Hello to All,

I am 28 years on the Eck Path, blessed to be. I've always known that as humans at whatever level we perceive ourselves to be operating we are suceptible to our dark side and may make decisions that aren't always in the best interest of all concerned; even Harold and Darwin. Maybe especially Harold and Darwin because of the organizational power they each have had. Oh did I forget to mention Paul?

Paradoxically, is the fact of the creation of the Mahanta, in the group conscoussness.

Also I'd like to point out that the culture of Eckankar hasn't ever promoted honest dialogue from the top. Is it privacy or secrecy? I gotta wonder who is being served on the physical side of things.

Speaking for what my perceived gains, I find that I am looking to the Mahanta all the time and not Harold. I am conscously seperating the two in my head. There is something quite substantial in the way spirit represents itself to me through sound and light and when I call on the Mahanta it just manifests and is comforting to me.

Thanks for being the voice of the child, "Look, he isn't wearing any clothes". I totally agree with you that the use of fear tactics should have been a huge red flag. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Paul's work on the books was mostly copied from other's as you know but was any of it of his own inspiration? Stranger by the River, Tiger's Fang. Parts of the Shariyat seem inspired and original.

I guess it just points out that we all have feet of clay when you get right down to it.

I have been following one guru after another in my lifetime. It's time I learned to stand on my own feet.

I think the Eck Teachings give us just about everything we need in the way of creating our own relationship with the ALLNESS and perhaps the final test of the guru is learning that you don't need him after all. It's all you. Guru as Trickster: Coyote.

Peace and Thankfullnes, Truth and Joy,
My Name is Allen Rodnick and these are my thoughts recorded for you today. These thoughts are things which represent my current reality but in no way represent the reality of the next moment which will (God willing) be shifting momentarily. Stand by for further updates on this Journey.
Love,

Part IV of Confessions speaks about the six goal areas in life ( p 456) that are necessary to achieve balance in our spiritual growth and our life experiences.  I am asked, from time to time, to comment on a higher consciousness perspective on some of these areas. Today, I thought it might be useful to share some personal experiences and insights in the area of health that I have gleaned after more than thirty years of study and application on this subject.

I don’t profess to be a health specialist, but like most things, we glean information from many sources and through trial and error hit upon an approach which appears to work for us. In doing so, I have always been on the look out for the transcendent principles of health that might have parallels to the spiritual principles that we have talked about on the various BBs and which is the foundation of Part IV of Confessions. I offer these insights for what  ever they may be worth to you.

First, the body –a fabulous machine—exhibits some of the same generic principles that appear to underlie our spiritual landscape before it is seeded with a particular paradigm. Thereafter, this choice defines the direction and content of each persons spiritual experiences and their journey to higher consciousness. By this I mean, the body appears to adapt to what ever energy source (food) it is accustomed to imbibing (its food paradigm).  Octogenarians --and beyond-- can be found consuming virtually all food groups and with a variety of staple foods that range from vegetables, to fruits to grains to meats.  Thus, this machine of ours is a most adaptable platform that works with and can adjust to virtually anything –as our spiritual landscapes can adjust to and live contented with virtually any spiritual paradigm.

Having said this, it is clear that certain food groups appear to create conditions within the body that are more conducive to sustained good health and the absence of disease than other just as the NSP can take a seeker further in their spiritual exploration.

I was struck at an early age by the writings of one Arnold Ehret.  Ehret, originally from Germany, received his degrees at the age of 21 and taught college for a period. Suffering from Bright's disease, he went through 24 different physicians, before turning to natural methods like vegetarianism, and fruit fasting to finally effect a cure. He not only regained his health, but also had developed great energy, strength, and endurance. His book, the Mucusless Diet Healing System and later Rational Fasting are the books he is best know for and which have had the greatest public impact.   As an early devotee of Ehret, I became a vegetarian and reversed many aspects of aging which were becoming quite noticeable and annoying to me at the time.

Since then, I have continued as a vegetarian but have come to understand more about the incredible versatility of this machine to adapt to various diet regimens. What appealed to me about the Ehret approach was that he postulated a theory about foods that sought to explain something more than the mere symptomatology on which medical science was based.  Ehret postulated that the body is in fact a gigantic plumbing system --made up as it is of pipes, tubes, etc.-.  Disease and illness, he postulated, was the result of the clogging up of these tubes and pipes at some point in the system. Medical science gave each clogging point a name but the underlying cause was the same --clogging.

He further postulated that the main culprits in the clogging process were foods that produced large amounts of mucus, which were never adequately removed from the body. Foods that were the main culprits in this were those with a high glycemic index, (http://www.glycemicindex.com/ ) which in some respects correlated with those foods he considered to be high mucus formers. These included dairy products, meats, grains, etc. None mucus forming foods consisted primarily of fruits and vegetables.
 
While many aspects of his early postulates have been refined by current research and some discredited, for the most part, he was right on the money with regards to his theories and practice.

Since those early years –more than thirty-five years ago—when I underwent this transformation in diet, many experiments and much study have also refined my understanding of the basic theories that explain the macro aspects of our health. During these early years, I was also struck by research which demonstrated that bacteria, even cancer cells, could not live in an alkaline solution but prospered in an acidic solution, such as the broth of meats.  This clued me into something that seemed more basic, more transcendent than the various ups and downs that permeated scientific research --more noted for its constant dietary reversals than for anything transcendent about health.

This acid / base phenomenon seemed basic to our health, if these simple experiments were true.  This notion that the ph of our system was a key to understanding health and how to prevent/cure disease became an idea that screamed for more attention. In those days, I did not take these ideas any further except to note the Ehret promulgations were consistent with achieving a mucusless system and also in regulating the ph of the body by virtue of its emphasis on fruits and vegetables.

Later I was to learn about the work of such scientists as Antoine Bechamp. His basic contribution can be summed up in the following quotation:

"These microorganisms (germs) feed upon the poisonous material which they find in the sick organism and prepare it for excretion. These tiny organisms are derived from still tinier organisms called microzyma. These microzyma are present in the tissues and blood of all living organisms where they remain normally quiescent and harmless. When the welfare of the human body is threatened by the presence of potentially harmful material, a transmutation takes place. The microzyma changes into a bacterium or virus which immediately goes to work to rid the body of this harmful material. When the bacteria or viruses have completed their task of consuming the harmful material they automatically revert to the microzyma stage".--Bechamp.  Sourced: Vaccination The "Hidden" Facts by Ian Sinclair p62

The work of Bechamp has been contrasted with that of Louis Pasteur, whom the world holds is high esteem for his theory that disease comes from outside germs that invade the body causing a particular malady. However,  much like Carl Jung was to Freud, Bechamp postulated a theory that was at once more fundamental and more profound but went against the prevailing thinking of the day. Here is a chart that contrasts these two theories. Not that one is right and one is wrong but that one is more superficial and one more basic, fundamental and transcendent. It is this level of understanding and knowledge that higher consciousness seeks whether dealing with spiritual matters or, in this case, health.

GERM THEORY vs CELLULAR THEORY by Walene James

GERM THEORY (PASTEUR)   
       **CELLULAR THEORY (BECHAMP).
1. Disease arises from micro-organisms outside the body. **Disease arises from micro-organisms within the cells of the body.

2. Micro-organisms are generally to be guarded against. **These intracellular micro-organisms normally function to build and assist in the metabolic processes of the body.

3. The function of micro-organisms is constant.
        **The function of these organisms changes to assist in the catabolic (disintegration) processes of the host organism when that organism dies or is injured, which may be chemical as well as mechanical.

4. The shapes and colours of micro-organisms are constant. **Micro-organisms change their shapes and colours to reflect the medium

5. Every disease is associated with a particular micro-organism
       **Every disease is associated with a particular condition.

6. Micro-organisms are primary causal agents.
       **Micro-organisms become "pathogenic" as the health of the host organism deteriorates. Hence, the condition of the host organism is the primary causal agent.

7. Disease can "strike" anybody.
       **Disease is built by unhealthy conditions.

8. To prevent disease we have to "build defences".
       **To  prevent disease we have to create health.

                    ****

Consistent with the work of Bechamp, the ph theory of disease postulates it is our ability to maintain our system at an alkaline ph level that is the most important determinant of health. It is the way we can reverse common diseased conditions and prevent others.

Ph then, is one of the simplest and most basic aspects of health and provides us with a way to understand much about the condition of our own bodies and what we can do to improve our health. When I consistently follow this simple plan, my energy level and overall health is markedly raised. When I stray from it for some time, I can tell the difference. Fortunately the body is very resilient and responds to good treatment rather quickly.

This then is one of many basic aspects of health which I believe lays the foundation for a higher consciousness way of looking at health. There are alkaline pills and other fluids that one can obtain that will help to maintain the proper ph regardless of your diet. Also, you do not have to become a vegetarian to achieve a higher level of health. By substantially increasing the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits and decreasing, but not eliminating, those other foods that have been the stable of your diet you can reverse many diseased conditions and prevent others.

Monitoring the ph of the system is quite simple by using urine and saliva tests that you can obtain by searching Google.

One recent and very excellent book on this subject is The ph Miracle by Robert O. Young, Ph.D. and Shelley Redford Young. If you read this, it will provide you with the basic information to help you heal what may now ail you and prevent the occurrence of future maladies that may be brewing in an overly acidic body.

HCS/TS

There has been too long a period in which seekers of peace and higher conceives have chosen the middle path. Too often are we blinded by the right/wrong, choose the middle path deception. The middle path is a serene path and most desirable path by while we are seeking and choose this path I feel that the balance has been and is tipping to the negative and I feel that we are in error in choosing this path of action to the determent of the balance that holds everything together.

We, like all things are but small waves/frequencies gliding across the middle path and not taking part in either side. I feel it is past time to be participants in the process in stead of being participants. Chose the good the positive. Do random acts of kindness everywhere you go, lend a helping hand without thought of reward and just maybe we can bring this back into balance. Positive can not be without negative and oblivion occurs with only neutral. The middle path is void without experience of both sides and the way they truly support each other.

Dear B-Board readers,

My wife has been reading me excerpts of a superb book, and she has me fascinated. I took a few notes as she read (my copy of the book is on the way), and felt the fanatical urge to share a small slice of this book with you. So many ideas tied in to a wholeness and resonated with my – albeit temporary - beliefs.
Presenting my summary of a part of this challenging volume . . . here goes:
All things and attitudes are part of us, since we’re essentially Godlike, and God encompasses and loves all. Is all.
         That includes so-called evil. God does not judge; It just loves, radiating love like the sun that falls on good and evil, worms and priests, drunkards and disaster-relief volunteers.
         Okay, so we have the dark and the light within us, and since life/God/the universe wants us to be whole, loving, and all-accepting, It will lead us (ah, those very sure-grinding mills of the gods!) to come to accept all. Example: if I have a stuck opinion that MDs and their ways of treating illness are bad or bogus, if I’m a fan only of herbal and homeopathic remedies, I will likely be led to having a radical need for an MD. I’ll have to quit calling them bad in my deepest heart.
So what about all these things we deny, hate, fear, and reject? We file tham away into our shadow area of consciousness. But wait! Both shadow and light are valid parts of us, and if we try to shun what we’ve defined as bad, life will bring it to  us – sooner or later – in the form of illness, scandal, or accident.
Why? Here’s the big one as I understand it: Life wants us to become whole, to face our whole being, to accept all. With no rigid opinions that exclude things.
         In short, we are – right now, today – being led to being ever more Godlike, meaning more loving to all.
         Could that be why in Romans, a book of the New Testament by Saint Paul, it says we should love our enemies (12:14-21) and owe nothing to others except love? We bring illness and “problems” to ourselves because they represent an integral part of our very life and consciousness driving us on, driving us to be whole, in fact, insisting that we be whole – like God. Life demands that we make God a reality and leads us to this one great thing.
         I’m learning to see illness as something prompted onto the stage of my outer life, something I haven’t faced and come to love/accept!
         I drove to a slightly amazing seminar a few years back, and one young man stood up and said that he had become everything he hated. And I will say he sported a pretty unusual haircut and radical garb. But his remark struck me.
         So the point is not to suppress, to hate, shun or fear anything.
I believe it’s Job (3:25) that says, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
Exactly!
And these lines tie in nicely from the Tao Te Ching:

~ “Return love for hate.”
         *
~ “The highest goodness is like water.
  Water easily benefits all things without struggle.
Yet it abides in places that men hate.
Therefore it is like the Way
[or the Tao, the primary energy of all].”
                   *
~ “Ordinary men hate solitude.
But the Master makes use of it,
embracing his aloneness, realizing
he is one with the whole universe.”

         Finally, I don’t mean we stop locking our cars or fleeing if attacked. We can be strong and sensible as we love all experiences and philosophies and . . . well, all life.
         So what’s this book I’ve been going on about? Okay, it’s The Healing Power of Illness: Understanding What Your Symptoms Are Telling You (Paperback), by Dethlefsen and Dahlke. This has made such an impact on me – and I haven’t even read it all yet.

           Wonders,

Tim B.
=\=\=

        More notes on the poetic side of spirit: http://sky999.blogspot.com/

***If you feel the nudge, see ecampus.com and The Healing Power of Illness: The Meaning of Symptoms and How to Interpret ....     If you don’t feel the nudge, sail on in Spirit!

--thank you for considering this!--

Reflections on Happiness: A State of Consciousness


Since the days of the ancient Greeks and before, the notion of happiness was something that happened “to” us and over which we had no control. Such an idea is largely alien to the average person today who sees in his/her life, a level of control far greater than the lives of those who lived under the power of a Pharaoh, a Lord of the Manor, or who were the subjects of a monarch, a dictator or a despot.

From a proclamation in the Declaration of Independence declaring the “self-evident” right of all to “happiness” to the French Declaration and the numerous human rights proclamations that followed, the idea of happiness as a “right” is now well established. Yet, the very notion of happiness as a right carries with it a corollary idea that it may be a right that is owed to the individual by the state or someone else. This notion has fostered a contemporaneous victim mentality where citizens look to the state or to others as responsible for their happiness.  

The notion of happiness and the search for it appear to be the quintessential aspirations of all humankind.  However, definitions of its constituents have not been as easy to identify. It has been variously defined as: acquiring some physical object, professional achievement, spiritual objectives or similar purpose. However, when the question of why these aspirations are pursued, the answer usually comes back; because I think they will make me happy. So behind all aspirations is the lurking end game, happiness.

But what is it in its essence? It is a feeling characterized by peace of mind, oneness, joy, and a detachment from the travails of the day.  Beyond this is a point of rest –a bliss point from which one imagines that they may never wish to leave. And, beyond this, it is a state of consciousness, an ideal, a thought that requires for most, a triggering event, such as those outlined above, before it is experienced. Once the state of “happiness’ is reached, memory of the triggering event is dropped.  The individual then experiences the state in its pure form. The memory of the triggering event is subsequently recalled only to re-fire the synapses that move consciousness once again to this state of happiness.

On closer examination, we discover a vitally important aspect of life on this or any plane of existence. What we are ultimately seeking are states of consciousness that are triggered by events which we define as our goals and aspirations in life. But aside from meeting the basic physical needs of the machine that we utilize on each plane, we need not be trapped by the emergence of events or conditions (goals and aspirations) for the experience of any state of consciousness. We have the ability to transcend the illusion of events and move directly to the state of consciousness without reference to any outside intervening event or circumstance. Thus, we can enjoy the benefit of the final payoff of all achievement i.e. a particular state of consciousness, without achievement or intervening events, by understanding the cause effect relationship between events and circumstances and states of consciousness.

This lesson becomes all the more apparent when those who have achieved the greatness and abundance that achievement can produce find themselves nonetheless unhappy, begin to understand that happiness does not lie in the even, achievement or circumstance that they sought. They learn that happiness is something more elusive that lies beyond the achievement itself. That something is a state of consciousness that may or may not be triggered by the event. When we finally learn this great lesson, we become the masters of our own states of consciousness and determine to live in the state of consciousness we choose by merely it and moving there. Thus, if happiness is our goal, we need merely focus our attention on it for a while --through repetition or some similar device—and we are there to remain as long as I choose. When the illusion of life is removed, this is what is left, for this is how we move from illusion to illusion experiencing all that our residence in the planes of illusion can offer.

This is the great secret of consciousness control that lies before us, awaiting our claim of that state to enjoy its fruits at any time and for as long as we desire. The interesting ancillary benefit of living this way is that we simultaneously create the most fertile soil for the actual achievement of goals and accomplishments within the illusion.  In other words, through the practice of happiness, we nurture the seeds of our outward success.   

HCS/TS

This posting concerns the topic for the month, “the impact of one-sided judgment.”  This topic has greater depth than might appear at first glance. We all have a tendency at times to characterize events in a singular dimension, namely as good or bad. This one-sided characterization often leaves us blind to the pitfalls that lie just beyond the victory or the opportunities that scream for attention from an otherwise dispiriting outcome.

Recognition of the dual reality that lies within each event is a fundamental principle of higher consciousness. This total perspective on all events allows us to cease being effect in our emotional reactions to events and circumstances and allows us to choose how we will feel and react to these events. This is a vital tool and an essential technique in the movement to higher consciousness.

I quite frequently receive e-mails for seekers depressed by a certain turn of events or set of hardships that they may be facing. Often they are so engrossed in their problem and convinced of the tragedy that it represents that they are hostile to the mention that there may be lurking in the bushes, a positive,even life changing opportunity. However, the opportunity can only be seen or acted upon with the ability to look deep into the event and discover the hidden gift.

Readers of this and other BBs have perhaps read of the higher consciousness perspective to all events; find a way to turn the situation to your advantage. This is a simple way of saying, look for and act on the positive alternative that exists in every situation. In this manner you cannot fai, for you will always see the first rays of opportunity  waiting to be discovered.

HCS

Don’t Forget to Ask for Help!

I frequently receive e-mails asking for various types of help from those struggling to come to grips with the transition from one spiritual paradigm to another. No longer believing that the old methods will work and that their entreaties to the old master or deity will have the same effect, they reach out for help from someone else that they hope will now occupy that position. This is an understandable reaction but one that is antithetical to the principles that Higher Consciousness espouses.

Through our journey into and out of many spiritual paths, those that have followed the development of the HCS perspective are aware that the power attributed to prayer, beseeching or importuning a higher power does not lie in the object of that worship but in the power of belief and surrender.

Belief and surrender are subjects that this BB has dealt with on a number of occasions. It has particular relevance in helping those who feel overwhelmed by life from time to time. It is especially important for those who sometimes feel inadequate to the challenges of life and seek some form of help or support in overcoming the obstacles that they may face.   

It must first be said that any one functioning within the level of the reality/illusion we call life in the physical world will from time to time feel overwhelmed by the forces or circumstances they confront.  They may feel limited in their capacity to deal with situations they face. What produces this feeling? How can it be overcome? What is the dynamics involved in the process?

This is a fascinating and practical series of questions for in one form or the other we all confront these feelings at times. We need to understand the dynamics of the forces at work in order to become cause and take control of ourselves and influence the outcome of unfolding events.  

Feelings of fear and limitation are natural reactions of the physical body when facing difficult situations. However, this feeling isolates the individual and pulls them into the consciousness of the body cutting them off from higher states of consciousness and thus the power we are able to tap when we transcend the body consciousness.  The challenge is to understand how to move out of this limited state of consciousness and into the higher states where the power of the universe flows through us and we feel the strength that flows from such states.

The simplest way to transcend these feelings of fear and limitation is to call out for help. This is not a new strategy for it is a natural response to circumstances that we feel are beyond our control. In the past we called on a master, a deity, or something else outside of ourselves for this assistance.  Once we did, the degree of help we received was directly proportionate to our belief in this entity.
Now, we recognize that the process of calling on help is a transcendent technique that brings about a natural relaxation; a release of fear, isolation and limitation. The difference now is that we call on our higher self, the force of spirit or ALL THAT IS. Depending on what aspect of this “trinity” we most identify with ( or all three) we call on these aspects for help and immediately release our apprehension, fear or limitation to the knowledge that we have permitted a flow of spiritual energy to enter the scene and come to our aid.

What has happened? This act has moved us above the fear and limitation that accompanies identification with the physical shell and its perceived circumstances. By this act, we have gotten out of our own way and tapped into the forces that are naturally a part of our spiritual nature, our higher self. We only forgot that we were this higher and more powerful self. By the act of asking for help, we invoked the power of our innate and true self and moved in a state of consciousness to the awareness that something more powerful than our selves was available to come to our aid. Later, as consciousness shifted, we moved out of this limited physical state of consciousness and realized that all we really did was move to the consciousness of the higher self, the point from which we are increasingly trying to live.  This is who we really are we  and we recognize it when we make this consciousness transition.

You may ask, what is the difference between this process and our former strategies of asking Jesus, the Mahanta, our guru or some other deity? The answer is quite simple. The process works regardless of the force that we call upon. Surrender to this forces, entity or deity still allows us to move from the human state of consciousness to a more empowered state. But here is the difference. While the mechanics of the process is the same, we now make a transition beyond the entrapping and limiting entity, force or deity that we were accustomed to calling upon.  Regardless of the assistance we received, we were nonetheless left trapped, if only temporarily.  We did not understand that we were the force behind the miracle of expanded consciousness.

As long as we seek this change in consciousness by calling on one of these societal expedients (i.e. religions) we are kept from realizing the truth of our own state of divinity and the power that resides within us. This is the one truth to which we are all traveling in our journey to higher consciousness. It is a subtle movement of consciousness where the mechanism of tapping universal power is such that whatever we believe is equally effective until we realize the transcendent commonality between the aborigines calling upon the power of the mountain god, the Christian calling upon Jesus, the Eckist calling upon the mahanta, the Muslims calling upon Allah. They are all equally effective in spite of the declarations that each may make about their exclusivity as the source of the power.

In the movement to higher consciousness we look beyond the apparent to recognize the transcendent.  When we see the law behind the apparent we discover the common factor in all of it and that is ourselves as divine aspects of spirit and the ONE.

All this is to say that while we should use the same old techniques when we feel distressed or in need, i.e. calling out for help, our knowledge of God-soul, the higher self, makes all the difference.  For, now our actions do not draw us deeper into an entrapment but to an empowerment that is the state of one who lives from and with constant awareness of the higher self. So, don’t forget to call for help when you need it, for you are calling on yourself.  You are simultaneously strengthening and empowering your transition from the isolated, limited, fearful human state of consciousness to the higher self which is your destiny as one on the journey to higher consciousness.

HCS

The contribution for this week is contained in the HCS Spring Newsletter. The link to this publication is:

http://www.higherconsciousnesssociety.org/Newsletter/HCS_Newsletter_1st_Quarter_2006.pdf

Dear HCS!  

Thanks for clarifying at the end of my post the responsibility of making a  conscious decision, because we are always responsible when we decide upon an  action, even when guided by Spirit!  

I enjoyed your post on the Middle Path very much and plan to re-read it a  few times to understand it in more depth. I am looking forward to your  weekly posts and contributions to the discussions on your BBs.  

Journey  

Being Neither For Nor Against: The Middle Path

HCS stated that goal setting is essential in working through our daily lives; however, once our goals are set, then we work with Spirit by taking the Middle Path, a state of detachment with responsibility, and allow ourselves to reach the goal in a neutral state, not forcing or directing it strongly so as not to effect it either for or against. We become “neutral to the process—not neutral to the goal” and thereby work more directly/strongly with Spirit than with “our own devices.” We demonstrate our passion for life and also our faith in Spirit and the way Divine Will (Purpose) works.

Sometimes, when we are overwhelmed and extremely challenged, and after exploring all of our options and ways to recover our balance, we might turn the problem of reaching the goal over to Spirit. This becomes a necessary resting point where calmness can return. We trust that Spirit will be our guide. There have been times when I have had to actually do this—when I could not resolve a problem—and in the process of giving the problem up to Spirit, a way to reach the goal (solve the problem) eventually materialized. These exulting moments of total trust are evidence of the truth that I AM, GOD IS AND WE ARE ONE! What more do we actually need to know as we go through our daily lives and experiences—on the Middle Path, we understand the power to be neither for nor against is the greatest power we can achieve. It becomes the ultimate goal in growing spiritually!

Best Wishes,
Journey

P.S. I enjoyed reading Linda, Matthew and Wilson’s posts!