Author: admin@wholeuni

Sustainability Introduction

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The simple, yet powerful definition of “Ecology” is that everything is connected to everything else. Sustainability is the capacity of living systems to prevail, and thrive in our interconnected world whereby biological systems can continually diversify, and flourish. A sustainable lifestyle will create the conditions under which humanity, and nature can coexist, whereby social and economic needs and their requirements are in harmony with the natural world and its carrying capacity of the Earths Eco-System. We can all make a difference.

With over 400 billion tons of toxic waste dumped into the air, ground and water of our planet every year, and 40% of all deaths worldwide attributed to industrial pollution, it is clear that there is a chasm of daunting proportions between humanity and the environment. Our closed economic system of perpetual growth is not sustainable, with glaring consequences to the Earth that we see on a daily basis. As a species, we are functionally illiterate when it comes to our understanding of ecology, how else could such grim facts stand?

With awareness, connectedness and education comes responsibility. It is our hope that once we become attuned to our minds, bodies, hearts and spirits, action becomes the next logical step — that burning impulse to do what you can. This can range from the simple, yet critical decisions we make with our consumption habits, how we discard our waste, to becoming active, empowering others, and joining the growing movement around the world to build a sustainable future. We humbly present some of these options to you here.

· Activism
· Business/Economy
· Culture
· Earth Angels
· Green Commerce
· Green Living
· Indigenous People
· Politics
– Right Livelihood

Explore Beautiful Varanasi, India

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Varanasi 3The beautiful Varanasi, India is the holiest of Hindu’s sacred cities. The oldest inhabited city in the world lies beside the sacred River Ganges, nestled between the River Asi, to the south and the River Varuna, to the north. The flourishing city of Varanasi is rich in history and ceremonious traditions. The riverfront plays host to Ghats, which are stone stairways leading to the river; eighty-four of them, in fact. Each of the Ghats is significant in its own way and many travelers take part in freeing themselves from sin by bathing in the sacred river.

Varanasi, which is said to have been founded by the God Shiva, is a city abundant with intricately designed temples, an array shrines, spiritual depth, and exquisite art. The city, often referred to as “the religious capital of India,” is populated with designers creating garments using muslin and silk fabrics, as well as perfumes, sculptures, and ivory keepsakes.

Varanasi 1The history and sacred traditions of Varanasi are said to date back as far as 5,000 years. The area is lavished with a variety of religious beliefs; each encompassing their rituals and structures. Buddhism is marked by the Dhamek Stupa shrine, where it is said that the first sermon of Gautama Buddha was given. The followers of the Jain faith claim this area for worship and pilgrimage. Islamic sites are present in the area and date back as far as 1033 CE when the area was invaded and ruled by Muslims. In vast significance, the Hindu temples are effervescent in the area; after several periods of destruction by the Muslims, Varanasi rebuilt the temples, boasting its independence since the 18th century.

The Ghats of Varanasi are overlooked by temples, palaces, and shrines. Religious festivals and routine rituals are performed around and in these structures as well as along the riverfront. The Dashashwamedh Ghat is host to an evening worship called “Agni Pooja,” meaning Worship to Fire, which is performed by priests each night. This is a spiritual dedication to Shiva, sun, fire, and the universe. The cremation process, which takes place at various Ghats throughout Varanasi 5Varanasi is a symbol of spiritual release of the dead to the divinities; bringing them to a state of liberation. Many seek Varanasi when they are near death as it is said if you die in this sacred city you are released from reincarnation and are delivered from the aura surrounding you.

A traveler will not want to miss the opportunities to ride by boat along the River Ganges, especially at sun rise, to witness the splendor of spirituality taking place; walking along the Ghats and learning the meaning and life of each; wandering the side streets; and enjoying the view of the vibrant city from atop one of the many roof terraces in Varanasi.

Written by Shelly DeMarre

Where to Stay in Varanasi, India: The Nadesar Palace  or Hotel Rivatas by Ideal http://www.rivatas.com

Sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet

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The sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet is regarded by hundreds of millions of people as the ultimate spiritual mountain pilgrimage.

5 different religions view Mount Kailash as the spiritual center of the universe, the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains and the Bon people all hold it in the highest reverence. To go there is regarded an opportunity to purify and expand consciousness to the highest level.

This imposing 21,000 feet mountain rises from the high alpine grasslands of Western Tibet. Many people visit the mountain to be in its presence and be blessed by it. It is also possible to undertake the pilgrimage route around the base of the mountain, a 3 day trek. This pilgrimage path crosses wild and remote passes and traverses through inspiring high alpine valleys. Directly associated with Mt Kailash in mythology is the sacred Manosorava lake, this beautiful holy place is the largest high altitude body of water in the world, and renowned for its healing properties.

In Buddhism are numerous sites in the region associated with Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), whose practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with finally establishing Buddhism as the main religion of the country in the 7th–8th century.

In Hinduism the mountain is credited with being the home of Lord Shiva, the great god who is described as the destroyer of ignorance and illusion.

To get to Mount Kailash involves 1-3 days of travelling across the wild and scenic spaces of the Tibetan plateau, from either Lhasa, the former capital of Tibet, now in China, or Kathmandu in Nepal. This whole experience is an extraordinary event in one’s life and not to be missed.

There are a number of guide services offering tours to Kailash, and the journey typically takes 10-20 days depending on the route, whether the pilgrimage route is undertaken or not.

What is Cosmic Consciousness

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The question at hand is whether there is such a thing as higher consciousness? We are using the term “cosmic consciousness” to denote a state of awareness that knows itself completely, a state of inner silence that is in direct contact with existence. Such a state would be free, without suffering or limitation. If there is such a state, then human evolution has a goal to aim for one that is natural and credible rather than supernatural and faith-based.

As scientific evidence, we began with the quantum vacuum, which is the source of everything that’s deemed “material,” from atoms to galaxies. In everyday usage a vacuum implies total emptiness, but the quantum vacuum is the origin and the end place of our universe, and possibly countless others. In fact, standard quantum field theory gives us an estimate of the mass-energy density of the quantum vacuum: a cubic centimeter of empty space (about the size of the tip of your finger) contains about 10 32 more mass energy-density than all visible matter in the universe! (That’s 1 followed by 32 zeroes, which more energy than all the trillion or so of all luminous galaxies in the observable universe.)

At the source, “quantum foam” is constantly bubbling up to produce everything in creation, here and now. Which means that the quantum revolution that began more than a century ago has effectively overthrown the common-sense notion of matter as something solid, tangible, and reliable. By implication, everything we associate with matter – the sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell of “material” things – has also been overthrown. If that seems radical, quantum theory goes further and dispatches time and space as constant, reliable aspects of reality. They, too, emerge from the “nothingness” of the quantum vacuum.

Why should this matter in everyday life? Because mystics have pointed to a reality that transcends this world, and so does modern physics. It is tantalizing that two world views are compatible, both contending that the source of time, space, matter, and energy doesn’t contain time, space, matter, and energy. It lies beyond them, in an inconceivable somewhere that has no location; it’s not a “place” in any common-sense use of the word. Let’s see how deep this agreement goes.

Not only is the quantum vacuum the source and resting place of countless particles (and through them perhaps countless universes). It contains all potentialities of existence, everything we can, and cannot, imagine. The world’s spiritual traditions say the same of God, the Absolute, or what we prefer to call cosmic consciousness. The terminology isn’t important, only the concept of mind preceding matter. Your mind is filled with invisible potential. It contains every word you know and every possible sentence that you might choose to put in words. Even though you speak or think only one word at a time, the number of potential sentences you can make is essentially infinite.

In the quantum model, the space-time continuum contains by far the tiniest of possible energies, since at its foundation resides the quantum foam, where space and time don’t even make sense. The quantum foam contains at least six other dimensions predicted by superstring theory. These emerge but never fully develop into macroscopic scales, as do regular three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time.

Suggested by: Fredda
Retrieved from:
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/chopra/article/What-Is-Cosmic-Consciousness-The-Quest-for-5178005.php#src%3Dfb

Brugh Joy: Shadow,Ego,Self

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This piece from W. Brugh Joy, M.D. was written towards the end of his life in the fall of 2009.

“Unconditioned/Unconditional Love Transcends the Self and gives the Self the cohesiveness of a Center of Being that is Supernally Conscious of the vast and unpartitioned Whole, the Eternal Forces or the Holyland…the archetypal fixed that are universal, unchanging, concentrated in potency, that can, from time to time transcend the material forces of form and function. Within this Center of Self lie two other centers of Awareness. Although neither the Ego nor the Shadow are the same as the Awareness of the Self…they are intricately and intimately related to the Self and under its unfurling dynamic in Temporality. The Ego and Shadow are specialized and limited aspects of the Self and function primarily to engage the Three Pillars of Temporality…Mystery of Change….Mystery of Differences….Mystery of Creative Adaptation and unfoldment.

The Shadow is the Self’s reservoir of Unconsciously expressed aspects of the Self that operate to maintain the overall balance and intention of the Self in specific relationship to the Ego…of which the surface sense of self, the ego, is only part of the Ego. There is nothing in the Ego or the Shadow that determines whether or not the balancing forces of the Self are activated. The Self is the source and the implementer of both Ego and Shadow interaction. The Shadow must not integrate Ego. The Ego must not integrate Shadow. It is the Self…when both timing of maturation of developmental dynamics and the supporting forces of the Self are in alignment that will activate the dissolution of both the Ego and the Shadow into a full reflection of Itself.

There is a problem when the Ego decides it is going to integrate the Shadow and vice versa. Too soon a conscious realization of the Self’s Shadow by the Ego or the Shadow’s conscious realization of the Self’s Ego would disrupt either secondary center and rupture the primary integrity of the Self in Time and Place…..in other words…in Temporality.

The Shadow fulfills the wholeness of the Self….is modulated by the Self and only becomes a conscious part of self when the Self begins the Wholeing or Holy task of uniting Shadow and Ego ….a Soul Mystery of uncertain outcome. When the personality or ego begins to take charge of dreams and possesses the dynamics ….a mishandling of the Holy Forces occurs. Really…the ego is the witness to the Self/Ego/Shadow development.

Remember….The Self, The Ego, and The Shadow don’t really exist per se but appear as epiphenomena issuing out of interacting forces. The interacting forces express uniquely depending upon what primary combination of interacting forces are present in any given individual in any given place, and in any given time.

Out of nothing all of this has come…..into nothing all of this will go…Don’t be too concerned about the aberration of Light.

To be re-emphasized….The Ego is not the source of the Shadow and the Shadow is not the source of Ego. The Shadow does not have to be made conscious to the Ego to effect its Holy Mission. The Ego does not have to be conscious to the Shadow to effect its Holy Mission. Both Ego and Shadow are completely under the egis of the Self. The Shadow modulates…the Ego orients. The unconscious forces that make up the Ego and the Shadow are Transpersonal and Holy. They must not be appropriated by either the Ego or the Shadow and certainly not by the ego….the surface awareness.

Shadow formation is never a conscious process nor does it need to be made conscious. It functions best unconsciously….just as the forces of the Ego operate best unconsciously. The Shadow can live through an individual, a family, a clan, a tribe, a community, a nation, and all of Humanity as a function of the intrinsic nature of Temporality/Manifestation/Time/Space. It is a part of Divinity’s (Self’s) Homeostasis or the Holy Love mystery of Balance. It is innate to the Wholeness or Holiness of Self.

The Shadow, as a natural aspect of homeostasis, operates (erupts) from time to time in the life of the conscious self Ego or larger and larger group awareness as a surprise/shocking action, illness, accident, slips of tongue, nightmare dreams, and self-sabotaging, and as Evil or the Dark face of Divinity when the surface awareness is biased to positivity.

The Shadow operates in the unexpected miraculous and inspired action, healing, inexplicable knowing to avoid a potential destructive moment, truth saying without karma in conversation, spontaneous healing, restorational dreams, self-acceptance and self love, and finally as Self Realization of the Beauty of God when the surface awareness (Conscious Ego) is biased to negativity.

The Ego is not the primary center of Awareness….the Self is.

The Shadow is not the primary center of awareness…the Self is.

The ego is the reflecting witness.

The unfoldment of a life is driven by the unconscious dynamics between Self…the Shadow…and the Ego. What the ego is aware of is mostly socialization attitudes, biases, preferences, and filtered perceptions.

The Self is the only responsible agent for the entire mystery of one’s life. Free will of the Shadow or of the Ego is an illusion generated out of a limited awareness. When witnessing the Divine Play of one’s Life…best not to appropriate any of what is seen, revealed, or experienced as personal.

The Self, The Ego, and The Shadow operate in time and out of time. The ego operates almost exclusively in time. The Ego is the chief organ of Temporal Awareness.

The Self….the Deepest Divine Mystery…may or may not elect to become conscious to the Ego.

Suggesting that C.G.Jung’s overarching view point ….that the great task of individual consciousness is to become more and more conscious…might not be, in any way the mandate to humanity. To the contrary….the great task of individual consciousness is to realize that the greatest mystery lies in darkness, the unconsciousness, and the mystery of manifestation and the impossibility of consciousness to encompass unconsciousness! The most astonishing, awesome, mind boggling, staggering, and incomprehensively complex manifestations took place without any secondary consciousness and certainly not by the consciousness presumed by humankind.

The most fundamental Realization is that consciousness or light is an aberrant and fundamentally temporary phenomenon of darkness to handle motion and change. Light and consciousness are both mostly interferences and most rarely a witness and handmaiden to the action of Self. Ego Consciousness is the carrier of the Soul’s incarnation into a specific time and a specific place. It is an interference of wholeness because it is differentiating and discerning. The Shadow is the Ego’s counterpart reflecting the Ego’s unconscious complements and vice versa. Gestation is the great principle of Darkness.”…W. Brugh Joy, M.D.

Explaining Astral Projection

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by: Steve G. Jones

An astral projection is a spiritual experience in which the energy body or spirit detaches itself from the physical body and enters into another plane of existence. Astral projection is considered a new phenomenon, while people have been performing them since a long time.

The entire idea of astral projection is based on the premise that the spirit is able to leave the body and come back again. Since the physical body is constricting and anchored to this physical plane of existence, it is not able to move into a different plane of existence. So in order to explore a new dimension, it is important to leave your physical body behind.

Though astral projection was only performed by deeply religious people in the past, today it is performed by all kinds of people – especially the ones who are spiritually inclined. Since this is a practice where the spiritual body leaves the physical body, it is also known as an out of body experience. Your spiritual body can actually float out of your physical body and look at it while passing it by. This is considered to be an extremely therapeutic practice, associated with feelings of deep joy, positivity, purity, peace and relaxation.

Origins of Astral Projection
The exact origin of astral projections is not known. However, it is believed that astral projection was first practiced by sages in India from where the practiced was taken up by Buddhist monks who spread the practice to different parts of Asia and the world. The phenomenon of astral projection comes from a concept that there is a energy body inside this physical body. These two bodies are clearly distinct and are able to separate from each other. Further research and study into the field of astral projection has shown that there is an astral cord which binds the physical form of your body to the spiritual form. It is this astral cord that keeps your spirit anchored to the body even after it has roamed around in other dimensions.

Most of the time, people experience astral projections when they are sleeping. In fact most people experience spontaneous projections when they are asleep. Unfortunately, these projections are not controlled and therefore people are not able to remember them upon waking up.

How to Project?
There are a lot of different techniques for astral projections. Proponents of astral projection feel that there are techniques which can help you prepare your body and mind for astral travel. These techniques may take some time to master and you may have to try them for several days or even months before you are able to experience your first astral projection.

Today, owing to the improved projection techniques and the research available on it, a lot of people are able to project themselves and reap the benefits of this technique. However, there was a time when only a select few, with their patience and perseverance, were able to practice it. Today there are tools like binaural beats which can help you perform astral projections even if you are a novice.

Source: http://www.theartofastralprojection.com/blog/explaining-astral-projection-spiritually?sr=21&cid=blog%2Fexplaining-astral-projection-spiritually&aid=FB-AP-blogpost&otag=FB-AP-blogpost&adtag=FB-AP-blogpost-adtag&adtag_time=28&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium&utm_campaign=FB-AP-blogpost

 

Symbolism & Religious Mystery, Pt. 1

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An excerpt from Joseph Campbell’s Thou Art That

Part One – Symbolism and religious experience

With respect to the mystical tradition, one can divide the world into two great groups: one to the west of Iran, which includes the Near East and Europe; and the other, to the east of Iran, which includes India and the Far East.

Let us focus on the West. Our religions come one and all from the Levant, from the Near East rather than Europe. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are called the great religions of the world. In all of these, God made the world and God and the world are not the same. There is an ontological and essential distinction in our tradition between creator and creature.

This leads to a totally different psychology and religious structure from those religions in which this distinction is not made. The goal of Western religions is not to bring about a sense of identity with the transcendent. Their goal is to bring about a relationship between human beings and God, who are not the same. The typical attitude of the Levant, of the Near East from which our religions come, is the submission of human judgment to that power conceived to be God.

In the Western tradition, the divine is not within you. When you turn within, you find a human soul and that human soul may or may not be in proper relationship to its creator. The great world of the biblical tradition tells us that nature is corrupt and that a fall took place, whether you designate it as Original Sin or not. The whole concept of sin is involved here, because you have a responsibility to God to obey some kind of law that you conceive Him to have rendered.

How in this tradition do you get related to God? The relationship is accomplished through an institution. This we may term the first mythic dissociation in that it dissociates the person from the divine principle. The individual can only become associated with the divine through the social institution. Thus, in the Jewish tradition, God and His people have a covenant regarding their special relationship.

In the Christian tradition, Christ is the centre because He is true God and true Man. This is regarded as a mystery because of the unity of these two natures. It is no mystery at all in the Orient, where each of us is conceived to be precisely a piece of God.

Our Western religious culture is committed to these social groups and their various biblical and ecclesiastical claims, which, in the light of modern historical and scientific research, are brought into question. By this arrangement, however, we have been emptied of our sense of our own divinity. We have been committed to a social organization or hierarchical institution, which sets up a claim for itself. And now that claim itself is in question. This breeds what we term alienation—that is, an individual sense of estrangement from the religious institution through which we relate to God.

The God of the institution is not supported by your own experience of spiritual reality. This opens a gap challenging the validity of the human being. The first aim of the mystical is to validate the person’s individual human experience.

Joseph Campbell was an American author and teacher best known for his work in the field of comparative mythology. Through his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces and his TV interviews with Bill Moyers he introduced his views on mythology to millions around the world.This excerpt was republished from Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Mystery. © 2001 New World Library.

Read more at http://www.themindfulword.org/2013/symbolism-religious-mystery-joseph-campbell/ #MHMue8joMWC8pFyx.99