath Bose, born l894 in British Calcutta,
was an ordinary looking man. He could have been
a shopkeeper
dispensing sweets,
or worked for the railroads as a clerk or under engineer, the way his father did.
Even his eyes do not yield his secret,
his hidden seeing.

Without a Ph. D., he entered
the world of science and came up
with conclusions startling for their novelty.
                                                                                                                                                                                                     
At first his ideas
were derided,
his notions of skewed statistics seen as absurd
(everyone knows that if you
flip a coin, one side
is bound to come up
exactly fifty percent of the time,
not two-thirds as he claimed
for the subatomic realm). Predictably,
the journals turned him down,
and not until Einstein lent his name to the discovery
did he see print for
 his mind boggling notion (later further verified through Heisenbergʼs uncertainly principle.)

His approach was later known by both their names, Bose-Einstein statistics.
In physics, he is remembered
as the namesake of “bosons,” indescribably minute subatomic particles which exist at the quantum level
and are hard to pin down.
Many made reputations for
research based
on his findings,
but he never was given
the Nobel Prize,
though his now is ranked
among the most
significant scientific contributions
of our time.

The most famous boson
is the God particle,
the one that will explain everything,
the one we were still looking for
until recently
and now claim to have found.

Dorothy Walters

An Outstanding Movie

Recently I saw the movie called "The Man Who Knew Infinity."  The story (based on a true life experience) concerns an Indian (Srinivasan Ramanujan Iyengar) who comes from an extremely impoverished background but who is, for mysterious reasons, a highly gifted mathematician.  At first he operates in total anonymity, for he lacks any kind of contacts or support from the academic community.  He fills his notebooks with highly complex equations, so advanced that almost no one can understand them.  Finally, he receives a scholarship from Cambridge University (in England) and goes there hoping to publish his extensive findings.

As one might expect, the senior faculty scorn his work and he is often challenged and denigrated as a fraud.

Finally, proof of his genius is overwhelming and he is recognized as the brilliant scholar that he is.

But the fact is, he is no scholar, though his work is indeed brilliant.  When he is pressed to say how he discovers his formulae, he says he prays to his goddess, and the answers simply come.  In other words, he works by divine inspiration and shortcuts the laborious task of following the standard procedure: carefully moving point by point to a final conclusion.  He ultimately has been recognized as one of the most important mathematicians of all time.

This, of course, is how other geniuses have worked, with Mozart being a prime example.  He said that sometimes her "received" entire symphonies in his head all at once.

And of course, there is Rumi, who danced in trance and in that state spoke his poems aloud (fortunately, his students copied them as he spoke).  It is said that Shakespeare "never blotted a single line."

Two nights ago, I happened on a T. V. program called "Little Big Shots" which is hosted by Steve Harvey.  This show focuses on highly gifted children from various fields (music, karate, and others).  One was a kid who appeared to be about 5 years old performing highly advanced math solutions very much the way  Ramanujan did.  I think he was doing it by “intuition” though he did not discuss this.  He spoke in his baby voice in his answers to extremely advanced and complex questions of math.  When he was asked to read aloud a series of figures stretching across the board, he did so, beginning with some word I did not even recognize (well beyond trillions and zillions).  How does he know all this?  He must be one of the "new children" coming into the world with knowledge and gifts well beyond their years.  (You can see a sample of his abilities at work at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAMxbHQyPdk  for April 16, 2016––or else just google "little big shots baby math genius").

I think that many of us get small tastes of this ability.  When I write poems, these come through very quickly and I do little revision or change.  I write at the typewriter and listen to the "inner voice" which speaks quite rapidly.  If I try to insert major changes into the work, these often make the poem worse.  It seems that the poems wish to remain intact just as they flow from source.

But we should add, that usually major inspirations only come to those who have a strong background in the field already.  When inexperienced writers (or would be artists in any field) try to compose solely by "inspiration,"  their work often falls short, unless, of course, they possess the "gift," and are seemingly blessed by the unknown source.

Your Particular Pain

Hold on to your particular pain.
That too can take you to God.
                                  Rumi

Only a moment ago
I was floating beneath
waterfulls,
basking
in their flower scent.

Now I am standing
in a desert,
where nothing blooms
and no sound is heard.

I do not know
how I got here,
when I may leave.

Now all I really want to do
is to try to remember
all that has passed between us,
and kneel and weep.

How It Happens

First, you stand and the energies move inside,
sweet as ripened pears
cool in the mouth,
soft as honey
straight from the hive.

You move a bit, fingers drawn in almost invisibly, eyes shifting secretly,
no one must see.

And then you remember, what would those others think,
the gurus and teachers
who told you these moments do not exist.

But you are solitary and safe,
alone in your own house,
clothed or naked,
this is your precious time with the Beloved,
who welcomes you
and holds you as bliss.

Dorothy Walters
October 1, 2010

How utterly amazing is someone who flees from something he cannot escape

By Ibn Ata' Illah
(1250 - 1309)

English version by Victor Danner

How utterly amazing is someone who flees from something he cannot escape
          to seek something that will not last!

"It is not the eyes that are blind,
          but the hearts in the breasts are blind."

Do not travel from phenomenal being to phenomenal being.
You will be like the donkey going around at the mill.
          It travels to what it set out from.

Travel from phenomenal beings
                    to the Maker of Being.

"And the final end is to your Lord."

MorningSong-1

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches ---
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead ---
if it's all you can do
to keep on trudging ---

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted ---

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.


~ Mary Oliver ~


(Dream Work)

(image from internet)











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More on the Princeton study:


Recently there has been much discussion as to whether America is still a democracy or whether it has been transformed into an oligarchy (rule by the rich).  Here is a more nuanced discussion of the subject by the authors of the original Princeton study.  They feel the term "oligarchy" for many refers to the rule by a very few of the wealthy and therefore do not use it in their study.  However, they do conclude that What "Economic Elite Domination" and "Biased Pluralism" mean is that rather than average citizens of moderate means having an important role in determining policy, ability to shape outcomes is restricted to people at the top of the income distribution and to organized groups that represent primarily -- although not exclusively -- business.  Personally, I think this describes an oligarchy.

Indeed, many have described the present political makeup of the country as an "oligarchy," including Jimmy Carter and Robert Reich among others.  To read more on this topic, simply google "America oligarchy," a site which offers much relevant information.  The facts are pretty impressive.  

Scholar Behind Viral 'Oligarchy' Study Tells You What It Means

By SAHIL KAPUR.  Published APRIL 22, 2014 in TPM.

A new political science study that's gone viral finds that majority-rule democracy exists only in theory in the United States -- not so much in practice. The government caters to the affluent few and organized interest groups, the researchers find, while the average citizen's influence on policy is "near zero."

"[T]he preferences of economic elites," conclude Princeton's Martin Gilens and Northwestern's Benjamin I. Page, who work with the nonprofit Scholars Strategy Network, "have far more independent impact upon policy change than the preferences of average citizens do."

TPM spoke to Gilens about the study, its main findings and its lessons.

You published an advance copy of your study on April 9th, and in just the last few days there's been an explosion of coverage and interest. Are you pleased, shocked, overwhelmed, all of the above?

I'm delighted to be able to contribute to a terribly important public discussion. And I'm thrilled that there's so much interest and concern about the issues. It takes on a life of its own. I'm sure you've noticed, this notion of America being an oligarchy seems to be a dominant meme in the discussion of our work. It's not a term that we used in the paper. It's just a dramatic sort of overstatement of our findings. So it's been interesting for me. Typically my work is read by a few dozen political scientists and I don't get this kind of response.

Let's talk about the study. If you had 30 seconds to sum up the main conclusion of your study for the average person, how would you do so?

I'd say that contrary to what decades of political science research might lead you to believe, ordinary citizens have virtually no influence over what their government does in the United States. And economic elites and interest groups, especially those representing business, have a substantial degree of influence. Government policy-making over the last few decades reflects the preferences of those groups -- of economic elites and of organized interests.

You say the United States is more like a system of "Economic Elite Domination" and "Biased Pluralism" as opposed to a majoritarian democracy. What do those terms mean? Is that not just a scholarly way of saying it's closer to oligarchy than democracy if not literally an oligarchy?

People mean different things by the term oligarchy. One reason why I shy away from it is it brings to mind this image of a very small number of very wealthy people who are pulling strings behind the scenes to determine what government does. And I think it's more complicated than that. It's not only Sheldon Adelson or the Koch brothers or Bill Gates or George Soros who are shaping government policy-making. So that's my concern with what at least many people would understand oligarchy to mean. What "Economic Elite Domination" and "Biased Pluralism" mean is that rather than average citizens of moderate means having an important role in determining policy, ability to shape outcomes is restricted to people at the top of the income distribution and to organized groups that represent primarily -- although not exclusively -- business.

Would you say the government is most responsive to income earners at the top 10 percent, the top 1 percent or the top 0.1 percent?

This is a great question and it's not one we can answer with the data that we used in the study. Because we really don't have good info about what the top 1 percent or 10 percent want or what issues they're engaged with. As you can imagine, this is not really a group that's eager to talk with researchers.

How exactly do you measure the preferences of average citizens in an academic way? Polls show that many American voters feel on a gut level that the government isn't looking out for them. But what kind of data do you use to test this theory and how confident are you in the conclusions?

What we did was to collect survey questions that asked whether respondents would favor or oppose some particular change in federal government policy. These were questions asked across the decades from 1981 to 2002. And so from each of those questions we know what citizens of average income level prefer and we know what people at the top of the income distribution say they want. For each of the 2,000 possible policy changes we determined whether in fact they've been adopted or not. I had a large number of research assistants who spent years putting that data together.

There are criticisms of your study within the academic community. Some say public opinion surveys are a poor measure because people don't understand policy or that their stated preferences are self-contradictory. Tyler Cowen says citizens vote retrospectively so it's better to judge on outputs rather than whether voters get their preferred inputs. How do you respond?

These are all good questions. They're questions I address in some length in my book, "Affluence and Influence." There is some truth to some of these perspectives. But in a nutshell I think citizens overall have fairly sensible policy preferences which appear not to change much if citizens have an opportunity to learn more and debate the policy and view pros and cons.

Talk about some examples of policy preferences that the majority holds that the government is not responsive to.

Financial reform -- the deregulatory agenda has been pursued, somewhat more fervently among Republicans but certainly by Democrats as well in recent decades. Higher minimum wage. More support for the unemployed. More support for education spending. We'd see, perhaps ironically, less liberal policies in some domains like religious or moral issues. Affluent people tend to be more socially liberal on things like abortion or gay rights.

Which party, Democrat or Republican, caters to the interests of the rich more? Does your research find them to be equal or is one more responsive than the other?

We didn't look at that in this paper. Other work I've done suggest it depends. There are a set of economic issues on which the Democratic party is more consistently supportive of the needs of the poor and middle class. But it's by no means a strong relationship. Both parties have to a large degree embraced a set of policies that reflect the needs, preferences and interests of the well to do.

Relatedly, does divided government like we have now make politicians more or less likely to cater to the affluent than one-party control?

It does seem, absolutely, that divided government has the effect of reducing the amount of policy that gets adopted, restricting the policies that get adopted that are more broadly popular.

When did things start to become this way?

It's possible that in earlier eras, that we don't have data for, that things were better. But in the time period that we do have data for, there's certainly no such evidence. Over time responsiveness to elites has grown.

It seems to me the paradox here is that sometimes non-rich people favor an agenda that supports the rich. For instance, middle class tea partiers want low taxes on the highest earners, just as Steve Forbes does. Isn't that still democracy at work, albeit in an arguably perverse way?

Yes, absolutely. I think people are entitled to preferences that conflict with their immediate interests -- narrowly conceived interests. That may be an example of that. Opposition to the estate tax among low-income individuals is another. But what we see in this study is that's not what this is happening. We don't look at whether preferences expressed by these different groups are consistent or inconsistent with their interests, narrowly conceived. We just look at whether they're responded to by government policy-makers, and we find that in the case of ordinary Americans, they're not.

How does a system like this perpetuate itself when after all it's ordinary voters who cast their ballots and elect their leaders. Theoretically they can change it in a heartbeat. Why don't they?

That's a very good question. I don't have a complete answer for you. Part of it clearly is that while politicians need votes while in office, they need money to obtain and retain office. So they need to balance the activities that will benefit them in terms of money with the activities that'll benefit them in terms of votes. Voters are not particularly effective at holding politicians accountable for the policies they adopt. Voters also have a limited choice set when going into an election. We find that policies adopted during presidential election years in particular are more consistent with public preferences than policies adopted in other years of the electoral cycle.

What are the three or four most crucial factors that have made the United States this way?

Very good question. I'd say two crucial factors. One central factor is the role of money in our political system, and the overwhelming role that affluent individuals that affluent individuals and organized interests play, in campaign finance and in lobbying. And the second thing is the lack of mass organizations that represent and facilitate the voice of ordinary citizens. Part of that would be the decline of unions in the country which has been quite dramatic over the last 30 or 40 years. And part of it is the lack of a socialist or a worker's party.

What does the broader social science literature say about societies that go into this non-democracy state? Do you see this as a pendulum that swings back and forth, or is it a sort of tipping point from which there's no way back?

That's kind of a gloomy question!

It's my job to ask those.

I don't know. There have been periods -- the ages of Robber Barons and Trusts, the progressive era where there was too much concern about concentration of power. I'm not a historian, so I don't know -- maybe it takes a Great Depression.

Your study calls to mind something that Dennis Kucinich, the former congressman, said years ago during the recession. He essentially said the class war is over and the working class lost. Was he right?

I mean, for now, it certainly seems like it. The middle class has not done well over the last three and a half decades, and certainly has not done well during the Great Recession. The political system responded to the crisis in a way that led to a pretty nice recovery for economic elites and corporations.

Given your findings, what do you make of the great sense of persecution that people at the top appear to feel in recent years? Is there a phenomenon you came by that speaks to this, and does that perpetuate the cycle of policy moving in their direction?

It's certainly not something our study or data has addressed. But it's part of an effort to defend, in the face of growing inequality, their advantages and wealth.

Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite writers, even though she is indeed a skeptic and often somewhat cynical in her writings.  Yet, her insights are for the most part on target and without doubt true descriptions of part of our human journey.

For me, her best book by far was "Surfacing" where, in dramatic contrast to most of her narratives, the "heroine" undergoes a significant spiritual transformation, this while she is alone on an isolated island in the Canadian wilderness.  The experience is an initiation into realms of consciousness that she has previously had no awareness of.


The Moment

The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,

is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can't breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.

~ Margaret Atwood ~

(Morning in the Burned House)

(picture from google)

NOTICE:  JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT I HAVE NOW FOUND A NEW APARTMENT.  IT IS IN FACT IN THE SAME BUILDING WHERE I LIVE AT PRESENT.  I AM VERY HAPPY TO THINK OF THIS MUCH EASIER MOVE. THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR GOOD THOUGHTS AND WISHES!

I traveled a long way seeking God

By Lalla
(14th Century)

English version by Swami Muktananda

I traveled a long way seeking God,
but when I finally gave up and turned back,
there He was, within me!

O Lalli!
Now why do you wander
like a beggar?
Make some effort,
and He will grant you
a vision of Himself
in the form of bliss
in your heart.

Here is a description from the Poetry Foundation:

Born in modern-day Kashmir, 14th-century Kashmiri saint and mystic poet Lal Ded (Mother Lalla), also known as Lalla or Lalleshwari, was married at the age of 12 into a family that was reported to have regularly mistreated her. After becoming a disciple of Sidh Srikanth, she renounced her material life and marriage to become a devotee of the god Shiva. As a mystic, she wandered naked, reciting her proverbs and quatrain-based poems. Lal Ded often used her poetry as a peaceful means of engagement with both Shaivism and Sufism.

(Image found on internet.  It is, of course, merely an artist's rendering.   Notice that she is holding the trident, which is the mark of a Shaivite.)

On the cover of the famous album called "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," is a group of people, some famous, with four unknowns included.  These four have been identified as four gurus who were of special interest to George Harrison in his spiritual journey.  All are included in Yogananda's autobiography, a book that deeply influenced Harrison and Steve Jobs, among others.  At his funeral, Jobs arranged that each person should receive a copy of Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi", a work which had impressed  him greatly, with its emphasis on "Self Realization."  At goyogananda.com you can receive a free copy of the book and also read it free online.

from Richard Salva:

The stories of these great masters of yoga are told in Yogananda's autobiography in poetic detail. Their lives were intertwined with one another, and together they comprised some of the brightest stars in the celestial firmament of Indian saints - recharging the sacred soil of Mother India with their teachings, their presence, and their uplifting influence.

Paramhansa Yogananda
Situated on the Sgt. Pepper cover in the upper right corner below Bob Dylan is the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. This great saint was given the title of "Paramhansa" (highest swan) by his guru, and called "premavatar" (incarnation of divine love) by his most advanced disciple… (Read Full Bio)

Swami Sri Yukteswar
In the upper left corner of the Sgt. Pepper group photo we see the serene face of Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. This great sage was the guru of Yogananda, and the disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya. His penetrating mind and the depths of his spiritual perceptions earned him the title of "gyanavatar" (incarnation of wisdom). … (Read Full Bio)

Lahiri Mahasaya
If we look closely we can spot this advanced yogi on the Beatles album cover, his half-closed eyes peeking out at us to the left of Lewis Carroll, in the third row from the top … (Read Full Bio)

Babaji
The guru of Lahiri Mahasaya can be found in the second row to the right of writer William S. Burroughs. Like Lahiri, Babaji's image is partly hidden on the cover. This is perhaps appropriate, for Babaji's powerful, sublime influence wafts over an unknowing world without fanfare - secret and sacred, like the reclusive master himself … (Read Full Bio)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Richard Salva is the author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh.

Note:  Here is a site that may help you get back to the original article, where you can then ask to read the full bios:

The Gurus of Sergeant Pepper - About Hinduism
hinduism.about.com › ... › Hinduism › Gurus & Saints
Find out who these saints are, and what's so special about them. ... ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richard Salva is the author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh  ...

(picture by  N.M. Rai)

Happy Mother's  Day, everyone!  And happy Nurturant Day for those who do not  fulfill the role of biological parent but give loving friendship to others.



(picture of Tami from website)

Tami Simon is the founder and producer of SoundsTrue, the premiere source of spiritual recordings in the U. S.  She has been a pioneer in every way.  I remember how many years ago SoundsTrue would come to various workshops and record the presentations of the folks who spoke there.  Today, most of her interviews are held in her studio in Colorado, with the speakers coming there to be recorded.  She also was one of the first (and still one of the few) to operate a business according to spiritual principles, and she has been extremely successful in her venture.  Thus she has been a role model and inspiration to many, especially women seeking to find their own way in the commercial and spiritual worlds.

Though Tami has herself introduced and engaged in dialogue with hundreds of well known spiritual leaders, she has to date never recorded her own thoughts reflecting the wisdom gained through her own lifetime.  She has now released a set of recordings in which she speaks in her own voice on the theme of "Being True."  Tami has been true in every way, from owning her own sexuality to maintaining honesty and integrity in her business dealings.  She points out that in order to honor our own true selves, we may have to hurt those we love who want us to follow a more traditional path.  She also stresses that she has not been a subscriber to any one tradition or lineage but rather has gleaned the best learnings from many teachers along the way.

Here is what Paul Behrman, COO of SoundsTrue,  says about Tami's new recording:

Hi, 

When I joined Sounds True, I felt only a single calling — waking up. At the time, I was exposed to only a few spiritual teachers. In Being True, Tami shares the notion that teachers have particular areas of expertise and that all teachers are partial. While many of us yearn for our one guru with the answers to all of life’s questions, Tami suggests that this is not the case. 

Before I came to Sounds True, I was singularly focused on dropping my identification with ego. Frankly, I was missing out on a number of important growth areas in my life. In particular, I covered up and hid some of my so-called “negative” emotions — a pretty serious gap in my development. 

In Being True, Tami addresses this common occurrence on the spiritual path as one of the eight most important lessons she’s learned over the last 30 years. Tami weaves these lessons (from different teachers on different subjects) together to create a beautiful tapestry. 

I wish I could recommend this program to myself 10 years ago! It would have accelerated my spiritual and personal development immeasurably. 

You can download the first portion of Being True for free or you can purchase the whole program here. 

With blessings, 
  
Paul Behrman

COO, Sounds true

(Unfortunately, the link to listen to these excerpts free does not work once the copy is transferred to another site.   However, you can buy the set from SoundsTrue.  I have listened to the opening segments and I recommend them without reservation.  Tami speaks truth about your life, your relationships, and your work in a way that is remarkably clear and preceptive.  What she says is the distillation of a lifetime of practice and thoughtfulness.  She is a true wisdom teacher and offers jewels of insight that will enrich your life many times over.)

Here are the topics included on the first session:

ntroduction to Session 1
An offering
The promptings of my true heart
There’s only one of you
Go into the darkness
Our authentic life comes from open space
The courage to follow our guidance
Let the phenomenal world play
The natural unfolding of our authentic self
“God, I’m willing to do your work”
Disseminate spiritual wisdom
Our true prayers are answered

Introduction to Session 2
“Hey dominant culture, you’re destroying the world!”

Three bottom lines

Purchase:

Being True
What Matters Most in Work, Life, and Love
Tami Simon
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Description
“When I took my first steps on the spiritual path,” says Tami Simon, “I was looking for answers to life’s greatest mysteries. Over time I learned that the best books and teachers pointed us inward—to our own experience—and that this is where we can find our greatest sense of aliveness and purpose.” On Being True, the founder of Sounds True distills essential lessons learned from 30 years of exploring the edge where spiritual wisdom meets the challenges of work, life, and love. Join her for four intimate sessions on:

Being true as a process—five keys for living in integrity

Spirituality in action—how we can apply our highest values in the workplace and in our relationships

Her most transformative encounters with spiritual teachers

Sounds True listeners and followers of the Insights at the Edge podcast series have heard Tami introducing and interviewing leading voices in spirituality, science, and creativity. Now she speaks to you directly as a fellow traveler on the journey—sharing her most valuable insights on honoring your inner imperatives in the real world, meeting setbacks with an open heart, and remaining alive to the inner voice that always encourages each of us to “be true.”

Blind Prophet––Part Two

THE MOST FAMOUS BABA VANGA PROPHECIES TO ‘COME TRUE’

Predicted in the 1950s: Global warming and the 2004 Tsunami.
“Cold regions will become warm … and volcanoes will awaken. A huge wave will cover a big coast covered with people and towns, and everything will disappear beneath the water.”

“Everything will melt, just like ice.”

Predicted in 1989: The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers.
“Horror, horror! The American brethren (believed to be a reference to the two ‘brother’ towers) will fall after being attacked by the steel birds (thought to be the two hijacked passenger planes). “The wolves will be howling in a bush (believed to be a reference to then US president George Bush) and innocent blood will gush.”

Predicted in 1980: The sinking of Russian nuclear submarine the Kursk in 2000.
It saw the crew die horrible deaths over several days while international rescue crews tried in vain to retrieve the vessel from the depths of the ocean. Until the tragedy, people assumed the “Kursk” Vanga referred to was the Russian city the Kursk was named for.
“At the turn of the century, in August of 1999 or 2000, Kursk will be covered with water, and the whole world will be weeping over it.”

The election of Barack Obama.
Vanga reportedly correctly predicted that the 44th president of the United States would be African American. However, she also stated that he would be the “last US president”. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.

Continued:

A BLIND mystic who reportedly foretold 9/11, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear spill and the birth of ISIS also made dire predictions for 2016 and beyond.

Bulgaria-born Prophetess Baba Vanga, who died in 1996 aged 85, was known as “Nostradamus from the Balkans” thanks to a purported 85 per cent success rate and has long been revered in Russia and Europe as a kind of supernatural saint.

Of the hundreds of predictions Vanga made over her 50-year career as a celebrated clairvoyant, a large number alluded to natural and climate change-related disasters. She warned of melting polar ice caps and rising sea temperatures back in the 1950s, decades before anyone had heard of global warming.

Her followers believe her vivid description of a “huge wave” that would descend on a “big coast, covering people and towns and (causing) everything to disappear under the water” was a reference to the 2004 tsunami and earthquake which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the Pacific Rim.

But it’s Vanga’s preoccupation with a “great Muslim war” that has sent believers, conspiracy theorists and Islamophobics into a doomsday frenzy in recent months as the world struggles to contain the escalating threat from Islamic State and its affiliates.
The chilling prophecies warn of a 2016 invasion of Europe by Muslim extremists, a conflict she predicted would begin with the Arab Spring in 2010, play out in Syria where “Muslims would use chemical warfare against Europeans”, and culminate in the establishment of a caliphate by 2043 with Rome at its epicenter.

According to Vanga, Europe as we know it will “cease to exist” by the end of next year following the systematic elimination of entire populations, leaving the continent “almost empty”, a “wasteland almost entirely devoid of any form of life”.

If that sounds dramatic, consider the developments of the past year, which has seen ISIS edge perilously close to Europe with the taking of Sirte, a key Libyan city overlooking the Mediterranean and the birthplace of the late dictator Gaddafi.

Sirte is now an Islamic State colony operating under Sharia Law. The new regime reportedly cemented its authority by staging a series of public executions, during which an unknown number of people were crucified and beheaded.

And ISIS continues to gain ground in Syria, despite a massive bombing campaign by allied forces in the wake of the Paris attacks. To devotees and others consumed by fear of an impending apocalypse, it’s as if Vanga’s deadly prophecies are unfolding before their very eyes.

FROM ‘ILLITERATE’ VILLAGE GIRL TO APOCALYPTIC ANGEL

Baba Vanga was born Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova in Strumica, a village located at the foot of a volcanic mountain range in what was then the Ottoman Empire.

According to folklore, she led an ordinary life up until the age of 12, when she mysteriously lost her eyesight during a massive storm — described by some as a freak tornado. According to folklore, the youngster was flung into the air and then dashed to the ground by a powerful gust of wind.

What happened next is murky but her family reportedly found her in a terrible state several days later, her injured eyes sealed shut and encrusted with a thick layer of dust and dirt. Too poor to afford specialist care, she was relegated to a life of blindness.
Vanga later stated that she had experienced her first vision during the days she was missing and believed she had been instilled with the ability to heal people and predict the future. She was able to convince others of her paranormal powers and quickly developed a cult following. She became the go-to psychic for the rich and powerful and admirers, among them heads of state, scientists and historians, would come from all over the world for a few minutes in her company.

She later served as an adviser to Bulgarian Communist Party leaders, some of whom allegedly exploited her gift to further their own agendas. She was reportedly kept under surveillance by the country’s secret service and her home, the scene of countless meetings with visiting foreign politician and businessmen, reported bugged.



APOCALYPSE SOON: VANGA’S MAJOR PROPHECIES FROM 2016 ONWARDS

2016: “Muslims” will invade Europe, which will “cease to exist” as we know it. The ensuing campaign of destruction will last years, driving out populations and leaving the entire continent “almost empty”.

2023: The Earth’s orbit will change (nobody really knows what this means).

2025: The population of Europe will reach almost zero.  Note: I am particularly interested in this date.  Yeats the famous poet was also a mystic/visionary.  He foresaw a major shift from this present era (the Christian era) to a new cycle of history in this year, according to the way I interpreted his predictions.  I have long anticipated a major world shift at this time.  I also think we are already in the beginnings of this shift.

2028: Mankind will fly to Venus, in hope of finding new sources of energy.

2033: World water levels will rise as the polar ice caps melt (this is already happening).

2043: Europe’s transformation into an Islamic caliphate is complete. Rome is named the capital. The world’s economy thrives under Muslim rule.

2066: America will use a new climate change weapon for the first time in a bid to retake Rome and bring back Christianity.

2076: Communism will return to Europe and the rest of the world.

2084: Nature is reborn (nobody is really sure what this means).

2100: Man-made sun illuminates the dark side of the planet (This is already in the pipeline — since 2008, scientists have been working on creating an artificial sun using nuclear fusion technology).

2130: With the help of the aliens, civilisations will live underwater.

2170: Major global drought.

2187: Two large volcanic eruptions will be successfully stopped.

2201: Temperatures drop as the sun’s thermonuclear processes slow down.

2262: Planets will slowly change orbits. Mars will be threatened by a comet.

2354: An accident on the artificial sun will result in more drought.

2480: Two artificial suns will collide and leave the Earth in the dark.

3005: A war on Mars will change the trajectory of the planet.

3010: A comet will hit the moon. The Earth will be surrounded by a ring of rock and ash.

3797: By this time, everything on Earth will die. However, human civilisation will be advanced enough to move to a new star system.

I have long been intrigued by prophecies of apocalypse occurring in the future.  Nostradamus,  the Book of Revelations, the Hopi predictions, the Mayan Calendar (now reinterpreted), the Tibetans and other sources speak of a time of universal catastrophe when humankind will suffer near extinction.  I for one do not believe that our own thinking controls such events.  Like Cassandra in Greek drama, Baba Vanga is doomed to foresee the future but cannot change it.

I am not suggesting that her predictions will necessarily come true.  But I do find them worth reflection.  And––and this part is very important––I am not totally depressed by these possibilities.  I think the external structures of society are collapsing all around, but that a new humanity, essentially a new species, is being created at the same time.  This is the "evolutionary leap" that many have predicted.  We are now experiencing the birth pangs of this phenomenon.  Nothing is born without pain.  We are experiencing the pain and the rapture all at the same time as the new human comes into being.  Kindalini is one of the primary agents of this transformation.  Anyone who has gone through the full process of risen Kundalini would, I think, agree.  Others are now struggling to complete their own inner journey.

Baba Vanga reminds me of the blind prophet Tiresias in Oedipus Rex (Sophocles) and elsewhere in Greek drama.  He lost his outer sight but was given inner perception as a kind of compensation.  Indeed, the blind prophet is an archetypal figure in myth and literature.

Who knows what is possible?

More:

Marnie O’Neill
news.com.au

A BLIND mystic who reportedly foretold 9/11, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear spill and the birth of ISIS also made dire predictions for 2016 and beyond.

Bulgaria-born Prophetess Baba Vanga, who died in 1996 aged 85, was known as “Nostradamus from the Balkans” thanks to a purported 85 per cent success rate and has long been revered in Russia and Europe as a kind of supernatural saint.

Of the hundreds of predictions Vanga made over her 50-year career as a celebrated clairvoyant, a large number alluded to natural and climate change-related disasters. She warned of melting polar ice caps and rising sea temperatures back in the 1950s, decades before anyone had heard of global warming.

Her followers believe her vivid description of a “huge wave” that would descend on a “big coast, covering people and towns and (causing) everything to disappear under the water” was a reference to the 2004 tsunami and earthquake which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the Pacific Rim.

But it’s Vanga’s preoccupation with a “great Muslim war” that has sent believers, conspiracy theorists and Islamophobics into a doomsday frenzy in recent months as the world struggles to contain the escalating threat from Islamic State and its affiliates.
The chilling prophecies warn of a 2016 invasion of Europe by Muslim extremists, a conflict she predicted would begin with the Arab Spring in 2010, play out in Syria where “Muslims would use chemical warfare against Europeans”, and culminate in the establishment of a caliphate by 2043 with Rome at its epicenter.

According to Vanga, Europe as we know it will “cease to exist” by the end of next year following the systematic elimination of entire populations, leaving the continent “almost empty”, a “wasteland almost entirely devoid of any form of life”.

If that sounds dramatic, consider the developments of the past year, which has seen ISIS edge perilously close to Europe with the taking of Sirte, a key Libyan city overlooking the Mediterranean and the birthplace of the late dictator Gaddafi.
Sirte is now an Islamic State colony operating under Sharia Law. The new regime reportedly cemented its authority by staging a series of public executions, during which an unknown number of people were crucified and beheaded.

And ISIS continues to gain ground in Syria, despite a massive bombing campaign by allied forces in the wake of the Paris attacks. To devotees and others consumed by fear of an impending apocalypse, it’s as if Vanga’s deadly prophecies are unfolding before their very eyes.

(Part Two to follow in next post)

(photo from internet)