Hello Night Owls and Early Birds,

What's on your mind?

How are your idiotic nights and moronic mornings going?

This is your Open Thread for the week. Enjoy.

The endangered species.

No less.

Being conscious of the simple fact : death :

entails much more than I wish to think about this morning.

.

My thoughts will pass away and my day shall stumble forward.

This morning, let's start with a Mexican cumbia by Grupo Limite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4iTyHItFwg

"As Derek pointed out Diab, even 'Irv' can't multi ID on such as Seesmic. This quirky granpa sees a lesson somewhere in all this stuff and I reckon Irv does, too."

posted by Ed Comment #137, Openthread #137 on 7/[1+1]3 at 1:3[7-1] AM [Intent Time]

Also, just noticed that an Intentblog reader sent me a science related artcile a few weeks ago regarding some findings which show that deep down we cannot fool ourselves.

Today's lesson...

The persona is merely an accumulation of memories whose function is to protect and defend the illusion of autonomy.

When the illusory structure is threatened it recoils into its lair where it will lick its perceived wounds or plan a counter attack in an attempt to maintain the imagined status quo.

It is a beautifully evolved addendum that functions mechanically from the mis-information that it has at its disposal.

It can, however, cause a great deal of pain when the mechanism of self protection is mistaken for who one is.

When one's feelings "get hurt" rarely will they search within to find the true source of their fear and pain.

If you are one who take this post personally...Good.

It is not meant to console.

It does offer an insight that can end the fear and confusion that occurs when protecting something that does not exist from something that does not exist.

The Canadians love pot so much it is now being grown by so many people the cops simply cannot do anything about it.

BBC, (which is to say, NON-American media) notes:

"The striking aspect of BC's marijuana trade is that it has gone beyond the boundaries of traditional organised crime groups (although some are still heavily involved) and entered into the middle classes."

From:
Canada's spreading cannabis crop
... Misha Glenny visits British Columbia in Canada where homegrown marijuana has become big business.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7519178.stm

The problem with the above paragraph is it ignores how the initial illegalization CAUSES criminal elements to become involved.

The more the illegalization is enforced, the higher the profits for trafficking and distribution. Production and end-point sales don't make nearly the money that transporting product does.

With MORE moms and pops -- NORMAL people -- getting into the scene, profits almost certainly have to begin dropping. The more weed that is available, the lower the price -- the easier it is to ship -- the lower the price.

The lower the price, the lower the incentives for hardcore criminals who are there for the cash.

"The persona is merely an accumulation of memories whose function is to protect and defend the illusion of autonomy...." #5

Interesting post, Irvine.

I only wanted to add that we assign personas to others, too.
It isn't easy to let someone escape from the persona we design for them.

(Hello everyone, I just posted this on last week's OT. Thought I should post it here.)

I wasn't going to ask this question, but I thought why not?...

Diablo, Ed and derek:

I am Sharon, MississippiHippie. Hi Diablo and Ed :) I'm just me, not a multiple.
I do at times engage in what some would call "addictive" behaviors in an attempt to alter my experience. I'm not a yogi, I'm not enlightened, I just am what I am right now.
Diablo, what addiction were you referring to in #121? Even if it hurts, I wanna see myself as others see me. I may not agree, or I may. Either way, I can look at myself more honestly. The truth shall set me free.

Ed and derek,
What is the lesson?

If I'm out of line just say so. I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

Thanks guys
Love,
Sharon

PS What or who is UT?

a fun video

MJ_Dance_Audition_with_a_Twist.wmv (7093KB)

and a message from Nick...

qqqqqqqqqqqqqasdfgghjkl;;;'

(one day this intricate message from a 3 1/2 year old will be understood by all. And the mystery will be solved!)

love you all
shar

Freyja
"I only wanted to add that we assign personas to others, too.
It isn't easy to let someone escape from the persona we design for them."
Yo, so true. I want to just sit and think about that statement for awhile. There is a lot of meat in that statement.

We humans have the ability to change our beliefs like t-shirts if we desire but even after we get out of our box some people still see us in it.

Sharon
IB has gone through changes like everything else. For awhile there were intellectual bullies. If you didn't have a really good argument for what you said they could shred your comment. I was shredded often. I learned to embrace it and then learn from it. I should have a good argument if I want to engage in a debate of some sort.

Then there were the impersonators. They would hijack your identity and make statements as you. That was weird. The person doing me was a much better writer than me so it was easy to tell it wasn't me.

And multiples, someone would post as more than one person.

This really caused people to not trust anyone.

I decided to treat everyone as an individual. Even someone posting as someone else has something to teach us.

It has been quite here lately. Go back and read some threads from a few months ago or a year ago, very different place than now.

I was driven to silly poetry and nonsensical ramblings to try to gain some balance.

Anyway a little archival reading should give you some subtext.

Lessons, hhhuummmm, I have learned more about myself here than most anywhere else. It has been an exercise in human interaction that I could not have anticipated.
Most people have left, it's like a ghost town here with a skeleton crew to keep it going. A very beautiful skeleton crew.

So here's to this amazing experiment call Intentblog.

Where's my rowboat.

Hey Craig thanks.
Music is just a fun hobby that I get to indulge in when time permits.

peace comes from peace

derek

maybe this one will work...

oh well, not sure how to post this video.

Thanks derek, for filling me in. I'm glad to be here now. I used to be such a know-it-all and I'm sure I would've been torn to shreds, then ran away all hurt and confused, full of self-pity and disgust for those horrible people that didn't appreciate or understand my profound insights and gems of wisdom sent from above.

:)

to everything there is a season
and a time for every purpose under heaven

I feel like I have a lot to learn from this place. I'm glad you all are here.

so go ahead, rip me to shreds
it'll be good for me
:)

love
sharon

and lol...

"The person doing me was a much better writer than me so it was easy to tell it wasn't me."

ha!

Debates become wisps of air just strong enough to move the hairs on my arm. It tickles and keeps me alert, as I drift in my trusty rowboat.
My back to the sun, my gaze fixed on the ever shifting point where the rays of light converge in the depths of the indigo blue water.
It is hard to see the horizon, where water meets sky because there are too many sparkling lights flying from the very finger tips of the waves as they gently tumble and effortlessly shift into each others arms.
But it's the rays of light that mesmerize me here and no matter who is with me, they can never see the same rays as me.

derek

Miss sweet Mississippi! Very nice to see you here!

I think everybody here has been hijacked at less once in the past... don't worry! Use a stronger password; use letters and numbers, and a length of 8 characters at less.

Nice to meet you!

.
.
.
.
.
.

Now let's twist!

Jean-Francois... you got the video posted!!

How cool :)

So nice to meet you, too.

Now let's twist...Michael Jackson style

yeah :)

"I used to be such a know-it-all and I'm sure I would've been torn to shreds, then ran away all hurt and confused, full of self-pity and disgust for those horrible people that didn't appreciate or understand my profound insights and gems of wisdom sent from above."

How silly I felt when I realized I was exactly that. But it was because I was challenged on it and realized it, and embraced it, that I am able to learn from it. I left here many times in a huff, but I was determined to get passed my child like huffiness and find a way to interact.
I am still learning how.

I'm glad your here too. I believe there is still much exploration to be done here. This place continues to evolve.

derek

Yo great video.

Many People are going out
Out of alleys of extreme pain and love sensations

Some are gossiping about a ship
"The ship is docked!"
"Where is the boat?"
"Where will this vessel go?"
"Why am I running, flowing so easily, without questioning myself first?"

The tears were falling and accumulated in mother's earth
And this back-wind again, conspiring, telling something!
A clean-refreshing salty-breeze inside alleys of distress...

Hola, If I or anyone where to " rip you to shreds" with words it would be in love, because thats all there is. Sometimes you have to be brutally honest, and that what dose the riping, the
" TRUTH "

That was a disclaimer! Anywho, I have been thinking of you. Your heart is pure, you are the Rose of Sharon ( a healer ), I love you and I am glad your hear, your innocents is refreshing and fun. Thank You

These bird are stinky! ( hugin & muchin ) and hunger all the time, but growing fast. yup
I'll write a story later.

Oh, still thinking about that road trip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFT4UBlmXJA

Enjoy.

O yeah! Keep it green Irvine!

:)

say no to racism!

Hey Weezer Jon, that was funny. Here is another silly one. I know how much you love him, me too!
Danced my ass off in the front row of one of his concerts a few years back, good times, yup.

a 'dumb' hog farmer is AWOL, for awhile now! he! he!

#14 derek, words and images that express this exchange of ideas so gently and so peacefully.

#17 i've already evolved in the short time i've been here in this place. there is spontaneity, individuality, truth and love.
glad you liked the video. it was fun, huh. i liked the line at the end...
"we'll carry on surprising you"

#19 Jean-Francois~the pain, the longing, but the healing of love. thank you

Tammy! the pure bliss, titillation and peace of love. awesome video. and awesome you. i love you.
look at you taking care of those little birds. look forward to the story.
...and always happy to be thinking about road trips.

r u smart...in ur own (****) mind? damn!

#8 Hi Sharon,
I think Derek has covered the longer term acquaintance with IB. ie from his entitled perspective.

I really wasn't referring to you in any personal way, dear Sharon, rather it is an ongoing affection I have for both Diablo, and 'Irvine' which called me to 'play.' (the Game) (Keith's role acknowledged here, too.

As to the 'lesson' I had the inkling about; I think Irvine has confirmed my understanding(s) of him, as hard a taskmaster he might seem. (post #5)

Hi Ed. Thanks for your post. Um, still confused. I'm really not that smart. I have trouble understanding things unless they're spelled out in familiar English or unless I understand the whole story from the beginning.
It's ok. I don't have to understand all this right now.

There's lots of stuff I don't understand, like Diablo's comment #27, and lots more about lots of things.

But I'm here. I'll stay as long as I can learn and grow, discover who I really am, maybe get an inkling of what my dharma is, and as long as there's even just one person I can connect with.

much love and much peace from my heart,
sharon

Don't worry Miss nobody understands Diablo; but he is the life of the party!

Both Norm and Amba MIA huh! The righteous-wingers have tucked tails; we better notify Obama's security team!!!!!

Uh-huh

:)
cool

Heads up, Shar!

Diablo started calling me TREE awhile back. Uncle came in shortly thereafter. UT

I used to call him Li'l Sap, a nephew, sort-of...he's a youngin'.

Welcome to our playground. Nice to meet you! Me2

Thanks Keith!

Nice to me2, 2.

My favorite line is no longer just a line in a book.

how f**kin cool is that

K, let me try this again; gotta get it right!

Beauty

Physical Beauty is fleeting
and too quickly fades away,
the Beauty in ones’ heart forever shines;
this none may gainsay.

Misguided intention and materialist invention
oft lead Beauty astray;
for Beauty only perceives Beauty,
yet even within darkened hearts does Beauty stay;

because to Beauty none are truly ugly.

What of Evil many are quick to say:
Evil is misguided intention mixed with ambition
using matter wrongly and the Other for means
to ends that ring hollow if one were for all,

and all are One.

Alas, such is not the world today.
“This life is not fair or equal,” crows Corruption,
“with some being more equal than others”;
needless to say these ones see Beauty in property,

jet fighters flying on high, and national flags.

The Beauty in our hearts is a tenuous and malleable “thing.”
And often what is beauteous to one is hideous to another.
There is no 4th person objective qualifier,
that calls one person right and the other wrong;

no objective Truth that everybody can agree on,
without qualifying the Truth with addendum or reservation.
Let go of the outward fleeting things in which
Beauty does not forever last, and forever keep away

the notion that things and money can bring or buy happiness.

In Truth there is Beauty inside us all.
In Truth there is Beauty inside you and me.
In Truth this Beauty can be seen by all,
if all would be willing to set our truths aside

and peer into Creation with Love and through the Others’ eyes.

Lay aside the moral absolutes
that you lay aside when the need rises;
and search with me for the inside Truth,
that when found will be the most Beautiful thing

that our eyes will ever see: spiritual surprise!

Sisters and brothers working together for free: aye even gladly!

Allstate went out of business for Mercy’s sake,
and the lawyers have no one left to sue, now Justice rules:
Understanding I now have my life insurance policy
Wisely residing inside of you; Beautiful!

Cure my cancer and I will mow your lawn;
we need not social disequilibrium
showing you are the smarter one
or hold the bigger guns?

Making money off somebody else’s money
proves not to me ye have a higher intellect.
I just see thy Beauty darkened
by the prospect of profits and material surfeit.

Ask not what you can do for your country
and what is in it for you.
Seek rather that inner Beauty that Love frees
when we quit thinking about our respective Mes’.

The arm of One body does not charge the leg to cure it’s cancer.
To this can we all as One agree?
Then why are we separated by fences, walls, money, and wars?
Unless there are some that simply want more . . .

And when the leg dies to where shall the arm run?

Beauty. We are all Beautiful! One Beautiful Creation.
We just can no longer see past the body parts left behind,
as we create right now in distant lands more body parts;
alas, we cannot see past the righteousness in our minds

to yet enter our Beautiful future of One.

One day: Never again!

pax vobiscum

Feeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuwwww!
One shot Silver-bullet
It hit so hard, right at the group-bones

Somebody was yelling... must be Malli! :.)
And the night was fallen straight on the floor

A quick moment after we were all looking at each other, quiet, in peace

We were in the village of:
"Monsters of my dreams"

We started to fear-act without any "action" order
Very educative, amazingly funny

.
.
.
.

A moment of silence followed
With tears in many faces

Personally I will say:
Something wanna be started...

Deepak started to talk!

"It's not over!!!"

Let's visit a bit more the place, let's go downtown

I want to show you something!

Avtar, DK, Arsenio were joining the front front line
Some faces were looking for an opinion, the walk was already on his way...

The moon was talking scary-languages
A blizzard appeared in white...

"I only wanted to add that we assign personas to others, too.
It isn't easy to let someone escape from the persona we design for them." -Freyja

For us........their totality is our perceptions of them.

If they have a reality outside of that......we can never know it.

"For us........their totality is our perceptions of them.

If they have a reality outside of that......we can never know it." Irv

Find your own Reality and you'll know everybody else's.

ZoomanJohn

"Find your own Reality and you'll know everybody else's."

niiiiiiice.

Irvine

"Speak to yourself, you'll get more sense."

#29 Love and peace to you, too, Sharon.....time difference and quaint Englishness not withstanding....oh, and grandpaness :))

http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2006/09/oscar_wilde_of.html

Quite profound, C.

But do you believe...?

Reality is kept in check--
Pick my pocket, oh please, please do!

Several separate compartments for stumping?
Turns out to be something other than I imagined, too.

Beauty lies aside ugliness.
Both are liars
Yet Love stands up for them

```
Sonnet LIII: "What is your substance, whereof are you made"
William Shakespeare

What is your substance, whereof are you made.
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade.
And you, but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new.
Speak of the spring and foison of the year:
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear;
And you in every blessed shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.

Yo, these guys are hot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSMXMv0noY4&feature=related

Thanks Ed...grandpa :)

awesome cellos derek

Jean-Francois~~ :)))

I've loved Michael since "a,b,c", I still love Michael, I will always love Michael. Michael is an explosion of all things.

Wanna be scared? Look in the mirror :O

Wanna be loved? Look in the mirror :)

Hi Sharon,

How are you today?

We (my husband and me) are on holiday in the south of our country, taking care of the small farm of our best friends (with domestic stock like a horse, dogs, cats, chickens, a donkey, a goose, cats, etc.), while they are away for holiday in another country in Europe.

Today was very warm weather (26C) and the horse and the donkey had much discomfort of a large swarm of flies (big ones). So we had to put them into the stables for their own good. At least my heart told me so :). We never did this before. With the horse this went very smooth, but the donkey started to run at a certain moment and my husband could hardly keep up with him. All went alright though.

In the afternoon (time difference with U.S. is minimal 8 hours later here that at yours) we decided to go shopping on the bikes of our friends. We would go to a village some 3 miles further.

We were not acquainted with environment, so it took us some more miles before we reached shopping destination. At a crossroad we decided to go left to a village we knew by name, only to find out that we were heading into the totally different direction to reach "home" again.

After biking some 15 miles in this hot sun and asking some very nice woman the way, we finally were back were we started lol.

This is quite an adventure on itself.

Luckily this is the place where I built my labyrinth of stone in the past, together with my female friend. So when things get too rough, always a place to find some inner relaxation :)

Love,

Mieke

second word -cats- should read rabbits :)

Hey Mieke
You are more than welcome to use my music, I would be honored.

I picture Waiting for God kinda like being in a doctors waiting room waiting for your turn to meet God. Next please.......

derek

Hi Derek, it is an honour for me too to listen to your music while creating a 3D world or walking a 3D virtual labyrinth. I can do this by just keeping your myspace site in the background :)

I just now walked my stone labyrinth in Nature. It was very quiet, no wind, no sound, twighlight time...

Exact time to meet God....

Hi Mieke, your holiday sounds wonderful. It's so good to hear from you. I'm trying to picture your husband chasing after the donkey :) It's lovely that the two of you can share this adventure together, and then relax in your labyrinth. Tell me, do you believe in half persons and whole persons?

I am still feeling under the weather. Tuesday I could barely get out of bed. Yesterday I was up and about a little more. I don't work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so this 'bug' came at a convenient time. But then today I went to work, still not feeling quite normal. Around 2:30 my boss told me to go home and go to bed, which I welcomed :) I feel like this bug is some kind of message. I'm not able to eat much and only water to drink. I'm just able to move very slowly and mostly just sit still, or lie still. I've noticed that the people around me are very caring, and that with no effort on my part, life happens. I'm just now beginning to cry, at that thought. I think more than anything, they are happy tears, and tears of relief, that I can really just let go and be still, and everything will continue flowing, naturally and effortlessly. This is what I hope to be true.

I love you,
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

And it is dear Sharon, let it all flow out of you and start anew :)

I do believe in whole persons that rely on one another. I was not whole when I married and expected my husband to make "us" whole. But that is a farce. One has to be(come) whole in oneself. I received that insight when I was 34.

First be truly able to love yourself, then you are able to love another. Being able to love yourself is granting yourself the permission to make mistakes, knowing that mistakes only make you a better person if you are open to the lesson in it and never, never be judgemental towards yourself.

Nurture yourself, see to it that you give your body the vitamins it needs. I make meals that consist of potatoes, vegetables and meat or fish. I eat two portions of fruit during the day and I take 3 pills extra of vitamin C.

Body, mind and spirit are one and if they are, one feels whole and healthy.

A healthy mind in a healthy body means that one nurtures both, so that spirit is able to come forward.

Hope this helps, cry happy tears, they are healing :)

Much love,

Mieke

The all-group is continuing the walk to "who-knowns"

Some talking about high-estime, others about never ending-creations or circle-pretection

I was with my new friend Miss-issippi
We were holding hands, just like kids, simply
How nice was my time with her

So nice this feeling of being with her and forget about myself closed-bubble

She was talking about different things and mirrors
She was my reflector and yes, I look good
I was seeing future-healing path that I would have to follow,
Specially at emotion's level
A perfect lovely-reflection

Two persons at our left, passing in front with looking-arrogance
She was in knowledge of the event-feeling, too
"There are vipers in the group"
"It's always the same and we are aware"

I am taking note of them,
The time will come for them,
I'll be there as witness...

Most of us have all - already failed!

Today I had to take an exam for my business.. It was a very well know IT qualification..

When I got to the test centre the lady asked me "How do you think you will do?"

I decided to answer honestly in that moment and replied "It doesn't really matter either way; The test will decide"

When I came out of the exam room she was smiling and said "You know when you went in I thought you would fail because you didn't seem to care"

My score was just short of 100% - 96.6%

As I left I gave her some food for thought I said "We all fail every day"

And we do

There is no doubt about it - we fail the test of a new birth every morning by the time the day is through.... every single day.

I am a failure even in the face of triumph because I have not surrendered to God this day

He is me ButI am still not him...

He is my triumph but I can't have it without him

We have for mowst of us failed!

We are failures all of us every single day - we fail... Like Ebenezer Scrooge, we have but till morning to right our wrongs and so pass the exaM!!

Love

The Ghost of Now xx

Yeah, Simon! Here's another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPQR-OsH0RQ&feature=related

Mieke,
Yes, your words and your love always help me. Sometime, I would like to hear your story, from that time when you were 34, when you realized you must become 'whole'.
I have realized that also not too long ago, that I must be whole, love myself, all of myself through and through. I'm getting closer. I'm not there yet. I think I would know if I were there. There would be no doubt, yes? Crying again, just now, at the thought of having no doubt and how liberating that would feel. No doubt that I am whole.

Being whole doesn't mean the end of feeling though, does it? One still feels the rainbow of feelings, yes? One still sheds both happy and sad tears, yes? Or does all that fall away, and only joy is left when one is whole.

Right now I will cry my tears, and with your love, I will heal.

I love you, Mieke.
Sharon

Jean-Francois~~
I had fun today with you. Thank you for playing with me :) and for the passion

Simon,
Are you sharing my pain with me? You arrived as promised.

Keith,
Nirvana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0U03sgMssY&feature=related

i love u all

infinity
;) sharon xx

When Wisdom wades in Understanding
our Spirits marry Soul
realizing in life a consciousness
physical sparks cannot hold.

Beholding Splendor & Eternity
Our Soul becomes a Righteous One
Expanding into Infinity
Uniting One with One.

The soul of the soul is the Holy Ancient One.
All is connected, this one to that one.
Gracing Other,
Graces Self,

God’s grace reveals: love humanity heals!

Blessed Beautiful Soul
where we all wish to go;
through the Foundation
of Loving Prudence

we meet as One.

The Beauty of Israel reaches beyond borders,
it is an ideal of the heart;
realizing this gives humanity daily a fresh start,
and hope,

in uniting as One!

An ineffable Communion beyond sages
is our union with the Unspeakable Creator of ages;
a transcendence we can all feel,
we just have yet as One put into practice.

A stolen blessing
dreams a stairway to heaven
and the Lord blessing
all peoples of the earth.

Illusion and Truth,
water and fire,
does Jacob conquer
wrestling God’s desire;

dying before being buried
in the Promised Land.

From Jacob’s Spring
does humanity arise
bringing New Jerusalem
to life. Resurrection!

The Promise of the world unified realized!

“People of the world –
look at Berlin,
where a wall came down,
a continent came together,

and history proved that there is no challenge too great
for a world that stands as one.”
From Berlin to Jerusalem
through the east and through the west:

Between Obama, Osama, William, & Chang
lies One world under God,
indivisible -
home in Eternity.

Think alone what can you see!?!
Thinking of the other what do you feel?
Thinking with me to us what is revealed?
Think! What is real?

You and I right here right now! Us.
6 billion lives: one existence.
One existence.
One.

E pluribus unum
(imagine that!).

How do we profit from this knowledge?
Do we seek happiness? Do we strive to make money?
Do we seek to militarily garrison the world to “accommodate”
“our” needs?

What
matter and intention
is dividing us who are in fact
One?

Destroy we must poverty and war!
These twin terrors of evil that imprison us eradicate!
Without want or fear and with love from a giving heart
let us freely speak to God as One!

Illusion and Truth,
water and fire,
conquer does Jacob
wrestling God’s desire.

We have a choice,
the test of wills freed;
do we will to One
in choosing to serve God’s liberty?

Do we choose to love freedom?
Or do we choose to free love?

Let the war begin . . .

Amen

Kieth

Try wierd Al Yankovitch's parody on Nirvana, hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxh5v5MpEB8&feature=related

Hi Sharon,

"Being whole doesn't mean the end of feeling though, does it? One still feels the rainbow of feelings, yes? One still sheds both happy and sad tears, yes? Or does all that fall away, and only joy is left when one is whole."

No it doesn't mean the end of feeling, in fact life just goes on, only when you now face problems or challenges, you just are better prepared inside how to deal with them. You can always fall back to your inner me or your inner voice or joy :)

My story is just one of many, nothing special, only for me. Am still weaving it with ups and downs (albeit more balanced these days and that has certainly something to do with age).

Going with the flow, step by step and sometimes a quickstep :)

Mieke

It's a new day MH, and Stan helped set the tone!
Watch out for the quicksand, Mieke :~)

Words are always first
Fisticuffs flapping silly
Duck or flail away

http://www.howstuffworks.com/quicksand.htm

quicksand or quickstep
only take you as far
as you need to go at that moment

going with the flow, both
are same side of the medal

:)

WARNING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
AP July 25, 2008

This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan, Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of convenience store managers, and candidates for President of the United States.

If this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell and AOL customer service reps., and then Motel 6 managers.

It's getting ugly folks.

awwwsuuuum dudes and dudettes

laugh my ass off? or relax and float?

hmmm, this is a tuff one
laugh....... or float.....

: )

"WARNING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST" ~Skinny

That is your Daily Junk Mail.

It's a joke - the source is NOT AP or Reuters, and has been in circulation for many weeks - aimed at Republican morons like you.

67...who would be gullible enough to be deceived by silly little fake "news" and propaganda playing on your ignorance and fears.

Chris Bowers at OpenLeft.com:

"It must be really scary to be a conservative. To be one, you must live in constant fear of terrorists nuking the United States, of gay people on the verge of convincing you that you really enjoy sodomy, of Spanish becoming the official language of the United States next week, of every African-American voting seven or eight times in the next election, of radical Islam suddenly becoming the latest hip thing among kids across the country, of perpetual lesbian orgies in girls bathrooms in high schools across America, of liberals forcing everyone to become a vegan, of Christians being rounded up into concentration camps, and of Democrats outlawing private property if they were to ever take power again."

Markos:

"They do live in a state of fear, and what's more, they want everyone else to join them hiding under their bed, in their pool of urine.

Oh, they'll talk tough. They'll bluster and pound their chests like the neanderthals they are.

But inside, they are scared little children, terrified of the world, of people not like them, of change.

And they can't fathom any other way to live."

That fake story was quit funny! Motel 6 managers, that to much! Run for the hills kids, mamma's mad and where ALL gonna get a woopin! yup

Thanks Keith and Stan for setting the tone of this brand new day. Weird Al was great :D

Mieke, you have my heart and you inspire me. You are a beauty. And so clever, quicksand and quicksteps. For a minute it seemed like boys against girls :) That can be a fun game. Much love.

Hi Tammy!!

Craig...
"Think alone what can you see!?!
Thinking of the other what do you feel?
Thinking with me to us what is revealed?
Think! What is real?"

"Do we choose to love freedom?
Or do we choose to free love?"

i love this

Love,
Sharon

Or... "Do we choose to free love in freedom?"

:)

Programming:

If we choose this
then that happens

If we choose that
then this happens

or else

If we choose both perhaps an infinite loop of love is happening :)

Sharon,

Give your pain to me.

It Can't hurt you any more if I have it.

Love

Simon xx

Yo, I almost posted a political rant.
I was able to draw upon some inner strength to hit the delete button instead of the post button.
thank you derek..........your welcome derek.

so instead.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCclrQ1pOAo&feature=related

I already have chills
Thank you Jars of Clay

derek

THE Qantas plane forced to make an emergency landing in the Philippines after a massive hole opened up in its fuselage had been plagued by a history of corrosion.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,24079965-5014090,00.html

oh Simon
: .. l
here are my tears I give them to you
tears of love fall in their place
: .. )

and peace covers me like a soft sweet blanket

here is my peace I give it to you

love,
sharon xx

Nice catch..no fatalities, Mr Watchmen Sir.

"But inside, they are scared little children, terrified of the world, of people not like them, of change."

Speaking of scared little children, how are you doing these days Irvine? Those Germans sure love your man Barak. Too bad they can't vote, but perhaps if your man wins, they will, since everyone will be world citizens.

The man knows how to spell bind the volks. Too bad Barak couldn't muster even one word of German for the crowd. Perhaps his handlers would be afraid he would say something like:

"Ich bin ein beginner" !

What would be worse to say I'm a Donut or I'm a Beginner?

One would be a simple mistake, the other would be the truth!

Ha!

STeve
Cheers,

Steve

Should read: "Do we seek to violently garrison the world . . ."

That is the point Mieke, it is an either/or deal; do we love our freedom, or do we choose to liberate love, God's intent in this world that is. Do we collectively choose to trade in our freedom in striving to serve God's will?

You see we have people that want the U.S.A. to be a theocracy, we have people that seek to legislate morality, who want to make the 613 Torah laws applicable in our lives (or at least the Ten Commandments, or the "Noahide seven"), and these are the same people who condemn abortions, homosexuality, liberals, communists, freethinkers, and anyone they feel obstructs their pursuit of happiness.

Well now is the time to turn the tables on these people and say, "hey, let us exterminate poverty and war and then we can discuss abortion and gays." Then they'll say "well we will always have the poor even Jesus said so"; to which we reply "Jesus called Saint Peter Satan so does that mean Peter, the Rock, actually is Satan?"

They want to pick and choose the ethical battles; but are we freed of debt every 7 or 50 years, do we put adulterers to death, do you eat pig?!?!

I would think that a people, a Christian nation, would want to destroy the physical evil in our midst, war and poverty ever being the scourges of humankind! Leaving only Death and disease to combat, but hey, if the Lord seen that we actually destroyed war and poverty, he may meet us halfway and destroy disease and Death.

We know how firmly the warmaking Complex is entrenched in American life, we just may not see it, and we know poverty ravages Africa, South America, and Asia, we just may not see it; and I cannot imagine anybody would be more concerned about whether gay people have civil rights than they are about the plagues of war and poverty that have caused untold anguish in humankind since the beginning . . .

Unless somebodys’ or something is profiting (in more ways than simply money) from these distractions . . .

pax vobiscum

Okay one political thing.

I have talked to Obama supporters and McCain supporters.
Each are convinced, and they have the evidence to prove it, that if his guy wins the world will be saved but if the other guy wins we're going to hell.
"Same as it ever was", Mr. Byrne.

Remember to turn the sound off when watching these guys talk.
Their intent dances around the eyes a bit before getting lost in flurry of words.

derek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw54-rCIrPs

Good one, doodle.

Yo Tammy, no fatalities.

***

'Serial bombs' hit India's IT hub

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7525033.stm

"Speaking of scared little children,"...

Norm, Amabsteve et al ...

Lived a long time among members of your cult....

If you look for madness, you find madness.

If you look for sanity, you'll find it.

You and your ilk looked with blinders on, expecting to find only one thing. You found it, and then displayed no tolerance of any sort for the vast majority of centrist and intelligent views.

You are the worst of hypocrites, and the king of fools.

You are one of those Republicans that believe that by supporting the party of millionaires that somehow makes you one of the elite. These people wouldn't waste their spit on you they laugh that they get millions or billions taxed at 15% but you who earn your living on a paycheck have to pay 1.5 to 3 times as much.

But you console yourself because at least you don't have it as bad as the gays, blacks or mexicans. Funny thing is to those millionaires you support that's where they put you, because they sure as hell don't respect or value you.

So keep lying to yourself everyday as you support the GOP wackos, when every thing you value turns to crap due to conservative principles. It may be easier than dealing with the fact that where you are in life is the best that you are ever going to have and its not enough. Cry yourself to sleep in your mountain of debt trying to be that thousand dollar millionaire. And blame the Democrats for your broken dreams.

Yeah I know you guys quite well. Your fear of truth and reality and what a bunch of scared little children you actually are. Yelling and screaming so no one notices you just wet yourself.

Ex-Rethug

Ambasteve what is up brother!!!!!! Where you been man, still down in Cali doing the good work . . .

I hear ya bout those Germans, first they follow a Saxonized Jew to Hell, and now they are ready to follow a ni,

a ni,

uhh, a black person to Hell too.

Damned Germans anyway, but hey, it is our damned military base!

whoo-hoo

Okay before it gets too, too, whatever, listen to this show.

http://www.jeffersonhour.org/

Click
listen to the show #720 Civility

Thank you Mr Clay Jenkinson

derek

Indy Darlin'....you so bitter!

IW Baby....you take yourself way to seriously! C'mon now, shake the dandruff off the bathrobe, go get a shower, put some Gold Bond on your butt, and go out and face a new day!

Gotta lot of work to get done today, so think I'll go read Deepak's latest post about his Messiah! That'll keep me laughing thru my tasks!

love y'all
:)

Hey All,

It is summertime and America is in the lift again, at least with this hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIGZLjugKA

Already number two on the hit list of this summer 2008.

On the other side of the medal history is repeating itself too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIhWBVPeUtM

Kieth,

Listen to some real music man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9de6jeOevi8

Shadow dancing in the labyrinth

The sun casting my shadow sustinct

Dancing on all paths at the same time

Making this experience sublime

Oh the eighties
I still chose free will
no matter who wins or loses

yo Rush, my early wizard teachers of the Temples of Syrinx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpCASVFyQoE&feature=related

Oh the eighties
I still chose free will
no matter who wins or loses

yo Rush, my early wizard teachers of the Temples of Syrinx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpCASVFyQoE&feature=related

Keith
This one as may know is call The Trees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhFsQxl2M8o&feature=related

Okay last one and I'll quit preachin'

Closer to the Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEgXe-gQxX4&feature=related

Rock on!

Milk Cow Blues!

Me name me name clicketh!

peace

Yo Craig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ixgB6l_UZA&feature=related

they come out of their burrows, like scary creatures of the night...when they feel safe, when they think no one is lookin'...and then attack...and quickly run back in their hole...the two strange loyal amigos (a third is missing in action)...they are completely still in a dif. time zone...have missed out on the latest news while in hiding...damn...some things neva change..

...flabs has left a foul ..ugh..smell in that hole..they say it's all the beans he's been eatin'...the harvest is real good this year...the other one has been indulging in way too much cheap mexican burritos (on sale) and his hole radiates..dude.. a real foul smell too...can u imagine the of them in the same hole? eeek..whoahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

And I thought I was the youngest one here!!!

Bloody music! it makes you feel older than you already are!

Lol

Love

Simon xx

You know the Eighties is a great example of how what has been is still with us.

Reality is like a blackboard with the chalk of the past still present on the surface of the current lesson..

Now when I think of the past... of the eighties infact when I was a kid I see it as now.

The past and the present and the future are now.

Anyone who believes that tomorrow was all that time ago is really fooled by an Illusion.

Your past happened less than a millisecond ago on a divine scale. Your every waking second is an illusion of the continium of now.

You never slept as a child and woke as an adult... You have always been.

If I click my fingers now "click" Thats your past, present and future in one click.

You will exist tomorrow when sleep subsides as you did a million years ago yet it is not the next day really.... you exist concurrently without tomorrow or yesterday.

All the days you blocked as your life are fictional...

You Are!

You are not someone from the eighties or the seventies

You Are!
Thats it you see

Now is When, Now is where everything was, is and shall be.

"I" am

Love; the live'r of longness and shortness xx

When the body is over - you will know this anyway apparently. That is that.

Just for the sake of the numbers game--my daughter showed this 2me (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ25-glGRzI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuOTkrEVeb4

.

Derek: The Professor from RUSH

"The Best Drummer In The World"

UFO?

skinny preacher wails
fat wallets pester misers
quite German enough

No doubt Keith
I love how his drums move and shake and shimmer while he plays.
It's like they're alive and playing back at him.

Yo

derek

UFJ

My new hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1AvDlAepo&NR=1

Neil Peart?!? Are you guys mad? Well . . ., ok I must admit Peart seriously jams.

But Keith Moon is the best drunken drummer ever! Tis my hero!

Who Are You!

Hey Craig, Skins,Keith,Ruth, Kate, and my other pals

I've been keeping a very low profile as sadly my Mom passed away July 1st after a long bout with lung cancer. I've been traveling back and forth to Boston to spend time with her, as we have made peace with any and all concerns. Not that their were that many, she was so brave, never in fear, no tears boys!

My brother called the day before and said it was time to come out as it looked like the end and sure enough on the way she passed very peacefully. My brother was in the room when this happened and the funeral was the same day per Jewish tradition.

I stayed the week and then returned to LA, still adjusting to having now lost both parents. We all go through this, however, it's so personal when it's your turn.

She was a wonderful and caring person, I will miss her deeply, and will always have such loving memories of her. God bless Anna Rose Gray.

So that's that, I guess I'm doing better since I had a chance to make a few comments before I will probably de-surface again.

Carry on the good fight all and may the best man/messiah win.

Love,

Steve

Dear Steve,

Thanks for the sharing about your Mom, I also lost my Mom to cancer, and have been without both parents now for 15 years. I hope you have other family and a mate to support you at this time. I would feel lost without mine. Politics, race, and religions are such little matters, compared to the love in a family. You have my sincere condolences Steve.

Kindest Regards,
Stan

Amazing Chinese photography, just for kicks.

http://www.hemmy.net/2008/04/19/the-impossible-art-of-li-wei/

You know Stan, after I wrote about my Mom, I realized that I forgot to include you, as I do consider you as one who has always been a gentleman regardless of how we stand on the issues. I'm truely touched by your words, and yes I had and continue to have wonderful support from family and my dear Marina. In fact today I had the joy of spending a little time with one of my favorite nieces who is took a little time off from her month long bus camp west coast trip with 27 other teenagers. She was such help to her grandmother in her final days.

Hope you are doing well my friend and I must say having my buddy's cousin win the The Open this month was a wonderful uplift. Yes last name Harrington.

Cheers,

Steve

Uhhh, yes very sorry to hear that Steve.

Encouraging words Stan.

A prayer . . .

Thank you both.

Bless us all

Take care, Steve.
Sorry to hear about your Mom.

I hope your faith has been strengthened.
Don't stay away too long. Your presence IS missed.

Sincerely, UT

.

Ambasteve...

So sorry about your loss...I can't even imagine..

You've long been a sane voice around here, thanks for chiming back in....these cats take themselves so seriously!

Stan summarized it best...paraphrasing him, none of the other stuff matters, compared to love of family....

Love ya bro....

norm

Dear Steve,

Anna Rose Gray..such a beautiful name, and I am sure you are left with beautiful memories to help you transition to the loss of her physical presence in your life and to help with the sadness her loss brings to you and your family.

Love to you and your family, Steve, ruth

morning all,

It is nice to get to a point in life where one doesn't take offense(to seriously) or flattery(to seriously) when offered, by another or delivered to another because one has realized the true fickleness of the ego/personality's makeup. It is nice when neither offense nor flattery moves you from your center of balance, from the truth of your beingness, you are grounded in your absolute no-thingness, content, with being neither here nor there, because you are truly everywhere, meaning, you are the flattery and the offense at any given time, you have tasted both, eaten, digested, and integrated this particular yin and yang...

ponderings, ruth..:))..:((

Ambasteve revealed his public identity:

Shmuel Gray from LA, CA

..AmbaSteve reminds me of one of those characters from the beautiful movie "Little Miss sunshine." Lucky to be a screwed-up within a loving family.

***

"DON’T YOU KNOW" by Steve Toth

A game bird found a parking space
for a hunter in the middle of nowhere
& he asked what he could do in return
“Don’t kill my children & I’ll watch your truck”
she offered sweetly
& he agreed
“But how will I know them?”
he wondered aloud
“They’re the most beautiful things alive”

Around sundown the hunter
emerged from the woods
with his kill sack bulging
“Good news for both you & me”
the hunter called out
“There were many birds
flying around for me to shoot
& each one I shot
was uglier than the last"

When the hunter opened his sack
for the game bird to see
she broke into bitter tears
She could see that the hunter had shot
every single one of her children
“But I shot only the ugliest I found”
“Oh dear don’t you know
every mother thinks her own children
the most beautiful?”

***

Every moron has a mom, too. And a Mom - or a Child - is never a Moron.

But the real hypocrites are those who talk about family values, like Stan and Skinny, but will speak about moms of teenagers (or, in case of Diablo, about women) stereotyping them in a disrespectful way, in their glee to abuse others.

Thanks Craig,Norm,Keith and dear Ruth for your kind thoughts and best wishes. It's been a year of loss, however, I sense new beginnings on the horizon, such a cliche but true. IB sure goes through it's ups and downs, I had to laugh when we were almost commanded to go see Love Guru , with all the cute and fun Pritka (sp) posts and being told basically how their something wrong with serious people who don't get the cosmic jokes. And the joke is that Love Guru will be nominated for the worst movie of the year.

I know we must move on.org, I will pop in from time to time just to keep everyone honest :) and thanks Norm for doing the heavy lifting, I can't wait for October when things will get very interesting. Irvine and co. better take your vitamins and a Chopra center class or two, because your inner energizer bunny is going to explode if you don't watch out.

Love to all and yes Ruth; Anna Rose Gray is a beautiful name, fitting for her soul.

Steve

Randy Pausch, 23 October 1960-25 July 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch

A last lecture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Hey Steve
Much peace to your mother Anna Rose Gray and to you.

derek

"I will pop in from time to time just to keep everyone honest :) " Ambasteve

When you do that, I shall pop up too to cut your self righteous and ignorant tail.

Skinny, Stan, Ruth and Steve share and mirror each other in their bigotry and junk mail ignorance in issues such as politics, science & religion, philosophy and spirituality (although the bunch of four breaks into half in the middle of political spectrum.)

Freyja
Your post in 'Does a New Start Have a Chance' about Double-Bind Paralysis was fascinating to me. When ever someone posts things about personality traits here I really try to see how it applies to me. Either I'm being that way or I have someone in my life being that way.
I have been going through deep changes in myself this year and I have come to realize how I allowed myself to be diminished and controlled by others.
The post on Double -Bind personalities was another wake up call to me. I was surrounded by controlling people as a child and have unconsciously surrounded myself with them as an adult.

Part of my being at IB is for fun another is to grow up or at least a balance of the two. Seeing how people interact here and participating has opened my eyes to many different kinds of people and different kinds of interactions.

I am sure I carry some of the traits of the Double-Bind personality, having been surrounded by them all my life.

So thank you for the post and I'll be watching out for it in others and in myself.

derek

Ambasteve

Condolences on the loss of your Mom.

Peace and Love to you and your family.

Love
bonnie

Re. Arizona, Libertarian

Many are unaware of the libertarian aspects of Barack Obama’s views and on libertarians who are supporting Obama. By libertarians here I don’t mean the Republicans who have adopted the libertarian label because it sounds cooler, and especially not the more fanatic and unhinged Paul supporters who haven’t a clue as to what libertarianism is really about. I mean libertarians who think and are aware of the great heritage of pro-freedom philosophers and writers who were libertarians before the label included everyone from supporters of social conservatism to even some supporters of the Iraq war.

[Gotham Chopra is the only self proclaimed libertarian I have come across at Intentblog, who incidentally supports Obama.]

With this criteria in mind, I should not have been at all surprised to see that David Friedman prefers Obama over both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Besides, if anyone understands the significance of the influence of economists from the University of Chicago on Obama it would be the son of Milton Friedman.

David Friedman answered questions about why he prefers Obama to McCain

daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2008/05/thoughts-on-obama.html

Both Megan McArdle and David Friedman prefer Obama over McCain. In The Los Angeles Times, Megan wrote:
________________________

"Obama is the right man for his party, and McCain is the wrong one. Obama is not only personally inspiring, but he also seems to have a deep understanding of the value of markets and transparency; he aims to fix outcomes, not tinker with the process. McCain, on the other hand, shows little respect for spontaneous free order or suspicion of expanded state power; he seems to think that the main problem with the government is that the wrong people are pulling the strings."

www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-klein-mcardle9-2008jun09,0,210594.story
______________________

#123, Sorry. Wrong thread.

Dear Steve,

My sincere condolences to the death of your mother. As you so rightly said, we all go through these losses.

Glad to read you see already new beginnings on the horizon :)

Dear Irvine,

I have met Randy Pausch through the Internet, through stage 3 of the Carnegie Mellon University. Stage 3 developing a 3D virtual reality environment called Alice.

I am forever grateful to him for making some of my childhood dreams come true :)

He will be forever in my heart.

I even have an everlasting memory because I created a 3D animation in "3D Alice", featuring Alice herself walking the labyrinth with delightful music of Bach in the background.

I also have a wonderful memory of my own father, making static (only possibility during those days) animations and so fully in his passion with making movies and adding sound and effects to it on the computer.

He made a movie of our family with my son in the main part and that is also an everlasting memory.

I believe everyone that leaves this earth has made a firm footprint on it that has been to the benefit of many :)

Love and blessings to all

Hey Diablo,
I'm wondering if you would answer the question you have posed... are you smart in your own mind? I think it's an awesome question, I thought your way of asking it was rude.

For me in my own mind, I'm smart in that I know there is more than my 5 senses show me. I feel it and I trust that feeling. I know I'm not above or beneath anyone. I want to understand truth. When something touches me, good bad or otherwise, I think about it and sometimes express it in words, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. I change my mind. I don't know very much. But I know everything, somewhere inside me.

I know I felt hurt when I read your comment. Now, I'm answering your question with the answer I have on this day, and asking you the same.

Sharon

Hug for you, Steve. There's no one can be quite like our mother. It's twenty years ago now for me, that Mother passed away. She gave me life.

Her names were Rosina Lilian Grace, not that that is meant to upstage Anna Rose Gray. For all our frailties, there was no condition to our mother's love for us. I'm sure you agree.

#127 Dear Sharon, I doubt Diablo meant that question for you. I'm not sure we are meant to take him seriously anyway.
This is probably the ongoing IB issue which we aleady exonerate you about and I bless your newcomer innocence, sweetness and light. There's some hard taskmasters here. Just take dear Ruthie's advice. Don't be fazed ;)

Ed.

all things are relative(!)?

amber ...i don't read much of the posts at this time...'cause there's so much going on all around...as a result...as u can understand...one can miss an important piece of info...

all kiddin' aside...condolences to u on a sad occasion...peace to u and respect.

Thanks Derek,Bonnie,D,Ed, and Heartphone for your kind thoughts. I want to share a quote with you from one of my heroes Viktor Frankl, just seems appropriate at this time:

"There are only two races, the decent and the indecent." - Viktor Frankl

Steve

Diablo~
thanks for answering
luv
sharon

Sharon,

If you base your point of view in contrast with others - Then it will always be subject to ridicule and further more you will be hurt or offended in that mode. It is brilliant in fact that there are so many points of view.

A real point of view that is truly realized is the one who does not stand in a point of view, but is infact empty and discharged of a point of view.

I am a complete idiot in the fullest sense of the word. I am infact somebody who deserves to be fully ridiculed and I will take the ridicule gladly.

Unlike yourself though the negative egotistical comments are like water to a ducks back.

I know Egoity as I know my own shadow; when it comes at me I love it instead of hate it or react to it.

Someone once said that Love can defeat all other.

That is totally true for the simple reason.. when you truly love from the none point of view status - everything else ceases to exist. Including Egoity.

Egoity has no power over my heart from an internal point or from another's point..

I am the lowest of the low and one to be laughed at when I speak of the things I speak; yet the one who wields the criticism I love as my own self.

To have real understanding you must know this.

It is absurd to think all worldy and material knowledge and possession is what we are..... The very nature of temporary existence exposes our real self as an undying spirit.

And I dont just know this... I am this.

I am nothing in its completest sense

You can call me insane, call me stupid, tell me I am fu##ed up, misguided and I will agree with you - because I have been where you are when you call me that.

I have been in places where all people wanted to was get drunk or high and forget the world. I have been in the room where I was abused. I have been in the room where the world has been unbearable and thought about taking my life. I have know the horror of life inside and out. Where I am now - I could crush pain like an empty paper cup. As I love those who call me names, As I love those who would seek to hurt me I love the pain that comes towards me. With this love pain is crushed and can not exist. The love I have is indestructible and is totally beyond the bounds of anything in your mind. I am that which creates the possibility of the experience of pain and is the very being that you are and Diablo is.

I have done the whole shebang! and I know why you doubt what really is. I have been there and lived it.

Now I am somewhere else that transcends all that

When you tell me I am an idiot and talking horse shit; I am looking at you from a place that once said that to someone else....

People are lost in the mind of endless content

If they stopped to recognize the cosmic being that is prior to all egoic thought, then the you would realize - but they cant do it mostly.

I dont hold it against them - they might even kill me for what I say but what I am is the truth regardless. Even if I die it won't be any different. It is infinitely true and prior to anything else.

Love

The idiot xx

I remember one time an enlightened teacher gave a lecture and he told this story...

A deeply egotistical and angry man was once lost and driving down a dead end street when he came across and enlightened master by the side of the road. The man wound down the window and shouted at the enlightened man "Hey! can you tell me how to get back to the road of enlightenment?"

to which the enlightened master replied

"You Can't get there from here"

;-) xx

http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1insects/cecropia.html

.

Check out this gorgeous and gigantic moth!

We had this fuzzy female visitor show up at work.

Being of the curious kind...this mother was caught, boxed, and shortly

thereafter she began to attach eggs here and there inside the makeshift nest.

When no one was watching, she flew away, leaving me with appx. 50 tiny fertile eggs.

So's I took them home, and kept them on the porch until they hatched.

Teeny, weeny, black worms appeared about 10 days later.

The box was placed under a hedge of lilac bushes, upon which they will hopefully feed.

When I went back to work after a 4-day weekend, the loving mother

was found to have expired in a small container that lies on my desk. Weird, huh?

and if your post 130 wasn't a response to my question... actually even if it was...

relative to you, i'm an idiot. or a genius depending on who you ask.

Ed, your post 129 is sweet. But I'm not altogether innocent, and I'm not always sweet. Maybe compared to you guys, I am. It's all relative.

Still, Diablo, you threw out a slamming comment #27. Ed doesn't think it was directed at me. Maybe it wasn't even a slam. I don't think any of that really matters. I'd like to know what brought it on, what you meant by it. What good is a biting comment if you turn up your nose when the person you bite wants to understand his or her weakness from your perspective?

I'm asking you to teach me something in words that I can understand.

If I'm not able to get it, or you're not able to do that, okay. But I still believe any two people can communicate with each other and understand each other if they really want to. If they really want to. I do.

peace
shar

Hi Sharon,

What else can u tell this audience about your self?

u are most welcome to join our circle of eternal friendship, girl! damn!

Hi Diablo,

What
do you
want
to know?

and thanks for the welcome, dude : )

Stop yr bitchin already, its unbecoming and childish, if you don't know how to take a complement it aint no flower outta of my garden.

If you don't have a clue, as to what or who I am talking to, about GOOD!, is as it should be.

THE TRUTH IS, your it!, you decide your own truth, and you trust its truth, there is only one you.

AND.. just because your innocent dose not mean you don't maniputale the hell out of the game, Do you get it Einstein? 30 Love, balls in yr court.

what a blessing to be an idiotgenious!
Lets celebrate, shall we?

( Its rainy and overcast in the desert now, the purple skies have given the cast to everything, its very beautiful, and lonely, " Down on the Rio Grande "

anyway

just made a huge pot of green chile stew, fresh scallion, big ol chunks of carrot, garlic. tatters cut into little square bits, I'm exited, dinner for one tonight please, as the children are with daddy.

Here is a really sweet song, I like it anyway

enjoy.

okay! stop! your crackin me up.

"Do you get it Einstein?"

:D alright, alright

"what a blessing to be an idiotgenious!
Lets celebrate, shall we?"

: ) I get it

(it's just dark here. my son's learning to use the pottey, only one mishap today! He's beautiful, and I feel lonely, too)

thanks Tammy
take your damn flower back!
;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CYI5bKZMes&feature=related

sounds deliecious. save me a bowl please.

love

for you Tammy

Thank you Simon.
Yeah, I know egoity some of the time. And I do have points of view, about the things I'm really passionate about.
I haven't done the whole shebang, but I've done some shebang. I've been in deep pain myself. My husband did take his life, in the basement while my son and I were sleeping. I was 23 and my little boy, my older son, was not even 2. My life was a hellacious ride for years after that. That event has been my teacher. Still teaching me now 21 years later. It's like there's something really simple I'm just on the verge of truly grasping. It's on the tip of my tongue.

Thank you so much. I've read your post several times. I'll read it several more. I do understand the thing about crushing pain like a paper cup. Sometimes I can take on a person's pain and just crush it. I gave you my pain yesterday. But then I noticed I took some of it back. Still, thank you for letting me give some of it away. And just now remembering that I gave it to you, I feel lighter. I should remind myself on occasion that I gave it to you. :)

Much love Simon,
Sharon xxx

Oh yes, that Diablo guy is like a slow elevator ride... with real bad music too.

He rarely says anything that isn't weird. Its usually only, "Damn Girl" or "Girl Damn", thats about it for that guy, yup. Never seen him/her have a real conversation with anyone, yup.
F.Y.I

Nice night, rest well.

#135 Cecropia Moth yo, great story, Keith, hope some of those little fellers make it. They make tasty meals to predators, it seems. But to reach 5 ins long, jeez, it might be a bit scary having one of those drop out of a tree onto your neck!

Any conclusions as to why Mother Nature joined you in the parable? I just love the holographic connections thingee. It's all in there somewhere, even tho we don't have the moths here in UK.

Welcome respite, Keith ;) Some real food for thought! Cheers.

Glad you liked it, Ed!

You know how well I like to change thing-ease up.

I'd been saving that one. Timing is everything, of course.

Connotations? I don't know quite yet. Shall we have a go at it?

.

I did show The Queen to almost everyone in my department the day she was found.

I'd never seen anything like it, but one of the guys(Tony) remembered an event

from childhood that apparently had a long lasting effect upon him.

He and his brothers once had found a large, strange-looking caterpillar and,

and boys are wont to do, put it in a jar with the hopes of seeing

a live, slow-motion transformation via metamorphosis.

Nowadays we just say "morph", so of course, I forgot how to spell it.

Anyways...they were successful, and ended up getting to sort of "raise"

several Cecropias and earn some extra credits from their school to boot.

.

The morning we all went back to work, a few of us (including Tony),

were standing around my desk waiting for our shift to begin.

I was telling them about the eggs hatching, and we all had a good laugh over it.

At that moment, Tony's eye just happened to catch sight of the proud(?) mother.

"There she is, right there!" he exclaimed, as he pointed to her

perfectly preserved remains which were actually in plain sight in a small tub on my desk.

Obviously, she knew who was to be held as the responsible party. (UT)

Now I'll have to keep a better "eye-out" so's I can spot some large,

green creepy-crawlies crawling around in the bushes come Fall.

Shall I...should I...might not I say(just this time), "My babies!" ???

Knot on your life! Mother Nature can kiss my bald stump! There ya go!

I Just have to dedicate this gem by Wierd Al
to our boy Irving.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NgfpJWUYgbg&feature=related

Cheers

t.... u sound cranky...what u haven't had it 4 a while? hmm that can make a ole coug go snarly...damn!

Hi Sharon,

My thoughts today about pain and joy.

The pain you mention is universal, both men and women share it. It is the opposite of universal joy, which we all share too.

If there was no pain, there was no joy, and one could not experience it, either way.

If one becomes aware of the Paradox, one is able to transcend it in One's Natural Own Way, in other words, able to change it in one's NOW :)

Male - female, masculin - feminine, also a Paradox! Only suitable for us to experience the difference.

Finding all of this back in oneself, transcends it. And if one is able to do just that, one's world changes.

So good that you let Nick decide when it is his time to go on the pottey :)

Another wonderful day here in my part of the world, pure summertime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KORv734DjHc

Much love,

Mieke

"There are only two races, the decent and the indecent." - Viktor Frankl

Steve"

Also a paradox to be transcended :)

See! thats not a real conversation! and your not a real person!

#148 Remove the chronological factor, Keith,....earthly story with heavenly meaning.... and I can sorta see from it how your life pans out, and because I felt drawn in to your parable, it points up my life, too.
Dunno if that means owt to you.

I can persue this to a 'place' where it all makes perfect One sense and I no longer question or need to talk about it. You know, a bit like our Gewordie friend!! ;)

cee-EC-ropya in :)

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/27/india.blasts/index.html

(CNN) -- Metropolitan areas of India were on high alert Sunday after a wave of synchronized bombs that hit the western Indian city of Ahmedabad killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 114, police reported.

http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2008/07/ahmedabad_blast.htm#comments

The last two comments are especially interesting....

Hi Sharon, I though you would like this one, this guy just had a baby a few weeks ago. Sunday Rose, isn't that a beautiful name.

Love

Stan...ref #149...that hits the nail on the head for the whole IrvineChrisJohnIndyFreeya bunch!

Maybe my earlier description was more right than I even thought! Or else...they are all night auditors at Motel 6, and that's why they have all this time to research!

Now I know why my little faux AP story hit such a nerve with Irv....the rest of his family may not get to come over! :) ooops I mean :(

#149

Nice parody that one. Enjoyed it. Good twist in the end.

The original number is more closer to my personality, though.

You're Beautiful

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Y7WDWP8WMs

Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States of America.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=agW2cO2dy3Q

Hi I am sad that you had to suffer through such a painful situation, and I know its still heavy on your heart, I know that he was in so much pain, that, that was all he could think to do, he is not gone though, he just dose not have that pain anymore.

I will be your friend Sharon, I am Tammy I am 38 I live in Albuquerque NM I have 4 kids, Jordan 18, Kyle 17, Marshall 8, and Atticus 2, I am 14wks pregnant with twins. I am alone, just me and my 2 year old, the other kids live with there daddies down the street, most of the time and Atticus will to as he gets older. I really did want to be happy with the picket fences and one husband and all, that but it hasn't happened that way.

I am seriously thinking about leaving NM and starting a new life, somewhere anywhere, I want to be happy, I want a new life. I'm thinking about moving to a new place to start over, I dunno.

See I am an IdiotGenius too, totally clueless, the body of a 38 year old woman, and the heart of a 14 year old girl, but yet I know that I am created in god perfect image, yah Its tuff.

Thank you for bring light into my life.

Tammy,
here is a favorite, and a dream of mine.

I will write more when I get back from errands with mom and Nick.

you've got my heart and i've got yours.

i love you sweetheart
sharon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xirxN3xYuYg

I like them too.

Yeah, they're good!

The world really has come to Deepak Chopra with its problems....

at a time when there are screams from India - the bombs.

Where are you now Deepak?

I will tell you where he is........

He is me,

Anything you need to ask Deepak Chopra you can ask me and I will answer as Proxy for him through meditation twice a day as he would answer you.

All of this week I will take your questions for Deepak.. In the morning at 8 O clock and in the evening at 6:30 GMTM (mIDNIGHT and ten thirty AM) I will put your questions towards him in the blue sky. And I will answer for him as he would answer you.

Interesting experiment...

Lets see how it works

Love

Simon xx

Norm (skinny)

I am very glad you got to watch that clip. I though of your discription of Irving in his bathrobe waiting for his Mom to bring his breakfast,and it sums him up beautifully!
For those of you who missed this tribute to Irving et al, Check it out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NgfpJWUYgbg&feature=related

Norm, this one is a little tribute to your boy George...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FrEdjaJt9iY&feature=related

Cheers
Stan

I hope your recovering well from yr brain transplant, Simon...
Will you be answering these questions in his native tongue as well?

First question ( mind you yr being scored )

Why is it I can polish my left hand perfectly, but the right is always sub par?

Why is the comment box at the bottom, not the top?

Why are clown fish called clown fish?

Can you answer questions for Jesus Christ and Buddha too?

Tammy,
Thank you for your insight and caring. I loved him when he was here, but I didn't understand him. I've come to understand him better over the years, mostly by looking at myself, by seeing him in me and me in him, something I never wanted to see when he was alive. It's all about forgiving, and then knowing there is nothing to forgive... I think :)

I will be your friend too, Tammy, 38 year old mother of 4 with 2 on the way, and so much more. You are so honest. I keep smiling in amazement that I have brought light into your life. You are a light in mine.

I think we should take Simon up on his offer.

My first question Simon: How do I reach a place of total peace with my husband, Kevin? Can I communicate with him? I want to hold him, look into his eyes, and feel pure love, understanding, peace and joy. I want to laugh with him.

I'm so glad you liked our music, Ed. That made me feel happy.

And now, off to join Nick. We are watching 'Shark Tales'.

I love you,
Sharon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RER94lCnHYE

you are tooooo funny tam
:))
(good questions btw)

Great question Sharon and one we would all like answers to, intimacy. I'm looking forward to the Deepak Freejohn answer on this one.

Dear Sharon my given name is Tammy Christine, it is Hebrew. I see that you like to go by Shar, which is very pretty, but not as beautiful as Sharon. My name, as yours has great meaning, as I spent the first 35 years not knowing the meaning and disliking my name in general. I love it now, because I know what it means.

I wish He would hurry up with your physic reading I am curious to hear his advise.

Simon, (and Tammy), (RE:#168)

So you know, the husband I speak of is the one who took his life 21 years ago. :)

Thanks Tammy, I do really love my name, too. I think I always have. My name is Sharon Lynn. I've heard of Sharon the Rose. I'll have to read more on the meaning. But yeah, I've noticed that when someone gets to know me and decides he/she likes me, they sometimes call me Shar. So more than anything, it's a nickname that just makes me feel... known, I guess.

So, Nick and I got to watch a thunderstorm roll in from my bedroom window tonight. First the sound of the wind rustling through the tall oaks and maples, then the branches bending and dancing with the powerful gusts, then flashes in the sky and rumbles all around. Then came the downpour, and the spray of the rain on our faces through the window screen. Weeee, it was fun.

Oh, I just realized you probably knew the husband in my question was dead, since you referred to a psychic reading. duh. :)

love,
Sharon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ

Your husband is not dead, just a very small dream of him is, he comes to you as you permit.

We really never die, even if you think you have seen death, it is only reflections and illutions.

WHEN WE ARE IN AGREEMENT OF THIS DEATH and SUFFERING, stop.

You know, he could never die, it is love you are in love with and thats why there was a "him" in the first place, your dream created "him" out of love.

You know, someone could come to me and tell me my beloved had died, and I would not believe it, even if I saw a body, I just wouldn't, I couldn't because I know that the LOVE cannot be bound by death or life. yeah its true, its eternal, and thats really more then one little girl in albuquerque can understand, and thats OK.

Your own truth is what sets you free.
And YOU get to decide that!

Ex husband #3 came by tonight, he says I don't love him, he is horrible, I tell him, I loved him before I meet him, and he just says "your crazy" I hate that! he just turns the whole thing around and calls me crazy because HE can't trust that LOVE is good.

AND AND
AND he is the worst! unkind, mean, grumpy, rude, dose not shower and shave most days, has bad breath all the time, yeah? how could I love a guy like that, dunno, but I do.

You know I just realize part of loving him is having all those reason for hating him.
yeah

enough endless chatter 4 now.

The rose of Sharon is the Hybiscus flower, it grows quit well in tropical areas.

Good night, I love you

The Unknown God

The Cicada aum has returned to my Beloved Parkway,
purple asters grow by the wayside,
the Rose-Of-Sharon blooms next to my Hibiscus,
Queen Anne's Lace decorate a mid-summer's night dream,
soon crickets will play their woeful harps,
I've lived long enough to know these transitory
signs

I have lived long enough to wander deep into my own forest
I have seen the Golden Light through all the falling leaves
as the light shines from the soul, even as I have mistaken the
snake for a branch and the branch for the snake, but I can still
hear the forest breathe with its own music as it hastens me
down another Path of recognition

And sometimes it seems as though the earth herself opens up
and swallows me, spitting me out in a jungle where only wild things
grow... and in my wildness I fall silent for the fear is inside me,
and the silence grows and carries me off with a warm wind
to the desert of my mind

I thirsted and hungered for truth and beauty... lost for all those years
in the mirage I create from that sand storm of intention,
and I ask why have you foresaken me, dear God, even as I
am swept away onto the shores of my destiny, with miles yet to go...

There.. is my sacred mountain... bleeding feet and blistering tongue,
I climb, almost frozen inside the shell of me, time ripens me,
I have only a moment's "Aha"...
breathless, only my spirit survives
I, the Unknown God of me.

~Anna

"In Ohio After Days Of Hard Rain" by AR

In Ohio
after days of hard rain,
after the humus, loam
wash away,
the brick-red clay of earth form puddles
of red light, washes into rivers, both
large and small, we could so easily
smile--remember a creation story,
there would be no doubt
here is where the Red Man was
brought forth by the hand of God,

laughing,
I ponder no further clarification
to the mysteries of colour and race,
the sands of time and the journeys of man
come together just when thoughts
fly away, carry a mercurial memory
to the space of awareness, just beyond
contemplation in the antechamber of a
Lover's heart,

I am dripping with the sky as it
forms around me, the summer heat
hangs low and heavy with thunder
and lightning, etches across my face

around the bend, a hawk awaits my arrival,
he is perched on a dead branch, pinioned
the live tree, he speaks: "I am at your service,
My Lady". I thank him as he returns to the air,
to the denseness of middle earth,

I am bare-shouldered in August
cornflower-blue asters,
ungloved in the Rose Of Sharon,

I am nascent in the Fall.

Love,
Anna

Poet's note: we can never mind the mind, but whether or not mind the weather?
now...that's a whole different story as stories come and go, changing
just like the weather in the density of awareness;-)

what an oddity...what a simpleton!

"in the antechamber of a
Lover's heart,"
Yo, Irv, so glad you're that simple and Anna a genius!

i have missed the morning med. I will introduce what you said and relay honestly what i see sharon.

Is it romance that I miss?
Oh! Why must I see Mondays at all?

Nothing but news of the worst kind!
"The Dark Knight" has broken the records.

A dark-skinned man is 99 days from making history.
Bombing hospitals--taking rifles to church...innocent sinners?

When I dream, I see nothing but mystery.
No endings where the ugly, obscene villains prevail.

That which is brand new? Instantly is it taken from me.
Gratitude is now a forced feeling of acceptance.

.

Nevermind me2day
The Lord humbles
I mumble...bye!

Must not miss those morning meds Simon, as it messes with the whole day, yeh?
I think Deepak slept through that meditation anyway.

I love these poems. They affect me even though I don't understand everything. I don't even care that I don't understand when I read them.

When I was with Kevin, the person I was and the role I was playing then with him, she didn't understand love. Like you say Tammy, she was in love with love, but not a real, pure love. The love of her understanding was selfish and self-serving.

I love him now in a more real way. I know he knows that. And I know the way I'm speaking about this is simple, using pronouns for him and me like we are 2 different things.

That's the catch for me. I know philosophically he and I are one, different aspects of the same thing, playing our own roles. And I do FEEL that sometimes. But, other times, I still feel the feelings as though he and I are 2.

And as 2 separate things, I didn't love him REAL-ly back then.

And now, Sharon, the woman I play today, would give anything just to be able to look him in the eye and hold him and laugh with him. Sharon today loves him much more REAL-ly.

I know then and now are the same, and he's not really gone. But here in the playground, then was then and now is now. And he is not here, physically.

Nick has become a young little man practically overnight. Peein' and poopin' in the pottey, wearin' his Thomas the Tank Engine underwear, even while he sleeps. Cherish the moment, :)

Sharon

:) i love listening to you, tam, talk about your ex #3

What does Love really mean?

There is a saying: “To love is to let go”.

Every night when I go to sleep I let go of all that happened to me that day in the opposite direction. I relive everything in the opposite direction again and during this ritual, awareness already creeps in to tell me that I do not even have to do that to sleep heavenly. Half way my ritual I usually am already asleep.

To let go of a loved one can be experienced in the same manner. Reliving the situation in the opposite way, by rewinding the feelings you winded yourself up in, in the first place.

By letting go you realize your peace, inside, transcending that very thing you seem to be attached to.

I read a wonderful story the other day about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, seen as the male and female side within oneself:

The archetypical Jesus and the archetypical Mary Magdalene, or the archetypical Adam and the archetypical Lilith, show to us that we have to give up that what is the most precious to us.
Becoming two androgen, spiritually evolved persons: a loving man and a liberated woman, both to be found within one self: Jesus (or the androgen hero) dying to love and reaching the perfect inner freedom by this. And Mary Magdalene (the mythical bride) letting go of her loved one to reach freedom and in this way reaches true love.

And when I awake, it is a new day, it is a new way and I fly out to the Sun.

When the sun shines on the mountains
And the night is on the run
It's a new day, it's a new way
And I fly out to the sun

Una paloma blanca
I'm like a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountains I fly

And no one can take my freedom away

Ex # 3 is mean, I asked him to take me to the food bank today, he said " NO, to busy " "No to busy? " he's a trust fund baby that sits around and collects money, thats it. Sooo I have about half gallon of milk, no cash, no food stamps and no car. I know we'll be just find but why dose this person relish getting to to tell me " Its Not my problem " he really says this at least one a week when I ask for his help. I don't get it? I bore and raise his child, you would think he would WANT to be kind.

Yo Mieke
Thank you for kind wisdom.

"And no one can take my freedom away"

derek

.......and when I see you
I really see you upside down
but my brain knows better
it picks you up and turns you around
turns you around..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jduFDgIr598

Thank you death cab for cutie

We all bring color to this amazing journey

derek

"I should have given you a reason to stay
This is fact not fiction for the first time in years"

I think maybe I blame him because I'm not happy, well yes I do blame him, if he was kind that would help, I have a hard time seeing coolness in this person, I know he is pure love cause thats all there is, but he is just mean.

why are people mean?

When i was growing up my father was military, so we moved a lot, about 10 different school in 4 different states. And for the most part I, the new kid got beat up by all the kids.

One time in the 6th grade, I was in the bathroom, the stall, and this really pretty group of girls where standing outside, as I reached for the door one of the girls kicked the door as hard as she could, my hand was in the door and my finger was smashed, but heart was broken.
If these girls wanted my notice, why didn't they just smile and say "hi"

My mean creation, YUCK!

"why are people mean?"

sometimes I'm mean when I feel scared, confused, bitter, hurt, threatened. when I don't see the truth, when I am not letting go of past hurts, when I'm not forgiving someone or myself.

I'm taking Nick out for a bit. Thinking of you Tammy.

Thank you Mieke and derek.

Much love,
Sharon

another question for Simon... why are people mean?

So let me get this straight? " Scared, confused, bitter, hurt, threatened." is what is stand between me and a damn gallon of milk? and a ride to the bank, OK.

What do I need to do to help Mark, not feel this way, so he CAN help, because I know he wants to!

There are no mean people, only people acting out of pain.
When seen through the lens of compassion the heart melts when it experiences someone acting out of their pain. Whether they are hurting them self or someone else.

Tammy a better move would be from pain to compassion instead of a new city. From blame to forgiveness, from rejection to acceptance and I'm not talking about the people in your life. You are a miracle of creation not to be wasted with the misperceptions of a painful life. Pain can be the most beautiful teacher of compassion.

My Pain becomes my Strength
My Weakness, Fuel for the Fire
My Limitations, Gateways to the Future
My Blindness, Clarity
My Tears, Rays of Light on the Mountaintop

Shar
You are very welcome.

peace and love

derek

Wake up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyxd9BJ9_5E

Carlos Sastre wins Tour de France. Congratulations.

That makes it a hat-trick. Earlier this year Nadal won at Roland Garros and Spain won the Euro soccer cup.

Sports fans celebrate all across the proud nation.

Yes, Tammy, what derek said.

And another thought along those lines...

The next time Mark is acting like an idiot, try to think of a time when you were acting just that way, or wanted to act just that way. See what happens. If you can see even a little of his negative behaviors in yourself, you might have a different response. What do you think?

Cool video John. The shot of the earth from space gets me every time.

peace, love
shar

Derek, Sharon,

Your welcome :)

The other day Tammy and Sharon were talking about the Rose of Sharon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onKu0LnyKTA

Beautiful and sad

How far in space would we need to explode these bombs to be safe but also be able to see them like fireworks here on earth?

Naive?
Wishful thinking?
Brilliant?
Foolish?

We have weapons of self destruction to keep the peace

Naive?
Wishful thinking?
Brilliant?
Foolish?

"A fundamental restructuring of economic, political and social and religious institutions" Carl Sagan

"Fundamental changes happen all around us....." Carl

Thanks John for posting this clip.

I still believe that a courageous country with courageous citizens can begin to push for a government to fire ALL of it's weapons of mass destruction in to space for a celebration of fundamental change.

Naive?
Wishful thinking?
Brilliant?
Foolish?

or seeds of change?

Can we expect another country to do what we can not?
Can we expect another country not to create what appears to be a way to level the field by creating their own weapons, while we stock pile more and more? What hypocrites we must be.

It may seem completely irrational to disarm but it seems more irrational to be able to use mass destruction as a weapon for peace. They have not kept the peace. They have been tools of intimidation.

It is more likely we would be invaded through economics than by a military. The economic invasion has already started. The new weapon of mass destruction is a keyboard attached to a computer, which ironically can also be the our salvation.

Thank you Carl for your gentle and most powerful insights.

derek

http://www.lyricsdomain.com/3/camel/rose_of_sharon.html

The lyrics :)

I Accidently posted this on the other Open thread earlier this afternoon...

OK,

Just done half hour meditation and I will tell you what I felt or in every day terms seen and heard.

During meditation sometimes things are very far away and difficult to grasp and other times things are very clear and near. Sometimes you can be aware of millions of things at the same time which is impossible through your senses but are possible in a meditative state as ones attention is much bigger and fluid like in this area.

I didn't feel any connection as such through to Deepak but that is something I expected. I heard some one using my older brothers voice saying "Hello" a couple of times so that may have been him but I am not sure.

I have heard and seen people during meditation very clearly and known things that they wanted me to know. Not a dead person but someone who was living and was meditating at the same time as me. The understanding actually lasted for a couple of days after we had made the connection also. That may be another reason why Deepak will not make a connection with me spiritually.

In spirit a lot of information is available to us anyway about what a persons feelings are on any particular subject as in reality our thoughts, feelings, emotions and conceptions all belong to the same cloud of information.

In answer to what Deepak wold think about the question you have asked him Sharon would be that he would genuinly feel sorry for what has happened to you. He has a lot of insight into a broad spectrum of feelings and emotions of others. This is what makes him such a great teacher because he can relate to those emotions very personally. So he would feel your regret and also feel your sadness due to the loss.

If you read Deepaks books on the after life they will provide you with different ways of understaning death and loss of loved ones. This is pretty much all he will offer.

The things that Tammy wanted answers on are all relative mainly to yourself. The things are what they are in relation to either you or to the world / enviroment that they are found. There is your answer.

During the meditation just now I became suddenly aware of a fairly young man with darkish sin. He had dark hair and even though he looked to be no more than 35 he had flecks of grey in his hair. He was quite a well built man with a full face and he was wearing a T shirt. I am not 100% sure if he is related to anybody I was asking questions for. He was not really what you might call Sad or depressed but I could tell that he was a very confuesed person. He was someone who would struggle to deal with life and really doesn't understand what its all about so to speak. He did smile but it wasn't a content smile but more like a curtious smile.

I just tried to have some more contact with this person but all I got this time was the image of a street Sewer with the lid lifted off. Not sure what that means, maybe he thinks that what I am saying belongs in the sewer lol. I got the sewer lid very strongly there and was something to do with the same person.

There was an Autopsy just now, not very pleseant.

A lot of vomiting happening.

And thats it for now.. I can see this was all very Ugly and quite scary.

I would be interested to see if this relates to someone here. It is possibly unrelated.

I feel quite sick now!

Love

Simon xx

I will deal with the "Why are people mean" question tomorrow at the same time with the same methods.

Love

Simon xx

derek,
I really like your idea for a cosmic fireworks display. One of the very first posts I made on this site in reference to the Pitiful, Helpless Giant and Iraq...

"What would happen if we saw ourselves in the enemy and the enemy in ourselves, laid down our weapons, maybe even tossed them all in a huge barrel (or several huge barrels), set fire to them melting them down to their original form, and then those who wished to stuck around, or showed up if they weren't already there, to offer their services to those who want and need them in just the way they want and need them?

Crazy idea maybe, but what would happen."

Kind of along the same lines, although the cosmic display would be much cooler, and safer, and maybe more far-reaching in its message.

Just the image of it and I smile.

Simon~
you're awesome. I so enjoyed reading about your meditative experience. Thank you. Still thinking about who the 35 year old man might be, not sure. And looking forward to tomorrow's experience.

Love and Peace,
Sharon

YO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-d9iwBSswY

I still believe in the moment of 'O'

peace

derek

I want some of dat stuff Simon is smokin'!! My Monte Cristo's and Wild Turkey...just don't cut it after that story.....

That would be my third husband Mark as he represents feces in my dreams as a matter a fact there was a period where I was taking photo of shit and looking for beauty, it was strange. His energy is strong and most people are just very scared of him, I was to then I realize that he is my dark side, he couldn't do anything to me that I didn't allow, How do I fix it?

Norm, Maybe Simon's smokin' some of that stuff Tammy's talkin' 'bout___@?

yeah I think you might be right, I can't believe you sucked me into such stupidity, I will now remove myself from it, and consider how nice it would be to smoke a big fatty!

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Well...I would prefer not to be on the same page as that. My hangup? UT

Some of us leave off where guessing comes in.

Or maybe my third husband is the beast, you know the Mark of the beast, maybe..

That would make me a beast lover, that can't be good! shit!

Here by the river
Many a rainbow floats by
Seven colors bled

Into the white light
The constant voice of God's O
Tingling my root tips

The thick sap goes forth
To infinity beyond
Seven eleven

No human has seen
The farthest reach of TREE's limbs
Meditoad on tape

.

UT

Ya'all so funny

derek, Keith (or anyone...)

what is the moment of "O"?

shar

Hey Shar
It is one of my wishful theories.

I have believed for over 20 years that there would come a day when we would create a moment when all people on the planet would stop and realize that we don't have to fight anymore. I use to call it the green revolution. A revolution that shed no blood and that was so non-eventful that most people would not even notice.

Everyone will say all over the world, Oh, we can live a different way, we are no longer bound to solve conflict through violence, Oh we can use our differences to grow, Oh, all we have to do is live through compassion, OH we can grow up as a global society and not be squabbling children any more.

Now with the internet it seems tangible.

Also if you put your hands together over your heart, palms together like prayer or namaste position, open your hands with your fingertips still touching to form an O, over your heart chakra, then send it to the world.

I have talked about this here too many times. Ever hopeful. Wishful thinking.

Over the past twenty years I have seen much change and it is speeding up. I am ever hopeful. I have been talking about this to anyone who would listen over the years, it doesn't seem as crazy as it use to.
So I push the envelope a little farther to a nuclear fireworks display. Ever hopeful, wishful thinking.

Check out the terrifying beautiful video from #202

One of the space explosions towards the end creates an O in the sky. Gives me chills.

peace must come from peace

derek

I just popped up to say that this has simply got to be the most awesome Open thread ever. I love you all, every single one of you. Tammy, your pure love kicks butt. Miss Sharon, thanks for joining us, and pass on my attaboy to Master Nick. Ed, Kate, doodleman, Mieke, Keith, Stan, Ruth, Jean-Francois, Diablo, Craig ...I love everything you guys serve up ... well, almost everything. Irv/John/Chris/Freyja - haven't figured you out yet; rum coves, all of you. Simon - smoking something or not, brilliant & crazy you are. Hi there, Kate and Heath!

And last but not least, to the two iconoclasts who recently resurfaced: skinny, you're too funny, so stick around, d'ya hear! And Ambasteve: peace and blessings to you and your family. Indeed nothing like the family bond, as DK reminded us recently.

*end of group hug*

Yo sWORDSman

And Yo Simon pass that thing around............

derek,
Thank you for explaining that. I saw the 'O' in the video. Just a quick flash and there it was! Awesome.

I've been inspired by this dream since I was a child. That coke commercial used to give me chills at age 7. "I'd like to teach the world to sing", all those people, all those colors, singing in harmony. The coke spoiled it just a bit. :)

And this was one of my favorites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmxT21uFRwM

peace
sharon

Hey sWORDSman, thanks for the welcome.
Love group hugs!

Sharon

#216 Nice of you to pop in sWORDSman. Thanks for the notice ;)
Just a hug this time, but, you know, you are THE cool voice of balanced reason about here and I'm always ready to sit up and take note when you can find time to apply yourself.

One small criticism....I'm sure you didn't mean to leave out my friend Bonnie. (Yeah, a guest appearance may yet beat the deadline for this thread! I hope it's another of the Bard's ;)

You sure, you ARE sWORDSman ;))

Hi Derek and all,

We constantly live in this moment of O.

Re-member that we (everything including Earth and solar system) originated from it.

We live in it, it is all around us and yet we are not from it (we can be detached or watch it from a distance).

We are still copying the events that have taken place in the Universe.

There is an order behind this chaos. It is in your own heart where this fireball is residing too :)

Guess finding the order behind it gives the ultimate O.

For that, one has to be not afraid of death beause it is the same as being born.

I cannot explain it better. It is an inner truth.

Thanks Swordsman and everyone for the wonderful videos in this thread and Sharon for the finishing touch on the cake: We are the world :)

Am going to listen to another song from such a wonderful band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hMrY8jysdg

Love from the heartphone :)

Mieke

Three cheers for sWORDSman!!!

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CHEERS!!!

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CHEERS!!!

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CHEERS!!!

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TREE hugz back!

Drat! I knew I'd miss someone… I was hoping "I love you all, every single one of you" would cover it :-). Hi Bonnie, and Trish too! And Richard, I really do want to take you out to lunch before I move out of your area (which appears to be soon).

And the Big Three I totally missed – grateful thanks to Deepak, Mallika and Gotham for making all this possible in the First Place.

Believe me, Ed, I keep my sWORDS sheathed as long as you and Keith are around. It's an aspirational name, if you know what I mean.

Hey Shar
Yes I remember the commercial well. I remember even as a child the feeling that people could just get along. That it would be easier to get along than to fight. It wasn't just a thought it was and is an intense knowing. At the same time we were hiding under school desks and covering the back of our heads with our hands.

I think a lot of people were moved by that commercial and the feeling of relaxed connectedness.

In my offline individual life I have practiced the pacifist, go with the flow lifestyle and it has allowed me the most amazing, rewarding experiences and I have never had an enemy, even with my mischievous streak. I am able to create what ever I need and the 'universe' rewards me in ways I never expected. I have many children, so many adults now, all over the world that I have raised and they come home to visit, oh my god the rewards. My wife and I have mentored gifted children for almost 20 years now. I have traveled without much effort or planning on my part. I have experienced more life than I could ever have dreamed of and I'm still just getting going.

I say this about myself because I have known people who create a life filled with conflict and drama. They are worn out, exhausted all the time and empty.
I have challenges in my life as well, it is not without it's conflicts and pain, deep pain, but through it I grow and it gives me passion and energy.
My Pain Becomes My Strength
Conflicts Become Opportunities

My point, I do not believe in the myth that we are inherently a violent species. Just immature.
Peace is not the absence of pain and suffering but the embracing of it.
War and the habit of war are not a part of human nature.
War and the habit of war are not a part of human nature.
It is not apart of my nature and it is not apart of the nature of the vast majority of people I know and have known.
Most people I know resolve conflict in a peaceful manner. I have only known a few people who were just inherently war like.
In my experience I believe most people would rather sit on a grassy hill and sing together than to have a riot. We as a global society can mature past this need for war, but if it doesn't at least my life has been a reward and a blessing to me.

Naive?

It has worked very well in my life. I have been blessed in my life in immeasurable ways by just giving a smile to everyone I see and in my heart I thank them for being apart of all this. No matter who it is.

Yo, anyway, getting kinda wordy and I have a beautiful piece of art to finish, yo deadlines.

derek

{{{{{{{{ED}}}}}}}}}
Huggs by the hawk's wings.

"For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still."

Love
B

```
The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives
may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
--W. Berry

A hearty greeting to you as well sWORDSman, we miss your voice here: so stick around for now on!

peace

"Why are People Mean? or why are there mean people even"

People normally have a mode of operation as to why - behind when they do mean things.

Survival Mode

Greed Mode

Jealous Mode

Paranoia Mode

Perverse Mode

and so on and so forth.......

It also depends greatly on who is making the judgment of what it is to be mean.

The first thing to Understand is that each of us is either mean or capable of being mean at some stage. Most of us fall into at least one of the brackets above.

The second thing to understand is that being MEAN is a form of madness that each of us suffers from. Complete sanity is life without Sin; without any false illusions of the nature of our being. Doctors might argue that madness is something completely different but since when did they know anything! LOL.

All Evil, All Mean acts and deeds however different they may appear are related back to one root cause. This root is Selfishness or Egoity.

It is the Ego who seeks to Control, manipulate, destroy and succeed above all others. It is the Ego who creates Otherness and it is this otherness where hatred and contempt is born.

When I was very young I had a small tin soldier. The soldier had a key that I could put into his back and wind him up. Once he was wound up; the soldier would march for a short distance and play his drum. I remember wishing that the soldier could really come to life when I wound him up..

To bring the soldier to life would mean that he would have to also be "Self Aware" Aware of himself as a Self - otherwise he would still just be a marching wind up soldier and not really alive and with free will.

If I gave him self awareness then that means I must also give him total freedom of choice. He will have the choice of endless possibilities to do anything he wants including murder, steal, rape, Love, hurt, heal, run or walk.

With his life he will radiate Karma what ever he does.

This is a lot more fun than a wind up tin soldier because now I have someone to really play with.

The greatest Miracle of all is the one of Possibilities. It is way beyond all other ideas of what is magical or miracioulus. The infinate potential of God is the one true Miracle that we are wittnessing all of the time.

God did not give life

God did not give Hatred

God did not give Selfishness

God did not give Man or Woman

God Did not give The Earth or any of the Planets

God gave only one thing and that was endless choice for the Universe to do with it what it will.

and here you are.........

When this level is realised there will be no more self and therefor it will cancel out all of the modes of all selfishness that is the root to all negative force.

I am sure you have more questions

Love

xx

she looks in the mirror and hates the image that stares back at her...she remembers her more youthful years when she was proud of that image... oh how rude father time has been to that which was once beautiful...

now...she is in mid-life crisis, frequently sad, always unsure of herself, moody, snappy and morbidly shudders at the thought that her youth must now give way to the unplesantries of old age....she still listens to country and reminisces of the fond good old days that suddenly vanished...nowadays ...forever..to console her emptiness...she fantasizes about Randy Travis, George Straits and that newcomer sensation with the deep, sexy voice...it keeps her from loosing it all...whoa!

that was not a real person as she likes to say...it is just a ghost...damn!

r u really sure she's a newcomer and not a clever deceiver? damn!

thats the most you have ever mustered, I still know your not a real person, and haven't a clue how to be one, sad, I guess that make you a ghost too. It really is sad for you and me

Your a cripple.

You will never see truth.

You do not have the courage, I am sorry.

I am leaving this desert now, to live or die, anything but a ghost, I hope I can feel again and

dear Steve,
I have been away for a week traveling and visiting with my family ... it was the first time home since my Dad's funeral and the pull at my heart, when I first stepped inside the house ...
and rushing to my Mom with a big hug.

Blessings to you and your family, and thank you for sharing about Anna Rose Gray. Our Moms are the first 'loves' in our lives - and it's a special kind of bond, that cannot break. Death can never do that. Oh, but the missing feeling, can be so strong.

I love you,
~ Kate

hey everyone,
I have missed you all - and sWORDSman - please write as often as you can :)
~ Kate

Welcome back, Kate, to "the most awesome Open thread ever." I miss you. UT

You know something ...

What totally outweighs the search for the understanding and conception of God by a million miles...

People.

People alone are uncrackable enigma next to the perfect silence of God...

Its a good thing that I dont beieve in them or I would go nuts for sure

Love

Simon xx

Diablo

Why?

The most mustard ever from Diablo, Tammy?

I do believe that for him it was catch-up time.

Who's in a pickle? Can we vote for "best buns"?

hey there, Keith
This is a great OT to read!
I miss you too.
It's just the right time of evening to take a walk and see the sun's setting colors ...
come join me,
~ Katie

Wow, this is a very beautiful thread, as I caught a glimpse of it in 'view comments' area, and then I just started reading from bottom to top. I'm at 214 now and will stop when the fighting starts if it does or before the bell rings to go home.

Love, Char

dear Tammy,
you really do know the truth about love,
it can't grow in resistance to what is.
If ex#3 is mean, you can see that and
still be who you are and not
be pulled into being mean.
I don't like mean either. But when I am, I catch myself really quick now.
It's time to Rise above
and make it to the mountain top
It's so clear there!
lots of love,
~ Kate

dear Sharon,
you share from your heart.
Thank you.

Hi Simon,
I have no enemies
there is nothing to fear.
Is this not perhaps the discovery we are to make
while we are here on earth?

xo
for you
~ Kate

If I take off now
chasing after a girls dreams
..........*+*..........happens every time :~)

and what a ride
it can be
oh
!

derek,
Thank you. It sounds like you've understood some well-kept secret for a long time, and blessings have come to you. I've had many blessings, too. My life more resembles 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. But a blessing's a blessing. (I love that movie btw)
Your story is inspiring as are your ideas about peace.

Simon,
"God gave only one thing and that was endless choice for the Universe to do with it what it will."
I get to choose. And so does everyone else.
Thanks Simon.

Thanks Kate, I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I'm glad you have your Mom. Mine is one of my best friends, if not the best.

peace,
Sharon

Diablo,
Thanks for throwing out the hard stuff
and for suggesting I'm clever
and a sensation
and especially for the deep, sexy voice comment.

"she looks in the mirror and hates the image that stares back at her...she remembers her more youthful years when she was proud of that image... oh how rude father time has been to that which was once beautiful...

now...she is in mid-life crisis, frequently sad, always unsure of herself, moody, snappy and morbidly shudders at the thought that her youth must now give way to the unplesantries of old age."

This is me you're talking about, and probably a lot of other single women my age. Even not single women my age feel this way, I'm sure.

I am a deceiver, and I tell the truth. You understand that experience firsthand, yes?

peace,
Sharon

PS Do you try to scare all newcomers away, or am I special?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8kiNMQIctg&feature=related

Tammy,
You're making a move.
It begins in your mind.
You're making
a
move.

I love you,
Sharon

There is an excuse for McCain's confusions (his age), but there is none for Diablo's...

New members/readers who are not aware: he is very, very sick.

Diablo, the great leveller, God's messenger in dis guy's follery ;) Irv's understudy?

Me2 and Yew Tree yay and yo.....

Bleedin' terrorists, all of us!

Hi Kate,

The last and greatest enemy you will face will be yourself. You may not fear yourself but to Ultimately free yourself you must do battle with it.

and what a bastard it is!

LOL

Love

Simon xx

Diablo,
You are a creative writer, eloquent and very astute.
Thanks again.
Love,
Sharon