The Magical Mystery Tour

"There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality.

Something living, something real, is taking place in everything."

- Chogyam Trungpa

Nuclear Weapons, Insanity, Cowardice

"More than a decade and a half after the Cold War ended, the world's combined stockpile of nuclear warheads remain at a very high level: more than 22,000. Of these, nearly 4,500 warheads are considered operational, of which nearly 2,000 U.S. and Russian warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice.

The exact number of nuclear weapons in each country's possession is a closely held national secret."

-Federation of American Scientists.

In the words of U.S. president Jimmy Carter, 1979:

Just one of our relatively invulnerable Poseidon submarines - less than two percent of our total nuclear force of submarines, aircraft, and land based missiles - carries enough warheads to destroy every large and medium-sized city in the Soviet Union. Our deterrent is overwhelming.'

The depths of human insanity, cowardice are bottomless.


The Dogs of War are creatures of fear and hatred. Not in their nature to be peaceful.

And they are everywhere. In every country, every town. Not necessarily only in the armed forces.

The following song by Roger Waters is an interesting comment on oil politics, nuclear weapons, and the severely catatonic state of mind of our politicians...people who take policy decisions that influence billions of lives.

Roger Waters is far from crazy and paranoid.

Value of Life, Detachment, Buddhahood

Many of us often reach a point where we ponder the value of our existence.

As far as 'value' goes...mystics say that one should avoid attaching value to anything, actually. Nature (which is mystical/spiritual/alive acc. to some traditions) attaches no value to anything.

A beautiful inhabited home, or an abandoned building or a school full of hundreds of children -- a storm will destroy everything in its path.*

There can be many other examples. The flowing river (once again a living phenomenon from within the Hindu/Buddhist paradigm) could drown Mother Teresa and throw ashore a Hitler.**

Our not attaching value to things/people would be in tune with the natural flow....

This approach is at the risk of being interpreted as a cold, desensitised approach to life, of course. But.......

In its true form, our not attaching value to things/people is a neutral, serious, peaceful, highly aware state, a state in which oneness with all that exists can be felt very clearly, and the role of destructive forces is understood completely, and accepted as is. (Buddhahood.)

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*It cannot be said that the storm has negative value for life, so it destroys, even from within the Hindu/Buddhist paradigm that considers the storm to be living. A storm is not a Doer/Thinker like a human being.

** Nature does not appear to have in built values that we humans take so seriously. And we are a small part of nature, there can be nothing in us that does not exist already, in nature. Although we think, plan, do, and nature does not.^a
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^aThis is a complex discussion on qualities, relationships, and many other issues like the nature and scope of doer-ship and spontaneous, unplanned intelligence.

Religion 101 with Acharya S

Acharya S is the author of controversial books on the origins of religious ideas dating back thousands of years. Many of these ideas revolve around what is called "astrolatry" or "astrotheology."


Imagine a world in which the masses very seriously start pondering whether religious idols like Jesus or Krishna ever existed at all. Imagine a world where people start questioning the conventionally accepted concept of God.

The following article is from: TRUTHBEKNOWN.COM.

An Atheist Here to Destroy?
It has been suggested that I am an "atheist" and am "very destructive." However, I am neither a theist nor an atheist, although, for the most part, I prefer atheists because they can think for themselves and are usually not as vicious as fervent believers. The atheists' morality is dependable, as it comes not from the outside, imposed by some supernatural figure, some repressive puppetmaster in the sky, but from within, as dictated by their own autonomy, wisdom and maturity. My only problem with extreme atheists is that they are sometimes too cynical and rigid, dismissing all "paranormal" or non-third-dimensional events often without proper investigation. They seem to see nothing sacred about the universe.

I have many more problems with theists, however, as they consider humans to be pathetic, born-in-sin pieces of trash in the face of a glorious God. Real, tangible human beings are to be treated very badly and with tremendous condescension, because they are mere lost sheep and stupid children! The god of their choice, of course, who is invisible and intangible-and, presumably, unable to feel pain (or pleasure), unlike humans-must be praised and complimented to high heaven! Do not love your fellow man, who can actually feel it and who needs it, but "love the Lord your God with all your heart." Extreme theists and atheists share a certain attitude towards creation itself: to wit, it is not divine or awesome.

"The mystic or gnostic does not reside in the realm of belief or disbelief. She or he knows, rather than believing."

I categorize myself as neither of these labels, since I prefer to view the entire cosmos as divine and awesome. I may thus be called "pantheistic." Yet, if I must wear a label, let it be "freethinker." For the moment, for the purposes of this essay, I may also be considered a mystic of sorts, a "homo novus," or, as it were, a new woman.

The mystic or gnostic does not reside in the realm of belief or disbelief. She or he knows, rather than believing. I do not need to believe in the sun. I can see it and feel it. I know it exists.

I also know that there is a sentience that pervades the cosmos. I am it. You are it. The birds singing in the trees and the trees themselves are it. This sentience could be called "God," but it is not a giant man somewhere in outer space apart and aloof from creation. As the esteemed mythologist Joseph Campbell said in "The First Storytellers":

"The idea of God as the absolute other is a ridiculous idea. There can be no relationship to that which is absolute other."

By definition, "God" is OMNIPRESENT, which means it is everywhere, in me, in you and in all creation. Behind the creation is the Great Void, where there is no separation and all is one. This idea - this perception of the mystics and sages of ages - is backed by science, in that ALL IS ATOMS VIBRATING, and we are exchanging atoms with everything around at all times.

All is connected, and we are breathing the air exhaled by others from around the globe. We are washing with Buddha's sweat, so to speak. Or Jesus's, or Hercules's, or that of any other of the thousands of deities man has created.

"ALL IS ATOMS VIBRATING, and we are exchanging atoms with everything around at all times."

The human ego has created an artificial separation that makes it as dense as the material world can get. We are all one; we are the Cosmic Being; yet, the human mind creates "other." This developments ranks as no different from the animals, who constantly play out the roles of predator and prey, of "other" and "alien." But as humans, we have the capacity to go beyond the deluded animal state and realize that we are spiritual beings condensed into an illusion of materiality and separation. We are That Which Is.

To attain to the mystical is to know "God" and all its fullness.

The mystical is paradoxical. It does not take a solid platform. That is why it is MYST-ERIOUS. The mystical lives in the herenow and says neti, neti, neither this nor that. It dictates totality.

So, no, I don't believe in any god person. I know myself as That Which Is. This notion is not a new concept to those who think for themselves and check out the astounding amount of information found around the globe on this all-important subject of "God" and the cosmos, instead of blindly going along with some other person's prescribed path, which is usually very cultlike, sectarian, racist and sexist. The blind leading the blind is dangerous.

"And yes, I am here to destroy. I am the intellectual aspect of Kali, the destroyer, of Shiva, of Zeus the thunderer, and of Jehovah the flattener of cities."

And yes, I am here to destroy. I am the intellectual aspect of Kali, the destroyer, of Shiva, of Zeus the thunderer, and of Jehovah the flattener of cities. But I am also a part and parcel of the Creative Life Force that permeates the cosmos, and upon the ruined foundations of dead and rotten ideologies I build anew. I construct a better creation with a more solid and universal foundation, one not built upon the mental quicksand of racism, sexism and "chosen people" of one ethnicity or another.

I build anew atop this foundation that wisdom is found in every culture, race and creed, and even throughout the cosmos, as it cannot be and never has been contained in one person, one book, one race or one gender. The living truth cannot be constrained by borders and artifice. This universal foundation cannot be chipped away by niggling little forces of racial, political or "religious" ideologies that teach separation and division. For, when one proudly declares he is a Christian, he is also equally proudly declaring that he is NOT a Jew, Hindu, Buddhist or any other "devilish" thing. Plain and simple, this bigotry is ugly, and it is what I'm here to destroy.

"We saw other children, beings with smiling faces exuding innocence. The unbridled, radiant love of life beamed from our souls and flowed from our hearts."

Let us think back to when we were children, before we started getting conditioned - or, more appropriately, brainwashed - by those around us. We did not see race, gender, ethnicity or religion. We saw other children, beings with smiling faces exuding innocence. The unbridled, radiant love of life beamed from our souls and flowed from our hearts.

Then we started to learn that we were no longer one empathetic being but were part of a variety of groups that separated us from each other. Suddenly, we were "boys" or "girls," "blacks" or "whites." We were "Americans" and "Russians." We were "Christians," "Jews." And those over THERE were not like us over HERE. Again, this divisiveness is extremely ugly and is at the root of all kinds of prejudice and bigotry that go on day in and day out. In reality, these divisions represent false separations.

"The truth is that we all have wisdom, and my wisdom is telling me that now is the time to wake up to our universal selves, as we sit on the edge of global chaos."

The truth is that we all have wisdom, and my wisdom is telling me that now is the time to wake up to our universal selves, as we sit on the edge of global chaos. Because of the various ideologies that are blinding humanity from its true nature, from living in the present, from being awakened, most of humankind is oblivious to what is going on all around. They are frogs in the pot of water, waiting to be cooked and not feeling the heat. Their minds are twisted, and they cannot think for themselves here and now but must constantly look for answers elsewhere.

When you are in such a state, you are not truly living, because you must first wait to close one transaction to begin another. Also, you're stumbling about, somnambulating, without being fully present.

Such is not the state of life but of catatonia. Thus, like Kali, I am hacking away at the veil that keeps you sightless and asleep to the ethereal and awe-inspiring nature of the cosmos.
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