Cultural Paradigms And Alternative Medicine

Don't romanticize the mainstream.

All significant advances have arisen from the margins.

Follow my logic:

1.) In a profit-motive economy, money equals power.

2.) The architects of our cultural paradigms are multi-billionaires.

3.) As a rule, in order to amass that kind of personal fortune, it is essential to make money the first priority in life; family values, concern for others, self-realization, the search for truth, -- all these things fall by the wayside in the ruthless pursuit of material ambition.

4.) This means the architects of our cultural paradigms are, almost invariably, sociopaths.

5.) As a rule, one does not become a multi-billionaire by empowering the people, but by empowering oneself.

6.) Empowering oneself at the expense of the people is only possible by relying on an elaborate system of propaganda.

7.) The maintenance of dominance through propaganda depends, more than anything else, on the systematic dismissal, belittling, marginalizing, and excluding of voices which would otherwise undermine the established order.

8.) Anyone who is revealing important truths is undermining the established order and, for this reason, is automatically going to sound like a paranoid schizophrenic. This is by design. If they can make you dismiss something simply because it's outside of the cultural paradigm, they never have to actually debate or disprove it.

9.) They know perfectly well that, if their web of lies is thick enough, the vast majority of people will believe it.

10.) They know that, if they can keep the masses drugged up on toxic foods, distracted by television, bewildered by superficial politics, and exhausted from running on their hamster wheels, chasing carrots (i.e. working their asses off in order to be "productive citizens" and exemplary consumers), then relatively few people will bother to disentangle themselves from the paradigmatic web.

Now, realize, medical textbooks are edited and agreed upon by tycoons intent on maintaining and enlarging their empires; i.e. turning billion-dollar profits. They're not interested in telling you how to heal yourself without their products and services. If they were, they would never have acquired the positions they are in.

Mavericks like Arnold Ehret and Dr. Max Gerson cured numerous cases labelled "incurable" by the establishment. Nonconformists went to them as a first or second resort, but, mostly, desperate people defied their doctors' orders and went to them as a last resort. In consequence, they were healed. Tragically, the vast majority of people are far too tired, brainwashed, cowardly, cynical, and/or short-sighted to venture outside the cultural box, or paradigm.

Nearly everyone is quick to imagine these mavericks are snake-oil salesmen, but relatively few suspect that the multibillionaires (the ones who have always been in it for the money!) are the ones selling snake-oil. Tragic ironies like this have occupied visionary minds all through history.

Please, if you are unwilling to dig for the truth, at least learn to doubt what you've been told, and don't pretend to know what's going on. Believing you have the answers may provide some temporary, false sense of security, but the damaging effects of that decision are beyond anyone's scope to envision. Don't be a parrot for the propaganda machine. Just because you heard something from your doctor doesn't mean your doctor didn't hear it from snake-oil salesmen in the multibillion-dollar Pharmaceutical Industry, the multibillion-dollar Meat and Dairy Industry, or the multibillion-dollar American Medical Association.

PLEASE See: "Healing Cancer: From Inside Out", "Forks Over Knives", and/or "Dying To Have Known" And PLEASE stop giving your money to so-called charities like The Jimmy Fund. Radically effective treatments for Cancer and many other degenerative diseases have already been found (and criminalized!). Your money will only be spent on ineffective and harmful "treatments" which TORTURE sick children and adults. How can you doubt the truth of this, when they're serving cola and cookies in the intensive care unit?! Watch the documentaries listed above, and learn the truth about chemotherapy, radiation, drugs, and surgery. Nearly all medical procedures and prescriptions in the USA are harmful and avoidable. Alternatives DO exist, and your life may very well depend on your ability and/or willingness to think independently.

This is the truth and, yes, I know exactly how it sounds to the uninitiated; and exactly why it sounds that way. God bless you if you even bothered to read half of this.

PLEASE WATCH the first few minutes of this film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be1ihuZNg84

Indulging And Depriving Yourself

"It's alright to indulge a little. You don't have to deprive yourself."

That's what they say. What I used to say. But I don't want to say that anymore. I want to enourage people to exceed their self-imposed limitations. I want to tell them they can resist temptation; not give them permission to yeild and yeild and yeild.

All my life, I've been indulging my addictions, and depriving myself of a better life.

I don't need anyone to tell me it's alright to succumb to my urges for immediate gratification. I need them to tell me I can withstand these tests, and remind me to have faith. I know there is a better life waiting for me.

Keep your cheese and fried junk. Some of us have a destiny to fulfill.

I'm already down on myself for not taking more steps forward, while everyone is telling me it's okay to take a step backwards. "Once in a while is alright." We say that, but then we indulge every day. We do it once, and we want to do it again. A little here, a little there, until it's all we know. Even our healthiest choices are unhealthy.

We're addicted to poisoning ourselves.

We're all sick. We don't even know who we are. We just stagger around, poisoned.

We've got salt scarring the insides of our veins, sugar spiking our blood-pressure, strange chemicals settling in our brains, clouding our judgement. Every cell in our bodies is congested. We can barely feel our hearts.

And it all seems normal. Everybody's doing it. We have no idea what it means to be healthy. We have no clue what we're capable of. So, when is it enough?

When is enough enough?

Most of us don't even want a better life. We're too sick, too weak, too tired, to shelter any hope. We'd rather embrace mediocrity, and convince ourselves how happy we are stuffing our faces with shit. Sure, we feel heavy, uncomfortable, exhausted after every meal. Sure, we're a breeding ground for disease. But it tastes good, so why bother acquiring a taste for food that makes us lighter, calmer, more energized, and not only preserves but encourages our health.

It's easier to go with the flow; go with gravity; slip into the pit.

Well I've played that game, and it's rigged. The dice are loaded with MSG.

Now I see the possibility for something more.

What if I respected myself and my life enough to fight for them? What if I made the most of the gifts I've been given? What if I became the man I am capable of becoming, and accomplished the goals I am capable of accomplishing? What if I tried?

I want it bad enough to try.

If I slip and fall, I'm not going to punish myself. Nor am I going to give myself permission to stay down. I'm going to get up, and try that much harder to recover lost ground. I'm going to keep walking, until I can run. Then I'm going to keep running, until I can fly.

And fly until I merge with the sun.

I'm that strong.

Meditation

'The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!'
~ Wordsworth

"Although science has made many advances in our modern age, to use scientific knowledge to understand meditation is, as the Chinese proverb says, 'To scratch itching foot with boot on.' We can imagine that all our human knowledge is a building with many windows. Each window gives a different and valuable view of life. Science is a window. Philosophy is a window. Religion, Psychology, Physiology, ...and all other fields of study are windows. As long as we continue looking out of these windows, we will never get outside. We will never have a chance to look at this building in which we live. No matter how much knowledge we gain, we are still 'looking through windows'."
-- Master Jou Tsung Hwa
'The Tao of Meditation: Way to Enlightenment'

For Those Who Wish To Go Forward

From:
'The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation'
by Master Jou Tsung Hwa

I believe the answer for those who wish to go forward is twofold:
never be satisfied and always seek diligently for keys to further progress...

[How] can you avoid the pitfall of self-satisfaction, which tempts you to settle for where you are rather than pursue loftier aims?... Goals organize energy. They help you use your time and effort more efficiently. Goals are most effective if they are made conscious and meaningful... Try to be specific in formulating your goals... Vague goals, even if they sound good, will not focus your energy nor inspire you to employ effective means of realizing them... Specificity helps focus your will and strengthens your belief in your own potential. Focus on something you really want, not just something that sounds nice. The fervor of your desire makes the difference between a fond hope and a goal which empowers your pursuit of it. Empowering goals are magnetic. They attract energies in your life that contribute to their fulfillment and repel things that might distract you...

At every stage, there is specific work to be done that cannot be skipped if you wish to make progress... Have confidence in yourself. If the old masters did it, you can do it. Give up negative habits of thought. Excuses will drain your energy and ruin everything... Your assumptions about yourself and who you are... create an inertia in your life... The more often you think of your goal, the more it shapes your reality. Once a week is better than once a month, once a day is better than once a week... Remembrance is the greatest key, linked to the cultivation of your will and the power of your imagination... If you can remember your goal and yeild to the possibility of change, you will indeed breakthrough and begin to live at higher levels of energy and consciousness...

[Strive] to adopt the philosophy of taiji, expressed in the principle of change. Unfortuneately, some players are sidetracked by the belief that their teacher is the only teacher. In the attempt to follow only one way they lose sight of the principle of change and of the richness of taijiquan. You probably were led to your teacher to learn certain personal lessons you might not have learned with someone else. This was a gift to you, but if it fosters an attitude that excludes rather than includes and that encourages mockery of other people and ideas, you will very likely shove away the keys to your own breakthrough. Be open to the lessons hidden in all that comes your way. Remain flexible and see what works for you. Do not be afraid to change your practice, to learn another style, or to incorporate new ideas into your form. As you change, it changes -- as it changes, you change.

Unitarian And Quaker Service

This morning I attended a Unitarian Universalist service. The people wore their bright, friendly faces, the sun beamed in, livening the fresh, white walls, and flowers stood colorfully in vases on the window sills beneath a vaulted ceiling. As I took my seat, the sound of small-talk filled the air like a chirping of excited birds. The community was buzzing, anxious to make their "hellos" and catch up on the week's business.

In sharp fits and starts, the piano player was warming up, while the choir shuffled the pages of their hymnals and also made their "hellos". During the service, everyone sang as directed and listened to the tender, noble sentiments of the smiling minister. Afterwards, the buzzing again; smiles and hand-shaking and more small-talk.

I must admit to both the uneasiness I felt through much of the service, as well as the slight, warm feeling of fellowship which came over me towards the end. It seemed to me that this was a fine social gathering, where lofty sentiments could be freely expressed, but that there was nothing particularly deep or spiritual about the event.

There was some mention of "centering", but not a moment of silence in which to accomplish such a thing. There was talk of connectedness, compassion, and joy, but no clear allusion made to the still, small source within, from which such experiences arise in earnest, and by which they may be maintained. No hush came over the crowd. No true, abiding sense of calm, stillness, or peace descended to lift us into an altogether different, more authentic state of being. It was a social event, and a kind of wholesome entertainment, but not a spiritual event, as I understand it.

To a casual observor, it would appear that everyone but myself was uplifted and inspired by the meeting. My own expression must seem rather dour, clouded, less attuned to celestial movements, while their happier faces would appear to be proof of the authentic spiritual connection taking place within them. But how easy it is to smile and chirp and buzz about, when nothing much is required of oneself, and no challenge, no stretching, no settling down is being effected deep within. How simple, when the time set apart for prayer and worship takes on the same busy, superficial character of our more careless hours.

To me, it seemed as if a kind of spell had been cast, and the congregation had been made to believe that some spiritual encounter had taken place, and something more of the divine life had really taken root within. I could not help thinking these people had been fooled somehow into imagining that the love and connection they sought was actually accomplished simply by hearing and giving their approval to a philosophy of love and connectedness. True, we were encouraged to call these beautiful things to mind, but did that mean they had actually been anchored in our depths? Hardly. Rather, we had again found ourselves praising things like purity, love, and devotion, without being given the tools, or shown the way, to acquire these gifts.

Having attended a number of Quaker services (or Meetings, as they are called), the discrepancy between this busy, artificial spirituality, and a sincere encounter with one's spiritual core was fairly undeniable.

The priority accorded to the inward and authentically spiritual life is immediately apparent even on the surface. Quaker meeting houses are invariably modest, unadorned buildings, just as Quakers themselves do not tend to exhibit much in the way of expensive jewelry or dress. This unambiguously reflects the fact that we prefer, whenever possible, to remove our attention from the physical realm. While donations are not solicited, a box is set out for those who wish to contribute, secure in the knowledge that only a small percentage of the funds will be used to maintain the building, that none of the money will be spent on elaborate carvings, brass candelabras, silver goblets, gilded icons, or even the salary of a minister, -- but that the majority will be used to provide food, water, medicine, and shelter to desperately needy people around the world.

Upon entering a Quaker Meeting, one is met with an atmosphere of silence, stillness, peace, and calm. This is true whether one is the first or the last to enter.

Such an atmosphere does not cater to our more habitual attitudes of unconscious reactivity. It stands apart from the bussle; from all the desensitizing and oversensitizing hours spent in worldy pursuits, mundane conversations, or in front of the television. It invites us into another realm of being, and gently requires us to relinquish our scattered energies, if we would enter therein. There is no mistaking this occassion; that it is indeed a time of more profound reflection and centering.

There, having taken our seats in respectful silence, we begin to enter, by degrees, more and more deeply into a spirit of true inward contemplation. We are reminded, at every moment, that we "live and move and have our being" in the very presence of God, for it is impossible to be still without humbling oneself and patiently submitting oneself to the bare will of God as it is revealed.

We are brought to see clearly that it is God, and no mere minister, who is working upon us, and providing us with precisely those reflections and experiences which are needed by each individual at that very moment. God, who speaks only from the depths, is allowed to speak, and we are allowed to listen; to deeply listen.

There, every member of the congregation is a kind of minister who may stand and address the others if and when a genuine message is aroused from within. Nothing is prepared in advance, but the Spirit alone is permitted to speak, if it will, as it will. Often, an entire hour is passed without any voice daring to breach the holy silence -- so deep is our commitment to speak only when prompted by God.

When, at last, we rise, and make our greetings, and step out into the open air, we find a world transfigured, and we ourselves transfigured along with it. The sun is warmer, brighter, the air is cooler, sweeter on our skin, and there is nothing remotely small about our conversation. All things stand renewed before us, wider, clearer, and more immediately real. A calm pervades our souls as we look upon the world, at once removed and yet more intimately interwoven with it. A quiet dignity embraces us and all creation. Around us, within us, and bubbling up through us, the presence of God manifests.

I thank him for leading me to the Unitarian Universalist service today, for the experience has worked marvelously to confirm me in my calling as a Quaker, and to remove any lingering doubts or reservations I may have had. How perfect is the will of God! Even by detours, he leads us back, and back, to the straight and narrow path.

Mozart's Requiem

Requiem Mass in D Minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's final Masterpiece was commissioned in mid 1791 by the Austrian count Franz Von Walsegg, as a Tribute to the passing of his young wife Anna. Mozart began his final composition in Prague, suffering from an undetermined illness, which would eventually take his life and rob him of the chance to see the completion of his Magnum Opus. After Mozart's death, his understudy 'Franz Xaver Süssmayr', at the behest of Mozart's wife, completed the missing parts of the Requiem. Requiem Mass was first performed on January 2, 1793, in a private concert for the benefit of Mozart's grieving wife, Constanze Mozart.

The Following are the lyrics, translated from their Original Latin


Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
You are praised, God, in Zion,
and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer,
to You all flesh will come.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Day of wrath, day of anger
will dissolve the world in ashes,
as foretold by David and the Sibyl.
Great trembling there will be
when the Judge descends from heaven
to examine all things closely.

The trumpet will send its wondrous sound
throughout earth's sepulchres
and gather all before the throne.
Death and nature will be astounded,
when all creation rises again,
to answer the judgment.
A book will be brought forth,
in which all will be written,
by which the world will be judged.
When the judge takes his place,
what is hidden will be revealed,
nothing will remain unavenged.
What shall a wretch like me say?
Who shall intercede for me,
when the just ones need mercy?

King of tremendous majesty,
who freely saves those worthy ones,
save me, source of mercy.
Remember, kind Jesus,
my salvation caused your suffering;
do not forsake me on that day.

Faint and weary you have sought me,
redeemed me, suffering on the cross;
may such great effort not be in vain.

Righteous judge of vengeance,
grant me the gift of absolution
before the day of retribution.

I moan as one who is guilty:
owning my shame with a red face;
suppliant before you, Lord.

You, who absolved Mary,
and listened to the thief,
give me hope also.

My prayers are unworthy,
but, good Lord, have mercy,
and rescue me from eternal fire.

Provide me a place among the sheep,
and separate me from the goats,
guiding me to Your right hand.

When the accused are confounded,
and doomed to flames of woe,
call me among the blessed.

I kneel with submissive heart,
my contrition is like ashes,
help me in my final condition.

That day of tears and mourning,
when from the ashes shall arise,
all humanity to be judged.
Spare us by your mercy, Lord,
gentle Lord Jesus,
grant them eternal rest. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
liberate the souls of the faithful,
departed from the pains of hell
and from the bottomless pit.
Deliver them from the lion's mouth,
lest hell swallow them up,
lest they fall into darkness.

Let the standard-bearer, holy Michael,
bring them into holy light.
Which was promised to Abraham
and his descendants.

Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord,
we offer to You.
Receive them in behalf of those souls
we commemorate today.
And let them, Lord,
pass from death to life,
which was promised to Abraham
and his descendants.

Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
Grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest forever.

Let eternal light shine on them, Lord,
as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them,
as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi8vJ_lMxQI
FULL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DsJ5YQr5s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Mozart)

The One Thing That Is Needful

More than any other episode related in the Gospels, I return again and again to the story of the two sisters, Mary and Martha, who were visited by Jesus. No saying, no parable, no blood-soaked sacrifice connected with the life of Christ has exercised a more powerful hold over me, nor struck me as so crucial for our time, and for all time, than this brief, unassuming incident, which seems to encapsulate the very essence of religious life:

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
~ Luke 10:38-42

Martha, for all her hard work and hurrying to please the Teacher, could not find favor in his eyes, while her sister, who merely sat at his feet and listened, was commended for having chosen the "one thing" that is needful.

How necessary this message is for those of us living in our modern, tightly-wound industrial societies, busying ourselves and encouraging one another to be busy with all sorts of cares. So many apparent duties and obligations swarm. There is, we are told, so much to be done, and only a useless person would sit idly by, listening to God, while others work.

Just imagine how our politicians, educators, and elders would respond to two such people as Mary and Martha. No doubt, they would honor Martha for all her labors and her worries. Mary, they would laugh to scorn and dismiss as a good-for-nothing dreamer; a lazy bum. Yet, far from being "good-for-nothing", the Master marks her out as having performed the one thing -- the only thing -- that is a necessary good. She has stilled herself, and listened attentively to the voice of God.


We imagine that nothing is so easy as being still; sitting and listening. In fact, there may be nothing so difficult for us. All our habits and customs are active. If we sit attentively, it tends to be in front of some sort of screen, which inundates us with novel sounds, colors, shapes, and lights; all necessary to captivate our attention. And this is how so many of us seek relaxation, but only after we have actively exhausted ourselves in one direction or another. The instant we are silent, and there is nothing beckoning like a madman for our attention, we become restless, -- or, rather, we become aware of our restlessness. We cannot be still.

Consider it. We can neither be still nor attentive without something clamouring for our attention. Many of us have lost the capacity even to read a book, as this requires too much stillness. We may be able to sing like angles, but we cannot be silent. We may be able to multiply in our minds, but we cannot clear our minds. We can work long, gruelling hours, even run marathons, scale mountains, score touchdowns... But we cannot be still.

We will exert all our powers of concentration, and strain our wills beyond what we thought possible, in order to obtain some coveted worldy end. Whether it is wealth, fame, prestige, the development of a craft, or however we measure accomplishment, -- we will demand more from ourselves, and push ourselves relentlessly in pursuit of that goal. But when it comes to the one thing that is needful, we have no will to do it, nor any sense of how to relinquish our will to do a great many other things. What would appear to be the easiest thing in the world is utterly beyond us. We have no power to relax.

We resist relaxation like the grave, because it is impossible to relax deeply without letting go, trusting, and falling into the unknown. Relaxation brings an inevitable death with it, and an inevitable rebirth into a world and a self transformed. This is why meditation is at the heart of all true religious teaching and discipline. It is why Jesus says we must die and be born again. The life of Christian devotion is an inward life, which springs up from the very depths of meditative experience. It is not some heroic feat, or endless succession of feats, which we perform outwardly for all to see, -- but, rather, a state in which we do nothing, and are nothing; having become entirely receptive to, and dependent upon, the deepest promptings of the Holy Spirit within us. In this stillness, and only in this stillness, will we discover the humility, patience, purity, simplicity, compassion, and fortitude of the saints.

"Soren Kierkegaard considered what sort of effort should be done to pursue the Kingdom of God. Should a person get a suitable job in order to exert a virtuous influence? His answer: no, we must first seek God's Kingdom. Then should we give away all our money to feed the poor? Again the answer: no, we must first seek God's Kingdom. Well, then perhaps we are to go out and preach this truth to the world that people are to seek first God's Kingdom? Once again the answer is a resounding: no, we are first to seek the Kingdom of God. Kierkegaard concludes, 'Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do. Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent, in this silence is the beginning, which is, first to seek God's Kingdom.' And so I urge you to still every motion that is not rooted in the Kingdom. Become quiet, hushed, motionless until you are finally centered. Strip away all excess baggage and nonessential trappings until you have come into the stark reality of the Kingdom of God. Let go of all distractions until you are driven into the Core."
~ Richard Foster, The Freedom of Simplicity